//------------------------------// // Chapter 48: Oops... // Story: From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies? // by TLP //------------------------------// "Friendly Fire = Isn't." -Unknown "Surpriiiiiisssseeee!!!!" The pink pony practically screamed with joy and happiness, popping out of the barrel of the MAAWS along with several streams of confetti. For Thompson however, it was just something beyond a surprise. Being the somewhat shy guy he is, this didn't really go through him so well as it should've have. As soon as the pink pony shouted, it hopped out of the barrel as Thompson screamed and accidentally pressed the trigger on the MAAWS once more. As soon as he did this, the actual missile inside launched itself out of the tube as a steady, yet heavy stream of smoke and steam emitted from the back of the tube, giving the missile a boost inside and launching it out. The other ponies gasped in surprise as the rocket streaked out towards the door, fortunately missing all of the ponies, including Pinkie. They all watched in shock and awe as the main rocket shell split off in several directions, as smaller rocket-like projectiles emerged, forming a 'V' shape as the projectiles increased in speed and soared down the main street of Ponyville. As they watched, Marcus and Kayla were now rapidly climbing up the steps, with Kayla holding a SAT-COM box in one hand, while Marcus was holding a small mortar. When they finally got up and out the basement door, they saw the slacked jaws that everybody contained, and the look of horror Thompson had in his face. "PINKIE!!" Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack yelled at the same time, except for Fluttershy, who cowered behind Swordstrike slightly. Pinkie just smiled with a squee. "What the fuck happened?!" Yelled Thompson at Marcus, making Thompson jump slightly and break his horror-stricken stare, along with the other ponies. Thompson just looked at Marcus, slightly stricken with fear, while Marcus glared at him, awaiting an answer, but he then looked at the weapons Thompson was currently holding. The MAAWS. He then quickly put two-and-two together. "Please don't tell me you shot the fucking...-" Thompson then quickly pointed his finger at Pinkie Pie, who was very confused and nervous about what had just happened. "It wasn't my fault! She just... popped out of the freaking tube and scared the living shit outta me! And.. and... I didn't know it was l-loaded because the rocket's always outside the tube!" Marcus then turned his glare over to the pink pony, who in return gave a sheepish smile. He immediately recognized her. "Pinkie Pie..." His mind thought annoyingly. He wasn't about to thrash the ever living shit out of her, but he sure as hell wasn't happy about what had happened. "Um... I'm sorry!" Pinkie exclaimed, her smile shrinking slightly as she looked up to the three Marines. "I just wanted to give you all a surprise! I saw you all when you left the train station, so I was like: 'GAAASP!!! New ponies in town!'" She exclaimed with glee, jumping up into the air and gasping in pure shock before continuing in mid-air. "So I decided to surprise you all by doing something small and spontaneous first! But then I was like: 'Wait a second! What are Marines doing here in Ponyville? How should I introduce them here?' I wanted to throw you all something huge and awesome and surprising, but I decided to save it for later and just do something random that you and the readers would enjoy! Well, didja like it!?" She said, joy seemingly shown all over her face. "Didja?! Didja!?" The Marines just looked at Pinkie with blank expressions, except for Thompson, who was 'stunned', to say the very, very least. It was at that time where Thompson dropped the MAAWS onto the floor, and collapsed on the ground, only for Kayla to catch him before he could. "Uh... is he okay?" Pinkie asked innocently, her head tilting to the side slightly as Kayla checked Thompson for vitals and such. Kayla nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. I think you just broke him, though.." Pinkie gasped once more, thought a bit less louder and more oriented on surprise. "He's broken!?" She asked in shock. Before anybody could even blink, she disappeared out the door, leaving a pink trail behind her, before coming back in a nanosecond, dressed in perfect surgical gear, along with a mask, and what appeared to be a defibilator case, holding the two shock pads. "Stand back everypony! I got this!" Twilight and Applejack face-hooved as Marcus and Jackson blocked Pinkie from getting anywhere near the unconscious Thompson. "Woah, don't touch him with that thing!" Jackson warned. "He'll be just fine. We just need to wait until he wakes up in a second or two." Pinkie then dropped the defibillator case. "Oh. Okie-dokie-lokie then!" She said, zooming out of her surgeon outfit and back to her normal self, smiling with a squee once more. "Okay enough of this, man." Jackson said, raising his hands up. "Why the fuck was the MAAWS loaded in the first damn place? Didn't Thompson here say it wasn't loaded?" "He did, but the MAAWS is capable of holding three rockets, remember?" Kayla reminded Jackson while she tried to shake Thompson awake. "How did he even get into MARSOC...." She muttered quietly. "That's like asking how you even got into the Marines, let alone be a scout sniper." Jackson teased Kayla for a second. She just rolled her eyes and flipped