Prologue - Earth

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The Everfree forest was silent, as silent as ever. Cool night air skimmed the tops of the trees, causing their leaves to whisper and their branches to creak. Moonlight cascaded over the green leaves, the ever present darkness causing the usually vibrant green to appear a dull bluish colour. But below the thick hide of the forest canopy, stillness and darkness held complete dominance over the moon and the wind. Through this eerie and murky quagmire of quiet shadows the faintest sound of eight dainty hoofsteps could be heard. The tiniest gap in the otherwise impenetrable treetops cast a silver strip of light on the dark floor of the woods. The beam of light was interrupted by the tiny forms of two fillies.

The first silently and slowly tiptoed (or would have if she had toes) along, her coat was the colour of fresh snow and her pale pink mane waved without a breeze. She lit her way with a faint yellow glow that emanated from her horn. The second was a darker blue, and much younger. Her light blue mane seemed to shine silver in the moonlight, but did not flow ethereally like that of her companion. Also unlike the other filly, she hopped about joyfully and fluttered her tiny wings, disturbing the eternally still air.

"Are you sure that we should be this far in the woods Luna?" the older filly asked, her head quickly turning in the direction of a snapping twig.

"I told you! I saw it out here!" the other replied as she bounded up ahead of her sister and disappeared into the underbrush.

Upon seeing the tiny pony advancing so quickly, the older filly called after her, "Luna! Where do you think you're going!"

The blue filly reappeared from the bushes, a few leaves stuck in her mane. "You're such a baby sometimes Tia! Don't you want to see him?"

"See who?" Celestia replied.

"The hairless metal monkey! Or... wait... maybe he was a Diamond Dog..." Luna said as she put a small hoof to her chin.

"What? You dragged me out to see some creature in the middle of the woods and you don't even know what it is!?!? What if it's dangerous!" said Celestia as her eyes widened and she looked back over her shoulder.

"I might not know what it is, but I know where it is!" said Luna proudly as she stepped toward a cluster of bushes. "Ta da!" she sang as she pushed them apart.

The view that Luna had revealed showed nothing but a small clearing, and a the large mouth of a cave.

"Please don't tell me that we're going in there." Celestia said, dropping down on her haunches.

Luna looked baffled, "What? How did... he was right here! I swear!"

Luna left the safety of the bushes and made her way into the clearing, searching frantically for her missing creature.

"Okay Luna," Celestia said with a sigh, "I think that it's time we head home."

"But he was RIGHT HERE!!! I'm not lying or making it up or anything!" Luna said, barely holding back sobs.

"Shhh... it's okay, I believe you little sister" Celestia said gently as she tugged on the filly's tale with magic and herded her to the edge of the clearing.

Several minutes later, the underbrush by the cave in the clearing was disturbed. The rattling gave way to the force of an advancing animal. Out stepped a creature, some five feet and ten inches tall and walking upon two muscular legs. He was clad nearly head to toe in thick steel armor, a shining helm covered his face and a bright yellow feather sprouted from it's top, making his image even more imposing. Attached to his belt was a large sword, now clean but often stained with blood. Grumbling, the creature and his metal apparel clanged it's way over to the mouth of the cave, and disappeared inside.

Leon Trotsky Air Base, Archangel, Soviet Union
December 28th, 2059

It was a cold day today, easily thirty below. The landscape was a bleak mixture of snow and a few scattered boulders, and the depressing nature of the Soviet countryside was not helped by the fierce winter storm that blew south from the arctic. At the edge of a snow covered tarmac stood two men, both young and tall and both wearing dull Soviet military garb, the taller of the two wearing a long brown winter coat that hung down just below his knees, on his head sat a wide officer's cap. His companion stood beside him shivering as a result of clothing inappropriate for a harsh Russian blizzard, he was clad in a reddish brown flight suit and a simple scarlet beret. They stood in silence, contemplating the storm that approached.

"You think that this will slow down operations?" the shorter one said.

"I doubt it, our boys have been moving through blizzards like this since-" the other began before he ended his sentence abruptly.

The two simultaneously turned to the sound of approaching feet over the whistle of the wind, as they turned they instinctively clicked their heels together in unison and stood as straight as they could as they saw a Colonel and MP approaching them. The Colonel stopped for a moment and inspected the men in front of him.

"Kommandant Anon Y. Mous?" he said accusingly

"Yes sir" the taller man replied with vigor.

"Then that makes you Captain Borris Baretslav" he said turning to the one in the beret

"Yes sir" he replied bluntly, the vaguest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

After a moment of tense silence the Colonel broke into laughter,

"Relax boys, you're not in trouble, however there is a General here who would like to have a word with you two".

Anon and Boris were relieved, together they had done more then enough shit that was "against regulation" and would have had plenty of reasons to be arrested. Instead of worried they were now merely curious. This part of the front had been quiet for a month, the Russians hadn't even dreamed of making a move since November. Whatever was going on, it was certainly something of interest. They followed the Colonel back down the tarmac towards the base, leaving their footprints in the dust-like snow as they went.

Anon stood on the outside of Field Marshall Gramov's door, and he was glad he was on the outside. From the inside of his superior's office he could he the rage filled ranting that made Gramov famous. Old Mikhail Gramov was usually a kindly old fart, which was unusual for a veteran of the Great War. But no mistakes were made when it came to Gramov's temper when it was tested.

Anon caught the old man's fit in bits and pieces "You fucking coward.... if you.... balls.... those Crimeans... on their way back to Volgagrad... Leningrad was almost... send your worthless ass to Siberia if I didn't think that you'd surrender to the Russians just to take their dick in your ass!".

Anon couldn't help but snicker at the last sentence but he was forced to rapidly regain his composure as a young General trudged out of Gramov's office. Anon managed to keep his best poker face until the receptionist informed him that the Field Marshall was ready for him. Anon gingerly stepped into the poorly lit office of the base's commander and saluted. The room was quite dark, the only source of light was a small desk lamp and the rapidly retreating sunlight that trickled from the closed blinds. The feeble light cast faint shadows upon the peeling dark green paint of the walls. Gramov had his back to the door as Anon entered, but obviously knew who was standing in front of his desk.

"Tell me Kommandant, you're no Soviet. Why did you come to this hellhole?" he said without turning, his voice sounding somewhat accusing.

It was one thing for Gramov to call Anon into his office like this but it was another for him to be asking Anon personal questions, especially one like this.The fact that Gramov's face was hidden added to the discomfort. Anon fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before he decided on an answer, but before he could open his mouth Gramov turned around and smirked at him.

"Don't worry lad, your loyalty isn't in question. However we do have a series of questions for you".

It was then that Anon noticed the shadowy figure in the corner, and at the Field Marshall's request the spectral officer stepped forwards. He was a man of his late twenties, slightly older than Anon, and unlike Anon and Gramov he wasn't dressed in the dull brown of a Soviet soldier but the olive green of an officer of the SSA's military, a General. The man had a sly face that reminded Anon of a vulture, and though he seemed younger than thirty judging from his complexion, he had a deeply receding hairline.

The mysterious officer spoke up "Your name is Kommandant Anon Y. Mous, correct?" Anon nodded. "You were born on February 8th 2037 in... [city withheld], [nation withheld]. You enlisted in 2054 in the [city withheld] militia and fought in the American Aftermath with the 35th Air Mobile Infantry. This is correct?"

Anon let out a barely visible nod. He didn't like where this was going.

The stranger continued "After the Aftermath you put in for transfer, you were assigned to the 41st International Airborne Brigade of the Soviet Red Army after you received paratrooper training outside Kiev, Federal Ukrainian Republics. You then were shipped off to the Southern front of the Russian Civil War, where you served until the present day. This is all accurate information?"

Anon let out a "Yes sir" that was barely above a whisper.

"Well then Kommandant!" Gramov began surprisingly cheerfully and apparently recovering from his outburst at the unfortunate General who preceded Anon "it appears that it's time to take a look at your future, now I see that you have placed a transfer to the 102nd Airborne batallion of the Siamese People's Army. What? Soviet Union too cold for you?" he mused.

"Well no sir" Anon said a tad nervously, "I put in for transfer because things have quieted down substantially all through Europe. NNATO and the ANS have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs so I figured why not head south to help out Asian Comrades against the Chinese?".

"The reason, my dear young friend," Gramov said sternly, a slight shadow coming over his eyes as he furrowed his brow "why you will NOT be running off to Vietnam to fight the Chinks, is that my friend General Parsons had a more important and interesting job for you".

The mysterious man (now identified as General Parsons) cleared his throat, "First of all Kommandant I want to be perfectly clear about something. This conversation will not leave this room. I don't even want you to mention it to your flyboy butt buddy Baretslav until I say so. Understand?"

Anon looked Parsons square in the eye and gave him a calm "Yes sir".

Parsons opened a few folders on the Field Marshall's desk and continued.

"A few civilian divers in Virginia were at the bottom of a lake, looking for any scrap that may have been left behind after the War. What they found was much more interesting than a crashed F-35, so interesting in fact, that we have quarantined the area and drained the lake. We manufactured some bullshit about an old US nuke that was set to launch from there, telling people it's radioactive. To tell the truth though, we have absolutely no idea what we're dealing with."

On Gramov's desk were a series of images, a number of formerly underwater caves. In the first picture there must have been five or six caverns but Anon knew exactly which one Parsons was talking about. Near the center of the image it sat there, sinister, generating some kind of strange feeling of unease that could be felt through the photograph itself. A simple grotto carved into the grey rock by water and wind, and yet so much more.

"I see you feel it too" Gramov almost whispered. Anon couldn't take his eyes off the photo, he felt like he knew something about that cave but he wasn't sure. He didn't believe in the supernatural, but just this one, seemingly unremarkable photo of a seemingly normal cave was almost enough for him to question that belief.

"What we need" Parsons began again, "Is a team to take a look at this cave".

Anon turned his attention from the photos, looking once to Parsons, then to Gramov, and back to Parsons. Surprise and confusion never left his face, "No offense General but it's a cave, I may have a reputation for being a bookworm but I'm no geologist."

A small smile crossed Parsons' lips "It's far more than just a cave Kommandant. Don't ask me what it is because I don't know, all we know is that it isn't a cave."

Anon continued to examine the photo "Just what makes this particular cave-like entity so special?" he said without looking up.

"Well for one thing when you go inside your compass will spin uncontrollably".

Now it was Anon's turn to be smile, "With all due respect sir that could mean any number of things, high electrical properties, iron in the rock, really any kind of electro-"

"That's not all" Parsons interrupted, "Not just compasses, GPS, cell phones, radios, radar. Hell even fucking watches. Nothing works in there but light bulbs. Not to mention the effect it has on the people who go in there."

Anon's heart rate jumped slightly, and the slightest of butterflies fluttered in his stomach. "What happens to people who go in there?" he asked while trying not to sound nervous.

"Well it depends on how long they've been inside, ten minutes gets you a headache, half an hour gets you anything from temporary loss of hearing or sight to disorientation, an hour and you pass out. The doctors who examined the men and women we sent in there said that they showed signs of sonic damage. It was like they were having a heavy metal concert blared at them through crowd control sized speakers less than ten feet away and they didn't even notice."

That uncomfortable feeling that Anon got when the Field Marshall asked him about his motives returned in earnest. He began to sweat slightly.

"Wh-what do you need me for?" he asked, now unable to hide the worry.

"Why don't you take a look at some of the other photos in there." Parsons said as he nodded to the file on the desk.

Anon approached Gramov's desk again and examined photo after photo. The first he saw was simply a closer picture of the cave's exterior, then came some photo's from inside.

"Notice the floor" Gramov piped up "it's smooth, like fresh pavement, which is how we managed to send in a probe, all mechanical with an old school film camera".

Anon looked at the photo's closer to the back, apparently the camera had been rigged to take a photo after every ten seconds or so, and for about a minute all that was visible on the probe's pictures was the floor, illuminated by the camera flash. That is, until Anon noticed another source of light. It grew steadily larger for another two minutes or so until what was on the other side became visible. The probe apparently had only traveled as far as this new opening before it had been pulled back via the cord attached to it's chassis, but it was clear that the probe was no longer on the bottom of a dried up lake or inside a cave. It was in a forest, a brilliant forest with a shining sun and vibrant leaves and flowers....

Departure

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Undisclosed Location in Virginia, Republic of Dixie
December 30th, 2059

"Oh Jesus Christ Anon will you pleeeeaaassee tell me what the fuck is going on!" Boris whined as he and Anon stepped out of the helicopter.

Anon had had enough of Boris's crap on the way over, although in retrospect he had woken him up at 600 hours and told him that they were flying to Dixie that morning without any prior notice, but classified is classified and the army doesn't dick around with that shit. On the plane they were ordered to turn in their Soviet uniforms, which were replaced with the nearly identical IOFR uniform, Boris however was far more aware of the change than Anon.

"This is a fucking helicopter pilot's flight suit" he grumbled "if I end up having to fly a boring ass helicopter for whatever it is we're doing I'll be pissed." Boris was a fighter pilot through and through and his squadron had bailed Anon out of more than a few sticky situations on the front. Though he was once the helicopter pilot for Anon's squad in the Air Mobile, he was born to fly a jet. That much was clear to everybody.
"Would you stop complaining" Anon snapped back to Boris "I'll explain everything to you in a few minutes and just so you aren't disappointed later you WILL be flying a helicopter. It was the only way I could get them to let you tag along"
Boris rolled his eyes "Right because I'd so much rather be here in this hick infested shithole than back home in-"
"in that Russian hick infested shithole?" Anon cut him off "I don't know what airfield you're talking about but most guys on the base aren't exactly lining up for the Moscow ballet". They grew quiet as they trudged through the camp.

"Why is there nobody here to meet us?" Boris asked.

"Just shut up and follow me" Anon mumbled back to him.

All around them the camp was buzzing with activity as diverse mass of people ran to a fro accomplishing various tasks. It seemed that there were people here from all corners of the IOFR, all bearing the flag of their country of origin on their arm. Anon looked down at his own flag, a red center, flanked by two vertical black bars and made complete by the black star in the center containing a red fist. The proud banner of [nation withheld], and Anon was proud to be wearing it as there didn’t seem to be anybody else around from his homeland. Boris on the other hand, was nothing special. There seemed to be a number of Soviets moving about with their simple scarlet background adorned by nothing more than a small, yellow crossed hammer and sickle in the top corner.

“Right then, the command center should be somewhere over here…” Anon said half to himself.

As they crested a small hill both the command trailer and the drained lake came into view, along with everything beneath what was once the shoreline. The activity along the dried bottom made the supposed hustle and bustle of the helicopter pad seem like nothing. There were workers clad in brown coveralls preforming excavations on the far side of the lake, digging a series of trenches and quarries under the supervision of IOFR officers. A ramp had been constructed leading from the lakebed to what used to be the lake’s shore and down the earthen pathway rumbled a bulldozer. It was then that Anon noticed it, far to the right of the scene. A chain-link fence, complete with razor wire had been erected around the mysterious opening in a bed of solid granite. All along the outside edge of the whole fence save the gate was a line of sandbags, at each corner becoming the nest of a .50 caliber machine gun. The gate was guarded by a black soldier, a rifle slung over his shoulder and a large, fierce looking German shepherd at his side. Inside the fence men in white coats busied themselves at laptops, recording information and attempting to make sense of the data being sent to them by men wearing hazmat suits just inside the mouth of the cave.

“Hey!” Boris yelled as he snapped his fingers in front of Anon’s eyes. “I didn’t come a few thousand kilometers without any notice to look at the scenery. If this is where we need to go then let’s get going already!” he said as he pointed to the command trailer.

“Why are you suddenly so eager to fly a chopper?” Anon sneered as they approached the trailer.

“I’m not, but it sure as hell beats just standing around, let’s get a fucking move on” Boris replied when they had reached the door.

Anon reached forwards and knocked on the front of the door. A young Quebecois lieutenant answered.

“I am sorry gentlemen” he said, doing a very good job of hiding his accent “this is a classified meeting, I am going to have to ask for your security clearance”

“For fucks sake LeBreton! Just let them in, if they didn’t have clearance then they wouldn’t approach the trailer unless asked” a voice called from inside.

The lieutenant stood aside without saying another word and allowed Anon and Boris to pass. Afterwards he closed the door and sat down near the back of the room. Anon squinted in the suddenly diminished light and as his eyes adjusted he could make out four figures sitting around a conference table and one standing in front of a SMART board. After a moment he recognized the man standing as General Parsons.

“Well gentlemen?” Parsons asked “are you going to sit down so that the briefing can begin?”

“Sorry sir” Anon replied with embarrassment, embarrassment that soon turned to puzzlement as he saw the whole room staring at him. He was confused for a moment before he realized that he had answered Parsons in Russian. “Heh, sorry about that General, it’s been a while since I had to speak English” Anon said as he sat down.

“Yes well nobody else here but me and Boris knows Russian so I’d appreciate it if you kept track of what language you were speaking” Parsons said dryly.

As Anon sat down he observed the four other men who surrounded the table. Beside him was a man who appeared to be all business. His hair was black and close cropped and his blue eyes seemed to lack any sense of humor. On his right arm was a Bavarian flag (surprise surprise, a serious Kraut). Sitting directly across from Anon was a man in his early twenties, bearing the rank markers of another Kommandant and the insignia of the IOFR Engineering Corps. The Engineer also had blue eyes, but his were full of life and luster, the shined almost as much as his bleach blonde hair. Seated nearest Parsons was a large black man, who seemed to be the only person who wasn’t irritated by this whole mess. Sitting farthest from the front of the room sat the only man not wearing an IOFR uniform. He was an elderly latino, clad in an olive green military jacket and camouflage pants. His hair was black with a few streaks of gray and hung about three quarters of the way to his shoulders. His face bore a small black moustache and on his head sat a black beret with a lone red star. Anon removed his officer’s hat as he took his seat and Boris did the same with his crimson beret.

“Gentlemen” Parsons began “thank you for coming here on such short notice, to begin I’d like to introduce each of our esteemed colleagues. This is Captain Kolba of the Bavarian Army’s 2nd Panzerbrigade.” Parsons said as he indicated the Bavarian, to which Kolba gave a respectful nod. Parson’s continued “This is our Engineer, Kommandant Eric McPhee of the 127th Australian Engineers Reserve” McPhee put on a seemingly genuine smile and showed it to everybody. “This is Kommandant Anon Mouse of the 41st Soviet Airborne” Anon simply sat there. “This is Captain Boris Baretslav of Soviet Fighter Squadron No. 172” and Boris being the clown he is, stood up and took a bow much to the amusement of everybody but Parsons. “Yes yes.” Parsons eagerly moved the introductions forward. “This is Doctor Robert Juarez of the Brazillian 204th Medical Batallion” Parsons said as he nodded towards the black man who returned his nod. “Last but not least we have Colonel Ernesto Manendez of the 16th International Partisans”. Manendez didn’t even look up.

“First off, let’s examine what we’re dealing with” Parsons said as he signaled LeBreton (who still sat quietly at the back) to dim the lights. The same image of the forest that Anon had seen in Gramov’s office appeared on the board. “All we know so far is that this cave appears to lead to someplace else. Ever since we contacted you all five days ago we have determined that the passage is about five hundred meters long an-“

“I’m sorry” McPhee interrupted in a thick Aussie accent “but, passage to where exactly?”

Parsons turned to the young man “That’s what you’re here to find out. You my friends have been chosen to partake in an expedition into the unknown. You will lead a small force of about sixty men or so into the cave, and you will find out what is on the other side”

The room was silent.

“Well, sir” Boris began “do we know anything about this place?”

“No Captain, except that the other side opens into a forest, the air is breathable and clear of harmful pathogens and it looks like it could be one hell of a vacation destination”

A small snicker was drawn from the assembly by Parson’s annotation.

“Now then, you will be leading a small force, as I said, of about sixty men. You will receive twenty infantrymen, ten engineers, ten medics plus a Prometheus, a Fury, a Babylon and a Centurion and their crews. The medics will be chosen in such a way as to also serve as a science team. Only the best.”

Doctor Juarez seemed unhappy with this suggestion “Sir, if the passage is only five hundred meters long, then why do we need to save space like this, surely we could send a proper science team in addition to the medics.”

“That won’t be possible Doctor. Whenever we send anything in there we get some strange readings emanating from it. With this amount of men and equipment moving through at once the readings are expected to spike dramatically and we don’t yet know the effects of this strange sort of radiation inside. We’ll have to wait at least a two weeks to a month before we can send anybody else or you can come home.”

Once again silence gripped the room and Parsons sat down in the nearest seat.

“I know this is unbelievable” he said.

“Damn right” Boris whispered.

“But gentlemen, this is a hell of an opportunity. We don’t even know what planet this thing leads to because it sure as hell isn’t Earth. Mouse will lead the infantry. Kolba will be in charge of the armor and Baretslav the choppers. McPhee and Juarez will be watching over the medics and engineers respectively and Manendez will lead this whole thing. Until we can reestablish contact with you I want you to make sure you treat him like he’s Marx himself. Understand?”

The General’s question was met with a unanimous and monotone “Yes comrade commander”.

Everything was set. The members of this daring penetration into a brave new world were in position in front of the cave. The Fury was hitched to the Babylon and the Prometheus to the Centurion. The footsoldiers, handpicked by the IOFR High Command, marched slowly alongside the vehicles as the made their way into the ominous cavern. The strange obsession that Anon had felt when he first saw this cave in a photograph was unsurprisingly stronger than ever. He sat atop the Centurion and as its wheels left the dry lakebed and touched upon the smooth granite of the rock’s mysterious orifice he felt a strange calm come over him. For better or worse, this was going to change his life.

Close Encounters

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Derpy's House, Ponyville, Equestria
December 30th, 2059 (Earth Calendar)

It's been a slow day for Angel Bunny. He's spent almost two days cooped up in a tiny little cottage with Tank, the flying Turtle. All six Elements of Harmony were in Canterlot to attend the coronation of Twilight Sparkle (yes I'm Twilicorning) and unfortunately for Angel, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash has both decided that out of all the ponies in Ponyville that could have been appointed to watch them, Derpy was the best choice. Owlicious was here too but he wasn't so bad, he just sat there and confused Derpy with his constant hooting. What was a much bigger problem for Angel (aside from an out-of-control flying turtle) was Derpy's annoying little shit of a daughter, Dinky. She wasn't bratty or anything, she was probably one of the sweetest little fillies in Equestria but Angel hated her nonetheless. She was constantly poking him, petting him and snuggling him against his will. He hadn't been this miserable since the time Spike was told to watch the pets of the Elements. He had to get out. The whirring of a propeller told him that Tank was on the move again and Angel turned just in time to dodge the airborne reptile. As Angel did a tuck and roll of the stool he had been sitting on he heard the sound of shattering glass. He turned expecting to see a guilty looking Tank but instead found an embarrassed Derpy.

"Ponyfeathers" exclaimed Derpy "Dinky! Muffin!" she called to he filly.

"What's up mum?" Dinky peeped as she appeared from behind a corner.

"I'm going to have to go to the store to get a new lamp, can you keep an eye on the critters while I'm out?"

"Another one mom? That's the second one this week! Maybe we should take you to a doctor..." Dinky said tentatively.

"Nonsense" replied Derpy as she gathered her bits "There's nothing wrong with my vision! I can see just fi- OW!!" she shouted as she knocked her head on the door on the way outside.

The door shut and Dinky was left alone with the animals. This was Angels chance to escape! He eyed the turtle who was still sailing through the air at a considerable speed. Choosing his moment, he carefully climbed back up on his stool and at the right second he jumped and caught Tank by the feet. Tank spun out of control (even more than usual) and just as Angel let go he struck Dinky right in the back of the head, knocking her out cold.

'Sorry kid' thought Angel as he proceeded to wriggle through the nearest open window. 'Nothing personal, it's just that I hate you'

Angel didn't plan to be gone very long, he just needed to get away from the madhouse that was Derpy taking care of three critters. Besides, Dinky hadn't seen it coming and Tank wasn't going to tell anybody.

'Hey' he thought as he made his way across Derpy's yard 'maybe I put that filly in a coma! Or maybe I killed her! That would certainly make my life easier!'

He mad a mad dash for the bushes, as he would most certainly be recognized if anypony saw him. He did a super badass barrel roll into the nearest garden and peaked out from between the branches of his hiding place. Derpy's cottage was farther away from the center of Ponyville than most other houses, but there was still a long open stretch of road that stood between Angel and his goal; the Everfree forest. He would sometimes take off to the forest when Fluttershy was out of the house and he had a specific spot that he liked to hang around. Sometimes he'd even get some rabbit poon there. He looked up and down the long stretch of gravel road that led into Ponyville to make sure that he wouldn't be spotted by anypony heading in or out of town. When he was satisfied that he could remain undetected, he made another dash for the tall grass on the other side of the road. Once safely concealed in the grass Angel began calmly hippety hopping over towards the treeline.

Most of Ponyville's citizens avoided the Everfree, and if they did venture inside they were probably going to see Zecora. They would stay diligently on the path to avoid getting lost and as a result almost all of the Everfree was still unexplored. Every reason the ponies seemed terrified of the massive forest seemed idiotic to Angel, but then again most things seemed idiotic to him. The forest was large, dark and did have a few dangers such as timber wolves or poison joke, but those could be avoided easily enough. The weather moved over the forest with no interference from pegasi which also seemed to frighten the locals.

'What a bunch of pussies' thought Angel contemptuously as he crossed into the forests shadowy depths.

To be fair, the forest did have plenty of regions that were dark and unnerving but it also had many places that bloomed with vibrant flowers and were home to a plethora of friendly creatures.

'If only those pansies had the balls to look for them' Angel mused once again as he approached his favourite hangout in the forest.

He was about to simply burst through the underbrush into the small clearing when he noticed that a number of small creatures as well as a bear were huddled together in some bushes. Curious, Angel approached them. The clearing that they were spying on from the shadows was home to a large cave, which Angel had named "Headache Cavern" for the simple reason that whenever he approached it his head felt like it was about to explode. Angel soon realized why his compatriots were drawn to the spot. An ominous rumbling sound emanated from the mouth of the cavern. As it grew steadily louder so the collective nerve of the animals watching grew steadily more shaken. Soon the ground began to shake in unison with the rumbling and at last a set of lights came into view. From the opening in the rock emerged a creature- no... A machine, a huge machine bigger than a farm tractor. It appeared to be made of some sort of metal, propelled in the front by wheels and in the back by a set of treads such as the ones that could be seen on a bulldozer. It was a dark green in colour, matching the forest and was covered in irregular black stripes going diagonally from top-front to bottom-back. Atop the strange iron monster was a small hump with a triangular face, and a rather large tube sprouting horizontally from it. As the machine turned Angel could make out the letters "IOFR" and "CVM-4 CENTURION", also imprinted on the side was a large red star. These made little sense to Angel who, looking around realized that he was the only one of the animals who hadn't taken off.
"What's the situation down there?" a voice called .

