//------------------------------//
// The Law and the Campaign 
// Story: Mercs on a Mission 
// by Gairenard 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 9- The Law and the Campaign


Derpy trotted along the streets of Ponyville, the day was of to a good start. A young stallion ran past her, he seemed to be in a bit of a rush. An indistinguishable cry of a distressed mother flowed behind the child’s trail. “You get back here young man!" Derpy saw that she had tears flowing from her eyes as she went galloping after him. "What's your father going to say when he finds out you're fighting humans!" It was a good start to a melancholy day.
The war is officially on and what just happened was a young stallion running, as one of the many, to sign up for battle.
"Of course Celestia chooses now to start recruiting." Thought Derpy, "The last thing she wanted was to imply that she was going to war at all. Now she need forces, and fast." She had to keep moving, in her bag was expensive packages for Zecora. The overseer herself must make important deliveries every now and then. 
As she continued to walk from one side of town to the other, she wondered how other ponies were reacting to the prospect of war. "Celestia needs to be real convincing if she wants a good army in short term." Military recruiting is completely voluntary in Equestrian society. Exempt only if you get a personal invitation from an alicorn. The best way to convince the ponies without pushing the laws is a strategic plan that originally came from WW1; propaganda and advertising agencies.
This thought caused Derpy to observe her surroundings and facehoof afterwards for not noticing before hoof. 
Posters, flags, and banners promoting military service had been placed on every other building; they had suddenly appeared overnight all over town. 
Derpy carried on, but couldn't help giving the posters her attention, much like other citizens. One showed an earth pony standing up with his front hooves on top of a human's chest, while Celestia's symbol provided light to the background. It read on the top: "Fight against the inferior, Join the Forces today!"
Another poster on the next building across the street was of a hoof standing on a hand, crushing it. It read, "Hooves are stronger than hands!" 

Derpy entered the local market and smiled to those who said hi. She turned to the Sweet Apple's stand, and saw a profound image. A large poster was divided in half, one half had Applejack standing proudly with a coil of rope leaning on her leg, but the other half had a thin scrawny human wearing a helmet too big for his head, and using gear that had seen better days. The text at the bottom was of size and number that it made you stop whatever you where doing so you could read it. “This pony can buck her apple trees to oblivion if she desired, this human could barely make the tree shake. Join the Equestrian Army, its an easy fight.” Looking over to the actual stand, she noticed a large banner over it, and almost growled in frustration. “Sweet Apple Acres, proud sponsor of the Equestrian cause.” 
Applejack waved to Derpy unaware of her distress. Derpy smiled and waved, but as soon as AJ turned to mingle with a customer, she frowned slightly and rolled her eyes. “Of course, if Celestia presents a business with enough cash, I can bet my wings that they will be more than happy to promote this war.” Just as she was leaving the market, a Rainbow pegasus flew over head pulling a “Join the Army” banner across the sky. “And not surprisingly, Twilight’s friends will most likely be doing everything they can to support Celestia.” More posters depicted similar statements, comparisons of species, or simply promoting the cause in some other way. A poster showed a shadowy figure of a human with unnaturally sharp hands reaching around a mother and her filly, “Keep those hands off! Buy war bonds!”
Another depicted a lunar guard standing on a cliff overlooking a human encampment, with light provided by Luna’s symbol as the moon. “We attack at night, Join the Lunar division.”

Predictably, as Derpy passed by SugarCube Corner, she saw an add in the windows. "25% off on patriotic baked goods." A line extended from the doorway indicating successful sales. She turned way to look somewhere else, but only saw more propaganda, “Idle hooves do human’s work!” 
Slightly peeved now, she marched on through town. Derpy decided that the TF-S wouldn't want to see the posters, but they needed to regardless. So, when she sure no pony was looking, she swiped posters from the walls and moved on. She only glanced at the Carousel Bouquet. It sported a new kind of line of patriotic clothes.
She passed by the Golden Oak library, a bill board was planted in the tree canopy. “If you want to contribute to the war without going to battle, listen closely my ponies. Instead of throwing metal trash away, donate it to your closest recruitment centre, and get a discount on select taxes. Keep an eye out for markets and businesses supporting the cause, shopping from them helps fund the food soldiers will eat. If you own a business, firm, or other company, and you want to contribute; send us  surplus supplies for a larger tax refund. Lastly, as a herd you must all be frugal on any or all resources. Your soldiers need them more than you do.”