him off. But they all then heard several muffled explosions in the distance. The three Marines immediately stood up at attention, gripping their weapons as the explosions were followed by a pair of panicked screams, while five ponies looked out the windows to see what had happened. "Oh my..." Fluttershy whimpered, her pupils turning into the size of pinpricks. "Celestia darn...." Applejack muttered in shock. "Oh buck... oh buck!" Rainbow said her eyes getting bigger as she watched. Pinkie just watched as her eyes also grew in size, but her face took a look of horror as her mane slowly lost its puffy, cotton-candy like look. "Guys! Get over here now!!" Twilight ordered in a state of panic. The three Marines and Commander Swordstrike quickly rushed over towards the window. As the ponies moved over to let the men see, their eyes widened, while Kayla gasped slightly. The seven missiles lived up to what they were made and built to do, but it didn't mean they wanted this to happen. Four buildings had huge holes dented into them, the hay and brick roofs completely obliterated by the armor-piercing power of the missiles, as the fire around the building started to engulf whatever remained of the houses, packs of burned and melting hay and metal falling to the ground, making the fire spread even more on the grass below. They also noticed a pair of Royal Guards rushing to a nearby stream of water with buckets in their mouths as they worked as fast as they could to lessen the damage the fire would cause to the surrounding buildings that had been spared. Other ponies were running down a cobblestone path. When they looked a bit closer, they noticed that they were actually medics from the nearby Ponyville General, rushing to a pair of injured ponies who had several injuries all over their bodies, along with a couple of scorch marks on their fur and exposed skin. Even civilians tried to take out the water from the stream, while other ponies ran around in panic and pure fear, having no idea on what was going on, nor what to do. There was another building right in the middle of town, which looked as if the upper balcony's supports had collapsed, making it crash down on the ground below. The other missile had only hit a water well, or at least what looked to be the remains of one, due to all of the strewn stone bricks and wooden parts. They then heard a slight rumbling sound, followed by a much louder crunching sound. When they looked to the side, they saw that one of the burning houses had collapsed onto itself. Kayla then saw that they were pulling out an injured pony with a mint-green coat out of the rubble. She was slightly relieved as she saw that the pony only had a couple of cuts and scorch marks, and was only able to walk with as much as only a slight limp. "God damn it..." Marcus said angrily through gritted teeth as he saw the building collapse, and the medics helping several ponies onto stretchers and setting them up with IV packs. As they watched in anger and sadness, they all noticed the silhouette of a pony rushing through the street, avoiding the pleas for help and the ponies in his way as he flew at an extremely fast pace. They then noticed who it was. "Look! It's Nimbius!" Twilight exclaimed. The Marines saw Nimbius streak towards them. They then ran towards the door, slinging it open as they quickly met outside Twilight's library. "Nimbius! Are you okay?" Asked Swordstrike. They all noticed that Nimbius also had scorch marks, and had several pieces of what looked like small shrapnel and debris all over him, along with his coat now almost completely black. They all waited impatiently as Nimbius panted, catching his breath. "Wait... a sec..." Nimbius pleaded, raising a hoof to show he needed a slight breather. "Dang, I'm out of shape..." He thought with an internal chuckle, despite the situation at hoof. After about three seconds, Nimbius then quickly looked up at them. "Dempsey... Remus... hospital... they..." "Spit it out, man! C'mon!" Jackson ordered, clearly not wanting to waste anymore time. "A rocket hit the hospital! It hit the room Dempsey and Remus were in! You all need to come back with me to the hospital now! Dempsey took most of the impact! There's... 'gasp' shrapnel in his chest! They... need your help to patch him up!!" Nimbius blurted out. They all looked at Nimbius with a look of shock for a second, before he snapped them all out of their trance. "Well?! Let's get moving!!!" The Marines nodded, but before they could go, they called out to the five ponies, who were standing just outside the doorway, listening in on the conversation. "We're going to the hospital! C'mon, let's get a move on! NOW!" Jackson ordered. They quickly obliged to the order as they helped Kayla sling Thompson over her shoulder and started to run/fly alongside the Marines and the two other ponies, going as fast as they could to the hospital. As they ran, they took quick glances at the destruction the MAAWS had caused. The five mares were both shocked at how much damage a single weapon caused. Even though they had seen most of their weapons in action back in Canterlot, this was on a whole new level. Though they have seen just as much damage before, they never knew that just one small single thing could cause what would take a dragon to do. The three Marines looked at the guards and the others helping out anyway they could. Then, Marcus looked over his shoulder to Kayla. "Kayla! Stop here and