//------------------------------// // Chapter 46: Aviation, Weaponry, and Spontaneity: Part 1 // Story: From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies? // by TLP //------------------------------// As the flashback ended, the girls were still awed as always, but the the Wonderbolts adviser and the Commander were very awed and surprised at the tactics and the way the executed the mission. The fact that it lasted less than an hour also impressed them. The four Marines just sat back and waited for them to respond. "Well?" Jackson asked, awaiting their response. Swordstrike shook his head and looked at the Marines "The way you pulled it off and how you worked... I have never seen anything like it before. You four have clearly been well-trained to help and work with and along with foreign and other teams. Though I will admit the ways you 'put down' the enemies you encountered were quite. Uh..." "Inhumane?" Kayla said. "Yeah... close enough, but I understand the meanings of why you all must do so. Also, I think that we may have underestimated your emotional abilities and skills." Swordstrike admitted with a pang of guilt in his voice. "Oh? How so?" Thompson asked. "Well, when we first met at the war room back in Canterlot, we thought that you were all a bit immature for the way you acted. No offense. And now that we've seen how you really act in the front lines and beyond, my mindset about that thought and any other doubts have been wiped out." He said. "Well, when you've been fighting non-stop for about 7 months, only to have your entire home obliterated by some unkmown war you never wanted, and then suddenly catch a break from out of nowhere, you tend to take advantage of it and not give a damn of what others think. Because it won't last forever." An eerie silence took over the train cabin as they all took in what Marcus just said. The Commander and Nimbius just nodded in agreement. "Yes... You have a helluva point there, sir." Nimbius said. "Although I have yet to see how you will train our men, I have high hopes for it." He said, trying to change the topic of the entire conversation as he turned to Nimbius, who was just waiting for his turn to speak. "Well, Commander Swordstrike pretty much said everything I was planning to say, but like a certain mare here..." Nimbius then looked at Rainbow Dash, who gave him a confused look. "I am also interested in those flying things that soared above you at the very end, along with the thing you made radio contact with." "Now I know why you're trying your very best to hold back the world's biggest grin..." Swordstrike muttered. Nimbius just nodded, smiling slightly, while Rainbow waited impatiently for the humans to start talking. "I think Randy and Mike should do most of the talking. Since they're the only pilots here and all." Marcus said. They all then turned to the two Night Stalkers, waiting for them to speak. "Heh, I knew you were going to include us sooner or later..." Randy said at Marcus, who just rolled his eyes and smiled. "Alright. Let's start off with a brief history on how we achieved flight, and how fast we did it. Marcus here can use his phone to show us a couple images and videos for examples." Rainbow spoke up eagerly. "This is probably the only history lesson I will ever be eager to listen to!" She said. The other mares giggled in agreement, while Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Alright then. Well, it all started when us Humans used hot air balloons, which I'm guessing you guys have?" He turned to Swordstrike, who nodded. "Yes, we use them for reconnaissance, and air diving. Some are specifically made for transporting supplies." "Yeah. Us humans used them in similar ways. Then we went on to building the very first actual 'airplane', if you could call it that. It was made by The Wright brothers, two brothers and American inventors who were credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane." Marcus then brought up his phone and showed them the image of the famous plane. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "That looks nothing like the plane we saw in the flashback.... It looks like... well, not a plane!" "Rainbow has a point. It looks like a bunch of odd objects built into each other for the sake of being... well, weird." Twilight commented. "It's because it was back in 1906. Remember, it was 2018 on Earth before we came here." Marcus informed. They both nodded before they asked another question. "How fast was that 'plane'?" Rainbow asked. "Around... 