Three Guys in a Stryker Return to Equestria

by Citrus Solutions

Contact!

The ground cracked before anything else happened, a patch of land several meters suddenly split upwards leaving a crater in the middle. From the sky came a thick beam of pure light, and struck that exact position, shaking and splitting the ground further. The light faded, leaving nothing but thick, black smoke drifting upwards. It was eerily silent for a moment, before a leg appeared from the smoke, placing itself of the edge of the crater. Then the rest of the man appeared, stepping up and out of the landing zone. He cracked his knuckles, then his neck.

"What a shitty insertion point." Crossroads grumbled.

***

It was about noon on the day of Celestia's planned banquet when Echo walked down the now familiar palace corridors alone. The three had been discouraged from their investigation in the previous days, with the last lead having gone cold. It had been all they could do, to simply wait.

"So, Raptor." Splash started, the other man turning his head to face him. "How exactly will this event Celestia planned tell us who the bad guy is?"

"There's a few ways it can happen, I guess." He shrugged. "The pony after us may skip out of the event to continue plotting or set up some type of trap for after, we can note that absence and put suspicion on that individual. In another way, probably wont happen, but they might just stand up at the banquet and try to light us up there."

Roar nodded with a faint smile. "That'd be interesting to see."

"Up until the point one of us gets nailed in the face again." Splash chuckled, elbowing Raptor.

"Glad you guys enjoyed the show back there." He deadpanned.

"Don't worry, we won't let it happen again." Splash assured.

When they came to the end of the corridor a larger-than-normal set of doors stood in their path, with a guard on each side. The three men looked at each other debating whether to knock or just open the door until it cracked open on its own. A waiter came out, a small light pink earth pony with a rosy mane came out without immediately noticing the humans, as she was focused on closing the door behind her. She must have felt their presence, because her head swiveled to the taller creatures before her, then had a miniature heart attack. The mare backpedaled into the door, opening it completely with a thump loud enough to garner the attention of every pony in the dining hall.

After the incident in Ponyville, Echo did not remain without their primary weapons in arm's reach for very long. Standing there in front of possibly a hundred ponies with their standard clothing and gear on felt more than awkward, they received stares that gave them the feeling that they'd just kicked a puppy in front of a large group of children. At the opposite end of the table sat some familiar faces, Twilight was waving at them excitedly and pointing to three empty chairs. Roar started forwards, and the small mare walked backwards, making room for the three. Raptor whispered his thanks to the poor girl as they passed. Curious or frightened stares and disgusted glares did not go unnoticed as they walked along the length of the table to the elements, Echo took up the three seats by the end. There were two chairs at the table end, presumably reserved for the Royal Sisters.

Splash chose to seat himself by Twilight, then Raptor by the Princesses' chairs, with Roar in the middle. Their metal guns clunk awkwardly against their chairs, causing no shortage of disturbance within the room. As they finally got themselves comfortable hushed conversations ensued.

"Oh my god, so many contacts." Splash whispered feverishly.

Twilight tilted her head at the man. "What?"

"He doesn't do well with a lot of attention." Raptor interjected, leaning over.

Twilight leaned to talk to Raptor, as Splash was busy meeting awkward eye contact with each unfamiliar face that looked his way. "What do you mean? I thought he was sparring with guards the other day."

"Well, yeah but that's different, I guess. I don't know." The man fumbled for an explanation. "Where's Celestia? Or Luna?"

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon." Twilight assured with a smile.

"God I'd hope so." Raptor mumbled, leaning back to speak to Roar. "Hit Splash, without the Celestia or Luna here the chances of us getting engaged are higher."

Roar nodded, then smacked Splash to get his attention, and quietly relayed the information to the man. He nodded and fidgeted uncomfortably, continuing to scan each pony attending the dinner. If one of them so much as shifted he was focused on them, leaving Raptor to worry about him overreacting to something sudden. He could see it now; a pony bursting into laughter and slamming their hoof into the table, Splash reacting by chucking a live grenade at their face. Raptor wondered if notifying the man of increased danger was a good idea.