Angel's attention snapped back towards the clearing. The machine had found a place to rest and was currently sitting broadside to Angel. In the sheer awe of the spectacle Angel hadn't even noticed the smaller creature sitting atop the mechanical mount. This new animal was now standing tall atop two legs, it was mostly brown in colour with a few patches of paleness on its head and at the end of its upper appendages. Angel began to think that the brown part was clothing. On it's head sat a cap, similar to that of a policestallion but wider and brown. The creature also had a large hump on its back, whether this was part of the creature itself or its attire Angel couldn't tell but he saw a long, thin black rod poking out of the hump. It seemed to be talking to the back of its machine but Angel's confusion was laid to rest when he saw the head of a similar creature appear from where the first was looking.

"Not too bad sir, that cave brought down our firing computer which we're rebooting right now. Our radio also died but now it seems to be working okay. There doesn't seem to be any effect on the mechanical components, just electrical problems. We should have everything fixed within a half an hour" the one in the vehicle said.

"Good. While you're at it let Kolba and McPhee know that we need to clear up some space to dump the choppers"

The second creature responded with a "Yes Kommandant" but Angel didn't stick around to watch, and didn't see roughly sixty more plus another machine pour out of the cave's maw.

Angel had turned tail and fled. He didn't know what he saw, but he knew that he had to let somepony know about these strange creatures and their thundering machines. Hopping through the thick Everfree foliage, he sped towards Ponyville as fast as he could. Within minutes Derpy's cottage came into view and in a few more moments he had sprinted across the front yard and done a flying ninja leap through the open living room window.
>Inside Derpy was consoling a crying Dinky and holding a bag of ice to where Tank had struck her.

"It's all my faaaaaaault!" sobbed Dinky. "I-I don't know what happened! I just got hit on the head and when I got up Angel was g-goooonnee!!!"

"Shhh muffin! It's okay, we'll find that bunny! I promise" Derpy cooed.

"Fl-fluttershy is going to be sooo mad at me!" Dinky continued to bawl.

Angel, feeling no sympathy for Dinky was thumping his large foot impatiently. This drew the attention of the two ponies and after the unwanted hugging and promises by Dinky to never lose him again, Angel proceeded to freak the fuck out. He ran to and fro, tried to mimic the machine he had seen and it's strange inhabitants. He took a pencil and paper and drew a crude stick figure of the aliens and their vehicle. Dinky and Derpy were hopelessly lost.
>If he could talk Angel would have said something along the lines of "Fine then, don't come crying to me when you get your BRAINS EATEN or some crazy shit!" before storming off.

Anon sat with his body half inside the Centurion, his torso protruding from the gunner's hatch. The rumbling of expedition's engines reverberated off of the smooth walls of the cave, making it hard for Anon to think. He looked ahead and noticed with dissapointment that some of the infantrymen were walking slightly ahead of his vehicle, off to the side. He would have to make note of which one of them was the first to leave the cave's other opening considering they could be the first human to set foot on the soil of this mysterious new territory. Anon was made uneasy by the cave's interior. It was's irregular or rough like a normal cave, but perfectly smooth on all four sides, smooth like glass. Soon the light from the exit was bright enough to negate the need for the Centurion's headlights.

'Not a moment too soon' thought Anon after they were finally clear of the cave.

The cavern interior gave him both the creeps and a headache and he didn't know why but he got the strangest feeling that it also gave him some sort of severe diarrhea, but only time would tell on that one.

As the Centurion exited the cave it turned off to the left and found a place to park. Anon surveyed the immediate surroundings. They were in a clearing in a forest. The sky was a pleasant blue and the sun shone brilliantly. He smelled the air, it was clean and fresh.

'My God, I haven't smelled air like that since the winter of '56' he thought pleasantly.

His attention was caught by the Centurion's gunner tapping him on the leg. He quickly pulled his lower half out on top of the vehicle.

"What's the situation down there?" he called.

"Not to bad sir," the gunner responded "that cave brought down our firing computer which we're rebooting right now. Our radio also died but now it seems to be working okay. There doesn't seem to be any effect on the mechanical components, just electrical problems. We should have everything fixed within a half an hour"

"Good. While you're at it let Kolba and McPhee know that we need to clear up some space to dump the choppers" Anon yelled back as he looked back at the helicopter strapped to the trailer behind the Centurion.

Foot soldiers had begun to file out of the cave's mouth, followed by Kolba and McPhee riding aboard the Babylon with McPhee's engineers and Juarez's medics trailing behind them.

McPhee!" he called. The young man's head turned to his direction "Get you're boys working on bringing some of these trees down! There's not enough room in here for all our junk!" McPhee acknowledged with a salute and turned to begin issuing orders to Kolba.

Within minutes Kolba and McPhee were directing the Babylon in it's new role as lumberjack. Using it's massive weight and awesome engine power to knock down trees. By nightfall their camp was constructed and operational at the mouth of the cave. The last structure to be erected was a flag pole, the scarlet IOFR banner was the first, but not the last human standard to fly on Equestrian soil.

Walk in the Woods

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Five kilometers north of Winnipeg, Manitoban Confederacy
January 17th, 2055

Anon shivered as the helicopter made circles in the sky, his shudder was brought about both by the excruciating cold and the horrific scene below him. Beneath the circling chopper a number of Manitoban soldiers were pulling twisted and burned bodies from the wreckage of a Winnipeg suburb. The soldiers feverishly clawed away at the rubble, brick by brick, house by house in a desperate effort to locate survivors.

“Set us down here Riel!” crackled the voice of the squad sergeant in Anon’s headset.

“Not much room down there sir but I think I squeeze us in” replied the pilot in his heavy Quebecois accent.

Anon returned his attention to the scene below him and tightened his grip on his LMG. As they descended the smell of charred flesh hit Anon like a ton of bricks. He wished that the smell wasn’t so familiar. Dust was blown up by the helicopter as it touched down among the bombed out houses, and as it came to a landing ten soldiers poured out. Anon remained at his post as chopper gunner.

“Sergeant Sikes, 35th Air Mobile! What happened here and how can we help?” yelled Anon’s sergeant over the sound of the chopper’s rotor.

“Lieutenant Jacobs, 18th Mechanized!” answered the officer who had left the group to greet them. “Our SAM umbrella went down for a bit!” he continued “But it was long enough for the Cannucks to lay down an airstrike! We took a lot of losses but right now we’re worried about the collateral!” he said as he turned to look at the burning remains of the nearest building.

“I take it you could use a hand with this rubble.” said Sikes. He then turned back towards the chopper. “Mouse! Get the pilots and get your asses out here! We’re on cleanup duty!”.

“Sir yes sir!” shouted Anon before turning towards the cockpit. He detached his weapon from its mount and fetched the chopper’s pilots.

Soon there were thirteen more pairs of hands helping the men of the 18th Mechanized clear debris. As Anon reached down to remove another cinder block he heard a small sound. He realized to his horror that there was a child trapped beneath the rubble.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit….” he said nervously as he frantically cleared away the bricks and dust.

He uncovered the blonde head of a tiny crying girl. After making sure that he could remove her without hurting her, he pulled her free of the destroyed building.

“M-my class is still in there!” she managed to say between her fits of coughing.

Once again feeling that sickening sense of horror, Anon realized that the building they were clearing was a preschool. He didn’t keep it to himself.

After tripling their efforts the soldiers had removed fourteen children from the wreckage of the school.

“Riel!” cried Sikes.

“Oui sir!” Riel replied as he appeared front and center.

“It’s too dangerous here for these kids! Load them into the chopper and take them to a safe location!”

There was no protest from Riel. Soon fourteen sobbing children - none older than four – were loaded onto the chopper. With a single soldier to keep them calm, there was no room for the rest of the squad. As Anon watched the helicopter take flight he saw the tiny face of the first girl he rescued appear in the window. She smiled and waved, and he waved back. As he turned to continue helping his comrades, he heard a sound. A whisper that quickly grew to a roar. Looking skywards he saw them, two F-18s bearing the markings of the Canadian air force. Sikes saw them too.

“Enemy aircraft inbound!” he screamed “hit the fucking deck!”

Anon threw himself behind a section of wall that was still standing and peered over it in time to see one of the fighters peel off. It turned in a wide arc until it faced the chopper which was still just getting off the ground.

“Fuck no. FUCK NO!” Anon shouted as he hopped over the wall, ignoring his own safety.

The fighter didn’t remain on its course for long; it fired a missile and veered off to the right. The rocket locked onto the helicoptered heat signal, and struck it directly. The burning wreckage of the chopper plummeted to the ground along with the burning bodies of its passengers.

“FUCK!!!” Anon screamed as he ran after the fighters, “Just give us a fucking chance you fuckers! It was full of fucking kids!”

Anon opened his eyes, he was in a tent, his tent. He was in a sleeping bag, his sleeping bag. As he looked around he realized that he was not at the Manitoban front of the American Aftermath. He was in a tent, in a forest, in the expedition’s camp at the mouth of the mysterious cave.

Fluttershy’s house, Ponyville, Equestria

December 31st, 2059

Angel sat impatiently on Fluttershy’s doorstep. It had been less than twenty four hours since he had seen the aliens and their thunderous mechanical mounts emerge from the cavern in the Everfree forest. Dinky and Derpy had been too clueless to understand him when he tried to convey what he had seen, but Fluttershy generally had a much easier time understanding him. Unfortunately Fluttershy had been away at Twilight’s coronation but was due to return today with the rest of the Elements. Until then Angel could just impatiently thump his foot on Fluttershy’s doorstep.

“Angel?” said a soft voice

Angel turned to see Fluttershy walking calmly up the path with a surprised but happy look on her face.

“Angel honey, I thought I left you with Dinky and Derpy. I was about to come get you. What are you doing here?” she asked.

Angel acted out why he had left; trying to convey his distaste for having to dodge both an airborne Tank and Dinky’s unwanted attention. As usual Fluttershy was the only pony in Ponyville who seemed to understand him.

“Oh Angel” said Fluttershy with a giggle “They’re not so bad! If I were you I’d be happy to get all that attention from Dinky” she said as she walked forwards to unlock the cottage door. As she did so Angel suddenly remembered why he was here and he once again did what he had tried to do at Derpy’s house. He stood tall on his toes and mimicked the strange walk of the creatures he had seen, he then got down on all fours and moved around slowly in an effort to copy the motion of their strange machine.

Fluttershy gasped. “You mean to tell me that you were in the Everfree forest and you saw something terrifying!” Angel nodded before continuing his game of charades, “You mean to tell me that you saw some giant creatures that walked on two legs? What’s that? They had a… A GIANT METAL MONSTER WITH THEM!!! EEEEK!” screamed Fluttershy as she immediately sped into her house and shut the door, the sounds of at least ten locks clicking into place.

Angel facepalmed, sometimes even he forgot how cowardly Fluttershy could be. Angel didn’t seem to have another way to warn people about what he had seen in the forest. He sat down on Fluttershy’s step and put his face in his tiny front paws.

“Ah don’t think that you can have bird watching as a cutie mark” said the voice of a filly. Angel’s ears perked up.

“Sure you can! You just have to watch birds for hours on end!” piped up a second voice.

“I’m wondering why you’d want a bird watching cutie mark” said a third.

“Yeah what would it even look like?” said a fourth in a Manehattan accent.

Angel looked up to see the three Ponyville Cutie Mark Crusaders plus their Manehattan associate. They were walking down the dirt road past Fluttershy’s house, apparently towards the edge of the Everfree forest. Angel suddenly got an idea. He began thumping his foot loudly and he quickly got the attention of the four fillies.

“Hey look, it’s Angel bunny!” said Sweetie Bell

“What’s he doin?” asked Babs

“Ah think that he wants us to come up to Fluttershy’s door” answered Applebloom.

As four foals approached the door Angel made a door knocking motion.

“Do you want us to knock on the door?” asked Scootaloo

Angel nodded and Applebloom stepped forwards and tapped her front hoof on the wooden door.

Immediately there came a cry of “NO VISITORS TODAY!!! ALIENS LURKING IN EVERFREE FOREST!!!”

“Aliens?” asked Babs

“Hey! I don’t think that anypony has ever found aliens before!” said Sweetie Bell

“Are you all thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Scootaloo

The four then shouted in unison “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ALIEN FINDERS!!!”

“Do yah know where they are Angel?” asked Applebloom as she turned to face the bunny.

Angel nodded and took off with four excited fillies in tow.

IOFR Expedition Camp “Columbus”, Everfree Forest, Equestria
December 31st, 2059

Anon groggily got up from his sleeping bag, he didn’t get much sleep. The nightmares had gotten worse, being forced to relive horrific memories constantly didn’t seem to agree with a good night’s rest. Thinking back, he was certain that he had worse memories than last night’s dream. Possibly from his childhood during the Great War, his time in Ohio, the tattoo on his left arm….

“I thought I heard you get up” said a voice in Russian

Anon looked up to see Boris standing at the tent’s opening, “You’re not going to go all “Brokeback Mountain” on me are you?” Anon asked with a smile.

“Pfft. You wish. I’m way out of your league” Boris chuckled, “Come on” he said, “let’s get some coffee. Most of the camp is still sleeping. Wake up isn’t for half an hour.”

Anon put on a pair of pants and followed Boris outside into the crisp dawn air. The camp was dark except for the light of a campfire, and the orange glow of a cigarette inches away from the face of the soldier on sentry duty. Silence was also nearly complete but for the crackling of the fire, the fluttering of a flag in the breeze and the chirping of crickets. Around the fire sat a pair of soldiers, just relieved from sentry duty. They were eating breakfast and the smell of bacon and coffee wafted through the clean forest air.

“The sun will be up soon” said Boris as he took the coffee pot from the men around the fire.

“We should go and take a look around. See how big this forest is” Anon replied without looking at Boris.

“Wait till dawn, besides it could be huge. Couldn’t we just use one of the quadrocopter drones?” asked Boris through a mouthful of bacon.

“Nyet tovarish” answered Anon, “McPhee says that the cave’s radiation is fucking with the drones’ electronics. It’ll be a few days before we can use them.”

“Well then” began Boris, “We’ll have to ask Menendez for a recon mission on foot considering that you probably have some dumb ass reason why we can’t fly in the Prometheus”

“We need to save fuel. Besides, you’re just a pilot. Sitting in a cockpit all day. You could use the exercise.”

Four hours later the camp had transformed into a bustle of activity. Troops were moving back and forth, erecting a perimeter fence and digging trenches. Perhaps a little bit of overkill but Colonel Menendez wasn’t taking any chances when it came to the safety of the expedition. Menendez had however, authorized a recon mission on foot. Anon was to lead them and McPhee, Boris and young private named Martin Lee had volunteered to accompany them. Lee was the youngest member of the expedition – he was barely seventeen – and was the only green recruit on a mission that was supposed to be for veterans. The fact that is uncle was a field marshal in the SSA’s high command may have had something to do with that.

As the four of them made their way west (or at least what they thought was west judging by the way the sun set) into the forest, it became apparent that Lee would be having a hard time. The young man hadn’t been exposed to the same kind of punishment that the other three veterans had. Out of the three older men only Boris had any trouble (normally being a pilot) and even then it was considerably less than what Lee was experiencing. Lee huffed and puffed as they made their way through the trees.

Meanwhile, four fillies and a rabbit approached from the direction that the four men were heading in. Babs Seed looked nervous.

“What’s the matter?” Scootaloo teased, “scared of some little old aliens?”

“Whut? No!” Babs snapped back “It’s just… I uh…”

“Am a big fat chicken?” giggled Sweetie Bell

“Am not!” Babs said angrily

“Yeah” said Applebloom “Scootaloo is the chicken! Just look at those wings!” everybody but Scootaloo giggled.

Angel stopped suddenly in his tracks, his ears twitching. Applebloom, didn’t see him and almost stepped on him before stopping suddenly, leading to a train of fillies smacking into her rear.

“Wh-what is it Angel?” Babs asked from the back of the line.

Angel’s eyes went wide and he signaled them to hide. All five of them quickly jumped into the bushes. Soon the fillies could hear what had caused Angel to stop. They heard four voices, faint but growing louder.

“Ha-hang on guys. We’ve been going for a couple hours now. I could use a break.” one said through labored breathing and in an accent that mirrored Babs’ own.

“Maybe if we didn’t have little boy with us we could have completed circuit and been back at camp already” said another with what seemed to be a Stalliongrad accent.

“Yeah, maybe if our little mate here would grow some balls and stop complaining then we’d be done a lot faster.” said a third in an accent the fillies couldn’t place.

“Would all of you shut up! Especially you Lee!” said a fourth just as footsteps came into earshot of the fillies.

“So what do you make of this forest?” asked the Stalliongrad voice.

“What do you mean?” asked the fourth voice.

“Size, threat level, et cetera”

“Well we’ve been going for a good three hours now and haven’t seen any signs of it thinning out. For all we know the whole damn planet could be one big forest”.

As the cracking of underbrush beneath the feet of the owners of the voices grew louder, the fillies saw four strange creatures come into view. The looked a little like diamond dogs, but taller and not hunched over. They were clearly wearing clothes with only the pale skin of their faces exposed. They wore brown jackets that hung down to just below their knees. Over their jackets were thicker vests of a darker brown, the vests were full of pockets and tucked inside were strange black boxes. On their heads they wore some kind of metal hat with a small red star on the front. They carried strange objects in their upper appendages and the fillies noticed that there was a black box like the ones in their vest pockets attached to the bottom of each of these objects. They wore large, rectangular packs on their backs, each with a thin metal rod protruding from the top.

“Are those the aliens?” asked Sweetie Bell as the creatures crossed in front of the fillies.

“No, really? What makes you say that?” said Scootaloo sarcastically.

“I think that we should try to stay quiet” said Applebloom as the aliens made their way through the bush.

“Shh!” a harsh voice whispered.

The fillies’ heads turned towards the source of the sound. The four creatures had stopped in their tracks and now were crouching just in front of them. The one in the front slowly got up and began walking towards where Angel and the three ponies were hiding. It stopped about two feet short of the bush. The fillies’ heartbeats pounded in their ears. Suddenly, the creature stood up straight, reached down and grabbed a hold of the small bush that sheltered the fillies. In on swift motion it tore the bush out of the ground, roots and all, leaving the fillies exposed before it. Angel took off at lightning speed, but the fillies stood silently, wrapped in awe at the mysterious creature before them.

“Jesus Christ that’s adorable” said one of the creatures still crouching.

“H-hey!” Applebloom said a little nervously.

The creature was clearly startled and suddenly took a big step back, dropping the uprooted bush in the process.

“Holy shit they talk!” it exclaimed.

“Of course we can talk! I’m Sweetie Bell!” piped up Sweetie Bell

“Yeah! And Ah’m Applebloom!” said the yellow filly.

The two remaining fillies cheerfully told the creatures their names.

“Uh… okay” the creature began, “well I guess I just made first contact with a race of two foot tall equines…. Well uh… my name is Anon. This is Eric, Boris and Martin” the creature said as it motioned towards its compatriots.

“What are you?” asked Scootaloo

“We’re humans” Anon replied

“What’s that?”

“Why do you wear so much clothes?”

“Where are you from?”

“What’s this?”

As Anon was busy thinking on answers for the other questions Scootaloo had used her tiny wings to propel her just high enough to take a closer look at the strange object in Anon’s hands. Just as Anon looked down she poked it with her hoof.

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!!!” he yelled, taking another step back.

The fillies were startled by Anon’s outburst and huddled together, cowering a few feet in front of him.

Upon seeing their fear Anon crouched down to their height and said gently “Oh, sorry about that. It’s just that these things are really dangerous if you don’t know how to use them”

“Well, what is it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Um… maybe it would be better if I don’t say just yet. Where did you come from? Is there a settlement near here or do you live in this forest?” said Anon.

The Sweetie Bell giggled, “No silly! We live in Ponyville! It’s a town just down that way!” she said as she pointed west with her hoof.

“Ponyville huh?” said Anon, “Can you take us there?”

“Sure!” all the fillies said in unison.

“Lee!” called Anon.

Martin stood up.

“Radio the camp and tell them what’s happened and where we’re going!”

“Yes Kommandant” Martin said before lowering his radio mouthpiece and contacting the camp.

After the four men had received authorization from Menendez to proceed, they followed the fillies out of the forest and towards Ponyville

First Impressions

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Zecora’s house, Everfree Forest, Equestria
December 31st 2059

Twilight trotted slightly uneasily through the dark path that wound through the woods to Zecora’s hut. Her unease was certainly not the product of the forest itself – she had travelled this path countless times since meeting Zecora – but from the fact that she would have to explain the awkward presence of the Royal Guard who marched just beside her. When Twilight returned from her coronation it was insisted by Shining Armor that a guard be sent with her, just for the time being. As the newest member of the royal family she could become the target for changelings or diamond dogs. Her new bodyguard went by the name of Iron Helm, like most guards he was a pegasus as with Twilight’s new wings it would be necessary to have a bodyguard who could keep up with her. Not that she knew how to use them anyway, at her coronation she had managed to launch herself into the air with the help of magic but it wasn’t long before she found herself face first in a tree. Rainbow Dash had promised to turn her into a flyer on par with the Wonderbolts but Twilight didn’t really care. As long as she could get from A to B without crashing she was happy. As the two approached the Zebra’s hut Iron stiffened.

“Maybe I should go in first Your Majesty” he said.

“I wouldn’t worry about that” Twilight replied modestly, “I’ve been coming to Zecora’s for years and she’s never tried to assassinate me. Besides I think that you might alarm her.”

Iron fell silent.

“And call me Twilight” she added.

Twilight approached the door and knocked. No answer. Twilight was puzzled. She knocked again, harder this time. With this try, the door revealed itself to be slightly open and the force of Twilight’s knocking was enough to push it ajar. Twilight and Iron entered the dimly lit hut, the light of a fire lit beneath a cauldron cast eerie shadows over the many masks and pieces of art that Zecora had brought from her native land.

“Zecora?” called Twilight, “are you home?”

“Maybe we should go…. Twilight” said Iron nervously.

“Not until we find- hey! Zecora!”

Zecora was lying on the floor in front of her fireplace, seemingly unconscious. Twilight rushed over to where she lay, ignoring Iron’s protests.

“Zecora! Are you all right!” cried Twilight as she stood over the sleeping Zebra.

Without warning Zecora sat bolt upright, her eyes remaining closed. This startled Twilight, who called her name two more times but received no answer.

Then Zecora spoke in a voice not her own, “Four demons shall rise in the night, seeking to kill and maim and fight. With fire and steel they shall attack, never once holding back. In the north shall rise a bird of prey, talons sharp and feathers grey. In the east shall rise a star of red, willing to fight till all are dead. In the west shall rise a serpent of gold, from deserts hot and caverns old. In the south shall rise a crescent moon, whose warriors fear not their doom. Grey, red, gold, green, the likes of which have never been seen. War eternal is their intention, which they will wage with foul inventions. Thunder and pain is their tribal song, which shall be heard before too long….”, then the otherworldly voice trailed off into a sickening gargling sound.

By the time the chilling poem had ended both Twilight’s and Iron’s eyes were wider than saucers. Zecora once again collapsed on the floor before her eyes fluttered open.

“Z-zecora? Are you okay?” asked Twilight, the fear obvious in her voice.

“It must have been a dark, long night! For here in front of me is young Twilight!” exclaimed Zecora in her normal voice and usual rhymes. She seemed unaware of what had just happened.

“Zecora what happened to you?” gasped Twilight.

“I know not what you speak of, but it is fear that you wreak of. I do not know what you mean, but please tell me what you have seen.” Zecora replied as she stood up on all fours.
Twilight told Zecora of the terrifying spectacle that she had witnessed and recited the poetic prophesy word for word. Zecora looked puzzled.

“I do not know of this prophecy” she began “but I know what it has to do with me”.

“What do you mean Zecora? Do you know what this means?” Twilight inquired.

Zecora nodded, “Zebras are said to have special powers, which appear every hundred years and ten hours. When the planets align in just such a way, some Zebras can see ahead many days.”

“So you’re saying that some Zebras - like yourself apparently - can sometimes see the future?” Twilight’s fear had now given way to fascination.

Zecora nodded again, “My mother had this special sight, and she tried to control it with all of her might. But now it seems that I too have the eyes, to see through the shrouds of time and of lies.”

Twilight was shaken, but intrigued. She asked that Zecora accompany her back to Ponyville to help her research the prophecy that she recited, but Zecora refused and said that she had other things to tend to. Twilight then purchased some tea (the reason why she had come) and headed back towards Ponyville with what she had just seen weighing heavily on her mind.

500m above Ponyville, Equestria
December 31st, 2059

Rainbow Dash let out a long yawn. After she had spent over two hours cooped up in the train from Canterlot she had taken off into the stratosphere. Now she was spent, and as the sun began to dip below the mountains she wondered if she should just spend the night on this cloud. She opened her eyes briefly to take in the scenery but instead noticed something strange. Just emerging from the Everfree forest were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

‘Well that seems strange” she thought, ‘Rarity and AJ usually keep a pretty close eye on their sisters. They’d never let them into the forest this late. I’d better go down there and see what’s up. Scoots will be happy to see me’.

Just as Dash began flapping her wings to lift herself off of the cloud she saw them. Four creatures following on the tails of the fillies, they were tall and walked in a strange manner. They wore strange clothes and carried stranger devices. Dash was worried, these creatures were at least five times the size of the fillies and they could have easily overpowered them. Dash’s wild imagination began to crank out all sorts of terrifying scenarios for who these creatures were and why they were here with the fillies.

‘Or maybe…. they’re ALIENS!!! HERE TO EAT OUR BRAINS!!!’ Dash thought as the panic began to well up within her.

It didn’t take her long to decide on a course of action, and while Dash was planning a rescue operation for the fillies, the four men were having an interesting conversation with the four tiny ponies.

“No Anon! That’s not how a cutie mark works!” exclaimed Sweetie Bell.

“It’s supposed to be something you’re good at right? Something you enjoy.”

“Uhh yeah!” said Scootaloo in annoyance.

“Well then why do you try all this crazy stuff like ‘alien finding’ or whatever? What don’t you just try something you like?” Anon asked them.

“Well uuuhhh….” Applebloom began but was at a loss for words.

She didn’t have time to think of an answer because a multicoloured streak of light had swooped down and knocked Lee off of his feet. The three other men and the four fillies turned to see a stunned cyan pegasus with a vibrant mane sitting on the ground beside Lee. They both looked equally stunned.

“Whoah…” the blue mare said groggily, “They’re heavier than I thought they’d be”.

