//------------------------------// // Chapter 40: Back In The Day // Story: From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies? // by TLP //------------------------------// The group continued walking down the hallway, with the two Princess' separating from the main group, leaving the ponies and the humans to talk with themselves. After walking in silence for a couple moments, Twilight broke the silence. "So.. what do you gir- I mean, guys, want to do now?" They though for a second on what the could do. There wasn't much, now that they thought about it. "I don't know. Usually, when we come back from something, we just chill and talk." Jackson said. "Or hit the gym." Marcus added. "How about we all just go check out on the vehicles and just talk? I mean, I know you all still have a couple of questions." Thompson suggested. "A couple?" Rainbow said with a raised eyebrow. Thompson just shrugged in reply as the others nodded in agreement. They proceeded to walk at a slower pace towards the courtyard. As they did, Marcus was getting a bit curious on how the citizens of Ponyville were going to act when they returned. "Hey Twilight?" "Yeah?" "How do you think the citizens of Ponyville will act when we return? I'm still kinda surprised the news of the guard being killed spread so quickly here, and I'm pretty sure the news already spread there also." Before Twilight could respond, Ironhoof answered his question instead. "I'd be surprised if it hasn't already hit Manehattan.. " "And with Rarity there, it might've spread beyond the Badlands.." Rainbow mumbled, albeit still getting glares from the other three girls. "What? I'm just sayin'!" Ironhoof continued. "Let me rephrase; Probably. The guard who was killed, Romulus, was taken to Ponyville General, where his twin brother, Remus, followed-" "Wait a minute, hang on.." Dempsey cut the guard off mid-sentance. "That guy had a twin brother?!" He asked. Ironhoof nodded with a slight sadness expressed on his face. Dempsey's eyes shot open with surprise. "Oh shit.." "Looks like you got a guard to talk to when we get back, dude..." Kevin said, patting Dempsey's shoulder, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "Let's just hope he's forgiving, and won't try to rip your throat out." "Don't worry, we'll be there when we get back. Besides, it's not like he can really hurt us.." Kevin said, he then turned to Ironhoof. "No offense to the other guards, or you." Ironhoof waved it off, but Kayla bumped in. "I don't know, dude. When someone you know gets killed, especially if it's your brother or family member, it can fuel you with unstoppable anger..." Kayla said teasingly. The other chuckled, except for Marcus, who just walked in silence as they walked, and seemed to be deep in thought. Thompson noticed the look on his face and nudged him. "Hey Sarge, you alright?" He asked, breaking his trance. Marcus just nodded in reply as he listened in on the conversation. "Yeah, remember when we went on that one tour in Iraq, and had to calm down an entire family to-" Jackson started to remind them of an event in which they had to calm down a family that had lost their mother and son in an accidental airstrike while searching for ISIS troops, but Kayla bumped him in the shoulder and shook her head. Jackson got the message as he turned back around towards the ponies. "Nevermind." The ponies were about to ask, until Thompson started chuckling out of nowhere. The others looked at him with a look of confusion. His chuckling then turned into a full-blown laughter. "What are you laughing about?" Jackson asked with an eyebrow raised. Thompson then controlled his laughter as he turned to face the other three Marines. "Speaking of Iraq, you remember our second mission there as a group? When we were on the lookout for some tanks that some members of ISIS stole from the Iraqi Army?" Thompson said. The others stopped for a second to think about what could have been so funny, but then it hit them. "Oh... OH! You mean when we went into that village and our old Lieutenant and some Iraqi soldier asked the locals if they'd seen any tanks?" Kayla asked. Thompson nodded as the Marines started laughing at the memory, but the ponies were utterly confused. "What's so funny?" Applejack asked with an eyebrow raised. "Oh man, do we got a story to tell you..." Thompson said as he started to explain the events on that day in detail. July 6, 2016 Before the Tel-Aviv War In the neighborhoods of Fallujah, Iraq