//------------------------------// // Smoke on the Horizon // Story: The Beginning of the End // by CyclicStoryWriter //------------------------------// The Beginning of the End Smoke on the Horizon Anderson stood there brimming with fury. He was having a great start of a day. He was in his paradise, he had friends he always wanted, and everything was fine. That is until these griffons decided to come storming into town looking for a fight. "I won't ask you again. You give us the elements and we will release the other prisoners and be on our way." The Griffon Leader said to Anderson and Sir Henry. "I would never trade my friends for anything! I'm surprised Sergi hasn't already beaten you down into a bloody pulp!" Anderson shouted back with all of his fury. "OH and where is this friend of yours now!? No one could possibly take on the might of the Griffon Empire's Best!" The Leader replied with the same intesity. "Since you are unwilling to act on my deal, maybe some 'persuasion' is needed. Guards!" At the call, two guards went to the prisoners and pulled out an unlucky pony. When they turned around with their prize, the unlucky pony turned out to be Applebloom. "NO! Shouted Applejack toward Anderson as she began to charge out to get her sister. "Applejack, you can't just charge in there!" Shouted out Twilight Sparkle as she held back Applejack with her magic. "But they have my sister!" Applejack shouted back trying to get out of Twilight's magical grasp. "My, my, my...What a turn of events. This will be interesting to watch." The Leader said with an evil grin spreading across his face. The two guards stopped while they changed their positions. One held Applebloom by her shoulders while the other one stood off to the side. He raised his right claw into the air to begin the onslaught. Anderson watched as the blow was about to be delivered when all of sudden, a screech pierced the afternoon sky. A smile spread across Anderson's face as he knew what was about to happen. Within seconds, the griffon holding Applebloom fell backwards with a knife plunged into one of his eyes while the other griffon found himself staring at Sergi behind him after a wet snap of his neck. Sergi slowly stood up and looked around at the every griffon that was not dead yet. Applebloom ran back toward her sister after the adrenaline began pumping through her. The griffons recognized Sergi as a threat and began encircling him. Anderson took the distraction as time to help the other ponies. He dashed to one far side of the road and go to the prisoners. He persuaded them to either head back to their homes or at least keep their distance from the faceoff. When he turned to check on the others he had just left, he witnessed how good Sergi actually was. ==================== Sergi stood there standing as still as a statue while the griffons closed in around him. He began to circle around once they had surrounded him. After making a quick head count and general profiling, Sergi readied himself for the attacks. There were 9 griffons in total, the leader stood outside the circle shouting out threats and encouragement for his men. The leader had a very elegant metal breastplate and a large black roman centurion commander helmet. The entire color scheme of the armor consisted of black, gold, and blood red. The rest of the griffons were not as armored. All they wore was simple leather armor. A brilliant idea jumped into Sergi's mind and he set up a timer in his helmet. Similar to the Timberwolves, they attacked one at a time. The first lunge came from behind, beginning the timer. Sergi quickly knelt down to grab his boot knife and pivoted around to hear the satisfying sound of a knife chrushing through the first griffons’ skull. He then swiftly pulled the knife out and quickly threw the knife at another griffon trying to use their wings to get a height advantage. The knife punctured right through the leather pads and right past the ribs. The officers’ sword quickly came out to meet another griffon on the side, saving the wounded griffon for later. Sergi pulled the sword into an upward slice to open the throat of a pouncing griffon. He then turned back around to finish the previous wounded griffon by impaling the sword through its head. With no time to pull out the sword, Sergi whipped around to punch the throat of the fifth griffon. Sergi fell to the ground and disabled the legs of the sixth griffon. At the same time he reached into his jacket and pulled a 10" knife. He placed all of his strength into placing the knife through the thick leather armor. Getting back up he saw a pure, primal fear in the griffons that were still alive. The two still-conscious griffons grabbed their comrade who was clutching his throat and flew off into the horizon. The Leader still stood off to the side shouting out threats. "YOU COWARDS ARE WORTHLESS! DO I HAVE TO do everything..." The Leader began before finding himself being stared down by Sergi. The griffon leader slowly backed up a few steps before launching himself into