Chapter 1

Nothing ever goes as planned

Sometimes things don't turn out quite as expected.
For instance, I never expected to become a nation's most deadly soldier just by my race, fall in love or get sent to a land of- oh, where are my manners? My name’s Nate (but most people just call me Umbra) and I've got a hell of a story to tell you. But what fun is there in picking up here? Grab a chair and your favorite brew and listen up while I tell you my story...

XxX

Umbra

It was a dreary night on base, the rain was picking up and the wind was getting colder by the second. I glanced around the perimeter of our small refugee base to see men and women doing their routine patrols and taking stock of our equipment; I saw groups of ragged survivors sitting around makeshift homes and fire barrels. The condition of the camp was… sub par, at best, and it wouldn't last much longer. Listening intently I could hear the distant thunder of battle echoing through the trees, still miles away.

A flash of lightning illuminated a silhouette on the horizon.

Picking up the angular black marksman’s rifle and shouldering it, I gazed down the sight.

"Damn deer.." I mumbled, resting the DSR-1 on my lap once more.

"That's ‘bout the third one today, Nate. What has 'em so spooked?" Muttered the gruff, weathered man sitting next to me on the wall in an old lawn chair; his gaze never leaving the area in front of him, even for a second.

"My guess is on the military; I’d better go warn the scouts." I said as I stood, using my DSR’s sling to carry the rifle’s weight over my back and picking up the Kel-Tec RFB that was leaning next to the crate I was sitting on, as the sleek, black bull-pup rifle balanced perfectly in my hand while I turned it over. I stared affectionately down at it’s slick matte black finish, the 4x ACOG optic on the top and the long, black shroud of a suppressor covering the barrel. Picking up a few magazines of ammunition, I loaded one into the gun. Hearing the satisfying clack as the gun chambered the heavy 308 round, I prepared to jump down from the wall when I was interrupted.

"Hey, if you’re going to see Echo tell him I said to check the supply for a few Flashes, I'm out.” Mike said while staring off into the blackness of the night. I gazed up at the sky, the foggy clouds not even allowing the moon to bless us this night.

"Sure thing." I told him while I jumped from the wall and walked toward the center of the refugee camp. As I walked I looked around and took notice of the camps status. Most of the decrepit buildings are on the brink of falling down, the wall has fist size holes all through it from rotting and broken materials, and the overall feel of the camp is somber and demoralized. Looks like the rain is finally getting to the camp, it’s been almost three days of constant rain. I took notice of a small group of men sitting around a fire filled with pictures of what I assumed to be families long gone. I chose to ignore it, they have their reasons for burning them and I didn't care enough to bother the group. Looking around more, I saw a group of guards sitting by a fire barrel. Everyone had there own little things they did for luck. Jake always sharpened his knife five times every day. Hamus said a new prayer everyday, despite not having a religion. I always cleaned my rifles Twice a day. One of the guys here had his little purple pony figure. Camps like mine have popped up more frequently now that the military was making a move on the resistance. I moved to a small tent toward the center of camp and ran into Echo.

"Hey Echo. Anything to report?" I said comfortably as I walked through the portal into the warmth of the tents interior. The tent was fairly small, only large enough to fit a small table, a radio, and a few maps. I shot a fleeting glance back at the scrawny man standing in the portal. His short blonde hair rested in front of his azure eyes, I glanced at the scar adorning his left cheek and felt a memory surface before stuffing it back down. I noticed his dingy, beige coat was covered in specks of blood, no doubt from his last turn on the wall.

I remember when that coat was white…

"Uhh...We have reports of military movement inside of grid 2,5, and 8. Scouts report only small contingents of them though. I also heard from India, they think that the military is backing off. Do you think something's going to happen?" Echo asked as he looked out the tent flap at the torrential downpour. You see, around 60 years ago, there was a man. Nothing more, nothing less, just a single man. This man gave threats of nuclear strikes on the United States. Now you'd think it would be from some foreign government or third world country but no, not this time. no one knows who he was, where he was, or why he did this but this one man single handily collapsed the entirety of the United States. One nuke, one nuke is all it took to destroy our world. It wasn't anywhere large like the White House or the Pentagon. It happened in the small city of Albia, Iowa...In an elementary school. This man killed thousands, The military was on high alert and most states were put into Martial Law. Riots eventually broke out from the constant pressure of the military and civilians were killed because of it. This sparked a revolution against the government. This one, evil bastard of a man single handily destroyed the life we all knew.

"I have a niggling feeling that they're going to try something, but I'm not sure what." I said as I ran a hand through my surprisingly long brown hair. "Did they say how many there were?"

"Negative, but they did say that just before they pulled out there was some sort of explosion about a mile away." Echo said while reading over a list of stockpiled goods.

"Roger that, Tell them to re-locate if possible and to keep moving. I don't want them sitting high and dry with no one to back them up." I said before a thought shot into my brain. "Hey, are the patrols still on 185.2?"

"Yes...Why?" Echo asked as he looked up from the chart with furrowed brows, confusion plastered over his face.

"I noticed a lot of animal activity today and figured It'd be safe to call up a warning. Last thing we need right now is a surprise attack." I said as I walked over to the radio and tuned to the frequency. I picked up the transmitter and took a breath.

"All Patrols this is Umbra. You are to be alert and increase patrol length by 50 meters. I've got suspicion of possible military activity nearby. Out" I turned off the transmitter and set it back on the table and walked back to Echo.

"Mike said he needed some more Flash Bangs. I'm also gonna need a bit more ammo. I'd like to check out that explosion India was talking about. It should have only been two or three kilometers away." I said as I cast a glance at a small map of the suburban area of New York. I searched for a route that would quickly take us to our destination. I was following a promising path and found that heading along a stream 50 meters from the camp would be our best bet.

"Sure thing. I'll go get the stuff." Echo said as he hurried off to get the equipment. While I waited, I sat back and let my mind wander.

I've been at this for what? Sixteen? Seventeen years? Damn, I'm surprised I've lived this long...Heh, I wonder if Old Rock is still kicking. Old coot never would just lay down and die…

I was pulled from my thoughts as Echo came back in with a large ALICE pack over his shoulder which he promptly threw to me.

"Thanks Echo. So, what's our haul?" I asked with a small laugh. dawning the bag I felt the hefty thing filled to the brim with equipment.

"5 Flashes for Mike and 5 mags for each of your weapons plus 3, 20 round boxes of ammo. I also threw in some old combat knives I found laying around. All that plus what you guys normally carry should be more than enough to clear a building or three." He said with a chuckle as he glanced down at the list and made a few adjustments. I whistled in appreciation and let out a small smile.

"Sweet! Thanks Echo! I'll keep you up to date when I can." I said as I walked outside of the warm, dry tent into the freezing monsoon outside. I walked my way through the camp and climbed back up to my perch on the wall. I saw Mike and doffed the bag. I threw the bag beside him.

"That the stuff?" He asked without even looking at the bag.

"Sure is, we've got more than enough. Lets load up and get going." I said as I opened the bag and pulled out my share of the ammunition. I placed the extra mags in my vest pockets and pulled out the knife. "Holy shit..."

"What?" Mike asked with a glance up to me. I noticed he already has his Flash Bangs hooked up to his vest and has his knife across his chest.

"This is a Chaos Tanto. A 7 1/2 inch blade, aluminum D ring handle, aluminum pommel that can be used as a small blunt pike or a glass breaker…This is some high quality shit!" I screeched out in glee as I tied the sheath around my left arm and put the knife inside. "You all set?"

"Yeah, lets get this done." Mike said as he jumped over the side of the wall and into the abyss below. I once again donned the pack and followed. Once at the bottom of the wall I told Mike of the plan and that we are to follow a small stream to the building. We decided it was best to use code names, I chose Umbra, which is Latin for Shade. Mike chose Hamus, which means Talon. We nodded to each other and began our trek.

---

"Two marks...Fifteen meters..." I whispered into my throat mic. We walked no more than 20 minutes before running into our first obstacle. The building we wanted to search had a five man military patrol outside. This building was a large 3 story apartment complex. A good portion of the wall was missing and piled in front of the building. It's white, flaking paint had turned a disgusting beige from the dust and debris from sixty years of fighting. Hamus was set up about 6 meters to my left and waited for an opportune time to strike. We waited for a few more seconds and three men broke off to search the building, leaving two all alone. I aligned the cross-hair of my ACOG on the head of the back solider.

"Tag 'em." Hamus grunted through the mic. His words were followed by two muffled snaps as our rifles fire. I watched with bated breath as my round sailed through the air and made a home in the concrete...But not before it blasted through the guards head leaving a fist sized hole behind. I pulled back the charging handle and cursed the subsonic rounds for not cycling. I glanced left to see Hamus’ target bleeding out from a throat shot before another snap was heard and the man goes still, missing a large portion of his skull.

"Targets down. We shouldn't go in the front door. I got a prime entrance point though...Second floor, man sized hole on top of that rubble pile." I spoke into my mic. I looked over to Hamus and saw him nod. I stood and raised my RFB advancing on the location slowly. Once we made it to the rubble pile, I noticed someone is going to need to boost the other up to make it through the hole. I scurried up the pile and placed my back against the wall, once I had good footing I began sliding down into a sitting position. I nodded to Hamus and let him scale up my body and hoist himself into the hole. I waited a few agonizing seconds before I heard a muffled snap, barely audible over the sound of the rain. I heard an all clear from the radio and waited for him to hoist me up. After I made it inside I looked around and saw the body of one of the guards against a wall with a look of shock on his face. poor bastard never even saw it coming.

We worked our way through the rest of the floor in silence. Once we found this floor all clear we go to move up a floor only to find the stairs collapsed. We switched directions and headed downstairs and find the last two guards sitting around a fire.

"Shit...Are you sure he'll be ok?" The one on the right asked. We moved as silently as we could up to them.

"I'm not a psychiatrist but I think he'll be fine. He took it pretty hard at first but-” He never got to finish, seeing as Hamus’ knife was sticking through his throat. The other guard recoiled in shock before finding my knife, buried up to the hand guard, in his chest.

"Targets eliminated. All clear." Hamus said to me as he checked the door to make sure there was no one else.

"Alright, I want you to look around for anything useful. Food, water, weapons, ammo, meds anything that can be used to better our camp." I said to him as I took the ammunition from the two corpses. Mike nodded and wandered off to scavenge up whatever he could find. See, there's a rule to scavenging. It goes, you should always bring more bags than needed, or, a REALLY big bag. There's a reason for that too, I learned exactly why as I stared down at the crate of weapons and ammo beside the fire. There had to be at least 5 handguns, 3 carbines, 2 shotguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition for each. I loaded up all the ammo and a few pistols. I placed a High Point 9mm bull-pup rifle into the backpack along with a Sub2000 collapsible 40. caliber rifle. The rifles took up a good portion of the space and the handguns filled the rest, ammo got it’s own section all to itself. I left the rest of the rifles and both shotguns for Mike. I moved into the adjacent room, it was a small office area. I looked around and saw a few filing cabinets and a metal desk.

If only I had a way to bring that...I mused to myself. I walked up and checked the cabinets and, as expected, found piles of useless paperwork. I moved on to the desk and was about to open it when I heard a yell from the other room. I turned on a heel and ran to the room with my rifle up. I looked all around but didn't see anything. But how...I know I heard something. Wait...What's that? I noticed a lone gun laying on the ground with no owner. I walked up to it and my stomach dropped when I saw that it's Mikes M6A2. I slung it over my back and moved around the room looking for any sign of my comrade.

"Hamus? Hamus you in here?" I whispered as I worked my way into the next room. I looked around in disbelief when I noticed something else strange.

"Why does it reek like ozone in here?" I asked myself aloud as I took a deep breath of the burning smell and had a mini coughing fit for my trouble. I looked around for anything that could have caused it but turned up nothing. I slammed against the wall and started to slide down. I let my rifle fall and hang on the sling as I rested my head in my hands and sighed.

"Dammit Mike..." I sighed into my hands. I lifted my head up when a strange sensation came over me. I looked all around but didn't see anything, I stood up and snaked my way to the other side of the room.

It feels like I’m a thousand pounds and weightless at the same time.

I placed a hand on the door frame and peeked into the next room, again turning up nothing. I fell back to the center of the room and looked at all the details in the small room. I didn't know what It was but I knew something was off. I looked all around but didn’t see anything, and it was making me nervous. I was just about to call back to base when I heard what sounded to be thunder and everything went to a deep, fiery green as my ear drums exploded into an ear piercing screech.

---

Twilight

The burning warmth shone down upon my back as I raced though the small town of Ponyville. I could hear the crackling and popping coming from the forest. I could see the blinding light and feel its scorching heat radiating through the air. I finally made it to my destination, a large group of ponies were gathered at the edge of town. I looked around frantically until my eyes rested on a wondrous sight. My friends were gathered more towards the front of the group and closer to the forest. I noticed they each had their elements and Rainbow had mine in her saddlebags. I pushed my way through the crowed as I worked toward my friends.

"Girls! What's going on!?" I shouted over the constant wave of voices as the crowed panicked. I saw AppleJacks ear twitch before she glanced back at me. Once she saw me she instantly sprung to help me. She pushed through the crowd before slinging me on her back. She began the long, arduous task of working back to our friends. The frenzy of ponies were starting to get a bit more worried. Once we made it back to the group AJ sat me down.

"Now, what is going on?" I asked.

"We...Don't know. This just kinda appeared from nowhere!" Rainbow said quickly.

"What do we do now?" Applejack asked from beside me.

"We should tell the princesses!" I blurted out quickly.

"Well what are we waitin' for? Let's go!" AppleJack shouted as we raced toward the train station. With all six of us together, the crowd thankfully moved out of our way. When we made it to the station there was, thankfully, a train already there. We ran to the conductor and told him what was going on. He ushered us onto the train and we quickly set way for Canterlot.

Chapter 2

View Online

Times are changing

Umbra

Pain

The only thing I felt was complete and utter pain as my body was hit with some unseen force. Most people couldn’t imagine the feeling of atoms being separated and your body flowing into nothingness in a flash of green. I didn’t think the pain would end until the atoms of my head separated, effectively stopping all brain activity. I didn't know what happened at the time, but I knew it was excruciatingly painful. After what seemed like hours, my body slammed together and reformed, the pain returned in full effect. My brain reeled from the sensation of the pain. I didn’t know if it was my nerves or if my body was actually flailing but I felt motion. I felt my back slam into something hard before I passed out.

I came to with a start; My body shot up into a sitting position causing me to scream out in pain from the sudden, forceful motion. My hands, on reflex, grasped the pistol grip of my rifle and brought it up to my chest. I looked around frantically before passing out again from lack of oxygen, seeing as I didn’t breathe the entire time. After a few moments I woke up again, but this time, not of my own accord. I awoke with a scream as a steeled toe boot slammed into my side. My eyes shot wide open as I writhed in pain and gave a seething glare at my attacker whilst raising my gun to their body. Luckily, before I could commit to the pulling of the trigger, I noticed just who I was about to shoot. Standing above me with a cocky smirk on his mouth was Hamus.

"What the fuck man!?!" I screamed at him as I rolled to my stomach only to stop when I heard a chuckle coming from my 'friend'.

"Hurts like a motherfucker, don't it?" He asked with a little chuckle. He offered me a hand which I reluctantly took. I stood up and was hit with a sense of vertigo, my balance was thrown off suddenly. I started falling to my left but luckily Hamus caught me. I cried out in pain from the contact but even that was starting to die down. I opened my eyes and looked around me. I saw very, VERY bright colored flora all around me, I heard the sounds of birds and other woodland critters but saw none of them. As I took in the sights around me only one thought came to my mind.

How very...cartoon-like.

I glanced up at the moon which also looked like something out of a cartoon. The bright orb floating lazily across the night sky.

"So...Any idea where we are?" He asked while rubbing his arm. I guess even he's still feeling the effects of...Whatever the fuck that was.

"Not a fucking clue..This place is so bright. It almost hurts to look at." I said as I looked all around trying to find a clear direction. As I turned to the right I felt something brush against the inside of my arm. Glancing back I saw something fairly important.

"Hey Hamus, here's your rifle back. Try not to drop it again." I said as I chucked his rifle to him. He gave me an ecstatic look before he checked the breach. It must be loaded because he only pulled the charging handle back halfway before letting it ride home. I pulled up my own rifle before taking another, closer, look around. After a few moments I can discern an obvious trail from the rest of the forest. This being filled with trampled grass and dirt while the rest of the forest has vines and grass even higher than me.

"Hey, I found a trail. Think we should follow it?" I asked with a tilt of my head. Hamus looked to where I was pointing before nodding. We both moved through the brush dividing us from the trail. Once we made it through we were faced with another problem.

"Uhh...Which way?"

XxX

Moonglider

The only sound I could hear was the clopping of my hooves on solid concrete and my breathing. I was tasked with the delivery of a message and I’d be danged if I wouldn't deliver it. I sprinted down the endless, identical corridors. I almost trampled some purple unicorn during my rush but I couldn't think of that now, I had a job to do.

"Hey! Watch it!" I heard somepony yell from behind me. No doubt the purple unicorn I nearly crashed into. I traversed yet another turn before I spotted my target. Two pairs of heavily decorated doors sat at the end of the hall, my target was inside. I poured on more speed as I galloped faster than ever. I felt the familiar tingle of magic as I opened the doors. I saw, up on her throne, was my target talking to some unicorn.

"Princess! I come bearing news!" I shouted with my remaining breath before collapsing, gasping in large gulps of the precious air I so desperately needed. Princess Celestia Walked down to me and looked down with concern filled eyes.

"What news could possibly be so important to make one present themselves in this manner?" She asked in a shocked but friendly tone. It gave me some sense comfort as I steeled myself for the next bit of news.

"I was instructed to tell you that there has been a very large dimensional disruption near the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was triple the size of the last one!" I shot out with the last of my breath before a blackness started creeping into my vision. I knew I was going to pass out. I glanced up to Celestia and saw that she was looking, not at me, but into space. She must have been deep in thought. She eventually regained her senses and turned to her guest.

"Shining Armor! Take this guard to the infirmary. I must go speak with Princess Luna immediately." She said in a soft but commanding tone. The type of tone that said 'if you don't do as I say, you'll regret it'. Shining Armor immediately sprang into action and picked me up in his magic before placing me on his back. I was losing consciousness fast! The last thing I remembered was Princess Celestia vanishing from the room with a blinding, golden flash and her hearing the words “Thank you”. I passed out as soon as I was brought back through the double doors.

XxX

Umbra

"We're so lost..." Hamus said for the fourth time in five minutes. I rolled my eyes at his comment but held my tongue. I kept following the pathway until we reached yet another bend. Once we walked around I immediately stopped and backed up, bumping into my partner along the way.

"The hell's going on?" He asked as he stumbled backwards. I placed a hand over his mouth and made a shushing noise. I merely pointed at the path and he took the initiative to go look. He peeked and stood stock still, that cold, calculating gaze scanning over what he saw. He returned a moment later and said with mock happiness.

"Time for recon!"

---

"Ouch! Fucking thorns.." I whispered in annoyance as I bumped into yet another thorn bush. Hamus and I had been walking through this forest for 20 minutes now. We'd seen strange things in this forest, trees that look like they have faces, branches that seem alive, animals that I've never seen before. Around 5 minutes ago we passed by a giant lion, bat, scorpion thing, Hamus called it a Manticore but I wasn’t in any position to deny the name. Once we saw what looked to be a town through the clearing we thought it best to check it out. We spotted a nice looking trench a few meters away that looked perfect and decided to hop inside and set up camp. Hamus Jumped in first...And splashed face first in a mud puddle.

"BWAHAHA!" I bursted out in uncontrolled laughter as I fell on my back. Turns out it wasn't my smartest idea, I slid down into the hole and covered my entire back in mud.

"Pft...pfft.." I brought up my head and was greeted with a very muddy Hamus ready to bust out into tears of laughter. I shot him a venomous leer and watched as the laughter left his body. Nice to know I could still scare him shitless when needed. I stood up, boots sliding around in the uneven, slippery substance. I prepared myself for the worst and brought my DSR around to my front, only to see it completely caked in mud.

I let out a groan of frustration and started to wipe it off. This wasn't the time or place to do a complete cleaning so I wiped off as much as I could and cleared the action. I tossed Hamus a pair of binoculars from my pack and found a nice spot to set up shop. I found a small clearing, just big enough for the scope to go unobstructed and rested my rifle on the berm. I glanced to my left and saw Hamus getting comfortable for the long stay. He glanced at the village before raising the binos to get a better look.

