The two princesses gaze down at the human who just stepped forward, quite shocked at his almost threatening demand instead of a proper introduction. Both the sisters know what he is talking about, and apparently the human Michaels, knew his ‘friends’ would come to rescue him. They just didn’t expect them to arrive so soon.
Princess Luna, still shivering in fear mentally, watches as the second human steps up, takes hold of the first, and whispers something. Some of the guards flinch a little from their actions, but slowly back off.
LCpl. Kevin Brooke
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, U.S.M.C.
Canterlot Castle, August 26th Day 4 23:14:00 PM
“Brooke, what are you doing?” Carter says grabbing my shoulder, and pulling me back to face him dead in the eyes. “Come on, man. Don’t lose this opportunity.”
“You dare to speak against the princesses in that tone of voice?!” the Pegasus guard standing next to the white horse yells, causing us to turn back to face him instead of the princesses. “How about you show some respect you little—!”
“Lieutenant!” the white horse cuts him off, whom I believe is Princess Celestia as I recall. The Pegasus trips on a couple words, when he notices a threatening glare from the princess bearing down on him like a hawk, then stands back at attention. “My apologies, this is Lieutenant Wind Strike, one of the squad leaders of the Royal Guards. Might I ask your names?”
“Let me handle this,” Carter whispers before stepping up and clearing his throat. Before speaking he takes a bow. “G-greetings. My name is Corporal Jason Carter. Bravo Company, Second Battalion First Marines. This is my friend, Lance Corporal Kevin Brooke.” I take a look at the two princesses; the dark blue one, I believe is Luna, seems to freeze in position like she is holding her breath.
“Tell them that we want to make a deal,” Kicker speaks through our COMS.
“We want to make a deal,” Carter repeats, and I mentally face palm. “We have come to make a trade. Our friend you are currently holding, for four of your guards we captured when we arrived on the beachfront.” The room suddenly turns silent, probably too silent. Luna seems to be staring at me throughout Carter’s reasoning without moving a single muscle.
“And where are these guards you speak of?” Wind Strike speaks in an almost threatening tone.
“We’re waiting outside. The fourth is on the Anchorage.”
“We have three outside. The fourth is on one of our ships,” Carter repeats.
“Complete lies! These monsters are probably doing that to get their friend back and hunt us all down!”
“Lieutenant!” Princess Celestia turns to the guard again, her voice more risen than before. The lieutenant quickly recognizes the silent glare, and silences himself. Celestia turns her head back to us. “Now then, you said our fourth guard is on your ship?”
“Th-that is correct,” Carter nods. “And we have three more outside.”
“Now, why would you leave three of our guards outside instead of bringing them in with you?” Carter and I remain silent, waiting for Kicker to reply through our COMS.
“Tell them we don’t want to risk into any deceives and their guards capturing us in before we get a chance.”
“We don’t want to risk to you deceiving us, let alone your guards capturing us and taking them.” I turn to the corporal who does the same. As if we exchange more words by staring than speaking, we both shrug by what Kicker means at the end. When we turn back, the princesses too have been exchanging glances at each other with a slight confused look. Although, the lieutenant standing next to Celestia, his ears start twitching like they are having a seizure, and his face has a look of annoyance and despise.
“I understand your consequences before you arrived,” Celestia finally speaks. “However, how do you expect us to believe in you when you don’t have our guards?” Carter and I turn to each other again, this time, I nod and face again at the princesses.
“Just show us Michaels and we’ll show you your guards,” I say straightforward. Celestia has more of a suspicious look compared to her sister, who has an understandable expression, but has a hint of fear in her eyes.
“Still,” Celestia politely protests. “You must show—”
“Sister,” Luna speaks for the first time, stopping Celestia in her sentence. “It is best if you get him.” Almost shocked at her sister, Celestia stares at Luna almost dumbfounded.
“Luna, please.”
“Tia. Just do it.” Both sisters stare at each other, as if exchanging words through sight instead of voice. After a few seconds, Luna’s older sister gives in and nods.