the air. Sergi marked the leader as a target on his HUD. If he is running away from a town in the middle of the country, there must be a camp set up somewhere. He grabbed his equipment from the small battlefield and started off toward his camp to prepare for his assault. The ponies that stood around all stared at him in fear and awe. Sergi took note of the timer on his HUD and wasn't surprised by their reaction. He had just taken down six, poorly, armored griffons in almost ten seconds. Sergi made his way out of the town toward his camp, forming up a list of things that would be needed for his new mission. "Commander, Private First Class Anderson is trying to connect. Should I patch him through?" The AI piped into his helmet "Might as well." Sergi replied as he knew what was going to be asked. "Sergi, what are you doing? You just killed six griffons in ten seconds and left them in the street! Where did you disappear to?!" Anderson shouted into the helmet over the sound of confusion in the backround. "Those griffons started a fight and I plan on finishing it." Sergi said flatly into the speaker. "You can’t just leave things where they are! Fluttershy is still unconscious from seeing all of that blood and Rainbow Dash just up and left to who-knows-where. Not to mention that other ponies are unaccounted for too!" Anderson tried to reason knowing what Sergi meant. "A small price to pay for insuring their safety. I will keep an eye out for Rainbow Dash." Sergi replied as he heard some interference from the other side. "Hello...Sergi, are you there? If you can hear me, don't go after the griffons. It is just not right to go killing everything. I can understand the creatures in the Everfree forest but the griffons are another thing all together." Twilight spoke through the helmet with apparent difficulty. "There is no difference. They are the aggressors, deeming them enemies. If you don't deal with them properly, they will give you more trouble in the future." Sergi answered from his years of experience. "We can find a way, I'm sure of it! Please don't touch them Sergi, we can talk things out...Please." She begged through the helmet. "I promise I will not touch any of them Twilight Sparkle." Sergi said as he chose his words wisely before cutting the link. He quickly went inside the tent and grabbed the empty duffle bag and began grabbing supplies. The Barret .50 caliber sniper rifle went into the bag with 2 eight-bullet magazines. The Mittelstedt light machine gun followed suit with one magizine of white phosphorus rounds. An AK-47 went into the bag only because of the gun having more available ammo. Sergi got up and moved over to the desk that still had his PPSH and FAL lying on it. He took the time to clean both guns before he decided to leave. He picked up a drum for the PPSH since he would be out of his mind not to take it. It was the one thing that tied him to his past and to the training that made who he partially was today. After everything was accounted for the mission, Sergi took a step outside. It seemed like those ponies actually cleaned up winter. There was no hint that this morning was filled with snow. He chuckled to himself because they had just helped him hide his tracks. Sergi jogged off deeper into the forest to follow the marker on his HUD. He was going to make his mark in this world, one that no one will be able to forget. ==================== Twilight paced around the book stand in the middle of the library. She was trying to think through all of the possible outcomes of what had just happened. They had just buried six dead griffons from the incident earlier today. Rainbow Dash was missing along with other ponies that lived near where the griffons were searching. Not to mention that Sergi had left after killing the griffons to do something that she sincerely hoped he didn't do. Her friends also stood in the room except for Sir Henry who was trying to find any leads on where the griffons could be staying. Anderson was still wearing what he wore he they had first met. He had placed his helmet down on an empty table, showing his short brown mane. Outside, Celestia's sun could be seen sinking down below the horizon. Luna's night was soon to appear in the sky. "Ah'm sure Sergi will do the right thing. He hasn't done wrong yet." Applejack said trying to calm her down. "That's the problem right there! Since he is not from here, there might be a different set of rights and wrongs! How do we know what is going to happen?!" Twilight Sparkle said as she began to panic again, adding "Anderson, you know Sergi the best here. What do you think he’s going to do?" "I have known him for only two days before we met you. I don't have the slightest clue to what he could be doing." Anderson said after taking a second to think. "Calm down dear, you are not doing any favors for yourself or your floor in the mindset your in." Rarity said as she nodded toward the wooden floor that showed the rut that Twilight was making. "How are you holding up Fluttershy?" She asked to