"Right. Umbra, you check the east side and the path into the forest. I got the west and the clearing." He said as he situated himself to get a better view. I wordlessly adjusted so I could view my zones effortlessly. I watched as the night town lay still. I could see some lights on and by the looks of it they were oil lanterns. That struck me as a bit odd but that wasn't the only thing I noticed.

Wait a second...This town looks like something out of medieval times.. I thought to myself as I brought my eye away from the scope and took a bigger look.

"Hey Hamus. Do you notice anything...off about this place?" I asked as I lowered my head back to the scope getting the headache inducing parallax that you get for going to a high zoom from regular eye magnification.

"Not anything in particular. It seems like a regular little town to me." He said as he looked over to the west end of the town.

"Nothing huh? Well then tell me, why do they have oil lanterns and single story straw roof homes." I said as I saw the zoom of movement but couldn't quite identify what it was. “There isn’t any debris or signs of fighting either.” I heard nothing from Hamus for a minute until he said the thing that's been on our mind since we got here.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore, are we?"

XxX

Twilight

"Hey! Watch it!" I yelled as a Lunar guard nearly tramples me. I gave her a seething glare but she didn’t seem to take notice. I glanced back at my friends and saw Rainbow ready to take off after her. "No Dash, let her go. We have to see the princess anyway." I said as I started walking down the way the guard sped off in, no doubt to get to the princess herself.

"So what're we here to ask the princess again?" I heard AppleJack ask from behind me.

"We're here to let the princess know that there was some form of strange magic near the Everfree earlier today." I said as I cast a sideways glance to the orange mare behind me.

"So what Twi? It's the Everfree! There's weird stuff there all the time." I heard Rainbow complain from beside me. I rolled my eyes at the Pegasus and answered.

"Because if we don't and it turns out to be something dangerous, who knows what could happen?"

"I...Uh...T-think it would be best to tell the princess...If that's ok with you." I heard Fluttershy murmur from my right. I felt a small amount of happiness as she agreed with me. Much better than the other two.

"So, why didn't Rarity and Pinkie come again?" Rainbow asked as she lazily flew backwards in front of me.

"Well, Rarity said she has a big order to fill for Fancy Pants. Something about 30 golden capes by Thursday. And Pinkie couldn't come because she has to watch Pumpkin and Pound cake while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are away on business." I said as I turned another corner and saw my BBBFF carrying the same guard from earlier. I gasped and ran up to him.

"What happened!?" I shouted as I reached him and looked over the unicorn on his back. She had a dark brown coat and a deep blue mane. Her sharp fangs were out for all to see. Her horn seemed a little shorter than mine…

I don't remember them allowing Unicorns in the Lunar guard...

"She knocked herself out running to the Princess with a message about strange activity in the Everfree." He said as he stopped walking and looked at the Unicorn on his back. He glanced back at me and gave me a smile. "It's good to see ya Twili." He said as he gave me a little hug.

"You too, you should get her to the infirmary before we catch up." I said as I released the hug. I was about to ask where the princess was when I saw a golden flash from behind me. Turning around I came face to face with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Me and my friends immediately fell into a deep bow.

"Rise my student. We have much to discuss." Celestia said with a serious tone. I rose and watched as both the princesses trotted down the hallway. I looked back to my friends with a confused glance before following after them. I heard the clopping of hooves behind me letting me know my friends were following me. I followed the princesses into the throne room and waited as they went to their thrones.

"As you no doubt know, there has been very strange activity in the Everfree. I have multiple reports of a blinding flash coming from within. Neither my sister nor I have any idea what could have caused this but would like to know what it is. I hate to ask this of you all but will you check out this disturbance?" She asked with a tired sigh. She glanced up to us with hopeful eyes, the kind I could never turn down.

"Of course princess. That's what we originally came here to find out anyway." I said as I heard a quiet sigh from behind be. I tried to shoot Dash a scornful glare from the back of my head but, as expected, it did nothing.

"Thank you my student. You have no idea how much this means to me." She said with a small smile and a look of gratitude. "I can teleport you and your friends back to Ponyville but you will be on you own from there on." She said as she started charging her horn, causing the room to glow in a bright yellow. I saw her release her magic and felt myself go weightless before appearing in the library. We looked around the room quickly before I turned and looked at the clock.

"Ugh, it's 3 AM, you all are welcome to stay here for the night. We can head out in the morning." I said as I started to trot up the wooden stairs to my room. I barely heard the sounds of my friends agreeing as I trudged my way to my bed. I fell with a thud but I was out before my head hit the pillow.

XxX

Umbra

I looked on with disbelief as I stared at the literal tree house in the middle of the town. I could’ve sworn I just saw a golden flash and three multicolored horses appear. I shook my head clear of sleep but I still saw them. I looked on with disbelief as I tapped my boot against Hamus. He scooted over to me and brought up his binoculars.

"What'd ya see?" He asked in a hushed tone. I grabbed his binoculars and pointed them at the tree house. I felt his grip go tense and he didn’t make a sound. I watched with interest as the horses moved their mouths, lips and tongues in some form of speech. I watched closely and thought I saw one of them mouth out the words 'welcome to stay', but that's all I got from the movements alone.

"Hey Hamus, what're the chances of these talking horses speaking our language? I could have sworn I just saw them mouth English..." I said as I watched the horses with bated breath. That flash looked vaguely familiar, it almost reminded me of the flash I saw before I got here but it was off color.

"Well, I see what you're talking about so I'd say likely...So, I guess the million dollar question here is...What the fuck is going on and where the fuck are we?" He asked as he lowered the binoculars and looked at me. I took my head away from the scope but found a crosshair burned into my vision.

Guess I stared through the scope to long. Ah well, it'll go away in a bit.

I looked at my partner and sighed. "I haven't a fucking clue...But I do know we're going to find out, tomorrow. We should get some sleep, maybe this is just our subconsciousness saying to pass the fuck out." I said as I slouched deeper into the trench, leaving my rifle sitting up above, hidden by the brush. I looked over to see Hamus doing the same.

"0800 we get up and scouting." He said before setting an alarm on his watch, closing his eyes and relaxing. I nodded and looked around me and found a pile of leaves. Stacking them on top of me I gave myself some makeshift insulation along with some camouflage. I threw some on top of Hamus as well before laying back and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 3

View Online

Poorly made plans

Umbra

Hearing the singular beep from Hamus' watch made me awake cautiously. I rose from my cover of leaves with my RFB up and ready for action. I looked around and saw the sun coming up to the East. I noticed Hamus doing the same as me, he had his M6a2 raised up and aimed over my shoulder. We peeked up over the berm and noticed a completely ridiculous sight. around 650 meters to our front was the same town from the night before but in a complete flurry of activity. Horses of all shapes, sizes, races and colors walked and flew around the town. I stood there breathlessly as I watched the sight. My brain shut down from the absurdity of the site. These horses were acting just like people! I could hear the rabble of conversations and the thumping of construction. I started to turn my head toward Hamus, but stopped when he spoke a terrifying phrase.

"We got contacts closing in..200 meters and counting." He said as he dropped back into the spot from last night, his form obscured by the dense thicket of brush around him. I dropped like a rock into the hole and grabbed the grip of my rifle. I took a second to grimace at the hardened mud covering the left side of the gun and scope. That would be a bitch to clean off. I Pushed it from my mind; I brought my head down to the scope and took aim at the horses that were approaching. I noticed they were the same ones from last night plus two. I kept my crosshair focused on the front one and tracked it.

They stopped around 10 meters away and stared at our position. I was getting really nervous, my heart rate increased and my breathing became labored. I sat there and wondered why their calculating gaze wouldn't leave. Staring dead in their eyes I could see something terrifying...Intelligence. It was around now that I realized something horrible, I never realized they moved to the East toward the trail...And the sun.

XxX

Twilight

I awoke with a yawn as the sun beamed in through my window and plastered my face. I slowly opened my eyes and winced from the brightness of the room. I climbed out of bed and did a few stretches to get rid of excess sleep. I worked my way to the stairs and was assaulted with the smell of hot tea and pancakes. I smiled at the smell and walked down the stairs; I saw all of my friends, including Pinkie and Rarity, were up and moving. I walked into the main room and waved at my friends.

"Twilight!" Pinkie screamed as she jumped at me. She somehow cleared the room in a single jump and plowed into me knocking us both to the floor. I wriggled out of her crushing embrace and stood up.

"Hi Pinkie, And hello Rarity. When did you two get here?" I asked as I shook away the soreness left by Pinkies hug.

"We got here about 15 minutes ago. I thought it would be ok for us to stop by and see what happened in Canterlot." Rarity said while sipping some of the tea and letting out a delightful hum at the taste.

"Well, we went to talk to Princess Celestia about the disturbance in the forest but when we got there I almost got trampled by a guard. It turns out the guard had the same idea as me and brought it to the princess first. Princess Celestia asked if we'd investigate and I said yes. That's basically it." I said in summation. I looked at my friends and they all seemed ready to go. I quickly grabbed some breakfast and decided to eat on the way there.

"If you girls are ready, we really should get to it." I said as I opened the door and ate my breakfast. They all agreed and lead the way through the door. I followed after and got to the lead of the herd. We decided to walk to the south-east and take the path into the Everfree from there. The walk was fairly uneventful and we quickly arrived at the path. I noticed something strange to my right, I looked over and I could see a bright light, almost like a reflection of the sun, coming from a bush. It slowly moved but was still fairly bright. I sat and wondered what it could be, but before I could figure it out it disappeared.

XxX

Umbra

"Doesn't look like she's moving; Her and her friends seem to be getting pretty curious. What should I do Hamus?" I asked in a panicked whisper. I looked over to see Hamus deep in thought. He can't possibly be thinking what I think he is...Can he? I brought my head back down to the scope and saw that her stare only increased. Not only that but all of her friends had joined in staring us down as well. After a few more moments I heard Hamus grunt out.

"We'd better slip off before they know we're here."

"Right. So where do we go?" I asked in confusion.

"Lets back up and watch them from a distance, who knows? Maybe they're friendly." He said with a small laugh. I nodded and backed up into the wood line. We turned and hopped out of the trench and creeped further into the woods. I heard the crunching of leaves under my boots and hoped they wouldn’t give us away. Once we'd moved far enough away we stopped, went prone, and waited.

We waited for a few minutes until I saw the group of six mares walking up the path. I decided to take a closer look at them and placed my DSR in a stable position. I adjusted the sights until I saw them clearly. Thankfully the sun was blocked by the trees so there wasn't a chance for another scope glint. I stared through the scope and watched the purple Unicorn in the lead. I sat and let my mind reel on the fact that I was actually staring at a Unicorn.

I looked over the figure and saw that she was actually only a bit shorter than myself, She had very large eyes, ears, and of course, she had a horn. I moved the scope further back and noticed just how short her length is.

how does that body hold organs?

Shaking the thought from my head I took notice of a strange marking on her flank. It sorta looked like a star burst. I casted a glance at the horse behind her and immediately noticed she had a VERY colorful mane. Her mane was literally every color of the rainbow. I looked on to see that she was a Pegasus. She also had a weird marking on her flank. This one being a multicolored thunderbolt underneath a cloud. Before I could move to the next one Hamus tapped my foot with his boot. I glanced over to him and saw him staring intently at a spot in the forest on the other side of the path.

"What'd you see?" I asked as I moved my scope to around the same spot. I didn't even need an answer to know what it was. Yellow eyes stared down at the path with a cold, hungry stare. I looked at Hamus and saw him giving me a cautious glance. I knew what I should do, he knew what I was going to end up doing, but I didn't know what was best. I went against my better judgement and turned my head to Hamus.

"I want an over-watch position set up. If anything bad goes down I want you to help me stop it. I'll stay set up here while you move down a ways and get closer. Watch your fire and stay down, we don't know what that thing is." I said as I readjusted my position to a better shooting platform. I checked to make sure a round was still in the chamber and the safety was off. I glanced at Hamus but saw he'd already moved up 5 meters to get within perfect sight range for his rifle. I shouldered my rifle and looked down the scope, the dizzying parallax of the zoom making my eyes quickly adjust.

We sat for a few more minutes until we heard a wolf howl, and another, and another. I steeled myself and keyed up Hamus on my throat mic.

"Looks like it's show time. Hope you're ready." I said as I watched on and saw the yellow, hateful eyes turn into a complete abomination. Five large wolves jumped into the center of the trail. Not just any wolves though, large WOODEN wolves. I stared into one of their now baleful green eyes, its large wooden spiky teeth bared for all to see. The horses down below clenched together in terror and screamed bloody murder. I lined up my scope to it's head and focused my breathing to be calm and regulated. I breathed in through the mouth, out through the nose, nice and slow. I get a good weld on the stock and wait until the low of my breath. Once my breath is almost fully expelled I feel my heart beat slow for only a second. That second was all I needed. The thunderous report of my rifle echoed deafeningly through the trees, the sound reverberated and lingered for a few seconds. I saw the wolfs head jerk backwards before it collapsed. I looked around and saw the other wolves flinching from the loud report of my rifle. I keyed Hamus on my mic.

“They can’t fight through the noise! Cans off!” I shouted as I let loose another deafening roar from my rifle. I saw another wolf drop dead from a severe case of missing brain. I heard several loud bangs from farther down the trail. Hamus must have heard me and joined the fight. After only 5 seconds, all five wolves were dead; I key up the mic.

"All cle-Ahh!" I was interrupted by a sixth wolf tearing open my back. My combat vest and backpack doing nothing against it's jaws. Pain exploded through my midsection as it's large wooden teeth speared through me. I started to black out from both pain and blood loss. The last thing I heard was Hamus shouting my name and the pressure on my ears from the shots of his rifle.

XxX

Hamus

"Umbra!" I shouted as I saw my friend get ripped apart by one of these freaks. I raised my rifle and shot three rounds at the wooden wolf before it fell dead. I sprinted up the hill, slipping on leaves and rocks the whole way. I made it to Umbra and felt my stomach drop at the site. He was passed out and covered in blood, his combat vest was torn to shreds from the wolf bite. I noticed his backpack had a few large holes in it but was still usable. I dropped down to a knee and tried to slap him awake before I heard the steady thumping of hooves on dirt. I looked up and raised my Kahr TP9 from my leg holster. The sleek two-tone handgun, ready to shoot out 9mm rounds into anything I deemed fit. I saw the group of horses approaching and immediately got into a combat stance. They stopped and stared at me curiously before the yellow one gasped. She tried to run up to Umbra but I yelled at her to stay and racked a round into the chamber.

She stopped but gave me a terrified look, something about it makes me think she wanted to help. I looked over the rest of them and saw they all have the same look.

"Are any of you doctors?" I asked in a commanding tone. I heard some gasps from some of them but other than that they stayed silent. I glanced at the yellow one before she said in a quiet voice...

"I'm really good with animals, I might be able to do something." She said before trying to hide behind her mane. If I hadn't already seen unbelievable things today and saw my best friend get torn apart by wooden wolves, then I might have been surprised when the yellow Pegasus spoke perfect and fluent English. I guessed I was just too overloaded to care right now. I thought it over for a second before waving her over and dropping to my friend. She jumped from where she was and landed right beside Umbra not even a second later. She looked over him, intently muttering to herself. She gasped and started trying to take his vest and shirt off. She couldn’t seem to get it so I grabbed my knife and sawed away at the double stitched kevlar plate carrier. Seeing him laying there without a shirt really showed the extent of the damage. He had eight, 13 Centimeter gashes down both sides of his back and splinters all over his sides. I thought the bastard lost a tooth in him because I saw a larger piece of wood still in him. I shot a concerned look to the yellow horse and saw her freaking out about it.

"Ok this is NOT good...I have a cottage a quarter mile from here. He should be able to make it alive if you let me and my friends take him there." She said to me, effectively giving me an ultimatum. I glanced down at my dying friend and knew exactly what to do.

"Go, take him and fix him up. I'll be right behind you." I said with a fake smile. She didn't wait a moment before yelling to her friends for help. I saw Umbra float within a purple haze as he flew through the air along with the ponies. I shook my head and beat down the thought of what just happened with a sledgehammer. I sat down and placed my pistol back in my holster. grabbing my rifle, I switched the current mag for a fresh one. standing up, I looked over the battlefield and saw exactly what I was hoping for.

A trail.

XxX

Umbra

"Nng...Ah...Ow." I strained out as I sat up causing a lance of pain to shoot through my entire midsection. I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it. The room started spinning and went white as my brain got overloaded by both sight and pain. I took a deep breath and struggled to stay upright. I eventually calmed myself down enough to take a look around. I looked around the small, smelly room and found nothing of interest. Only a few small crevices for animals and the like...Wait. Room? I swiveled my head around at lightning speeds as my brain finally got to full capacity. Looking all around I found no one in the room but I heard movement from downstairs. I looked down at myself to find that my armor and shirt had been removed and replaced with one inch thick bandages. I took a closer look at my body and found several bloody spots going down my sides.

"What the hell happened? Last thing I remember we saved those horses and...Then what?" I muttered to myself as I placed my face in my hands and let out an aggravated sigh. I picked up my head when I heard movement getting closer to the doorway of the room. I scanned around the room for my carbine and found it and my DSR sitting across the room from me.

"Dammit..." I sighed as I looked to my right, finding my Tac Vest on the night stand. I immediately grabbed it and checked the sleeve finding my sheath and...My knife is gone. I swore to myself and threw it to the floor. I looked up to the door and saw the yellow Pegasus from earlier staring at me with concern. I stared back at her with tense breath, those eyes looked familiar. I sat and looked over her, the way she shook slightly, the way her eyes were constantly moving, her quick, shallow breathing. Those were eyes of pure fear; I've seen those eyes all my life, in the eyes of everyone I'd met.

"Um...What..What're you doing up? You should be unconscious for another hour.." She said timidly.

I guess that confirms that.. I thought to myself in a lackluster tone.

"What...Happened?" I asked her, trying to keep my anger under control. "Where is Hamus?"

"W-well...Y-you were attacked by a Timberwolf after saving us. Your friend ran up to help you but...after some convincing, let us take you here where we could do more. Your friend...is...uh...Well, he kinda...disappeared." She spoke in a ghosts whisper as she shrank back with every word, as if expecting me to hit her. She didn’t know how smart that was; It took all I could muster to not jump across the room and kill the Pegasus, but I eventually calmed down enough to think.

The room grew deathly quiet as I sat there and thought upon what she just said to me. My mind was racing at the speed of light and was in danger of exploding from all the craziness I've seen.

How could he leave me?... Was the first thought in my mind, shortly followed by many more.

Where could he have gone?

Why did she save me?

I should kill her for this...I should kill them all.

What am I going to do? I haven't been alone for so long

I started to quiver and hyperventilate at the thoughts but one of them struck me the hardest.

I've gotta find Hamus! My mind shouted. I felt the thought echo around the confines of my mind and I opened my eyes wide. I looked for the Pegasus but found that she was right next to me, waiting to move at any sense of wrongness. I glanced around for my equipment but only found my torn vest and rifles. Sighing at my bad luck, I stood...And promptly fell onto my face. Pain lanced through my body and I felt a watery sensation running down my face. Bringing a hand up I rubbed a finger under my nose and found it covered in a deep crimson liquid. Swearing under my breath I wiped my hand on my pant leg and grabbed my vest. I inspected the tear down the back and sighed at my horrid luck. The tear went from collar to skirt and was completely jagged, Like someone was in a hurry.

I looked up at the Pegasus who was intensely watching me and watched as she jumped back in shock. She tore out of the room like a hurricane and returned a second later with a first aid kit. She grabbed some cotton balls and attempted to get near me with them before I grabbed her snout and pushed her away. She gave me a stern glare that seemed to say, 'Let me do this or you'll regret it'. I merely gave her an angry glare back and watched as she shied away. Spitting out the cotton ball she looked at me with pleading eyes and said..

"Please let me help you. I know you want to find your friend but you can't do that if you can't walk more than two steps without hurting yourself." She said, picking up the cotton ball again. I stared at her with a flat stare and sighed. I leaned forward and let her patch me up. I felt the rough material of the cotton ball fill my nose, swooshing around the now hardening liquid inside. She pulled the ball free and let me see the extent of the damage. The ball was completely soaked dark red with blood and had clumps of gooey bits dangling from it. I feel my breath quicken from the sight. Sitting back, I saw her grab another cotton ball and cover it in some form of gooey paste before placing it in my nose. The paste was freezing as it entered and stung like crazy from the contact with the cuts in my nose. I felt myself start to tear up and the Pegasus let out a loud gasp.