The Middle East Back before the entire Cryptid outbreak, Marcus and his entire squad were new to the whole thing. The 'F.N.G's if you will. They were stationed in one of the camps, called Camp Baharia, and were taken out by their old Lieutenant, named Keith Zennins, to the bustling neighborhoods of Fallujah to try to get any information on the locals about ISIS members and insurgents rolling around in stolen M1A3 Abrams tanks they stole from the Iraqi Army. They were driving into a somewhat dense neighborhood in a heavily modified Humvee, which had no doors, no roof, and had a .50 Cal turret on the back. It had enough room for five Marines, and one gunner. The Humvee stopped as the four Marines and the Lieutenant hopped out, along with an Iraqi soldier, who would double as a translator. Keith turned around to the other Marines. "Alright, you four stay here and guard the Humvee. Me and Meesh here are gonna go and ask the locals for any signs of tanks, or tank ruins, alright?" "Yes sir!" The Marines replied in unison. Keith nodded as him and the Iraqi soldier walked down the sand road, while Marcus and two of the other Marines set a defensive perimeter around the Humvee, kneeling with their weapons down as they watched the Lieutenant and the Iraqi soldier talked to two of the locals. One who was elder and seemed to be having a goat with a rope as a leash, like a pet, while the other was an elder woman wearing black clothing. Thompson was in charge of gunning the .50Cal, so he, along with the others, were watching them. After a while, he got the nerve to speak. "Dude... what do you think they're saying?" He asked to no one in particular. After a couple of seconds of thinking, Jackson spoke up. "Excuse me Meesh..." Kayla said in a weak, fragile tone, clearly mocking their Lieutenant as he saw him talk to the Iraqi soldier for him to translate to the two locals. "Tell the man that we come in friendship." "Then Meesh is all: 'Dude! My big American friends are going to fuck you up if you don't show him some blown-up tanks!' " Jackson mocked the Iraqi soldier as he saw him talk to the locals. Marcus then spoke up. "Then the Haji's all: 'Habadabada? Daba daba'. " He said, clearly mocking the the elder man as he talked to Meesh. "Then Meesh is all: 'Dude, these Iraqis love the fact that we are here. They fucking love freedom, and they thought the fireworks last night were fucking wicked, dude'. You Americans have killed a lot of sand. The sand was very eevill.' " Jackson said in a Middle-Eastern accent, as he watched the elder man talk to the two. Then, Kayla got into the mocking-spree again. "Then the Lieutenant's all: 'Meesh, I just shit my panties.' " She said in the same tone as Jackson, getting a chuckle from Jackson himself as she continued. " 'Tell the nice man that if he doesn't show me at least one blown up tank, I'll look very stupid and the other officers will laugh at me.' " "And Meesh is all: 'Dude, throw me a friggin bone here. How 'bout a friggin puck-up truck with bald tires?' " Jackson said. "Bro, and the Haji's all: 'Habdaba? Dabity-daba.' " Marcus said. "Then Meesh is: 'Lieutenant, this Haji dude is bummed he can't save your career. He's got no tanks, but check it out. You can have his bitchin' daughter.' " "And the Lieutenant's all weepy and shit." Kayla said as Keith and Meesh walked back to the Humvee, with Meesh carrying the goat in his arms. "Fucking frat-house pussy..." Keith then looked up at the Marines. "Back to camp, I'll ride with Team Two." He ordered. The Marines got up as they climbed into the Humvee. Marcus stood up from his crouched position and looked at Meesh. "Hey." Meesh said as he approached the Humvee. "What'd the old man say?" Marcus asked. Meesh stopped walking as he explained. "Ah, he's afraid we're going to bomb his village tonight." He then sighed. "LT turned it down..." He said, looking down at the goat. "And I am really hungry." "Mount up." Marcus said as he awaited Meesh to climb into the Humvee first. As he did, Jackson noticed Meesh and spoke up. "You take the fur off before you eat it, right?" He asked. Meesh just shrugged as Jackson shook his head with a smile and turned on the Humvee. He then drove it down the road, where the rest of the Humvee convoy was awaiting them. As they did, they heard Keith's voice over the radio explaining the situation. "Assassin, this is Assassin Two Actual, over." "This is Assassin Actual, Send it." "Uh.. we have found some indication of