try to help out the locals any way you can!" Kayla looked at Marcus with a mixed look of anger and confusement. "The fuck? I'm carrying Thompson here! I can-" Marcus cut her off swiftly. "I don't give a fuck! Just take whatever medical supplies he has and help out the civilians! Here, I'll take Thompson." The group stopped for a second before Kayla handed Thompson over to Marcus. After giving Thompson to him, she unslung his pack and took out one of his first-aid kits and handing his pack back to Marcus. "Alright! I'll help them out!" Marcus just nodded as the group picked up their pace once more to the hospital, while Kayla went the other direction, running up to a pair of medics who were aiding a gravely injured pony who was on a stretcher. Back at the hospital, several moments after the rockets were shot... As Dempsey was comforting the broken Royal Guard, Kevin and Nimbius were just waiting outside the room. They both had heard the shouts of rage, the sobs, the whimpers, and the calming sounds Dempsey was doing to Remus. When Kevin heard the shouts of scream, and the muffled sounds of punches and grunts, he had to do almost everything to not go in there and beat the ever living hell out of the Royal Guard, but he wasn't about to go in there unless Dempsey asked him to. He just kept tapping his fingers against the grip of his Five-Seven, which had the safety on. As of now. As for Nimbius, the roars, the yells, and the sounds of struggle and punches shook the poor Wonderbolt adviser to the very core, but like Kevin, he understood clearly what had happened, and why this was all happening. Even though he didn't know Dempsey well, he still cared for his safety regardless. After a couple of moments, the two noticed that the muffled punches and the shouts of anger had come to an abrupt stop, except for the sobbing, which they could still hear, but they were slightly less louder. They leaned against the wall to get a better listen-in on what was going on in the room. "Shh... It's okay..." They heard Dempsey whisper with a calm tone to his voice. "I... wh-why... he di-didn't.. deserve t-to..." Remus stuttered quietly through choked sobs and ragged breaths. The two kept on listening until the crying stopped, and all they heard was a couple of coughs and sniffles here and there. Nimbius looked over at Kevin, who had the smallest smile on his face before he pushed himself away from the wall. Nimbius followed suit as he let out a small sigh, content that the situation was now under control. Kevin however, had a brief flow of nostalgia come over him as he let his hand release the grip on his Five Seven. As he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger, he heard the sound of hoofsteps coming up the stairs. He turned around, noticing the shadows of a couple of Royal Guard ponies on the walls, indicating they were coming upstairs to see what all the noise was about. Nimbius also noticed this, turning around and noticing the same thing. He then got off from the seat and onto his hooves, awaiting the Royal Guards. As he did, the two could slightly hear the chatter of the guards. "I wonder if he gave that ape-thing a heckuva beating. I mean, didn't you hear the yells Remus did?" Asked a Royal Guard. "Still, I hope he's alright. If that bucking thing even dared to touch Remus, I swear to Luna's moon, I'll-" One of the Royal Guards was boasting with slight anger, but he halted himself when he saw one of the things he and the others were just talking about. Kevin noticed the pair of three guards halting themselves on the end of the hallway. Even though he never was known for having the best hearing, he clearly heard what one of the guards were talking about, and he did all he could to supress a chuckle, so he did the next best thing, which was to stare down at the guard who was talking about him. The guard was immediately filled with fear as he noticed that the human was staring directly at him. He then switched his vision to anywhere but the human's soul-piercing eyes. The other two guards did the same as they cautiously walked down the hallway. "Fucking pansies.." Kevin thought, never keeping his eyes off the guards until he reached over to grab Dempsey's M16A4. When the guards noticed this, they stopped dead in their tracks. They had heard of what the human weapons were capable of, especially after what had happened to Romulus. They even heard rumors that they tested out all of their weapons back in Canterlot. And they weren't planning to be their next targets. They relaxed slightly as the human just grabbed the odd black-grayish weapon and slung it over his back. They also noticed that the human had another one of the odd weapons, but it had a slightly shorter size and an odd tube-like thing below it. The human just slowly walked to the side while looking at them, signifying that they could go through. The three did so once more, walking towards the door. They then turned to the Wonderbolts adviser that had come in with the two humans, who saluted the three. The guards saluted back as one of them put their hooves on the doorknob. That's when they heard what they could only describe as a whistling sound... Back in the room, current time... Dempsey ignored the whistling sound and focused on relaxing Remus as he just kept sniffling and breathing heavily. Dempsey then stood up, carrying the small pony in his arms. Remus didn't object, he just kept sniffling and went with it. Dempsey