She stared at me like I was diseased and her eyes never left mine. I stared back until I decide to wipe away the tears...Blood. I'm shedding tears of blood. I recoiled in shock and thought of what could cause this.

Okay, okay. What the FUCK!? What the hell could cause me to cry blood!? Could it have been the fall? I remember reading something about severe nose bleeds making you cry blood but that usually only happens with severely broken noses.. I quickly checked my nose and find that it is not broken but still hurts like a motherfucker. I looked at the Pegasus and watched as she quickly got to work fixing my fuck up. First she cleared my, now freshly bleeding, nostrils before putting more of that past inside them. She then grabbed an elongated cotton swab and looked at me...Oh fuck...

She pushed the cotton swab carefully up my nose and moved it around. I wanted to cry out from the pain but knew it would only end up worse than it is. I bit my lip to stave off screaming as I felt the swab hit something. I felt a sickening sensation as the swab was pulled free along with a giant red glob of goop. I stared at the swab as my nose bled yet again. The Pegasus grunted in frustration and cleaned my nose again. I sighed in relief as the blood stopped and I looked over to the Pegasus with a grateful smile.

"What's your name?" I asked with a clear difference in my voice. It was more shaky than it once was. I blamed the blood loss.

"Fluttershy. What's yours?" She asked a little timidly, but not anywhere near what it was earlier.

"Names classified. You can call me Umbra though." I said with a small smile and extended a hand. She stared at it for a second before extending her foreleg and shaking my hand.

"So why save me?" I asked out of curiosity. I watched as she packed away the medical supplies and pushed the box away.

"I couldn't just leave you there to die, I had to do something." She said as she glanced at me and then my vest. I watched as she went over and tried to pick it up, before grunting and straining to hold it an inch off the ground. I raised an eyebrow at her while she blushed and dropped my vest.

"I was going to take it to be repaired. My friend is a fashion designer and, in fact, she's downstairs right now." She said with a small smile. I looked over at my vest then back to her before sighing. I guess finding Hamus is going to have to wait.

"Well then, time to introduce myself."

Chapter 4

View Online

Introductions are in order

Hamus

"Shit! Shit! SHIT!" I yelled as I charged down the trail with 3 more of the monsters right behind me. I had to give these things credit, they're crafty bastards. I guessed they figured I'd try and hunt them down and, in turn, they laid a trap. I was walking down the trail when I heard something from behind me. I spun around only to find nothing, I brushed it off and turned around to have two of the large bastards sitting on the trail in front of me. I raised my rifle only to get speared from the side by a third one.

It tried to bite my neck so I rammed my rifle into its mouth sideways to block it. In the blink of an eye my rifle snapped and was thrown to the side. I used the distraction to wriggle myself out from under the monster and run. I looked back and saw the thing gaining on me. It lunged and got a lucky hit, one of it's claws left a deep tear down my left arm, effectively incapacitating it. I cried out in pain and threw a right hook back at the thing and watched it connect with its face, The things jaw snapped of and dazed it. Taking the opportunity, I charged away as fast as I possibly could. I ran until my lungs burned, my legs threatened to give way, until I got woozy from lack of oxygen. I never slowed down.

"Why won't you leave!?" I shouted absentmindedly at the things chasing me. I could hear their footfalls getting closer and closer. I realized this would be the end of me, hunted and outrun by a group of wooden wolves. As fitting a death as any. In my haste I didn't have time to bandage my arm, and thus, it was flopping uselessly at my side, until I felt it brush against something cylindrical. Looking down I saw my only hope dangling tightly on my vest webbing...Flash Bangs. I gave a small smile and grabbed one of the little metal grenades, it's dark metal and perforations fitting the design perfectly. I held the spoon tightly and hooked the pin over the index finger of my left arm. I ripped the grenade back hard and fast so the pin would come out before my dead arm moved too much. The satisfying click of the pin sliding out was all I needed to hear before dropping the object at my feet. I poured on all the speed I could muster and counted. 1...2...

BANG

I heard the report of the explosion behind me and nearly tripped as my balance was thrown off. I saw the brilliant flash reflect off of the nearby trees and gave a small smirk. I kept running until I got to the end of the trail and the beginning of the clearing. I looked around the clearing and saw a small cottage made out of trees and stone to my left. I remembered the yellow horse saying about a cottage or shack or something and figure it's my best bet.

I Adjusted my direction and barreled off toward the cottage. I glanced behind me and saw the monsters staring at me from the treeline, their baleful green eyes were watching me carefully. I noticed that I was leaving a blood trail as well, that would explain how they found me again. Looking forward I saw myself about to reach the cottage, its simplistic design was...cute. The little bridge crossing the stream, the small hill, the thrown together housing. I lined myself up with the front door and took a gasping breath, I was about to pass out, but I refused to do so until I'm inside.

I charged full speed at the door and gave a little jump, lining up my right shoulder...I hit the door...hard. I heard a crack and felt a small bit of weightlessness as I fell through the now doorless portal. I felt myself hit the ground before I passed out.

XxX

Umbra

I walked down the stairs with Fluttershy and
looked upon the living room. The simplistic nature was astounding, just a couch and a mirror were the only furniture items in the room. However, there were quite a lot of animal related items here. There were multiple holes all throughout the walls to let small critters in and the back door was wide open. This mare really had a thing for animals...

I kept looking around the room and my eyes came to rest on a group of five mares. The five mares from earlier, to be exact. I noticed they're all giving me varying looks ranging from bad to worse. The pink one had flat hair but was trying to put on a smile; The blue one looked like she was ready to pounce on me; The purple one was giving me a terrified look; The orange one was giving a look much like the blue mare; The white one fainted...

I gave a small frown at the welcome but shrugged it off and went back to my straight face. I continued to stare at them until Fluttershy cleared her throat. I glanced down at her and saw her give me a small smile and wave me on.

Sighing, I started. "Hello." I spoke out in an annoyed voice. I watched the mares jump back in shock and I grew very, very annoyed. I sighed and went to walk back upstairs but remembered why I came down in the first place. I looked down to Fluttershy and gave a small smile. Dropping the vest on the floor, I walk upstairs.

Better to get out of there anyway, too much contact makes me nervous...

I only made it a few steps up when I heard Fluttershy take on an entirely new tone.

"Why did you all treat him like that?" She asked in a stern voice. I turned my head around and watched what was about to happen.

"Fluttershy, that thing isn't natural. I've never seen anything like it before today, it's understandable that I would be a bit...shocked." The purple mare said in a defensive tone. I watched as she recoiled at her own words.

"Yes we've never seen anything like him before, but that doesn't mean we should cast him out! Twilight, how would you feel if we cast Spike away for being an unknown breed of dragon?" Fluttershy said in a condescending tone, watching as Twilight squirmed under her gaze. I never took the timid Pegasus to be a bitch when needed...

"...sorry..." Twilight said dejectedly. I watched as Fluttershy glanced up to me with a small smile.

"Don't apologize to me." She said while waving me down. I sighed and walked down the stairs, standing with my arms crossed. I looked down at Twilight, my gaze bored into her. She squirmed under my stare but eventually croaked out..

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." I thought on it for a minute before easing my gaze and looking away from her at the rest of the horses. Each of them has some form of apologetic look on their faces and some were shuffling their hooves on the floor. I glanced back to Fluttershy and saw her give the smallest of nods.

"Fine, apology accepted." I sighed out. Looking down to Twilight, I saw her adopt a more friendly stance, Her ears picked up, her eyes got a little wider, her body stopped shaking and she stood to her full height. I noticed she wasn't all that short. I expected her to be around three feet tall, but she was easily four foot eight to five feet tall. I never noticed but Fluttershy is around five feet as well. I brought my glance up and saw all the other horses relax a little and take a seat.

Fluttershy and Twilight went over and join their friends on the couch before waving me over. I grabbed the vest off the floor and walked over. I took the empty seat beside a blue Pegasus with an impressive prismatic mane and a white Unicorn with a curly purple mane. I threw the vest to my feet and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. It's around this time that I noticed they're all staring at me, watching how I sit.

It's going to be one of those meetings huh?

I mused to myself. Rubbing a hand down my face, I looked at Twilight. She looked really antsy for something...I had an idea of what that was.

"So...What do you want to know?" I asked with a drawn out sigh. I really should be getting around to finding Hamus.

"What are you? I heard the Pegasus next to me ask. The question struck me as odd but then I remembered the present company. I sat back and folded my arms.

"Human."

"What's a human?" I heard Twilight ask. I shot her an annoyed glance and waved a hand over myself. She blushed at the obvious answer before asking her next one.

"What's your name?" I heard the white unicorn ask from beside me, causing Twilight to stop mid word.

"Name's classified. You can call me Umbra though." I said in a monotone voice. I looked around at their confused faces and sighed.

"You do know what classified means...Don't you?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course we do. I just can't understand why a name would have to be hidden. And what of your other name? Oombra was it?" Twilight asked whilst rubbing her chin and giving me a questioning stare.

"Because some people can do some terrible things with just a name." I said cryptically. I looked around at the ponies and saw that they were ready to burst with questions.

"Tell you what. You all have many questions and I'm pressed for time, how about one question a piece and then I can go." I said as I look to each of them. They thought it over a second before nodding in agreement.

I looked at the unicorn beside me and waited. She seemed to get the hint and scrambled for a good question.

"Oh! My name is Rarity. What exactly is that thing at your feet? It looks very heavy and not exactly fashionable." She asked me...Really? Whatever, I pick up the tattered remains of my vest and drop it in my lap.

"This was a vest but right now it's little more than a giant blob of loosely stitched fabric. I was originally hoping you could help me with that." I said as I spread the vest out showing the damages. She laughed a bit before enveloping the vest is a blue glow and the vest lifted into the air. I stared at the anomaly worriedly. More so when I saw it stitch itself back together. It fell heavily into my lap, causing me to let out a gasp of air from the weight.

"That...that...What WAS that!?" I shouted in confusion.

"Magic darling. Don't you have magic?" Rarity asked with confusion.

"What? NO! Magic is nothing but smoke and mirrors! It shouldn't be physically possible!" I continue to shout in confusion. The events from the past few days finally proved to be too much. My brain turned off any and all decent thoughts and left me a babbling mess. After a few minutes my brain calmed enough to concentrate again. I took a deep breath and looked to the next horse, this one was an orange mare with a stetson.

"Mah name's Applejack. I was wondering just what you did back in your home." She said through a thick southern accent. She just HAD to ask the tough question. Sucking in a deep breath I looked to each of the ponies and gave a small smile. I wasn't going to give them anything too involved.

"Well Applejack, I lived." I said simply causing some of the mares to show confusion. I looked at Applejack and saw a look of annoyance on her face.

"Ah meant, What type of job did you do?" She said with annoyance.

"I thought I said one question? That was two." I said smartly causing Applejack to groan and put her hat over her eyes. Looking over to Twilight, I waited.

"What are those things upstairs? I know one of them is a bag but what of the other things?" Twilight said after a moment. Her friends all nodded at the question, eager to hear the answer.

I rose to my feet and walked up the stairs. Returning not a minute later I had my DSR on my back and my RFB in my hands. "These Things are weapons from my world. The long black one is called a DSR-1. It shoots a projectile out of the barrel that can easily reach out and slap someone at 1000 yards. The other one; The small, compact one, That's a Kel-Tec RFB. It's the same thing except smaller." I said happily. If there's one thing I love talking about, it was guns.

"And those are what you used against the Timberwolves earlier?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure is." I answered with a bit of joviality. Looking around I saw only two ponies left. I looked to the blue Pegasus with an admittedly impressive mane.

"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in Equestria! What exactly was your world like?" She asked with a mix between pride and curiosity. Someone needs to knock this nag down a notch or three.

"Well...My world was complete shit. It was a struggle to live through a single day. Between the Military, Raiders, Mercenaries, and the Crazed you were hard pressed to live for longer than a week. I thankfully fell in with a group of survivors, a group of people just trying to get by. I lived as security and an operator in our makeshift bases. All in all, it was hell on earth...And I kinda liked it." I said in a despaired voice. I realized then and there that I would most likely never get home again. I'd never get to see Echo up on the promise I made to him. That hurt more than anything.

Why would you like such a bad place? It sounds like it's full of meany faces!" The pink, energetic horse said from across the room. I shot a glare at her before returning my gaze to the floor.

"Because for all it's hardships...It wasn't all bad. There were new ways of life emerging everywhere, social problems were non existent; People didn't care what race, nationality, sex, or religion you were. You were nothing more than a man or woman to them. The government collapsed and took it's overbearing "Laws" with it. People were finally starting to change." I continued as I started feeling a pressure behind my eyes. Stuffing the feeling down, I stood. Dawning my vest I looked over the ponies.

"That's all I have time for. I need to go find Hamus." I said as I ran up the stairs and grabbed my pack, rifles, and knife. I geared up and returned to the first floor. I saw the ponies looking over me curiously before a loud snap and a meaty thud rang out through the house. I snapped my rifle up to the source of the sound and saw the front door lying splintered across the floor. I saw something else that made me spring into action. I sprinted across the room and grabbed Hamus by the drag handle on his vest and pulled him from the door. Looking through the portal I saw a group of yellow eyes on the outskirts of the forest. I raised my rifle and fired a shot before they could move. I heard a yelp of pain and a set of eyes disappeared. The rest slowly dimmed before vanishing completely.

I turned back to Hamus and saw that his arm was torn up bad. I dropped my DSR and my backpack and crouched down next to him. I opened my pack and pulled out some first aid supplies. I poured water over the wound and saw that it was a deep cut. I switched to some anti bacterial spray and antiseptic gel. I applied pressure to it to clot the blood and after a few moments the bleeding stopped. I pulled out a lighter, a needle, and some fine fishing wire. It wasn't ideal but it's what I had. Threading the needle with the fishing line I looked up to the horses and saw they were watching with morbid curiosity.

"Get me some water, tweezers, a rag, and some bandage wraps!" I barked out to them. They all came out of their stupor and ran about the house grabbing the items. Once they returned I placed all the items in their needed areas. The bandages with the medical supplies, towel under his arm and rag on the side to wipe any fluids off. I started heating the needle and bending it slightly with the flooring. Fluttershy finally returned with the tweezers and I got to work.

Grabbing the red hot needle with the tweezers I inched closer to the wound.

"Sorry brother..." I said as I pushed the needle through his skin. his muscles tensed and he let out grunts and groans of pain. Once I got the first stitch done I noticed something problematic. Every time I moved the needle his body would spasm and make it impossible to fix him properly. I looked up to the horses and saw them standing by with various looks of shock on their faces.

"I need some help here! Someone hold him and this arm down! Now!" I barked out and almost immediately Fluttershy and Applejack jumped onto his chest. Twilight and Rarity held him arm still with magic but left it open where I needed to work. I continued on and got all 6 stitched done in under 10 minutes. Once I was done with them I applied more anti bacterial spray and antiseptic gel before wrapping the bandage roll around his arm.

I picked Hamus up and placed him on the couch before packing everything into my bag excluding the horses items. I donned my gear once more and sat beside Hamus. I looked around at the horses and gave a small smirk. I never expected technicolor talking horses to help me, let alone my friend.

"So just what are you? I have horses back on my world but they can't talk and aren't sentient in any way." I asked with a relieved sigh. The adrenaline from the surgery was wearing off fast.

"We're ponies, not horses." Rainbow Dash said from beside me. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Sorry." I apologized mockingly. "I can't really see much of a difference either way. You're all tall enough to either be a large pony or a small horse." I explained. Seeing the confused look on their faces.

"We look nothing like horses though." Twilight said defensively.

"Aye, but you don't look like ponies either." I said with a smirk.

"Maybe not the kind from your world but we ARE ponies."

"Right. Right. So Twilight, tell me a bit about this place. I have the feeling I'll be here for a while, I might as well get some information."

"Well, we're just outside Ponyville which is the only town around here. It's a nice place and everypony is really friendly. To the north is Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. It's also where the princesses live." She pointed out helpfully.

"Just princesses? You don't have a queen or king? It seems weird to have a country ruled by two princesses without having a king or queen. And if a country was run like that wouldn't they both be labeled queens? Or at least one of them?"

"Well...Yes, I suppose they would. Hmm, I'll have to talk to the princesses about this." Twilight said as a quill, ink, and paper appeared out of thin air. I stared dumbly at the objects as if expecting them to break into song and dance. Twilight scratched down something on the paper and lit it on fire. I watched the smoke roll out the window and follow some unknown draft away to the mountainside.

After a few moments of silence, the steady, heavy breathing of Hamus being the only background noise. A scroll appeared in the room with a pop and a small fire. Twilight snatched it out of the air and read it several times before looking at me.

"Good news! The princesses want to meet you two today!" She said in an overly happy voice. I stared blankly at her, my heart racing in my chest. I feel a shuffle next to me and notice Hamus giving her the same look. I place a hand on his shoulder and force him down.

"What do you mean "See us"? I asked with barely contained rage. The last thing we needed right now was another war with the government. Even if it is a pony government, they have to have a military. Where there's a military, there's not happy times for me and Hamus.

"The princess said that she would meet you two later. She never said how or where but I guess you'll know when it's time." Twilight said offhandedly before stopping dead in her tracks. Her face slowly turned to one of panic and her hair turned frizzy.

"Oh no..." I heard someone whisper from beside me.

"The princesses are coming...today. I have to get this place cleaned up! SPIKE! I need you!" She shouted as she ran out the door to get whoever this "Spike" was.

"What's her deal?" Hamus asked from beside me. I looked over to him with a confused glance.

"I haven't the slightest." I said honestly. I looked over to Rainbow Dash and saw her give me a smile before answering.

"She always gets a little...Crazy when the princesses say they're coming. You should have saw the last time." She said with a shiver. I just gave her a knowing look and turned back to Hamus.

"Hamus, get settled in. I think you should learn some things."

Chapter 5

View Online

Lost in translation

Umbra

"So you're telling me that we're in a world of magical, talking technicolor ponies, we have to meet their leaders, and we have no definitive way home? This is turning out just fantastically Umbra! This is EXACTLY how I wanted to spend the rest of my life!" Hamus shouted sarcastically. About half way through my explanation he started pacing about the living room. All of the ponies, save Twilight, watched Hamus cautiously as he got angrier. I stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders before throwing him on the couch.

"Stow it! I never asked for this either but you don't see me ranting and raving about it. getting pissed and panicking won't do anyone any good." I said as I sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. I felt him relax under my hand and let out a long sigh.

"I know...This is all so...Fucked." He said in a defeated tone. I looked to the ponies and saw them looking awkwardly around.

"So what do you guys do for fun around here?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well we usually go on some sort of adventure. You could always go to Sugarcube Corner or the local pond. I usually just nap though." Rainbow Dash said as she looked out the window, no doubt thinking about napping.

"What do you two normally do for fun?" Pinkie asked in a singsong voice that gave me a slight headache.

"Fun? Us? We never had much time for fun." Hamus said trying to suppress a laugh. I wasn't as strong and let a few chuckles escape my lips.

"Well, usually we can get away with a game of cards. I always fancied singing and playing the guitar. Hamus always liked water, art, and sailing." I said as I controlled my chuckling and relaxed a bit.

"You sing?" Rarity asked incredulously. I shrugged and looked to Hamus who gave me an amused glance.

"Not well and it's usually only simple songs and a few shanties Hamus taught me."

"Would you mind singing one? I'd love to hear it." Twilight said as she walked back to her seat on the couch. She looked a lot...Calmer.

"Uhh...I guess not. You ok? You seemed a bit...Crazy a few hours ago." I said carefully. The last thing I wanted was to set her off again.

"Yes. Everything is going to be fine now." She said a bit cryptically. I casted a glance around the room and saw the ponies waiting patiently. Looking at Hamus, he nodded and cleared his throat. I looked back to the ponies and started to sing.

I thought I heard the Old Man say:
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her."
Tomorrow ye will get your pay,
and its time for us to leave her.

The ponies seemed transfixed by the two man show in front of them. Hamus’ gravelly voice mixed perfectly with mine as we got farther into the song.

Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

Oh, the wind was foul and the sea ran high
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
She shipped it green and none went by.
And it's time for us to leave her.

Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

I hate to sail on this rotten tub.
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!"
No grog allowed and rotten grub.
And it's time for us to leave her.

Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

We swear by rote for want of more.
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!"
But now were through so we'll go on shore.
And it's time for us to leave her.

Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

As we finished the last words I looked at the ponies and saw some with tears in their eyes and some looking confused.

"Uhh...What's it about? And who's Johnny?" Rainbow Dash asked confusedly. I snickered before answering.

"It's about a ship. And Johnny was the captain." I said as I thought back to the meaning of the shanty. It's actually quite a sad song.

"That's kinda lame." She said dismissively.

"Lame huh? If you want to get deep into it, It's about a ship who docked for the final time after being used in service. To have some understanding, a captain and his crew would love a ship for all she's worth. If you had to live on it constantly you'd understand why. It would be the best place in the world for sailors. To have a ship docked one last time is a very sad occurrence. It was also a song the crew used to file grievances to the captain and saying that they were leaving the crew." Hamus said. He surprised me with his knowledge of sea shanties but I guess with him loving ships it makes sense.

"When you put it like that it actually is kind of saddening." Rarity said with a grimace, confusion still lingering on her face.

"I never said they were happy songs. They just always helped me work better and lightened peoples moods." I said with a shrug.

"Didn't you say you also played the guitar?" Twilight asked with a smirk. Oh no...

"Uhh, yeah?"

"How about you play us a song then?"

"I don't have any in mind and I don't have a guitar."

"Oh that's no problem." She said as she floated out a beautiful acoustic guitar. How the ponies played guitar was lost on me but I didn't care all that much.

"That's...That's beautiful! Where did you get that?" I asked out of pure joy. I grabbed the guitar and gave it a few testing strums finding it perfectly tuned.

"I had it sitting around my house and once I heard you played I teleported it here." She said happily. I smiled at her gratefully and leaned back in my seat trying to think of something to play. I sat for a few moments until I had an idea for a song and began to play a song I heard long, long ago. As I let my body slip into a calm from the soothing motions of my playing, I noticed a few ponies closing their eyes and swaying to the music. Some looked like they were about to cry, and some were watching me in awe. Not a single one looked bored or not attentive. My fingers glided smoothly over the strings as I switched my chords to and fro. My strumming never broke the rhythm.

After a few minutes my song came to an end. I placed the guitar flat in my lap and looked at my audience. They were completely silent, they never moved, they could have passed for being dead. And then, all in one loud cacophony and blurs of movement, They cheered.

"That was AWESOME!"

"That was marvelous dear!"

"WOWIE! You can really play!" Were the only things I could make out over the noises and complements of the others. I sat there with a small smile on my face before turning to Hamus.

"Alright, that was enough excitement for one day. Don't ya think?" I asked him as I started to stretch and yawn. I glanced at my watch and saw it read 22:00.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go find someplace to sleep. Night y'all!” Hamus called out to the group before we stood and walked toward the door.

"Wait! You don't have anywhere to stay." Twilight called out. He simply looked back at her and shrugged.

"We can stay in the forest. It'll be just like old times." I said as I opened the door and let Hamus through. I noticed he was eyeing the forest warily.

"Best get your weapon ready. Those things are still out there." Hamus whispered to me as he passed. I grabbed his shoulder and doffed my pack. I pulled out a compact block before flipping the top half forward and locking it in place. I handed the rifle to him along with some ammo for it. He thanked me before loading and cocking it. He walked out front to keep watch while I got ready.

"We'll be fine. See y'all in the morning." I say as a donned my pack once more and checked my RFB. It brought comfort to see her still cocked and locked. I flicked the safety off before walking out into the cool, rainless night.

XxX

Twilight

As I watched the two men walk off to the forest I couldn't help but notice they seemed to be in an aggressive stance the whole way. I looked away with one last glance, seeing them entering the forest.

"All right girls, I think I'm gonna head back to the farm." AJ said as she let out a long yawn. I was about to agree and head home as well when Fluttershy surprised all of us.

"You're all more than welcome to spend the night here...If you want, that is."

"We couldn't possibly impose something like that deary." Rarity said from the side as she started trotting to the door.

"Oh it wouldn't be a problem at all. I would love to have you here." Fluttershy said happily. A small smile working it's way onto her face.

"Well...If you're sure it won't be a problem..." I said a bit warily.

"None at all."

"Well then I can't see a problem with it." I said happily. I trotted over to the couch and sat down before seeing everypony else join me.

"Woohoo! this is going to be so much FUN!" Pinkie shouted enthusiastically.

"Sorry Pinkie, I'm pretty beat. I think I'll just hit the hay." Aj said from the comfortable position she was laying in. She let out a yawn and started to drift off. I nodded and laid down as well. Glancing at my friends, I noticed that they were all laying down for a good nights sleep.

"Good night everypony." I heard Rainbow say from my left. Everyone said their goodnights and then all was still and quiet.

XxX

Umbra

"Alright, this should be good." I said as I stared at the large oak tree in front of us. Looking at it's branches I noticed how easy it would be to make a platform to sleep on.

"All right. I'll go find some logs for our bed." He said with a wince. Tonight would suck...

"Yeah, I'll climb up and find some way to get them up there." I said as I grabbed hold of some gnarled nubs on the trunk and started climbing. I've never been much of a climber but the way this tree was set up, I looked like a pro.

Once at the branches I worked my way over and sat down before carefully sliding my pack off beside me. I dug through some of the pockets until I found some rope. It wasn't nearly enough but it was something. I looked around for anything to make it longer when I saw some vines a few branches up. I put my pack back on and tied the rope around our soon to be platform and climbed.

It wasn't particularly hard but it was a bit of a pain. My pack kept getting stuck on my way up and my rifle threatened to fall multiple times, but I kept climbing. I reached the vines and brought out my knife. I cut a large section of them before giving them a yank. They fell down to me easily and landed in a heap on my legs. I grabbed one of the vines by two points and pulled. I tried to break it, but was quite happy when it didn't break. Gathering them up, I climbed back down until I got to my rope.

Tying the vines to the end of the rope, I threw it down and waited for Hamus. I waited a few minutes before hearing the sound of something walking through brush. I picked up my rifle and aimed at the source of the sound. I nearly fell out of the tree when I saw one of those wolf things looking around the area. I looked to the front of my rifle and checked the suppressor on it. Giving a satisfied smirk, I lined up the sights and slowed my breathing. I was just about to shoot the thing when I noticed movement from the right of it...Slow, deliberate movement. I focused on it and saw Hamus sneaking up to the thing, knife in hand.

I watched as he got within a meter of it and got ready to strike...Then, I saw movement. I looked at it and noticed it was moving toward Hamus very, very quickly.

"Shit...Hamus. Get out of there. You got another one on your six." I said through the throat mic. Thankful I completely forgot we had these...I watched Hamus lock up and glance to his rear. Watching what happened next was like something out of a movie. The wolf leaped on Hamus before getting a knife to the neck. It writhed in pain but didn't stop attacking. I lined up the sight with it but Hamus was in the way. I watched as he slashed and stabbed at the wolf scoring multiple hits along it's face.

He would have won until the other wolf pounced. I lined up my sights and shot a bullet straight at the wolfs head. I heard the crack of the impact and the wolf fell to the side. I racked the charging handle back once more and watched as Hamus rolled out of the way of the other wolf. Taking the opening, I shot once more and hit the wolf squarely in the chest. I watching it stumble backwards and threaten to fall until Hamus shot clean through the side of it's head. I winced at the report of the rifle echoing through the trees.

"He ain't goin' no where now." I heard Hamus say through the static of our mics.

"We better get this thing done. Something was bound to hear that." I said as I grabbed a hold of the rope and watched as Hamus tied a branch to the other end. We used our makeshift pulley system to get all the thick branches up and placed. Hamus joined me up on the platform and looked around. He gave a few bounces and found it held better than he thought it would.

"This is actually pretty nice." Hamus said as he laid down and tried to get comfortable. I watched him set an alarm on his watch and pass out. I soon joined him.

XxX

Twilight

I awoke to the sound of a thunderclap. I glanced around and found I wasn't the only one.

"Rainbow, is there a storm scheduled for today?" I asked in confusion.

"No. There isn't supposed to be one for a few more days." Rainbow said while shaking her head. I could have sworn that sounded just like...

"Rainbow, wake the girls! I think those two are in trouble!" I said as I jumped up and started running for the nearest window. I looked out over the treeline but didn't see anything. I heard Rainbow waking the rest of the girls and telling them what's going on and within a few minutes everypony was ready to go.

"Alright Twi. Where'd it come from?" Rainbow asked as she stretched her wings.

"This way! Come on!" I yelled as I charged out the backdoor, towards the forest.

Umbra

I woke up to the sound of crunching leaves and snapping sticks. Sitting up slowly, I raised my rifle and peered over the edge of the platform. I watched for any signs of movement but didn't see anything. Once I brought myself back away from the edge I heard the sounds again. I looked once more and still didn't see anything. I sighed in irritation and brought my head back once more. I gave a slight kick to Hamus and felt him snap awake.

"What's up?" I heard Hamus whisper. I pointed over the edge and saw him give me a strange look. I mouthed 'wait and listen' and saw him nod. I backed away from the edge and the crunching and snapping continued yet again. Hamus grew a look of confusion before peering over the edge. I joined him in looking only to find nothing disturbed or out of the ordinary.

I felt a tap on my side and glanced at Hamus. I saw him point to a spot in the brush. Staring intently at the spot, I noticed two things were wrong. First, I don't remember that brush being so thick. Second, There were two dark green eyes staring at me. It was no wonder I couldn't see them, they blended seamlessly with the brush.

Both Hamus and I raised our weapons to the spot...

"Come out with slowly, with your hands up! We WILL fire on you if you do not cooperate!" I bellowed out in an authoritative tone. We racked our rifles simultaneously letting the sound of metal on metal echo through the forest. Our rifles, already being loaded, kicked out live rounds and chambered new ones.

We watched as the figure stood still in the brush. A minute went by and the figure never moved.

"Last warning! If you don't show yourself we WILL fire on you!" I shouted out once more. I glanced to Hamus and saw him steady his aim and slow his breathing. I did the same and then, with a tap of a boot...All hell broke loose.

XxX

We were taking yet another turn in the forest when it erupted in a deafening staccato of thunderclaps. We dropped to the ground and covered our ears as the thunder kept coming. After a few seconds the noise ended. My head throbbed as I stood and I staggered to the side. I had a deafening ringing going throughout my ears and that was throwing my balance off. I looked to my friends and saw them rising from the ground with terrified looks on their faces.

I looked down the path and ran the way the sound came from. It was hard to tell exactly but I got a rough estimate. After a few minutes I came across a large oak tree, little yellow objects on the ground, and a destroyed patch of brush with something solid and red in it. I looked around once more before I heard a voice I wasn't expecting.

"On the ground! We WILL fire on you if you do not comply!" Umbra shouted from...Above me? I looked up and saw Umbra and Hamus aiming their weapons over the edge of a platform made of tree branches. I would have marveled at the thought of them building something that far up by themselves but my thoughts were interrupted. The ground exploded right in front of me along with another, even louder thunderclap. I fell to the ground, the pain flaring in my ears. I heard the sounds of movement, It sounded like I was trying to listen through water. The ringing returned stronger than ever.

I felt something roll me over and when I opened my eyes I saw Umbra and Hamus looking over us. I saw Umbra mouthing something but couldn't hear him. The sound of water had since been replaced with nothing at all. I pawed at my ears but found that it did nothing. I saw Umbras face fall and he turned to Hamus. I guess he told him something seeing as Hamus sprinted over to us and looked at my ears. I felt him run a finger through my ear and when he pulled it out it was covered in a red liquid.

My face fell when I realized what that liquid was...Blood. I started freaking out only to have Umbra force me down. I saw Rainbow fly over and try to attack Umbra only to get punched by Hamus. I gasped at the sight and felt a little strange when I didn't hear myself. I looked to Umbra and saw him giving Hamus a hateful look. I watched him turn to me,'I'm sorry' He said, over enunciating the words so I'd understand.

Umbra picked me up and took off running on the trail to the cottage. I looked behind him and saw Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack keeping pace with him. I saw Applejack mouth something and Umbra changed course. I glanced ahead of us and saw that we were on our way to Ponyville. I started feeling lightheaded and my vision started to distort, a blackness creeping on the edge of my vision. Then I passed out.

XxX

Umbra

As I looked over the destroyed shrubbery below us I saw the tell tale color of blood. I Stared at the area for a few moments until I heard rapid thumping coming from the side of us. I lunged to the side and Hamus did the same. We sat and watched the movement come up to our platform.

"On the ground! We WILL fire on you if you do not comply!" I shouted at the figures. I saw no change in their poster so I fired a warning shot. In the flash I saw something that made my heart jump. Twilight fell back with a scream as the shot exploded in front of her. Me and Hamus jumped off of our platform and hit the ground...Hard. I was sprawled out on my face from the impact. I got on my feet and tried to run over to Twilight. My ankle gave a pop and I fell in pain. I let out a grunt but stood again. This time my ankle didn’t try and kill me. I ran over to Twilight and watched as she opened her eyes.

"Twilight? Are you ok?" I asked her. She looked confused and scratched at her ears. My heart fell and I called out to Hamus immediately.

"Hamus! Hamus, get over here! I think Twilight's deaf!" I shouted over the span of dirt between us. I watched his face contort and sprint over to us. He ran a finger on the inside of her ear and pulled it out before letting out a sigh. Looking over I saw his glove had blood all over a finger from her ear. Twilight started to kick and wiggle out of my grip. I forced her to the ground And looked to Hamus.

Hearing an angry scream from beside us I turned to see a Rainbow blur fly through the night towards us. I was prepped to get rammed by the cyan pony before a loud crack and a scream rang through the forest. Glancing up I saw Hamus standing over an unconscious Rainbow Dash.

"The fuck Hamus! Grab her and follow us!" I screamed at Hamus before picking up Twilight and running down the path. "Applejack, how do we get to the hospital?" I asked in a rush.

"Take the next left and follow it through the field!" She yelled from behind me. I could hear the anger in her voice but filled that away under ‘Shit for later’. Turning down the next path I sprinted through the field. I could hear the thumping of hooves and boots behind me. I glanced down at Twilight and found her unconscious. Cursing my luck, I sprinted across the field.

"Right! Go right!" I heard Applejack yell from behind me. Turning right I found myself sprinting through a small town. My lungs burned, my legs ached and I was blacking out from lack of oxygen but I kept sprinting. I made it over a small hill and found a large building marked 'Hospital' and turned towards it. I ran full speed and barreled through the door, scaring the receptionist.

"I need a doctor! NOW!" I shouted at her. I watched as she shook out of her stupor and ran to get a doctor. I glanced behind me to see the rest of the group arrive. I noticed that Rainbow was bleeding quite badly. That is definitely a broken nose. Hearing the rapid clip-clopping of hooves coming down a hallway I turned towards the sound. I saw a scraggly brown doctor running beside some nurses and a gurney.

"What happened here?" He asked in an alarmed tone.

"She has two blown eardrums and passed out from blood loss. The other one got hit in the face, she appears to have a broken nose and possibly a concussion." I said hurriedly as I strapped Twilight on the gurney. I watched some nurses run over and grab Rainbow before running down the hall. I watched the doctor and Twilight's friends rush down the same hallway, leaving me and Hamus alone.

"What...the...FUCK were you thinking!?" I shouted at him, getting in his face. "We have one rule! ONE RULE! NEVER hurt civilians! How can you fail at that!?"

"She was going to attack us! I'm not going to stand around and get beaten by a blue, flying HORSE!" Hamus yelled as he pushed me backwards. Something in me snapped; I started laughing. Not a happy laugh, but one of pure anger.

"You wanna push me? You really want to do this now?" I said calmly as I got back in his face. I gave him a cheeky smile before bumping foreheads with him. "Then let's go."

I cocked back a hand and placed it firmly in his ribs. I felt him roll with the blow and line up a left hook. I ducked down low and got behind him. I grabbed him by his throat and whipped him over my hip. I watched him hit the floor face first with an audible thump. I walked up and rolled him with my foot. I looked over his bloody face and busted nose before I got a boot to the crotch for my troubles. I bent over in pain from the steel toed boots driving into me and saw my vision swirl from the immediate uppercut to my face.

I was about to pounce on top of him and end this when I felt...Something swirl around me.

"What is going on here!?" I heard an angry, but contained voice demand. Turning my head I saw two new ponies. They both had horns and wings, were taller than the rest and were very, very angry.

"I take it you're the princesses. I was just teaching my "Friend" here some respect." I spat out at Hamus and struggled against my binds. I felt myself go weightless before slamming into one of the waiting chairs hard enough to splinter some wood. Looking to my left I saw Hamus receive the same fate.

"Respect? How do you plan on instilling respect by beating him?" The white one said in a near yell. I could feel myself shiver under the tone of the voice.

"Maybe if I punch him enough he'll get enough sense in his head to follow the rules." I said as I once again tried to break my binds and get to Hamus.

"And just what, pray tell, are those rules?" The dark blue one asked. She looked no happier that the white one.

"Our number one and only rule is that under NO circumstances are we to hurt civilians. The only time it's allowed is when the civilian displays malicious intent and thus, becomes a hostile. Charging to defend a friend is NOT malicious intent Hamus!" I spat out once more. I watched as a deep glare of hatred crossed his face before it falls to one of sadness.

"I wasn't thinking man. I saw the blood, and the screaming, then the blue one charged me and I...I fell back on instinct." He said as he hung his head. I looked up to the princesses and saw a conflicted look from them.

"You wanted to see us. Looks like you picked the perfect time to see us at our lowest." I said as I chuckled. It slowly turned into a small laugh. I heard Hamus laughing with me; I raised my hand to try and fist bump him but couldn't move my hand.

"Your species is quite...Barbaric." The blue one sayid carefully, as if she was trying not to offend us. We looked to each other before looking at them both. A scared look passed over the princesses as we stared at her. Our stares were boring into her very being. And all that switched to shock and confusion as we burst out in guttural laughter.

"Barbaric? Oh lady, barbaric to us is like saying death is no more than a daisy." I said as I burst out in fresh laughter.

"Yeah, you really need to think up some better words to describe us!" Hamus said before joining me in more laughter.

"Why do you berate your species so badly?" The white one asked, the shocked look never leaving her face.

"Berate? We aren't berating. What would you say about a species that's managed to wipe out a world superpower, kill millions of their own citizens, and then go to war with the survivors? I think it's been what? Sixty? Sixty one? years of constant war. I'm not berating anyone." I said as I start laughing again. I kept laughing, even when my sides hurt, when my vision blurred, when my lungs burned for air. Because I was honestly afraid of what would happen if I stopped. All the thoughts and memories, the responsibility. None of it mattered anymore, not here.

I managed to calm myself enough to drop to a chuckle and look up to the princesses. I saw a mixed look of sadness, shock, and fear written over their faces. I looked to Hamus and saw him looking at me with a small, sad smile. I was about to turn back to the princesses when I felt a sharp stinging across my cheek. I looked around quickly before finding Hamus laughing his ass off on the floor. I chuckled and kicked him in the shin, my steel toes doing more damage than I expected. Hamus stopped his laughter and cried out in pain before shooting a glare my way.

The princesses looked ready to separate us again as our glares bored into each other. Then they snapped back in surprise when we started laughing again. I extended a hand to Hamus and pulled him to his feet. I looked over him to make sure he was alright before I came to a realization.

"Hey Hamus. I gave you a new rifle before we left. What happened to your old one?" I said as I look over his gear. The small, narrow rifle looking very out of place.

"Those Timberwolves managed to rip it in half. I have no clue how you lived through a bite like that." He said with a sad shake of his head. The offhand comment seemed to catch the princesses attention.

"Thou got bitten by a Timberwolf!?" The blue one shrieked out, her head jerking back in shock and her wings unfurling. I left out a small laugh and took off my vest. Letting the heavy apparel fall to the floor I stood still with my bandages showing for all to see. Six large red spots ran down my sides. I drew my knife from the sheath and cut the bandages off, watching as they fell to the ground in a heap. I heard a few gasps and looked over my wounds. I started to feel lightheaded and the room started spinning. The last thing I remembered was Hamus saying.

"Are bites like that supposed to be black?"

Chapter 6

View Online

Tough times and difficult decisions

Hamus

I looked on in concern as Umbra fell onto the hard linoleum floor with a thump. He really needs to stop passing out.

