Colonial Marine in Equestria

by Bastinator

Chapter 1: Bug Out

Private Anonymous. Rifleman of the United States Colonial Marine Corps. This is my first entry in this stupid green book. Just a bunch of useless information I’ll never use. So I’m using it as a journal of sorts. I’m part of Echo Squad, Rifle Team. Corporal Evans has my back for this mission. Watching out for the new guy I guess. My platoon has been directed to some rock called Tranek-5. Search and Rescue op. No big deal, but enough to get my feet wet. I serve with the best, so I better give them mine. [End of Entry]

You wipe the sweat off your face as you delve deeper into the temple. The heat is unbearable in here. “Shrug it off Private, a little heat won’t kill you.”

“Yes sir.” You reply focusing on the path ahead. If you’re going to be a bonified marine you’ll need to act like one. The further you go the stranger this place gets. An ancient temple in the middle of a lifeless planet was one thing. But you feel like someone’s watching you. The black coating around the walls don’t help much either.

You follow Evans into the next chamber, that black shit covering every inch of it. ”I’ve got a bad feeling about it.” Another private blurts out.

”Can it Marine, you’re not here to feel.” Evans replies. Evans may act tough, but you can tell he feels it too. This shit is just too weird.

“Clear.” You move into the next room which opens up into some sort of arena. The scientists should be somewhere in here…

”Any movement private?” Sgt. Barret calls out.

“Nothing on the tracker sir.”

”Alright, Alpha and Bravo take left. Charlie Squad, make your way around the right. Delta will cover you from the upper floor. Echo secure this door.

“Done sir.”

”That a boy, now move out.” The marines fan out, leaving your team to hold a door.

”Stuck with the shit job, like usual.” Pvt. Johnson moans.

“Unless you want to get stuck with latrine duty, I’d man up and deal with it.”

”Keep talking like that and you might make it places rookie.” Cpl. Evans doesn’t give praise lightly, you’d feel gitty if you weren’t so fucking hot.

A crackle bursts from your radio, ‘We got one!’

”Roger that, Delta and Charlie get back her on the double.” Finally, time to get out of here.

‘Yo Sgt. He doesn’t look to good man.’

‘We got some more over here!’

‘Fuck man what’s wrong with this guy?’ *pop*

‘The fuck is that thing!?’ A burst of Pulse Rifle rounds go off at Alpha’s location. You ready your weapon. *Hisssss…*

*ba beep** ba beep* Your motion tracker is going haywire. “I’ve got movement!”

”No shit marine, where?”

You tap your tracker, the signal still growing. “I’ve got movement all around sir. 15 meters and moving in.”

”There’s nothing besides us, check again.”

“I’m telling you sir, 12 meters!”

”Evans, status report.”

He looks at your tracker, his expression growing grim, “10 meters sir, that’s the truth.”

”All squads back to the door!” Too late.

A scream comes from your right along with a roar of gunfire. ”Charlie and Delta squads report! Give me a sitrep dammit.”

‘They’re everywhere sgt. We need to g- ahhhh!’ More screams come from Alpha and Bravo. Gunfire blazes through the chamber.

”Let’s get these assholes!” Pvt. Johnson and Cpl. Foley charge into the fray, letting out a hail of bullets.

‘Echo Squad, hold that door! Bravo’s on its way.’

You look at Evans who’s back against the wall and aiming down the sights. ”Copy that! Anon we hold until Bravo arrives.” You imitate Evans, scared out of your mind.

“What about the others?”

”What do you think?” Fuck.

Something crawls along the ceiling, moving towards you. You squeeze the trigger and it drops like a sack of potatoes. “Another!” You and Evans unload everything you have into the crowd. So much for short controlled bursts.

”Bravo should have been here by now.” A marine runs around the corner, making a sprint for the door only to be dragged off.

“What the fuck are these?”

“We hold at all costs.” You never signed up for this shit.

You scoot your way towards the door, ready to escape. ”Where do you think you’re going private!?”

“I’m not sitting around here to die like the others.”

”We hold!”

