The Guardian

by NYChris824

The Fight

Author's Note:

And here we go.

Sorry about the abrupt ending, I really wanted a chapter out this month and the cliffhanger WILL be resolved in the next chapter.

Also the radios calls go Brigade, Battalion then the company or platoon. I haven't set up an alphabet. So Sandman One One will be 1 Brigade 1st Battalion then B Comapny or something

We reached the edge of the hive and began heading to David's side when we began taking gunfire. We knew the changelings didn't have any guns, so it had to be from our side.

"We're on the same side!" I yelled, "Blue on Blue!" I waited a few moments after the firing finally stopped to peek over. A platoon was scattered across the road. "You guys Third?"

"Yes!" Someone called back, "You Second?"

"Yep!"

"Shit our bad! Come on over, colonel set up shop nearby."

"You guys heard them, let's head on over. We'll take a break and move out again. Get some water and eat, who fucking knows when we'll have a break. And keep your eyes peeled, someone might be watching from a window or an alley." I said. We quickly moved up the street. We made it across, now we had to push 'up'.

David greeted me ,"Michael, welcome. Follow me, I have a small command center."

"You get into any trouble on the way over?"

"No, I was quite surprised. A few changelings saw us and I thought they were going to get help. Never ran into trouble. You?"

"We pushed out a bit and secured a emotion storage place, since they use it for everything, might as well deny use of it."

We went into a small, rather unassuming building, a pretty good place to set up shop. A radio was set up inside.

"Nice place. Is this a house or a business?" I cracked.

"No clue. There isn't even a bed in here, must be brand new. In fact, I think this whole area is new. Hive's expanding."

"Perhaps. What if, rather than expanding, it's population is back to where it was before they attacked Canterlot?"

"Then why would they remove everything in here?" David pointed out, waving his arms around.

"No clue. I'm out of ideas. Let's tell Dan we met up. I'll make the call."

"Fine by me, I was going to let you do it."

"Sandman Two to Sandman Actual."

"Sandman Actual, ain't here, but I am. It's me, Rainbow Dash."

I looked at David, "I see she was never taught how to answer a call." I hit the radio switch, "Copy that. Be advised, we have linked up with Third and will begin our push. So far we have not been attacked. Repeat, not attacked. Over and out."

"Copy that. Good luck, out."

"When do you want to head out?" David asked.

"I say ten to twenty minutes, let's take a breather."

"Hey, since we have some down time many missions did you do in Afghanistan?"

"In six months, I was in the air about eighty times. But sometimes we'd just be in the air, in case we were needed. But I dropped bombs maybe ten of fifteen times, mostly in the wide open and only one in a town. But BDA was seen as acceptable."

"BDA?"

"Bomb Damage Assessment or something. Dropping a bomb on a mountain will have a lower BDA than a town. The decision is made in some command post and it depends on so many factors. If there's an RPG it was a bigger threat than a gun and if a canal was close it'd was a no go because it was vital to the town. Plus a two hundred and fifty kilogram leaves a big crater."

"Nothing wrong with a crater. Dynamite leaves a nice little one in solid rock."

"You know, I keep forgetting that you weren't in the military. What were you, an engineer or construction worker, right?"

"Yes, I was a civil engineer, I worked on roads, but only for a year. Finished college and started an internship."

"Then the hell are you doing here? You should be out being roads here!"

"Because if God wanted me to build roads I'd have a bulldozer. Besides, wouldn't be right, you guys being here and I'm not." He explained. "C'mon, we got a Baba Yaga to get."

"Yeah, let's roll. Meet up in front of the palace in two hours?"

"Sounds good. See you there!" He called out and started for his man to move.

I did the same, "Come on, boys! We're moving out, this is the big one. By tonight, hopefully, the world will be different." We pushed up the road, pulling units watching the flanks as well. After only a few blocks after we left, the whole thing with south as I could hear gunfire off to the side.

Our push went about another hundred meters before we came under fire, green bolts of magic came from a building across the street and further down. As predicted by the head changeling outside, the vast majority of their shots went way too high or fell short. A few hit walls close by, burn marks showing up in the dark brown materials. No one screaming was a good thing.

Five men quickly pushed forward to the building and went inside. A few shouts of Cease fire went through the battalion as they entered. Gunshots rang out inside and they came back out.