"I'll go rouse a doctor." The blue one said worriedly before walking down the hallway the doctor and nurses went. I looked on with conflicted eyes. On one hand, people and friends died everyday. It was a fact of life with our group. But on the other hand, I couldn't help but worry for my friend. We'd been friends ever since I saved his life sixteen years ago…

-----

"Get off of me! Get. The. Fuck. OFF!" I heard a gruff, young voice shout from an alleyway to my right. The shout was shortly followed by the ear piercing roar of gunfire. I carefully worked my way over to the alley and saw just what was going on. A teenage boy was fighting off a group of Militia Men. These were the bottom of the military totem pole, nothing but brutes and low lives. Somehow, the military deemed them fit to serve. They easily had him out numbered 7-1. As I began to creep along the edge of the alley to assess the situation, one of the military men fired a low caliber weapon at the boy. He fell to his knees as the shot tore through his thigh, causing him to drop his gun. He quickly drew his knife and, with a shout of pain, rose to his feet.

His legs were shaking violently, threatening to drop him back to the cold, broken concrete below. One of the men laughed and drew a knife of his own. His knife could have been considered a short sword with it's length. I noticed the boy wasn't phased by the blade and had an almost calming smile on his face. He shifted his weight onto his good leg and got into a defensive position. The soldier drew back his arm for a wide slash but the boy was more than eager to block his arm and plant his knife in the soldiers chest. He then heaved his bleeding body over his side and ripped the knife from him.

Squaring off with the next one, he went to attack. He would have too except he forgot something. There was a lot more of them than there were him. He was smashed from the back and side by two more soldiers and shrieked in pain. Looking at the boy, I noticed a small knife stabbed into his lower back. I grit my teeth and raised my rifle to the stabbers chest. I let my rifle release two terrifying roars and didn't wait to watch him fall. Aiming at the next one, I shot one round clean through his head, the round opened him up like a can. I took aim at the next one but before I could shoot, he was taken to the ground and stabbed in the neck by a very pissed and bleeding teen.

Moving on, I shot at the next one but jerked the rifle a bit too hard. The shots went off to the left and tore apart the brick wall behind him. He raised a handgun to me and pulled the trigger. Closing my eyes, I waited for my end...It never came. Instead I heard a cry of pain, I looked on to see two soldiers laying on the ground. The first from a gunshot wound to the back. And the second had a short sword sticking from his chest.

The last soldier looked on in fear at the teenage boy. His battered and bleeding body was racking from the pain. His pained, angry face was contorted into a grimace of pain. His blade was dripping with the blood of the soldiers behind him. Then, the soldier went wide eyed as I stepped out of the shadows and approached the kid. He saw my large frame, rifle, My worn military vest, My hateful glare boring into his skull. Then, with all the stress, terror, and confusion building up in him...He fainted.

I placed a hand on the kids shoulder and he looked up to me. His wide, fearful eyes began to leak tears. The stress of the situation finally caught up with him. The poor kid didn't look much older than Echo come to think of it, I guessed he was around eighteen or nineteen. I held my hand on his shoulder and dropped to a crouch. The kid slowly collapsed onto the ground causing him to wince at his injuries.

"What's your name kid?" I asked in a low, gravelly voice. He looked up to me quickly before returning his gaze to the bloodstained concrete below.

"Nate, Nate Cor. Who are you?" He asked in a small, detached voice.

"My names Mike. Mike Daniels. So what caused all this?" I asked, still keeping my voice low and soothing. I watched the kid tense up quickly.

"I...Uh...May have blown up a supply truck of theirs. Then I may have killed two of their soldiers to distract them while I ran off. Then I got cornered here by a patrol and, well...You know the rest." He finished lamely. I nodded at the kid and saw as he crumbled before me. The kid did more recently than my entire camp has!

"You...Blew up a supply truck? That's impressive. How long have you been here in the zone kid?" I asked with appreciation in my tone.

"I've been here for almost nine years now. I came from a camp a ways west of here." He said with a lazy wave to the side. I suppose he expected me to kill him, but that wasn't going to happen.

"I know a few camps around here. How far west is it?" I asked calmly. The best I could do was get on this kids good side.

"Ten miles."

Ten miles? That's out by Tango camp. This kids been around...

He stood and walked over to the body of the soldier he stabbed. He bent over and grabbed his rifle and handgun. He tucked the handgun into the back waistband of his jeans and turned toward me. It looked like he was about to say something but a new sound stopped him.

"THIS WAY!"

"Move it you bastards!"

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty!"

"Shit. Nate, run!" I said as I jumped to my feet. I saw Nate take off through the alley. I ran after him, the sound of our breathing and the stomping of six sets of boots were our soundtrack. We sprinted through the alley faster than we ever thought we could. I could hear the cackling of our chasers gaining on us faster and faster. Once we emerged from the other side I took the lead.

"THIS WAY!" I shouted as I took a sharp right and ran down a service road. I could hear more boots on the ground now, too many to fight. The steady 'womp' of a helicopter was getting closer. At the end of the road, we turned a corner and were greeted with a roadblock and a wall of lead. I jumped back with a shout as the ground in front of me exploded from the force of the shots. We turned and came face to face with thirty soldiers. All of them had their weapons trained on us, but none fired.

"Fuck! What now!?" Nate asked as he readied his rifle. The metal scratching overtook all the sound around us as the soldiers cocked their rifles. The flashlights on their rifles blinded us and disorientated me. I looked over at Nate and saw him staring at something on my chest. I followed his gaze to a tubular, perforated object. Before I could react, he grabbed the Flash grenade and pulled the pin. He dropped it at our feet and dragged me off to the side. We took off running but I flinched when I heard the deafening explosion of the grenade mixed with gunfire. The bright light reflected off of the surrounding debris and buildings for a second before disappearing. The thunderous stomping of our boots resonated off of the short confounds of the alley we sprinted into. Before long, the deafening report of rifles firing and boots hitting concrete echoed through the space.

"Shit! Nate, go! Go right at the end of the alley and go into the woods! Go north until you hit my camp! Tell them I sent ya!" I shouted as I spun around and dropped to a crouch. Raising my rifle, I returned fire on the soldiers. I watched as they scurried to whatever cover they could find. I slowly started retreating as I emptied my magazine. I dropped the mag as the soldiers started shooting my way again. I jumped behind a nearby dumpster and finished reloading my rifle. I inched out enough to return fire before sprinting out of the alley. I pointed my rifle behind me to fire off bursts to keep them suppressed as I ran.

Reaching the end of the alley, I ducked off to the right and ran down the street. I saw Nate almost enter the woods when he looked behind himself. I saw him raise his rifle and watched it flash dangerously. Not even a second later I heard the thunderous boom and the scream of a soldier getting hit. Smiling slightly, I ran with all I had toward the forest. I heard the report of another shot and yet another scream. I was within ten yards of the forest now, closer to safety. Then, the world erupted into white from the spotlight above me.

---

"Hamus? Hamus! Snap the fuck out of it!" I heard a gravely voice shout from in front of me. Shifting my focus, I looked at Umbra. He looked like hell, His once bright brown hair now looked like mud with specks of blood in it. His green eyes looked muted of all color.

"Hamus! What is wrong with you!?" He shouted as he snapped his fingers in my face. I shook my head and glanced at the clock. 03:52 we arrived around 01:30 if memory served. I looked back at Umbra and said the first thing I had in hours...

"Huh?" I said in a daze. I looked around and noticed both princesses as well as Twilight's friends standing around me.

"Welcome back!" Umbra said as he backed up and spread his arms. He had fresh bandages around his midsection as well as a few bloody pinpricks from a needle on his arm.

"How are Twilight and Rainbow Dash?" I asked with another head shake. That memory seemed...Off this time.

"Recovering. You broke Rainbows nose pretty good and Twilight had surgery to get her ears fixed. From what the doc said, they're going to be super sensitive for a few days minimum and even then she may go deaf."

"So they're both fine?" I asked in summation.

"Seems like it. Now then, if it's the same with you, I'm heading back to our base." Umbra said as he donned his pack, once more grunting under the weight.

"No strenuous activity!" A brown stallion chastised from a nearby hallway. Umbra snorted and carried on. I stood up and checked myself over. All my gear seemed to be in place, the only thing wrong was my rifle was off safe. I sighed at the fact I could have died but flipped the small lever all the same.

"How are you girls? Y'all seemed pretty pissed earlier." I said as I hefted my much smaller bag onto my back.

"We're fine. Just a might worried. Y'all managed to hurt two of our friends. Not exactly the best o' beginnings to a meeting." AppleJack said carefully. I noticed she was giving me a dangerous look. That look might kill a lesser man with the emotion in it.

"Yeah, I'm real sorry 'bout that." I said while nervously rubbing a hand on my head. "I just kinda acted on reflex rather than thinking it through. Plus, we did give y'all a warning."

"Yeah, why didn't you guys listen? We could have avoided all of this." Umbra said in agreement. The ponies shifted under our gaze.

"We didn't really understand until it was too late. Twilight heard something from the forest and we checked it out. We followed the explosions until we came to your tree. We heard you shout but by the time we understood what you said...It was too late." Fluttershy said in a shy, saddened voice.

"Just be glad that was only a warning shot. I can't imagine this situation if it wasn't. Maybe from now on, when you hear us yell something to you. It might be in your best interest to follow it immediately. People have lived longer that way." Umbra said in an almost parent like tone. The ponies let out nervous chuckles and rubbed the back of their heads with their hooves.

"How about you two? How are you holding up?" I asked the princesses. They looked ragged, there were heavy bags under their eyes and their...Manes? looked unkempt.

"We are...Not exactly happy about the current situation. It wasn't expected to meet you two in the middle of a fight after hurting two of my subjects. Let alone two of the Elements of Harmony and my personal student." the white one said while letting out an irritated sigh.

"Yeah...As we already said, we're very sorry. Where we come from it's...well...needed to act like we do. We're having trouble...adjusting from a constant war zone to...This." Umbra finally stuttered out. I don't blame him though, we're practically staring Satan in the face right now.

"Indeed. You have said that. But dost thou mean it? If so, I think we have a way to make certain you are truthful." The blue one said smugly. She looked to her sister and had some sort of silent conversation before the white one let out a small gasp.

"Luna! You can't do that! Invasive spells have been banned for two-hundred years!" The white one shrieked. I made a mental note that the blue one's name is Luna. Not exactly a...normal name, but then again, Nate's last name is Cor so we aren't one's to judge.

"It's no different than me going into dreams sister." Luna said confusedly.

"Well...I...Fine." The white one sighed out. She obviously wasn't happy about this but whatever.

"Very well." Luna exclaimed contently before turning to us. "I am going to use a spell that will let me see your memories. This way I can tell if you are truly telling the truth."

"Fuck that! I ain't letting you dig around in my head!" Umbra shouted in defiance. Luna seemed a bit...shocked? no more like...confused at the outburst.

"We assure you that it is indeed safe. And we can only see the memories thou allows us to see." She reassured.

"Not gonna happen! I don't care if I got all the gold in the world, peace for everyone, and my own fucking PIXIE! I will NOT let you dig around in MY head! That’s the only thing that has ever been MINE and I intend to keep it that way!" He shouted angrily. I could tell he was straining to not attack the princess. I agree that this is fifty shades of FUBAR but still...This seems a bit excessive, even for Nate.

"I'll do it." I said under my breath. It must have been loud enough because everyone went silent. The silence was nearly deafening to sit though.

"Is thou sure?" I heard the chilling voice of the princess ask.

"Just do it before I change my mind." I said with a sidelong glance to Umbra.

"Very well. Relax and think of a memory. After we are linked then any memory you think of I will see. It will be as if we are there at the time. All sights, sounds, smells, feelings will be exposed to us." She said as she calmly walked up to me. Her horn started to glow a deep blue, it was almost black really.

I sat and thought of a memory that wasn't nearly as bad as the rest. This one was about my first scavenge run for Camp Echo.

XxX

The heavy rain pounded down on the surrounding concrete as the lights of a vehicle broke through the dreary, starless night. Over the constant patter of rain, a pair of hard soled boots clacked across the concrete. The deafening boom of thunder echoed throughout the small city as a flash of lightning lit up the buildings. I could see the far off destroyed skyscrapers and the small craters of explosions. Just on the horizon I could see the mile wide pit caused by one of the nuclear missiles.

I laid prone, covered in dirt, leaves and debris on a small park in the heart of the city. I was watching the man walk toward the vehicle and just when he was about to get in another boom and flash from the storm lit up his face. His tan face was covered in dried mud and had specks of blood on it. His graying hair looked sickly in the green glow of my night vision monocle.

He looked around the deep, abysmal blackness surrounding him, as if searching for something. He gave in imperceptible nod to the blackness. To anyone else it would have been unnoticed or shrugged off as a twitch. To me...It was a sign. As he climbed into the vehicle and drove off, I reached down to my wrist and clicked the device attached to it on. A faint beep signaled from it and the dull blue glow of the display lit up. I quickly placed a cloth over the display to block the light. Rising from my prone position I heard the thumps of the material falling off of me.

I looked down at my muddy, moss covered body armor. Then at my soft soled, run down boots. I could see the blackened steel covering the toe of the boot. I looked out over the wasteland ahead of me. The collapsed buildings forming hellish works of art over the large expanse of land. I slowly moved from the park to a nearby building. The peeling paint showed the age of the single story house. What was once a beautiful wall was now lying in splintered fragments around the base.

I stepped through the hole and into an abandoned living room. A moldy couch sat against the far wall with a small television smashed across the hardwood floor. Old paintings, once beautiful, sit in weathered ruin. I took a venturous step into the room and heard the clinking of metal below my feet. I glanced down and saw small brass and steel casings littering the ground. Crouching down and picking one up I saw that it was a fairly new bullet casing.

"6.5? That's not a common round. Definitely not military...I don't think it's a locals either." I quietly whispered to myself. Hearing a rattling coming from another room caused me to freeze. I slowly raised my rifle, a short barreled ACR up to the next room. The sleek, futuristic looking rifle worked through the doorway ever so slowly. The small suppressor poked around the corner as I slowly brought the iron sites across the room.

The room glowed a sharp green from my monocle, the faint smell of cordite wafted through the air. I looked at the destruction in front of me. small holes tore through every chair and table in the dining room. Potted plants and picture frames sat smashed across the floor as moonlight filtered through the small holes peppered across the wall.

I looked across the broken flooring and saw dozens of small brass and steel casings. I picked two of them up and rolled them in my palm.

"6.5 and 5.45's...Well, whoever was here ran into a patrol. I wonder if they got away..." I said breathlessly to the empty room. I quietly placed the shells down on the floor and moved on to the next room. Before I even reached the door I could hear the flies. Ungodly amounts of flies were buzzing through the air as the dank retched odor of copper wafted through the air.

Stepping through the portal I looked at the chaos ahead of me. Three bodies lay still all about the small bedroom. One of them was shot multiple times straight through the chest. His body was thrown carelessly on a vanity. The mirror lay in shards across the floor and, presumably, on his back. I looked at the next one, this one only being a young lass. She appeared to have been stabbed by something. A jagged gash ran through her stomach and multiple holes were in her chest. Looked up on her I saw her head was little more than paste. I've seen firsthand what people getting hit in the head with 5.45's can do, this is the result.

I looked over at the third one. His broken body lay over a small couch. His head laid on the cushions while his legs hung over the back of the couch. One would think he was sleeping if it wasn't for the large hole blown through his chest. I looked around the room and saw a scorch mark and busted wood by the door.

I felt the urge to vomit racing to my throat. I pulled down my bandanna and lost my lunch across the floor. My head felt woozy and I felt tired. I had to get out of there! I turned and pulled my bandanna back up. I raised my rifle and moved on to the final room. I pushed open what was left of the door and peeked in.

"Nice try. You have two seconds to get out of here. You've done enough." I heard a shaky voice beside me say. I felt the cold steel of a gun placed on the side of my head. I slowly ducked my head out of the room and backed up to hard cover.

"What the hell happened here? It looks like a slaughter!" I shouted out in an authoritative voice. I heard the sounds of scuffing shoes before a scraggly man peered around the door frame. His skin looked mottled and scarred. He had a disgusting rash running over the side of his face and I could see maggots gnawing at his cheek. This guy has either been here a while, been in radiation or has never been in water...Ever.

"They killed them all...But I gots 'em back! I gots 'em so good they never gonna come back!" He cracked out in an insane tone. His eyes glazed over and his grip on the handgun tightened. "And now! Imma gets ya too!" He shouted as he raised his handgun to my chest. I popped behind the hardwood bed frame as a slug rammed through it and into the floor behind me. It popped up as the old wood finally snapped. I heard the stomping of feet as he walked toward me. Without looking I raised my rifle over my head and let loose a few rounds. I heard a muffled crack and a cry of pain before hearing the sound of a heavy thud and metal scraping against metal.

Is he...Reloading? My answer came in the form of a copper coated slug slamming into the bedpost beside me. I ducked to the floor and pulled up some floorboards before jumping underneath the house. The wet splash seemed like thunder as my feet hit the mud below. I tried to sneak off but every time I stepped it let out a loud sucking noise. A slug raced through the floor at me and buried itself in the muck. I raised my rifle and fired a few shots through the floor before wading through as fast as I could.

I finally made it out of the muck and I noticed my heart was beating like a drum. Every beat rocked my head and deafened me. I collapsed onto the ground before scuttling away from the house. I raised my rifle to it and waited. After a few minutes my heart calmed down and my breath returned. I slowly worked my way away from the house.

After about twenty minutes of walking I stumbled across another likely spot for my target. A large apartment complex sat in front of me. The brickwork on the outside threatened to fall on anything that disturbed it. The concrete sidewalk had large plant growing out of the cracks. Once I reached the door I noticed the thick oak doors looked relatively unscathed.

I pushed the heavy doors open and looked upon the atrium. A quick scan showed nothing of interest. I walked over to the receptionists desk and started rooting through the papers and drawers. I stumbled upon a map of the town and a few side notes about problems in some of the rooms. I pocketed the map and studied the notes to know which rooms to avoid.

Hey Joyce it's maintenance. Rooms 241, 564, 309, 87 and 134 are off limits as of now. We're getting all sorts of problems in them. Everything from pipe leaks to deathly ill customers! I haven't a clue what's going on with this place but I think it's on its last leg. I thought about contacting the boss but I doubt he'll do much. Probably make us work overtime to fix it...Again. See ya later doll.

Love,

Mikeal

I placed the note back on the pile and looked toward the stairs.

Deathly ill customers? I wonder what caused that. And I'd also love to know where the hell the military is. I haven't seen a single camp, or base. Something's up here...

I walked toward the stairs and started heading down. Once at the bottom I looked at all of the labels on the doors until coming to the one I was looking for, Security. I pushed open the steel door and walked into a dark and dusty security room. I scanned the room thoroughly until I found a small metal box sitting on an end table. A loud creak echoes throughout the room as the old, rusty box opened.

"Jackpot!" I shouted out perhaps a bit too loudly. Inside was the whole reason I came into this town.

Stacked up to the rim of the box were small, black squares. I picked one up and looked it over. I smiled in satisfaction and counted up the batteries.

Thirty six. Thirty six 9v batteries will keep the camp up and running for a good eight months, nine if we use them sparingly.

I placed the box into my backpack and turned to exit the room, but that wasn't about to be an option.

“Move! Get this place cleared!” I heard a gruff, authoritative voice shout from the lobby. Looking around in a panic, I found a few heavy tables.

Better than nothing… I grabbed the heavy wooden table and dragged it over to the center of the room. I pushed it over so the heavy stone tabletop faced the door. I grabbed the second one and pushed it in front of the door before falling back behind my makeshift cover. Looking around more I found a small door over to the side of the room. I sprinted over and threw the door open…

“Perfect.” I said to myself as I stepped into the cleaning closet. I grabbed the cleaning bin and chucked the mop away. I pushed it out into the room and kicked it over, letting the water run over a majority of the floor. I returned to the closet and grabbed some wax and the buffer. I’d have to be fast but I could do this. I pushed the buffer into the room and placed the wax into it. I plugged it in and hoped for there to be enough power left in the building. Not all the lights were off in the building so I assumed it would work. I flicked the switch and my ears were assaulted with the high pitched whine of the machine. I hurriedly pushed it through the space between the door and my cover. I flicked it off and heard the stomping of boots running down the hallway beyond the door.