Before anybody could say anything Dash’s senses had returned to her. With renewed vigor she sprang into the air and swooped in a wide arc. In a single second she had corrected her course and was coming straight for Boris, ignoring the cries of the fillies. Boris wasn’t worried however and Anon knew exactly what that meant. Very calmly and seemingly in slow motion, Boris raised his rifle to his shoulder, carefully he aimed with the precision and calmness of an experienced killer, and pulled the trigger. The thunderous crack of the rifle rang out through the early dusk and the cool Equestrian air, a sound the ponies had never heard before. The report of the weapon was followed by the sound of Dash landing face first in the soil, then by the sound of her sobs.

Blood poured from a wound on her right wing, and she cradled the damaged appendage like it was a newborn foal.

“Wh-what the buck was that!” she yelled, her shock and pain turning to anger. “What the buck are you!” she said as she stood up on her hind legs and raised her front hooves up like a boxer. “You think I’m scared of you and your crazy alien weapon! Put that thing down and fight like a stallion!” she screamed at the humans.

“Very well rainbow horse” Boris began with a dangerous calmness to his voice, “we will fight your way” he said as he slung his rifle and drew a large hunting knife.

The burly Russian took a menacing step towards the brightly coloured mare, but found himself a new obstacle as Anon put a hand on Boris’ shoulder. The four fillies ran towards Dash and hugged her while desperately trying to explain that the soldiers were friendly, much to Dash’s confusion.

“Well, what are they?” asked Dash as she sat down on her haunches and cradled her wounded wing.

“We’re called humans, and those little ankle biters just saved your life.” said McPhee, “You’re also lucky Boris missed”

“I do not miss, Crocodile Dundee.” said Boris with a small smile, “If I wanted to kill her then-”

“Aaaand that’s enough out of you Boris” said Anon, clearly desperate to keep Boris from finishing that sentence. “What’s your name” Anon then asked as he turned to Dash.

“R-rainbow Dash” she said without looking up from her wing.

“Well miss Rainbow Dash” said Anon politely, “sorry we uh… sorry we shot you, and uh… this might be a little uncomfortable for you but you’re going to have to let Boris take care of that wing”

Boris was a fighter pilot and as such he was trained in basic first aid, never know when you might need to haul yourself out of a crashed fighter jet and hack off your own legs. Dash initially recoiled from Boris as he approached, but he then made the case to her that it wasn’t a good idea to aggravate the man who had just shot her and who was now tasked with healing her.

“Is that what this does?” asked Babs, pointing to the rifle in Anon’s hands.

“Hey, I said it was dangerous.” Anon said, “If Boris didn’t know exactly what he was doing then there’s a pretty good chance that little miss Rainbow Dash could be de- uuhhh… really badly hurt.”

“Hey I’m no ‘little miss’” piped up Dash from a few feet away, “I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m the best flyer in Equestria and the future captain of the Wonderbolts!”

“Well what a coincidence” Anon replied smugly, “Boris over there is the best flyer in the USSR and current captain of the Blackbird Squadron”.

“Blackbird Squadron?” Dash said with confusion, “Never heard of them! Besides, he doesn’t even have wings! How can he fly?”

“Well I’ve never heard of pansy ass Wonderbolts but you don’t see Boris bugging you about it” Boris muttered begrudgingly. “Also I am of having wings, I call them Natalia.” he said with a snicker as he finished bandaging Dash’s wounded appendage.

The entrance of the six ponies and four humans into Ponyville was met with no confrontation from the locals. By the time the humans and fillies had managed to convince Dash that they weren’t planning to eat the brains of all Ponyville’s citizens it was dark. The streets were devoid of ponies when they reached the town square.

“Okay” Dash began, “So aside from the fact that ‘take me to your leader’ is an obvious brain eating alien request, we should probably get Twilight and the Mayor down here.”

“Who’s Twilight?” asked Lee.

“She’s one of my best friends” Dash whispered, “and she recently got crowned a princess! It came with a new set of wings but she can’t use them too well yet and-”

“Just show us where she lives” Anon said with a little annoyance showing in his voice. He was tired.

“Okay okay! Sheesh. Girls go home, your sisters are probably worried sick about you!” Dash said as she turned to the fillies, who hung their heads and began trudging home, clearly too tired to argue. “So here’s the plan” Dash began again as she turned towards the humans, “I’ll go get Twilight and the Mayor and tell them you’re coming. Then I’ll come get you and we’ll all meet in Twilight’s house. Okay?”

“Okay” was the collective response from the group.

As soon as Dash was out of earshot the four men got to talking about their situation.

“Well fuck me” said Anon, “Princesses, just had to be princesses. This is sure to put a strain on things if we’re dealing with a monarchy”

“Hey I’m more worried about rainbow pony” said Boris as he sat down on a bench that was clearly designed for ponies half his size, “she is one hell of a cunt…. nice mane though”

“Yeah, she was… wait what?” said Anon, not sure if he heard correctly.

“Err uhh… Nothing!” said Boris hurriedly.

Before their conversation could continue Rainbow Dash came trotting back up the street.

“Well the Mayor’s not home, I think she went to Trottingham for some reason. But Twilight was up and wants us to come over.”

“Good, take us there.” replied Anon.

Twilight paced nervously around along the groove worn in the floor, she was still contemplating the mysterious things that she had heard Zecora say. Rainbow Dash had appeared at Twilight’s door just after Twilight had convinced Iron to go home for the night. Dash had been babbling about her wing and something called a hoo-man but Twilight had been too preoccupied with her thoughts to pay much attention. She jumped a little when a heavy knock came from her door.

“Urrrgggh! I don’t have time for this Rainbow Dash! I’m trying to….” her voice trailed off.

She had opened her door and in front of her stood Rainbow Dash and four tall creatures on two legs. But Twilight didn’t notice that they stood on two legs, she didn’t notice that they were over six feet tall, and she didn’t notice the strange weapons in their hands. From the moment she opened the door her attention had been trained on one thing; four red stars, imprinted on their helmets and shining feebly in the light of Twilights treehouse.

Sleepover

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Ponyville Library, Ponyville, Equestria
December 31st, 2059

Twilight just stood in the doorway to her house with her jaw open. Glinting faintly in the feeble light on the helmets worn by these strange creatures was one of the symbols that Zecora had prophesized.
‘In the east shall rise a star of red….’ Zecora’s words echoed.

“Hey, Twilight! Hellooooo!” Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hoof in front of Twilight’s face.

Twilight quickly regained her composure and with a nervous “Excuse us” she pulled Dash into the treehouse and slammed the door in the face of her guests.

Inside it was Dash’s turn to be stunned.

“Why did you do that?” she said.

“Why did I do that?” Twilight asked dumbfounded, “Why did you bring those things here!”

“Well in case you didn’t notice they’re not from here! They’re from another world or something. You’re the local leader now so I thought that they should come see you!” Dash responded with growing anger.

“Do you even know what they are? Why they’re here? What if they came here to attack Equestria or something?” Twilight said harshly while trying to keep her voice down.

“If they wanted to attack then they wouldn’t have walked all the way here with me, besides they bandaged up my wing.”

“What? Why? What happened to your wing?” said Twilight, her suspicion being momentarily replaced by curiosity and genuine concern.

“Well uhh… one of them shot me and-”

“WHAT!!!” screamed Twilight, “THEY SHOT YOU!!!”

“Well to be fair I did attack them first, I guess if they were really hostile then they would have killed me, or at least not help me afterwards.” Dash said with a twinge of guilt.

While the two mares conversed behind the library door the four men sat in silence and waited to be allowed entrance.

“Maybe little Tsarina doesn’t talk to peasants” Boris grumbled as he examined the blade of his knife.

“Try to refrain from making offensive comments Boris, we want to start First Contact off on the right foot.” said Anon sternly, "And put that fucking knife away."

After a long and drawn out conversation inside the library it was nearly midnight. Menendez’s voice crackled over the speakers in Anon’s helmet.

“Colombus to away team, Columbus to away team. Do you copy?”

Anon pulled his mouthpiece close and said clearly “We copy Columbus, I take it that it’s past our bedtime?”

“Damn right it is Mous!” crackled the Colonel’s voice harshly “We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for almost eight hours! Where the hell have you been?”

“Well like Lee reported sir, we were heading towards the town. We actually got into a little mishap with the natives - you can blame Baretslav for that – and now we’re supposed to be having a meeting with a local monarch but she doesn’t seem too keen on letting us in” said Anon into the radio.

“Sounds like a fun fucking time.” Menendez said sarcastically, “ Sounds to me like you might have offended them. I’d appreciate it if you came back to camp if you don’t mind” he continued without losing his condescending tone, “Unless you have a guide you trust then I recommend that you set up camp somewhere near this town. If you do then tell Baretslav not to terrify the locals too much”

“I’ll see if we can find a guide who is willing to take us back to the camp this time of night” Anon said as he surveyed the area around the library.

“Listen Dash” Twilight said wearily, “we just can’t let the stay here if we don’t know their intentions.

Not wanting to upset her, Twilight still hadn’t mentioned Zecora’s disturbing outburst earlier. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond to her friend but was silenced by a knock on the door and a muffled voice.

“Sorry to bother you ladies” Anon called from outside, “but I was wondering if you knew of someone who would be willing to lead as back through to forest to our camp.”

Twilight gingerly stepped forwards and opened the door, slightly shrinking back as Anon cast a long shadow over her.

“You came here through the Everfree Forest, right?” she asked, pawing the floor with her hoof.

“We came through a forest ma’am” said McPhee, “not quite sure if it was the Everfree. Did the little ones say anythin’ about the name of the forest?” he asked as he turned to his comrades.

“Yeah, it was the Everfree” said Dash as she walked up beside Twilight.

“I’m not sure it would be such a good idea to head through there at night” Twilight said, “and you’d be hard pressed to find anypony who’s willing to go with you in the pitch dark.”
As the four men looked at each other in disappointment, Twilight suddenly remembered that she was expected to be brave and hospitable as the nation’s newest princess.

“M-maybe you could stay here?” she said nervously.

Twilight blushed a little as her question drew the attention of all four men and Rainbow Dash.

“There’s lots of room in the basement, and I could make an official announcement of your arrival in the morning so you could move about town without causing a panic…” she continued.

“Well Princess, we would be honored to be the first human guests in Equestria” said Anon gently.

Later all four men had their bedrolls spread across Twilight’s basement floor. Still nervous from her experiences at Zecora’s hut, Twilight requested that Iron Helm come back and sleep at the library. He set up a cot at the door leading to the basement.

“So mates” McPhee began when they were all settled in, “what do you reckon will come of all this?”

“Well we will either be friends with them and co-exist peacefully, fight a proxy war and back a revolution against this monarchy, or just invade and free them at the barrel of a gun” said Anon dryly. “That’s what we usually do”.

“Not much of a palace. The fuck kind of princess is this?” Martin’s voice drifted through the dark.

“Everybody shut the fuck up. It must be past midnight and I want to sleep.” Boris growled, “Happy New Year by the way.”

The group all gave a unenthusiastic “Happy New Year” and drifted off to sleep.

Russian-Ukrainian Border
September 7th, 2057

The train rumbled and shook as it sped over the steel rails, making Anon feel sick. He was packed in a crowded boxcar with almost sixty other men, an international group of volunteer soldiers bound for the Russian front. They had been in training for two months, retraining many experienced soldiers in order for to fit the needs of the fledgling Soviet Union. The new Red Army was still in its infancy and was being held together mostly by commanders from other parts of Europe. The Russian Federation was currently superior to the Soviet Union in almost every way, posessing more money, resources, territory and weapons. The only thing that the Soviets had going for them was high morale, a superior propaganda campaign, and the thousands of volunteers flooding in from sympathetic countries where the violence had subsided. Bavaria, Catalonia, Ireland, Ukraine, the SSA, West Africa, and anybody else who knew what it was like to be fighting for the future of your own country. They had shown pity on the Soviets, and went in to help. Anon’s breath quickened as the train came to a halt.

Without warning the door of the boxcar was flung open and an angry Soviet officer stood there with a club in his hand.

“Out! All of you! Out now!” he bellowed as he struck the floor of the boxcar with his club. The soldiers quickly emptied the car, the smell of gunpowder and the sound of artillery now filling the air around them.

“Glorious Comrades of the Red Army!” blared a voice over a loudspeaker, “The future of the Motherland depends on your bravery! Go forth and show these cowardly Capitalists the valor of the people!!!” The group was then hurried down the train by a pair of officers.

The image then melted together in a haze of grey, brown and red. Screams and thunder.

Anon’s eyes fluttered open. He was still in Twilight’s basement, the root structure of the massive tree hanging over his head. Anon sighed and sat up, as he wiped the sweat off his brow he was thankful that tonight’s dream wasn’t overly traumatic. It was then that Anon realized that he was desperately thirsty and also needed to relieve himself. He cracked his back and stood up straight. The stairs creaked as he ascended, and a gentle snoring could be heard from the top. When Anon opened the door to the basement the sleeping form of Iron Helm came into view, his white coat appearing grey in the darkness. Anon then turned towards the door to find someplace outside to pass as a latrine, but was stopped by a soft voice coming from upstairs. Still half asleep and forgetting the negative implications of such an act, he climbed the stairs to the second floor.

As Anon stood atop the staircase he could hear the voice more clearly, and as he groggily stumbled towards the source he could make out the words.
“…But it was alright,” the voice spoke, “everything was alright. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”

Anon recognized the words from somewhere but could place them. He was slowly regaining his senses but still not aware that sneaking around the house of an alien leader could lead to major problems.

“Wow! That was amazing! I wonder if they have any more books like this” said the voice to no one in particular.

Anon stood at the door that separated him from the voice, and without even thinking to knock, he slowly pushed it open.

Twilight Sparkle was startled by the human’s sudden intrusion, and for a while she simply sat on her bed and exchanged glances with an equally startled Anon. Suddenly coming to grips with what he was doing, Anon quickly stammered out an excuse and tried to leave, but was called back to the room by Twilight. This time Anon was able to clearly see what was going on. Twilight was sitting on her bed with Anon’s copy of Nineteen Eighty Four opened in front of her.

“S-sorry I took your book..” she began nervously, “Iron said that he wanted to go through your stuff and I was curious so I went with him and I found this book and-” Twilight was becoming visually upset.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” exclaimed Anon, “It’s not a big deal Princess. I’ve read it a hundred times. You can have it if you want.”

“Well actually I uh… I just finished it” said Twilight, not wanting to look Anon in the eye.

“You what? It’s only been like… three hours since I went to sleep! How did you read it that fast?” Anon said, his surprise causing him to speak louder than he had intended.

“Shhh!” Twilight shushed, pointing her hoof to a purple lump in a dog bed in the corner.

Anon wasn’t sure what it was, he hadn’t noticed it in the dull light. Upon further inspection it appeared to be a large lizard, about the size of the four fillies that had brought Anon and the rest of his team out of the forest.

“That a pet?” asked Anon confusedly.

Twilight let out something between a giggle and a snort.

“Hehe, no! That’s Spike, my assistant.”

“What is he?” asked Anon.

“A baby dragon” Twilight responded, closing the book.

“Cool” said Anon. After travelling through a magic cave to a world populated by colourful equines, why the fuck would dragons surprise him? “I suppose that I should head back downstairs Princess. Sorry to disturb you.” he whispered.

“Is your world really like this?” Twilight asked Anon as he turn towards the door, “And Twilight is okay” she added.

Anon turned to see Twilight levitating the book in front of her.

“How? Wait What? How are you doing that?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“What this?” replied Twilight. “Just basic magic! All Unicorns can do it!”

“Magic…” Anon said idly as he watched Twilight put the book down.

“So is it?” she asked again.

“Is what?” Anon replied.

“Is your world like in this book?” she asked as her head tilted to the side.

Anon sat down on the floor and sighed.

“Depends on where you go” he said dryly.

“What do you mean?” said Twilight with genuine curiosity.

“Well we’re not all united. Don’t you have different nations here?” Anon asked, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t felt the least but curious of the world he now lived in until now.

“Well… not really. There are other races that live outside Equestria but they’re not really considered different countries…. just inhabited by other races.”

“Well humans aren’t nearly so understanding.” Anon began, “ We’re also the only intelligent race on our planet. Humans are very territorial, and violent. We fight over everything from land to religion to politics. It was politics that started the Great War, and politics that keep our world divided right now.”

“Just how divided is your world?” asked Twilight, seeming to show pity for the strife of humanity.

“Last time I checked is was…. a hundred and ninety four nations? Give or take?”

Twilight’s jaw dropped, she was unable to conceive of a single race so divided.

“But we can basically be grouped into four categories.” Anon continued.

“Go on” said Twilight, her inner scientist making herself known.

Anon suddenly remembered his dream, he became misty eyed and stared at the floor for a few seconds before answering.

"Maybe this isn't the best thing to talk about right now." he said, his gaze still fixed on the hardwood.

Twilight's ears drooped and her eyes began to run along the bed sheets at her hooves.

"Oh... okay then..." she mumbled.

Anon looked up at the sulking mare, her ears laid flat against her head and her wings sagging at her sides.

"Well maybe I could give you a quick history lesson." he said with a small smile.

Birds of Prey

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Outskirts of Hawken City, Griffin Kingdoms
January 1st, 2060

A wind blew over the frozen homeland of the griffins, carrying with it a foul storm. The landscape outside Hawken City was brutal and chilling, a thick yet leafless forest sprawling across hills and even the soil seemed to suck the joy from the air with its greyish brown hue. Not far from the ancient metropolis of Hawken were the never ending slums in which entire families were doomed to eternal poverty. The very air reeked of misery and anger. The denizens of the Griffin Kingdoms were not happy with their rulers, but today they were distracted from their usual troubles by a strange convoy.

The procession was composed of some sort of grey vehicles, seeming to possess no method of propulsion. The vehicles were made of a strong, cold steel and mounted on top was a strange metal tube whose purpose couldn’t be determined by the citizens watching. Even stranger than the machines themselves were the otherworldly creatures that marched beside them. They stood tall upon two legs, and carried strange black objects slung across their backs. They puzzled the griffins, for they wore steel helmets as if they were warriors, but carried no additional armor or weapons. The alien parade drifted through the slums under the supervision of a number of griffin warriors until it came to the city gates. As the strange creatures and their machine entered, some of the griffins noticed the dark grey image of an eagle imprinted on the machine’s side.

Camp Columbus, Equestria
March 17th, 2060

It had been nearly three months since Anon and his compatriots first arrived in Equestria, and things were going unimaginably well. The scientists back in Virginia had developed a counter-radiation that could be used to nullify many of the harmful effects of the cavern, and as a result Columbus had grown. What was once a tiny camp with a population of sixty had now grown to a small town with a population of almost five thousand humans. As far as both the humans and ponies were concerned, things couldn’t be going better.

Twilight and Anon had grown extremely close, both sharing a deep love of literature. They had spent hours reading everything from the work of Shakespeare to Starswirl the Bearded. Rainbow Dash had also found an unexpected companion in Boris, much to the surprise of everybody who had seen him shoot her. Despite their rocky start they were both flyers, and that connected them in an unexpected way. It didn’t seem to matter to Dash that Boris needed a little extra help to get into the air, help that Boris had been denied access to since his arrival in Equestria. Anon however, had seen the look on his best friend’s face when Dash would perform and amazing stunt and Boris would be unable to show off his own skills. After a relatively short talk with Field Marshall Gramov (who had since arrived and taken over from Manendez), Anon found a solution. He smiled as he turned to see Boris and Rainbow Dash approaching the mouth of the passage to Earth.

“So, what is big deal?” asked Boris with mock annoyance.

“Hang on bud” Anon said with a chuckle, “they’re bringing her out now.”

“Her? Who?” asked Boris, still seemingly oblivious to Anon’s plan.

“Take a look” Anon said with a huge grin spread across his face.

A Centurion emerged from the cave’s maw, obscuring what was behind it, but as it turned off to the side to be unloaded Boris’s jaw dropped. Sitting on the trailer attached to the Centurion’s rear, was a fighter jet, and not just any fighter jet. It was a UA-3 INFIDEL - the first choice of IOFR pilots – and even among UA-3s this one was special. It was painted bright red, as opposed to the usual brown or olive green, and on its wings yellow paint formed the pattern of feathers that melted into flames. Printed across the side in large Russian letters was the name, NATALIA. Boris still hadn’t found his voice.

“I don’t get it!” Dash began, “What is it?”

“It’s…. it’s my wings” said Boris, still unable to believe his eyes.

Any inhibition that Boris felt was soon washed away by the sight of his beloved plane. He marched right up to it, and hugged its fuselage. To make the comical scene complete he began cooing to it in Russian.

“Ohhh poor Natalia.” he murmured, “Did they take good care of you? What? Is this a scratch! My god we have to repaint you right away!”

Dash didn’t understand what Boris was saying, and as a result she didn’t understand Anon’s hysterical laughter.

An hour later, Natalia was fueled and waiting for Boris on a makeshift runway. The Infidel was a light plane, and was designed with space saving in mind; all it needed was seventy five meters of flat ground. Soon Boris was geared up and ascended into the cockpit and Rainbow Dash watched with fascination as Boris did his preflight check. She hovered in the air beside Anon with a growing sense of impatience.

“Why does it take so long?” she whined.

“It’s a complicated piece of equipment Dash.” Anon said, “Besides, it just came out of that cave. It probably has some-”

Anon was unable to explain further as both his and Dash’s attention was taken by the roar of the twin engines starting, turbines propelling the machine forwards. Soon it had reached critical velocity and was airborne. Within a few minutes Natalia was flying high, and Dash excitedly joined her and Boris in the air. Natalia was an Infidel, the most agile fighter on the planet, but humanity’s best engineers couldn’t compete with evolution. Dash weaved to and fro around Boris, zig sagging in ways that still defied human aeronautics experts, but even Dash had her limits. Putting the great Rainbow Dash and her famous Sonic Rainboom to shame, Boris opened the throttle wide. Soon he could only be seen as a streak of white smoke across the sky, with a colourful trail of rainbows trying to keep up.

Anon was pulled away by a hoof poking his side and he turned to see a serious faced Twilight.

“Pretty amazing aren’t they?” said Anon as he looked back towards where two of the greatest flyers were trying to outdo each other.

“They are…” Twilight said, clearly upset about something.

“Something’s wrong.” Anon replied, painfully aware of the mare’s unhappiness.

Anon turned and kneeled down so that he and Twilight would be face to face.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked her, sincere concern in his voice.

Twilight pawed the ground nervously with her hoof and was staring intently at Anon’s feet.

“I’ve been sent on my first diplomatic mission.” Twilight said, still more interested in the dirt than Anon’s face.

Anon had been living in Equestria long enough to know both the general structure of pony government and the geography around Equestria. He knew that to the north were the Griffin Kingdoms, the west held the Buffalo Territories, and the southeast contained a desert which led into Saddle Arabia. Due south of Equestria was the Great Sea, which if crossed would lead a traveler to Zecora’s homeland. Anon could guess that Twilight had been sent by Celestia to be an emissary of Equestria, the only question was her destination. But Anon was currently more concerned with Twilight and why she seemed so nervous.

“Why would you be upset about a thing like that?” Anon said in an effort to cheer her up, “Doesn’t this mean that... uh…”

“Celestia” said Twilight.

“Yeah, Sunbutt!” Anon said jokingly, drawing a small giggle from Twilight. “Doesn’t this mean that Celestia is trusting you with important responsibilities?”

Twilight looked almost on the verge of tears, “I’m just not sure I can do it!” she said while trying to hold back sobs.

Seeing Twilight so upset made Anon feel terrible, “Is there any way I can make it easier?” he said with sympathy as he gave her a small hug.

“Well that’s why I wanted to talk to you…” she said, pulling away and once more pawing the ground nervously. “See, things have been a little strained between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdoms lately, which is why I’m meeting with some griffin leaders in Stalliongrad soon. My brother insists that I bring along extra protection and… well… Iron is nice and all but he’s not really a friend like you are…. and I was wondering if you would like to be my bodyguard?” Twilight looked up from the ground with a hint of a smile on her face.

Anon smiled back, “Nobody will get through me” he said triumphantly, this was met with another hug.

Canterlot, Equestria
March 18th, 2060

Despite being a senior officer on the expedition, Anon had never been to Canterlot. It had taken a whole day of convincing to persuade Gramov to let Anon go on this mission, but Anon had made Gramov see the positive diplomatic consequences of such a joint venture. It would show that humans and ponies stood together, that they were willing and able to work together and trust each other. Anon was now travelling through the white city on the back of a chariot, which Anon thought amounted to a rickshaw because it was pulled by other ponies rather than beasts of burden. Twilight sat beside him and her eyes lit up as they approached the palace of Princess Celestia. Standing in front of the palace were four ponies, a tall white alicorn with a flowing multicoloured mane and a shorter dark blue alicorn with a starry blue mane. They stood beside a smaller pink alicorn mare with a shorter pink and yellow mane, at her side was a tall, white unicorn stallion with blue eyes and matching hair. As soon as the chariot pulled to a stop the stallion stepped forwards and hugged Twilight, he said something to her, but Anon couldn’t make it out as he was retrieving his gear from the back. When he turned back he saw Twilight and the pink mare doing some ridiculous dance with an appropriate song.

“Do a little shake!” the song ended with a fit of laughter from both mares.

Anon cleared his throat and gained the attention of all five ponies.

“So you must be Anon.” the white alicorn said in an incredibly gentle voice.

A quick glance at the sun on her flank told Anon that this was Celestia.

Anon gave a simple nod and an unenthusiastic “Yes ma’am”. Being a soldier of the Red Army had made Anon less than fond of monarchies, he didn’t have time for any princess but Twilight.

Celestia seemed not to notice Anon’s somewhat rude detachment and after a brief inquiry of Anon’s wellbeing, the six of them began walking down the marble pathway into the palace. The five ponies walked slightly ahead of Anon and discussed things that didn’t particularly interest him; he silently tuned out their conversation and followed. They ascended several flights of stairs, Anon remaining silent but wrapped up in the beauty of the palace’s intricate architecture and master craftsmanship. When they had climbed a final set of stairs Anon was pulled out of his somewhat dreamy state by a voice calling his name.

“So Anon,” said Celestia, “Myself, my sister and Princess Cadence will be leaving you now. If you would proceed with Shining Armor and Twilight into the next room they will explain everything to you.” with that, three princesses departed and left the fourth princess, a prince and a human soldier alone.

The doors to the room ahead glowed as Shining Armor’s magic pushed them open. When the trio was inside the doors sealed shut once again. Anon surveyed the room and saw that it was constructed of the same white marble as everything else in the palace, and with the same beautiful quality. In the center of the room was a large table, with a map of Equestria and the surrounding lands spread across it.

“So Kommandant Mous” Shining Armor began in a very professional and slightly condescending tone.

“Shining don’t talk to him like that,” protested Twilight, upset by Shining’s demeanor, “and call him Anon” she added with a wink at the human.

Shining sighed, “Sorry Twiley” he said. “As I was saying Anon, I received your complete service record from Field Marshall Gramov this morning. It says you only enlisted six years ago, how did you climb to the lofty rank of Kommandant in six years?” Shining asked with slightly narrowed eyes. Evidently he was suspicious of Anon.

