Purple Hearts

by ShadowMere25

At dawn...

Purple Hearts

By: Shadowmere25

When the three Pony Tribes united as one under the banner of Equestria, they prospered from their new found unity. The Great Windigo Blizzards had been brought to end through friendship and for the first time in history Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi could finally live happily together. The Unicorns with their amazing magical prowess made up the majority of Equestria's researchers and scholars, while the Earth Ponies providing enough food to feed all, and made up the majority of industry and commerce. The Pegasi kept a consistant regulation of the weather for the Earth Ponies and protected Equestria's borders from the skies. As the new found nation grew so did the population that resided within it and they expanded their dominance of the land until they reached the seas. The Ponies did not know what awaited beyond the horizon, where a whole other world lay in waiting...one completely different than the one they knew...

---

Crystal Empire, Equestria

0400 Hours...

"Amidst the blue skies, a link from past to future. The black wings of the raven..."

"Steel yourselves...Only four minute until drop"

The deep raspy voice of a spoke out from the darkness of the cabin. The orange-red lights adorning the sides revealing men that stood in waiting. Lined up against the length of the plane, the small group of men waited with rifles slung over their shoulders and details of their plan in mind. Aside from the steady whir of the engines and the occasional cough there was utter silence. The men all wore similar clothing. Urban camouflage pants, black assault vests over their shirts complete with parachutes for each man. Their faces were concealed behind their balaclavas. A young man's heart thumped rapidly at the end of the line as he waited just as his comrades did. The same raspy voice broke the silence once more. He knew what he was getting into—and if they succeeded...

"Two minutes! Check your gear and stand-by!" On cue the cabin was filled with sounds of zippers, Velcro and other equipment. Checking their chutes, weapons and the rest. Another voice spoke out, this one without an accent—was firm and clear.

"Alright listen up! We've gone over this before but I'll lay it out again! Once you hit the ground, regroup with your assigned team, weapons safe until we get the green light. Avoid the main roads and stick to the alley-ways. Most of em' are asleep so it should be clear. First team moves in and clears the palace grounds, The second is to extract the targets. Team three is to move to and wait at the designated building for the signal. They'll be crawling all over the streets soon after. From there on in you are to hold out until extraction got it?" Muffled grunts and a few nods was given to him in response. "We don't expect heavy resistance, so we should be out in less than an hour. Remember what we went over: Step one, Drop into the night. Step two, Secure the targets. Step three...unleash hell!"

From the windows, clouds and the world below could be seen, veiled by the beautiful night sky. The lone cargo plane tore through the night, high in the clouds. Only a faint sound could be heard from below. The masked men inside went through one last phase of silence as they approached the Crystal Empire. With no radar or anti-air defenses, slipping into Equestrian territory was no challenge for the plane and its cargo. This operation had taken months of planning. Gathering intelligence, smuggling weapons, recruiting more men for the cause. Humanity and Ponykind had been at peace for far too long it seemed.

The young man at the back was anxious. This was his first "mission" in the organization and if all went well, he wouldn't just get paid, he would officially become one of them. There was nothing more he wanted. Each of the men on board had a fire burning furiously in their hearts. One that could only be doused with blood. They all knew what they signed up for...and they were ready. The boy's anxiety was replaced with a seething anger waiting to be released...pent up emotions begging to escape.

Not yet...When the time is right son...when the time is right...

"Remember, not a shot goes off until you receive signal!" The burly man at the front spoke again. "Approaching drop point in thirty second! You fuck-up, you get left behind!" The red light above them turned green with a loud 'buzz' and the ramp began to lower. A blast of chilly wind greeted them instantly. A crewman stood at the front waiting to signal the men to jump.

GO! GO! GO!

