Guardians of the Elements of Harmony

by mcb893

22. Ranger Squad

"Stay behind me..." Moore says as he raises his rifle. Edging towards the hill, he hears the snapping of a twig and pauses. The mares back away, fearful of what may lay ahead. "Maybe it's more of them Rangers like you?" Applejack offered. "Maybe... But I'm not taking any chances." Moore said. Moore closes one eye, focusing all of his sight ability on the holographic sight of his weapon. He breathed steadily, awaiting for the creatures on the mountain top to show themselves. He hears a clink, and sees a canister burst, bringing forth a screen of smoke. "Star!" Something shouts. "STAR! Or we will fire on you!" Moore comes to realization, drops his weapon, and raises his arms. "Don't shoot! Texas! The code is Texas!" He shouts. There is only silence as Moore's heart beats inside of his chest. "John?" Twilight asks questioningly. Moore shushes her. "Staff Sergeant?" He hears. Moore doesn't even have to think to know who's up there.

"Stand down troops. This is a friendly area." He says reclaiming his weapon. Sure enough, five Rangers come walking out of the smoke, though they pause upon sight of the ponies. "Uh... Question...? What are these?" One soldier asks. Moore recognizes him. "Introduce yourself ladies. And guy." Moore says with a slight smile on his face. Turning back, he sees that they're as scared and confused as when Twilight and Applejack first saw him. Sighing he kneels down. "It's alright, they're Rangers, like me." He says calmly. "This is weirdin' me out." He hears a soldier say. Moore turns and stands. He recognizes the men. Turning back to Twilight, he motions to the soldiers. The unicorn gulps, but puts on a smile. "H... Hello... My name is Twilight Sparkle, star pupil of Princess Celestia." The soldiers briefly step back. "Holy crap... It talks?" One asks. "She." Moore says. The soldier looks at him, who he now recognizes as Daniels. "Should've figured you'd end up here Private." He says jokingly.

Eventually, both the soldiers and ponies calm down to the point where they can properly introduce themselves. The soldiers that came through are Private Daniels, specialized in quick hit and run tactics, Corporal Barns, a heavy weapons specialist, Sergeant Connors, a sniper, Specialist Adams, a demolitions and javelin expert, and Corporal Hans, an assault specialist. The group decided to head back to the building that Moore had found himself in. They gathered in the cafeteria, where they would talk about what had happen. "How'd you get here?" Moore asked as he sat down. "We managed to get our hands on an alien transporter ray. Our first objective was to launch an EMP during a sequence to find you and get you home, as well as gather info on the location with cameras." Hans explained as he unpacked his assault rifle onto the table. "Lot of good those did..." Daniels said as he tossed a wrecked camcorder onto the table.

Twilight looked around at the strange new men. It was a little scary to be surrounded by so many at once, but she knew they had good purpose. "So... you guys all... friends?" She asked. "Friends? More like allies." Connors said as he hit a strange looking device. "Give it up Sergeant. GPS doesn't work here. No satellites." John said as he looked to Twilight. "You aren't friends?" She heard Pinkie ask, who was wide eyed. "Some of us are. I've known Jack since he was in high school." The one called Barns said. "Who?" Rainbow asked. Twilight turned to look at the man, who had brown hair and green eyes. "Jack Adams." He said, motioning to the Specialist.

Moore looked back over to Adams, who he knew was uncomfortable. "Nice to meet you." He said quietly. "He's a little quiet, doesn't talk much." Barns explained as he placed his LMG on the table. Twilight stared at it, seeming to be afraid. "What is... that?" She asked. Barns looked to her, then to Moore. "Have you explained that we ki..." "Yes." Moore said before he could finish his question. There wasn't any point in mentioning it more than needed. Barns nodded and turned back to the frightened unicorn. "You know what a gun is?" He asked. Twilight nodded. "Well, this particular one, is called an M240. It is a light machine gun, or LMG for short. Fires 7.62 mm rounds at a rate of about 750-950 rounds per minute." He explained. Twilight nodded. Looking over to Connors, she asked about the weapon he had. Connors observed his weapon for a while, then set it on the table. "This is called an SR-25. It's what's called a Sniper Rifle, which have an incredibly long range. This weapon fires 7.62x51 mm NATO rounds. Fancy talk for really big bullets." He said as he checked a clip in it. The other ponies asked about the other weapons carried by the soldiers, including the Javelin, SCAR-L, MP5, and an assortment of pistols and machine pistols.