ISIS tanks and heavy armor operating in the area, but uh.. evidence on which devasive EDA is... inconclusive so far, over?" Keith said. The Marines laughed as they drove with the convoy back to base. End of flashback The Marines were just starting to recover from their laughing as they regained themselves and looked at the ponies. They were a bit nervous, but the only ones who were even snickering were Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "We never did find the tank..." Marcus added as they opened the doors that lead back to the courtyard. Mike and Randy chuckled "Why the hell can't the Army be like you guys when it comes to fucking around?" Mike said. The Marines shrugged as they walked along. "Uh.. this might be a bit late, but what exactly is a Tank?" Rainbow asked as she floated above the group. "I'll put it in the simplest words I can. Think of it kinda like the Stryker over there." Marcus pointed at the Stryker. "But it has a huge cannon in the front, has nearly inpenetrable armor, kinda like a tortoise, but it moves quite fast for its weight and overall size. Plus, it's got tracks instead of wheels." "Alright.. I can kinda get the picture.. kinda." Rainbow said honestly as they walked towards the vehicles, which were both under a light blue dome of magical energy. Marcus stopped and pulled out his IPhone. "Here, I think I got an image of a tank here somewhere.." Marcus said as he slid through the long list of pictures he and his squad took in the Middle East. "Uh... there it is!" He then shows the screen to Rainbow, along with the other three girls taking a peek. "Woah..." The girls said in unison, with Ironhoof's eyes widening in surprise. "That thing looks bucking sweet!"Rainbow said, pumping a hoof into the air. "What's it called again?" "It's called the M1A3 Abrams Tank. One of the best there was. That huge tube is its main gun, or cannon. And does it pack a punch." Rainbow and the girls let out an 'awwww' as Marcus put away his phone. As he did, Dempsey nudged him. "How the hell does your phone work here?" He asked. Marcus shrugged. "I don't know. I'm guessing it still works because when we spawned here, it did some sort of electromagnetic pulse or something? I'm not complaining." They then looked at the force field around the vehicles. "Looks like Shining wasn't kidding. Heh. Trust intensifies." He thought as he put a hand on the barrier. "Need a hoof with that?" The humans and ponies turned around, noticing Shining Armor walking out of the doors, along with two other guards. "Morning." "Likewise." Kevin said. "Can you take off the force fields from our vehicles?" Shining nodded as he walked towards the vehicles and deactivated the force fields. The Marines and soldiers thanked him as they went to check on the Stryker and Little Bird respectively. Dempsey and Kevin walked in via the back, and checked the insides. Dempsey turned the Stryker on, emitting a roar that made the ponies cover their ears. Dempsey saw that the gas was at a steady 94%, and that all of its electronical equipment was functioning, except for its GPS, which was static and showed the words 'No Satellite Service'. "Gee, I wonder why..." Dempsey thought sarcastically as he turned to Kevin, who was sitting down on his seat, and was swiveling the turret around, making sure it wasn't jammed. Kevin then switched on the FLIR thermal imaging, and aimed the turret at the ponies. "I see you..." Kevin snickered as he saw their eyes widen. He then turned the turret another direction as he switched the turret offline, and stood up from his chair, turning to Dempsey. "Is everything good on your end?" "Yeah, everything's stable. You?" "Exactly the way we left it." "Then let's go out there and talk with the others." Dempsey said. Kevin nodded as they walked out of the Stryker, closing the back doors. Meanwhile, in the Little Bird, Mike and Randy checked their NVG's and switched the Little Bird on. It made a slight whining sound as it came to life. In less then a minute, its rotors were spinning rapidly, and picking up some dust from the ground below them. They switched to thermal, then night-vision, then regular, giving each other a thumbs up. Mike checked the weapons. Its Hellfire missiles were all ready to use, and were stocked. Its 2.75 inch rocket tubes were mostly full for the most part, and its 7.62mm M134 miniguns were also ready for use. Randy then climbed out, shutting down the Little Bird as they gave a thumbs up to the