Splash, in his own mind viewed himself as perfectly collected. Quickly taking new contacts and assessing them, then moving on. This continued until he realized there were ponies not seated at the table, his eyes shifted to observe the glint of light in his peripheral vision. Contact, he thought. Guardsmare, twelve o' clock. Ten meters.

He observed the mare, who stood perfectly at attention with a metal tipped staff leaning against her. After a few seconds, she looked back at Splash, then winked at the man with the slightest of a smile. The man raised his eyebrow at her, until the false colors on her body shimmered, showing the sandy and light green colors of White Grape for a moment until her illusion resumed. Splash returned the smile, and let some of the stress he'd unknowingly accumulated flow out from his mind. His tense body relaxed, and he reclined in his chair slightly.

There are friendlies here. He thought. We'll be fine.

So, naturally, that's when the AN/PRC-52 on his shoulder cracked to life with seemingly senseless noise. Splash sucked in a breath and calmly pressed the speaker button, muting the integrated speaker and sending the garbled traffic through her earphone instead. He looked to Raptor, who was standing up.

"Sorry everyone, something's just come to our attention, we'll need to excuse ourselves." The man spoke out loud.

A set of confused murmuring arose, growing louder as Echo moved closer to the double doors. Distant radio contact? In Equestria? Not a chance, unless something followed them from home. The contact must have been at least five clicks out, or on the other side of Canterlot mountain with all the interference, but that did not stop the itchiness in the men's trigger fingers, nor the temptation to ready their weapons.

A pony stood up from the table, and pointed at the men. The men, who in turn, didn't even notice until the pony pink-haired bastard screamed. "The demons use those devices for calling in reinforcements! They're invading! Guards, apprehend them!"

With the guards already hesitant about attacking Echo whether they were armed or not, Splash and Roar had enough time to draw their firearms and cover Raptor's rear, freezing any guard who'd thought of moving. Raptor in particular exerted a feat of strength, kicking open the large ornate doors. The doors collided with the guards on the other side, leaving them dazed. Raptor then drew his Colt, scanning the hall and moving forward.

Roar lightly slapped Splash's back and began following Raptor, leaving the gunner to take up the rear. He carefully walked backwards, at the door he stopped, taking his left hand and reaching for a ball object on his vest. At that point he caught Grape's conflicted stare, the mare looked halfway between restraining herself and charging at the man.

He hadn't really thought about what he was just about to do, but when he did it was a little too late. He'd pulled the pin on his Mike-Fourty-Eight grenade and under-handed it back into the room. Splash had the door closed before it hit the ground. Grape's eyes had been on the small object from the moment Splash reached for it, his thumb looping into the metal ring on pulling it out. The lever popping off, then suddenly the ball bouncing off the marble floor and above the dinner table.

"Everypony, get down now!" She screamed.

Splash, now halfway down the hall, heard the explosion from the other side of the doors. The doors even shook slightly, making the man wince, suddenly he felt like a stranger to combat again.

I'm so sorry. He tried to apologize--mostly to himself--unsuccessfully.

"Contact front!" Raptor's yelp was followed by weapons fire, Splash whipped around in time to see...

"Not the face not the fa-"

... His squad leader get decked by the mighty fist of Crossroads. The man who was somehow dodging bullets at point blank, the very image of Crossroads blurred as he moved with inhuman speed. Raptor was punched onto the ground, clutching his face. Roar didn't have much successful either, as Crossroads sidestepped his shots at close range. Then, grabbing Roar's AKM, he slammed the stock into Roar's stomach before entirely ripping the gun from his grasp and using it to club him in the side of the face. The Canadian hit the wall and fell to the ground.

With Roar now out of the line of fire and hopefully not dead, Splash leaned back with the Two-Forty-Nine. He placed a steadying foot behind him and grabbed the carryhandle, leveling the gun at Crossroads. Splash spewed fire at the man and did not plan on letting go of the trigger, Crossroads was stalking towards the gunner, absorbing few of the rounds. Most of the bullets ricocheted off him, peforating the walls and windows instead. Splash's box ran dry, but his finger still refused to come off the trigger.

