"The Marines have it [Pride], and benefit from it. They are tough, cocky, sure of themselves and their buddies. They can fight and they know it."-General Mark Clark, U.S Army
"Ok Twilight. Ask away." Marcus said.
Twilight double-checked her quills and papers. Then dipped a quill in a small ink bottle and spoke "Before I really start, are you the leader of your squad over there?" She pointed a hoof at Marcus' squad.
"Yes, I am. In case you're wondering, I know quite a bit about them. I can answer for them." Marcus then turned to his squad "You guys don't mind, right?"
His squad shook there heads and each of them gave a thumbs-up.
"Okay then, great! Now, first question. Who and what are you exactly?" Twilight asked.
"We are called humans, or Homo-Sapiens, which is our scientific name. My name is Sergeant Marcus 'Hunter' Ramirez of the United States Marine Corps, or USMC for short, and member of the Rapid Reaction Force. Just call me Marcus or Hunter. Whichever you feel like."
Twilight stopped writing for a second "Fascinating... never thought I'd be intervewing an alien.. sorry, next question. Where are you from and where were you born?"
Marcus replied "A galaxy far-far away..." He smirked at the overused movie quote "...in a planet called Earth, with 7 continents, and 4 big oceans, splitting some apart. One of the continents was called North America, with 4 major countries. The biggest on was called the United States of America, which were basically 50 united states ruled under a Democratic government. One of those states was called California, in the city of Compton, near a bigger city called Los Angeles. I was born there.."
Rainbow spoke up "Compton? California? Sounds alot like Clopton, Coltifornia if you ask me.."
"Oh no, not the cheesy, city references!" Marcus thought, but then spoke "Does YOUR version of Compton have gang violence and drugs?" He asked.
Rainbow looked a bit suprised at the question "Um.. no. Clopton's pretty peaceful. Why? Does YOUR version of Clopton have those things?" She asked, playfully mocking him.
Marcus sighed "Oh yeah... plenty. That kind of stuff took my.." He stuttered "...my... can we switch questions please? I don't wanna talk about where I came from right now..."
Twilight quickly responded "Of course. Uh.. you mentioned being a Marine for your country. Is that like somepony who works with fish or something?"
Marcus regained his composure and chuckled lightly "Not exactly. See, the United States has a huge military, and I mean HUGE. They had the world's second biggest army, the biggest air force, and the biggest navy. I am part of the Marine Corps, which is a branch of the Navy, but we consider ourselves better than the standard army." He turned to his squad "Oorah?"
"Oorah!" They replied in unison.
Marcus chuckled and continued "I joined the Marine Corps the day I turned 18."
Twilight spoke in a bit of suprise "Woah.. ponies here sign up for the Royal Guard at age 23 or more. They won't accept younger than that."
Marcus continued "After I passed training, I worked up the ranks and joined the Marines Special Operations Regiment, or MSOR."
Rainbow spoke up again "What makes the...uh... MSOR different?"
"Well, for starters, only the best of the best Marines can join, and we do missions regular Marines can't handle. Like hostage rescues, takedowns, and assasinations." Marcus explained
"Wow.. a-assasinations? Like... killing?" She asked in suprise.
Marcus sighed again "Human history isn't all sunshine and rainbows no pun intended. Our history is filled with wars and gruesome battles. In fact, we've had two world wars and several others wars after it. I joined the Corps to defend my country, my people, and my freinds. I'd be more than happy to die for them. And I have killed, yes, when I was in the Tel-Aviv War. Was I proud of doing so? No. Did I enjoy it? No. It's a Marine's job to kill or be killed or get your buddy next to you killed. It changed me... but I did it because if I didn't, more would suffer, more would die... And before you ask, I won't even lay a finger on you girls. Nor will my squad."
Twilight seemed rather convinced, but Rainbow was in shock by what she heard. He basically told her that he killed for a living. But she knew there was more to it. She then came up with another question
"Why would people kill each other like nothing?"
"Rules, religions, belifs, politics, rescources, some just simply want to see the world burn... It was a cruel world... then, the cryptids showed up.." He said.
Twilight asked "Cryptids? What are those?"
Marcus answered "Well according to the scientists that studied them, these cryptid things were around longer than humans... 300 million years, I think. These things were found by a man named David Archer during one of his missions in an area called Swattee Valley, in a country named Pakistan. When the higher ups debreifed him, they though he was fuckin' crazy...until the cryptids showed up in the U.S during the war.."
Twilight scribblled furiously "Which state was it, California?"
Marcus explained "No, It hit the state of Colorado... when I got the news, I re-enlisted to join the newley-formed Rapid Reaction Force, or R.R.F. Along with my squad, we became part of the first CIF Team."
Twilight then pondered "So just the four of you, right? Were part of the Team?.."
Marcus shook his head and sadly spoke "No.. there were originally six, but they were... killed during one of our missions.."
Twilight gasped silently "I'm...so sorry.. I-"
Marcus cut her off "No need to apoligize. You didn't know. It's not your fault."
Rainbow then softly spoke "Can you tell us why you... joined the R.R.F?"
Marcus nodded and spoke to her "I joined because..." He became hesitant "..because..." He closed his eyes, exhaled and said coldly
"They took her away from me.." He said, gritting his teeth.
"Wh-who did they take away from you?.." Rainbow asked sheepishly.
"My fiancèe..her name was Lorita.. she helped me through my life.. my fucked up life.. I promised myself and to her that nothing would take her from me. She was like the sun slicing through the dark clouds of hell. My personal hell. I was gonna keep that promise. But those..FUCKING CRYPTIDS... killed her.. I wasn't there to help her. I only spoke to her.. I didn't see her for a year before. And I never fucking will! Why?! CAUSE THOSE FUCKS. KILLED. HER. AND KILLED EVERYONE ON THE DAMN PLANET!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, then put his hands on his face. Then coldly muttered
"I vowed that I'd kill every Godforsaken cryptid that dared to even look at me. We ended up here by sacrificing our lives so that a chosen few could live and pass on my vow.. but no matter how many of them I kill, I can't bring her back. I-" He was cut off when he felt several cyan feathers embrace him in a freindly, comforting hug. Along with the rest of the ponies. His squad also made a circle around them, making the hug even stronger. Marcus then returned the embrance with his own.
They stayed like this for about a minute, then let go.
"Thanks.. I needed that." He chuckled and smiled.
The rest smiled in return, then Twilight spoke up. "If you all don't mind, we could head back to my place for some lunch. I want to send this to Princess Celestia soon also."
Marcus smiled "Sure, just let us pack our stuff."
The squad started packing as the girls waited. Jackson walked with a big, black box full of ammunition, until he tripped over a rock, the box flew out of his hands, spewing rounds onto the ground.
Kayla walked to him and helped him up "You clumsy dumbass.." She joked.
Twilight went over to help by picking up the box. She turned it and noticed yellow words on it. They read:
7.62mm NATO Armor Piercing...
"7.62mm? Wait.. the stuff in the basement!" Twilight remembered as she called to Marcus..
"What's up?" He asked
"7.62mm, I saw this writing on some stuff in my basement!" She said excitedly.
"Wait, what?!" Marcus said, clearly shocked "Twilight, if you're serious, take us there ASAP." He then turned to his squad, who were picking up shells one by one. He turned to Twilight "Um.. can you help 'em out?"
"Of course!" She said, using her magic to levitate the shells off the ground and into the box.
Marcus yelled at the group, waving his hand over him "Okay people, lets go!"