Marines. "The Little Bird is ready for use at anytime. We just need to oil some stuff here and there, and we'll be good." Randy exclaimed. "The Stryker is in perfect condition, but still has a shit-ton of mud in the front. We'll take care of it later. The only thing we should do right now with the Stryker is reload that Browning." Dempsey said. "I'm on it." Kevin said as he jogged back into the Stryker, and climbed into the back, looking around the storage area to find a box filled with .50 Cal rounds for the Browning turret. "So now what?" Rainbow asked, getting bored by the second. "We can just sit here and talk about some more random shit." Mike suggested. They all nodded as the Marines sat on top of a couple of hay stacks, while the pilots leaned against their Little Bird. "What about you Army guys?" Marcus asked, pointing at them. "You guys got any funny stories to tell us?" "We got one.." Kevin shouted as he walked out of the Stryker, holding a two hundred round ammo box in his hands. "When we were stationed in Camp Phoenix in Kabul. It was when I first really met Dempsey, before we went into action." He said as he threw the ammo box on top of the Stryker, making it hit the roof with a loud 'clang'. "Alright then. Enlighten us." Jackson said. "Gladly." Kevin replied as he climbed on the side. June 14, 2016, 1:37 AM Camp Phoenix, Kabul, Afghanistan The Middle East Kevin was also new to the whole thing. He was partnered with a Sergeant named Dempsey, which he sworn he could've remembered that name from a video game he played as a teenager. He was assigned to be the main gunner of the Stryker's remote turret system, with Dempsey being in control of driving the thing. It was midnight in the camp, but most of the people in the camp were still wide-awake, and working on their vehicles, eating, working out, or just goofing off in general. For Kevin, he'd always try to go for the fourth option. As he got out of the bathroom stalls, scratching his ass, he walked towards a group of FNG's who were just talking about random shit, mostly about how their wives or girlfriends miss them, and how hard they're gonna fuck them when they get back to the States. One of them, and officer that went my the nickname, 'Ray-Ray', noticed Kevin approaching him. "Good dump, Private?" He asked. "Excellent." Kevin replied. "Shit my brains out. Not too hard, not too runny." "Sucks when it's runny, and you have to wipe fifty times.." Said another soldier named Twombly. "That's not what I'm talking about. If it's too hard, or too soft, then something's not right. You might just have a problem that could affect your combat readiness." Kevin replied, getting a couple chuckles from the soldiers. "And it should be a bit acidic, Twombly. Burn your asshole a little when it comes out." Ray said. "Yeah, well, maybe on your little bitch asshole, Ray." Kevin replied. "... from all the cock that's been stuffed up it." The other soldiers gave out 'Oooh's in surprise he talked back to an officer, let a lone a Private doing so, but Ray was an easy-going guy, so he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Man..." Twombly groaned. "We soldiers are so homoerotic. It's all we talk about! You ever realize how homoerotic this whole thing is?" "Shit.. not as much as the Marines..." Ray said, getting a couple of 'Hooah's from the soldiers. They then resumed talking, but Kevin looked beyond Ray's shoulder, noticing what seemed to be the silhouette of a man laying on the ground below a Humvee. "I'll be right back..." Kevin said as he walked away from the group and towards the man below the Humvee. As he approached, the man heard his footsteps and turned his head to face him. "Hey! C'mon down here!" The man said in a loud whisper. Kevin shrugged as he went prone and crawled below the Humvee. "What's your name?" "Private Kevin Marston, sir." "Alright then, Kevin. My name's Sergeant Dempsey Grant. Aren't you the one who's gonna be controlling the gun on my Stryker?" He asked. Kevin nodded. "Well, I have something I need you to do." "What is it, sir?" Kevin asked. "See those Abrams tanks crossing the bridge there?.." Dempsey pointed at two Abrams tanks crossing a makeshift bridge over a nearly dry river, heading towards a dirt road next to the Humvee. "Wait until you can feel the ground shaking." Kevin nodded as they waited for the tanks to go through the checkpoint. After a couple of moments, the soldiers let the tanks in. Kevin then heard the ground shake