“Well Shining,” Anon’s use of “Shining” so casually irked the prince, “People die in wars. You need to promote people to replace them. I was the best choice apparently when all the officers ahead of me died.”

“I see…” Shining said, not sure whether or not he was offended by Anon’s lack of proper respect for royalty, “Well I think that we should get down to business.”

Anon nodded.

“The Griffins have been… acting strange lately,” said Shining, “normally they’re to divided to even plan a foal’s birthday party, but lately they’ve all been acting… in unison. They’ve become organized almost overnight.”

Anon approached the table where Shining now stood, and examined the map.

“They’ve also been making some… upsetting moves. Moving troops along our border, sending scouts just inside our territory, things like that. But lately all such activity just dropped off, now they have requested a meeting with us. We think that it might be a good sign but-”

“Slow down a minute” interrupted Anon, “what exactly is your military experience?” he asked the stallion.

“I studied military history at the Equestrian Royal Academy, served in the Royal Guard for twelve years and was Captain of the Canterlot branch for four. Longer than you’ve been the Red Army” said Shining, clearly seeing Anon’s question as a challenge to his knowledge on the subject of military tactics.

Anon smirked, “Ever been in combat?” he asked.

“Well no but-” Shining attempted to say.

“But nothing!” Anon said, clearly annoyed by Shining and what he deemed to be a member of the elitist, privileged officer class that characterized human armies of older days.

Anon drew his pistol, a battered Manitoban revolver he had received during the American Aftermath. Shining took a small step back. Anon turned the gun around, and holding it by the barrel he displayed the handle for Shining to see.

“See those?” Anon asked the prince as he pointed to the sixteen notches carved in the wooden surface, “Those are just the ones I killed up close. One month of combat is better than ten years of military schooling. My opinion ought to count for something on this.”

“Fine then.” Shining said, this time clearly offended, “What do you make of this situation?” he asked.

Anon holstered his pistol and said very frankly, “It’s a trap.”

Both Twilight and Shining stood in stunned silence.

Shining eventually spoke up, “What? Why? Why would they lay a trap for us, for Twilight?”

“Well you did say that they’re normally pretty divided. It sounds to me like some griffin warlord has managed to subdue any resistance in the Griffin Kindoms, he’s united them and now he’s set his eyes on you. Why do you think he was moving troops along the border? On Earth we usually do that as a method of flexing our muscles so to speak. It’s how we show that we’re ready, willing and able to fight. My guess is that this is both a message to Equestria and any rivals he might have left in the Griffin Kingdoms. As to his goal I can’t say, I’m willing to bet that he either wants some kind of tribute money – in which case this meeting would actually be a meeting – or he wants to invade. Another possibility is that he wants to take Twilight for ransom, with either of those latter two scenarios this meeting is a trap for your sister.”

Both Shining Armor and Twilight (as a result of coming from a society that had never truly known war) were in disbelief of Anon’s theory. But Anon stuck to it stubbornly, and in the end Shining Armor simply refused to listen to him. Tired from hours of stubborn argument, Anon finally agreed to the original plan.

Twilight said that she wanted to go to bed, and left the room with a sleepy “Good night”. As soon as the doors shut behind her Anon felt the grasp of magic on his collar. He was pulled down and found himself face to face with an extremely irritated Shining Armor.

“I don’t know what bucking monkey crap you’re trying to pull” he said dangerously, “But if you ever talk to me like that again I’ll-”

His voice was cut off as he heard a small clicking sound, as his eyes darted to his right Anon felt the magic grip on his collar loosen and disappear. Anon had the muzzle of his revolver pressed firmly against the right side of Shining’s head.

“You’ll do what?” Anon said with a voice that had many times been used to chill hardened soldiers to the bone. “What will you do pretty boy? Let me tell you something, you have no idea what you’re doing and the only thing you ARE going to do is get your sister killed. Now I’ll tell you what I’ll do if YOU ever talk like that to ME like that again. I’ll take this gun, and I’ll splatter your brain all over the wall with it. I’ve killed men, half of them so close that I could feel them breathe their last breath on my face so don’t think that I’ll hesitate to whack a spoiled brat like you. If it weren’t for your sister I would have done it already, remember that next time we talk to each other.”

Anon turned, holstered his weapon and left. Shining just sat there with a gaping mouth.

“Don’t bother telling anybody about this” Anon called over his shoulder, “I’m a personal friend of Gramov and a war hero, a court martial wouldn’t be much use to you”.

As Anon entered the hallway he saw a sleepy looking Twilight emerge from her room.

“Can’t sleep?” Anon asked her, switching on a dime from a cold blooded killer to a warm hearted friend.

“I guess not. Thinking too much about the trip tomorrow” Twilight replied with a yawn.

“Not to make it worse Twilight, but this is a very dangerous game you’re playing” said Anon with every expression of concern imaginable.

Twilight just smiled at him at said “Everything’s going to be just fine”.

Savagery

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Somewhere in Michigan, United States of America
June 20th, 2042

It was a silent night and the moon shone brilliantly outside, illuminating the tiny room which held two sleeping people; a mother and a son. The moonlight cast eerie shadows on the floor, a sight which once frightened the now sleeping boy. The child was no longer afraid of the shadowy specters that seemed to lurk in every corner of the dingy old attic, he had learned that they were nothing more than a trick of the light. Besides, he had much more to be afraid of, fears that he was still too young to understand. However his mother understood all too well the dangers – the real ones – that lurked every day outside the attic’s small, round window. Soldiers would pass the house every day on their way to the front, and the young mother knew that every day a column of armed men passed without searching the house was a miracle. Tonight their miracles would run out.

The mother woke with a small start as she heard the sound of heavy boots on the front door. She cringed as she heard the sound of wood splintering, and the cry of the house’s owner as he was struck with the butt of a rifle. Soon the sound of heavy footsteps signaled the approach of an American death squad. By this point the boy was awake; he looked at his mother with a sleepy and confused expression spread across his small face.

“Mommy….” he groaned, still under the power of sleep.

“Shhh…” said the mother quietly, “Anon, you have to be very, very quiet for Mommy. Okay?”

“But, wh-what’s happening?” the toddler said, fear creeping into his tiny voice.

Anon’s mother looked at her son, knowing that this may well be the last time she might see him, yet unable to answer him. She then hugged him and began to cry. After a few seconds, she noticed the sound of heavy boots on wooden floors has stopped. Her spirits suddenly rose, it seemed that the house below was quiet.

“It’s going to be okay Anon” she said, tears still staining her face.

But her hope was crushed when she saw the trap door of the attic open, and the helmet of an American soldier ascend from the house beneath.

“A couple up here! A bitch and a brat!” the soldier called down.

Two kilometers outside Stalliongrad, Equestria
March 23rd, 2060

The carriage hit a small bump on the road, jolting Anon awake. As soon as he did so he buried his face in his hands, he had forgotten the night he was taken from his mother, but with his latest nightmare the memory was now clear as day. Anon looked up and surveyed the interior of the carriage, it was made mostly of a purple fabric, with a few spots of cherry wood paneling. The carriage that now took him and Twilight to Stalliongrad was yet another example of the Old World style craftsmanship that the ponies still enjoyed. It seemed so different from the cold hearted and industrial nature of humanity. Anon felt something warm against his left side, turning to his left he saw a sleeping Twilight Sparkle snuggled against him. Across from them Spike was snoring quietly. Continuing to examine the inside of the carriage, Anon found something that interested him. Just beside Spike was Twilight’s book bag, and poking just outside was a small piece of cream coloured cardboard that caught his eye. Scrawled across the top of it were the words ‘Observations on Humans’. Careful not to wake Twilight or Spike, he reached across to the other seat and gently slid the folder out from under Twilight’s many books. He figured that some reading material would help take his mind off of his nightmare.

Anon opened the file and gave a small but impressed whistle. The folder was filled with notes on human anatomy, culture, politics, history, literature and engineering. Sifting through the pages, Anon found a diagram of an Atlantis tank, an ancient Roman aqueduct, a human digestive system, as well as a portrait of Jesus with a small note written across the bottom reading ‘human Celestia?’. Further inspection found a piece of paper entitled ‘Compiled Data and Conclusions’. Anon put the note under further scrutiny.

‘After three months of studying human culture and physiology I have reached several conclusions in both subjects. When it comes to physiology humans are unremarkable. They have a brain capacity and chemistry nearly identical to that of a pony, possessing considerable cognitive abilities and reasoning skills. Their anatomy is in the same basic structure as a pony’s albeit on a larger scale and with a few differences that are expected of omnivores, their increased size leads to superior physical strength that will only be matched by a stallion in peak physical condition. Far more interesting a topic is their cultural trends. As a general rule humans appear to display a great ingenuity as well as the potential to commit acts of the most horrendous violence or the most heartwarming compassion simultaneously. Their homeworld is completely devoid of magic, rendering them at a disadvantage compared to ponies (all races of which possess some form or magic). To compensate for such a disability they have developed engineering skills that far exceed our own. They have also applied these skills in ways that make up for not only their lack of magic, but their lack of flight and lessened ability to grow food. Humans appear to be extremely divided based on political beliefs, often turning to violence as a method of solving political disagreements. This has resulted in a number of brutal conflicts throughout their history and has recently led to a global conflict, referred to by humans as the Great War. Personal interaction with and psychoanalysis of humans in Equestria show many of them to be suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (also known as PTSD). This is no doubt a result of the fact that the only human presence in Equestria is a military one, and most humans in Equestria have experienced warfare firsthand. As a final analysis on humans I have concluded that as a whole, they seem to exhibit psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies, with a few exceptions. They are as violent and unpredictable as they are cunning and adaptable. However, despite this they seem to pose little threat to Equestria unless provoked. As this particular group of humans is strongly anti-monarchy, I suggest that it would be wise to downplay that aspect of our culture when dealing with them.’

There was a puzzled look on Anon’s face, he wasn’t sure whether to be impressed with Twilight’s analysis or offended by her conclusions. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a hoof rapping at the carriage door; it was then that he realized that they had stopped moving. Anon replaced the file and opened the door. He found himself staring Iron Helm in the face.

“We’ve arrived” he said with a serious tone. “Let the princess know please”

“Thanks” said Anon as he turned back to wake up Twilight.

“Mmmm…” moaned Twilight as Anon gently prodded her.

“Come on smarty pants” he said jokingly. “It’s your time to shine”.

“Mmmm, five more minutes….” she said.

“Yeah,” Spike said with a yawn, “The meeting’s not until tomorrow anway.”

Anon turned to where the dragon was attempting to return to sleep. Sneaking up behind him, he grabbed a hold of his tail and pitched him outside into a snow bank.

“You don’t get a choice!” he laughed as Spike angrily came after him.

Anon simply put his hand on Spike’s head, keeping him at bay with one arm until Spike’s rage had subsided. Turning back to Twilight, Anon saw that the commotion had not woken her up. He slowly approached her, scooped her up and carried her out of the trailer. It was dark, the moon shone brightly in a way that was reminiscent of another such bright night. A night in an attic, under a different moon and a different sky. The moonlight shone off of the snow that lined the small area between the street and the sidewalks, the air was cool and the streets were empty. Stalliongrad reminded Anon of his time in Moscow and the winter of ’58, when the Soviets had taken the fair city for several months before it once again fell to the Russians. The small group marched in single file, with Iron Helm in the front. Iron was followed by Anon (who still carried a sleeping Twilight), then Spike, then a second Royal Guard. The five of them reached the gates of the Royal Winter Palace, an ancient building that was constructed just after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. It was said that Celestia had come here in an effort to escape her grief when Stalliongrad was just a tiny village. Once inside Iron showed Anon to Twilight’s room, where he tucked her in and closed the door. The second Royal guard stopped and stood outside Twilight’s door to serve as a sentry. All across the grounds of the palace, stallions of the Stalliongrad Garrison of Royal Guards patrolled, keeping a look-out for anything suspicious. Anon was shown to his room by Iron. It was a little farther from Twilight’s than he would have liked, but he would have to make do. Instead of lying down in the bed provided him (which was surprisingly the right size for a human) Anon searched through his equipment until he found his rifle and a magazine. He slid the ammunition into the rifle’s bottom and sat down in a chair facing a window that overlooked the palace grounds. Holding his rifle against his chest, he stared out at the night sky, not wanting to fall asleep for fear of reliving yet another terrifying memory. As if needing confirmation that his latest dream was in fact an actual memory and not a figment of his imagination, he slid up his left sleeve and examined his arm. Printed across his forearm in black ink was the tattoo that had been with him for years.
He read it aloud for the first time since childhood, “No. G-24601”.
Anon then turned his attention to the window and stared out at the night sky.

Winter Palace, Stalliongrad, Equestria
March 23rd, 2060

Anon woke with a start. He was still sitting in the same chair, evidently he had fallen asleep. He gave a silent thanks to whatever force had granted that his sleep be dreamless. Checking his watch revealed that it was 3:21 AM. Suddenly Anon had a feeling, a sickening feeling. Anon felt with the utmost certainty that something was not right. Switching into the demeanor of a soldier entering a battle, he stood up. He soon saw the source of his disturbance. Two figures marched across the snow covered lawn of the palace, they didn’t move with the calm pace of a guard on patrol, nor did they move with the gait of a pony. They crept from bush to bush, silently avoiding the guards that slowly made their way across the palace grounds. As they approached Anon could make out their shape more clearly, one stood tall on two legs while the other creeped along on four.

‘A man and a griffin’ thought Anon with a growing sense of dread.
He wasn’t sure which was a worse sign, the fact that this visit was a trap from the griffins, or the fact that they seemed to have some sort of human companionship. Gripping his rifle tightly, he ran across the room to his equipment bag. He emerged with a large canteen, as much ammo as he could carry, and three peculiar looking masks. Quickly he made his way into the hall, and as he approached Twilight’s door he called out to the guard standing watch.

“Intruders!” he cried, not with panic but with a calm sense of urgency.

The guard however, was not so cool-headed. “What? What intruders?” he asked in a voice that did very little to hide his worry.

“I saw them approaching from the east.” Anon said as he pointed to his room, “Get outside and rally the other guards. Start looking for them. You’ll be looking for a griffin and a human, shouldn’t be too hard to spot. I’ll look after the princess” he continued as he chambered a round in his rifle.

The guard hesitated.

“Why the fuck are you still here?” growled Anon in the voice of an officer “That’s an order soldier! Move it!”

The guard ran off without another word. Anon turned his attention to Twilight’s room. He tried the door and realizing it was locked, he knocked, fully aware of how absurd it was to politely knock when there was an emergency such as this. Lucky for him Twilight was awoken on his first attempt; she opened the door before he could knock again.

“We have a problem” said Anon as he barged into Twilight’s bedroom, “Where’s Spike?” he asked as he took a look out the window to survey the scenery for danger.

“What? Oh he’s uh… he’s in here” said Twilight as she nodded to the dog bed in the corner, sleep still in her eyes. “Wha… What’s all this about Anon?” she asked with a yawn.

“I was right.” he said in a flat tone.

“Right about what?” asked Twilight.

“It was a trap.” Anon said in the same detached manner.

But as Anon turned and saw the budding fear within Twilight his calmness melted away. When in combat Anon had learned to suppress fear and sometimes even compassion in order to get the job done. As a result he would become an almost emotionless machine when it came to a dangerous situation like this, but seeing the small alicorn mare in front of him with genuine terror in her eyes was enough to destroy the nerve that all the armies of NNATO and Russia had failed to break. For the first time since his first weeks in combat, Anon was truly terrified.
Anon gingerly approached the petrified pony and kneeled down to her height. He embraced her, and told her that everything was going to be okay, even if he had no idea. Their hug was broken by the sound of a gunshot reverberating through the night, reverberating through the interior of the palace. The assassins were inside, and they were armed. A second shot rang out. Then a third, a fourth.

Anon’s head snapped towards the door, “Twilight, under the bed. Now.” he commanded, somewhat returning to the demeanor of a killer. Twilight obeyed. “Spike, you awake?” Anon called over to the dragon.

“Y-yes” the nervous voice of a young boy answered him.

“Good. Stay in that corner.”

Anon stood up and approached the right side of the door. He aimed his rifle across the doorframe at head level and stood perfectly still. The silence was deafening. Then he heard them, footsteps, two sets of them. One was quiet and soft like a cat’s, the other the loud clunk of army boots. They slowly drew nearer - bringing back Anon’s chilling memories of similar footsteps eighteen years ago - until they stopped just shy of the door. The sound of a key in a lock was heard, and the door handle slowly turned, the door silently glided open. Anon waited silently in the corner and Twilight sat wide eyed under the bed as a black clad griffin entered the room, the silhouette of a human behind him. Anon waited until the griffin’s whole body was inside, then he squeezed his trigger. Ten rounds of fully automatic gunfire tore into the griffin’s left side and ten flashes illuminated the horrific scene. The griffin’s blood painted the wall above Spike’s head. Anon stepped into the doorframe ready to do the same to the human but was met with a knife being thrust towards him. Anon raised his rifle to block the attack, and gave a mighty shove back. The attacker was momentarily knocked off balance, but came after Anon again before he could be fired upon. This time the assassin had increased momentum, and he forced Anon back into the room. Anon stumbled as he was shoved in, and both he and his assailant fell to the floor. The mysterious man was now atop Anon, attempting to drive the knife into his heart. This mystery assailant seemed stronger than Anon, and as he pushed the knife inched closer and closer to Anon’s chest. Anon felt the tip of the blade press against his flesh, but he soon felt it ease up. Looking down to the knife Anon saw a purple aura around the knife and the attacker. The would-be killer was lifted into the air by Twilight’s magic, and his weapon dropped to the floor. Twilight propelled the man across the room and flung him into the wall with considerable force as Anon reached down to pick up the fallen knife. Anon charged the stunned man with the weapon, and to Twilight’s horror he began thrusting the blade into the man’s chest repeatedly.

“Wait!” she cried in terror, “You’re killing him”

“That’s. The. Idea!” Anon yelled back between stabs.

Soon the man sat in a heap, bloody and butchered. Anon wasted no time after the deed was done.

“We’re leaving. Now” he said coldly.

As Twilight gathered some water and the food that her handmaidens had left for her, Anon approached the window, and his heart sank. Across the moon’s luminous face was the sight of two areal formations. One of griffins and one of helicopters, each forming a sinister V in the night sky. Realizing that he hadn’t even bothered to search the man he just killed, Anon quickly made his way back to the husk against the wall. Just as he feared, the man wore a grey jacket. On his arm was a black band that bore the image of two lightning bolts that also served as the initials ‘SS’. This man was an assassin in the service of the Alliance of Nationalist States. Evidently Anon was right, this wasn’t a diplomatic meeting. It was a griffin invasion, and it was now clear that Equestria wasn’t the only nation in this world with a human ally.

Night Out

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Camp Columbus, Equestria
March 19th 2060

Boris took a deep breath, looking out the window he saw a multi-layered blur zooming past him, as well his own spectral reflection in the glass of the cockpit’s canopy. For him Equestria had become a two toned blur, a vibrant strip of green highlighted by the brilliant blue of a nearly cloudless sky above it. Golden sunlight illuminated the entire scene from heaven. Boris turned his attention to his console, and feeling the same fluttery sensation that had awoken with his gut when he had taken flight for the first time, he pulled Natalia and her scarlet wings into the air. Suddenly, he didn’t feel trapped anymore. Suddenly he truly had freedom, pulling up he soared into the cyan sky, leaving a trail of white smoke behind Natalia’s engines.

Dash sat with her jaw hanging open as Natalia sored into the air. Never in her life had she thought that a machine could mimic the real thing so well, and she had an eager look on her face as she soared into the air after the bright red jet. Boris saw her approaching, and with a smirk on his face he dove, daring Dash to follow him. The canopy of the Everfree rapidly approached Boris, a nearly unbroken wall of deep green rushing to him, seemingly to tackle him and beat him from the sky. However Boris remained calm, and pulled up in time to safely avoid the fist of the green giant. Turning his head, he saw once again the solid green field, this time retreating. But as he watched he saw a multicoloured trail continuing to plummet towards the ground, far closer than he had. At the last second it sharply changed direction, veering off into the air and up towards him. Boris already knew who it was, but as the brightly coloured streak of light sped through the sky and pulled alongside him he saw Rainbow Dash, a determined grin on her face and one hoof stretched out in front of her. With furiously beating wings she turned her head and smirked at Boris. Then she flipped over onto her back and placed her front hooves behind her head as if she was resting, and she began to pretend to snore. Boris returned the cocky grin and tilted his control stick to the left, rotating the plane in midair. Glaring at Dash from the cockpit, he showed her the most shit-eating grin ever known. By now Dash had resumed her normal flight pattern and was looking at Boris with a slight hint of resentment, but the discontentment didn’t show upon her features for long. Giving Boris a sly wink, she zoomed up into a cluster of clouds with her signature rainbow trail behind her.

Boris was all too ready to follow, and after flipping his fighter over he was hot on Dash’s brilliantly coloured tail, adding his own dull grey jet stream to Dash’s vibrant one. Dash weaved in-between and around the clouds, for her they were solid objects and provided cushioned obstacle to test her agility. Despite being able to phase harmlessly through them, Boris followed her lead. The veteran pilot cursed every time he was unable to make as sharp and dangerous a turn as Dash, or whenever his wing clipped the side of a cloud and shredded its fluff like a cotton ball. Eventually he had had enough of Dash’s superior agility. Ignoring the presence of the clouds all together, he reached down and pushed the throttle to 100%. Dash heard the roar of Boris’s twin engines gaining quickly on her, and she weaved out of the way as the crimson plane pushed past her and out of the clouds. The smile ran away from Dash’s face as Boris and Natalia pulled ahead, her features then contorted in a look of sheer determination. There was no way she was going to let a machine beat her. Boris looked into the mirror that faced his rear and saw Rainbow Dash, now looking downright angry and following him at a lethal speed. But Boris’s velocity was even more deadly, and he could see the signs of fatigue showing on Dash’s face as she tried desperately to keep up with him. Still suffering from tunnel vision, Dash beat her wings harder and faster until she felt like they were going to break off. Her eyes then showed signs of a mixture of disappointment and disbelief. She broke off and halfheartedly returned towards Camp Columbus.

By the time that Rainbow Dash had finally decided that she had been bested in speed, Boris was already traveling at mach 3. Upon seeing the bright blue mare depart, he began to laugh, and throttled down. He banked left, and returned towards the rudimentary airfield where this contest had begun. By the time he arrived he saw that Dash had already landed, she sat at the end of the runway, her shoulders sagging and her head hung low. Boris decided to play one last cruel trick on her. He reached down and flipped a switch, extending a previously hidden device from the side of the plane. Boris pulled up and climbed higher and higher towards the edges of the world, and then when he had deemed his altitude to be great enough, he dove. A sound began to scream forth from the small box that had sprouted from his fuselage, a noise too familiar to Boris but one that Dash had certainly never heard before. A high pitched whine, a shriek designed for the sole purpose of generating fear and panic. The device did its job well, and soon Dash was staring wide eyed in the direction of the siren. At the latest possible second, Boris pulled up again and the siren dulled to a low hum. With a cheerful smile on his face he made a long arc around the makeshift tarmac, and began to descend towards it.

Dash came hurriedly speeding towards the now stationary jet; she alighted on a wing with her hooves making small clanging noises against the steel. Boris stood up from the cockpit as the canopy lifted and opened his arms as if expecting a hug. What he got was a less than gentle hoof in the stomach. Boris doubled over slightly and for a brief moment some anger flared up in his eyes before he realized who he was glaring at. With a sigh he sat down on the edge of Natalia’s wing and motioned for Dash to join him.

“Okay Rainbow” he began as he put an arm around the pegasus, “why are you looking so upset”. Boris’s face showed genuine concern.

Dash shoved him away, some tiny hint of happiness returning to her, “N-nothing.” said sullenly.

“Hey, I live in the same building as Anon. That guy is master of being depressed and trying to hide it, you’re not going to get me to leave you alone that easily.” Boris said as he poked the side of Dash’s face playfully.

“It’s just that uhhh…” Dash said apprehensively. She stared at the ground, unsure of what to say.

“I’ll tell you what” Boris said looking out towards the town. “Is almost six o’clock and technically I’m not on duty. Not unless there’s an air-raid. Why don’t we go find something to drink eh?”

“A drink? Like alchohol?” asked Dash as she looked up.

“Da. You’ve had it before right?” Boris said as he hopped down from the wing of his fighter. “There’s a bar in Columbus for the troops. Not too many ponies come in there though, but I’m sure that they’d be thrilled to have a pretty mare like you in there.” Boris said as he began walking towards town, Dash hovering beside him.

“A pretty mare like me?” said Dash with a slight blush.

Boris seemed a little nervous suddenly. ‘Fuck, did I say that out loud?’ he thought. He wanted to change the subject, “What kind of booze to ponies have?” he asked quickly.

“Oh well…” said Dash as her eyes pointed skyward and her brow rose in thought. “We have hard cider, beer, wine… I think that Applejack makes something called ‘moonshine’ but I’m not sure what it is.”

“Ever have wodka?” asked Boris with a small smile.

“You mean vodka?”

“If you want to talk like stupid American then da, but its pronounced wodka”

“I think that my friend Vinyl had some with her once, she said that she got it from some humans.”

“It was probably shit. When I was little boy in Poland my father made wodka in basement. His basement booze was better than anything in store. I first tried some when I was nine.”

The pair walked through the improvised city of Camp Columbus. The camp was an army base and town simultaneously, with soldiers allowed to leave whenever they weren’t on duty and as long as they were back before an allotted hour. The camp was home only to humans, but was open to the Equestrian public, and some (though very few) ponies roamed the streets alongside human counterparts or sometimes without. Equestria was still largely fearful of the humans, and while Ponyville had more or less warmed up to their presence only a few kilometers away, the rest of the country was still thoroughly frightened by tales of steel monsters and fearsome weapons. Camp Columbus was a makeshift city, constructed with everything from tents to log cabins to aluminum and steel huts. The streets were paved with dirt and as Boris and Rainbow Dash made their way to the only bar in the town their boots and hooves became caked with dust. The tavern that they approached was a log cabin, clearly built in haste. The tree trunks that made up the outer walls of the building were poorly limbed and still possessed bark, the many cracks between them filled shoddily with mortar. The roof was simply two tin sheets than formed an upside down V atop the wooden box, and welded together at the top. Sitting atop the smooth metal was a buzzing neon sign that read ‘Airplane Allen’s’. The sign cast a slight blue glow in the approaching dusk.