You pepper off another few rounds, dropping another intruder. “Like hell I will.” You sprint up the stairs, leaving the chaos behind you. The rings of pulse rifles and shotguns echo in your ears. You won’t die like them…

Cold air hits your face, relieving you temporarily. Past the stairs you continue sprinting towards the evac zone. You can still hear the gunfire behind you. You’re almost at HQ when you see a pistol on the floor. Nothing shows up on the tracker as you pick it up. The gun is covered in some oozy substance, sticking to your hand. *bleep* Popping up your head, you see it down the hall. It’s black as night, buglike in appearance. Its teeth quiver as it gets ready to charge. You aim down the sights, barraging the bug with ammo. It weaves around the walls gaining speed. Whipping out your Pulse Rifle, you fire the grenade launcher, detonating square on its head. The tunnel collapses, chunks of ancient stone coming down all around you, forcing you to find a way around.

Your heart is beating at a hundred miles per hour. Who knows how long you’ve been running. Another right, another dark hallway, the cackle of gunfire fading behind you. “Fuck!” You check your motion tracker. Nothing. Too fucking close. You walk down the hallway, eyes peeled for anything suspicious. That motion tracker is what got most of your Squad killed, can’t be too careful. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice- *bleep* Twenty-four meters and closing behind you, a hiss echoing its way into your soul. NOPE!

You barrel down the hallway, throwing away subtlety. That thing isn’t going to get you like the others. Another right and you can see a large room at the end of the hall. Sprint man! The room is bigger than you remembered, the walls shifting away. You shut the door, locking away any monstrosities the may want in. Taking a few steps back, you look around the room for anything you can use.

Thank the fucking stars this place is hasn’t been emptied out yet.. You even spot a couple boxes of UA-571C Sentry Guns. Nothing on the motion tracker. You strip a few pulse rifles of their magazines, adding them to your own. You stop, noticing a pair of legs sticks out from behind the sentry guns. Drawing your weapon you take work your way around. It’s… Corporal Evans, poor bastard. One of those bugs got him in the head. You spot an Incinerator on the ground next to him, so you bend down to pick it up. Some goo coats the handle and sticks to your hand. You’ve seen this stuff before…

You take a step back, bumping into some controls, a loud roar comes from the console. “Shit…” You started something alright. A growl turns your attention away from the console. An invisible force grabs you and throws you up against the wall. The thing is blurry, not having a definite shape. *shling* A pair of blades juts out of nowhere. Goodbye world… As you say your last goodbyes, another creature slams into your attacker and drops you to the ground. You run to the other side of the room and draw your pistol. The creatures are hidden behind a desk, still fighting each other. A blinding light engulfs you and you can feel yourself losing consciousness. Fucking alien temples…

Fresh air fills your lungs invigorating you. Moving your hand around you feel the fresh grass on your skin. The sun extends its warmth and safety to you. You bolt up, your basic training kicking in. The room you were in is gone, now replaced by some open plain. You draw your combat knife and get into stance. There is no sign of your attackers or the temple. You put your hand on your head, where the hell are you?

This place reminds you of the pictures you’ve seen of Earth’s past, wildlife and nature running wild. The contents of the room are scattered around, even Corporal Evans’s body. You tear off his dog tags and place them in your pouch. He had your back, but you left him, too scared to watch his. You should’ve been there. “Sorry sir…”

Evans still has his Combat Shotgun in his hands, you probably need it more than him now. You sling the shotgun around your back and continue scavenging around. An assortment of guns are tossed about the area, you gather them up and put them all in a large bag. The sentry guns made it, but they’re too big to take alone. A couple research logs were lying about, so you place them in your pocket. Never know when you’ll need them. After a couple minutes you sit down on the sentry boxes and take out your green book. Might as well make use of this thing.