One by one the men poured out from the back of the plane, dropping freely into the night. The young man was the last to drop, feeling the cool air sending ripples through his clothes as he accelerated. His eyes glued to the snowflake shaped city coming up to greet him through the clouds. He already began to see parachutes deploying below him and clutched the handle firmly. He let himself fall for a few more seconds before yanking the main handle hard. He felt the chute's contents fly out for a moment before he felt his body slow down. His descent now steady and calm, he clutched the handles, steering himself towards the drop zone.

You know what you must do...

As he approached the ground, he could see the others regrouping and making their way to the objective. The man hit the ground with a hard thud, falling over but he was quick to get up. He removed his harness and pulled out his rifle. A Kalash 47 assault rifle...cheap, reliable and easy to use. He took a moment to survey his surroundings. He had landed in a park and could see his mates on the other side. It was mostly dark, save for the street lamps and lights coming from the buildings. The streets were empty thanks to a particular 'incident' that made the Princess invoke a curfew.

"Head count! One...two, three..." He could hear his squad's leader whispering. The boy moved in closer to his group. "Four. Alright we're good..." He pulled out his walkie-talkie and reported in. The boy could hear chatter on the other end but couldn't make out any words. "...Copy, we're moving out, over. Let's go." The men made their way to nearest alley, there isn't supposed to be anyone out but it's best to be safe. The leader took point, with the rest following suit. They watched every corner for any signs of movement, if anything happened before they reach the castle, they'd be surrounded like cornered prey. They tread as lightly as they could. The rifle provided some comfort as the boy moved, his balaclava getting damp with sweat. His heart was beating furiously and his mind was expecting no less than disaster.

What if someone saw them? What if they were captured? Would they torture him? These questions burned through his mind like wild-fire. He took deep breaths at every time they stopped. The man leading was calm and firm, his eyes locked in the moment and his hand steady. The group approached the end of the alley leading out into the city square. A raised hand at the front signaled them to stop.

"...and she tells me that she 'doesn't have time' and I'm like 'are you kidding me!?'" The voice came from the way leading to the right.

"...and then what?" Another voice, male, he sounded tired. "I told her if she was going to stand me up on another bucking date than maybe we shouldn't be together." The two voices continued to chat blissfully unaware of the chaos that was to follow. "Uh huh, hey by the way did you hear a buzzing sound by any chance?"

"Buzzing sound? Nah, why?"

"I dunno, I was stayin' up reading when I heard like a 'eeerrrrr' sound coming from the sky."

"Dude, you read?" The other stifled a giggle.

"Shut up! I do!"

"Oh yeah and what exactly? Virgin's digest?"

"No! Something...else...Hey buck you! Don't you have anything better to do at five in the morning?"

There was a laugh and more chatter followed.

The squad leader peeked behind the wall spotting two crystal ponies engaged in conversation. One of them was standing in the doorway whilst the other was outside. They glistened in the moonlight, exposing themselves completely in the dark.

"What is it?" A voice whispered from the back of the group. "Ponies, two of em'. The castle is right up ahead but they're in the way."

"Orders?" Asked the man in the middle. "Stay put and hold your fire. Hold this." The leader passed his gun to the guy behind him. He drew out a suppressed pistol from his holster and pulled up his balaclava. "What are you gonna do?" The young man asked...

no response

The leader gave out a soft whistle, just loud enough to get their attention.

"What was that?" Asked a purple stallion as he stepped out the doorway. On cue, the man stepped out into the light, his pistol hidden behind his leg. "Hey, don't you folks know that there's a curfew in effect?" The two stallions went instaltly wide-eyed at the sight of the black garbed man. "A-a...h-human? W-what's a hu—" The man interrupted him with the barrel of a .22 pistol pointed straight between the stallion's eyes. They both began to back away in fear, lips quivering.

"Don't you worry your pretty little pony head about that." He cracked a toothy smile before a bullet was put in the pony's head. His hand quickly snapped to the other pony and another faint 'crack' was heard, followed by another thud.