35 miles per hour." "Pffft! HAH! That's one heckuva slow piece of junk!" Rainbow insulted the machine. "Oh you just wait, Rainbow..." Mike said. "You will be eating those words very soon..." Rainbow scoffed. "Yeah, like hay I will!" "Alright then. We'll see. After a couple more years, like a decade or less, we developed more 'sophisticated' aircraft. Ones which could fly a lot faster, and were more manuverable and easier to handle. They were known as 'Bi-Planes'. A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first plane was a bi-plane, but later on they took on a somewhat different look. The bi-plane really took off during World War 1, where they were mainly used for reconnaissance. They were also used as 'bombers', in which pilots would just drop grenades below to the ground, and hope that they would detonate on target, or two enemy planes would engage each other, shooting at each other's planes with pistols, or even rifles and rocks." "But then, they were made to sustain machine guns, such as those, which would be fired either from the back seat, the front of the propellers, or the very top." "Through the propellers? How? Wouldn't the bullets tear them apart?" Twilight asked. "They would, but they did some sort of thing that was unique, but I forgot what it was. It was just made so the bullets would shoot through the propellers without it actually hitting it. Whoever made it was indeed one smart son of a bitch." Mike said. The girls flinched slightly at his language, as they always had since they weren't quite yet used to it. "A-are these type of planes still used in your world?" Applejack asked. "Kinda, but not in the way you might think. For combat, they're obsolete. But they can be used for light transport, reconnaissance to a degree, and stunts. Nothing much else really." Randy said. "How fast were these type of planes?" Rainbow asked. "They flew at a maximum of around 100 miles an hour." Rainbow shrugged slightly. "Eh. It's an improvement, I'll give them that." "Then let's fast forward a bit to World War Two, which lasted from 1939-1945. Most, if not all, bi-planes in this time period were mainly obsolete from combat. This time, a new generation of airplanes came in. Known as 'Monoplanes'. A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane. It still has a propeller, but they were now much more durable and powerful than the old ones." "They were used mainly for fighting. They were basically the pre-ancestors to the first actual fighter jets. Some of the most famous planes used in the World War, an in history in general, was the American P-51 Mustang. The Mustang was used as a long-range close air support and fighter-bomber. It was armed with a variety of bombs, rockets, and was equipped with a set of three .50 caliber machine guns on each wing." "The next one was another allied plane. Called the Supermarine Spitfire, or simply, 'Spitfire', this plane was made by a friendly country, the United Kingdom. It served similarly to the Mustang, except that the Mustang was a bit more well known, and heavily developed than the Spitfire." Rainbow was gleaming with a smile as she looked closely at the picture of the British fighter plane. "A plane named after the Captain of the Wonderbolts?!" She said with pure excitement. "Now that's awesome!" Mike didn't really know what the hell she was talking about, but he went with it anyways. "Um... yeah. I guess. Anyways, the next one was made by the enemy, the Imperial Japanese. This fighter was the one we hated the very most. The Mitsubishi AM6 Zero, or better known as simply, 'Zero'. A long-range fighter aircraft, it gained a legendary reputation as a dogfighter in World War Two, having achieving the outstanding kill ratio of 12 to 1. The reason why, I don't really know that well, but I guess it was because of the amazingly trained pilots, and the outstanding way the plane was made, and how it performed. This was the nightmare the sailors feared, but after a while, a combination of new tactics and the introduction of better equipment enabled the Allied pilots to engage the Zero on generally equal terms. Well, most of the time." As they looked away from the images, Twilight spoke up. "Were these planes used after the war?" She asked. "Not really." Randy said. "I mean, nowadays, they were used as only historical figures of the past, used to show off at air shows and stuff." "How fast were all of these planes?" Rainbow asked. "The P-51 Mustang went at a maximum of about... 437 miles per hour. The Spitfire went at about 370 miles, and the Zero at 410 miles an hour." Rainbow's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "That's... that's actually one heck of an improvement." "We're not done yet. Let's get into the topic of fighter jets now. The very first fighter jet was made near the end of World War Two, by Nazi Germany, who were basically the baddest of all the bad guys in the war, and responsible for starting it in the first place. In April of 1944, it was introduced into the Luftwaffe, the Nazi German Air Force. This thing was unlike anything we had ever seen. It was called the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, or simply the Me-262 'Swallow'.It was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, and was faster than any Allied fighter, and heavily armed. It was designed to take the roles of light bomber, reconnaissance, and even experimental night fighters." "This jet's Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems and top-level interference due to the economy and the oncoming Red Army kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944. Me 262 pilots claimed a total of 542 Allied kills. The Allies