underneath him as the tanks rumbled closer. He turned to Dempsey. "What do you want me to do." "Okay... look, if you lay with your cock against the ground while the tanks go by, it feels fucking great." Dempsey said. To say that Kevin was stumped would be an understatement. He started at Dempsey in utter confusion. "C'mon! Try it!" Kevin hesitated for a moment, until he shrugged his shoulders and did what he was told. As he did, the tanks got closer and the ground was now shaking like an earthquake. Kevin's face turned into one of utter shock as he let out a gasp of pure pleasu- "OKAY! MOVING ON!" Dempsey shouted, stopping Kevin before he could go into further detail. The guards, Marines, and the girls were laughing their asses off, literally rolling on the floor. "Oh man! I can't... BREATHE!" Mike said, as he grasped his sides. After a couple of minutes, the laughing stopped, with only a couple of snickers now and then. Then, Ironhoof spoke up. "You humans are more hilarious than I thought!" "What about you guards? Got any good stories to tell us?" Jackson asked, looking at the guards. "Eh.. I guess it's only fair." One of the Pegasus guards said. "Alright, I got a short one, but eh.." He hesitated. "As long as you make us at least chuckle, it's all good." Marcus said, giving the guard a reassuring smile. The guard nodded as he started to speak. "Okay, so back when I was at boot, we were just going through our second week. It was early morning, so we were just doing our standard crap. Y'know, pull-ups, wing-ups, the usual." The guard said. The humans nodded as he continued. "So not long after we got out of the mess hall, we heard that one of the other recruits got in trouble for trying to sneak in food into the barracks. So the Drill Sergeant made us do even more wing-ups, along with the screw-up. When we did, he told the screw-up to shout 'WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?!' every time we pushed up, since he told him that that was the only thing he'd learn to say." The guard explained, making the humans laugh. "So as we did wing-ups, the screw up did what he was told. It went like this:" " 'Down!' The D.S shouted." 'One!' We shouted back." 'Up!' " 'WOULD YOU LIKE FRIED WITH THAT?!' The guy shouted." 'Down!' 'Two' 'Up!' 'WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?!' "I never laughed so hard in my life. I almost failed the wing-ups because the ground below me was wet and slippery from the tears I let out from laughing." The guard said. The humans' laughter turned into sheer pandemonium. After a couple of more moments, they stopped laughing and just relaxed. Sitting there and fidgiting with their stuff and equipment for a couple of minutes, until Randy and Mike spoke up. "I'm bored as hell.. what time is it?" The Pegasus guard got up and flew back into the hallway. After a moment, he flew out. "It's 9:35" "Damn.. when did Celestia ask for us to meet her at the chow hall?" They all thought for a second before Kayla spoke up with the answer. "About 11:15. Why? Got something in mind?" She asked. Mike and Randy nodded simultaneously. They then turned to the girls and the guards. "You all want to take a quick fly by around Canterlot in the Little Bird?" Randy asked, patting the door of the Little Bird. Their eyes widened and gleamed with excitement as they nodded vigorously. "Yeah!" "I-if it's alright with you, of course..." "Sure!" Randy and Mike chuckled as they motioned them to climb into the Little Bird. Mike then turned to the Marines and the gunners. "You guys wanna come along?" "Sure, why not?" Marcus said, picking up his helmet and strapping it on. "I'll tag along" Kayla said. "I'll pass. I want to check out the Stryker." Jackson said, with Thompson nodding. "Suit yourselves." Mike said as he climbed in and put on his helmet, sliding down the visors. As the ponies and the two Marine climbed in, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see that a certain rainbow-maned Pegasus was anxious for something. "Can I race this thing? I want to see how fast it is!" She said with a competitive smile. Mike shook his head, making her smile turn into a frown. "Sorry! We only got so much fuel. Until we can find more, we're just gonna fly around the city once and land back just in time!" Rainbow nodded as she leaned back on the seat, pouting, but still willing to join the humans and her friends regardless. "It might not have the speed..." Randy said as he turned on the Little Bird. "But