I jumped behind my cover and racked the slide on my ACR. I looked up and shot out the flickering bulb above me. I pulled down my NVGs and turned them on. Getting over the momentary blindness I looked over the soon to be battlefield. I heard the heavy thuds of hard soled boots stop but the heavy thud of my heart remained. My breath was ragged and my hands were shaking as I lied in wait for the battle ahead.

The door exploded. Splinters of wood and rock peppered the room and a metallic click echoed multiple times throughout the room. I reacted too late and was thrown to the ground with the force of the grenade. The table slid back across the concrete floor with an ear shattering screech. My body rode the shock wave and stopped a few feet from my cover. I looked toward the door and saw soldiers stomping through the portal before slipping on the wax and landing in the water. I raised my rifle and fired a few shots at the fallen before rolling into cover. My hearing returned slowly with the thumping bass of gunfire. What felt like a white hot rod slammed through my thigh and shoulder. I fell to the ground and watched as a few soldiers trampled across the debris and their fallen. Looking over them I saw a large metal tube by the door. I glanced up to the soldier shining his flashlight in my face and watched as he pulled my Night vision off my face.

I laid there helplessly as they started pulling gear from my body. I tried to reach for my pistol before another shot tore through my stomach. I started to blackout from the pain but cast one last glance toward the door. A set of boots stood defiantly in the doorway next to the metal tube.

I blacked out.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the wait guys. I got hit with some pretty bad writers block at the end of this chapter. I'm still not entirely happy with it but I figured I'd at least get something out there to you all.

And for those of you that may be confused on the military, their ranking goes as such:

Militia Men- Lowest of the low. More of a raider/merc than military but military all the same.

Military Men- Your standard military grunt.

Hellcats- A stealth force. They have advanced gear that makes them nigh invisible.

Callers- The military's version of a spy. They'll act like an average survivor and get into major camps. They then relay information or assassinate opportune targets.

Spartans- These are the big boys that no one wants to see. Wearing 100 pounds of pure armor makes them almost completely bulletproof. They carry around LMGs or a crew serve weapon. (ie: 50. cal machine gun, 40mm automatic grenade launcher, et cetera...)

Spidereyes- These are some of the best snipers in the military. They got their name from the amount of optics integrated into their helmets. They have high powered binoculars with rangefinder, nightvision, thermal, and X-ray vision.

I figured it would start getting confusing as I implement new types into the story so I'd throw this in here. Tell me what you thought of the chapter in the comments!

Chapter 7

View Online

Old Wounds

“Little pig. Little piggy! It’s time to wake up now little pig.” I heard a voice cooing through the quiet room. I felt a sharp pain in my side and gasped in pain. A feeling of wetness emerged over the right side of my stomach. I opened my eyes and watched the red droplets flutter to the ground above me. Looking toward my legs, I saw a knife sticking out of my stomach...My knife.

“Well, well, well. Looks like our little piggy has finally awoken! Welcome to the slaughterhouse little piggy!” I heard a voice cackle from behind me before a feeling of pure pain resonated through my body. I could hear the sound of flesh splitting and the large splash of blood dropping to the floor. My vision tinted red as I looked about the room with bloodstained eyes. I brought my eyes back to my stomach and found a large, sharp shard of metal stabbed through the right side of my stomach.

“Oh no, no, no little pig. Don’t roll over just yet. You haven’t squealed enough yet!” The voice shouted as the metal was yanked from lesion it created. Blood seemed to pour out of the wound and it quickly fell over my face, silencing my wail. Sputtering and coughing, I shook as much of the life fluid as I could from my face. My vision was starting to fail as I lost consciousness, unfortunately, my capture had other plans.

I felt the sharp prick of a needle and felt my body go numb. The bastard used a painkiller, Morphine most likely…

“Can have you dying just yet little pig. The bacon is always so much better when the pig struggles.” I heard the now wobbling, rustic voice coo from beside me. I don’t know if he was enjoying this or if my hearing is failing to cause that wobble…

Looking to the side I finally saw my kidnapper, his scraggly white tufts of hair showed his age. The bags under his glossy green eyes showed his determination, he’s been up for a while waiting for this. His small, almost fragile frame was a clever ruse for his true strength and ability. But most of all, his deformed face told me exactly who this was. The burn marks over his face was now maggot free but just as disgusting.

“Ooh, little piggy finally sees its butcher! Hello there little piggy, I’m Old Rock, Nice to slaughter you!” The man said with a squeal of delight.

“F-fuck...You. I’ll kill you…” I croaked out through my tortured lungs. The feeling of pain was returning, and with it, the blackness. I gave a cocky smile as I passed out.

---

The sound of thudding boots echoed throughout the room. I heard the rattling of chains and the cracking of wood. Opening an eye slowly, I peeked over the torture room. I saw Old Rock bent over a workbench by the wall, he looked busy. Bringing my eye up to my stomach, I saw that I was bandaged very well, He most likely didn't want his “Little pig” to expire too soon. Looking further up, I saw the bane of my captivity hanging in the form of two ropes tied around my legs. I looked at the knot holding them together, if I could get it undone then I could get out of here. I let my head go limp to look over the room more only to see that the old bastard was nowhere to be found.

The growl of an engine reverberate throughout the confines of the room. I crane my head around to find Old Rock holding a gas cutoff saw. My heart rate increased and I’m fairly sure I shit myself. I started wiggling and squirming as he slowly walked closer to me. My arms felt like they were made of lead as I struggled to bring them up to the knot imprisoning me. The closer I got to the knot, the closer he came. I grasped the knot but I wouldn't have enough time to figure out how to untie it. So, I pulled with all I had and raised myself closer to the ceiling. I climbed up the rope as fast as I could, only, it wasn't fast enough. I felt the burn of the saw tearing skin and muscle on my right leg. It wasn't enough to take it off but I wouldn't be using it for a while. My grip on the rope slackened and I fell, my constant wail never faltered as I rocked in pain. As the adrenaline overtook me, Anger replaced pain. I rocked and wiggled until I was facing Rock.

“BURN IN HELL!” I screeched over the deafening whine of the gas powered engine. I swung my head back and sent it sailing into his crotch. It didn't seem to do much besides push him back a step or two. I started rocking back and forth to gain momentum. I pushed forward at the apex of my swing and grabbed rock by the arms. The saw was dangerously close to my chest, if I messed this up…

I fell back as I towed to man with me. I pulled my body to the side as I ripped him forward. The saw tore through the side of my vest on its way to the hardwood floor. The saw punched through the floor and bucked against the grain making it pop into the air. The man followed the path of the saw and caught it with his face. I reached down and hefted the saw up to the rope, cutting it easily. I fell with enough force to lose control of the saw, the rabid machine slammed into the floor beside me. I rolled to the side as it gave a final buck and the blade started to slow as it lay still. I groaned in pain as I stood. I felt my wounds reopen as I moved. I looked over myself once more and found that I still had some of my gear on me. Nothing helpful but I’ll take what I got.

I looked around the room until I found my vest, weapons, backpack, and the makeshift sword sitting in a blood filled corner. I hobbled over to the corner as best I could. My leg was throbbing and I could feel the blood leaking out of it. Hefting my gear back into their correct positions, I picked up the sword and looked it over, the edge seemed to glow in the growing brightness of dawn. I slid it in between my backpack and my armored vest before looking over by the workbench. I found my nvgs sitting in a broken heap on top of the rustic metal. I sighed at my terrible luck and worked my way over to Old Rock.

Standing far enough away in case of an attack. I looked over the man, deep in thought.

What the hell was that about? Did this crazy fuck “save” me from the military? If so, where in the Sam hell am I?

At that last thought I started looking around the room even more, spotting a window on the far side of the room. I began my journey across the room with a stab of pain.

“Looks like my old wounds are open again. Can this day get any better?” I say as more pain lances through my stomach. I made it a whole four steps before my leg finally called it quits and gave out. I hit the ground with enough force to crack the rotten floorboards. I gasped in pain and grasped the bleeding appendage, the blood slinking through my fingers. I held it tight to try and stave off the bleeding but after two minutes with no change, I called it quits.

With a grunt of pain I crawled out of the hole in the floor and slid across the floor. My leg trailed uselessly behind me as I made it to the window. Heaving my weight up onto the window sill I looked through the dirty, slightly broken glass.

“Where the fuck? How did I get here?” I said in confusion as I looked over the dilapidated ruins of a town. The buildings sagged low and the metal from the skyscrapers melted to the ground. The landscape was burned black from the sweltering heat and all the vegetation was gone. Looking further out I saw the size of the crater the town was in, it had to be at least a mile in every direction. There’s only one thing I know of that could have caused this…

“Beautiful innit?” I heard a scratchy voice from behind me say, almost wistfully. I whipped my head around and saw Old Rock standing a few meters away from me. I reached for my pistol, a simple Glock 21 with a suppressor, and pulled it from the leather holster. I winced as the pain in my leg overtook me. I dropped to the ground causing my vision to blur and my hearing to falter.

“What? Can’t take a bit of pain? Poor little pig…” He cooed as he started stomping toward me. I aimed through the blindness, fought through the pain, and shot.

---

Luna snapped her head back with a gasp, she’d had enough. I looked up to her while absentmindedly rubbing the dark scar on my leg. The look on the princess’ face was...conflicted. It’s almost as if she knew what it was like but maybe not to the degree that I experienced. It took a moment for me to realize I've been staring at Luna for a solid two minutes. I shook my head and glanced over to Umbra. He looked concerned, he should’ve been...That memory was more sensitive than I thought it would be. Good thing she didn't stay to the end or we would have had some problems.

“I...How...Why?” Luna sputtered out. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she calmed and organised her thoughts. “Who were those men? Why did they attack you? What were you even there for? And...What happened to those other humans?” She asked somberly. I sat back a minute to think up a response. I didn't really want to delve into my worlds problems, this world seems so...Innocent.

“They were military. They hate anyone who isn't military. To get supplies for my camp. They were killed.” I shot out quickly. I was starting to get uncomfortable, I’m not exactly one to talk about bad memories.

“Killed!? Who would do such a thing!?” She shrieked out loud enough to be heard through the entire wing of the hospital. I sighed quietly before letting out a small chuckle.

“Everyone. In my world, nine times out of ten it’s kill or be killed.” I say with yet another sigh. I've been doing that too much today.

“Hey Hamus, I think I’m ready to clock out. Think you can hurry this up?” I hear an irritated Umbra ask from the side. I laugh a bit and bit my farewells to the princesses and Twilight’s friends before I walked out the door with Umbra.

---

Umbra

Me and Hamus walked in complete silence the whole way back to our camp. Climbed the tree in silence, and prepped for sleep in silence. The only word that was spoken that night was me saying that I’d take the first watch and wake him in an hour. He nodded and laid his head down on his backpack. I looked out over the forest, letting my legs dangle from the side of the platform. I looked at all of the brightly colored flora and heard the sounds of animals once thought to be myths. I looked up at the bright orb lolling toward the horizon, ready to begin it’s sleep.

What are we doing here? We’re creatures of another world stuck inside of a mythological story book! God, what would mom think of this? Two warmongering creatures stuck inside an innocent playground of myth and fairy tales...How will we even fit in here? We look so...different. Our skin isn't cartoonish and neither is any of our stuff. I wonder what we can do around here? The peo-ponies around here are going to flip when they see us, I know I would. Two alien creatures that reek of blood, sweat, and gunpowder waltzing through the street? They’d be shot on sight! I guess we should accept that we’ll never fit in here, in this world as a whole. But what of the princesses? Aside from the incident with Twilight and Rainbow Dash they seemed to...Care, Well, mostly at least. Maybe this world has something for us after all…

I heard a singular beep from my wrist showing that the hour was up. I walked over and shook Mike awake only to have him grab my arm and rip my to the branches below.

“Get the fuck away from my you psycho! I’ll kill you!” He shouted at me. It took him a moment to look around the surroundings and find that he was still in the tree.

“Fucking hell…” I groaned out, I think I caught a branch with my ass!

“Oh shit Nate! I’m sorry, brother. I was dreaming up Old Rock again, I guess I just kinda lost it…” He said apologetically as he helped me to my feet.

“Forget it, it’s time for your watch.” I croaked out as I did some small stretches, elating some pops from my lower back. He nodded and went over to the edge of the platform and stared out at the ever expanding tree tops. I dropped myself onto the branches and rested my head upon my Pack. It wasn't exactly comfortable but it would work. After a few seconds of cool winds and chirping crickets, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 8

View Online

Umbra

I awoke to the chirping of birds. The sun blazing on through the tree tops was beating down on my face and worked its way into my eyes.

“Fucking hell, what time is it?” I groggily choked out. I heard only more birds as my response. Now a bit on edge, I stirred my body up to a sitting position before opening my eyes. The bright and sunny morning blinded me momentarily as I waited for my eyes to adjust. Finally, I looked around the wooden platform to find it void of any occupants.

“Mike? Where the fuck did you go?” I said to myself standing with a groan. Several joints popped loudly in protest. I reached down and grabbed my bag before looking around once more. The beautiful sun rays bounced around the forest lighting up everything brilliantly. The trees that once looked dark and foreboding now gleamed all shades of red from the sun. The bright green leaves reflected sunlight all around me while the tall, green grass blew in a small breeze.

This place really is quite beautiful…

I stood up and donned my pack before grabbing my rifles. I slung the long rifle over my back and let the smaller one hang on my chest. I waltzed over to the large vine connected to the tree and slid down. I worked my way through the woods before arriving at the small clearing right before the little pony town. As I looked on I saw all the activity from the previous day was gone. It was almost like the place was dead.

Working up the courage to move forward, I jogged across the clearing and toward a small cottage on the side of town. I ran through the loosely forested path and looked at the various flowers lining the trail. There were all types of animal prints across the path, I spotted everything from deer to foxes and even something bigger. I jogged forward to a small, well maintained bridge crossing a small stream before starting up the hill. Finally, I made it up the hill and promptly knocked on the door three times.

“Just a minute!” I heard a nasally voice call out. After a few moments I heard the clopping of hooves and a rainbow maned pegasus opened the door. As soon as she noticed me she lowered her body and let out a growl. I only had time to stare in shock as she leapt toward me, knocking me flat on my back.

“OOF! What the FUCK!?” I shouted as I flipped her over and pinned her to the dirt.

“Let me up so I can kick your flank some more!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she wriggled and thrashed under me. She managed to free one of her hooves and gave me one hell of a right hook.

I let out a loud grunt as I was pushed off to the side of her. I stared at her as I stood up and backed away. She rose to her hooves and took a step toward me. I really didn’t want to fight her, both for my safety and hers. Slowly I brought up my hand and grabbed the handle of my knife, I didn’t even need to draw it for her to tense up.

“I don’t want to fight you, but I will if I have to. The choice is yours.” I told her slowly and clearly, if she attacked the results would be deserved. If she didn’t, maybe we could resolve this peacefully.

“I...I...Fine…” She said defeatedly. I let go of the blade and walked toward her. She tensed up a bit but, thankfully, didn’t attack. I put out my hand and looked her dead in the eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry about you getting hurt and Hamus can tell you how much I reamed him out for it...Assuming I can find him. So I just want to apologize for the rashness of his actions. Friends?” I asked with the most whole hearted smile I could muster.

“Friends...Just don’t make me have to kick your flank again!” She said jokingly as she placed her hoof in my palm. Her laugh must be contagious because I quickly started laughing too.

“So, I came here to see if Hamus was here. I haven’t seen him…” I said as I looked around for my big, humanoid friend.

“Hamus? He’s inside, come on, I’ll take you to him.” She said with a small ounce of spite.

“Wait, he’s inside? Why didn’t you attack him? He’s the one who punched you!” I shouted confusedly.

“Fluttershy wouldn’t let me get back at him…” She said with clear distain.

We walked into Fluttershys cottage and sure enough Hamus was here. I looked on as he gorged himself with massive stacks of pancakes and waffles. Just looking at it made my stomach growl for the sweet, sugary foods.

“Well, well, well, It’s about time I found you.” I shouted with mock happiness. Hamus stopped eating and slowly turned toward me, syrup still dripping from his lip.

“Hey! Don’t blame me! I tried to wake you!” He shouted defensively before shoving another of the sugary cakes into his mouth. I rolled my eyes and waltzed over to the table before sitting in front of the biggest plate of pancakes I could find. I stared in wonderment before scarfing down all I could. By the end of it all I felt like I would burst from the sheer amount of food.

“Well, I’m glad you both enjoyed them.” I heard a small voice say to my right. Looking over I saw the shy, butter yellow pegasus carrying a large stack of plates to the sink. I quickly stood up and grabbed the remaining dishes and brought them over as well. I tried to offer my aid in doing the dishes but she turned me down and said that we should go see Twilight, thankfully Rainbow Dash decided to join us.

After a long and boring walk to the edge of town we could finally see everything this town had to offer. There were flower shops and small gardens littered all over with many ponies lingering about. Looking further down the road I saw a big building right in the center of town, it’s brown roof and bright pink windows really made it stand out...If the building already didn’t tower over every other building. I’d say it was some type of town hall or governmental building. Next to it was a small fountain shaped like a horse, I spied ponies tossing coins into it so I figured it was a type of wishing fountain.

And finally I spotted a big tree off to the side of the town. It had windows and a door but I couldn’t place what it would be...A sanctuary maybe? As we walked down the center of town I noticed more buildings tucked away, restaurants, clothing shops, food markets, and a big building that looked like a little girl puked all over it. the structure and design screamed, “This is a place for girls! Guys keep away!!” But who knows, that was just an option.

I slowly noticed that everyone of the ponies milling about the town stopped what they were doing and stared at the three of us. I watched them and was ready for some form of attack, but it never came. The ponies just...Stared. No screams of panic, no surprize attacks, no anything. We made it through the town without so much as a peep. The tree looking house thing appeared to be our destination.

Rainbow didn’t even bother to knock, she just threw the door open with a wood splintering bang.

“TWILIGHT!? YOU HERE!?” She shouted into the surprisingly large tree. Somehow the damn thing looked bigger on the inside.

“Just a minute!!” I heard the tell-tale voice of Twilight call from another room. We all came in and picked a nice spot to stand on while we waited for the perky pony turned librarian to arrive.

“So, what do you think this is about?” I asked Hamus casually. He shrugged his shoulders and gave a grunt.

“Could be anything. Maybe she has a job for us.” He said jokingly, letting a small laugh escape him.

“Now, how can I help you? Oh! Umbra and Hamus, I didn’t expect to see you here so early!” She said with a look of surprize, it was really kind of adorable.

“Eh, we’re early risers. Anyway, we heard that you wanted to see us?” I asked casually.

“I did. I received this scroll last night after you two left the hospital and thought you’d want to see it.” She said as she levitated out a scroll from one of the many bookshelves here. I looked at it for a few seconds while making sounds of confirmation. I rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Twilight.

“Well, that was enlightening.” I said plainly, Hamus was just as confused as Twilight as to what I meant.

“Enlightening? Enlightening how?” Hamus asked me with the look of confusion still plastered across his face.

“Well you see, I’d be able to tell you...Assuming I could actually read what it said.” I said with a shit eating grin on my face. Her face slowly contorted to confusion before turning to shock.

“You can’t read!?!” She shouted shockingly.

“Not that pony scribble. It seriously looked like someone just threw random shit at a page and called it writing.” I said defensively. She looked even more shocked before levitating over a piece of paper and a quill. I took both from her aura and knew what she wanted. I slowly scratched out a small line that stuck with me throughout the years.

You reap what you sow, Umbra. Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt.

I handed the small slip of paper over to the purple unicorn and watched as she slowly stared at it. She tucked it inside another book and placed it seemingly at random on the shelf.

“I’ll have to analyze that when I get the time, maybe I can even break the writing barrier between us.” She said before losing herself in thought.

“So, about this letter…” I said slowly, trying to bring the unicorn back to the present. She brought the letter back out from hiding.

“Ah, right. The letter said,

Dear humans,
It’s come to my understanding that neither of you are truly citizens of this land, so I would like to extend that situation unto you. Please come to me in Canterlot post haste.

I would also like to ask what exactly Princess Luna saw inside of Hamus’ mind. She seems deeply disturbed by it. I implore you to get here as soon as physically possible to get these matters squared away.

Sincerly,
Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S I would also like to ask you to keep an eye on the hu…

“WOOPS! Not supposed to read that part…” Twilight said bashfully. I looked at Hamus and gave a half smile, I’d like to see them do anything but keep an eye on us.