As the pair approached the wooden door a sign caught Boris’ eye. A small white rectangle with simple red print on its face, ‘NO WEAPONS’ the letters spelled out. When they entered there was a tough-looking pegasus bouncer, bulging with muscle but possessing comically tiny wings. On his oversized flank was a picture of a dumbbell. Beside him was a dark grey locker, and as he eyed Boris’ pistol the Russian sighed, unholstered his weapon and handed it to the bouncer. The stallion took the gun in his mouth and placed it in the locker. When the two had found a seat at the bar they began to talk.

“So how do you use those hooves anyway?” said Boris as he sipped his vodka.

“What do you mean?” said Dash before wrinkling her nose at the smell of her own drink.

“Well you guys can like, open doors and shit. How the hell can you do that?” Boris asked with a chuckle.

“I don’t know. We just, put our hooves against them and they open. Who needs hands?” she said as she attempted to make air quotes on the word hands. However the lack of fingers made it difficult.

“Well, well well! If it isn’t my old Rusky mate Boris!” called a voice from behind them.

Boris and Rainbow Dash turned to see McPhee approaching them, his blue eyes shining as bright as ever and his golden hair appearing almost yellow in the dull light. He was dirty, covered in grey and black smears. His jacket was covered in a thick coat of dust and his hands were blackened by oil stains. Following close behind him was an orange mare wearing a cowboy hat. As soon as he caught sight of the mare Boris was unable to contain himself.

“Bwahahahaha!!!” he roared, nearly spilling his drink.

The mare simply raised one eyebrow, “What in tarnation is so darn funny?” she asked with a thick southern twang.

“You some kind of cowboy-pony?” Boris asked, tears streaming down his face. “Yippy-wippy motherfuckers! The cow-mare is here. Watch out Dirty Dan!” he managed to choke out before breaking into further hysterics.

“Hey AJ, hey Eric” said Dash happily as she spun around in her bar stool to see her friends.

“Oh, you know Billy the Kid over here?” said Boris as he recovered from his fit.

“Duh numbskull! I’ve told you about her like a million times! This is Applejack.” said Dash, her voice annoyed at Boris but her eyes apologetic towards Applejack.

“You never mentioned cowboy hat” said Boris, still snickering slightly.

“And just what is wrong with mah hat?” said AJ crossly, an annoyed look crossing her face.

“Oh nothing love!” said McPhee cheerfully, “Boris just a jokah! Right mate?”. Eric’s voice was friendly but the look in his eyes was serious.

Boris raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture and suggested that they find a table. After the four of them were seated they began to catch up.

“So Eric, what the fuck man?” said Boris as he indicated the filth smeared across McPhee’s entire form.

“Oh yeah! Well I was over at AJ’s right, and I was fixin’ ’er farm tractor. Wouldn’t ya know it the bloody thing sprays me with oil!” McPhee answered with the same smile that characterized his normal demeanor.

“Ah warned ya not to open up that engine! I didn’t even ask ya to!” Applejack laughed. “This crazy hoo-man has been followin’ be round mah farm just lookin’ for ways to help out! He’s mighty uh… neighborly!” she said as she gave Eric a sly look. McPhee winked in reply.

“Hey Eric, you’re an Aussie right?” Boris asked as he took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah mate, born an’ raised in the outback!” McPhee replied as he lit up a cigarette.

“Bet you a hundred bucks I can stomach more liquor than you… Kangaroo Jack” said Boris with a competitive smirk.

Eric’s eyebrows shot up and he took the smoke out of his mouth, “You better shut yur mouth you cheeky little cunt, I swer to Christ I’ll hook you in the gabber mate”.

“I take it you accept challenge?” said Boris, his grin spanning his face, ear to ear.

“Barkeep” McPhee called, “bring us a bottle of whisky!”

A bottle of bourbon and a forty of vodka later, Boris sat swaying in his seat like a tree in the breeze. McPhee’s head was lying on the table in a puddle of his own drool. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been talking and giggling the whole time, largely oblivious to the contest until now. Currently they were facehoofing as hard as possible without hurting themselves. Boris didn’t even seem to notice that Eric had passed out.

“All right big guy, you’ve had enough. Let’s get you back to your barrack” said Dash with a small laugh as she tried to move Boris from his seat.

Boris began mumbling something in Russian, but it quickly escalated into a cry (in English), “Hey… hey I won! Slovich! No Aussie is going best a Soviet at chugging wodka! Anybody else?” he yelled. “Any Krauts? What about Micks? I can take you all on!”

“Jeez dude, good thing that they took your gun.” said Dash as she helped a stumbling Boris across the dirt floor and toward the door.

“Fu- fuck you.” Boris slurred, “My aim is waaaay better when I’m drunk! So is my English…”. Then Boris began to snicker.

As they exited the bar and entered the cool night air Dash became confused by Boris’s increasingly intense amusement.

“What the buck is so funny?” she asked him, shoving all her weight against Boris in order to keep him from falling over.

“While me and Eric were having our contest he told me something fucking hilarious…. Heh, you guys didn’t even notice.”

“What did he say?” asked Dash, suddenly curious.

“He said that after he fixed AJ’s tractor, he fixed her uhh.. pipes.” said Boris before falling into another fit of laughter.

“Wait, what? Are you saying that they-” Dash began before being interrupted.

“THEY FUCKED!!!” screamed Boris before collapsing on the ground in a fit of laughter. “Don’t tell nobody! Is big secret. Shhh!” he managed to say before he passed out.

“Buck” was all Dash could say.

Friends

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Barrack No 13, Camp Columbus, Equestria
March 20th, 2060

Steel beds sat in rows along the walls of the aluminum building, each possessing grey wool covers that drearily complimented the dull brown paint of the walls. A figure slowly made his way down the rows of bedding, ignoring each occupant until he approached a chosen one, fourth from the far end. The man briefly examined the form that was curled up in the grey covers, and kicked the bed.

“Hey! Dummkopf!” he said harshly.

The lump gasped and sat up with a start. Letting out a long groan, Boris rubbed his temples as he leaned forwards in the bed.

“Fuck…” he muttered, “what time is it?”

“Time for der Lufteführer to get up” the mystery man said.

Boris looked up and saw the shaved head and serious expression of Captain Kolba looking down at him.

“Ugh… fuck you Fritz, I’m too hung over for this” Boris grunted as he lay back down.

“It’s not an option you Rusky punk, you have a job, remember?” Kolba said with an irritated voice. “I’ll be waiting outside, then you have some work to do regarding the jets that just arrived”

Boris was already asleep again.

“Fucking Russian…” muttered Kolba as he wound up to kick the bed again.

It was about three o’clock by the time Boris had gotten the fighter situation sorted out, and he leaned against the wall of the hangar as he watched the first fighter patrol take off into the crystal blue skies. Turning to head inside, he but paused at the sound of an approaching jet. Turning his attention skywards, he saw a cyan pegasus tearing through the air towards him. Rainbow Dash pulled up at the last second and landed lightly between him and the door.

“Hey Dashie!” exclaimed Boris with a surprised grin. “What’s up?”

“Nothing really, want to do some flying?” Dash said with a cheeky smile, “I’m sure I can find a way to beat that bucket of bolts you call wings.”

Boris’ eyebrows raised, “First thing, there is no way that you’re beating Natalia. Ever. Second thing, I can’t just take her up into the air anytime I want. Last time was technically classified as a ‘patrol’”

Dash’s ears drooped and she let out a soft “Oh…”

Boris looked down at the saddened pony, and a smile crossed his face. In a swift motion Boris reached down, scooped her up, and slung her over his shoulder.

“Hey! What? Put me down!” Dash yelled as she flapped her wings, unable to fly with the human weighing her down.

“Nyet Dashie, I’ve found myself with nothing to do, so we’re going to go find something fun.” laughed Boris as he carried Dash across the airfield. As Boris paraded around with the cyan mare slung over his shoulder, Dash placed a hoof to her chin.

“If you don’t have anything else to do, I could use a favor!” she said finally.

Boris stopped and unslung the pony from his back.

“Anything” he said as he brushed Dash’s mane out of her eyes.
Dash examined her hooves as she kicked up small clouds of dust. “Remember those fillies that led you here from the forest?” she asked, slightly hesitantly.

“Uhh… da, I remember.” said Boris, mocking her tone.

“Well…” she began slowly, “Rarity needs somebody to foalsit them and there’s supposed to be a Wonderbolt in town today and I really wanted to see her but Rarity-” she continued at lightning speed before she was hushed by Boris.

“Whoah whoah whaoh!” said Boris with a chuckle as he closed a hand over Dash’s snout. “Let me guess, you want me to babysit little ponies?”

Dash put on a huge, wide eyed smile and nodded.

“Hmm… what the hell, I watch little ones.” said Boris as he twisted the hair above his upper lip.

Dash replied with a hug.

Applebloom tried to keep her balance, but couldn’t support the weight of the other two fillies. She wobbled, and finally stumbled. All three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders fell to the floor in a pile.

“Maybe we’re not cut out to be a pony pyramid.” said Sweetie Belle as she rubbed a hoof on her head.

“Are you sure we’re doin this right Scoots?” asked Applebloom as she turned to her orange friend. “Ah’m pretty sure pyramids are supposed to be triangle shaped.”

“Hey, I’m the biggest Rainbow Dash fan here!” snapped Scootaloo, “I know the most about tricks and-”

“Oh my word! What happened here!” gasped a white mare as she entered the room and saw the pile of fillies.

The foals immediately got up off of the floor and stood in a row, giving Rarity their most innocent smiles.

Rarity frowned, “I certainly don’t envy whoever this friend of Rainbow Dash is that’s coming over to watch these girls…” she said as she turned to leave the room.

As the mare made her way into the hallway, the doorbell rang. Desperately hoping it was the foalsitter that Rainbow Dash had sent over, she nearly ran to the door before flinging it open. Rarity’s eyes went wide when she opened the door. She was expecting some lanky teenaged stallion from ponyville, but in the doorway towered a six foot tall human. His tangled black hair stuck out in all directions, and a frizzy mustache covered his upper lip. Worst of all he had a jagged scar running from his eye to the bottom of his cheek.

“So you’re the… um… you’re the foalsitter Dash sent?” Rarity managed to stammer.

“Babysitter yes.” the man boomed with a sinister grin.

Rarity sat down on her haunches for a brief moment as if winded, then she stood aside with a quiet “Do come in”.

The man made his way inside, his boots making loud thumps against the carpet.

“So um… have you ever done this before?” Rarity asked nervously.

The man turned and looked her in the eye, “Da. I sit baby real good.” he said, his grin widening and eyes narrowing.

Rarity coughed, “Um girls!” she called. “Come out here and meet your new foalsitter!”

One by one the three fillies filed into the room. They were covered in dust, and Rarity worried what mess she’d have to clean up if she entered the room that they had been playing in.

“Girls, this is-”

“Boris!” they all gleefully exclaimed at once.

Rarity’s eyebrows raised, “You know this human?” she asked them.

“Uh huh!” said Applebloom, “We were with cousin Babs when we met him in the forest!”

“We led him back to town.” chimed in Sweetie Belle.

Rarity let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that this Boris character had dealt with the fillies before, which means that he’s probably not as scary as he looks. With a nervous farewell and a final, suspicious glance at Boris, Rarity exited the Boutique.

The door shut, and Boris burst into laughter, which eventually faded into a snicker, “Heh, I really put the fear of god into that one, heh heh!”

The three fillies exchanged puzzled glances.

“Um… what do you mean by that Boris?” said Scootaloo quizzically

“Well Dashie told me to put on my best ‘scary human’ act for Sweetie’s sister, she thought it would be funny.” Boris said as he suppressed another snicker. “So” he continued as he turned to the fillies, “who wants to hear about the time me and Anon won medals for crashing a helicopter?”

Apparently a war story was one of the only things that would keep the Cutie Mark Crusaders quiet and still, because all three of them stood in rapt attention as Boris recounted his tale.

Rarity made her way down the path that led from her home and business to the main road. She made her way into town, trotting lightly like a lady of class with her nose held high. As she approached her destination she encountered Fluttershy, whom she would be sharing in spa activities with.

“Oh, hello Rarity” said Fluttershy with a small smile as the unicorn approached her, “I’m so glad to see that you found a foalsitter on such short notice.”

Rarity rolled her eyes, “I do wish that Rainbow Dash had sent over a respectable pony from in town, but instead she sends me this unkempt and beastly human! A soldier by the looks of things!” Rarity said with exaggerated drama in her voice.

“A human? Oh I hope that he doesn’t frighten the poor dears! Those humans can be pretty scary sometimes.”

“Yes, those humans are a barbaric race!” Rarity exclaimed with contempt, “All of them seem to be obsessed with fighting, not an ounce of culture in them! Not to mention that filthy and vermin infested shantytown that they live in. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they carry some sort of revolting disease. Oh, and dear sweet Celestia those uniforms that they wear! A ghastly brown colour! With only a little red at the collar! It’s truly a travesty to force an outfit like that on somepony, but I suppose that a ghastly race ought to wear ghastly uniforms.”

All through Rarity’s long and prejudiced rant Fluttershy listened calmly, her features changing several times. At different moments during Rarity’s speech, her face may show agreement, surprise, and sometimes even a bit of discontent. Rarity’s ramblings were cut off as the pair was alerted to a presence behind them.

“What do yall think you’re doin?” asked Applejack’s voice form behind them.

Rarity and Fluttershy turned to see Applejack, hitched to a cart full of apples. Beside her stood a human with blue eyes and short, bleach blonde hair. He carried a large crate piled to the brim with extra fruit from Sweet Apple Acres.
Rarity swallowed as she realized that Applejack and this mysterious human had heard every word she said. She then shrank back a few steps as AJ marched up towards her, and gave her a glare full of rage.

“Is that what y’all really think?” said AJ dangerously.

Rarity began to sweat, “Um… yes, I mean, no uhh… well…”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed and she pressed her face closer to Rarity’s. At this point the human decided to step in.
“Whoa there loves!” he said as he gently pushed the two mares apart. “Don’t want to bet gettin’ yourselves in a dustup the the streets, heh heh.” The man turned to Rarity and gave a small bow, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced madam.” he said politely, “My name is Kommandant Eric McPhee and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” His grin never seemed to vanish.

Rarity blushed slightly, evidently embarrassed at having such an offensive rant greeted with such perfect manners.

“Oh… well I… I do apologize for any offense I might have caused.” Rarity stammered out awkwardly.

AJ simply stood slightly off to the side as Eric assured Rarity of his respect for her opinions.
Soon Rarity and Fluttershy continued on their trip towards the spa, leaving Applejack and McPhee alone.

“She don’t got no right to be talkin’ bout y’all like that sugarcube.” muttered AJ as the pair made their way to the town center.

Eric reached down and scratched behind the mare’s ears as they walked, “Come on now love, she can say whatever she wants bout me. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion.”

“But she can’t just-” AJ began

“Hush Jackie,” he interrupted, “she’s not the mare that matters to me.”

Applejack smiled.

Stalliongrad, Equestria
March 24th 2060

Stalliongrad didn’t face much of a chance when the invasion came. It was only thirty kilometers from the Griffin border and like most of Equestria, poorly defended. War wasn’t something that ponies were used to, much less expecting. On the outer limits of the city, three figures crept silently through the abandoned streets with the sound of the fighting fading behind them. The moon had vanished and the only source of light were the fires burning behind them, the light of the flames casting a hellish, orange glow upon the dying city.

Twilight huffed and puffed as Anon led the trio of fugitives through the dark alleyways, Spike was having similar problems.

“Anon… can we… take a break…” Spike wheezed as the group came to a brief stop.

Anon looked back towards the tiny purple reptile, breathing heavily in the same manner as the purple alicorn who stood beside him with drooping ears, “No.” he said coldly.

Twilight didn’t approve of Anon’s behavior. Frankly, she found it downright scary. First was the detached and robotic way that he had barked orders at her in her bedroom. Second was the way he had murdered a fellow human in such cold blood, and without batting an eyelash. Twilight glared at Anon with a frown.

“I’ve had enough of this!” she said angrily, “You’ve dragged us along for a good three hours now and we haven’t even had anything to eat. We’re out here freezing our flanks off and running from Celestia knows what horrible mechanized terrors that those humans are driving around it, and you won’t even give a kid like Spike a break? What the hey happened to you! Ever since this started you’ve been acting like a whole different person! I demand that you stop treating us like idiots! More importantly stop treating us like human soldiers!”. Twilight drove her point home as she stamped her hood into the snow, and a small burst of purple sparks came forth from her horn.

Anon turned around and marched silently towards Twilight, knocking Spike down in the process. “You have no idea what we’re dealing with here” he began in a flat and emotionless tone, “You literally cannot comprehend what unholy things that they’ll do to us if they catch us. We need to get out of here now. I don’t give a fuck if you’re tired, or if little Spikey Wikey is hungry. I’m concentrating on getting us out of here alive, you got that?”

Twilight face contorted into a grimace of sheer rage. Scrunching up her snout, she spread her wings and gave them a powerful beat. Immediately she soared up to eye level with Anon, where she lowered her head until her horn was a mere two inches from the frowning human’s head. Twilight’s horn glowed and bright arc of purple lightning shot out, hitting Anon square between the eyes. He let out a muffled cry and fell flat on his ass, swearing he quickly stood up again, ready to deal with Twilight the way he would an insubordinate trooper. The human grabbed a hold of Twilight, ready to chew her out in a way that would leave her emotionally scarred. The look in Twilight’s eyes as Anon grabbed her wasn’t one of fear, she was determined not to give any ground, and her gazed pierced Anon right to his core. Before he could even open his mouth, Anon was captured by the deep violet of the mare’s eyes, and he released her. Suddenly feeling weak, Anon leaned against the wall of the building that they stood next to, and sank to the ground.

“S… So… Sorry…” he managed to mumble as he buried his face in his hands, “I’m sorry I… I guess I’m a little too used to working with humans… bad ones… like me…”

Twilight’s ears became less perky as Anon slowly rocked back and forth, face still hidden. “You’re not bad Anon, you’ve just had to do some bad things.”

Anon’s hand raised into the air, searching for Twilight, she leaned forwards and he closed his arm around her. A large crack from the direction of the city drew Twilight’s attention back towards the inferno that used to be Stalliongrad, and as she craned her neck in order to look for the source of the noise she noticed the black writing along the length of Anon’s forearm. His sleeve had been rolled up in Twilight’s embrace, and his mysterious brand was fully visible.

Pulling away, Twilight acquired a puzzled expression. “What’s this?” she asked, examining the markings, “G-24601? What’s that mean?”

Anon’s head snapped up, he was suddenly fully composed an alert.

“Nothing.” he said quickly as he rolled down his sleeve. “We need to keep-” he began, before growing quiet.

Twilight’s ears shot up, turning and twisting as they searched for what had alarmed Anon. Soon she could hear voices, speaking in a foreign language.

Anon’s head turned to the direction of the conversation, “Follow me…” he whispered, “slow and quiet”

A pony, a human, and a dragon crawled along the side of the nearest building at a snail’s pace, eventually coming to a bend in the narrow street. Anon raised his hand, a signal to the others to stop, and slowly, ever so slowly and silently, he moved step by step until he could peer around the corner. In the street, facing away from them, was a small jeep. It was grey, with the markings of a darker grey eagle gripping a white cross, emblemized upon it’s rear. Beside it stood two men, wearing the grey uniforms and black helmets of ANS scouts, and leaning casually against their vehicle. The relaxed nature of their conversation showed that they were blissfully unaware of the presence of their three enemies.

“How convenient” Anon said darkly as he lined the first one up in his rifle’s sights.

Bad News

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Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria
March 25th, 2060

The sun rose slowly over Ponyville’s most famous apple orchard, casting rich orange over the meadows and trees. A single ray of light poured through the curtains in the Apple family home, landing on the face of a sleeping human. McPhee winced slightly as the light shone on him, his eyes slowly opening. With a small groan, he sat up, careful not to awake the orange mare that was curled up in the bed with him.

“Damn…” he mumbled, “Wait… damn… DAMN!!! SHITSHITSHITSHIT!!!” he sprung out of the bed and began to frantically get dressed. It was too late though, and the radio that he had left on the nightstand was crackling angrily.

“McPhee!!! Come in you lazy sack of shit!!!” a voice screamed from the radio’s speaker.

Eric grabbed the radio and took off out of the room, not even getting a chance to say good morning to Applejack.

“Ugh sorry Colonel, I was-” he began to respond

“I gave you permission to spend the night in town provided that you’d get your pasty gringo ass back here before 0600!!! Where the hell are you!!!” the voice of Manendez bellowed

McPhee showed a small smirk, “Sir, ‘gringo’ is a racial slur. You wouldn’t want me to report such a thing would you?” he said while trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

“I don’t have time for your sense of humor today to stupid gringo, get your ass back here before I have you cleaning latrines in Siberia!” responded Manendez with no sign of happiness present in his voice.

McPhee finished tying his boots, and left the still sleeping Apple residence. As he made his way into the rising sun, he noticed a small cloud of smoke rapidly approaching. As it came nearer it revealed itself to be a grey jeep, speeding down the dirt road at an unsafe velocity.

“Well I’ll be damned” Eric whispered as the jeep’s occupants came into view.

The vehicle came to a stop just short of McPhee, inside was a tired looking Anon, a sleeping Twilight and a sleeping Spike.

“Ello mate!” said McPhee cheerfully, “What are you… wait… is that a Fascist jeep?” McPhee said as he examined the eagle painted on the side.

“Yes, it is” said Anon calmly, “Get in Eric, we’re going to the FOB.”

“Just as well mate, I was just headin’ down in that direction. Now how the bloody ’ell did you get yourselves an ANS jeep?” Eric asked in his normal sunshiney demeanor.

“You got a radio?” Anon asked as they began moving again.

“Radio? Uh… yeah, here Anon” Eric replied as he handed over the radio.

“Do me a favor will ya? Check on Spike and Twilight.” Anon said, keeping his eyes on the road.

McPhee nodded, and as he twisted in his seat to take a look at the non-human passengers he heard Anon speak up into the radio.

“Columbus come in, this is Kommandant Mous.”

“Copy that Kommandant, this is Manendez. What’s the problem? Wait… I thought you were in Stalliongrad, what are you doing?”

“I’m wasting time by talking to you is what I’m doing.” Anon snapped back, “Get Gramov to meet me at the FOB, tell him that it’s an emergency. Call all the group commanders in Equestria and prepare to send a message to IOFR high command.”

Anon couldn’t see it, but Manendez’s expression grew far less annoyed and far more grave.

“What’s happening?” he asked sternly, worry overtaking his anger at being talked to like a green recruit.

“You’ll find out when I get there, just get all that shit together…” said Anon angrily, “Sir” he added.

Twenty minutes later Boris, Juarez, Kolba, Manendez, Gramov, and McPhee sat around a table in Camp Columbus’s only concrete building.

Anon entered the room and was immediately greeted by Manendez’s temper.

“What the fuck is all this about you little shit?” Manendez was practically yelling, “This better be damn important for you to drag us all here.”

Anon ignored him, “Have they arrived yet?” he said, turning to Gramov.

“They should have landed a few minutes ago, they’ll be here any minute.” the old man replied.

“Gentlemen” a soft female voice caught the attention of all the men in the room. In the doorway stood Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

“Ah, the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire” said Gramov politely, “I sincerely hope that-”

“We don’t have time for that” Anon and Shining said simultaneously, suddenly all eyes were on them, and they silently glared at each other for a moment.

“First of all, where is Twilight?” Shining asked with worry.

“Safe with my medical experts.” said Juarez calmly.

“Don’t be so rude Shining!” Cadence harshly whispered to him as she jabbed him in the side with a hoof. “Please do tell us why you had us flown in from the Crystal Empire Field Marshall.” Cadence said politely to Gramov.

“Well Princess, Celestia and Luna were on their own diplomatic missions, and Princess Twilight looked like she could use a rest.” Gramov responded pleasantly, “As for why we needed a Princess here at all you’ll have to ask Kommandant Mous.”

Anon had been tapping his foot impatiently during their whole interaction, finally he had a chance to speak, “We’re not the only human presence in Equestria.” He said flatly.

He was met with stunned silence.

Anon continued with a deep breath, “The ANS have apparently made allies with the Griffin Kingdoms, and last night they launched an attack against Equestria. They’ve taken Stalliongrad and they didn’t seem to plan on stopping there.”

After a moment of utter quiet, Shining spoke up, “Impossible” he said, “How could they have hit Stalliongrad so fast? Why haven’t we heard anything?”

Anon opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted, “Blitzkrieg” the voice of Kolba rang out.

“Blitzkrieg? What is Blitzkrieg?” Shining asked with narrowed eyes.

“A Fascist specialty” Kolba responded while gazing at the table, “If Anon’s report is accurate, then that means that they hit Stalliongrad quickly and brutally. They’re probably on the move again by now.”

Cadence slowly shifted her gaze from Shining to Kolba, “What can we do?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Anon turned to look at Cadence, “Field Marshall?” he addressed Gramov, his eyes still fixed on Cadence.

“Kommandant.” Gramov’s reply seemed distant.

“Have you informed the high command?”

“Yes Anon, I have.”

“Then Princess Cadence, all we can do is wait for a response.” Anon said coldly.

Shining Armor’s face distorted into pure rage. “What! You have to be kidding me!”

Anon already was on his way to the door, as he approached it, Boris got up and followed him.

“You coward!” Shining yelled after them, “You can’t think for yourselves so you just sit around and wait for orders?”

Anon didn’t respond or look back. Boris cast a sympathetic glance towards Cadence before he left the room.

Boris and Anon had been sitting in silence outside the conference room for twenty minutes. Anon leaned over and lit up a cigarette. It glowed faintly between Anon’s fingers as Boris gave him a worried look.

Anon glared back at him, “What the hell are you staring at?” he said.

“You’re smoking.” Boris replied

“So?” Anon asked before taking another drag.

“The last time I saw you smoking you had just blown a sixteen year old’s brains out. So what? You entering your little ‘cold blooded killer’ mentality?” Boris asked with raised eyebrows.

“Fuck off.” Anon said in Russian.

The creaking of a door on hinges caught the attention of both Boris and Anon. Gramov’s face showed a look of genuine concern when he entered.

“What did they say sir?” Boris asked.

“They say that they have troops standing by to intervene, and they have crews standing by to demolish Columbus and evacuate our guys from Equestria.” Gramov looked Anon in the eye, “They say that it’s up to me. Leave or fight. But I want your opinion Anon.”

Anon dropped his cigarette, “Why me?” he asked.

“Because you seem to get along well with ponies in general, especially that purple princess. Maybe it’s just an old man’s hunch, but I think that you can make a better decision here than I can.”

Anon couldn’t seem to look Gramov in the eye.

“I’ll give you a few minutes.” the old man said before departing.

Boris looked towards Gramov as he left, and then back to Anon once the door was closed. Anon was leaning against the table, hunched over and rubbing his chin.
After a few moments Boris spoke up, “You seriously have to think about this?” he asked.
Anon raised his head, and stared straight ahead, “No… No I don’t.” he said before heading towards the door.
“What exactly are you going to tell him?” Boris asked.

