Mann Vs Mane

by dudenotactive

Fireflies In The Night

Ponyville, Twilight's Castle(Status: Rebuilt), Spike's workshop---

Spike paced back and forth right in front of his workbench with a blueprint neatly spread out for him to see. It was the Gunslinger, a weapon that Engineer used on the battlefield. On another table was his version of the weapon, redesigned to fit his tiny arm. Though he still made a few more blueprints, each bigger than the last. Spike was still a growing boy, he would outgrow most of his stuff one day. Like his favorite overalls. He's not looking forward to that.

But that wasn't why he was pacing around, the claws were ready for him to use. His issue was the fact his right hand was still part of him.

"How am I gonna do this?" He asked himself.

Spike glared at his right hand as if it offended the young drake. Then he looked over to the tools he had on the pegboard, particularly the saw. He sighed as he turned and walked over to the door. He entered the hallway and glanced around a bit. It was still six in the evening, so people were still awake. He had one pony in mind to go to, if Spike wanted to complete the project he would need some help.

His tiny little footsteps echoed through the castle, it was silent compared to the cackling coming from Twilight's lab. It was so loud that Spike was sure Applejack could hear all the way from her farm. She was doing something and it unnerved Spike. But Twilight wasn't the pony Spike had in mind, there was a different mare he would like to speak to.

He stopped right in front of a door and gave it a few knocks. There was a second before the door cracked open, and from the small opening, Starlight stared at Spike.

"Oh, S-Spike!" She chuckled nervously. "Did Twilight w-want something?"

"You okay Starlight? You seem a little shaken." Spike said.

"I-I'm fine. What does Twilight need?"

"Twilight didn't send me." He informed her.

Hearing this, Starlight pushed the door even wider. "She didn't?"

"No, I was gonna ask you to help me with something important."

Finally, Starlight stopped out of her room and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness Twilight isn't asking for me, I rather not meet her after the fondue incident."

"What exactly happened with you and the medics?"

"You don't wanna know." She warned him. "All right then, what do you need help with?"

"Can you buy me some alcohol, enough for me to not feel any pain?" Spike requested.

"What?"

"Just for a project, I can't buy them since I'm still kinda underage and we don't really have anything strong in the castle. So can you teleport to the store and grab me some bottles?"

"Spike, why in the heavens would you want that?"

Spike sighed. "I need it to ease the pain after I saw off my hand."

"Why would you want that!?" She exclaimed.

"Because I have a job to do! My team and I are about to go against the humans soon, and I'll need any advantage I can get. Mr. Engineer told me it would help..." He looked away in shame. "Starlight, I'm small and weak compared to the others. I rely on them and my machines too much, I need to be in the front lines when the time comes and the Gunslinger is what I need to do so."

"Spike, you just don't cut your hand for... whatever this Gunslinger is... And you shouldn't just do it because an enemy told you so."

"He didn't tell me to do it, he just suggested," Spike said.

"That's beside the point. Listen, if I can't convince you, then you should talk to Twilight first. We wouldn't want her to go nuts after you cut your hand without telling her."

"But what if she says no? What if she just throws me on the table and saw my hand off before I could even scream?" Spike panicked a little.

"Spike," Starlight said blankly. "this is Twilight we are talking about, she hoards the anesthetic just for you. Unlike the rest of the team, she would rather die than put you through so much pain."

"Oh, right... Heh, forgot that she smothers me too much sometimes."

Starlight smiled. "It's the perks of being her number 1 assistant."

"Don't forget I'm her adoptive brother." Spike laughed.

"I always thought she was like a mother to you."

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Probably... Welp, I'm gonna go to Twilight's lab now. Wanna come with?"

"No thank you, I would rather not meet her for a while." Starlight then entered her room and shut the door before Spike could even say goodbye. Whatever the medics did, it definitely scarred Starlight enough for her to cower in her room.

Spike shrugged his shoulders again. He decided it was better to go and ask Twilight about severing his hand. He just hoped that she wouldn't react so harshly and that she'd understand his reason. And he hoped that she wouldn't go after Engi, he was such a nice guy and it would be a shame if he experienced the wrath of an angry Twilight.

---

Saxton Hale was perplexed, he didn't expect to find a war-torn battlefield today. He didn't expect that is what he saw first just before he went on his evening jog. A few humans were injured, most were still cleaning up the construction site. There were a lot of guns and bodies of strange looking bug ponies.