try easing her mind. "I'm okay. I was just very surprised at what Sergi did." Fluttershy said in her usual soft voice. "What was the count of the missing ponies again?" Twilight asked Anderson. "We have a total of six ponies missing at the moment including Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle." Anderson replied running his fingers through what hair he had. "This count is not including Rainbow Dash because she was there when the fight happened." "I know what would make this better. A PARTY!" Shouted out Pinkie Pie. After receiving many disapproving looks she amended "Maybe just cupcakes would be good." "That sounds fine by me. The action of today has made me hungry again." Anderson commented as he rubbed his belly. "Now dear, this might be a little bit off topic but it is of utmost importance. After this affair is dealt with, I need you to come down to my shop so I can make you some new clothes. If I am correct, you have left your world and also that nasty war you were in. So there will be no further need to wear that retched thing." Rarity said as she looked disapprovingly at Anderson's attire. A burp from an adjacent room made everyone turn to look. Spike came out of the room with a letter in his hand. "Letter from Princess Celestia!" He said as Twilight Sparkle ripped the letter out of his hand. She quickly opened up the letter with her magic, Twilight read the contents. Dear Twilight Sparkle. I have read through your most recent report and have sent out Royal Guard from both Luna's and My own guard to find the Griffon camp. I will also make sure that the guards know about Sergi's current status. I hope for the best possible outcome to happen. From: Princess Celestia Twilight Sparkle read and reread through the letter to reassure her mind of what is happening. Why did she even doubt for a minute that something bad would happen? With the help of the Princesses and her friends, nothing bad would happen! ==================== Sergi lay silently on a hill about 3/4 of a mile from the griffon camp. His rifle lie on the corpse of a griffon he found near the perimeter as a watch. Through the scope on the Barret, he could clearly make out each individual feather on every griffon down there. The camp was large enough to hold a small army. Forty tents were set up in a rough circle around a commander tent and a tall flag bearing the emblem of a griffon holding a sword and an olive branch. Other tents could be seen through the branches and foliage. The camp was tightly packed into a clearing in the woods. The canopy of a few trees throughout the camp was probably the only reason it has not been found yet. Most of the griffons were chatting and relaxing around small fires, six were stationed outside of a wooden cage off to the side that held six ponies. He spotted the two fillies from earlier huddled together next to each other in a corner of the cage. Sergi had been up on the hill for about an hour, watching guard patrols going through the camp and tracking their paths. The heads of the griffons stationed at the caged snapped to some event happening over near the tents. Sergi scanned back over to the tents to find Rainbow Dash held down by two griffons and a griffon that was probably a lower officer, compared to the one he saw before, grinning over what he had just caught. He flipped a little switch near the scope and audio of the situation flooded into his helmet. "What do we have here? One of the Elements of Harmony standing right here. I can just see the promotion now!" The Griffon gloating in front Rainbow Dash. "YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS!" She shouted back. "We'll see about that... Any last words before we put you with the rest?" The officer asked with a look of indifference on his face. Sergi checked the chamber to find a bullet still chambered since the last time he checked an hour ago. A flick of the switch and Rainbow Dash's comment never came. He tightened his grip on the Barret and narrowed his aim down to the griffon leader. The crosshairs laided on a tuft of feathers near the back of the head. Slowly he pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet sped off toward the griffons head as it pulled to the right to make impact right behind the left eye. Where once was a head disappeared in a splash of red. Sergi quickly took out the two griffons holding Rainbow Dash down and the two stationed outside the cage. He finished off the clip and the world slowed around him. The empty clip was pulled out and quickly replaced with a fresh clip. Sergi waited a few seconds for his next set of targets to come out. As he expected, well armored griffons came out of tents deeper in along with the leader to give out orders. The air cracked as eight more bullets flew out of the barrel and made their marks on the officers. Before stashing the Barret away, he took another look at the hostages. They still were in the cage, frightened but unharmed. Sergi stashed the Barret into the duffle bag and out came the Mittelstedt LMG