Location- Unknown. Time- 1320 hours. Turns out the “search and rescue” op was a load of shit. There weren’t any survivors on Tranek-5, only some temple. We locked in onto the scientist’s transponders only to find death lying in wait. Nothing could have prepared us for that slaughter. Those bugs… they wiped out my whole platoon. Corporal Evans and I were told to hold the escape route. I was never good at following orders. I panicked and fled like a coward. I left them all behind. On my way back, I found him back in the main chamber, a hole in his head. He must’ve retreated when Bravo failed to show… Whatever killed him tried to do the same to me, but something happened. I had hit some switch and a blast of light hit me and I woke up in some field. My attackers are gone, but they left me with a bunch of gifts. I have no idea where I am, but I’m going to try and find out. [End of Entry]

You look around observing the equipment. It doesn’t seem like a good idea leaving this stuff out in the open. You find some bushes and discard what you can’t carry. You can always come back for it. A river flows nearby, where there’s water there’s civilization. You need to get some answers.

You check your equipment, a simple routine. Armor and helmet undamaged, Combat Knife, VP-70 Pistol 2 clips, M41A Pulse Rifle 3 clips, ZX-76 Combat Shotgun 16 shells, M240 Incinerator full tank, flares, motion tracker and your green book. You jot it all down, hell you’re basically a walking armory. You set off down the river, not burning daylight.

Location- Unknown. Time- 0600 hours. Had to turn off my motion tracker, the wildlife kept setting it off. I almost wasted a shot the first time it went off. Those bugs have me jumping at shadows. Still no sign of people, I’m thinking I went the wrong way. Can’t sleep, there’s no telling if those things are here or not. [End of Entry]

You keep walking for a couple hours, finally spotting a town on the horizon. The river leads you to a cobblestone bridge, the town on the other side. Looks a bit old timey though, constructed mainly out of wood. You keep your hand on your pistol as you enter town. There doesn’t seem to be any people out, just some small horses. Ponies more like it. The silence is deafening, the ponies all have their eyes on you. They kinda freak you out though you don’t show it. You could have sworn you had heard voices before.

“Private Anon, Colonial Marines, anyone here?” No response. The ponies continue to stare. Great, find a town and it’s completely deserted except for some cattle. Just your luck. You walk further in, “Hello? Private Anon, Colonial Marines. If anyone’s there respond.

”Sorry about them,” a sweet voice responds behind you, “they haven’t seen anything like you before.”

”Who’s they?” you say turning around.

A purple pony stands before you, a horn on its head. ”The rest of Ponyville.” De fuck!?

You draw your pistol and back away, thoroughly freaked out. ”Umm, are you ok?” A talking purple unicorn, and it wants to know how you feel. Completely normal.

“How can you talk?” This is too much shit for one week.

”All ponies can talk, you- you didn’t know that did you?” It steps closer, though you don’t sense any hostility towards you. You holster your pistol, hand still hovering just in case.

“Affirmative.”

She appears puzzled at your language, but signals the all-clear to the others. “So what brings you to Ponyville, Anon correct?” She may not be human, but she is willing to help.

“Yes ma’am. I came looking for others like myself; do you happen to have a radio I can use?”

”A radio? I don’t know what that is sorry.”

Damn, looks like you’re going to be stuck here for a while. Activate Courtesy. “It’s alright, I didn’t catch your name Ms…”

”Twilight Sparkle, pleasure to meet you.”

Strange name, but ponies can talk so I guess that makes it ok? “So Ms.Twilight-“

”Just Twilight please.” She seems nice.

“Apologies, exactly where am I Twilight?”

”That would be Equestria.” Equestria huh? Doesn’t ring any bells. You yawn, the lack of rest getting to you. ”Do you need a place to stay?” she asks concerned. “You look like you need some sleep and lay down.” You see her eyeing your weapons.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” you reply disappointing her. You can feel your equipment weighing you down. “But I could make an exception for now.”

She smiles. “There is a house at the edge of town you could use. No one has moved in there since I came here. Is that good enough?”

“That’d be perfect ma’am.”

”Wonderful, I’ll talk to the mayor about your presence here, and please just call me Twilight.”

You give her a nod. “Roger that ma’am.” She giggles before disappearing in a flash of light. This place is fucking weird.

The path to this house is relatively clear. Everyp0ny seems to just clear before you. You don’t even have to intimidate them with your weapons. Other than that, they appear to act just like the civies back home. They buy their shit, go home, and mingle, same old shit just in a different place. The house Twilight mentioned is just ahead. Same structure as most of the other buildings. You always wanted to live in something like this as a kid. No more steel corridors and grey terrain. You shake your head and step inside.