The other men came out to join him. "What the fuck!? Someone could've fuckin' heard that!" The man said through clenched teeth. The man holstered his pistol. "No witnesses...If anyone heard that then we wouldn't be here. Now shut the fuck up and lets keep moving, we should be at the castle right now." He pulled his mask back down and retrieved his gun, gesturing the squad to move out. The young man paused. "Sh-shouldn't we get rid of the bodies?"

"No point, we'll be out of here before they're found. Now lets move!" The boy swallowed and continued on behind them. He was going to have to get used to this.

---

Somewhere within the majestic halls of the Crystal Castle slept a prince and princess, their Crystal Guard on high alert, patrolling and keeping a watchful eye out. It was another uneventful night as nary a thing stirred save for the guards themselves. However despite this they remained, faithful to their oath.

A lone pegasus guard walked through the main hallway, his shift nearly at its end. He was looking forward to finally getting some shut-eye. He was tired and the bags beneath his eyes showed it. Not much longer now...He thought, looking at his watch. He didn't know why it was even necessary for Princess Cadence to issue a curfew to protect her subjects, nothing ever happens this far out. Or does it?

They were definitely hiding something when they refused to fully elaborate on why the curfew was being put in place...However, it wasn't his place to overthink such things, the Princess most likely had her reasons and he was certain it was for the good of the Empire.

But still, the guard couldn't shake the feeling that something was...wrong. Weird noises coming from the sky, the curfew, and something clearly eating away at their leaders' minds. No doubt about it, something was off and he could only hope that whatever it is, it would be dealt with soon.

The guard let out soft yawn as he continued his rounds. Trotting on down the corridor, the clip-clop of his hooves and the clinking of his armor being the only sounds that could be heard. He spotted one of his buddies standing by a large door. The stallion looked his way and nodded, he returned the gesture.

"Yo..." The stallion's croaky voice indicated that the door-guard was even more tired than he was.

"Hey, how you doin'?"

"Good...I guess? You?"

"Fine, but bored as all hay. I'm just waiting for shift to end now..."

"Ah, well..." He blinked and straightened his posture. "After standing around doing absolutely bucking nothing for the last hour, I can report that all is quiet."

"Ha, yeah but a little too quiet for my tastes." The stallion yawned again.

"Ugh, I know...Hey we should probably get back on watch. Not gettin' paid to...chat." He smacked his lips before continuing to stay as alert as he could.

"Hey, does something seem off to you?" He raised a tired eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this whole thing. The curfew, the extra security. I mean I'd understand better if they actually explained if anything was going on..."

"Hmm, Well everyone's thinkin' it but..."

"But...what?"

"I heard the Cap' talkin' about something the other day, something 'bout 'anticipating the unexpected'." It was his turn to be confused.

"What the hay does that mean?"

"Means, even the Captain of the guard doesn't know. If anything...they're not telling us something."

"Don't be ridiculous, the Princess wouldn't lie to us...would she?" The stallion shrugged.

"No clue buddy. It just ain't my place to say that. I'm just telling you what I heard."

"Alright, well only a few more hours 'till daybreak. You wanna go out eat later when our shift ends?"

"Hey I'm good for that. Someone else can stand around this bucking door." They shared a chuckle and the guard went on his way.

---

In only mere minutes they had reached it. The Crystal Castle. The young man looked in awe at the astounding architecture. How they managed to build the entire bloody thing out of crystal was beyond him. The entrance was guarded but a few well placed shots from the shadows disposed of the mere annoyance that was blocking their way. The squad leader called in on his radio whilst his comrades hid the bodies and watched their backs. The second team was in the market square securing the area for step two of their plan whilst another team was outside the city, awaiting the signal to extract the other two teams. The cogs had been set in motion...no turning back now...

"Team one reporting in. The castle entrance is clear and all is quiet over." The voice on the other end was deep and distorted.

"Copy, Team two is in position to get started. You are to clear the castle and stand-by to take the targets, only an hour until sunrise over."

"Roger, we're on the move."