As she neared the edge of town, she relaxed at the sight of FlutterShy's cottage, what would she possibly be able to advertise? A shy pony like herself wouldn't dare to publicly advertise. 

Derpy thought too soon.

A colossal flock of birds erupted from the tree canopy, each one holding flyers. A single bird approached Derpy and dropped a flyer in her hoof before retreating to the tree, and emerging with another flyer. Derpy looked down upon the small paper, the reasons why you should come to the recruiting center and benefits filled the page.
“Realy?!”
She tucked the paper into her bag regardless, and moved on to the everfree forest. At the edge of the forest, Derpy inhaled some bravery, and darted into the Everfree. Speed was key, too slow and you become prey to “God knows what.” Too fast, and anything unexpected can catch you off guard before you have time to react. She made deliveries like this before, and weaved through the trees like water. Her wings flapped rapidly for speed, and were kept close to her body to reduce size. 
Zecora's house was visible and the lights were thankfully on. Derpy’s wings flew open and a wall of air collided with her, the drag slowing the flight and almost bringing the pegasus to a total stop. A few quick flaps and she made contact with the ground.
Almost instantly, the door to the voodoo tree house opened and a humble Zebra stepped out to greet her good friend. “Ahh Derpy, good to see you again. Come inside my humble den.” Derpy huffed a few times and nodded her head. The ceiling and walls had voodoo decor, but of a friendly variety. Even so though the place did carry an ominous feel. A large black cauldron sat in the middle of the room with boiling water inside.
Derpy reached into her bag, and pulled out multiple jars with alien plants with in them. “Here’s your..uh..ingredients?” The plants did look quite odd. “Ingredients? Yes that is true, but not the ones for this particular brew.” Gesturing to the pot of water, Zecora took the jars anyway, and placed them on a high shelf. Derpy took out a piece of paper and red the amount due for the delivery. “Now Zecora, you said that you would pay in some books? This delivery was quite pricy.” The zebra sighed and trotted over to a bookshelf. “These books are expensive and rare, but the recipes are finally copied, with due care.” Hoofing the books over to Derpy, she calmly took them and placed them into her bag. When she looked up, she caught a glimpse of an ornate wooden box being hidden behind books from the ones that were just removed.
Zecora turned to Derpy, having caught the glance. “Remember the rath Trixie brought? That box contains the amulet that started the wrought.”
“Ohh.” Derpy said in an intriguing manner. The box was still fascinating, even though she had no reason to stare at it.
“My efforts to rid of it are so far for naught.”
Silence, apart from the bubbling water, made the place more disturbing than before. Derpy seemed lost in the moment, her eyes focused on where the box was.
“I must leave to collect native plants, one is called; the devil’s dance.” This broke Derpy’s concentration.
“Oh, sounds hard to get.” Zecora only nodded. 

Outside the pair waved each other goodbye, and one flew straight up, while the other trotted along the winding path.

A few minutes later, Derpy came back down. The forest was awfully quiet.

Derpy tried to open the door, but found that the zebra locked it. Kicking down the door, Derpy ran inside and charged for the bookcase. The amulet…
Derpy opened the box and the alicorn amulet was still there, in all its glory. “Under normal circumstances I would never do this, but…” She held the jewelry in her hooves, it was warm and smooth to the touch. She heard whispers, from the amulet, calling for a new host. “Oh! The TF-S will love this, after all, humans can’t perform any major magic!”
Taking a paper from her bag, it was the PHR symbol, she placed it where the box was. “It feels better knowing you're blaming it on a group of terrorists that don't exist….still,” Derpy looked around the room, she had to make the place look vandalized, like they broke in and randomly searched for the amulet. Otherwise it would clearly lead to her. “Ohh..I don’t want to…I’m not that kind of pony.” 

“You don’t, and ye won’t.”

Frightened frozen from the rhyme, the mare stared at the door way. Demo then appeared through the doorway, opening it suddenly. “BOO!”
“EEEP!”
Demoman found this adorable and amusing, but refuse to laugh at her reaction out of kindness. He still had a unstable smile. Meanwhile, Derpy was understandably infuriated. “Buck you Demo! I thought you were Zecora! Try that again and I might buck your eyepatch off!” 
“My apologies lassie.” He observed the room. “I was getting a wee bit board so I thought I would try to see how far I could launch myself with as much stickies as I desired.”
Derpy was confused and dumbfounded, “Wouldn't that have killed you? You flew over Ponyville! How many did you use!?”
Demoman held up an orange ball, the size of a grapefruit. “They didn't reprogram the dispenser to limit the types of ammunition it could put out. These baby’s dont hurt one bit, my launcher can use them, and a few of these can soften any landing.”
Eyelander shouted from his sheath, “As for the amount of bombs? You don’t wanna know sweetheart; Demo, for the record, never do that again.”
Derpy wasn’t completely convinced, “Butt..butt, the momentum, and the G-force, and your ability to stay conscious-” She found a dark finger on her lips, “Listen, in all the years of my work, I’ve learned to not question the holes in reality, but to embrace them while you can.”
Eyelander recited a famous saying. “I reject your reality, and subsitute my own!”