“Very well. Lieutenant, you will come with me.”
“B-but, Your Highness!” Wind Strike tries to reason.
“That is an order, Wind Strike.” Once again, the lieutenant bows his head. Celestia turns her head to her younger sister. “Please be careful.” Luna nods her head, and Celestia and the guard start walking towards the door they entered.
“Guards,” Luna begins. “You are to leave as well. I must speak with the humans alone.” The rest of the guards surrounding us have the same facial expression as Luna’s older sister.
“Y-Your Highness?” one of them questions.
“Do not question further. Now please.” Without a protest, the guard bows his head, and motions the rest to follow him out the main hall. When the doors finally close, Carter and I turn back to the princess now stepping off her throne.
“Now, where do we begin?” she says.
*****
“Your Highness, please!” Wind Strike pleads as the two walks down the hallway escorted by three other guards and Twilight and her friends behind. “These things are not to be trusted. You’ve seen what the other did to the Captain of the Royal Guards. If two more of those humans show up just like that, there could be more!”
“I understand about your frustration and suspicions over the humans, but my sister has pledged responsibility on her actions. She claimed it is her fault she attacked first, and the humans retaliated. I will not risk my ponies into a hostile relationship.”
“It’s a lie, Your Highness! The human threatened your personal student and her friends! That’s why the princess had to take action! Even the human we interrogated admitted it!”
“My sister also mentioned that one of your guards caught the human’s attention after falling from a tree. Also, Twilight explained of causing him to react like a threat from Fluttershy.” Fluttershy suddenly slows down and trails behind the group, a heavy amount of guilt fills inside her head.
“It’s not entirely your fault, sugarcube,” Applejack pats the shy Pegasus on the back. “It’s all our fault.” The butter-colored Pegasus triggers a faint smile as the rest of the group huddles around her.
“Yeah, we can introduce us to them and have a welcoming party,” Pinkie cheers. Celestia smiles while looking behind, though Wind Strike is not in the mood to do so.
“You better pray they like parties,” the lieutenant mutters without glancing behind.
*****
Music plays loudly through the small speakers of Michaels’ iPhone sitting on the table, as the marine does his best to ignore the rumbling noise of his stomach begging for something to eat. He leans back the chair on its two legs, while lip-syncing to the lyrics and motioning his hands into imagining he is playing on a drum set, his emergency tracker beacon held in his left hand switched off. He knew his friends would come and instead played with the small device just to keep him out of his boredom.
A set of clicks from a door catches his attention. As he turns his head, the metal door opens up, and Celestia, Twilight and the Pegasus guard he beaten enters. The three of them are a little startled by the music until Michaels pauses it.
“I thought you were Luna for a second with my food,” Michaels remarks. He notices the guard’s expression quickly changing into a snarl.
“No,” Celestia replies. “Rather, I am here to escort you.” Knowing what the princess means, Michaels smiles, and hops out of the chair. After clipping back on his helmet, the Pegasus guard steps up.
“Not so fast,” he says in a monotone voice.
“What? You gonna chain me up?” Michaels asks sarcastically. After a silent moment, Michaels notices the serious look on the three ponies’ faces. He lets out a frustrated sigh. “Fine, go ahead. Just don’t beat the crap outta’ me.”
“I promise you we won’t,” Celestia replies. “But we must do this under—”
“Yeah, I get it. Let’s just get it over with before my buddy starts mowing you all down.” The marine notices the princess’ eyes quickly widen.
With a set of chains clamped onto his wrists and ankles, three guards and the lieutenant surround him while the princess and a group of six ponies, with possibly a lizard on one of them, lead them out of the interrogation room and back out in the hallway. A couple guards give the marine a death glare as they exit the door.
The chains rattle with every step Michaels make, echoing down the large hallway. Michaels turns his eyes down at the guards, who only look straight ahead showing no emotions. He veers towards the princess and the six ponies, first spotting the purple lizard riding on top of a lavender pony that has been staring at him for some time. With only silence between him and the creature, he merely waves his hand. The lizard gives away a small smile, and waves back.