Anon put his hand on the doorknob, “I’m going to ask him to evacuate the area.”

“What…?” Boris asked, his eyes becoming like saucers.

“You heard me.” Anon replied flatly.

“You’re going to abandon them?” Boris asked, flabbergasted.

“We can’t risk another war with the ANS, I can’t ask our men to die for this.” Anon said as he turned around, looking Boris square in the eye.

“The cost is irrelevant. The ponies are innocent, we can’t ask them to face the Greycoats alone.” said Boris as he took a step towards Anon.

Anon responded by slumping down in a chair, “Please Boris, I don’t have the energy for this.”

“Apparently you don’t have the balls to request an intervention.”

Anon sat up straight and gave Boris a piercing glare, “You know why we can’t get involved with this. I won’t let more people die because of stupid decisions higher up.”

“It doesn’t matter who dies, its about what we stand for, what the IOFR stands for.”

“We can’t be the world police Boris. Or the interdimensional police in this case. The loss of life, for us and the Equestrians… it would be catastrophic.”

“The ends always justify the means, as long as the ends are just.”

Anon stood up, “Do they Boris? Do they? You going to make our soldiers fight and die for a world that isn’t theirs? That they have no connection to?”

Boris approached Anon until their faces were only a few inches apart, “It may not be our world, but it is the Equestrian’s. We can’t ask them to pay for our mistakes.”

“It’s more mistakes that I’m trying to avoid Boris! What if this spills over? You know that the USSR can’t handle more fighting right now. What if it gets invaded? Or what if we go after Poland? You still have family there don’t you?”

Boris took a step back and looked towards the ground, “It won’t spill over.” he muttered

“You have no way of knowing that!” Anon yelled, “If we engage them, not only will Equestria suffer, but potentially the whole world. Can you sit there and tell me with absolute certainty that it will stay contained to this side of the cave?”

“No I can’t!” Boris yelled back, “But I can tell you that if we put our own safety before what we stand for then there is no damn point in differentiating between us and them!”

Anon was silent for a moment, Boris began to pace.

“It’s because of Dash isn’t it?” Anon asked.

Boris stopped in his tracks, and silently stared at the floor. “Yes..” he said at last, “But not just her… what about the rest of them? I can’t believe that you’d leave them here.”

“The risk is too great.” Anon replied.

“What about Twilight?” Boris asked.

Anon was about to answer, but found himself unable. Suddenly all he could see was the courage in Twilight’s eyes as he had advanced upon her in Stalliongrad. All he could think about was how that courage would be tested and tested by the Fascist torture artists, until it was finally and utterly broken. Her bones would break before her spirit, but ultimately her resolve would not be able to withstand what the unholy alliance of griffin and man would do. If left alone then all would be lost for her.

Boris took a step towards Anon, “Please Anon, tell Gramov to order the intervention… don’t abandon them… Tovarish” with the last word, Boris put a hand on Anon’s shoulder.

“I…” Anon began as he sat back down in the chair.

Boris knew that Anon was about to give, “Don’t leave them here by themselves. They need us.”.

Anon let out a sigh as he buried his face in his hands. He sat there for some time, contemplating the situation, until after what seemed like forever, he raised his head. “Get Gramov” he said flatly.

Four hours later, Canterlot Castle

The crowd gathered outside Canterlot Castle’s main balcony was a sea of unrest. The faces of innocent ponies formed a constantly shifting wall as they gathered to hear the announcement that was to be made by Princess Cadence in the absence of Luna and Celestia. Here and there humans could be found in the crowd, usually wearing the uniform of the Red Army and shifting about just somewhat anxiously. The throng became quiet as Cadence and Gramov stepped out from the castle’s interior and onto the balcony, and thousands of eyes became silently trained on the pair.

Cadence gulped before speaking, and Gramov gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Citizens of Equestria” she began, “many of you have heard terrifying stories, reports that the Griffins, along with mysterious human allies, have begun and invasion of our land.” Cadence paused for a moment, “As much as it pains me to admit it, I must confirm these rumors as truth” the princess was forced to stop speaking as nervous murmuring gripped the crowd, and a sense of panic gripped the air. “My loyal subjects,” Cadence continued, “please do not be afraid, we will do everything in our power to both ensure your safety, and bring a swift and hopefully peaceful end to this conflict. However I will not lie, the Griffins and their allies have made their intent clear, they seek to control the land that we call home. It is for that reason, that I have recruited the aid of our own human friends, and it is the leader of the friendly human forces in Equestria that joins me on this balcony today”.

With that, Cadence stepped aside and gave Gramov a nod. Stepping forwards, Gramov began to speak, “Comrades!” he began triumphantly, “Do not be afraid. The great men and women of the Red Army pledge our steel to your safety and freedom! The Equestrian government and people have the full support of the International Organization of Free Republics, and you now have the full might of the glorious Red Army behind you! From this point on, the IOFR declares a state of war against the Alliance of Nationalist States and their allies in the Griffin Kingdoms. Comrades, from this day forth, your struggle is our struggle, your pain is our pain, and your cause will be our cause. With your support, the Red Army will drive the Fascist invader from your land, and liberate you from the tyranny of the Griffins! From now on comrades, we are as one nation!” The crowd began to cheer, and Gramov finished his speech with a salute and a cry of “Long live the Revolution!”.

Anon was waiting just out of view of the crowd, and greeted Gramov as he entered the castle, “Good speech sir.” he said dully.
Gramov stood where he was, and turned his face towards the sky, “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into Anon?” he asked.
“Exactly what we had to.” said Anon.

Gathering Storm

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Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria
March 25th, 2060

Cadence returned to the balcony, once again greeting the mob outside as Anon and Gramov departed from the room.

Briskly walking down the hall next to Anon, Gramov began to speak, “Well Anon, it looks like you might find yourself in combat again sooner than we thought.”

Anon nodded, “Always a pleasure to serve sir.” said dryly and without looking at Gramov

The old man smiled, “Don’t give me that lad, I know that nobody actually likes getting shot at. If you did then there’s something seriously wrong with you.”

This caused Anon to smile, and the two continued in silence down the marble hallway for a few more moments before Gramov spoke up again, “I’m going to Leningrad, to meet with the Red Army high command. But I have a very special task for you.” Gramov stopped walking as he said this, and turned to face Anon.

“Anything you need sir.” Anon said with conviction

Gramov sighed, “You won’t be so sure when I tell you” he said with a sigh, “Anon, you will not be taking command of your column in the 41st Airborne”

Anon’s brow furrowed, “Am I being reassigned?” he said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

“You might say that” Gramov replied as they started to walk again. “I’m sending you a green column, it will be-”

“What?” Anon nearly yelled, forgetting all notion of chain of command, he began to protest, “A green column? You can’t be serious! Are you telling me that I’m going to have to deal with a bunch of candy-ass new recruits, constantly bitching about their damn feet hurting? How the hell can you do this to me?”

Gramov was unphased, “If you’re mad now then you’ll be furious in a minute” he said, ignoring the hateful glare that Anon was giving him, “I’m sending you a mixed unit.”

Anon’s piercing glare narrowed to a suspicious gaze, “What exactly do you mean by a ‘mixed unit’ Field Marshall?”

A smile crossed the old man’s thin lips, “Ponies Anon, I mean ponies.”

Anon’s eyes, formerly narrowed to slits, now widened to saucers, “What!” he yelled, “This is ridiculous sir! How will they fight? They don’t even have godamn fingers!”

Gramov was beginning to become fed up with Anon’s irritation, his gaze and voice turning hard, he replied, “We’ve already thought of that, we’ve designed weapons for them and they’ve been in production for months, now let me tell you something else.”

Anon opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by his superior, “Zip it you little shit. Now I chose you for this because you get along with Princess Twilight better than any other human, that’s incredibly important for this mission. If you’re wondering why, it’s because this isn’t about the military, this is about propaganda. You know as well as I do that the war for hearts and minds makes the real war seem small in importance. This is supposed to show the unity between us and Equestria, you’re a well-known, highly decorated officer, and you’re best friends with one of Equestria’s rulers. If there’s a more perfect candidate to lead the Red Army’s first Equestrian troops then I can’t think of one.”

Anon stood aghast for a moment before organizing his thoughts, once he was ready he opened his mouth again, only to be silenced by Gramov a second time, “Here’s another thing!” the old man had begun to sweat from the excitement, “I can guarantee you that you’ll have a decent amount of volunteers from Equestria, and tiny equines have just as much of a right to be a part of this army as anybody else.”

Once again Anon was temporarily at a loss for words. “I-” he began,

Gramov interrupted yet again, “I would also appreciate it if you would train your batch on your own. I have big plans for you Anon, and I want you to be as close to your troops as possible.” Gramov finished his last sentence with a small fit of coughing, his aging lungs exhausted from his outburst.

Anon finally had a chance to speak, “When does the training begin?” he asked slightly sheepishly, for fear of being set upon by Gramov again.

“Three days.” said Gramov as he stared down the hall.

Anon clicked his heels together and saluted, “Thank you for this opportunity sir.” he said, trying not to sound begrudging, he then turned down the hallway and made his way towards the exit.

As the younger officer walked away, Gramov called after him, “You’re a good commander Anon, and a good soldier. Most importantly you’re a good man!”

With a quick look over his shoulder, Anon gave a respectful nod. After he was facing forwards again he let out a wistful sigh.

Anon was once again within the dull brown confines of his barrack. He made his way down the rows of bedding until he reached his own, stopping in front of it. He briefly examined the large, navy blue footlocker that sat at the foot of his bead, and after fumbling with the heavy steel lock for a brief amount of time, he opened it. The lifting of the locker’s lid revealed average contents, extra clothes, a razor, a toothbrush, and an assortment of miscellaneous belongings. But none of these everyday items interested Anon, digging through the piles of neatly folded clothing he found the object he was searching for. It was an AK-47, much like the ones used by every other Red Army soldier, and yet different. Anon ran his hand over the wooden stock, feeling the texture of the wood and closing his eyes as his fingers closed around the handle.

“Am I interrupting something?” a familiar female voice called out from behind him.

Anon immediately stood up straight, instinctively hiding the rifle behind his back like a child trying to keep stolen candy from his mother. Standing between the rows of steel framed beds was Twilight Sparkle, a cheerful smile on her face.

Anon returned he disposition, “Hello there smartypants, feeling better are we?”

Twilight began to make her way closer to Anon, “The doctors said that I just needed some rest. Said that I was suffering from extreme exhaustion… No thanks to you.” she added with a slight furrowing of her brow.

The human’s smile vanished, and he looked towards his boots, “Look Twilight, I really can’t convey how sorry I am about that… I was… I… sometimes…” he stammered.

“You don’t have to worry about any of that Anon, I understand that you were under a lot of stress, and I am grateful that you got me and Spike out of there alive” she said as she rubbed up against Anon. Anon had begun to scratch her ears, Twilight tried to look up at Anon, intending to make a joke about her not being a dog, when she noticed the object in his other hand. “Why have you got that out?” she said as she pointed a hoof at his rifle.

Anon smiled, “Heh, oh this old piece of junk? I was just getting it ready for when I enter active service in a few days.” he said as he held up the weapon for Twilight to get a better look.

“What exactly is so special about this one?” she asked as she took the rifle from Anon with magic.

“It was my father’s rifle, he used it in the Great War.” Anon said, his eyes becoming slightly glazed as memories from his past boiled to the surface.

Meanwhile Twilight examined the rifle with great interest, it was somewhat different from the hundreds of other AKs she had seen. The stock was wooden and fixed, as opposed to the folding, metal stocks of other weapons. The wood was also a much darker colour, nearly the hue of fertile soil. The black paint on the metal components had nearly worn off, leaving the stamped steel of the gun a shining silver, dotted with patches of darkness.

Finally Twilight noticed the crude writing carved into the stock, reading it aloud she said “Sic semper tyrannus?”

Anon looked down at her, and with a small smile answered, “Thus always to tyrants.”

Twilight raised her eyes from the rifle to Anon, “Did your father carve that?” she asked with genuine curiosity.

Anon let out a small chuckle, “Heh, yeah. He was a real believer, was a die-hard commie ever since I met him.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, her curiosity and confusion deepening, “Since you met him? What, did he abandon you at birth and find you later?”

The mist over Anon’s eyes immediately vanished, his sense of the present returning, “What? Ugh… er… nevermind!” he snapped back defensively. As he spoke he turned around and packed the rifle back into his footlocker.

Twilight approached Anon’s side, craning her neck until she made eye contact, “Anon” she said, “I’ve seen the way you behave, you shut out your emotions, you change the subject whenever the topic of your past comes up. I know that you’ve been through some bad times, but you can’t keep it bottled up like this.” Twilight’s words were heavy with emotion, and Anon could hear her sincerity. Anon let out a sigh, and Twilight pressed on, “Haven’t you ever told anybody else about this? Your parents? Your childhood? It has to do with that writing on your arm doesn’t it….”

Anon knew that he couldn’t keep brushing her off, and as he gazed once again into the deep purple of Twilight’s eyes, he suddenly didn’t want to. “My record will tell you that I was born somewhere in what’s now East Canada. It’s lying.”

Twilight’s concerned was momentarily subdued by simple curiosity, “Where were you really born?” she asked.

“I have no idea, somewhere in the former United States probably.” Anon replied, his gaze turning to the building’s only window, “From what I understand, my biological parents were Muslim immigrants. When the Fascists took control in America, they were deemed ‘undesirables’ and forced into hiding. Eventually we were all captured, and taken to a death camp in Ohio.”

The little Alicorn’s ears flattened against her skull, and her eyes widened as much as evolution would allow, “You mean, were…”

Anon returned his gaze to her, “Yup. The tattoo is my serial number. I was five when I arrived there. I was beaten, starved, worked, hell, even raped.”

The mare let out a gasp, and Anon continued, “My parents were both killed, forced to dig their own graves and then shot while standing in them. I was ten by the time that happened.”

Twilight was barely able to find her voice, but gathering her composure she managed to stammer out a barely audiable, “H-how did you survive?”

Anon’s eyes once again shifted, this time to the ground, “I was small enough not to get noticed, I’d hide out with other prisoners until they were due to be liquidated, then I’d move on to the next group. I got lucky if I saw my parents once every two weeks. By the time they were executed, it was 2046, the War was in it’s second last year. Anti-fascist rebels were pouring in from the north, and one day the soldiers just packed up and left the camp. Inmates, supplies, everything… just abandoned. Several hours later we saw Black Bloc guerillas emerging from the forest. They broke open the gates and let us all out, we couldn’t have been the first camp that they’d seen because they had food waiting for us. I was sitting alone, when I saw a man in his twenties walking towards me, he was holding that rifle you just saw. Then he asked me if I was hungry, and handed me some bread. That’s the man who I’d come to call my father, he raised me after that hell, raised me like I was his own son….” Anon’s story abruptly stopped, and he silently stared at the wall in front of him.

Twilight was speechless, “Anon I… I had no idea that… that this is what you were covering up…” tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, “Does anybody else know about this?”

“Boris” Anon replied simply.

“Anon” Twilight began as she wrapped her front hooves around the human in a warm hug, “If there’s anything you ever need, I’ll be here for you.”

Anon’s hand found her mane, and idly scratched it. “Thanks Twilight,” he answered, “But I’ve held onto it for thirteen years, I think that I might be able to bear with it a while longer.”

Twilight’s tears were flowing freely now, “I wouldn’t .” she said as she cried into his shirt.

A few hours later, night had begun to come on, and Twilight ceased her efforts to cure Anon of his psychological problems, and made her way back to the library. The streets of Camp Columbus were beginning to grow scarce in the way of sunlight, and the floodlights that had been placed on every structure were shining bright. The streets seemed oddly deserted, and as Twilight made her way down the road she thought that the news of war must have put a damper on the normally positive spirit of the town. It seemed like the gentle calm before a summer storm. Twilight’s hooves made quiet clopping sounds as she made her way down the dirt street, but a flash of red caught her eye as she took another step. Trapped beneath her hoof was a small piece of paper, the bold yellow writing and red imagery showed it to be nothing more than a propaganda poster, nothing special in such a place. Twilight was about to continue on her way home when something about the poster caught her eye. It wasn’t uncommon for Red Army posters to feature a human in combat gear, standing heroically or roaring ferociously, but this poster was slightly different. On this particular poster, was the image of a pony, wearing a what appeared to be a modified Red Army uniform, and reared up on its back legs. Strapped onto its back was what appeared to be an altered AK-47, and the whole image was made complete by bright streaks of red throughout, gloriously illuminating the whole seen in scarlet light. Twilight took a step back, and removed her hoof from the poster. Written in bold yellow letters, was a message, ‘Brave Equestrians! Now YOU can take the fight to the Griffin invader! Enlist in the Red Army today!’. The mare examined the scrap of paper for a moment, and furrowing her brow, she used her magic to place it in her saddle bag.

Half an hour later, Twilight was stepping into the library. Spike was napping in a chair, a book laid comically across his face. Twilight showed a smile as she telekinetically picked him up, and made her way upstairs. As she lay Spike down in his bed, she noticed a Red Army officer’s hat, one that Anon had gotten for her for research purposes. Making her way to her bedroom mirror, she magically placed the hat on her head. It was of course, too big for her, and slid down over her eyes. With a hoof she tilted it up, and looked at herself in the mirror.

Doing her best to harden her soft features into a harsh glare, ‘I’m not going to let what happened to Anon happen here… I can’t just sit in Canterlot while this happens… I have to do something’ she thought. With action on her mind, she removed the cap and sat down on the bed. Reaching out with telekinesis, Twilight rummaged through her saddle bag, and found the muddy poster. With a quick glance at the heroic pony soldier and their bold message, she sighed, folded the poster, and climbed into bed.

Assemble The Mares

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Camp Columbus, Equestria
March 26th 2060

“Again Dash? What in tarnation do ya think you’re goin’ to get done by racin’ him again?” Applejack directed a surprised look at Rainbow Dash.

Dash’s face showed a slight frown, “Because AJ, it’s driving me crazy! I… I just NEED to beat him!”

“Dash, ah know that you love to be the best, ah really do, but ya can’t get down on yourself just because ya can’t outfly some crazy hoo-man contraption!” Applejack shook her head, “And Boris is one heck of a pilot! You’d be hard pressed to beat him even if you had yourself one of them crazy flyin’ machines!” she added. Dash’s ears drooped slightly.

The two mares made their way towards the airfield at Camp Columbus, and a change in the air was noticeable. Activity was visibly on the rise, and large groups of men and women hastily made their way around the base.

As Applejack and Rainbow casually trotted through the busy dirt roads, Dash began to speak up again “Wow, it’s busy out here today.” she said as she sidestepped a human carrying a stack of green metal boxes.

“Don’t try to change the subject Dash,” Applejack said testily, “Ah’m worried about yall, you could get yourself hurt if- WHAT IN TARNATION?!!??”

The orange mare shrieked the ground began to shake. It was visible above the heads of the bustling humans, a massive vehicle, coated from top to bottom in brown steel, black stripes crossing its surface. On top of its main module was a rotating platform, the shape of a triangular prism. A frighteningly large canon jutted out twenty five feet into the crowd. Painted on the side of the turret was the familiar red star and initials IOFR. The humans around the treaded monster seemed to pay it no attention, and just stepped casually out of its way.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood wide eyed as the lumbering machine thundered past them, followed by another, and another, and yet another, until they nearly lost count. As the sound of the machines faded, Dash’s ears perked up to the familiar sound of an Infidel jet. Looking skyward she saw them, eleven Infidels, flying in a V formation. At the head of the group was a point of bright red, streaked with yellow. “Boris!!!” Dash exclaimed, and before AJ could protest, the pegasus was airborne.

Boris sped over the main body of Camp Columbus, once again reunited with his infamous Blackbird Squadron. The sun shone on his face, reflecting off of his black tinted goggles, and his ears were filled by the sound of the engines, and his own breathing through his respirator.

Soon however, another sound filled his ears. “Hey skipper!” a voice called to him in Russian.

Boris pressed his finger down on the transmit button on his radio, “Yeah Sergei, what’s up?” he answered as he turned his head to the left.
In the plane beside him the pilot’s head was turned towards the ground, and as Sergei turned to face him, Boris heard his squadmate’s voice again, “Are we expected to be joined by any natives in this run?” the radio crackled.

“Ponies? No, we’re just on a routine patrol for Greycoat air assets. Not expecting any help from the Equestrians.” Boris responded, his respirator and goggles hiding his puzzled expression.

“Well they’re here” Sergei was barely able to get the words out before Boris was greeted by a smiling mare flying alongside his cockpit.

Boris’s puzzlement turned to anger, “Godamn it Dash! What the fuck do you think this is!” he screamed.

“Who’s Dash boss?” another voice chimed in over the radio.

“Gah, fuck! Don’t worry about it boys, I’ll handle this.” Boris responded before switching off his radio. Reaching towards his face Boris pulled off his respirator and flipped up his goggles, and immediately Dash’s happy expression faded when she saw the anger on Boris’s face. The human raised a gloved hand and jabbed his index finger towards Dash, and then towards the ground, all the while angrily mouthing the words “Down now”.

Dash blinked for a moment before allowing her face to show a look of pure disappointment. She turned and halfheartedly made her way to the ground. She circled the area above where her and Applejack had been standing before gently alighting beside the other mare again.

Applejack was staring intently at something across the street, but Dash didn’t seem to care. “He told me to beat it…” she said sadly, “And he was mad too! Applejack what did I do wrong?” Applejack didn’t respond. “AJ?” Dash asked as she jabbed her friend with a hoof.

Applejack jumped at the contact, her head snapping from whatever she was staring at towards Dash. “Oh uh… ah’m sorry sugarcube what did ya say?” AJ asked, her eyes still drifting towards the other side of the street.

“I was talking about Boris! He looked really pissed!” Dash said as she waved a hoof towards the sky.

Applejack’s attention was once again completely focused on the other side of the street, “Uh, that sounds like a real bummer there Dash but uh… we got a bigger problem.”

Dash’s head turned towards the building that held Applejack’s attention, across the street from them was a large brown tent, and written across the top of it in several languages was the word ‘Enlistment’. Standing just outside the entrance, Twilight Sparkle was shaking hands with a tall dark skinned human. He handed her a stack of papers and said something inaudible over the din of the town, and saluted the alicorn. Much to Applejack and Dash’s shock, Twilight saluted back.
The two friends stared at the bizarre scene across from them, and exchanged glances as the colour drained from their faces.

“A-Applejack” Rainbow mumbled hesitantly, blinking a few times to make sure that she wasn’t hallucinating.

“Yeah Dash?” the other pony answered, the same worry in her voice.

“So what exactly do you think just happened?” Rainbow’s anxiety stricken voice asked

Applejack straightened her hat, and turned her attention to the ground in front of her, “Well” she began, “I reckon that Twilight just joined up with them human soldiers”

Rainbow gulped, “That’s what I think to…. So why in the world would she do that… and should we talk to her about it?”

AJ’s eyes drifted from the ground to the sky as she thought, “Well it seems like it might be a fine idea to gather the rest of our friends and ask Twilight what in tarnation she thinks she’s doin.”

Applejack turned to look again at Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus was already airborne and in search of the other Elements.

Twilight trotted down the road that led towards Ponyville’s center, where her treehouse was waiting for her. Magically opening the door, she stepped casually into her home, doing her best to hide her inner anxiety. In the foyer of the house was spike, trying to make is way across the room with a far too large stack of books. Hearing the door slam shut, he looked straight at Twilight.

“Oh, hey Twi!” he said happily, “I’m just moving a few returned books here, I’ll be free in a minute if you need anything!”
Twilight’s brow furrowed, “Spike, don’t you think that you should be getting some rest? I’m still shaking a little from what happened in Stalliongrad”

Spike's smile disappeared, “Well uh, I think I’ve been taking it alright.” He managed to stammer out before returning a nervous smile to Twilight’s concerned glare.

“Well in that case get ready to take letter Spike, I just need to put a few things away and then I’ll be right down!” Twilight called as she made her way towards the stairs.

As she entered her bedroom, Twilight levitated her saddlebacks off of her back, and telekinetically opened them. Reaching into her bag with magic, she lifted out a small booklet. The document was made of several thick pieces of red paper stapled together, and printed along the top in small, yellow letters it read ‘Red Army New Recruit Itinerary and Equipment cards’. Following the instructions given to her by the man at the recruitment tent, Twilight opened the booklet and read;

‘Congratulations Comrade! You have chosen the noble path of the Red Army, and as such you will be expected to follow its rules and regulations. You will report to the location indicated below on the date indicated below to begin your basic training. Upon arrival you will show this document to the officers in command of new recruits, whereupon you will be directed towards the nearest equipment issuing location. Once there, you will deliver the enclosed equipment cards to the depot, after the cards are delivered you will receive all the necessary tools to become a proud and valiant soldier of our glorious army. Failure to report for basic training is punishable by a prison sentence of three to six years.’

Twilight glanced down at the bottom of the page, and scrawled across the small box marked ‘Date of training initiation’ were the words ‘March 30th, 2060’.

The young princess took a deep breath, ‘I have four days’ she thought, ‘four days to break the news to Celestia, my friends, my parents, and my brother that I’ve gone crazy and run off to join the army…’ Placing the booklet back into her bag she let out the breath that she didn’t know she was holding, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done” she whispered to herself.
“Twilight!” Spikes voice called up from the foyer, it’s boyish tone snapping Twilight’s attention back to the here and now, “Are we going to write a letter or what?”

“Coming Spike!” she called back, levitating her bag and the incriminating booklet under her bed. Twilight’s hooves made clopping sounds as she made her way towards Spike, who waited at the bottom of the stairs with a pen and paper in each claw. Twilight cleared her throat, “Dear Princess Celestia” she began.

But Twilight found herself unable to continue as a bright mass of pink fur flew through the window and tackled her. “YOU’RE JOINING THE ARMY?!?!?!?!?” Pinkie screamed as she shook Twilight, the purple mare’s head still spinning as she lay on the floor.

Twilight’s senses returned to her as she saw her overexcited friend pinning her to the floor, glaring at her with the look of a pony gone mad. “Ughhh” she groaned, “Pinkie? What are you doing here?”

“We’re all here” another voice called from the edge of the room. Twilight looked to her left, and saw her four other best friends standing in a small cluster near the open doorway.
Twilight let out a sigh, “Alright look, if Pinkie gets off of me then I can explain everything.”

“Oh really miss smarty pants?” Pinkie piped up, “How can we be sure that you won’t run of and join some other crazy thing if I let you up? What if you take off and join a marching band? Or a travelling magic show? Or the circus? Well actually all of those sound pretty fun but still it would be kind of crazy for you to do it because you’re always so calm and organized and all those other things don’t really seem like something that you’d run off and join but I mean-”

“PINKIE!!!” five other ponies screamed in unison.