countered its potential effectiveness in the air by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing, usually us Americans using P-51 Mustangs as close air support to destroy or incacipate the planes. In the end, the Me 262 had a somewhat minor impact on the course of the war as a result of its late introduction and the consequently small numbers put in operational service." "After the war, we captured the Me 262s, and they were then studied and flight tested by us and the United Kingdom, and ultimately influenced the designs of our own jets." "How fast was the 262?" Twilight and Rainbow asked, surprising the pilot. "Uh... 559 miles per hour." Randy said. "Really? I was expecting a bit more than that..." Rainbow said, a bit disappointed. "And what other aircraft did that thing inspire you guys to make?" "Let's see, I'll be quick with this one. It led to the development of the Russian MiG-15, which was introduced in 1949, and went as fast as 658 miles per hour. It also led to the development of the North American F-86 Sabre, which was also introduced in 1949. It was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with total production of all variants at 9,860 jets in total. It went at a maximum speed of 687 miles an hour. These two jets were the best and most important fighter aircraft in the history of aviation, and in human history in general. "Is that the Sabre?" Applejack asked. "No, that's the MiG, this is the Sabre." Marcus said. "What's that plane in the background that's on fire?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly. "It's a MiG-15. The Sabre was known to be more effective and overall better than the MiG, because of its speed, durability, handling, and it had better pilots." "Can it do a Sonic Rainboom?" Rainbow asked. "Uh... a what-boom?" Randy asked. Rainbow was about to speak, but Twilight intervened. "She means if those planes can break the sound barrier." "Yeah! Don't you know that I can do that?" Rainbow asked/boasted with her signature smirk. Randy and Mike looked at her in disbelief. "Wait, you're saying you can break the sound barrier? As in, break the sound barrier and live?..." "Uh... yeah. Why?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. Randy and Mike then turned to the other three mares. They returned the looks with their own. "What're you looking at us for, sugarcube? She really can!" Applejack said. "Yes... she can. She did her very first when she was just a filly..." Fluttershy said quietly. Mike and Randy then sat down in the seats. "Okay.. I'm.. not even gonna ask how." "Why are you guys so shocked? Is it because it's too awesome for you to handle?" Rainbow boasted once more. "N-no.. it's just that.. no living thing can really break the sound barrier and live! It's physically impossible!!" Randy shouted, clutching his head, trying to wrap his thoughts into how she could do so. "And you did so as a freaking filly!" Rainbow just shrugged as they tried to comprehend this. The Marines just chuckled at their reactions, along with the two other soldiers. "I think you're forgetting the fact that we're in another fucking planet, 'bird-brains'..." Marcus said. "But... physics! Laws! Just... how?!" Mike shouted. "Fuck physics, man!" Kevin replied. "We're in a damn planet filled with coloful, small, huggable fucking ponies who have no idea what the fuck a 'gun' is! Let alone them knowing the very fact that there's an impending doo-" Kevin was cut off by Dempsey, who punched him in the stomach. "You're not making it any better, Kevin..." Dempsey muttered as Kevin doubled over in pain, gasping. "Fuck.. you..." He muttered back. "Look!" Rainbow shouted. "Can your little flying things break the sound barrier or not?!" She shouted. Marcus sighed. "I think these guys are too mind-fucked to even speak right now. I'll just say the rest. For starters, you have to go at around 750 or more miles per hour to break the sound barrier, or Mach 1, to be exact. During the Vietnam War, we developed a plane called the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.It's a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic, yes, supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It was first used in combat in 1960. Armed with a M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, and able to carry 18,000 pounds of weapons varying from air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs, it was a very effective fighter. So effective, that it lasted until 1996 in the United States Air Force." "Although this plane isn't the fastest, nor the slowest, it's maximum speed was 1,472 miles per hour, or Mach 2.2." As soon as he said this, Rainbow's jaw dropped to the floor literally as she stopped flapping her wings in mid-air, hitting the floor in a seated position with a thud. The other girls just stared in shock. "O-one thousand...Mach two..p-poin-...not the fastest...one..." She stuttered, her pupils the size of grains of sand. Marcus then showed them an image of the infamous fighter. "Woah..." The three other girls said breathlessly. Rainbow just stared in shock still. "A-are there still faster aircraft t-than that one?..." Fluttershy asked, basically trying to take out fire by pouring gasoline. Marcus nodded. "Yes. After a couple of years, another fighter jet was introduced by the same company. McDonnell Douglas' F-15 Eagle. An American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 aerial combat victories. Its maximum speed is faster than the F4 Phantom, at Mach 2.5, or 1,650+ miles per hour." "During the Vietnam War ear, though. The Soviet Union made their own aircraft in response to the F-15. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, or 'Foxbat'. The MiG-25 was among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. It has powerful radar and four air-to-air missiles. Not much is actually know about this jet, but this jet is capable of a top speed of Mach 2.83. Mach 3.2 is possible but at risk of significant damage to the engines. It is the second fastest and second highest-flying military aircraft ever fielded. The top speed it can obtain is Mach 3.2, or 2,170 miles per hour." "The next plane is the one you girls saw in the flash back. One of the best stealth planes. Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor. A single-seat, twin-engine, all weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft. The aircraft was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities including ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles. It was introduced in 2005, and production ended in 2012, due to lack of air-to-air operations, and other problems. This is one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, several years ahead of several countries. It has a max speed of Mach 2.25, or 1,500 mph." Rainbow was still looking upon in awe at the stats and pictures she was being shown, her right eye twitching now and then ever so slightly. She was now leaning left and right as Marcus brought up the image of the F-22. "Y-you humans... the aircraft you... h-how... I can't even..." Nimbius stuttered on and on as he also looked at the images. He was now near the same state as Rainbow has been all this time. "A-and it's not even the f-fastest?..." Marcus shook his head with a smile. "Oh hell no. That title belongs to Lockheed Martin's SR-71 'Blackbird', a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. While still not the fastest aircraft in the world, it is the world's fastest military aircraft to ever be put into development and out into the field. If a missile was launched at it, all it had to do was simply accelerate. It's maximum speed is Mach 3.3-3.5, or 2,200+ miles per hour." "But, the very fastest aircraft in the world that have ever been built... there are three of them. The first one is the X-15. X standing for 'expirimental'. When it was launched, it reached a top speed of 4,520 miles an hour, or Mach 5.93. The second belongs to the X-43-A 'Screamjet'. It reached a max speed of 7,546 miles an hour, or Mach 9.19." "The fastest aircraft ever built in the history of mankind, actually belongs to a Space Shuttle." Marcus then turned to Twilight, who immediately gleamed with excitement and curiousity, which they all found adorable. "The Space Shuttle Discovery, with its top speed. of 17,580 miles per hour, or Mach 22, and when it re-enters orbit, it reached Mach. 25." Twilight's eyes were now as widened as they ever had seen them, while Rainbow was now laying on the floor, taking in all of the information as the other girls. "C-can... can you show us the.. launch?" Twilight said with a squee of excitement. Marcus just smiled and nodded. But he then turned to Rainbow, who was still in the position she was before. "Uh... Rainbow..." He leaned in, looking at her. "You okay?...." Rainbow just breathed in and out slowly "H-how... I-I thought I was the f-fastest..." She said in a near whimpering tone. Marcus just chuckled. "Ohhh... I see what the problem is. You're both shocked and saddened that you've seen something faster than you, huh?..." He said. Rainbow just nodded once. "You uh... do realize that you can do it whenever you want, right?" Another nod. "And that we humans can never reach those speeds by ourselves without machines, let alone Mach 25. Why? Well, we don't have wings naturally, and we would be killed by the immense amount of pressure." Rainbow slowly then stood up, sniffling once. "R-really?" "Well, yeah. We humans weren't made to fly in the first place ever since we were made. So, we made the technology to do so. You, on the other hand, can somehow live through going faster than the speed of a bullet, and do a rainbow shockwave in the process. Something we can never really do. Plus, we can't do it naturally. You can. Besides, you should know that you're still the fastest here on your planet. You don't need a machine to do it. You can just... Well, do it!" Kayla chuckled. "When the hell did you become inspirational?" She asked teasingly. "And when the hell did you become so judgemental?" Marcus shot back with a glare. "Ever since you lost against Jackson in a rap battle in Syria." Kayla said with a shit-eating grin. Rainbow smiled and stood up fully, while a brief shade of pink showing on her cheeks for a second. "Heh. I guess I am. Thanks." She then turned to his phone. "Well? You gonna show us that video or what?" "Yeah, just let me search it up for a second." Marcus then pulled out his IPhone and looked up a video that showed the launch of a Space Shuttle. "Ah! Here we go." He then brought his IPhone to the ponies, who all cramped their faces in with each other and looked in with curiosity and wonder as the video started. They then heard the announcer speak: "T-Minus 90 seconds, and counting. All systems are done. We're about 90 seconds away from the launch of Space-Shuttle Discovery..." A minute and twenty seconds in, the announcer started counting down. "12... 