and the AK-47. Sergi dashed down to the camp with the same stone cold resolve that he had during any battle. The world still ran at half of normal speed as he lifted the machine gun up to his shoulder and aimed toward the swarm of vengeance-hungry griffons. Seeing Rainbow Dash just standing there, Sergi waved her off to the cages. She snapped out of her trance and headed for the cage with the others. He refocused on the oncoming wave of flesh and armor, falling completely into his training. "Ignis et ruinam sequi Angelus mors" Sergi mumbled to himself as he tightened his finger on the trigger. The wave of griffons came to a complete halt as round after round punched right through any and all armor. Anything in the way of the bullets caught on fire. Tents went up in flames and griffons flew into the night sky as they tried to run from the fire. The trees that once hid them from curious eyes now blocked a clean passage into the air. The screams pierced the night sky along with the sound of gunfire. Nothing existed in this world other than the gun rhythmically pushing against his shoulder and the assortment of moving indicators on his HUD. Once the clicking of an empty magazine came, Sergi tossed aside the gun and pulled out the AK-47. He noted that this was no ordinary AK-47, it looked like someone tampered with it before he took it. The difference was quickly found when the kick of the gun felt like it wasn't even firing and there was almost no recoil when the gun fired. Griffons flew for their lives as Sergi slowly proceeded his way through the burning ruins of the camp. With the eminent counter-attack vanquished. Sergi took the time to release the prisoners. He found they were just being released by Rainbow Dash. They sprinted into the darkness and away from the chaos. Seeing the wooden cage, He thought up an idea to spread a warning to others. Sergi walked back to the center of the camp to do one final thing. With a cross section from the cage and a piece of fabric burned at the bottom, he made his own symbol. Sergi placed the seal of the Cossacks with a small addition; he added wings to both sides of the star. Underneath the emblem he wrote the words Obliviónis Exercitus. He took the new masterpiece and speared it into the ground so it stood fine among the burning ruins it stood. A loud crack resonated from the burning griffon flag pole. Another snap crack sounded out before making its slow decent. Underneath its large bulk stood the orange pegasus filly, staring up at what might be her own end. Sergi made no second thought and sprinted toward the filly. The burning wooden pole continued its decent until it stopped with the soft crunching sound. Sergi felt the snapping of his ribs and the burning embers on his back. He had just barely pushed the filly out of the way at the last seconds. His mind began to drift off to his past, back to his time in the labs. He could see the two silhouettes standing over him again. "Now tell me doctor why the test subject is not responding to the upgrades?" One voice said in irritation. "The upgrades are installed properly and are ready to activate...But we have reached a small problem." The other voice said in a slight German accent. "What is this problem then, Doctor." The first voice asked in the same irritated tone. "For the system programs to start working, we need to jump start the system. In the movies they never showed how the hybrid unit worked, so we have nothing to base our assumptions on. Any form of power we have now would just kill him where he is, ending the project." The Doctor explained. "Why can't we just power him up? If he clinically dies then he would just run off of the system then, correct?" The first voice said as the irritation turned into confusion. "For the system to work at its highest capabilities, we integrated the machine system to his organic system. If the organic system dies before the other system is activated, then we have just wasted 3 trillion euros on this one project." The doctor tried to explain. "So you’re saying our best bet is to do nothing?" The first voice said trying to wrap his head around the concept. "If anything, the metal in his body would attract a lightning bolt that might start up the systems he has. Nature has always had an interesting way of making things work." The doctor simply said as his silhouette shrugged his shoulders. A scream made the two silhouettes turn to look behind them and pull Sergi back into the world. Slowly raising his head he saw what the matter was. Rainbow Dash was being held down to the ground by two griffons and the leader he had seen earlier staring down at her. The fillies were off at the edge of the camp, hidden in the shadows. "It looks like your back to where my lesser officer started out before except there is no monster from the deep abyss to save you now." The leader said with a look of indifference on his face. "I CAN TAKE YOU ON, JUST LET ME GO AND I'LL SHOW YOU!" Rainbow Dash said with her words dripping with fury. "I don't think I