"So where's the captain?" Moore asked. "Back home. He said he needed to stay back in order to lead the troops into battle." Connors said. Moore nods. Looking back to the ponies, he asked them to talk about themselves. Despite a little caution, they comply and talk. For Pinkie, it wasn't that hard, she just rambled on an on about something completely off topic. The others do manage to share when she has to stop to breathe, but Fluttershy still seems hesitant. "Come on Fluttershy. You can do it." Rainbow says encouragingly. "Not like we're gonna bite." Adams says under his breath. Fluttershy lowers her head slightly, cringing. Moore places a hand on her hoof. "It's okay." He says, rubbing her hoof with his thumb. She looks up, her eyes full of fear. Moore smiles, and reassures her. Slowly, she does manage to talk and explain herself. Moore smiles. Things were going to be better.

Braeburn stood and asked them if they wanted anything to eat. "As a matter of fact, yeah. You got any beef? I'm starved." Hans said. The ponies gasped and Moore face palmed. "Oh great..." He thought to himself. As if things couldn't get worse, Barns asked what was wrong with eating meat. Moore slammed his head down on the table as the ponies grew even more shocked. "Why would you want to eat poor little animals?" He could hear Fluttershy ask, with a somewhat quaky voice. "Moore did it." He hears Barns say. "Oh for crying out loud..." Moore says as he raises his head. "We know..." Fluttershy said, turning away. Moore sighed and placed his hand to his head, rubbing it in shame. "So what's the big deal?" Barns asks. "Guys, if horses don't eat meat in our world, what the heck would make you think they eat it here?" Adams says in a somewhat irritated tone. The others stare at him, but he maintains his look. Moore looks up and backs him up. "He's right, they're all vegetarians. They eat fruit and sweets." He explains. Looking back to Fluttershy, he places a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up to him. Moore stares at her with sympathetic eyes, stating his apologies. Fluttershy smiles, and places her hoof on his hand.

A little while later, a gray, wall eyed pegasus crashes through a door, spinning on the ground as she reaches the table they are sitting at. The soldiers just stared in confusion as the mares chuckled. "Hey Derpy." Rainbow said. Moore cocked his head as the others continued to stare. The pegasus got up and gave a chuckle. "Sorry bout the door." She said. "It's fine Derpy." Braeburn responded. "Uh... who is this?" Connors asks. Twilight looks at him and giggles. "This is Derpy Hooves, she's a bit clumsy, but she's the best mail mare you'll ever find." She says. Moore leans back as the pony reaches into a pouch and pulls out an envelope. "I brought you a letter!" She says with a smile, clutching the letter in her mouth. She holds it out to Moore with a smile. Moore slowly takes the letter, still a little concerned with the random appearance of this wall-eyed pegasus. "Uh... thanks... I guess..." He says. "You're welcome." Derpy says with a grin. Moore opens the letter and reads aloud.

Dear my little Ponies (and Staff Sergeant Moore),

We noticed a large white flash come from the east, it was not very bright, but we knew that it must be serious. Last time it happened, it brought us the Staff Sergeant. Now, if this light has brought more humans, I would much appreciate it if you would bring them here, so that I may welcome and greet them personally. I would also like to discuss the possibilities of them becoming guardians as well, more can never hurt. My best of wishes that your travel goes well and you arrive back safely.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Moore stared at the note for a minute before the note for a moment before speaking up. "Come on. We have somewhere to be."

Comments

[MurderSassin]

Over the top with the gun explaining but nice other wises

[Chadbunger]

dangit I wanted to see a M1 Abrams or a blackhawk.