11... 10... 9... 8... 7..." Sparks then emitted from the bottom of the shuttle"6.." "5..." An heat of energy then emitted from the holes, as the ponies leaned in even closer. "4...3... 2... 1.., and booster ignition... And liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery! Returning to the Space Station..." As the rocket launched, the ponies watched in pure awe as the rocket soared to the skies, the loud roar emitting from the phone mixed in with the claps and cheers from the spectators and the announcer. As Marcus held the phone, he quickly looked over to Twilight, who's eyes were bigger than his hand, and a slight line of drool dripped from the corner of her mouth. The then watched as the shuttle was slightly engulfed with fire, which made them all gasp, before the two rockets boosters seperated themselves from the main shuttle. "Oh my..." Fluttershy said. "Don't worry Fluttershy, that's supposed to happen." Thompson said, reassuring her and the others. She then smiled and looked back at the phone, which showed the rocket flying higher and higher, before it finally ended. Marcus then pulled back the video, and they all looked at the ponies. All of them were now on the verge of passing out, but Twilight was the most anxious of the group. "Uh... Twilight?..." Marcus said, snapping his fingers in front of her. She didn't even budge. "Um... is she gonna be okay?..." He asked the other three mares. "I uh... I don't think she's functional right now... I think you broke her..." Rainbow said. "Maybe we should just take her to her room and wait for her to recover, before she its you with a ton of questions." "Good plan." Marcus replied. Applejack and Fluttershy then carefully picked up Twilight from where she was sitting and carried her down the hall, noticing that she still hasn't moved from her previous position. "Weird..." Jackson muttered. The others just nodded in agreement. After a couple of moments, only Applejack came back, much to their confusion and curiosity. "Hey, where's Fluttershy?" "She's gonna stay with Twilight until she wakes up. Ah think ya' really did a number on her this time." Applejack said, sitting back where she previously was. "Oh man, I had so much more in store for her." Marcus said. He then looked back to his phone. "What're you gonna show us now?" Rainbow asked. "Well, when we talked to Nimbius here," He looked over at the Wonderbolts adviser. "I noticed that his uniform looks similar to a group back in our world." Nimbius and Rainbow's ears perked up at this. "Really?" They asked simultaneously. "Yeah. You said you're part of the Wonderbolts, right?" He asked Nimbius, who nodded in return. "I think there's actually a group that's very similar to the Wonderbolts." They then both cocked their heads to the side, like a curious, confused puppy. Then, Jackson spoke up with a slight chuckle. "Oh, you mean the Blue Angels? Those guys who gave a flight demonstration in Baghdad?" He said. "Bingo." Marcus said. "The 'Blue Angels'?..." Nimbius asked. "Yeah. The Blue Angels are the U.S Navy's flight demonstration team. They do stuns and stuff at airshows and events like that. Kinda like you guys." Jackson said. "Oh really? I doubt they're better than the actual Wonderbolts! C'mon then, show me!" Rainbow challenged. "You're on." Marcus then pressed play on the video as Nimbius and Rainbow leaned in to watch. After the video, they were awestruck by the stunts and the performs they did. Along with Applejack, and even the soldiers. "Y'know, ah think you just gave the Wonderbolts a run for there money..." Applejack commented, giving a smug look to Rainbow and Nimbius, who were, once again, awed. "Yep." Mike said, leaning back after recovering from his slight state of shock and confusement. "We humans are awesome..." "T-that..." Rainbow stuttered, trying her damndest to form a sentence. "Was... awesome!!" She squealed, making the group laugh. "No, seriously! Those guys were just as good as the Wonderbolts!" "Not gonna lie, they preformed really.. well, amazing!" Nimbius commented. "Like, if we could, I would be more than honored to fly beside them in their stunts!" "I can just imagine you guys doing a full-blown airshow, and doing a bunch of cooperative stunts with those guys." Kayla commented, getting eager nods from the two ponies. As they talked a bit more about the Blue Angels, and other flight groups, such