---

Hamus

The walk through town was interesting to say the least. This town...Ponyville I think I heard Fluttershy call it, is truly a wonder. It seems like many different races live here. I’ve seen three different types of ponies, eagle-lion things, and even some sentient animals all living together. It’s a wonder the human race was never capable of such a feat.

“...What about you Hamus?” I heard Twilight ask from the side. What were we talking about? And when did she start talking for that matter?

“Uh…” Is all I let out as a lost look crossed my face. She rolled her eyes at me but reiterated her words anyway.

“I asked, how are you liking ponyville?” She said a bit snappily. Guess there’s always a few bad apples in the bunch…

“So far it seems...Secure. Not anything like back home, that’s for sure.” I said wistfully. If all of Equestria is like this then I wouldn’t have minded living here.

“Just what conditions were you living in back home?” I heard her ask cooly. I guess she didn’t want to miss me talking about home.

“They were...Uh...What’s the word? Umbra, help me out here…” I said looking to Umbra, he gave me a smart grin before saying.

“I believe the word you’re looking for is complete. Fucking. Shit.” He said dramatically before bursting out into giggles. I join in as Twilight looked on in shock.

“Why would you insult your homeland like that!?!”

“Why wouldn’t we?” I said defensively. “Look at where you come from, it’s complete fucking peace and harmony twenty-four seven. You have friends that can complain about having a nine to five job or not having enough food to last the month. You have friends that actually come home every night. YOU can actually come home every night! You don’t have to worry about managing supply runs. You don’t have to worry about your rotation on the wall. You don’t have to sit and watch your friends die in your arms every fucking day. Do you have any idea the amount of people I’ve lost? That we’ve lost? Don’t you DARE say that we’re disrespecting our so called home. That place, no, that HELL was a death trap. Hell, When I first met Umbra he was about to die! So no Twilight, I am NOT disrespecting that barren, godless, shithole.” As I finished, I noticed the look on Twilights face showed utter horror and something else...Almost like...Hate? The deafening silence surrounding us got the better of me and I noticed the sheer amount of ponies staring at me with complete shock. Parents were covering their children’s ears, how ever futile.

“I...How…” Is all Twilight managed to stumble out. Her face was a mixture of so many emotions. Love, hate, empathy, apathy, fear, curiosity, the look says more than words ever could. With a sigh, I let the apology flow.

“Look, I’m sorry I blew up like that but...It’s not something I like to talk about.” I said as I hung my head in shame. I looked around to still see ponies staring at me, as if judging what I’ll do next. I raised my head and turned toward the crowd, getting some of them to flinch or gasp. “I’m sorry everyone. The subject of my home is not a pleasant one and definitely not one for the children, please forgive my vulgar words and attitude.”

The crowd stared at me for a second longer before mumbled words of acceptance rang through the air, some even smiled at me, however slight. Looking back, Twilight was staring at me with a shocked expression while Nate looked a little smug.

“Nice going Hamus, never thought you’d turn out to be the “Hearts and Minds” type of guy.” Nate said unreservedly. Twilight shook her head and stared at me with conflicted eyes.

“Yes, well we really do need to talk about this, it’s a four and a half hour train ride, we’ll have the time.” She said as she trotted off. Guessing I didn’t get a choice in the matter, I followed on.

After five-ish minutes of walking, we made it to the Ponyville train station. Ponies were milling about getting tickets and luggage squared away as the train pulled in. The train was a steam train by design but had a few large rings in the front. I couldn’t fathom why they were there but shrugged it off. The rest of the train looked like...Well...A train, except with more color. The cabins and caboose were painted an eye blazing yellow with pink borders around the windows and doors.

Twilight pressed on through the crowd, most moving out of her way, the rest moving out of ours. Twilight walked up to the conductor and had a few words with him.

“So, what do you think is going to happen at the castle?” Nate asked me quietly while leaning toward me.

“Not sure. Hopefully we just hear what she has to say and move on with no fuss.” I replied back. Twilight seemed to be trying to convince the conductor that we’re friendly, but he wasn’t buying it.

“Well, lets hope. However, I hope I’m not the only one kinda wanting a fight.” He said to me with a small laugh.

“No shit, I’d love to see what one of their guards can do. Might come in useful.” I said with a deep chuckle. Judging by the looks of Twilight and the conductor, they heard me. Twilight went on to spew more illegible words before the conductor sighed and gave her three pieces of paper. She trotted over to us with a smug look as the conductor went back onto the train.

“ALL ABOARD!” We heard as the train let out an ear splitting whistle. We quickly filed onto the train, most of the other ponies eyeing us warily and keeping their distance. We followed Twilight to one of the rearmost cabins. We looked over our room, just a simple train car. Two uncomfortable benches facing each other with an end table in between.

“Now, about our conversation.” Twilight said as she laid down in her seat, taking up the entire thing.

I sighed as I sat in the rock hard seat. I took a deep breath and looked to Nate. He looked a bit scared but overall seemed ready to comply. I guessed it was time to share our story.

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, lets start with your real names.” Twilight said solidly, great…

“Uhh...Umbra? What do you think? Should we do it?” I asked as I looked to Nate, he was deep in thought as he contemplated this question.

“Well, I doubt there’s much they can do with our names here. Back home was more of an issue but here? I think it’ll be fine.” He said a little unsurely. Then he stayed silent and looked to me, fucking dick.

“Well, guess I’m going first...Mike Daniels, security force.” I said carefully, trying to cope with the number one rule of ours being blatantly tossed out the window.

“And I’m Nathanial Cor. Most just call me Nate.” Nate said with a bow.

“Well, glad to finally meet you two. now, next question, Where are you from?”

“We’re from a small camp on the outskirts of Iowa.” James said sorrowfully.

“And what exactly was this “Camp” Like?”

“It was…” I started but quietly trailed off, leaving the ambiguity to linger a moment longer. “Well...It worked. People were as happy as they could be, people were as safe as they could be; It worked.”

“What did they have to fear? It sounds to me like you were surviving a war.” Twilight asked innocently.

“Well, we were.” Nate started. “About sixty years before our camp started there was an...Uprising of sorts. The military had everyone in every state under Martial Law. Basically, that took away most of our rights which made people quite angry. Riots started springing up here and there and soldiers started firing. I don’t know if they were aiming to scare or wound but people started dying. After the “Conflict of Marina” people started getting fed up with the military. They armed themselves and started doing hit and run attacks on any patrols they could find. Eventually the military stepped up their game and brought in jets and tanks. People did what they could but many of them didn’t make it…

People started to spring up in underground camps, sewers, metros, electrical service tunnels, caves, anything people could squeeze into and hide. Some camps grew in numbers and arms and started to make a push to the surface. Lots of camps made some sort of foothold and established a surface camp, but many didn’t. Ours was lucky enough to have a forest nearby to hide in, though not without rules of our own. In order to stay hidden we had to limit the amount of light we had, suppress all our weapons, could only wear blending colors, and had to take care of the surrounding trees and flora to keep our camp concealed.”

“Why all the fighting though? That’s what I’m not understanding, why would your guard attack civilians and withhold their rights?”

“Because of the “Big Blast”. Imagine an explosion big enough to wipe equestria off the map. People were getting scared and weren’t prepared so they panicked. The military stepped in to help them, and it worked...For a bit…” I said with a sideways glance to Twilight. I’ve been staring out of the window for the past few minutes, I really hated talking about home.

“Why would anypony want to make an explosion that big!?!” She shouted out in shock.

“To assert dominance? To kill as many as he could? To make a statement? I’m not sure. But I do know that we shouldn’t worry too much about it anymore…” Nate said sadly.

Suddenly we were both thrown forward as the train slammed on the brakes, letting an ear splitting screech echo through the cabin. I looked out of the window to see us in the middle of a large green plain. Flowers of all shapes and sizes were sprinkled across the grass, bringing some life to the endless green.

“Why are we stopped?” I asked Twilight as she looked out of the window in confusion.

“I’m not sure. This isn’t anywhere near Canterlot!” She said with a hint of fear in her voice. I looked out the window to see a large group of bird-horse things land around the train. Their front half looked like an eagle while their back half looked like a pony’s. They were clad in garb that screamed unfriendly, their blackened armor seemed to suck in sunlight and give no reflection while their swords sat under their wings. They looked like a Scimitar in design but not quite the same. The blade had more of a curve to it and the handguard was made to shelter the whole hand...Claw.

Some were wearing a thick black cloth about their head, covering all but their eyes and beaks. While others had on a metal skull cap, leaving most of their face open. they slowly worked toward the train while speaking some language that I didn’t understand.

“این قطار در حال حاضر ملزم به پرداخت یک راهداری از 300 بیت های برای عبور بی خطر!” One of them yelled toward the engine. He was a stocky...Thing, being larger than most around him. His eyes were horribly scarred, leaving his hazel eyes to have a sheen over them. I didn’t like these things at all.

“Twilight, what are we dealing with here?” I asked timidly, as to not scare the mare.

“A band of bandits, and I believe they’re demanding a toll.” She said with a shakiness to her.

“And just what exactly are they?”

“Hippogriffs, they’re half eagle and half pony.” Totally called it. I looked over to Nate and saw him staring unfocustly at his feet.

“Hey Nate, your choice.” I said to him to get him to rejoin us. He slowly looked up to me and out to the Hippogriffs. One of them was hanging off the side of the train trying to frighten the civilians inside.

“Fucking bandits...Let’s do this quick.” He said as he charged his rifle, letting the echo of metal on metal ring out. I quickly took my sub2000 out of my pack and unfolded it. I placed in a magazine and pulled the charging handle back.

“Let’s rock.”

Chapter 9

View Online

Deceit in the truths

Nate

With Mike by my side, we snuck our way through the train. A few of the ponies inside saw us but thankfully kept quiet. A conductor walked out of one of the cabins and almost ran straight into us before we pushed him back in and told him to stay. Once we reached the end of the train car, we opened the door and glanced out.

“All clear” I whispered as I walked across the gap and entered the next car. Hearing the sliding door shut, I moved on through the car. This appeared to be the cafe car, judging by the tables and plates of food strewn about. A group of ponies were hiding under a few of the tables but we ignored them.

“Alright, this isn’t going to be easy. We’ve got an unknown amount of hostiles and they have us surrounded. Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Mike as I peered through the door leading to the outside.

“Do I really have a choice?” He asked with a mock chuckle.

“Nope.” I said as I kicked open the door and jumped down. One of the Hippogriffs, shocked by our exit, recoiled in fear. He didn’t have to suffer long as I sent two rounds through his chest. The muffled snaps died leaving an eerie silence about the area. Walking up to the body, I saw he still had a bit of life in his eyes. I placed my boot upon his throat and applied force. A ghastly crunch reverberated from his throat.

“اون چی بود؟” A voice sounded off from the other side of the train. I glanced to Mike and gave a panicked look. He was already ahead of me as he picked up the dead creature and placed it in a relaxed position. He motioned to me to follow as he crawled underneath the train. Not having a choice, I followed him. As soon as I was under four of the bandits surrounded the dead one.

“چه کار می کنید؟ این در هیچ زمان را برای استراحت است! هی ... شما؟” One of them yells before touching the corpse. His claw recoils as the corpses head lolls to the side. He tried to shout something but a thunderous report echoed throughout the landscape. His head exploded as the 40. caliber round blew through the birds skull. I quickly put rounds into the one next to him when another shot rang out and another bird dropped. I shot at the next one just as he took to the air. The rounds tore through his midsection and one of his wings, making him fall to the earth.

We laid in wait to see if anymore of the creatures would show up, but none did. I crawled out from under the train and walked towards the group of dead Hippogriffs. I heard a thick coughing from the side and walked towards it. The last Hippogriff I shot laid in a pool of blood and coughed violently. I approached him and raised my rifle.

“Wait!” I heard a heavily accented voice shout from behind me. I turned to find another of the bandits behind Mike with his sword across his throat. My heart thudded violently inside my chest and would be audible to any nearby.

“I’d suggest you drop your weapon creature.” It threatened. The look in Mike’s eyes told me otherwise. I glanced between the two while trying to think up a plan. I started to panic slightly when I couldn’t think up a plan that didn’t end in us dying.

“Nate…” I heard Mike growl out and the blade was pressed tighter into his throat. After some pushing, he got the blade far enough away to speak again. “Finish what you started, don’t worry bout me.” He said quickly and with the type of authority that I’ve learned not to question. I pulled the trigger.

BANG

---

Mike

I pushed heavily on the Hippogriffs arm, just enough to breath.

“Nate, finish what you started, don’t worry bout me.” I choked out as I stopped pushing on his arm. I reached down to my vest and removed another of my flashbangs, pulling the pin out with my belt buckle. I heard the muffled snap of Nate killing the wounded Hippogriff. As the pain of a blade being drawn across my throat set in, I heard the balance breaking bang of the flashbang, along with being completely blinded. The ringing in my ears was painful, very painful.

I passed out, when I woke up the world was still white, but I could see shapes and extreme colors like reds and greens. I didn’t need colors to see who was pulling me up.

“W-what?” I asked groggily as I stumble forward, being caught by Nate.

“You passed out from blood loss. I’m guessing he tried to cut an artery but didn’t get close enough. It was still enough that you passed out though. How’s your vision right now?” He asked me a bit shakily.

“Bad, I can’t see a whole lot. Reds and greens seem to be it.” I slurred out honestly.

“I’m surprised you can see that much, you were looking right at the flashbang when it went off. how bout your hearing?”

“It’s fuzzy but it’s there. I can hear well enough.” I said defensively. In all honesty I could barely hear shit but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Right, well since I doubt you’re telling me the truth, let’s get you checked out.” He said smugly.

“Why!? I said I’m fine!” I yelled out.

“How well can you hear when one of your ears is full of blood?” He asked smartly. I quickly brought a hand up to my ears and found my right one to be bleeding badly. I stumble a little at the sight of the blood but thankfully Nate caught me.

“Right, checkup, now, move.” Nate demanded as he ushered me forward. When we stepped (Hobbled) up the stairs, we ran (stumbled) down the corridors until we reached a room with a big red plus on the wall. Nate walked me (dragged me) to the counter and then everything went black.

---

Nate

“Fucking hell!” I yelled out as I felt Mike go limp. Come on you big oaf, hold out a bit longer…

“Alright, bring him over here!” I heard one of the nurses command. I hauled his big ass onto my shoulders and walked him to the table. Thankfully this was a first class train so medical staff were on board. I set him down, being mindful of his head and stepped back.

“We’re going to need some time, please, wait in the other car.” The doctor ordered. I tightened my fist and glared at the doctor.

“No way in hell I’m leaving.” I stated angrily.

“If you want to save his life you will leave.” I heard one of the male nurses say from the side. I walked out the door, leaving him on the ground with a new fist sized bruise on his muzzle.

Two Hours Later

Mike

I awoke to the sound of a constant beeping. I cracked open my eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright lights of the cabin. Closing my eyes quickly, I slowly opened them, letting them gradually adjust. I was laying on a small table, so small my legs were over the edge. there was a heart monitor to my side, along with various surgery tools. It was a small room, with a beige paint scheme about it. There was a small counter with a bruised pony behind it, along with a cabinet of medication.

“The fuck am I?” I groggily asked to no one in particular.

“MIKE!” I heard two voices yell from the other side of a door. Nate and Twilight came bursting through the door, Nate practically tripping over Twilight the whole way.

“Fucking hell am I glad to see you up!” Nate shouted with glee. He looked like hell, he was covered in dirt, mud, and a fair amount of sweat. I saw some blood across his chest piece as well.

“The fuck happened to you?” I asked tiredly, I was to tired to be that concerned.

“We had a stowaway.” Nate said ominously. Twilight sighed slightly and started shaking.

“Trouble?” I asked.

“Big trouble.”

“Great. I’ll be out in a sec.” I said getting him to nod and take Twilight out with him. I let out a loud grunt as I sat up and got my bearings. After a quick look around, I found my rifle in the corner. After taking it, I left to find Nate; I went through the door and came face to face with a heavily bound Nate. I looked on in concern before a very familiar voice echoed from behind me.

“Looks like the little bird is free again.” That same, thickly accented voice cooed. I turned to find him standing behind Twilight with Nates knife across her throat. “Now, about our earlier confrontation. I’ve learned the basic premise of that machine and have thoroughly disabled it.” He said smugly. I checked the rifle over and found the barrel and chamber to be filled with dried mud. I tossed the rifle to the ground and glared violently at the beast. “Now, your little friend here will...Expire soon if the debt isn’t paid. Six-hundr-” He never got to finish as a loud explosion rang through the cabin. The slug tore the front of his face to shreds, I didn’t care to see the back. His body stay still for a second before collapsing, freeing Twilight. I holstered my pistol and ran up to her.

She was shaking violently and glued her eyes shut out of fear. I quickly slid the knife toward Nate before picking her up. She gasped from the sudden motion and stared wildly at me.

“SNAP OUT OF IT!” I screamed as I dropped her to the deck. She let out an oomph as she hit the ground.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” She shouted hatefully.

“He ended out problem.” I heard Nate say from my side. I glanced back to see a whole bunch of cut rope. Shame, we could’ve used it…

“YOU KILLED HIM!” She shouted with a baleful glare towards us.

“Uh...The fuck did you think we did to the rest of them? They were bandits, they got off easy.” Nate said, letting the last bit fester in the air. Twilight looked on with shocked and hurting eyes.

“What are you…” She whispered quietly to herself.

“The good guys…”

---

Time passed quickly after the incident. Me and Nate threw the stiffs corpse off the train a few miles back and we’ve spent the rest of the time in silence. After clearing my weapon and a failed try at sleeping, I settled on watching the scenery pass. This place is too...Serene for people like us.

Lush landscapes filled with thousands of rolling hills and tall mountains passed by. Endless seas of flowers washed against the cabin for miles on end. Even the forest we spent so much time in rarely left our side. The whole ride, I could feel a change around us. Almost like every location had it’s own aura about it.

Twilight’s gaze has never left the window either, her body shows signs of calming. But I need not see her eyes to know there is still a void there. It’s never easy seeing your first death, no matter the justification for it.

After another hour of the peaceful backdrops, we started ascending one of the taller mountains. Looking out, I could see everything from the forest, to the valleys, to that small town of Ponyville and beyond. This view, so free of the carnage and destruction of war...It’s truly a thing worth living for.

“We’re almost there...Please don’t kill anypony there…” I heard the mares quiet voice ask.

“Tell them to keep their weapons the fuck away from us and we won’t have a problem.” I said simply. The large cityscape was starting to come into view. The massive buildings, long streets, large markets and shopping plaza’s, and of course the massive castle all surrounded us. The sounds of thousands of voices permeated the cabins walls and brought back memories of some of the larger settlements back in our world.

The train lolled to a stop and as the ear splitting screech of the brakes stopped, the doors opened. Our rag tag group gathered around the door leading to the platform before Twilight stepped off wordlessly. giving Nate a shrug, we stepped off as well. Almost immediately, all activity ceased around us. Ponies stopped talking, even moving and stared at us. The police force around us had horns aglow and swords drawn. And Twilight...Twilight just kept walking.

“That bitch! Umbra, you get left and rear, I got right and front. Keep the field of Fire at all costs. Be prepared for a fight if needed.” I harshly whispered to Nate. I heard the loud clack of his rifles bolt and cycled my own as well. Getting in a position to cover ourselves, we walked, staring down everypony around us as we went. The guards started shouting at us to halt but, ignoring them, we pressed on. We were halfway down the street before more guards showed up, effectively cutting off our route.

“Left, alley, 30 meters.” I heard nate say low enough to be heard only by me. Wordlessly, we changed course and moved through the narrow space. I walked backwards to cover our rear, when I saw the telltale shape of swords and armor coming up behind us.

“SHIFT IT!” I shouted as I took off past Nate. The heavy Pounding of our boots echoed through the confined space and I could hear the sharp clacking of hooves behind us. We poured on as much speed as we could and as soon as we reached the other end, we made a sharp right.

“Arrest them!” I heard shouts from...Above us? I didn’t have time to find the source as I was swiftly tackled to the hard, stone road. Rolling with the hit, I fought my way to the top of whoever tackled me. the pony had a blue mane with multiple hues in it and a stark white coat. That was all I registered as I drew my pistol and pressed it into the guards face.

“BACK THE FUCK UP OR HE’S DEAD!” I shouted to the contingent of guards surrounding us. Even without knowing what our weapons were or what they could do, the threat was not lost. We were locked in a stalemate of the highest degree. Thankfully, Nate managed to keep a calm, cool head about the situation.