“You have a name, fella?” Michaels breaks the silence smiling back. The six ponies turn their heads all at once facing the marine.
“Uh, Spike,” the lizard replies.
“Cool name. And you’re a lizard?”
“Well, um, I’m actually a dragon.” Spike scratches the back of his head, slightly embarrassed from Michaels’ question. Michaels arches an eyebrow, wondering what type of dragon he is at this size.
“Well, he’s a baby dragon, to be precise,” the lavender pony points out, causing Spike to blush even more.
“Twilight!” he whines. “Why do you have to do that?!” Before Michaels could reply, a pink pony with a darker pink curly mane rushes to his side, almost startling the lead guard.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she introduces loudly. “I can make anypony laugh!” Michaels stares down at the pony for a quick moment.
“Oh really?” he asks. “Prove it.”
“Okay!” Pinkie thinks for a moment. “What does a cow say in a bustling crowd?”
“What?”
“’Moo‘ve over!’” The pink mare breaks out into a hysterical laugh, but it doesn’t faze one bit to the marine. Instead, he just gives a straight face until Pinkie finishes.
“I guess that’s not bad,” he says, though lying. “Still better than Mendez’s annoying texting abbreviations.”
“Who’s Mendez?”
“A guy in our squad. Just like us.” Michaels notices the lead guard in front twitching his ear, probably annoyed from Pinkie’s and his conversation.
“Ooh, does he like parties?”
“Oh yeah, he does. You should see him while we were staying at this bar in Hawaii. Nonstop trying to hookup with chicks.” Michaels chuckles at that memory he still remembers vividly. Even Pinkie laughs a little, even though she looks like she has no clue what Michaels means.
*****
When Luna finishes her side of the story, she takes a deep breath, relieved she finally managed to get it off her chest that has been probably latching on to her since we entered the castle. Carter and I stare at the guilty-feeling princess, slightly shocked, but knew it may have turned out like this. Still, some stress has been relieved from my shoulders when she said that Michaels is fine.
“So, it was actually this Fluttershy-person, er, pony who might of triggered it,” Carter says. “But, why would you let six civilians almost get in harm’s way?”
“I know,” Luna replies with her head down. “But, they are not just ordinary civilians. They are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” A memory triggers in my head, and I remember Banana Peel mentioning something like that before we entered Ponyville.
“Still, a civilian is a civilian, and you know that.”
“Yes, but because of my foolishness and their, well, begging, I let them stay hidden just to watch.” Carter lets out a small sigh through his shemagh.
“Sometimes, you have to put you foot down. No matter how badly they want to see something like us, it could turn out into something like a couple nights ago.”
“Still,” I add in. “It’s good your older sister had a good talk with them. I would’ve felt the same way if someone I cared about got in harm’s way.”
“Like your so-called brother, Michaels?” Luna asks lifting her head up.
“Y-yeah.” The princess smiles thinly, feeling a bit more comfortable.
“He has told me a lot about you. You’re always a great help to him, as well as he is to you.” I feel a slight heat emerging from my cheeks, a blush of embarrassment. Luckily, my shemagh covers most of my face for the princess not to see it.
“Um, well, you know,” I stutter, scratching the back of my head under my helmet. “It’s how we marines do it, you know. We always look after each other.”
“That’s what he also told me,” Luna replies with a warm smile.
“So, I guess… all of this is a misunderstanding, then,” Carter says, and Luna nods.
“I hold this incident my responsibility, as a course of reckless actions against something, or ‘someone’.” Carter and I both nod, agreeing to the princess’ admitting. Still, there’s something gnawing inside me, a feeling like we should take some of the blame as well.
“Well, I like to point something out as well,” I say taking a step closer to the princess. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I think we too should take some blame, since we killed a lot of your, um, guards.”
“I guess we should,” Carter agrees almost immediately. Luna stares at us nearly surprised. For a moment she looks like she just seen the world’s greatest diamond. Before she could open her mouth, the door to our left opens up.