it's got the firepower!" "I second that!" Marcus said as he sat on the left side of the Little Bird, his legs hanging from the side as he strapped himself in, along with Kayla doing the same thing on the right side. "Yo Marcus!" Kayla shouted as the rotors of the Little Bird gained speed, therefore making it louder. "Can I borrow your shades? This freaking dust is gonna make me go blind!" Marcus nodded as he threw the shades to Kayla, with Twilight aiding him with her magic. "Thanks, Twi!" The Marines said in unison. She nodded as she handed them to Kayla. The Little Bird was now causing an uproar, as the people and ponies surrounding the Little Bird stepped away, covering their faces. "You think you can play a song while we fly?" Randy asked loudly. "Gladly!" Marcus replied as the Little Bird rose from the ground, swiftly until the soldiers and ponies below were merely colored dots. He pulled out his IPhone once more and looked through his playlist. He then pressed the screen, picking a good song as the Little Bird lurched forward and started increasing in speed, flying away from the courtyard. "Do you got some sort of speaker system in here that can make songs louder?" Marcus shouted at the pilots. "Yeah! Just plug it in that little container, and put on the song!" Mike shouted back. "It better be good!" Marcus nodded as he did what Mike instructed. He then pressed the screen again, starting up the song. Guitars started playing smoothly as more instruments joined along. Then, an empty, echo-y voice joined in. "Ooooohhh..." "Ooooohhh..." "Ooooohhh..." "Oooohhh..." Then, the actual lyrics started to play as the Little Bird moved forward. "Oh, a storm is threat'ning. My very life today. If I don't get some shelter... Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.." The chorus sung by a female started to play as the Little Bird leaned to the left side, with Marcus grabbing onto the side for support as it approached a tower. "War, children! It's just a shot away.. It's just a shot away! War... children! It's just a shot away.. It's just a shot away-y!..." A small solo came along as the Little Bird lowered its speed and flew lower as it got closer to the tower. Then, the lyrics came back into play "Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'.. My very street today. Burns like a red coal carpet.. Mad bull lost its way." As the main chorus came back, the Little Bird did a fly by in front of the tower. Marcus noticed that Princess Celestia was standing there, looking at the Little Bird as it flew in front of her. Her ears perked up as the song played into her ears. "War, children! It's just a shot away... It's just a shot away! War... children! It's just a shot away.. It's just a shot away-y!..." Marcus waved at Celestia with a smile as she looked at them in shock, the Little Bird flying away, with her still looking on as the chorus went one once more. "War, children! It's just a shot away... It's just a shot away! War... children! It's just a shot away... It's just a shot away-y!..." A guitar solo played as Marcus looked below his feet, noticing a crown of ponies looking up at the Little Bird. He waved down as the lyrics came back in full swing. "Rape, Murder! It's just a shot away... It's just a shot away!" He then saw two grey streaks of grey soar at them from the crowd. He then noticed that it was two members of the Wonderbolts. One of them had a fiery yellow tail, while the other had a light bluish grey tail. They looked at Marcus in confusion while keeping a good four feet from the Little Bird. Marcus just saluted to them as their ears also perked up at the music. "Rape, Murder!" It's just a shot away... It's just a shot away!" "Rape, Murder! It's just a shot away.. It's just a shot away!" Their mouths dropped at the lyrics. Marcus just laughed and mouthed. 'Keep listening! It gets better!' The lyrics then returned to their ears. "The floods is threat'ning... My very life today. Gimme, gimme shelter! Or I'm gonna fade away... War, children! It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away! It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away! I tell you love, sister. It's just a kiss away.. It's just a kiss away! It's just a kiss away, It's just a kiss away! It's just a kiss away, It's just a kiss away, kiss away, kiss away!" The Wonderbolts stopped flying and looked at Marcus and the Little Bird with confusion. Marcus just laughed as the Little Bird increased speed and flew away.