"Be advised, the ponies are still unaware of our presence. I suggest you keep weapons safe for as long as you can over."

"Copy that, over and out"

With that, the leader opened the massive door leading into the castle. A massive hallway with two staircases branching off on opposite directions. Down the hall a few guards could be sighted but they hadn't seen their human intruders yet. The royal bedroom where their targets were currently sleeping soundly was at the top floor. Several flights of stairs awaited them. A unicorn or pegasus would have no difficulty getting up there but since they were neither they would need to use the old fashioned way. Treading as softly as they could the masked humans made their way up the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor they spotted two stallions chatting by the door to the throne room. The leader decided to give them a wide birth and not risk exposing them so close to their objective, if the targets were to awake, the situation would take a nasty turn.

"We got one last bit of stairs left, from there we secure the top floor. After that it's a one-way trip." Upon arriving at the top of the stairs they could see the shadow of another guard sticking out of the doorway. The leader looked to the man behind him and gestured for him to move forward. The man in question slung his rifle over his shoulder and pulled out a nine inch long bayonet. The pony was standing at the other side facing away from them. The man poked his head into the room and saw another guard trotting into a room at the end of the hallway. The man, seeing the coast was clear, snuck up behind the guard. Cupping a hand over the stallion's muzzle, muffling his scream, he pulled the pony in close before violently stabbing the blade into the stallions side several times in rapid succession. His body went stiff, flinching for the last time before he fell limp in the man's arms.

The rest of the men entered the hallway seeing their comrade pull out his blade from the stallions body—a pool of blood beginning to form. The man slowly walked towards the doorway where the other guard had gone to. The young man stood watch at the stairs whilst the leader and the other man stood by the door to the royal bedroom—ready to breech. A voice came from the other room, followed by the hoof-steps.

"Hey I heard something drop, everything al—" The stallion's sentence was 'cut' short by the man's nine inch blade finding its mark on the stallion's neck—blood trickling out of the wound like a tap.

"Clear."The man set his body down gently and looked at his bloodied hands. "Fuck...knives are always so messy eh? He should've drawn it out a bit more though. I expected some gurgling or at least some squirming." He wiped the blood off on his pants.

"Sick fuck..." The other man mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Cut the chatter..." The leader interjected as he pulled out his radio to call in. "Team two, we have reached the top floor, I repeat we have reached the target area, what's your status over?" The man with the thick accent responded.

"We copy team one...Charges are set and we await signal over."

The man nodded to his comrade and they both drew out MK6 tranquilizer guns—a special dart in them that would put any man or pony out cold for hours. The door slowly creaked open. The young man's heart began to pound again as he watched his comrades enter the bedroom. It was only him left outside to watch their backs. He gripped his rifle tight and kept the darkness below in his sights.

The men entered the room ever so silently...eyes locked on the two lumps that lay in the bed before them. The third man fixed his bayonet to his rifle and pulled out a bright orange flare gun. He walked out into the high balcony and looked out at the glistening city below. The room itself had a decorative royal-red carpet with a grand dresser and mirror on the left side of the wall. It was a simple room save for the few exquisite pieces of furniture.

Only until they approached the sides of the bed, could they see their targets. On the bed in front of the masked humans lay Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza or as she preferred...Princess Cadence. The two men stood by both sides of the bed. The man next to the Prince shot a glance at the squad leader who was standing by the Princess. The leader stared at the blissfully sleeping Princess... completely oblivious of the human's presence. They just slept, dreaming about whatever ponies dream about. They had heard about these two—their wedding, the incident at the Crystal Empire and how they thwarted an evil king...They heard they were powerful. But yet, here they were, two sleeping ponies as helpless as anyone. The squad leader was not afraid of them, in fact he almost found them to be quite cute...almost.

The leader nodded at his comrade and they both cupped their left hands simultaneously on the muzzles of their respective pony whilst the other pointed the barrel of the dart gun at their necks.