"I'm going to assume you're all ponies." I said to them, "C'mon you guys, we still got fighting to do." The sounds of an intense storm of gunfire rang out from the right. We pushed another block and the gunfire didn't stop.

"Sir, we got a report from several units saying there's a large building that takes up several blocks are covering the streets." The radio news said to me.

"So that's what that is. Have whoever is closest to the building, but not being shot at clear it out."

"That'd be us, sir."

"Alright, everyone, we have a detour to take because we have to save some boys." I turned back to the radioman. "How far?"

He pointed. "See the edge of the building over there? Two blocks down. That's it."

"Okay guys. Here's the plan. I want a platoon with me to run for the building and the rest of you secure these buildings. They may have set up a trap for us." Me and the platoon with me watched as the others went into the buildings. The all clear came out and we ran up the street, sticking to the walls. We reached the building just opposite of the warehouse shooting away.

I peered around the corner and looked at the building, it ran three blocks down. Suddenly a platoon of twenty five seemed rather small to clear it.

"Send another platoon up!" I shouted back. Changelings don't understand English, right? The only entrance I could see was the door dead center. Hopefully they had additional exits as a fire escape. Did they have fires down here? The other platoon joined up and I turned to the second lieutenant, "I want you and your men to swing around back and look for another exit. If you find one send someone up here to let me know. If there isn't one, keep going and come on the exit up here."

"Yes, sir! Second Platoon, on me." He ordered and they moved out and around the building.

"Alright guys, here's the deal. We're going to that door and waiting for Second to find a way in. We're going to sit here for a minute and wait on them." A few minutes passed and they circled the far side of the building, no back door, "Let's move."

"Good to see you again, sir." The lieutenant said to me. Both platoons took up positions on either side on the doorway, or rather where a door would be placed.

"Go." I ordered and we went in. The troops swept out on the first floor and began clearing it. I kept pushing up the stairs, five men behind me. I dropped my voice so we wouldn't be heard, "Kill anyone shooting."'

The first room I came across had a changeling in it. He saw just standing in the window shooting away. I imagined he lived through his failure of hiding occasionally was because no one outside was shooting since they saw us enter. At his feet was a dead changeling, the original user of the window.

A quick spray from the hip ended his attack and life, his body dangling limply out the window. If this was a comedy movie, he'd slowly fall out the window. I slowly backed up and leaned on the wall, the realization that I'd killed up close setting in. I know I've killed before, but flying at a few hundred kilometers an hour doesn't allow me to see the bodies.

The next two rooms were clear and the rest of the floor was also clear. Before we could go to the top floor, another group went up. A few gunshots went off overhead and they came back down.

"We got them good, sir! They all were just standing there and we gunned them real quick?" Someone shouted at me as they went back down.

"Tell the others to get a move on! We're burning time!" I shouted back and we also went back out.

As we left the building, the company on the street moved up as well. The whole city was fighting, I could hear gunfire from both flanks and no doubt there was a firefight further ahead.

"Radio!" I called for and the radio man came running over, we ducked into another building. "Sandman One to Sandman Two come in. Over."

"Sandman Two here over."

"I just cleared a large warehouse of some sort. How far are you from the target building. Over."

"I hit no resistance, I never even fired a bullet. We're looking over the palace in a building right across the street. We will stay out of sight until we hear from you. Over and out."

"Solid copy. Over and out." I checked my watch, an hour and a half had passed since we left. It'll take probably another hour for us to reach the palace. I handed the receiver back to the radioman. None of the building were taller than the others around it and I highly doubt David remembers how many blocks he passed. "How did he get so lucky that he avoided everyone?" I asked rhetorically.

Another eight blocks, another half an hour and another firefight to hold us up. Maybe by sundown we'd arrive, take a quick nap and get back in the fight. I sat down against the wall, taking a moment to get a drink and catch my breath. The road was quiet and deserted, so far the only changelings we've seen were the ones shooting at us.

A messenger rounded a building "Hey guys! We can see the hive. That building is obstructing the view. The whole thing has a big square in front of it." This news piqued everyone's interest, we assumed the hive was so big we couldn't see the palace. It does make sense on how David arrived so fast.

"Let's move!" I shouted. "We'll be out of here by supper." Everyone quickly jumped back up and we began our march to the square.

"How big is this place exactly? It has to be at least the population of Vanhoover, if not a little bigger." Someone asked.