then heard the doorknob turn slightly before the door opened all the way. When Dempsey turned around, he saw three Royal Guards walk in. "Hey Remus, y-" One of the guards, the Pegasus started to speak, but his speech was stopped when he and the others noticed that the other human was holding Remus in his arms. Their eyes widened with both shock and confusement as they looked upon this. "What.. what the buck are you doing?!" The Pegasus guard started to yell at him, taking a stance and preparing to charge at Dempsey. Dempsey just shook his head, stepping backwards slightly. "Wait a second! It isn't what it looks lik-" The guard cut Dempsey off. "Were you gonna bucking kill him too, you sick freak?!" The guard yelled even louder, his eyes showing the flickers of rage slowly increasing as he stepped closer to Dempsey, while the other two just stayed where they were. "No, I wasn't! Just listen to me for a second! I-" Dempsey was about to explain, but the Pegasus guard just flew up right into his face. "Put him the buck down!" He ordered with all of his verbal strength, causing Dempsey to flinch ever so slightly. It was at that time where Kevin had enough of all of the yelling and couldn't take it. Placing Dempsey's M16A4 onto the chair, he swiftly walked in, his M4 Carbine slightly raised. "What the fuck is going on now?!" He yelled, noticing the Pegasus guard that was all up in Dempsey's face. Seeing this made Kevin snap and raise his M4 Carbine right at the guard's head. "Step the fuck off, you little shit!" Kevin yelled, quickly switching the safety on his M4 to semi-automatic. The Pegasus' anger immediately switched to one of fear as his hooves touched the ground. "Hey, hey woah! Let's all calm down here!" Nimbius pleaded, quickly running into the room and in front of Kevin, while the other guards started stepping away from Kevin in fear, not wanting to escalate the situation by making Kevin even more pissed off. "What in the hell is going on here, man?!" Kevin said, looking over at Dempsey without aiming his M4 at him. He then noticed that he was carrying Remus in his arms, who was cowering in Dempsey's chest. "What the-?" He muttered. "JUST HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND SO I CAN FUCKING EXPLAIN!!!" Dempsey shouted with all his might, immediately silencing all of the arguments. They then heard the whistling sound get closer and louder. "What the fuck is that noise?" Kevin asked in a muttered, angry tone, still keeping his M4 aimed at the three guards who were cowering in the corner of the room. Before Dempsey could respond, they heard several muffled explosions outside, which made everybody in the room jump slightly. They then all heard several screams outside. Dempsey quickly then walked over to the window, pulling away the curtains with his free hand to look outside. All the while the whistling sound was still audiable and a lot more louder than ever. As Kevin and the others looked over at Dempsey, they heard him mutter a single sentence. "Oh fuck..." That's when they all found out what caused the whistling noise in the first place. Dempsey looked on in horror as he saw two medium-speed projectiles approaching him. Before he could even blink, the projectiles connected with the walls, exploding right on contact. Dempsey and the others were launched back as the rockets exploded at the same time, rippling the entire wall and sending debris everywhere, along with pieces of shrapnel. Kevin, along with the others were launched back into the other wall from the immense pressure and force of the two explosions, making Kevin easily lose his grip on his M4 as it flew out of his hands. The three guards were sent flying as the wall behind them turned into nothing but pieces of concrete and wood. The heat that came off from the explosions seared their fur, as small pieces of shrapnel dented their helmets and chest plates. The Pegasus guard's yell of pain when a piece of sharp concrete pierced his wing was muffled by the explosion before he hit the ground with a 'pang', knocking him out on the spot. The explosion made Dempsey lose his grip on Remus, as he and Remus were sent to the roof. Dempsey's head connected with a metal object, but before he was knocked into unconsciousness, he felt something heavy, blunt, and forceful pierce the right side of his chest before he blacked out. Nimbius however, was the least injured of them all. The explosion launched him out of the room, and onto the hallway, while it also left him scorched and sore, he was fine aside from those. Kevin his the wall hard, knocking the air out of him as the room was immediately filled with the smoke the rockets have created. Regardless, he coughed and hacked as he tried to regain his eyesight, which was now blurry and red. His ears were ringing like crazy, but he managed to stand up, until he felt a searing pain in his left leg, which made him hiss in pain and bring him to his knees. He coughed more, noticing that his eyesight was switching from blurry to clear every now and then. As he coughed, he noticed that he had a copper-like taste in his mouth. Looking down, he noticed he was coughing up blood. Kevin then felt a brief wave of exhaustion and pain come over him, which made him double over and collapse onto the floor. As his vision darkened, he saw Dempsey laying on the ground, motionless, with what seemed like a metal rod embedded in his chest. He then faded into unconsciousness.