Crossroads grabbed the man by the neck, and lifted him into the air. Splash dropped his gun and tried to support himself on Crossroads' arm.

"H-how the Hell?" Splash choked out.

"PT, son!" Crossroads explained, and tossed Splash into the air. He barely had time to acknowledge he had taken flight before he heard his former commanding officer taunt again.

"Don't fuck with this officer!"

The Stryker gunner could only watch in stunned fear as his enemy jumped and drew back his leg before delivering an diamond-breaking kick to Splash as he came down. The strike sent him flying back down the hall, and through the already abused dining room doors before landing on whatever was left of the dinner table.

Splash's hand clutched at his chest, he couldn't breath! He writhed in pain and struggled in panic to get breath to his lungs. The man looked up to see Crossroad's sneering face.

"... And five clicks ain't shit, boy!" He said, raising his boot above Splash's head...

Then getting pummeled in the face with a polearm before he could bring it down, Crossroads went skidding across the floor. Grape now stood above Splash on her hindlegs, leaning against her staff. The mare was slightly burned, and did not wear her helmet, with nothing holding up the illusion she looked her normal self. She spared a glance down at the man and smiled.

"You owe me such an amazing dinner." She joked.

Splash brought himself off the ground and onto his knees, still regaining his breath. He looked to Crossroads, who picked himself up off the ground and popped his jaw back into place, the ever confident commander looked like he had lost something extremely important.

"Shit." Splash hissed, reaching for his Forty-Five. Crossroads saw this and began to flee towards the door.

Splash took the reaction shot, emptying his magazine into Crossroads at ten meters. The bright blue flares smashed into him, sending the man through an unoccupied space of wall where a stained window used to be. With the danger at least gone for now, Splash's arms fell to his sides and he slumped over, falling to his side on the floor in exhaustion.

"To think," He said to Grape, who was staring at Crossroads' exit point. "I'm supposed to be on vacation."

"Sorry your invasion didn't go so well." The mare replied jokingly. Splash only made a short guttural noise in response.

The guardsmare sighed, then spoke to another guard. "Send for the princesses, that plan she had to get these guys to have some one-on-one with the nobles didn't go too well."

"This was planned?" Splash groaned. Noting Raptor stumbling in, supporting Roar.

"The Princesses not being here? Yeah. Another one of you showing up? No. Not at all."

Splash started to stand up, Grape offering herself as a support. Once on his feet he looked at the shattered window bitterly.

Lot of questions are going to come from this... And maybe some jail time. He thought.

***

"The noble suspected of involvement with the radical cell has been apprehended." Celestia read off from the parchment as she sat on her favorite plush cushion. "Multiple injuries were sustained in the dining hall. Sixteen nobles and four guards in treatment for concussion, mana burn, and mana overload, which was caused by a small device emitting a single powerful burst of magic."

Celestia looked away from the report to the mixed assortment of smoke and fragmentation grenades before continuing. "Eyewitness reports state an unknown party attempted communications with..." She looked up at the men. "You three... Shortly thereafter another human breached the premises, attacking... Rhino Echo?"

She shook her head.

"Prior to the attack, Rhino Echo attempted to escape shortly after the communication from the unknown party." Celestia smirked as she read the next line. "Then, without proper cause or authority, Prince Stockholm ordered their arrest. This action caused the foreign dignitaries to react in their own defense, launching a non-lethal attack to cover their escape. Each member of Rhino Echo was then attacked by the alleged unknown party, the attacker was repelled, escaping through a window. At this time the popular consensus is that Rhino Echo excused themselves in order to minimize public causality. The offending unknown party has not been apprehended. For security reasons, the party of Rhino Echo was apprehended by Sergeant White Grape. Sergeant Grape has been credited with first retaliation and saving the lives of the dignitaries, and has been submitted to receive the Sentinel's Medal."