“Alright girls, look” Twilight began as she levitated her cotton candy coloured friend off of her chest, “I guess you guys haven’t heard the news yet, which actually doesn’t surprise me since I’ve never seen one of you with a newspaper” she added with a slightly judgmental tone in her voice.

The rest of the group seemed to shrink with the tiniest bit if shame.

“But there’s something I never got a chance to tell you… and if I did get the chance I’m not sure I would have, but it’s public now so there’s no point in keeping quiet.” the alicorn continued.

Rarity stepped forward, “Twilight, we’re your best friends” she said with concern in her voice, “There is nothing that you can’t tell us, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack have delivered some rather alarming news”.

Twilight looked up and scanned the five ponies and the tiny dragon, the look in their eyes was something that she was used to. It was happy, it was hopeful, it was innocent. It was a look that she thought that the entire world shared, and even though she hadn’t known about other worlds a few months ago, it would have been hard to convince her that they could possess any other feelings than that same light. But Earth had proven her wrong, the eyes of the humans were not hopeful, they were bloodshot, tearstained, and when they weren’t wide with fear they burned with hatred. Twilight didn’t blame the humans for bringing their problems to Equestria, the ponies own naiveté was just as much to blame for the war as human pain, but this was a different matter. Twilight knew that when she looked in Anon’s eyes, she was seeing a broken man, but there must have been a time when his eyes reflected what she now saw in her friends. Most terrifying of all, Twilight knew that if they light in the eyes of a human could be extinguished, it could be choked out just as easily in a pony.

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, the first droplets of tears threatening to make their way down her cheeks, “When I went to Stalliongrad, there was… an… assassination attempt.”

The small crowd in front of the lone mare was speechless, eyes wide with disbelief and mouths slightly agape in horror.

Twilight continued, searching for strength, “A griffin and a human broke into the Winter Palace and tried to murder me, but Anon… k-k-killed them both. After that all Tartarus broke loose. It wasn’t long before we realized that it was an invasion.”

“Um… A-an invasion?” a tiny voice spoke up from Fluttershy’s direction, “B-by who?”

“The griffins, and an opposing human faction to that of our friends. Anon called them the Alliance of Nationalist States.” Twilight answered as she began to build up her confidence again, “Anon said that they were terrible people, that they killed millions during the Great War for just being different from other people. He told me stories, stories about his childhood. He told me the horrible things that they did to him and his family, to all humanity…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as Applejack stepped forwards.

“So then why are ya joinin’ up with them hoo-mans sugarcube?” she asked with sympathy.

Twilight shuddered, “The things Anon told me… if that’s what these people want for Equestria… if that’s what they did to other humans then I can’t imagine what they’d do to us. To a totally different species?” Twilight’s vision once again found the floor, “I couldn’t just stand around and let that happen, and then I found out that the IOFR was coming to help us… That made it even worse! The Reds would be giving their lives for us! For a completely different world! All the while I’d be holed up in Canterlot Castle eating the finest foods and sleeping in silk sheets while they were out fighting tooth and nail for our benefit! Don’t you understand why I couldn’t not try to do SOMETHING!?!?” as Twilight yelled, tears began to well up in her eyes, “I mean, maybe joining the army wasn’t the smartest thing that I could have done, but by Celestia what else could I do? How else could I have made a difference in this whole mess!” Twilight then sat down on her haunches and began to cry.

“Twilight,” Rainbow Dash’s voice was accompanied by the sound of her hoofsteps growing louder, “I think I understand…”

Twilight’s expression twisted into anger, “NO YOU DON’T!!!” she yelled, causing Rainbow to recoil, “How could you possibly know what I mean! You haven’t heard of the things that those other people do! You’re not a national leader who is expected to protect her subjects!”

Rainbow did her best to stay calm, “You’re right Twilight, I’m not a national leader, but I do know what those jerks have in store for us.”

Twilight looked up from her sobbing and saw Rainbow, tears beginning to form in her own eyes.

“Boris told me, he told me about what they did to his parents, how he had to flee his homeland and everything he ever knew… how he had to live on the streets, steal and trick to survive as a child… It was the saddest thing I’ve ever heard, and if joining Anon’s men is the only way to stop that from happening to foals here, then you can count me in.” Dash said as she extended a hoof to her grief stricken friend.

“A-are you saying that you’re coming with me?” Twilight asked between sniffs.

Rainbow nodded, and Twilight noticed that her other friends had stepped forwards.

“Ah’m sure I can buck more then a few griffins” Applejack said with a grin.

“I um… I heard that they sometimes use dogs in the army… they might need somepony to look after them properly…” Fluttershy mumbled

“Have you seen those guns!!!” Pinkie yelled, “They’re all like BANG! BANG! BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!! I’ll bet that they’d be a lot of fun!”

“And well, I suppose that they need somepony to spruce up those drab brown uniforms that they force those poor boys to wear!” Rarity said with a small smile.
Spike just gave Twilight a grin and saluted.

By now Twilight had stopped crying, “Are… are you all sure about this? This won’t be a game, this isn’t a party, or a play date with puppies… this things that Anon had to do to get us out of Stalliongrad… it was horrifying! I don’t think that I could live with myself if any of you got hurt… or worse..."

“Twilight we’re your best friends.” Dash said as the group crowded around the purple pony, “And we’re the Elements of Harmony. Where the Element of Magic goes, the rest of us will never be far behind.”

Giving one final sniffle, Twilight took a breath, and resumed what she had come downstairs to do. “Spike, take a letter” she said, a small smile creeping across her face, “I’m writing to inform you that me, the other Elements of Harmony, and Spike, have decided to enlist in the human Red Army, in order to help fight the invasion…”

A cold wind blew over Canterlot Castle. The lights of Equestria’s most magnificent city glittered as the medieval metropolis lay sprawling before the home of the princesses of the sun and moon. Celestia had arrived from her mission in Saddle Arabia just in time for Twilight’s letter to arrive, and now she stood, staring at the night sky, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“You can’t seriously be considering this sister…” a voice said, accompanied by its owner.
Celestia turned to face her sibling, “I know Luna, I know the importance of the Elements, but if Twilight is to grow into her new role as a princess then she must be free to mature in her own way.”
Luna’s face showed no sign of agreement, “Mature? Tia, if she goes off into that war then there she will never grow up, and neither will the other elements.”

“You musn’t talk like that sister,” Celestia said, her eyes locking on Luna’s, “Twilight will return, as will her friends, I only hope that they will not have to suffer greatly.”

“They will Tia, and you know it. I hope you know what you’re doing, otherwise we may find ourselves to be short six element bearers and a baby dragon.” Luna said coldly, she then spread her wings and took flight.
As Luna sped off into the moonlight, Celestia bowed her head, “I hope I know what I’m doing too.” she said to herself.

Boot Camp

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Camp Columbus Training Ground
March 30th, 2060

“Good morning troopers! Today, is a very special day. Today, you will begin the process that will turn you from soft, weak, and spoiled little brats, into tough, cold killing machines! First thing’s first, from now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and you will always address me as, and end every sentence with, ‘sir’. Do I make myself clear?”

“SIR YES SIR!!!!”

The drill sergeant made his way up and down the mixed lines of ponies and young humans, inspecting them with a scrutinizing eye. He was an intimidatingly tall man, with hard chiseled features and a shaved head. The training ground on which they stood was little more than a dusty, open field, the tent city that constituted the soldier housing sat fluttering in the breeze at the edge of Twilight’s vision. The purple mare stared straight ahead, but from the corner of her eye, the brown clad sergeant’s movements were apparent to her.

The sergeant strutted towards Twilight, stopping abruptly at the human recruit beside her, “You soldier! What’s your name!” he barked at the boy, who couldn’t have been more than 19.

“Sir! My name is Dimitri Kravchenko sir!” the boy screamed in a thick Russian accent, staring straight ahead.

The sergeant smiled, “Well we’ve got ourselves a ruskie, tell me trooper, why did you join the army?”

Dimitri stood bolt upright, and yelled proudly, “Sir, my family has a proud military tradition sir. My father died in the Civil War, and his died in Chechnya, and his died in Afghanistan! All the way back to the Great Patriotic War sir!”

With a single step the sergeant was inches away from the recruit’s face, “You know something Trooper Kravchenko? You don’t deserve that military tradition! Not until I say you do! With a family history like that, I expect at least ten confirmed kills in the first week, or I will personally write to your family and tell them what a goddamn disgrace you are! Do I make myself clear Trooper?”

“SIR YES SIR!”

With that, the drill sergeant turned in place, and continued his way down the line of terrified recruits. Twilight’s eyes slowly followed the bright red of his beret, until it settled on somepony that she couldn’t see.

“And what the hell is your excuse you miserable maggot?” the harsh scream of the sergeant assaulted Twilight’s eardrums.

There appeared to be no response.

“I can’t hear you soldier! I want you to scream goddamn it!!!” the sergeant continued to yell, still with no audible response.

But Twilight listened closer, and her heart sank when she realized what she heard, it was a soft voice, on the verge of tears, “Fluttershy…” Twilight whispered as she bit her lip in anxiety.

Twilight could tell that the sergeant was winding up for another verbal assault, but a familiar voice interrupted before he could traumatize the yellow pegasus any further.

“Hello sergeant!” a solemn voice called. As Twilight turned her head, she saw Anon and Eric, slowly walking towards the middle of the line, their knee length coats billowing in the spring breeze.

The sergeant turned, and instinctively stood as straight as a pencil, heels clicking together and hand raised to his brow in salute, “Officers in the field! Get those hands up!” he barked at the troops. The entire lined saluted in not quite so perfect unison.

“At ease troopers!” Anon called, every hand and hoof was lowered.
With his hands behind his back, Anon slowly walked along, casting quick glances at the soldiers that seemed to contrast sharply with the harsh scrutiny of the sergeant.

Anon stopped suddenly as he reached the center of the line, to Twilight’s right, “Comrades, I am Kommandant Anon Mous, and I am to be your commanding officer, as well as your personal trainer for the next ten weeks. I am not going to lie to you. I have fought with the Red Army nearly every day of my life since I was seventeen, and I see that some of you are no older than that, so let me make this perfectly clear to any fresh faced recruits hoping for glory. This, will not be fun. This is not a game. There is a very real possibility that you will NOT make it home.”

The pony to Twilight’s right, a dark blue stallion, gave a nervous gulp, and even Twilight herself found herself chilled by Anon’s grave words.

“I promise you,” Anon continued, “That you will be cold, you will be wet, and you will be hungry. However with Fascists and Griffins constantly trying to kill you then I doubt you’ll care. Now then, let me tell you about what we do. All of you have already been pre-designated to be under my command, which means that you will be paratroopers, just like me.” Anon finished his last sentence slowly, and turned almost ominously to face the troops as he did. He then resumed, “Most of the humans here probably already know what that means, but I doubt that the ponies will be as familiar with the term. To put it simply, we get the singular honor of jumping from 15,000 feet, out of planes, and right into the enemy’s lap. Once there, we raise so much hell that he just folds by the time that the cavalry comes. Do you all understand?”

“SIR YES SIR” the group responded.

“Very good, I’ll let the honourable sergeant... Richards here, teach you the basics. When you can march in step and look pretty, he’ll throw you to me, and then that’s where it gets interesting.” Anon then turned to Eric, as if to ask ‘Anything to add?’, to which McPhee simply shrugged.

As he made his way back towards the base, a flash of yellow caught his eye. Fluttershy stood in line, barely containing tears, her knees shaking. Anon’s eyes quickly darted to Twilight, whose own violet eyes were locked on Anon.

The human sighed, “Sergeant!” he called.

“Yes sir!” came the reply

“That yellow pegasus there, send her over to the medics. I’ve got a feeling that she’ll be saving a few lives.” Anon called as he walked away.

“Right away sir!” Anon heard as the sergeants bark faded in the distance.

As the pair left the field, Eric gave a small chuckle, “Bloody hell mate, good thing we showed up, or that little girly would have been scared for life. She’s a sensitive one she is.”

Anon’s face showed no amusement, “Fuck it Eric, this is what I tried to tell Gramov, but fuck no. We had to have a mixed unit to show how ‘united we are’. Bullshit.” Anon shook his head.

Eric’s amusement only grew, “You know Anon, Boris was telling me about that Wonderbolt training. It’s not so different from how we do things. If ponies have the balls to invent that kind of training on their own, then I think that they will be able to handle anything we throw at them.”

Anon cast a squinty eyed glare at Eric, “We’ll have to see. I don’t want to turn into a goddamn laughing stock.”

“Oh really mate? Why suddenly so concerned with reputation?” Eric sneered, eyebrow raised.

“Bite me.” was the only reply.

Hours later, the thundering of several dozen feet could be heard rolling across the training ground. The soldiers marched together, ponies in near the front with humans coming up the rear, separated for the sake of uniformity. The impact from their boots and horseshoes churned the dust and trampled the sparse vegetation, and the roar of their march could only be drowned out by the furious screams of the drill sergeant.

“Company, left… TURN!” he screamed

The ponies at the front of the procession abruptly turned left on a ninety degree angle, their lack of coordination still woefully apparent. The rest of the group clumsily followed their lead.

The sergeant glared at them, “Company, march… IN PLACE!”

The order was followed by an abrupt stop, but the feet of the recruits still kept up their pace.

“Company… HALT!” came the final order

Immediately, the formation was standing stock still, and staring blankly in front of them.

The sergeant took a few steps, and several recruits found him to be a little too close for comfort, “That was a fucking embarrassment!” he screamed at them, “You sons of bitches are lucky that they have soldier’s rights, or I’d have you marching for the next seventy two hours straight! I swear to god that if you don’t learn to march like real troopers I’ll have you clearing mines with a fucking hockey stick!” at this point the officer’s face had begun to turn bright red, “Now get out of my sight you goddamn degenerates! Get your slimy asses to the mess hall, and you better eat a lot because if you don’t do better tomorrow I’ll make sure that you don’t eat for a week!” with his final outburst, the sergeant stormed off towards the tents, a group of exhausted recruits in tow a safe distance away.

Soon five of the elements of harmony were seated at a corner table in the mess hall, their faces drooping. It seemed as if they were doing everything in their power just to keep their faces from falling into their food. Nobody seemed to have anything to say, the shock that they felt was simply too great.

But eventually, one of them found their tongue, “Well that wasn’t as fun as I thought it might be…” muttered Pinkie, her face sad and her hair deflated.

“Ah just can’t believe the way that that man treated Fluttershy!” Applejack responded as she banged a hoof on the table, “Ah was standing right beside her, and if she had stayed for another five minutes she would have been bawlin’ her little eyes out.”

Twilight seemed to be in the worst shape of them all, clearly taking the blame for her friend’s misery “I never asked you all to come here…” she said, half to herself.

“Darling, we couldn’t have asked you to do it alone” Rarity told her, “If putting up with that beastly human is what it takes to help you through this, then we’re willing to do everything we can.”

Twilight gave Rarity a cynical glare, “Why don’t I believe you Rarity? I mean, there’s no way that you’d rather be here than back in your boutique making dresses.”

“Of course I would rather be back home!” Rarity answered in a slight huff, “But we’re still your friends and we’re willing to deal with uncouth humans, drab uniforms and... whatever this is…” she said, looking at the dull grey mush on her plate.

Rainbow Dash managed to pull her muzzle out of her dish for a few seconds, “Hey, say what you want about the sergeant, but don’t badmouth this food! Can you believe that we can eat as much as we want?”

The rest of the group was not amused.

“Look,” Dash sighed, “I had to do the same kind of thing at Wonderbolt Camp. You might even say that I’m a prime cadet…” her voice turning boastful.

“Did they every call you a miserable puke at Wonderbolt Camp?” AJ asked her,

“Well no but-” she began

“Or a degenerate” Twilight added

“Uhhh” Dash said as she scratched her head.

“Or a lazy maggot?”

“Or a goddamn disgrace?”

Dash’s eyes darted back and forth for a moment, “Hey! It’s Fluttershy!” she pointed out.

The heads of all five ponies turned to see the banana coloured pegasus approaching, and to their surprise, she had a small smile on her face.

“Why so chipper?” Dash asked her somewhat sarcastically

“Oh my,” she began, “The lady instructor with the medics was so friendly and understanding. She told us that medics had to be softer than regular troops, the had to be able to care for patients without traumatizing them.”
The group’s jaws were all open.

“Wait a minute Fluttershy, are you telling us that you got some nice lady politely giving instructions while we had orders barked at us by some lunatic?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh yes, she was very nice. She said that all the yelling doesn’t help with patient stress levels, and that one of our biggest goals is to calm them down if they’ve been injured.” Fluttershy said with a pleasant look on her face, “I think I’m going to like it here!” she added.

Camp Columbus Training Ground
April 20th, 2060

Once again, the men, women, mares, and stallions found themselves standing in company formation, at attention in the field. Sergeant Richards, a man that had come to be universally hated by the troops, stood directly in front of them, watching as Anon and Eric made their way towards the rectangular formation of soldiers. As soon as they were within the appropriate distance, the call of “Officers in the field!” was sounded, and every right hand and right hoof flew to its owner’s brow in perfect unison. The formation before Anon was a totally different sight than the one that he had been witness to a month ago. Their timing seemed flawless, and they all stood perfectly straight, their heads turned directly in front of them. To complete their image, they had all been issued their rifles.

“At ease!” Anon called to them, and just as quickly as they came up, hooves and hands returned to their original positions.

Anon had to admit that ponies armed with rifles was a strange sight, obviously they couldn’t be used the same way a human would use them, so they had been modified to fit into a “Battle Saddle”. The technology was used by the Equestrian guard to operate their own primitive gunpowder weapons, it was a simple saddle, a rifle fitted into the side, a sight extended from the shooter’s helmet along with a mouth operated firing mechanism. However these ponies lacked helmets, and wore the simple red berets of the human troopers.

As he inspected the front rank troops, Anon thought that he would give a little test. He stopped in front of a young stallion with orange fur and a blue mane, “What’s that soldier!” he barked as he pointed to the AK fitted to his battle saddle.
“This is my rifle!” the stallion screamed, “There are many like it but this one is mine! Without me, my rifle is useless! Without my rifle, I am useless! My rifle is a tool, and I am a killer! I will use my rifle to destroy my enemy, who is trying to kill me! I will shoot him before he shoots me! With my rifle I defend my Motherland, and I defend the ideals of Socialism! With my rifle I will triumph over the Fascist, Capitalist, and Jihadist menace!”

From somewhere in the middle of the formation, Twilight’s ears perked up. The voice of the stallion sounded somewhat familiar to her.

Anon let out a small laugh, “Good job trooper.” he chuckled.

Stepping back, Anon motioned to Eric, who brought forward a small, rectangular case. Anon reached down and opened it, producing his battered AK from the interior.

“We don’t teach you that mantra for no reason!” he informed the company, “This weapon will be your entire life. You will treat it like a child, and by the time we are done, you will be able to disassemble and reassemble it in the dark.” Anon handed the rifle to Eric, “Kommandant Eric McPhee is my second in command, and he will be responsible for the training and command of our combat engineers. For now however, he will give you a crash course on your new best friends!”

Eric stepped forward and took the AK from Anon, “Morning troopers!” he called happily, “What you’re looking at here is a military masterpiece. This is the Soviet made, Armamat Kalashnikov, model of nineteen forty seven. It is a nine pound work of art, a perfect balance constructed of steel and plywood. It is so simple that a child can use it, and sometimes they do.” the humans in the crowd seemed to think this was funny, but the ponies didn’t understand.

Eric continued, “With proper care, it will never jam, it will never break, and it will never fail you. We are going to teach you to fulfill that mantra, and when we’re finished you and your AKs will be haunting the nightmares of our enemy!”

Anon stepped forward again, “So comrades!” he called out, “Shall we begin?” he said as he took his rifle from Eric with one hand, and pointed towards the firing range with the other.

Twilight’s ears hurt from the constant crack of rifle fire, and the headphones that were given to them didn’t seem to fit a pony’s head very well, so most of the Equestrians in the group weren’t even wearing them. Twilight sat in the rear of the company, the rifle in her battle saddle emptied and turned upwards. Her brow was slightly furrowed, she was trying to place the voice of the young stallion that she had heard on the marching ground, and she was wondering why she hadn’t noticed anything sooner. As she looked out at the range, her thoughts were momentarily put on hold. A few feet away from her Rarity lay on her belly, rifle lowered. After each crack of the gun, and before the metallic clang of the shell case hitting the ground, a small puff of dust would be thrown into the air right between the target dummy’s eyes. Twilight gave a small whistle.

Rarity’s accuracy didn’t go unnoticed, and it wasn’t long before Anon was standing over her, a very different looking rifle in his hands. Soon enough, Rarity became aware of his presence. She quickly clambered to her feet and saluted, but Anon put a quick stop to it.

“Try this one” he said as he handed her the rifle he was holding.

Rarity grasped the weapon with telekinesis, and examined it. This rifle was longer than her AK, and lacked the sharp, angular lines of an assault rifle. But the most noticeable difference was the telescopic sight fitted onto the barrel. Looking through it, Rarity could see the target clear as day, and put twenty shots, one by one, into the dummy’s head.

“Oh, well that certainly is better!” she exclaimed.

“I think that we’ve found a sniper.” Eric piped up from a few feet away, to which Anon simply nodded.

Twilight was watching the whole time, but eventually she turned, and was about to look for Applejack, but instead found herself bumping into another pony.

Twilight fell on to the ground, “My god I’m so sorry… wait a minute… Princess Twilight?” Twilight’s eyes opened suddenly, and in front of her she saw the same orange coloured stallion, his blue mane sticking out in patches from under his beret.

“F-flash Sentry?” she stammered nervously.

“Wow Princess! I certainly didn’t expect to see you here!” the young Royal Guard exclaimed

Twilight was baffled, “Y-you too, I haven’t seen you since I left Canterlot last time! Why aren’t you already fighting in the war with the rest of the Royal Guards? N-not that I want you to be there… I-I mean I’m glad you’re here and everything but uhhh….” Twilight’s voice nervously trailed off, a slight blush coming to her face.

Flash chuckled, “Heh, well there were a number of guards that figured that the humans would be a lot better at fighting other humans than we were. We were also pretty impressed with those war machines that they use, I can tell you I’d love to get my hooves on one of those ‘Atlantis tanks’ or whatever they’re called. I’ve been told that just one would be able to flatten the Winter Palace in Stalliongrad with just a few shots!”

Twilight’s overly analytical brain immediately started to do the math, “Well the standard M-class HCV-3F Atlantis is armed with a 175mm main cannon, and a 20mm autocanon. The standard HE shell size is about equivalent to a 150kg bomb, and has a high powered muzzle velocity. Now the Winter Palace is a very sturdy building, but if the tank targeted the foundations of the palace, then it might be able to collapse one section in as few as eight to twelve shots… no, I think that ‘a few shots’ would be an overstatement Flash” she spouted without thinking. Flash had a puzzled look on his face, and Twilight tried to backtrack, “I mean like… that’s what I heard…” she said nervously.

“Oh… that’s pretty cool…” he said, “Hey, there’s another guard! I’m uh… I’ll go talk to him for a bit. See you later Princess!” he said, his smile returning,

Twilight turned and called out, “Hey wait a minute Flash! Why didn’t I notice you before? Were you even here?”

“No actually,” he responded cheerfully, “since I came from the Royal Guard I was exempt from the basic training, marching and all that. You should have seen the argument the Prince got in with the human commander to get him to allow that!”

It was then that Twilight realized that all this commotion had distracted her from an important issue, “My brother? When was the last time you heard from him?” she asked hopefully.

Flash rubbed a hoof on his chin, “Uhhh, last I heard was about a week ago. He was taking the 10th Army to Trottingham, to meet up with a human unit. The Bavarian 22nd Panzerbrigade I think he called it. Not a clue what a ‘Panzerbrigade’ or a ‘Bavarian’ is, but Shining didn’t seem too happy to be working with humans.”

Twilight’s ears perked up, “Did he mention me at all the last time you talked to him?”

Flash thought for a moment, “No actually, I thought it was a little strange.” Flash didn’t notice Twilight’s ears droop, “Well I’ll see you later Princess!” he called as he made his way over to another crowd of guards.

Last Day

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Canterlot, Equestria
June 10th, 2060

The white marble of Celestia’s throne room reflected the afternoon Equestrian sun in every direction, brilliantly illuminating the figures within. The Princess’s audience chamber was once a place where the subjects of the spirit of the sun would come to pay homage, and ask for help or advice. It used to be a symbol of peace, but now not even here was safe from the dark shadow that had fallen over the entire country. The humans had seemed to have found a much better use for the chamber; it became their primary war room. A huge marble slab had been brought in at the request of Shining Armor, it had been intricately carved with a map of Equestria and the Griffin Kingdoms, and it was now dotted with small plastic pieces that represented vast armies of fighting men and stallions. A number of human men, and several women stood around the end of the table farthest the Princess’s throne, with the other side occupied by the warrior aristocrats that made up the ranks of the Royal Guard’s officers. Currently, a human with shoulder length black hair, and a black beret indicated a spot on the map.

“Here.” Colonel Mandendez said as he placed the tip of his pointer on the map, “Just West of the Crystal Mountains. They’ve opened up a new Blitzkrieg. In the last week they have driven us back over three hundred kilometers, and at this rate, the Crystal Empire will be under siege before the end of June. Gentlemen, this represents a catastrophic threat to the entire war effort. As I’m sure you’re all aware, the Crystal Empire is a major magical industrial center for the Equestrian Royal Guard. Most of their magic based weaponry is crafted from the crystal that is mined in these mountains, and if it falls, then Equestria’s ability to wage war is severely diminished. With our troops at the Trottingham front holding on by their fingernails, we will NOT be able to pick up the slack that the Equestrians will be forced to drop.”

A quiet murmur was heard around the table, until finally, an officer of the Royal Guard stepped forwards, “We may be able to use this rapid advance for our own purposes.” Shining Armor said confidently, “The enemy carved a salient out of our northeastern border, but hasn’t sent troops into the mountains themselves. With a pincer movement from the East, we might be able to encircle them, and destroy the Blitzkrieg entirely.” with his last sentence, Shining drew an imaginary circle around the enemy positions with his hoof.

Manendez again began to speak, “We have thought of that comrade, but unfortunately so has the enemy.” he sighed. “They aren’t stupid, but their intelligence seems to have been faulty, and that gives us enough time to turn this against them. Their reconnaissance sweeps told them that the mountains were devoid of any significant number of our troops. They were confident that they could reach the Crystal Empire and seal off the mountains before we could act, but they were wrong. As of last night we have over 75,000 troops of the 17th, 19th, and 93rd Mountain Rangers divisions standing by to be deployed by train to the mountains.”

“Then what exactly is the problem?” a young Guard captain piped up from across the table.