as the Thunderbirds, the train's wheels started screeching as it slowed down to a stop. The group then looked outside the windows, noticing that they were now looking at the Ponyville Train Station. "Damn. Already? That didn't even feel like an hour." Jackson said, standing up from his seat. He then stopped walking. "Wait... what about the civilians? You think they'd take us lightly when we walk out?..." He said. "Why wouldn't they?" Asked Swordstrike. "Remember the incident that happened back in the Everfree? Where Dempsey accidentally killed one of your guards?" Jackson said, while Dempsey shrunk his figure ever so slightly, with Kevin patting his shoulder, reassuring him. "Oh..." Swordstrike said a bit quietly. "That... well, we should be fine. I mean, I'm here. They won't do anything." He said, trying to up their spirits. Dempsey just sighed slightly and nodded as he and the others picked up their gear and weapons, walking towards the doors. As they did, Swordstrike tugged on both Kevin and Dempsey's leg. They turned, and he whispered to them ."If I was you, I would visit somepony at Ponyville General and talk to him." He said. "A-alright. We'll go. But what about the Stryker?" He said. They then heard somebody clear their throat. When they turned, they saw Randy. "We'll take care of it, man." He said with a comforting smile. "You do what you gotta do. We'll deal with it." Then, Nimbius appeared behind his leg. "And I can escort you gentlecol- er, men to the hospital. You'll be fine." Nimbius said. Dempsey and Kevin both smiled slightly as they walked out, meeting the four Marines and the mares at the doorway, along with Twilight. "You sure you're gonna be fine, Twilight?" Kayla asked her. She nodded in return, rubbing her forehead slightly. "Yeah.. I was just... y'know... The point is, I'll be fine. Honest." Twilight said calmly. Kayla just shrugged slightly and went along with it. The four Marines then turned around again, noticing the four soldiers and the two ponies. "You all ready?" Marcus asked. They nodded once in response. "Alright then. We'll talk about a bit more stuff along the way." Marcus then felt the hairs on his neck raise, as if something was about to happen. He then gripped his Remington R5 tighter as he somewhat slowly slid the door open to the side, revealing the scene of ponies chatting with eachother, along with the occasional cry of a foal, and luggage carrying pony. But as soon as Marcus set his boot-covered foot onto the wooden platform, all eyes immediately went on him and the others. "For fuck's sake..." He mentally thought as he ignored the mixed looks of fear, shock, awe, confusion, and anger that was being shown on the pony's faces. As they walked out, even more gasps were heard, but after that, the entire area fell to a deadly silence, even the foals who were crying were not doing so anymore. What shocked the crowd of ponies of all, was that four of the Elements were with them, along with the Commander of the Royal Guard, and the main Wonderbolts adviser. "Just keep moving. Ignore the looks, okay?" Swordstrike muttered. The others did what they were told as they all walked out of the train, and down the steps. Dempsey could literally feel the glares he was getting melt into him like acid. Hesitantly, he took a glance to the side, noticing that a Royal Guard was standing there, guarding the outside of the station with a spear in his hoof. The guard was also glaring at him with an anger in his eyes. Dempsey glared back, giving the guard a deathly look in return, which made the guard visually shiver and look away, a bead of sweat or two starting to form on his forehead. When Dempsey looked away, he saw that Randy was looking at him. Walking up to him, Randy spoke. "Look, me and Mike here'll take care of unloading the Stryker and the Little Bird. You and Kevin go with Nimbius and make amends with that Royal Guard at the hospital, okay?" Dempsey nodded with a slight sigh. "Yeah. Okay." He then walked past them towards Kevin and Nimbius, who were waiting up on him. As the humans and pony seperated, they heard Twilight shout at them. "Meet us back here in two hours!" She said, earning two raised fingers from Dempsey, while Kevin lifted his middle finger. Not wondering what they meant, she just shrugged and walked down the road back towards her library. As they walked down the road, Marcus was looking all around in front of him, and to the sides, ignoring the looks of the ponies as he did so. Comically, he even saw a pony who was hidden inside a trash can, lift the lid up with its head to take a peek. Once it noticed the humans, it squealed and lowered its head quickly. Ignoring this, he took in full detail of his surroundings, making mental notes of each and every corner, alleyway, building, even a man-hole(Pony-hole?) that lead to the sewers below, and getting a look at its interior if he could, to the displease of ponies who just happen to randomly turn to his direction and look outside. As he did this, Swordstrike noticed this and decided to ask what exactly he was up to. "Um, Marcus... what are you