will, your worth more to me alive than dead. So stop with that nasty little attitude." The leader replied as he grabbed her mane and pulled it up, forcing her to let out a yelp. Sergi was forcing his body to make some type of movement to help, but to no avail. He kept on persisting against the pain coursing through his body and the immense, burning weight on his back. A sound began to float around Sergi's head, slowly increasing in volume and clearance. "Why are you just lying there on the ground?! You’re a Cossack for Christ’s sake! Cossacks never give up and they most certainly never lie on the ground when there are tortured civilians right in front of you!” The voice said "I'm trying but no..." Sergi began to say before getting cut off. "YOUR NOT EVEN TRYING YOU WORTHLESS 3 TRILLION EURO SCIENCE PROJECT!" The voice continued, adding "What is the code you live by every nanosecond of your life!?" "Proctect the Weak, Destroy the Powerful." Sergi mumbled out. "What did you say you piece of flesh and metal?!" "PROTECT THE WEAK AND DESTROY THE POWERFUL!" Sergi shouted out. The voice disappeared and one of the griffons holding down Rainbow Dash looked back at Sergi with concern. "Uh...Sir, I think it's still alive." He cautiously said. "Don't worry about that thing; it's probably just going through its last moments." The leader said as he still held the mane of Rainbow Dash. The griffon hesitantly turned his gaze away from Sergi to focus on holding down an angry pegasus. Sergi felt a surge of energy through him. Where there was pain, it was gone. He used this new energy to slowly push himself off the ground. The burning pole that lay on top of him slowly creaked under the new strain raising it off the ground. The groans made the heads of the three griffons to slowly turn their head towards him. Even Rainbow Dash turned to look at what had distracted her captors. Sergi stood up to his full height and stared down upon the griffons. Silence fell on the scene, even the roar of the inferno around them seemed to quiet down because of the tension. The silence was broken when Sergi whipped out his Kukri knife and took down the first two griffons with quick simple strokes. The leader realized what was happening and attempted to fly away to live another day. Sergi saw the leader unfurling his wings and quickly changed his grip on the kukri. With a strength that he did not know, Sergi threw the knife towards the griffon leader. The knife flew accurately through the air and pierced right through the metal armor. The griffon fell to the ground with a hard thud. Sergi walked up to the griffon, who was still trying to hold on to what little life he had. "Who are you?" The griffon leader barely mumbled out. "I am a Cossack." Sergi flatly replied before pulling the knife out of the griffons chest. With the knife out, the griffon quickly bled out. Sergi removed the leaders’ helmet and closed the eyelids of the griffon. With the new trophy in hand, Sergi turned around to face Rainbow Dash. She still laid on the ground where she was forced down. He removed his visor and placed it into a pocket in his jacket. Sergi walked up to Rainbow Dash and knelt down in front of her. Fear was clearly seen in her eyes and she attempted to make a run for it when he held out his hand. "Don't be afraid, I'm here to help. I never hurt my friends." Sergi said in a soothing voice. She looked at the hand for a second before placing her right hoof in the palm. He smiled at her as she stood up; the fear in her eyes was soon replaced by something else. She quickly wrapped her hoofs around his neck and started to sob. The two fillies that were hiding now came out and approached him. They soon joined in the hug that Rainbow Dash started, ending it with a very confused Sergi. Rainbow Dash stepped back with red eyes and rosy cheeks. "Pinkie Promise that you will never tell anypony what just happened." She said in a soft voice. "I promise on my Cossacks' honor that I will not tell anypony." Sergi replied with a smile. With the group together and well, they traveled away from the burning ruins of the camp and back home. As they headed away, the sun rose to warm their faces. ==================== Celestia looked out over Equestria. A plume of thick smoke could easily be seen in the distance. The sounds of hooves alerted her to someone else coming out on the balcony. Turning her head she saw her sister approach. "Good morning 'Tia. I'm guessing you also felt the surge of power last night?" Luna asked as she walked up next to her sister. "Yes, I felt it right before I raised the sun today. This amount of power is easily equal to the Elements of Harmony. It worries me what could possibly have that much power." She replied to her sister's inquiry. "I might have an idea, but it is a little bit sketchy." Luna said as she stared off into the distance. Celestia chuckled at the statement. 'My sister and all of her little cryptic messages.' She thought in her head as she looked back at the plume of black smoke in the distance.