Shining turned to him, “The problem is that they must know by now that we are planning to deploy troops. The most logical move for them, would be to slow their advance, and send a force to clear out the mountains. Our forces won’t be able to attack the salient if they are under attack themselves.”

“Precisely” said Manendez, “Drone sweeps show that there is a large force of Griffin marauders and Fascist light infantry massing in the northern foothills of the mountains. If we are to encircle the Blitzkrieg, then we must rout this force completely, otherwise it could easily attack our rear when we begin our offensive. The 1st Mixed Airborne division will complete its training in a matter of days, we-”

“You plan to trap them with paratroopers, and starve them out.” Shining interrupted.

Manendez turned to the prince and nodded, “The Airborne will be deployed here,” he said with a tap on the marble surface, “They will secure this 12km long stretch of beach, and begin a guerilla warfare campaign. It will be their job to ensure that as little supplies and reinforcements as possible get through to the battle in the mountains. The re-arming of the Royal 2nd Fleet is nearly complete, as is the resupply of Prince Shining’s 10th Army.” the Colonel began to trace a line up the coast, “The navy will transport the 10th up the east coast to the Airborne’s beachhead, where they will reinforce and resupply the paratroops.”

Shining examined the plan, “Then it will only be a matter of closing in on the enemy.” he said, “Our Rangers in the mountains will be the anvil, and we’ll be the hammer. Once that’s done, we can attack the flank of the salient.”

“And with all that” Manendez concluded, “we will eliminate the front in the east, and Equestria will live to fight another day.”

Gramov, who until now had been in complete silence with his head bowed, now began to speak, “Impressive.” he said, “Does anybody have anything else to add?”

“Yes Field Marshall.” Shining said somewhat suddenly, “If we are going to deploy an Airborne division, then why the 1st Mixed? They are a raw unit, shouldn’t they have a little more experience before being thrown into an operation this vital?”

The old man smiled, “Trust me Prince, the man in charge will get the job done. Are there any other objections?”

Silence.

“Then as chief of IOFR military operations in Equestria, I formally present this plan to the supreme commander of the Equestrian Royal Guards. Prince, this action now rests on your decision.” Gramov cast a grave look at the unicorn.

For a few seconds Shining was silent, but it seemed like an eternity to the officers watching, “All right.” he said. “I agree.”

The meeting was ended, and each officer exchanged parting pleasantries with the others before returning to command their individual sectors. Soon the room was empty, or nearly so. Shining still stood at the table, examining the map. His eyes were locked on the small plastic square that represented where the 1st Mixed Airborne Infantry division would be dropped. It’s troops had not even completed their training yet, and already they had been given the nickname “the Twilight Troopers”.

“Be careful little sister…” was all he whispered as he turned to leave.

As the steady clop of his hooves rang through the marble halls, Shining failed to notice the human who had remained in the archway of a far door. His eyes seemed permanently narrowed into a spiteful squint, and his skin stretched over a tanned skull like a dark skeleton. He adjusted the collar of his black trench coat and began to walk in direction opposite from Shining.

Camp Columbus Training Ground
June 1st, 2060

“The winner, with ninety three mines successfully disarmed, is the Yellow Team!” came Eric McPhee’s voice over a megaphone. In front of him stood rows of dirty soldiers, their uniforms covered with mud and caked with hardened patches of dirt. Their thick engineer’s helmets were painted with their vibrant team colours, and each one had their heavy faceplate raised.

“Yeee-haaaw!” cheered Applejack, doing her best to give a happy leap in her thick flak jacket. The squad all began to crowd around her, laughing and patting each other on the back.

“Congratulations Yellow Team!” Eric called, “Our armored boys will sleep a little safer knowing that you’re on the job.

With that comment, Eric gave the order to get some food and grab a nap. They had a big day tomorrow, but he stopped a certain mare before she could leave the field.

“Great job out there love, ya made me real proud.” he said, somehow even more upbeat that normal.

Applejack blushed a bit, “Aww shucks sugarcube, t’aint nothin’ special. I wouldn’t have known how to do it without ya.

The pair sat down at the edge of the field, as they did so Eric put his arm around the pony’s shoulders, and pulled her close.

Further away on the firing range, the smell of smoke mingled with the sound of maniacal laughter, “Weeehheeehee!!!! Waaaahoooo!!!” screamed Pinkie as she doused the target dummy with a healthy dose of napalm jelly from her flamethrower, her eyes watering from the heat.

“Pinkie, I’m starting to worry that you’re enjoying that thing a little too much” Twilight called from behind her.

“Pyro Pinkie! Pyro Pinkie!” she called out between fits of demented laughter.

The dummy smoked and popped as Pinkie cheered, and Twilight, though concerned, found her joy to be contagious as always.

“Okay” Twilight giggled, “Maybe it does look fun”

Pinkie finished her latest volley before finally deciding to put the weapon down, “Maybe? Twilight! This thing is way better than my party cannon!” she said, “Well, unless you’re on the business end of it!” she added with something that was part giggle, part snort.

Twilight’s smile diminished slightly, “I’ve been telling you this for months Pinkie, this isn’t a game. I don’t think that you grasp what we’re really here to do.”

Pinkie’s hair deflated somewhat as she realized the implications of what Twilight said, she usually tried to ignore the somber side of being here, but she knew what was coming eventually.

“I do know why we’re here Twilight,” she said with a small twinge of sadness, “but I’m going to try to make the best of it.”

Twilight smiled, “I guess that’s all we can do….” answered the Alicorn, her voice trailing off, “Hey Pinkie, why don’t you put that thing away and come to the mess hall.”

“Hmmm… I could eat!” Pinkie laughed as she headed off with Twilight.

Twenty minutes later the simple steel building that made up their mess hall was bustling with activity. Humans and ponies of all sizes and colours moved back and forth up and down the aisles, talking and laughing. There was news that the enemy had nearly reached its breaking point in Hoofington, and any kind good news was enough to raise the spirits of everybody on the base. Anon stood near the exit, observing his troops, perhaps they weren’t his hardened “Fighting Forty First” that had taken Smolensk and been the first to begin the siege of Moscow, but they had spirit, they believed in what they were doing. Anon gave a small chuckle, maybe Gramov was right, maybe the Equestrians would fight harder than any human, knowing that their entire way of life was at stake. Anon could honestly say that he sympathized.

The clip clop of small hooves caught his attention, in came Twilight and Pinkie, who laughed and talked and giggled until they noticed Anon lingering by the doorframe.

“Hey uh, why don’t you find yourself a seat Pinkie.” Twilight said

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie chirped as she cheerfully hopped off to find her other friends.

Anon laughed, “Damn, for Eric it must be like looking in a ponified, feminine mirror.”

Twilight laughed genuinely, and was relieved for the tension breaker, but still she found herself without anything to say to her friend.

Anon broke the silence, “Look Twilight, I know that we haven’t really talked since training began, and I know you’re not happy here.”

Twilight showed the human a smile, “I’m happy to be where I’m needed.”

Anon wasn’t looking at her, “I don’t believe you.” he said, “Why didn’t you tell me? Can you imagine how I felt when I walked out into the training ground and saw you there? I feel bad enough about what happened in Stalliongrad, the way I treated you.” The young man’s gaze finally found the pony’s, “It will happen again Twilight. It’s just how I am. Under pressure some people panic, some people preform. I just… switch off.”

“Look Anon,” Twilight began, “I’ve already forgiven you for what happened, and I do understand what you’re going through. You try to block it out; you try to ignore your emotions so that you can get the job done. It’s why you were able to stay so calm when you told me about…. the camps….” Twilight’s last words were hesitant. She certainly didn’t want to bring up such a touchy subject, especially not in front of an entire brigade.

Anon’s face became calm, “I know you don’t hold it against me Twilight, but you don’t understand what’s going to happen.” he began to walk away, “you really don’t”.

He left the purple mare standing there, watching as her friend seemed to fade away.

At the front of the room, Anon met with Eric, who was just finishing up a conversation with Applejack.

“Don’t worry ya head about it love!” he said to her, “Everythin’ will be fine. Me and Anon will make sure of it.”

AJ looked nervous, “Well all right” she said, “just don’t think that I’m gonna be callin’ y’all ‘sir’ out in the field sugarcube!”

“That’s ‘sugarcube sir’” he responded with a grin.

As the orange mare made her way back to her table, Anon approached the blonde human, “What’s she worried about?”

Eric gave him a serious glare, something that was extremely rare for the upbeat Aussie, “What the hell do you think?” he said somberly, “She’s worried about what they all should be worried about, and frankly, they’re not worried enough.”

“High morale is a good thing. They need all the courage going into this as they can get.” Anon replied, his eyes scanning over his troops.

Eric shook his head slightly, “It shouldn’t come at the price of reason. This plan that they’re working on… I don’t know. We’re working with green kids here. Half of them are barely out of high school.” Eric turned to face the other officer, “The Fascists must know that this part of the front is important. I doubt that we’ll face anything easy.”

Anon chuckled, “Sit down and look at what we’re up against Eric, the Griffin marauders and French légions will be in the mountains. Let the Rangers handle them. We’re facing a Polish light armor division in rough terrain, a rear guard. If the Poles know what end of the tank gun to point at us, then that’s about all they know.”

“I’m not so sure,” Eric replied, “I looked up your unit’s experience at Kaliningrad a few years ago, and it wasn’t pretty. You should know that the Polish army has plenty of crack troops. ”

“And I can assure you that none of them are in tanks. Those were elite mechanized infantry at Kaliningrad.” Anon said with a half smile, “Funny.” he continued, “Normally you’re the chipper one. Why so-”

Anon’s stopped speaking abruptly as his eyes settled on Applejack, a quick glance at Eric confirmed that he was looking there too.

“Oh…” Anon said quietly

Eric sighed, “I’m worried about her.” he said, “She doesn’t know what she’s getting into.”

“Do any of them?” Anon asked

Eric closed his eyes for a moment, then gazed at the floor, “No. This is going to be horrible for them.”

“It was horrible for me Eric,” Anon said, “It was horrible for you. It was horrible for Boris, for Gramov, for Manendez, and for all the rest. It was horrible for the billion people that died in the Great War. It was horrible for the millions that died in the aftermath wars.”

Eric’s demeanor didn’t change, but he laughed a little, “You know Anon, they called the Great War generation ‘the Lost Generation’, because fighting consumed their entire lives, and gave them no rest. There were plenty of people who were born during the war, and died before it was over.”

Anon knew where this was going, “And what do they call us Eric?”

Eric turned to face his comrade, “They call us Generation Kill, because it’s all we know how to do.” his brow furrowed and flicker of anger entered his eyes, “The Canadian Civil War, the North American Aftermath War, the Chinese Expansion, the Second Russian Revolution… Jesus man, we may not have spilt as much blood as the Great War boys did, but damn are we trying.”

Anon sighed, “What’s your point Eric?” he said
“Don’t treat them like a statistic Anon,” Eric replied, looking back towards the crowd, “Otherwise we’ll have another Lost Generation on our hands.”

Several meters away, the Elements of Harmony were having their own conversation, but this one was far more cheerful.

“I’d like to propose a toast!” Rarity called, “On finally being free of this depressing and ghastly place!”

The entire table cheered in agreement.

“So, what exactly happens after we’re done here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she sipped her drink

Twilight lowered her cup, “Not sure, I heard that we’re going to be heading to Canterlot first for some ceremony, and then we’re right into the thick of it.”

Twilight’s words put a damper on the mood. All six mares knew what that meant, and while they all knew it was coming sooner or later, they were all terrified of actually going through with it.

“What…” Fluttershy began, “What exactly do you think is going to happen to us?”
AJ tipped her hat, “We’re all goin’ to do what we signed up for. We’re the Elements of Harmony, and it’s our duty to protect Equestria.”
Fluttershy nodded slightly, “I just wish that it had never come to this.”
“Nobody wanted this” Dash began, “but we have to deal with what the world is throwing at us. We’ll get through this together, as friends.”
The rest of them smiled.

One Big Jump

View Online

Camp Columbus Airstrip, Equestria
June 13th, 2060

Anon walked briskly down the hallway of the airbase’s main building, his face showed little emotion, but his heart beat rapidly in his chest. The weight of his pack making him move a little slower than usual, and the rhythmic tapping of his slung rifle against his back seemed to move in tandem with his heartbeat. The hallway was poorly lit, with buzzing fluorescent bulbs flickering in the ceiling, and casting a cold, white light on everything in the hallway. As he made his way towards the exit, a shape moved in from his peripheral vision. It was Gramov.

“How are the troops Kommandant?” he asked with a serious tone

Anon kept looking ahead, “Fresh faced and eager Comrade Field Marshall, ready to show the Greys which way is up.”

Gramov nodded, “Very good Anon, how did the training go?”

“Excruciatingly tedious” Anon answered flatly

“Heh, they’ll be glad for it, back in the Great War all we had for training was five hours instruction on how to use an AK, then they tossed us into the meat grinder against those NATO boys.”

Anon’s eyes descended to the door handle as they approached the exit, and he paused, “Sir, what are you up to?” he asked.

Gramov stopped dead in his tracks, “What makes you say that? Am I acting suspicious?”

“No, it’s just that… this isn’t the kind of thing that you normally throw a fresh unit into… Also why were you so insistent that I be given a group of greenhorns? Any other commander would have just given me back to the 41st, but you were so insistent on this…”

“Are you thick? We had a long discussion about this.” Gramov replied with a furrowed brow.

Anon shook his head, “I know sir, but you also wanted me to train this group myself. You also told me that you had ‘big plans’ for me. You must have meant something by that.”

Gramov’s face became very serious, and sighing, he took his hand off of the door handle “Anon, this is not for you to know. You will know things when I give the go-ahead for you to know them. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” Anon replied gravely as he began to open the door.

“That being said” Gramov’s voice rang in Anon’s ears and forced him to stop, “something is not right. There have been some… disturbing orders coming from New York recently. Orders that conflict with orders coming from Leningrad.”

“Orders for who sir?” Anon asked as he closed the door.

“Orders… for the Revolutionary Guard.”

Anon’s face showed confusion, “The Guard? Why? What kind of orders?”

Gramov cast a quick look over his shoulder, the first time that Anon had seen him show fear, “Orders that place the Guards in a number of very… influential positions, very… strategic positions. Positions very close to Celestia and other nobles, very close to major officers in the Royal Guard. Positions that could, if need be, lock down the entire Equestrian government and military in less than twenty four hours.”

Anon frowned, “What are you saying?” Anon asked, “They’re planning a coup?”

“Let’s just say that all is not right in the Kingdom of Denmark.” Gramov answered cryptically as he pushed open the door.

Anon was momentarily blinded by the light, but as his sight returned he suddenly became aware of the great uproar that surrounded him. Around him were all five thousand troops of his brigade, their fanatical cheering somehow audible over the roar of the priming jet engines. All along the airfield, the heavy lift planes of the Red Army Air Force were lined up, ready to deliver their deadly cargo of troops to the front lines. In front of Anon was a writhing sea of brown uniforms, black body armor, and the dull green steel of helmets. Both humans and ponies, eager to bring the fight to the Fascists and the Griffins, were lined up, cheering their commander on. Suddenly, a new voice broke the din.

“Tovarische!” the commanding voice of Gramov called. Immediately the noise quieted down, followed by the thunderous sound of five thousand soldiers snapping to attention. “I am so happy to see you here today, especially our Equestrian comrades. You have the singular honor of being the first Equestrians to serve with the Red Army, I congratulate you on your bravery.” Gramov’s voice called as it carried across the whole tarmac.

As he spoke Eric emerged from the crowd, dressed head to toe in thick engineer’s armor, designed to take the blast from a satchel charge- and then some, he nodded to Anon before he stepped up beside Gramov.

“I am confident that you will show those Fascist cowards what a real soldier looks like!” Gramov continued as a cheer once again began to rise, “I’m confident that you will teach those Nazi dogs how to fight! I am confident that you will show them that they underestimated Equestria and her people! They underestimated the Red Army and its soldiers! They thought they could crush you beneath their boots like insects! Well today, I want you to show them that you sure are some insects!” the cheering rose louder, “And they are going to need one hell of a boot to crush you!” the roar continued to grow, “Today I want you to let them know that Equestria will be free!” he shouted, putting emphasis on every word, “And today, I want you to show them, what a free soldier of the Red Army is capable of!” it was at this point the cheering reached its apex.

Anon had to admit that he was impressed, and as he heard Gramov’s next words he knew that even he wouldn’t be able to resist what was about to come.

As Gramov opened his mouth again, there came a cry of “SOVIETSKY SOYUZ!!!”

To which every soldier, including Anon, replied, “URA!!! URA!!! URA!!!” the cry rang in Anon’s ears, and as if on cue, a squadron of INFIDELs roared overhead in V formation.

At this point Anon stepped forwards, “Comrades!” he called, “Get to your planes! We go to war! URA!!!”

Once again the troops returned the battle cry as they all stormed off towards their planes.

Anon called out again, “Command squad! On me!”

Shortly a number of humans and four out of six elements of Harmony stood in front of him.

“Support squad one! We’re moving out!” Eric called as mixture of humans and ponies emerged from the crowd, among them the remaining two elements.

None of the Elements had ever thought they would see a day such as this, Twilight stood a few feet in front of her, and examined her unit. In the center stood Anon, tall and imposing with his wide officer’s hat and his seemingly pre-historic rifle. To her right was Rainbow Dash, a PPSK submachine gun fitted into her saddle. She wore a blue VDV beret, and had painted thick, dark smudges under her eyes with camo paint. She had a cocky smile on, like she expected she would take Hawken City singlehandedly. To Twilight’s left was Rarity, her brilliant white coat smudged with war paint until it was mostly a dull grey colour. Her nearly disgusted look betrayed how she felt about this, and she nervously fiddled with her gear, making her sniper rifle wobble slightly with her battle saddle. Finally there was Pinkie, with her fireproof body armor, and heat resistant faceplate raised above her head, with the tip of a flamethrower peeking out from her saddle. Twilight herself was nothing special, and wore the standard fatigues, helmet and body armor of a Red Army footsoldier, along with the standard AK. Twilight cast a glance over to Eric’s squad, who were already on their way to the nearest plane. She watched as Eric kneeled down to give Applejack a quick hug while the rest of the squad moved out.

“Atten-TION!!!” Anon barked.

Immediately the whole squad stood straight.

Anon smirked, “Are you mean?”

“YES SIR!” came the reply

“Are you angry?”

“YES SIR!”

“Are you ready to tear some Griffins a new egg hole?”

“YES SIR!”

“Then get your asses to that plane and strap yourselves in! Won’t be long before you’re knee deep in paradise!”

The formation took off past Anon towards the plane, as Anon turned to follow them he came face to face with a grinning Boris his hand stretched out

“Going to leave without sayings goodbye? After all we’ve been through Anon? I’m hurt.” the Russian chuckled

Anon reached for the hand and began to shake, “You and your guys just make sure we get there.”

“Da, not a problem Tovarische…” he then turned to towards Anon’s squad “Dashie!” he called, the Rainbow Pegasus stopped to look, “Be careful!”

She smiled and took off.

Boris then turned back to Anon, “Break a leg” he said

“Meh, I’ll probably just get it blown off” Anon chuckled as he took off after his squad.

He got halfway to the plane before he was interrupted once again

“Comrade Mous!” an unfamiliar voice called

Anon turned to see an eerily thin black clad man walking towards him, dressed in full combat gear

“Fuck” Anon muttered to himself as the stranger drew near

The officer stopped in front of Anon, and saluted, “Commissar Van Houte, 1st Revolutionary Guards”

“Of course Comrade Commissar!” Anon answered politely, “What brings you to my unit?”

“Special orders, direct from New York. I am to accompany your brigade on this mission, in order to assess the situation at the Crystal Mountain front and report back to the politburo.” Van Houte answered smugly.

Anon frowned slightly, “What is the reason for this? Why wasn’t I notified?”

“Last minute special orders sir. As I said, straight from Revolutionary Guard high command. The reason is the business of the politburo.” the Commissar replied, his smile unflinching.

Anon’s frown deepened, “It must be comforting knowing that orders from New York override orders from Red Army high command.”

“Indeed it is sir.” Van Houte replied for a final time.

Anon looked towards the waiting planes, “I suppose we have room for you Commissar, welcome aboard.”

The Commissar reach out to shake Anon’s hand, but Anon simply walked away.

17,000 feet above the Crystal Mountain foothills, Equestria
June 16th, 2060

Twilight was shaking. She was shaking violently. All this time she had been preparing herself, both mentally and physically, she had done the fitness training, she had done the weapons training, she had done the practice jumps, she even brushed up on a few combat spells, and all the while she mentally prepared herself for the act of killing another sentient being. But now that it was all about to happen in real life, she just couldn’t stop shaking. The plane rattled and shook as in moved through the air, causing the troops inside to grasp onto anything they could to stay steady. Suddenly, a particularly violent jerk caused and several others to fall right out of their seats.

“Wha… what the hey was that?” she asked to nobody in particular

“Anti-aircraft guns” Eric replied simply from the seat across from her, “We’re over the front now.”

Twilight suppressed the urge to vomit.

Two seats beside Eric, Anon stared at his feet. This was certainly nothing new to him, and as far as he was concerned this was just another routine. He had been wanting to kill Fascists since he was six, and he had been learning to do it since he was ten, as far as he was concerned this was just another day at the office. He almost found himself dozing off despite the violent rocking of the plane.

Anon was pulled out of his short snooze as a cyan hoof jabbed his side, “Hey Anon” Dash’s voice called as he jointed awake

“Huh? Uh yeah Dash, what is it?” he responded somewhat groggily

“Who was that guy in the black uniform? The one who got onto the other plane? I don’t remember seeing a uniform like that anywhere else.” Dashed asked, looking towards the ceiling as she tried to recall anybody she had seen that had looked quite like Anon’s mysterious visitor

Anon rubbed his eye, “He was from the Revolutionary Guard… there are a few of them around Equestria.”

“Reva-what guard?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow

Anon looked at her like she had grown a third eye for a moment before Twilight managed to pipe up, “Gah Dash! Didn’t you pay any attention to the political education in training?”

Dash’s attention turned to her feet, “Uh… I might have slept through it” she said with a nervous glance at Anon

Twilight sighed, “The Revolutionary Guard is an international paramilitary organization that was established after the Great War to safeguard the Socialist governments of the IOFR against all threats both external and domestic.” she said, quoting from the lecture.

“Oh.” Dash mumbled, “Well… what is he doing with us then?” she asked, turning back to Anon

Anon rubbed his chin, “I’m not quite sure…” he said, “The Guards and the Army have never quite got on well… we’ve had more than a few disagreements over the years. I guess you could think of them as our answer to the Fascist SS… they’re more loyal to the state and the politburo than the cause or the people…”

As Anon finished speaking, a new set of turbulence hit the plane, ten times more violent than the worst they had yet experienced. Anon nearly fell out of his seat, and he raised his head to see the entire company either on the floor or clinging onto anything they could find for dear life.

Anon took a firmer grasp on the handles fixed to the wall as his radio crackled a message to him, “Anon! Anon! It’s Boris! This isn’t good man!”

Anon raised the radio to his mouth, “I hear ya Boris, what the fuck is happening out there?”

“We’ve got a whole load of Fascist bogeys on our hands… French Mirages, and they’re coming straight for you! You need to drop now, I don’t think my boys can hold them off forever!”

Anon gritted his teeth, “Fuck it! Alright Boris, we’re dropping in two minutes! Keep them off us until then!”

“Blackbird Squadron will do its best! Boris over and out.” the radio replied.

Anon stood up and made his way to the front of the violently rocking plane, with great deal of difficulty he managed to make it to the pilot’s cabin.

“Pilot!” he called

One of the two men sitting in the cabin turned his head, “Sir?”

“We need a yellow light! Now!” Anon barked

The pilot hesitated, “Sir, we’re still a few hundred clicks from the drop zone! We could wind up right on top of the Greys!”

Anon yelled again, “I don’t give a fuck! I want a yellow light now! Relay the message to the whole brigade, I want every one of my troopers out of their planes in two minutes! That’s a goddamn order!”

Anon didn’t wait for an answer, but he got it as the light in the cabin changed from red to yellow.

“All right!” he screamed, “This is it! Masks on, helmets on! Check your chutes! Check your weapons and ammo! Check your air! Check all your gear! We are bailing in two minutes!”

Twilight began to telekinetically fumble with her gear, pulling her gas mask over her face and attaching the tube that would feed her air at the high altitude.

‘I really hope I don’t puke…’ she thought as her heart raced.

“Right then!” Anon barked over the din roaring engines, “Our rallying point is Archangel Sector, grid reference G2! When you hit the ground, ditch the chute and head straight for the point! You DO NOT stop for ANYTHING!” the plane rocked violently as another flak round exploded nearby, “Is that clear?”

The company responded with a few scattered acknowledgements

Anon gritted his teeth, “I said… IS THAT CLEAR!!!”

He got their attention this time, and the troops responded in unison, “SIR YES SIR!!!”

The troops began to get up and shuffled to form a single file line near the door as Anon put on his helmet and has mask.
Twilight was having a hard time seeing, the mask she had on restricted her vision to two circles of light, and all she could hear in her head was her beating heart and her heavy breathing. A human stood in front of her, obstructing her view of the door. Twilight’s breath had been steadily getting faster as the digital clock below the yellow light counted down the seconds until the jump, she was nearly hyperventilating now. She placed her hoof on her chest to try to calm herself down, but was interrupted by a jab from behind.

It was Rainbow Dash, “You’ll be just fine Twilight” Dash told her, “Just concentrate on flapping your wings and getting down safely… Just like training.”

Twilight looked back and nodded while gulping hard.

Anon’s voice interrupted her thoughts once again, “Jumping in ten... nine… eight…”

Twilight screwed her eyes shut

“…seven… six… five…”

She gritted her teeth

“…four… three… two…”

Twilight’s eyes shot open as the floodlight changed from yellow to green. A split second later the doorway swung open and the temperature dropped. The wind roared ferociously as it tore out of the doorway and into the freezing air, and through it all Twilight could still hear Anon screaming

“LET’S GO!!!” he bellowed, “GET OUT!!! LET’S GO!!! LET’S GO!!! MOVE IT!!! MOVE IT TROOPERS!!!” he continued to yell as he stood by the doorway, patting each soldier on the back as they sprung from the plane.

All too soon, Twilight found that the soldier in front of her was moving towards the door, and an instant later there was nothing separating her from the outside but air. Closing her eyes tightly, Twilight sprinted for the doorway, and leapt. Anon’s yelling trailed away as her body entered a freefall.

Revolution Equestria

by SeriousTWILEY

Prologue - Earth

Departure

Close Encounters

Walk in the Woods

First Impressions

Sleepover

Birds of Prey

Savagery

Night Out

Friends

Bad News

Gathering Storm

Assemble The Mares

Boot Camp

Last Day

One Big Jump