doing?" He asked. It took Marcus a couple seconds to respond before he looked back down at Swordstrike. "Oh. I'm just taking note of my surroundings. Trust me, it'll help us out in the future.." He said, the last part more quietly that the rest of the sentence. "Oh, um... okay." Swordstrike said. As they walked, Jackson suddenly remembered something. "Oh wait! Remember when we were gonna discuss about what weapons we should recommend the Royal Guard with?" Jackson said. This caught the attention of the other Marines and the four mares. "Eh, alright. Now's a good time to talk about it." Kayla said. She then turned to Twilight. "Hey, do you think you could do some sort of sound-proofing spell so nobo-er, nopony will be able to hear what we're talking about?" Twilight raised in eyebrow in suspicion. "Uh... yeah, I could. But we'll look pretty odd when other ponies see us moving our lips, without emitting a single sound..." Kayla and the others just shrugged. "Works for us." Twilight closed her eyes and shrugged herself as she casted a purplish, sparkly bubble around the entire group, until it faded away with the wind. "There. We can talk now." Twilight said. "Alright. So, you will be able to equip us with your weaponry also?" Swordstrike asked hopefully. "Yes." Marcus said. "BUT, with a couple restrictions. Remember this, and remember this well. First, you can not, I say again, can not sell or give the weapons to just some random pony or Royal Guard. If one is to be issued a firearm, we are the ones who will choose who. And secondly, this is to be kept a secret. Like, 'If I tell you, I will have to kill you' type of secret. Okay?" Swordstrike's eyes widened for a split-second, before nodding in agreement. "You have my word." Marcus sighed. "Okay." He then turned to his squad. "So... you guys have any idea on what weapon we should equip them with first?" "I was thinking something light and compact, but with enough stopping power to easily kill a Cryptid." Kayla said. "I only have certain schematics that I stole." "What schematics do you have?" Marcus asked. The group then stopped walking as Kayla crouched, unslung her pack and pulled out seven schematics. "Let's see... I have nine." Kayla said, putting her pack on her back again as they walked. "I have... a schematic for the ARX-160... foldable stock version. One for an MR-28 sniper rifle. No wait, marksman version. One for a Vector CRB, .45 ACP, one for an FP6 tactical shotgun, another for an Tac-12, the one that holds up to seventeen shells, one for an M4A1 SOPMOD, and instructions for an M203 and the 40mm grenades, and the last one is for an explosive Crossbow, a Maverick assault rifle, along with the sniper rifle version, and a schematic for an MK32 grenade launcher." "Holy shit..." The four Marines muttered. "That's... damn.." Before anybody could say anything else, they were already standing outside Twilight's library for the past minute and a half. "Um... guys? We're already here." Twilight said. They all then noticed that they actually were, which surprised them slightly. "I guess all that blabbering was worth. Huh, waddya know?" Rainbow said. The others just smiled as they walked into the library. They were then all standing in front of the basement door. "It seems like just yesterday we were here..." Jackson said, sniffling. "Oh shut the hell up, dude." Marcus said, slugging him in the shoulder slightly as they both chuckled. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say, sir." Jackson tauntly said at Marcus, who just rolled his eyes. "Alright, enough chatting. Let's go inside and show them what we got." Kayla said, opening the door as she and the others walked down the steps. "Do you guys want any help?" Rainbow and Twilight asked spontaneously. "Nah! We're good!" Marcus shouted back as the ponies waited for the to come back from the basement. As they did, they could hear the four Marines argue below. "Fuck... watch it with that, will ya'?!" Jackson shouted. "Oh shut up, you fucking pansy and help me lift this..." Marcus retorted back as they heard metallic clanging. "I'll disassemble the drone and the missiles. This'll take a while..." Kayla said. "Hey! Why the fuck is there a Playboy magazine down here?..." Thompson shouted. The ponies all then looked at Twilight, who was blushing a light pink. After a couple more minutes of arguing and the occasional metal pang, they saw that the Marines were now coming back up the stairs. More specifically, Thompson, who was holding a huge tube in his hands that rested on his shoulder also. "What... is that?" Swordstrike asked. "It's called a MAAWS.Short for, 'Multi-role Anti-Armor Weapon System'. I'll show you how this works, but this shit is heavy as hell..." He then turned on the laser sight and aimed down, making the ponies look on nervously. "I could've sworn there was a rocket already inside the tube when we came here...." He then pressed the trigger for the hell of it, which would turn out to give him the biggest surprise of his entire life..... "Surpriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisee!!!!!!!!!!!!"