"Now you watch for anything, and I'll demonize this place me-self." Derpy felt unsure about how this will work out in the long run, but figured he would have destroyed the place regardless.

Outside, Derpy waited and listened for anything to appear. The noise Demo was making made that simple task difficult. CRASH, SMASH, SNAP… "There goin to glue this back together, at IKEA." Derpy thought IKEA was a form of furniture store, but maybe it also is a curse word. Eventually, after a thorough job done by Demo, he emerged from the house with a smile on his face. “Satisfied with yourself Demo?”
“Eye!”
“Well,” Derpy lowered her eyelids half way and grew a keen smile. “How are we getting back to the base?” Demoman’s smile vanished into thin air, “Ah, bloody hell.” Derpy held the amulet box in her hooves and waved it in a taunting motion, “I’m not giving you this unless we go together.”
Demo found himself cornered, “I...uh..Oh! One o'clock, scrumpy time!”
She merely sat there patiently, “Take your time.”
Demo struggled to down the bottle out of distressed thoughts. Eyelander didn’t see the big deal. “What’s your deal with keeping it secret? She is the nicest pony I ever met, and you need to remember what your mother taught you about treating females with respect!” Demo choked on his alcohol. 
Derpy pleaded with a sincere heart and baby eyes, “Pleeaase?” 
“Bloody hell! Ye used the magic word…”
“So-o-o? How do you do it-Tell me-tell me!” She was bouncing like Pinkie Pie in anticipation. “Well,” he turned his arm and showed her the bracelet. “We use teleportation watches.”
She stopped bouncing, “Oh, I imagined a more sophisticated set up…” She suddenly got angry, “Why did you keep this a secret?!” 
“Lassie, please understand that we don’ trust anyone other than fellow members. Not even our employers. It be part of our line of work.”

Derpy then got hurt slightly, “So, you guys still don't trust me, after all this time?” He heard the pain swelling in her chest, “No-no, well, yes, but no. Don’ take it the wrong way Derpy, we do sincerely care for your help, and muffins.” She still looked and sounded hurt. “How can I trust your telling the truth if you don’t trust me?”
“Now lassie…” She quickly thrust the box onto him and flew into the forest. Eyelander chose to comment, “Oh, you hurt her.”
“Shut up!” He sighed a deep breath, and rubbed his hands on his face. “We do care…”
“Then show her, prove it to her.” Demo straightened up, put the box in his pocket, and pressed his teleport button. “I have an idea.”


-Over the Sea-

"Just because you have a decent ranking and a half ass reason, doesn't mean that you can shoot our God-damn prisoners!" Killing a prisoner is a war crime, and those are not treated lightly. General Sult A. Seons was standing and having a loud chat with First lieutenant Sam Nickels in his temporary station/office in Australia. "The only reason I'm not having your ass smacked is because you're a good man. But good men shouldn't pull that kind of shit off! I’m pulling contact strings here!" Sult was an older man with history written on his face. His hair was grey and almost gone but he was still healthy and well under his decorative uniform.
"Permission to speak sir?"
"Granted.”
"The laws of war apply to humanity, not equine life!"
"That right there, is the only reason why I have leeway for doing this! We need to be merciful when it comes to these terms! They probably will re-write those conditions now that you brought attention to it so congrats on that."

"Sir, they killed a lot of good men I knew!” Sam was letting his anger and frustration leak through his demeanor, “I saw one of my men get beheaded by his own knife! Another had his whole clip emptied into himself!" Sam was almost halfway through his thirties and his body was stiff like a board from all the verbal abuse he took from almost everyone for bending a delicate matter. But he was still pissed at the four legged horrors.