Of course, he had heard the gunshots and explosion, he just thought the engineers were using bombs and guns to dig a hole or something. He didn't care how they build the headquarters, he just wanted it done as soon as possible.

He stared at the insects and wondered why many of them were in uniforms that looked almost like the classes of Mane Co mercenaries. Honestly, he wanted to meet one that is alive just so he could punch it in the face. Now that he thinks about it, these things reminded him of something that happened in the past. But he can't really put a finger on it.

"Mr. Hale," A spy uncloaked besides the Australian.

"What is it?"

"As you can see here sir, we have a problem."

"Nah, these are just bugs! Get a couple of pest controls and sick 'em at the nasty devils. They don't look as mean as the Australian Spine Snatcher! And I've hunted those to extinction!"

"But sir, these things nearly wiped out several teams with a single wave. I do believe we need to call for reinforcements." The spy suggested.

"And now I'm late for my evening jog, guess I will have to do a rain check and settle this pest as soon as possible." Saxton Hale stretched his body.

Just then, the air was filled with a buzzing noise, both Hale and the spy looked towards the horizon. A black cloud rose in the distance, soon it blotted out the moon, covering the whole construction site in a blanket of shadow.

"Well then, I'm actually impressed that they have so many bugs to throw at us!" Hale laughed. "Do take care of this, lads, I need to make a call before I pummel every single one of those bugs."

"Of course, Mr. Hale." The spy watched as Hale entered the building that was still under construction. He waited for a second before sighing deeply. "I'm not getting paid enough for this."

---

Applejack listened to some music from the radio as she cleaned her grenade launcher. It helped drown out the noise coming from Twilight's place. The music filled the barn she was currently in, this was the place where she and her family store all the bombs and other explosives. Her sister was also there, Apple Bloom. The little filly sat at her own table and was tinkering with a tiny teleporter. Unlike Applejack, Apple Bloom had opted to be an engineer instead of following her sister's footsteps, or her brother's.

She became quite talented with machinery unlike the rest of the apple family. But still an aspiring mercenary just like everyone else. Spike was even kind enough to help Apple Bloom on building her own sentry.

Applejack's brother was at the house, probably sleeping with his guns like a weirdo. He had fun hanging out with Heavy and the others from what she could tell. Big Mac even brought home a new gun which was given to him by the human. It was honestly a nice gun, but Big Mac had to name it Sugar Belle which was very odd since that was his fiance's name. But to each its own.

Speaking of fellow mercenaries, Applejack noticed something really strange. And it was the lack of fire. Tonight it was her turn to watch over Autumn, but somehow she had forgotten about the pyromaniac. She wasn't anywhere near the lit fuses, not even next to the powder kegs. Applejack scratched her head, thinking about how she managed to lose sight of Autumn.

"Apple Bloom, where's the firebug?" She asked her sister.

"She was outside playing with some stranger the last time I saw him." The filly answered.

"Stranger?" She arched a brow.

Applejack set her weapon aside and stood up before making her way over to the entrance. She pushed the barn doors open and came face to face with Pyro. Applejack yelped in surprise as she recoiled back. The mare and the creature stared at each other for a second. She was too confused as to why Pyro was even at her farm. Her confusion grew even more when Pyro walked towards the door and leaned his face against it.

"Wuh?" She was honestly unsure what was running through his mind at all.

Then he started mumbling something, it sounded as if he was counting. That was when Applejack noticed Autumn over in the distance, hiding right behind a tractor. They were playing hide and seek, the two cruelest creatures in both realities were playing a simple game. She watched as Pyro started looking for Autumn, he chuckled happily as he skipped around. He passed by Heavy who sat on a stump.

"Excuse me, but what y'all doin' in mah property?" Applejack stomped over to Heavy.

Heavy looked at her, stone-faced. "Pyro wanted to play with little pyro, Heavy is here to make sure he does not start a fire." He answered.

"Then why don't y'all take it somewhere else?"

Heavy stared at her, there was something in her voice, he was sure of it. "Do you hate Heavy?" He asked her.

"Uh, Ah don't?" She was unsure why he would ask that.

"Then why is little pony filled with anger?" He pointed out. "You look at Heavy as if Heavy is bad man. Heavy promise little pony, I am good man."

"I don't know what you mean." She scoffed. "Ah'll be honest Heavy, you and the others just rub me the wrong way. Y'all are practically out for my job, Ah have a family to feed and a farm to run." She was straightforward.