For a moment the Cadence's eyes shot open and upon reaching the human, her pupils shrunk into pinpricks. There was a sharp 'Psst' and Cadence could feel her head beginning to swim. The human put away his pistol and held his single index finger up to his lips...Shh...sleep. That was the last thing she heard before her eyes drooped back shut. The man across from him pulled the trigger and another sharp 'Psst' was heard. The Prince however had already woken and the men felt a hoof smack him in the face, knocking him down.

"Shit!"

"Gah! What!? Honey wake up! What's go—...I uh..." The white unicorn flung the blanket off but before he could react any further, rolled of the bed onto the floor.

"Nighty night sweet prince."

"Aw fuck...He hit me in the fucking mouth." The man got back on his feet and brought a two fingers to his lips—feeling the warm bit of blood. "Shit..."

"Hey, relax, We're almost in the clear. Time for step three." He walked outside into the balcony where his mate waited. The cool breeze washing over his head.

"It's nice..."

"What?"

"The city, it's not a bad place you know?" He cracked a brief smile. "Too bad we're gonna burn it to the ground."

"When the time's right brother...when the time's right." The leader patted the man on the shoulder before going back inside.

"Is everything ready...? Good... All teams...report."

"Team three, we're fully fueled and ready to kick some ass over."

"Team two, we are standing by near market square. We are ready..."

"Team one, we have secured the targets and are awaiting extraction over."

"Good, everything is set. Team three you are cleared to proceed. Team one, give the signal. Weapons are now free! Brothers...Let this night be but a taste of the destruction that is to follow. On this night, we send a message to ALL of Equestria...We are no longer afraid...it is they that will know the true meaning...of Fear. Let the cowards tremble at our sight! From this day...all of Equestria will burn!"

The man stood by the balcony, flare gun in hand. He pointed his weapon to the skies above...he paused and looked over his shoulder at the men behind, they nodded...and he pulled the trigger.

---

In an instant, all eyes went up, looking at the bright red star-like flare burn ferociously. On a clear night such as this, one would have seen it for miles...

Team two spared no time to gawk at the display. The men gathered together on the roof of a building overlooking the market square that was just a couple hundred meters away. The leader looked to the flare and to his comrades once more. They all braced themselves, hands cupped over their ears. He held the detonator in his grip firmly and pressed the button. The result was devastating...Explosion after explosion rocked the earth with tremendous fury. They saw what could only be described as a massive plume of fire rise up into the sky. The following shockwave completely obliterating the market stalls, chairs and tables. It gave no small effort to knock the men off of their feet. The cloud of dust beginning to dissipate, revealing a large crater that was once the Crystal Empire's market square. The surrounding buildings in the blast radius were destroyed leaving the ones further out slightly damaged. The entire area was completely shrouded in smoke, providing the perfect cover.

The men were quickly scurried to get up on their feet—brushing the small bits of dirt and debris off of their bodies. Their hearts were thumping like mad and their breathing quick. The team leader gave a hearty laugh seeing his men in such a "surprised" state.

"So! Did you kids shit pants or what?"

"I definitely got something in my pants..." said a man as he picked up his rifle. The laughter droned out and was replaced immediately by screams.

The entire city had awoken to the deafening sounds of the explosives go off. The gleaming crystal city now shone all the brighter. Ponies looked out to see what had happened. Many began barricading their houses in fear of whatever the pillar of smoke signified. Distinct shapes could be seen moving through the streets in an orderly but swift fashion—spears in hoof and Pegasi were dispatched into the air...The Crystal Guard had arrived.

---

Why? Why here...Why now?

The guards had already begun piling out of the barracks, any grogginess in them shaken out of them when the earthquake hit. Only mere minutes before had the guard been chatting with his friend, making arrangements on what to do when their night-shift ended...but now? Now they were racing through the halls of the Castle, awaiting orders. Two runners had been sent to alert the Prince on what had happened. Apparently it was no 'earthquake' that had hit them...it was an explosion. The confusion was maddening. Minutes had already passed and nopony even knew what was going on! The gaurds were scattered in disarray, nothing could be heard through the shouting and yelling. The young stallion trembled, praying to Luna that everything was alright.