"We weren't prepared for it, no one was. Levitation is a right-wing bitch." The northern front assault of Australia, the ponies biggest foothold, experienced a harsh beating and had to retreat. 
With simple levitation and projectile bubbles, the few unicorns present in battle gave first combat troops some major issues. With no resistance to magic, individuals are killed in a number of gruesome ways. The most popular tactic seen thus far, is the act of stealing a soldier’s gun, and killing him with it. Or arming the grenades still attached to the soldier. The understanding of these weapons is still alien to pony kind, but even the dull ponies still figured out that if you point the gun and pull the trigger, something dies, and if you pull this and that, something explodes.

The pegasus is hard to aim at, so that was a problem as well. If you couldn’t get a feed on them, then they slash and stab before the poor victim gets a second glance. 
Earth ponies have it hardest, they can't out run the turn radius of a gun, and are easier targets to shoot. Come too close, however, and they will break you into pieces.

In the end, sheer explosions where the only known thing that could punch through magic, even then, some rockets were launched right back.
"Sam, I did as much as I could, but you can't walk away from this unscathed. Lieutenant you are now a second lieutenant, and your staying there for a while. Also you are being reassigned to a new platoon. You will be under First lieutenant Michael Zonger." Sam tried to keep a straight face, but his mouth frowned ever so slightly. "Will I still be fighting in the Australian Campaign? Sir?"
"Yes. But don't be surprised if you find yourself held back from optimistic colleges. No one wants to partake in a genocide Sam."
"Thank you General."

Sult held up his hand, "Son, I brought you here for another reason. If it were not for the stretching of an international book of laws, you would have been promoted for your valiant success in the northeast Australian colonies. I want you to compose a report of all you know and have learned from combat against the ponies specifically. We need as much info as we can get.”
“Yes sir!”
“In fact,” He leaned back in his chair, “Lecture me on what you know, right now.” 
“Don’t you have the mission report sir?” 
“I lost it. Now, humor me.”

Sam’s micro frown disappeared, and his face visibly relaxed, but his posture remained diligent and his gaze was cold. “I observed that projectile shields failed to protect against melee attackers when I killed one with my knife around a corner. But the more unicorns that got involved turned the bubble into a, level two stage force, for lack of a better term.”

“The level two shields kept all objects we threw at it out, even fighters, like a brick wall. But we did find a way around it, or, I should say through it. We had some Patton tanks with us but they were afraid to get too close to the unicorns in case they were picked up by a trained duo, and generously shot at anything they could hit. After some convincing, I got a tank to ram one of the major sheilds, and it broke right through it. The unicorns could not levitate and support a shield at the same time. Sir, let me just say that we made lots of meat pancakes that day.”

“For those fast flyers, I had men either stick close to tanks, or kept the ones holding shotguns vigilant. Those birds fall like stones with shotguns. The earth ponies do as well.”
“The hard part about those flyers if that they hide on clouds. We didn’t have a powerful enough satellite radar for that, but we used infrared goggles we had to took at suspicious or lower clouds. We found some of them.”
“We fell into a routine of squish ‘n shoot and moved forward quickly.” He stopped. “Thats basicly it sir. The ponies did not have com. or radio communication, so they couldn’t formulate a counter as a team fast enough.”

Sult looked to be taking mental notes during the course of this monologue, “Good work Sam, I’m proud of you. And so would ‘he’.”
“Thank you Sult, but this is supposed to be official business.” Sam’s original father (referred to as ‘he/him’ for sensitive reasons) died a while ago, his mother remarried to Seons, but Sam still prefered to use his last name Nickles. Its not that Sam hated his new father, but they never did get any family bonding time all those years ago. This left an emotional gap.
“I know. I know.. but pull a bullshit rule like this again and you won't be getting any help from me.”
“Yes sir.”

“Dismissed. Go get’em tiger.” Sam rolled his eyes in an agitated fashion, and stood up to leave.
As the man saluted and departed, Sult picked up his phone. The operator was quick and alert. “Yes sir?” Sult opened a drawer and picked up a light cigarette. “Get ‘him’ on the line.”
“Right away sir.” Almost instantly, the phone switched lines. “Hello?”
“Hello, good to hear from you General.” Seons lit his cigar. “I need you to send a message.”
“Oh, and what might that message entail?”
“Ask if they could send reports on any relevant findings about fighting ponies. Time is not a  factor, but they are the best insiders we have.”
“I can do that. How do you want their responses delivered to you?”
“Like any other mail.”
“Perfect...Is that all?”
“Yes.” The phone hung up. The general put the phone down, then picked it back up. “Yes sir?”
“See if you can tap me into the General of the Army, I need to have a quick chat with him about battle strategies and the P.R.A.P. If he seems to hesitate tell him that it involves the TF-S.”