The interior is just as homey as the exterior. There’s a kitchen, living room and even a bathroom downstairs. No more shitting in some hole in the ground. Thank god for that. You set your weapons down on the counter, keeping your pistol and tracker with you. Nothing is catching you by surprise. You clear room by room, silently stepping up the stairs. Some office is to your right, empty. You continue your sweep entering another room. What you see utterly stuns you.

A bed. It’s an actual bed, not just some dinky mattress or cryo pod. You run your hand over the covers. Your hand practically melds with the cloth it’s so soft. This is the first proper bed you’ve felt in your life. Stories were told at how these things felt, but you never thought you’d get the chance… The house is clear enough for you; you just want to feel this bed. You unclasp your armor from your chest and set it on the ground. Flipping on the motion tracker you set it on the nightstand. This place is on the edge of town, so nothing should set it off. Drawing your pistol you plop down on the bed. So… comfortable… You drift off to sleep, pistol in hand.

You’re back in the temple, chatting up some of your squadmates. Johnson is passing time playing cards, others restocking equipment. Just a bunch of marines ready to roll. You see Evans in the middle staring at you. He shakes his head and closes his eyes. Black resin seeps down the walls the light fading. The marines scream in agony, clutching their chests. Evans keeps staring at you.

Your comrades begin to change, their bodies disfigured. They morph into the very bugs that killed them. You raise your weapon and fire, no ammo. *ba bleep* The monsters surround Evans who continues to stare at you. ”We hold…” You run out the door into the blackness. *ba bleep* Something grabs you by the shoulders pulling you up. Evans is inches from your face. ”We hold…” His face contorts, finalizing into another bug. It’s teeth quiver and open revealing it’s other mouth. *ba bleep*

You shoot out of bed accidently firing your weapon, beads of sweat rolling down your face. Just a nightmare… *ba bleep* You don your armor and grab the tracker. Something’s coming towards you. You rush downstairs and aim at the door. *ba bleep* “Come on in, you fuckers... Come on in... ‘Ol'Painless’ is waiting...” *knock knock knock*

”Anon are you alright in there? I heard a loud noise?” Just Twilight.

“Damn,” you mutter holstering your pistol, “I’m fine.” You open the door and turn off your tracker. “Evening Twilight, something I can help you with?”

”I was just wondering how you were settling in. What was that noise?” You pull out your pistol showing it to her.

“My sidearm, I accidently set it off when I woke up.”

”And it makes that loud of a noise?”

“You- don’t know what a gun is do you?”

”Not really, no.”

You sigh, not wanting to explain this shit. “Well, I’m doing fine Twilight. Thank you for the thought. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

”I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat. Sugarcube Corner is still open, so would you like to go?” You are kind of hungry since you haven’t eaten anything since you got here.

“Sure just give me a second.”

You pick up your pulse rifle and sling it across your back. ”I don’t think you’ll need that…” Twilight calls.

“I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” No one has died after saying that. She looks concerned, but waits for you nonetheless. You lock the door and follow Twilight’s lead. The two of you make small talk, mostly letting her tell you about the area. When you get to ‘Sugarcube Corner,’ all the lights are out. “Doesn’t look like they’re open.” You sigh in disappointment.

”They’re open, come on.” You follow her into the building, lights still off. You barely make out a sign at the back, ‘something something Anon.’

“I swear to god-“

”Surprise!” God dammit…

Ponies fucking galore with each screaming your name. You manage not to gun them down by instinct. You raise your eyebrow at Twilight, giving her a chance to explain. ”Don’t look at me. It wasn’t even my idea.”

“Uh huh.” You’re not buying it.

”It was Pinkie Pie’s idea, she al-“

“Where can I find this ‘Pinkie Pie’?” A haze of pink appears in the corner of your eye. No answer needed.

”Hiya! Nice to meet you mister Anon, my name’s Pinkie Pie.” She’s completely pink, how fitting. ”Did we surprise you? It’s a surprise party so of course you’re surprised…” She continue to ramble on while you pour yourself some punch. You haven’t had fruit punch since you were a kid, which reminds you of your empty belly.