"It's too small to be the size of Vanhoover." A soldier behind me said. "Maple Plaza is ten blocks long."

"Yeah but we ain't seen a park or a restaurant. Just housing and some big warehouses, no fun here..

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I quipped, "Now keep quiet, might be some bogies in these houses." At the end of the road was a four story building, probably some important building to the hive. The whole company would fit inside with ease and fortify in case an attack came from the palace. As we entered, I caught a glimpse of the palace through the window. It looked was less of a palace and more of a fortress, nothing about it was welcoming and it certainly held a few dungeons for ponies.

I watched as a platoon stormed the building right next to the place.

"Sandman One to Sandman Two. We are in position."

"Copy that Sandman One. There's only one way in, but I requested big guns to lend a hand to fix that."

Before I could ask if he meant he had cannons coming down to help blow holes in the wall anew voice came over the radio. "Sandman One Three reporting sir! We've found where they were keeping the civilians at. There are hundreds here, maybe even a thousand. Be advised we're staying put until it's safe."

"Copy that and good work, men. Sandman Three, are you suggesting what I think you are?" Before he answered, five cannons were slowly pushed up the road. "Oh my God, you did."

"You got other idea to get in? There is one way in and we're locked out." I watched as the gunners began their process of loading the cannons. The battery fired their first shells and the ground shook as the walls were bombarded. Several more salvos left gaping holes and a tower collapsed, falling into the square.

As the dust settled and the walls stopped making noises as they fell, I was expecting to hear the screams and slurs of a counterattack. Instead the whole area went quiet and turned fucking creepy.

"Lets move." David said over the radio. "All units forward." Even though I technically outranked him on account of prior military experience, but I still began to leave the building.

We all began to move slowly towards the opening the halls. I looked around quickly to see the group had attacking, it was only three thousand. The rest were occupying the city and making sure we wouldn't be hit from behind.

The first few man were going over the rubble, I was further back. At any moment the castle will start shooting down at us, killing us all. Fortunately, it never occurred and we hit the front door with no issues.

"I want C company holding the courtyard," David said. "and someone else open those doors." Two unicorns stepped up and opened the doors with their magic. Before they were open we were already being shot at from inside, magic ripping the doors apart.

"Grenade out!" Someone cried out and flung a grenade in. Three seconds later and it went off, silencing everyone inside.

We spread out inside the castle, looking for the throne room and hopefully the queen too. All we found were storage rooms, or so it looked. A lack of bedrooms for foreign dignitaries and no kitchens needed for them meant all the rooms were a guess. We hit the final room on the hall and I slowly opened the door. There was no one inside, but there were maps of Equestria scattered on the walls. Cities were marked and had something written in their language next to them. A few pictures of buildings and sport team logos were next to them as well.

"What is all this?" Someone asked.

I stared at the maps for another moment before answering, "I think it's almost like a staging area or a weird classroom. The changelings they send out have to know the area, famous buildings and local teams."

"Where to get emotions from or something like that." Another added. "Or you see in magazines stuff like 'Ten Best Cities to Live In' or something."

"Yeah. Alright let's try and remember where this place. Let's move out, sooner we find her sooner it ends or something."

Just as we were about to leave, another soldier had a question, "Hey sir, who's going to end up running this place? I mean obviously Chrysalis won't be in charge anymore and a monarch gets replaced by their first born."

I stopped for a moment to think. "No clue. Don't most species of bugs that live in communities, like ants and bees, the queen is the only one that gives birth? Or lay eggs?" I walked out of the room.

"So her first born? Then what? We search the place for the oldest chanegling."

"It just might be that simple, yes. Don't they also give birth to the future queen as well? I'm willing to bet she's in the castle as well."

As we made our way up some stairs the radio made an announcement. "She's dead! The queen is dead! We got her!"

We stopped walking and looked at each other. A few shed tears, hopefully of joy.

"Let's head home boys."

Comments

[kitsunedagger432]

Great chapter but needs proof read for those spelling errors

Also FIRST COMMENT

[ShadedTz]

Uhhh that seems weird that there was no resistance?...

[NYChris824]

9074643

All will be answered soon. Michael wasn't the one who killed her, that much I'll say

[ihatehaters1994]

9074943

9074643

Maybe Chrysalis did like Hitler and commited suicide.

[Spc jacko]

That that went well...

ITS A TRAP!!!