Carter and I take a step back, as Princess Celestia, a group of six colored ponies and four guards walk in, with a familiar face I immediately spot.
“Well, well, well,” Michaels says. “What’d I tell ya’, huh?”
“Silence!” the Pegasus lieutenant barks, followed by a stern glare at my best friend. I nearly switched the safety to full auto when I thought the stallion would throw a punch at Michaels.
“Michaels!” Carter calls, and prepares to race over, but stops when Luna steps in his path. I look down at the six ponies, most of them staring at us with shocked faces like they seen a ghost, except for the pink one who seems to be nonstop jumping up and down with a smirk on its face. I also notice a purple reptile sitting on the lavender unicorn. A dragon? No, it’s too small. Unless it’s a baby. It does resemble baby-like features.
“Mister Brooke, Mister Carter,” Princess Celestia begins, forcing both of us to turn to both princesses standing next to each other. “We have brought you your friend. Now, will you bring in our guards?” Carter and I look at each other, then back at Michaels with a couple bruises on his face. When we turn back, I make a twisting motion close to my radio, asking if we want our radios turned on. Carter nods and turns his back. I turn on his radio, and he does the same back.
“First Sarge, we have a deal. Bring in the package, over,” Carter speaks into the mike.
“Roger, we’re coming in now.” Almost every pony in the room has shocked filled eyes when Kicker replied. Before any of them could say anything, the main door behind us swiftly creaks open.
Stepping inside are Kicker, Cutup and Honeydew, each holding a guard by their manes. More guards rush from either side of the main hall to the three men, pointing their spears about a meter away from them.
“Stand down, guards,” Celestia orders. Hesitantly, the guards lift back up their weapons and take a step back. Kicker and the rest stop beside us, five meters from the princesses holding Michaels. From the looks of them, the ponies seem to have a shocked face again the moment they see the two SEALs and Kicker bringing in the hostages. The three guards are dirtied from what we did earlier, compared to the others surrounding us right now.
“G-greetings,” Celestia begins, almost stumbling on her own words as she tries to comprehend at the sight. “My name is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and this is my sister, Princess Luna, also co-ruler of Equestria.”
“Greetings. My name is First Sergeant Peter Keane. Bravo Company, Second Battalion First Marines.”
“Honeydew. SEAL Team Five, Second Platoon.”
“Cutup. SEAL Team Five, Second Platoon.”
“Um, a pleasure to meet you,” Celestia replies, closely inspecting at the two SEALs. I turn back to the lieutenant standing rather close to Michaels along with the three other guards, glaring at us with eyes full of hate. “Wind Strike, bring Mister Michaels over.” The lieutenant huffs, and moves Michaels in front of the princesses. Michaels winks, and I nod back.
“Let’s move, pretties,” Honeydew says, moving the three dirtied ponies in front of Carter and I. The entire room becomes fairly silent as I scan the surroundings. The six ponies and the reptile are all tensed up like they’re watching a thriller movie, while the guards stand firm prepared to do anything that might happen.
“Your Highness,” Carter begins. “We have brought three of your guards. We will contact our ship to bring in the fourth tomorrow.”
“Very well,” Celestia replies. Her horn starts glowing in a pink aurora, as well as on the chains clamped on Michaels. The chains split open, finally letting him move his wrists freely. I kneel down beside a Pegasus, and pat him on the neck.
“You see? Told you we would bring you home.” As I stand back up, I motion him to go ahead, and he did so like that, along with the two unicorns. Michaels moves rather a little faster than the guards as the trade continues, and makes it to us first. To go through all that hiding and sneaking to finally see him again felt like an eternity, but it was worth it. The moment Michaels is about two feet away, I immediately embrace him in a tight hug.
“It’s good to see ya’, man,” I say, my eyes almost watering up.
“I’m back, brother. I’m back.” I can hear a sniffle from him the moment he finishes while returning the hug, followed by an ‘Aw’ coming from someone else. I turn my head to the source, only to see the pink pony clasping her hooves together smiling proudly along with the other five ponies and reptile doing the same thing. I turn to the two princesses, Celestia ordering five guards to escort three away. Luna, on the other hand, smiles at our embrace, almost as if she too is about to cry of joy. Wind Strike merely glares at us in disgust still. It doesn’t even bother me one bit now that Michaels is back.