"Atten-SHUN!" A loud and authoritative voice boomed from the crowd of guards. They all looked to the captain of the Crystal Guard standing tall before them. "I know this is sudden but we have to stay calm! As of yet, we do not know exactly what caused the explosion. A response team is currently out there now to tend to the wounded. Once we receive orders from Prince Shining Armor, we are to carry them out to the letter! Is that understood!?"

YES SIR!

"Good! Now I don't know what's going on anymore than you do! But I assure you that we will ge—" The captain's speech was immediately interrupted by sound of what seemed like firecrackers going off.

"What was that!?" A voice cried out.

"Sir that came from the top level!" The captain pointed his hoof to the young stallion in the front.

"Private! I want you and your team to go investigate what those noises were! I need to stay here and defuse the situation on the streets!" The young pegasus guard snapped a quick salute and gathered four other ponies to move out.

"I want you lot to get out there and support the response team! The rest of you are with me! It's total chaos out there and I wa—" The young guard could no longer make out any of the captain's words as he ascended up the flight of stairs, his mind focused on what he and his squad would encounter once they reached the top. He took point with his spear at the ready, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. They began to hear shouting and objects hitting the ground. The guards couldn't make anything out from the sounds of their armor and rapid hoof-steps. Upon reaching the top the first thing the guard saw were the bodies of his comrades littered along the hallway.

"We've got casualties! I don't see any—" He froze, seeing something black in his peripheral vision. He snapped to the right only to see the creature tackle him to the ground. More rapid 'bangs' followed...then screams...then silence. Nothing more than the sounds of armored ponies tumbling over one another down the stairs they had just come up from. The guard wrestled with the dark clothed creature, punches and shoves were exchanged as they rolled around. The guard threw up his hoof only to be caught by the creature but he pushed his body to the side until the guard was now on top, pinning the creature by the forearms. The creature wore some sort of a woolen mask with three holes in it for the creatures eyes and mouth. He brought his muzzle down and bit on top of the mask and yanked back hard.

But only now did he truly get a good hard look at it...the creature was none other than something he had never expected to encounter...pinned down beneath him lay a human...and it was very angry...

Author's Note:

So there you have it! I've had this idea in my head for a while and now its finally up here! I know I haven't really revealed much of ANYTHING that's going on in the story but please bear with me...The real story has yet to start and you could think of this more of a prologue really. As for the humans in this story I'll put in little bits of extra info in the notes after each chapter. All of the human technology is based off real life just with the names mixed around for the sake of being different. This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE after all!

I have plans for this fic and will try get chapters out as quickly as I can, seeing as though my schedule is mostly free anyways that shouldn't be a problem. :)

Oh and here's the .22 gun the squad leader was using...

Comments

[Nidle]

Looks good! Might read this in the near future, so hope you keep updating it!

[ShadowMere25]

4865951 Thanks for giving me a chance!

I'm a relatively new writer so I'm open to any and all constructive criticism. I plan to have an update out every week or so.

[King of Peanut]

The peanut empire approves.

[Shocks]

Very nice. Descriptions were good, plot is interesting, overall, I like it! I'm going to favorite and see where this goes.

[MurderSassin]

Holy bull shit I like this! Just please don't make it super fast like atomic, or even b-52s just ground troops would be the most fun

[Vaughn]

Huh. You actually got me to like a war story with Gore. And I hate those stories. I fave and look forward to reading more. You sir, must be a professional.

[ShadowMere25]

4869456 th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/288/7/7/oh__stop_it__you__by_rober_raik-d4cwd9f.png

[Superamazingbadgerman]

I don't usually bother with this kind of stuff, but I would greatly appreciate if you would make more of it.

[Earthpatriot117]

Damn this sounds good!!!