"Heavy understands." The giant sighed. "Heavy has three sisters and a mother. Heavy must kill to feed Heavy's family, if not to feed, but to help them. My sisters are currently traveling around the world back at Heavy's universe, two of my sisters wanted to see what it is like to live."

This actually made Applejack a tad bit curious. Her body relaxed, no longer did she feel defensive. Must've been the change of subject, or perhaps it was the fact that she relates with Heavy. "What about the third?" She asked.

"Zhanna?" Heavy chuckled. "She is currently studying back home so she can join Heavy and her husband in battle. Miss Pauling says she will soon be ready to fight once she is an official member of the team."

"Well shucks," Applejack didn't realize that she was already sitting right beside him. "who's the lucky guy?"

That was when Heavy's smile turned into a frown. "Soldier." That was all he said. Defeat laced his voice as he named his brother-in-law.

Applejack actually cringed physically. She knew who he meant, and more importantly, she saw who Soldier really was. The thought of him getting married was impossible, yet Heavy himself was telling her that Soldier has a relationship with Heavy's sister.

"Mah condolences," She said.

"It is not bad," Heavy hummed. "Soldier loves Zhanna with all his heart. He would rather betray America before he would ever hurt Heavy's sister." A small smile formed on his face. "He is not smart, but his heart is in the right place."

"But he's sure darn crazy," Applejack chuckled. "Much more than Pinkie if I'm bein' honest."

"Ha." He laughed. "You are always honest from what Heavy had read. It is something that you are most known for."

"Well yeah, we apples are just honest folks." She said.

Suddenly, the area lit up. Heavy and Applejack turned towards the pyros and noticed that the two flame walkers had set each other on fire. If it weren't for Pyro's suit and Autumn's natural resistance to fire, the two would've hurt themselves. And as the fire brightened up the farm, Autumn and Pyro danced around each other gleefully. They were both singing some song, yet to the two spectators, it was simply just the usual muffled noises.

Heavy sighed. "Heavy is sorry that we must fight. But if it helps, Heavy promises to you little pony that Heavy will speak with Miss Pauling if pony and team are defeated in the future. Heavy will recommend team Harmony, and she will hire you all."

She stared at him, then a small smile cracked. "Thanks, but Ah'll make sure that mah team will win. Y'all can count on that because we apples are a stubborn bunch."

Heavy chuckled deeply. He fished out a sandvich and offered it to the demomare, of course, he had to remove the meat first since she was a pony. And the two then spent the night watching over their pyros and eating sandwiches. Applejack wondered what would happen if Mann Co wins, it was a thought that lingered in her head for a short while. She was determined to take back Mane Co and kick the humans out of their country. But if she and her team were to lose, at least she could sit comfortably knowing that Heavy has her back.

Author's Note:

VN- Villainous Omega
BG- Black Gold Alpha
HM- Harmony Delta

Just wanted to do this even if it gives nothing to the story.

BG and VN are the top hired mercenaries. Skilled and talented, the teams are a force not to be reckoned with. Unlike the chaotic(and ironic) team HM, these two teams are far more tactical and disciplined.

VN Omega specialises in reconnaissance and infiltration. Luna is their primary employer, and are mostly sent to demolish businesses and factories in Celestia's territory. Their years of employment to the moon goddess earned them the title Blue Shadows. Though they mostly work with her sister, Celestia still respects Tempest and her crew, especially when she is the one giving them a mission.

BG Alpha, also know as the Bulwark Giants, are a group of nine ponies who dedicated their lives to protect the country no matter what. They are a team that specializes in defending high valued bases and other important areas. Due to Luna's aggressive assaults, Celestia would hire the BG Alpha to fight against the attacking force of the Blue team. Other than team Harmony, the Black Gold Alpha proved to be worthy foes to the VN Omega.

Though their popularity is lower than most, the Harmony Delta team are still high enough in the rankings, just below BG Alpha. These group of mercenaries are a destructive force, a trail of ash and dust wherever they go. And without a doubt, the most interesting group in the business. Twilight Sparkle had performed questionable acts upon her own team. Imagine everyone's surprise when she had invented the Uber. Twilight, in this universe, had outsmarted bullet. And this alone had rocketed their rankings up until they were third on the board. And thanks to this, many jobs were opened to the HM Delta, and their names were known across Equestria.

And now, team Harmony are the ones who will stand against team Fortress.

Comments

[hamster wizard]

"And now I'm late for my evening jog, guess I will have to do a rain check and settle this pest as soon as possible." Saxton Hale stretched his body.

I guess Changelings are about to go extinct too.