She finished reading the report, setting down the paper and taking a sip of tea before wondering aloud. "Hmm, I should see to that, though it's a little late."

The Princess smiled and looked up at Splash. "You wouldn't happen to know what time the dear sergeant normally goes to sleep would you, Splash?"

The man, who stood behind the sitting Roar and Raptor with his arms crossed, responded: "Beats me. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Splash noticed Raptor staring at him with a mixture of alarm and revulsion, he returned the stare in confusion for a moment before turning to Celestia and seeing the smirk.

"Oh." He whispered, his eyes widening quickly at the realization.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "No!"

"I don't get it." Roar mumbled.

"Oh I understand, no worries." The princess set her teacup back down, when she looked back up her expression had become deadly serious. "There are a few things we need to discuss. Before coming to our realm, your weapons were extremely lethal. How did you know these handheld explosives of yours had undergone the same effect?"

Splash smiled, knowing his answer was going to get him put six feet under. I didn't, it was my immediate reaction to what was presumably an overwhelming hostile presence staring me in the face, and I was prepared to kill each and every single one of them in order to protect my team.

"Well, you see..." Splash started.

Roar interrupted, speaking with a blunt tone. "I used one in your hedge maze trying to retrieve a little kid's ball."

Celestia blinked in surprise, now looking at the driver. "Oh, that was you?"

"Yeah," He confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, it pissed me off."

The mare only smiled. "It has that effect on ponies like you. The guard detail barely noticed, it had almost grown back completely when they found it. Well, I suppose that's fine, nopony was seriously hurt. Though I suspect apologies are in order. Nonetheless, this "Crossroads" individual..."

"He is a very dangerous man." Raptor affirmed quickly.

Celestia's eyes scanned the report again. "Yes, I see that."

"I don't think anything short of the Stryker cannon will take him down." Splash said with a frown. "He was shrugging off rounds when I lit him up, point blank too. I can't help but be scared shitless of the possibility of him just shrugging off hollow charge."

"Which, by the way..." Raptor started. "We hit him with nine, seven-six-two, five five six, and the only thing that affected him was Grape, then your pistol. Why?"

"It's obvious." Splash shrugged.

"Huh?"

"Forty-Five ACP just kicks ass."

"God damn it Splash."

"Can you three handle it?" Celestia asked. But it was not with a worried tone, it was the tone that expected the answer "Yes, ma'am." Nothing more, nothing less. The members of Echo looked at each other, it was hard to say yes, knowing their opponent.

Celestia sighed. "My beloved student and her friends, who in turn are mine as well, were in that room when this so-called Crossroads attacked. None of them were hurt, but it is obvious that this will not be the last time an attack occurs, and that attack I cannot formulate a plan for in which my little ponies remain safe. You cannot stay, as this threat obviously wishes for your demise, and will destroy anything in its way."

Raptor grimaced, she was going to ask them to leave.

"However," She continued. "Until the threat is dealt with, I cannot risk you leaving, either. As you three are the most qualified to handle it."

"So what do you propose?"

"I believe I have an idea."

***

Crossroads grunted and gasped, finally stopping at a pond and taking cover behind a tree, probably a good three clicks from the castle. The man sat down in the grass and clutched at his stomach in pain.

"What is this pain I feel?"

He sucked greedily on the fresh tasting air for a few moments, then pushing himself back up on his feet and stumbled farther. He had to get away from the enemy. How had this happen? So much power, suddenly gone. What'd changed? It all started in that room with the horses, he thought. Then that green horse, with the staff hit him. The horse. Crossroads realized. It must've stripped me of that power.

The power. He needed to get it back. He had to kill them. He had to kill them all.

Author's Note:

One really obvious reference and one really obscure one. First to get both gets an internet cookie. c:

Comments

[Dustchu]

Oooooh, interesting~ heehehehe, nicely done, nicely done!

[jmlop0]

Oh, Colonel Armstrong!

[Sharp77]

YES KILL... KILL....KIIIIIIILLLLLLL!!!!!

[KVFFour]

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*Senator