It feels like almost an entire hour after embracing my friend whom I consider a second family tightly like a snake coiling around its prey, before we both finally let go and give each other a light pat on the shoulders.
“We thank you for your cooperation, Your Highness,” Kicker says stepping up ahead of Carter and I.
“The rulers of Equestria would like to make an apology for our actions against you,” Princess Celestia explains. “As of now, I would like to ask…” She pauses, and turns to her sister, who nods. “I would like to ask if we could start over again. This time, with a proper greeting.” With the two SEALs stepping up behind us, we glance at each other for a quick moment, and all nod in approval. Even though they ambushed us, and taken four of our guys, I think we can give them a second chance. Since Luna did admit she was at fault for striking first, and we killed most of their army, we all came to an agreement that it was all misunderstanding and misguidance. We turn back around, Carter and I removing our shemaghs to reveal our full faces.
“I think we would appreciate it, Your Highness,” Kicker replies taking a couple steps forward, and extends his hand. The two princesses gaze at First Sarge’s hand, almost dumbfounded as to what he is doing.
“Um, never shaken hands before?” First Sergeant asks. I turn my head to see Honeydew and Cutup both rubbing their foreheads, probably embarrassed from Kicker’s question.
“O-oh! Those are hands?” Celestia asks pointing her hoof at Kicker’s extended hand. “Uh, maybe a bow would be best.” The moment Kicker realizes, he mentally wanted to slap himself for being a complete idiot. He quickly lowers his arm.
“Oh, of course.” The two princesses and the first sergeant take a bow, while I turn my head to see the six mares holding in a small giggle.
“Greetings, and welcome to Equestria,” Celestia introduces.
“A pleasure to be here, madam,” Kicker replies, rising from his bow.
“Does that mean we can have a welcoming party?!” the pink pony cries out with sheer joy. Laughter quickly breaks out from the other five mares, including a giggle from the two princesses, Carter and Michaels. Kicker, the two SEALs and I instead smile from the pony’s cheer.
“Maybe a bit later, Pinkie,” Celetia replies, then turns back to us. “Let me introduce you to the Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle; Element of Magic, and her assistant, Spike. Applejack; Element of Honesty. Rarity Belle; Element of Generosity. Fluttershy; Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie; Element of Laughter. And Rainbow Dash; Element of Loyalty.” Each of the ponies nod their heads when the princess introduces them to us. I do figure this was named after some child.
“Nice to meet you,” Kicker replies. “First Sergeant Keane. This here is Corporal Carter, our radio operator. And here is Lance Corporal Brooke, support marksman. These two boys are Honeydew, and Cutup. Spec Ops.”
“N-nice to meet you, as well,” Twilight speaks, almost skipping on her words.
“We do love to stay, but we must get back to our boys waiting below, then head back to our command,” Kicker says.
“You have a leader?” Celestia asks curiously. Kicker pauses for a moment, glancing at us, and then back at the princess.
“Not technically like a leader of a country, but a leader of our fleet.”
“A fleet?”
“Yeah. Um, those ships you probably saw earlier. Those are ours.”
“Wait, you mean those grey things we saw a couple days ago are boats?” Rarity asks almost shockingly, before letting out a disgusted face like she tasted something bad. “They look so dull!”
“Drama queen,” Michaels whispers to my ear.
“You’ll understand when you’re in our boots, young lady,” Honeydew replies, followed by a hefty chuckle that makes his vest shift around a little.
“I see,” Celestia mumbles rubbing her chin. “I would like to meet your leader, if that is alright.” The immense room falls silent between the ponies and us, perhaps a bit too fast for my taste. From the looks of it, I notice Twilight fidgeting her hooves on the floor like an excited child waiting for a toy.
“I’ll see what we can do, ma’am,” First Sergeant replies. “However, we need to discuss on several terms.”