“Sorry to interrupt, but is there anything to eat?”

”Of course we do silly, come on.” She drags you around to a table covered in layers of sugary sweets. Of course, this place is called Sugarcube Corner after all. ”Dig in!” she says scarfing down a plate of cupcakes.

“Do you have any, you know, normal food?”

Finishing off her plate, “Why? They’re great just try some.”

“Sorry Pinkie, I can’t.” She gets on her knees and gives you the puppy dog eyes. Dat fucking face. You give, grabbing a yellow frosted cupcake. This’ll take a good week to work off. You take a bite, Pinkie searching your face for the slightest hint of joy. Keep up that pokerface… just a little longer. It’s like you took a bite of heaven and then some. You gulp it down, still expressionless. “Eh, it’s pretty good, thank you. Now about that food…” She jumps for joy and guides you to the kitchen. It doesn’t take much to make her happy apparently.

You can barely follow her erratic movement as the bounces off the walls. Drawers are opening and closing before you can react. She places a sandwich in front of you, “Tada!” Finally, something substantial. You take a large bite, fighting back the urge to purge. The inside is all grainy and utterly tasteless. Managing to swallow you spot a fake grin.

“What’d you put in it?”

”It’s called a Dandelion Delight! You’ve got hay, lettuce, dandelions of course and a variety of other flowers. No wonder it’s awful, the ingredients are basically all inedible. You open the fridge to see if there’s anything you can actually eat. There’s a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, but you need something nice and meaty. Other fridge might have something. Nope, nope and yep, more nope.

“Hey Pinkie do you any anything else in here besides the obvious? Meat maybe?

”We don’t carry meat,” she gasps, “Only those animals in the Everfree Forest eat meat.” Animals… Is that what you are then? An animal? She probably hasn’t thought of anything else.

“I’m sure that some people eat meat Pinkie, not just animals.”

”Hmm…” thinking about it for a minute, “Nope, only animals could be so cruel.” Your nerves begin to flare at her ignorance. So you’re just an animals after all…

“Have you ever considered that they need it to stay healthy? Not every-“

”Ponies don’t need it, so neither do they.” That doesn’t even make sense.

“You don’t understand, t-“

”I understand that eating meat is evil, like those who eat it. More Dandelion Delight?” She says holding out the sandwich. You don’t have to take this shit from this insufferable p0ny.

“Thanks for the party Pinkie,” you say walking out.

”Hey we haven’t gotten out the cake yet!” she shouts after you. You head for the door ignoring the rest of the ponies. You stop by Twilight before you leave.

“Thank you sincerely for the party, but please, don’t next time.”

”What do you mean?” You’re already on your way home when you respond.

“Ask Pinkie Pie, I’m sure a couple ‘ponies’ can figure it out.”

You open the door and get on the floor. No walking the dinosaur tonight. You’re just an animal to them, some creature that eats the flesh of others. They don’t understand that you actually need it. How could they? It goes against their own being to even think about eating meat. Fuck it, it’s their problem not yours.

The bed is still as comfortable as before, though you don’t feel that way. You’re not even going to bother with your armor, but you lay down your pulse rifle, pistol and tracker. Flipping on the tracker you lay back in bed. Let’s hope for a good night's sleep.

Comments

[Another_Dead_Account1109]

I like this, very interesting... and we are the animals?

[Aslatiel]

3496043 This is interesting indeed. We are not animals. the ponies are just ignorant and oblivious to a world where sentient beings eat meat.

[Bronzer]

Yeah, they have no reason to hold their position, so the private has the right idea. Find a more defensible position and communications for evacuation. Holding in some random location is stupid.

Also, to the previous two posters. Yes, humans are animals. Beast is the term used to refer to non-sapient animals.

I understand that eating meat is evil, like those who eat it.

Shut up lunch. I mean meat. I mean purple. I mean Sparkle Butt.

How could they?

The same way humans do. By understanding that "gasp" predators eat meat for energy. Who would have thought! Stupid ponies!