“Where the fuck is Twilight!?!”

“Guards, stand down.” I heard an icy voice say from behind the masses. The guards gave various hateful glances at us but ultimately complied. “And you, let my guard go.” The voice commanded.

“I don’t think so.” I said slowly, not willing to give the only protection I had away.

“Uhh...Hamus? I think you may want to let him go…” I heard Nate say, sparing a glance, I saw him in a crouch with his rifle trained on one of the princesses. Her midnight blue coat seemed to contrast with the legion of white guards around her.

“You…” I said as I used my pistol, and by extension the guards face, to push myself up. “Princess Luna...I hear you wanted to see us.”

Chapter 10

View Online

To beat thy enemy...

After our abrupt and very unwelcomed arrival to the capital city, we followed Luna through the city. After making more blindingly confusing turns, we arrived on the main street of Canterlot. The shops ranged from cloth shops to coffee shops, but they all had a high class motif about them. Something was off about this place though, all the shops were closed and aside from the princess, a few guards, and ourselves, the street was empty.

“Alert status. Something’s off here…” I whispered to Nate, letting the throat mic do most of the work.

“No shit, what gave you that idea? The fact that our purple tag-a-long ditched us or the fact that there hasn’t been a single civilian here save those on the train?” He quipped back. I furrowed my brow at his sarcasm, he was right though, not a single civi is in this city so far…

“Something seems off about those I see too. They seem...Overconfident?” I said as I watched the guards walk with a pompous look on their face. Even the princess seemed too confident, swaying hips, long confident strides, not any sense of situational awareness…

“I think something big is happening...Either we still have time to figure out what it is, or we’re already a part of it.”

“What do you think we should do?” Nate asked as we turned another corner. The massive courtyard of the castle lay before us, and within it was a destroyed statue of Celestia. The doors opened with sickly green magic, letting us walk through. As we walked, I looked around and noticed all the guards had the same green aurad magic.

We walked through the slightly destroyed hallways, looking on in slight wonderment of the stained glass windows and exotic paintings...Or what was left of them.

“I need 360 coverage, safety off, be prepared for anything.” I said as simultaneous clicks echoed through the stone hallways. Luna’s ears swiveled to us before she turned to us.

“Please, leave all your weapons here, I will not have them in my home.” She said with a cold look on her face. I stared her down before something caught my eyes. Her eyes switched to a deep, sickly green for a second. At that point, I knew this wasn’t the pony she was claiming to be.

“Umbra, Get the rear! Flash out!” I yelled as I fumbled with the grenade on my webbing. The not-Luna was faster though, she shoot a large beam of magic at me. It hit me square in the chest and left me feeling...Empty. Not hungry or sad just...Empty of all emotion. I looked on with uncaring eyes as I saw Nate get torn to shreds. His blood spraying all over the walls, turning the bleak stone a bright red. An arm came flying towards me and rolled to a stop, palm up. I looked up and saw...Something through the window. From the distance it was at it was unknown to me. Then, I saw the smoke trail of a missile flying towards the castle walls. Doors got kicked in and squads of Military personnel swarmed the room killing everything in sight. Then the missile hit the wall…

Nate

I saw Mike get hit with...Something, it almost looked evil. Whatever it was took him out of the fight, he was still on the ground and crying. Black and green fire danced at the corner of his eyes as he lay there. I took one of my last equalizers, a stun grenade and dropped it at my feet.

The blast was enough to knock me back to Mike and thankfully, had the same effect on the...things. The blast must have destroyed whatever magic they were using because they were not the same as they were minutes prior. Their black, chitinous bodies were plastered with holes. They all had green, hole filled wings and broken horns adorning them. Their bug-like blue eyes were unfocused on the world.

Using this moment, I grabbed Mike’s drag handle and pulled him into the nearest room. I was not ready for what I saw inside the room…

“What the fuck…” I said to no one. The room was filled with green, semi transparent eggs. Inside the monument of eggs were ponies of all types. There had to be hundreds in this room!

“Nonono...God help me…” I heard Mike mumble from the floor. Checking on him, I saw the flames were getting darker. The green flame was turning a ghastly hue of orange. Having nothing to fix this, I grimaced at his luck and left to explore the room. The eggs seemed to be...Taking something from the ponies. There was some form of a vortex inside it that was pulsing. Glancing over the piles of ponies, I found two massive eggs in the corner. Inside were the two princesses in various states of shock. The vortex inside seemed to be pulsing faster than the others and was a deep green. Walking over to the eggs, I noticed how slimey they were.

“That’s...I...I wonder…” I said to myself as I got within arms reach to the eggs. I grabbed the knife on my arm and brought it to the egg. With a gooey, slimy squelch and a foul eldritch smell, the egg sliced open. It felt like I was cutting through bear hide and took a majority of my strength to open. Celestia fell to the floor with a meaty thump. I bent down to check on her, and sighed in relief when she was still breathing.

Celestia let out an exhausted, painful moan as she woke. She winced in pain and her hair became...well, hair.

“What...Huh...U-umbra?” She croaked out. I can’t imagine the amount of pain she’s in right now. Suddenly, as if a sheet was lifted, she gained enough energy to channel her magic. She wrapped me in telekinesis and hurled me at the wall. I hit hard enough to feel something pop uncomfortably in my back before falling to the stone floor.

Twenty minutes later

I awoke with a sharp but numbing pain in my lower back. Gasping for breath, I shot myself upwards. I took in my surroundings, I was still in the same room, Mike was beside me with far less evil looking flames around his eyes. The flames were still there but far less wicked. Celestia was...Beside her sister? I guess she broke her out of the egg. She noticed my movement and shot her gaze my way.

“Do NOT move, creature!” She shouted loud enough to shake the floor. I Sat and stared at her for a moment before gazing towards Mike.

“Fix him. I saved your life, fix him.” I said defiantly as I tried to move my legs. However, my legs wouldn’t move, toes wouldn’t wiggle, nothing would move! “Why can’t I move my legs!?” I shouted with a horrifying look about me.

“It appears you’ve broken your spine, creature.” She said smugly. It seemed...Odd, like she wasn’t entirely here.

“Celestia? Is something wrong?” I heard Luna quietly ask as she woke.

“No Lulu, nothing is wrong. Just return to your slumber.” She said aloofly. Luna didn’t fight it and cuddled tightly with her sister.

“Don’t go to sleep! Something is VERY wrong here!” I shouted, hopeful she would hear me. I couldn’t tell if she did by her actions or voice. Only by her ear flicking towards me, indicating that she heard me.

After a moment she rose to her hooves and looked my way.

“Umbra? Hamus? What’s going on here?” She asked carefully.

“I don’t know, Hamus has some weird flamey shit on his eyes. Your sister is being fucking weird, and these weird bug looking motherfuckers are shooting the place up!”

“Oh no...By the gods.” She said quietly. Her eyes were wide and her jaw tightly clenched. “Come here, quickly.” She demanded.

“I can’t, I can’t move my legs. You can thank your sister for that…” I said, pointedly glaring at Celestia. I felt a tingling over my body, finding the source to be Luna’s horn.

“It appears that a vertebrae is shattered. I could try and fix it, however it could fail and would cause a crippling pain for quite some time.” She said as she focused intently on me. I could feel her magic move to my lower back, right over my spine.

“Do it, without legs I’m useless.” I said as I grabbed a handful of blankets and shoved them into my mouth. “Hrrfm Uff!”

I was not prepared for the blinding pain I felt. I could feel every fragment, every nerve, every pop and crunch. I don’t know when I lost consciousness but when I awoke my throat was raw and the end of the blanket had flakes of blood on it.

I tried to move my legs and was met with success! Never had I been so happy to have a basic function back!

“I see it worked.” Luna said with a certain...Coldness to her voice. She was all business right now.

“Indeed. Here’s the plan, since your sister will likely kill me if I stay, I’ll go look for their leader. Kill them. And return here. I expect you to treat Hamus before I return or we may have problems. Understood?” I said sternly. She visually balked at the order, no doubt not used to receiving orders.

“No! You have no idea what you’re up against here! Changlings are extremely dangerous!” She stated, leaving no room for me to argue. “You will stay here until we figure out what is wrong with Celestia and your friend, then with consolidated forces, we will take back the castle.” I had to admit, it was a better plan than mine.

“Very well then. Take care of my friend first though, he can watch our backs while we deal with your sister.”

“And why would I treat your friend before my sister, who mind you is a ruler of this land?”

“Would you like some changlings to rush in and shoot us in the back? Or would you like someone that can watch the door to prevent it?” I said, making the only good answer very apparent. Luna seemed to shift about as she recognised her defeat.

“Very well, dark magic is powerful but not hard to get rid of.” She said as she focused on Mike, her brow furrowed and sweat started to drip from her as she reversed the spell. “This spell shouldn’t be this powerful! It’s almost like it’s still being fed!” She said as she pushed much more magic into Mike. With a gasp, her horn glowed brightly and a massive blue beam shot from her horn.

“AHHH! FUCK!” I heard Mike scream as the magic coursed through him. Luna swiftly cut the spell and everything was quiet.

Mike

I felt a searing pain in me when the missile hit the wall. It was the only feeling I could feel, pain. And this was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.

“AHHH! FUCK!” I shouted as the blast echoed through the corridor. Everything went quiet as I lay there with a burning pain in my heart.

“Is...Is he alright?” I heard a small voice ask from...Somewhere. I opened my eyes to find Luna and Nate looking over me.

“Fucking hell, what’d that bitch do to me?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Which one?” I heard Nate ask with a laugh, breaking the tension. He let out a grunt as Luna put her hoof back down on the floor.

“Right, if thou art done insulting me, may we get this moving onwards?” The way she asked seemed...Old. Like old english from the Renaissance old. Pushing her weird speech out of my head, I looked to Nate…

“Get what moving?”

“We needed someone to cover the door while we figure out what’s wrong with Sunbutt over there. Congratulations, you just volunteered!” He said happily. I stared at him for a moment while my brain made sense of what just happened. With a sigh I pushed myself up and grabbed my rifle off my chest.

“Just hurry the fuck up. I want to kill whoever did this to me.” I said as I tried to remember what exactly happened. I remember walking behind Luna and then...Then... “You bitch!” I shouted as I raised my rifle to Luna’s head. She visibly balked at me and cowered. In the blink of an eye, Nate was in my face with my rifle towards the ground.

“Later! Stow that shit for later.” He said with the cold finality I’ve come to know. I let out a growl and snapped my rifle towards the door. “Let’s go.” He said as he walked toward Celestia. Luna followed him like a little dog, always on his heels. Once they reached the alabaster alicorn, Nate raised his rifle. I turned my head to watch the door, doing my best to ignore the scene behind me.

Nate

I raised my rifle, ever so slowly towards Celestia’s head. Luna snapped the coldest gaze I’ve ever seen towards me.

“What in all this land do you THINK you’re doing!?!” Her shout was loud enough to cause me to stumble backwards.

“Protecting MY ass incase little miss fire crotch over here decides to go Super Saiyan on me again!” I shouted back as I raised my rifle. As it crossed her head, I noticed something. A flicker of green, ever so slight. Narrowing my eyes at the disgusting color, I double checked my weapon is set to fire.

“Hey Luna, these...Changlings, can they copy memories?” I asked slowly, never breaking eye contact with Celestia.

“No, they’re cunning creatures but they aren’t omnipresent.” Just the response I was looking for…

“Celestia, what were me and Hamus doing when you first met us?” I asked slowly, I hear luna suck in a breath, and one flash of green later, I had my answer.

A thunderous explosion and a spray of black blood was all that could be told of the remains. The non-Celestia’s head has become little more than paste and a forgotten memory.

“H...How did you know…” I heard Luna choke out. I looked over at her and saw her on her haunches, eyes wide and tear-filled.

“It was the eyes, they flicker green every few seconds. I noticed it the entire time she looked at us.” I replied softly. I crouched down to Luna’s level and tilted her head towards me. “This...Wasn’t your sister. Which means she’s still alive somewhere in here. And we can find her. We only need one thing and we can go.” I said as comfortably to her as I could.

“W-what do you need?”

Looking back to Hamus, he gave me a reluctant nod.

“permission.”

Chapter 11

View Online

Chapter 11
the beast inside

The mood of the stone prison was stoic. Everyone in the room felt nothing but anticipation as they readied themselves for the forthcoming fight. Princess Luna sat, staring at the curdled blood and corroded frame of the deceased bug. The humans sat in silence cleaning their rifles. The silence permeated the room for an unknown amount of time before a voice broke through.

“Luna, what’s the situation on the castle? Is it close quarters?” Nate asked inquisitively While reaching for a hard bristle brush to clean his rifle barrels.

“It’s mostly tight hallways with a wide room at each new connection. There’s two throne rooms as well as a dungeon. There are many closets such as this scattered throughout as well. There are two dining halls and kitchens as well as a central courtyard and a large garden behind the castle.” Luna said with glossy eyes.

“Hamus.” Nate said while reaching into his bag. “SitRep says tight quarters and long Field Of Fire zones. These should help us a bit.” He pulled out a short barreled Remington 870 shotgun. This shotgun had a pistol grip and a collapsible stock, as well as iron sights instead of a bead.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” Mike said as he grabbed the shotgun and worked the pump. The noise was enough to break Luna of her stupor and draw her over.

“They were in a weapons cache from the building we cleared before coming here. I nabbed these and a few short barreled rifles and pistols. I grabbed some ammo too, not much though.” Nate said as he tossed two boxes of twelve-gauge shells at Mike. “You only got two boxes, as do I. Make em count.”

“What are these fire spitting weapons?” Luna asked from the side. Nate and Mike stared at her for a moment before Nate beckoned her over.

“This is a Remington 870. It’s a twelve-gauge pump-action shotgun. That means that every time I shoot it I need to rack the slide.” Nate said while giving a forceful pump to the gun, loading a shell at the same time. “It shoots out...Well...Whatever I put in it really. All I have now is buckshot, basically a few large balls that spread out the further they go. It has one hell of a punch to it. I've never seen anything live through a shot from one of these.” Nate said as he topped off his magazine and laid it on the cold stone beside him.

He rummaged through his bag and looked through his collection. He picked up several Beretta pistols and even a few HK pistols. At the very bottom he found something interesting.

“When did I pick this fucker up?” Out from his bag he produced a Colt Single Action Army revolver. After a minute of searching he found he had no ammo for it. He checked the cylinder of the revolver and found 5 rounds in it.

“Why the hell would you grab that?” Mike asked from the side. Nate looked at him a bit worriedly.

“I didn't. There wasn't a single revolver in that stockpile. Let alone one this...old. I don’t even have any ammo for it aside from what’s in it.” This drew strange looks from Mike who laughed it off.

“Maybe Echo put it in there. Perhaps in case shit went sideways.” Nate laughed worriedly at that, acting like Mike was right. Even though he knew there wasn't a pistol like this in their camp.

“So, any idea where they’d be keeping Celestia?” Nate asked to change the subject. The mood dropped back to the solemn tension it once was.

“I would think that she’s be captive in the throne room. It’s one of the most defensible points of the castle and it’s the middle-most room.” Luna said thoughtfully. Nate looked to Mike and they nodded.

“Then that’s where we’ll go. Gear up, we’re moving.” Mike said as he slung his rifle across his back and grabbed his shotgun. He moved toward the door and aimed it at the door. Nate slung his rifle and ran up to the right side of the door. Luna ran behind Mike and waited.

“What am I to do?” She asked almost eagerly.

“Stay behind us and stick to cover. We can’t risk you getting hurt during this. If your sister is...Unfit to lead then you’re country will need you.” Nate said as he swung the door open wide. A changeling revealed itself from behind the door and turned itself towards the disturbance. One thunderous bang and a meaty thump later the now headless changeling fell to the stone floor below.

“Move up. Get covering fire set up. Don’t die.” Nate said sarcastically as Mike ran through the door. Nate popped around the door frame and moved along the right wall while Mike moved by the left. Luna moved herself behind Nate and matched his speed. She had to break into a heavy trot to keep up with the humans. Halfway down the hallway three changelings flew around the corner and hissed at the humans. Two shots later and two of them were dead with one missing a wing. Moving up the hallway, Nate ripped his pistol from his holster and planted a bullet deep into the Changelings skull as he passed.

“Luna, which way we going here?” Mike asked as he cleared the hallway behind Nate. Nate quietly doing the same.

“Right. Go right.” She panted out as she crested the corner behind the humans. As soon as she gave the direction both her escorts bolted down the hallway. During their run, they passed by several empty corridors and closed doors. Curiosity told them to check the closed rooms but their focus on the mission said otherwise. “LEFT! FIRST DOOR ON THE RIGHT!” Luna shouted from behind the group. The humans never broke stride nor speed as they turned the corner.

“Right, what’s the inside of this room like?” Nate asked as he reloaded his weapons. He moved his rifle so it dangled at his side for easy access.

“Long, open, straight.” Luna panted out as she caught her breath. Nate looked to Mike and stacked up on the door. Mike shook his fist three times and on the third he turned on a heel and brought his boot to the door. With a nasty snap from the wood the two men swept through the room.

“My god…”

Luna

All through the throne room lay the mess of the Changelings. Their goo and slime holding hundreds of ponies to their doom. Chancing a glance to the throne, I found my sister deep within an egg. The look of pain on her face said more than words ever could. Chrysalis was nowhere to be found.

“What the fuck…” I heard Umbra whisper as he dropped his weapon to his waist.

“This…” I said as I step forward. “...Is what the changelings do. All these ponies are feeding their queen. After all their love is gone, they will be eaten. We need to free them if we are to have a chance at winning.” The two humans looked on with...Unknown looks. I could never put into words what their looks described. It was a glare so baleful that it seemed to resonate heat. But their faces were near stoic. I had never seen a glare that hate-filled...

“How do we get them out?” Hamus asked angrily. His voice was much like an animals growl.

“Magic is the best way. I can get them out but it will take time.” I said as I focused my charge on a group of ponies close to me. I saw the humans wander up to the throne before closing my eyes in concentration.

Nate

Mike and I walked up through the coagulation of ponies and ascended the staircase to the throne. It’s usual ornate carvings were filled with the same green goop. The lush designer cushions were tattered and soaked. And the red colored rug was covered in a sickly green sludge that came halfway up our boots. With each step a disgusting squelch emanated from our boots.

“So...Is this the real one?” Mike asked jokingly. I tried to laugh but even I wasn't sure.

“One way to find out.” I said as I pulled my knife from it’s sheath. The blade seemed to shine as it stay before the egg. With a grunt, I pushed it deep within the eggs and sawed my way through. With the rumble of escaping air and a mighty wet slurp; Celestia fell before us.

“Hamus, stay with her. I need to go see if I can find our...Host.” I said as I sheathed my knife and raised my shotgun. I looked over my ammo count and was disturbingly low. I needed to make every shot count. I started to walk away, out of the sludge. The clacking of my boots echoed through the cold and lifeless room.

“Umbra…” I heard from behind me. I turned my head just enough to hear what Luna needed to say. “Chrysalis is strong. Especially now that she’s feeding off of all of these ponies. I fear you won’t be able to stop her…”

My face fell as I heard this. I couldn't fathom how strong this pony was. But standing and worrying never solved anything…

“You don’t need worry about me. I don’t expect to win.” I said ominously as I walked off through the single doorway behind the throne. I didn't need to look back to see the confusion on Luna’s face. And didn't need my microphone to know Mike was chuckling.

“Always with the riddles. Best of luck brother.”

---
2 hours later:

After checking what seemed like the thousandth corner I still had no clue where to find this bitch of a leader. The only way I knew where I haven’t been has been the footprints I left in the endless amounts of goo. I heard a gasp and a subdued smash of glass to my right.

’fucking finally’ I thought to myself. I hurried to the source of the noise. It came from behind a massive wooden door. The old iron supports seemed to rust away and the handle looked broken. I tried to pull it open only to have the handle snap off.

“Fuck...Looks like it’s a push.” I let out a loud grunt as I planted my foot solidly into the door. the rusted metal vibrated and cracked loudly. Another kick sealed the fate of the door as it snapped off the hinge and fell down a large flight of stairs. The echo of old wood sliding down smooth stone reverberated up the stairwell. Whatever was down there knows I’m coming. Looking to my right, I saw an unlit torch hanging on the wall. I grabbed it and used some matches from my bag to light it. Descending down into the the Dark abyss the first thing I noticed was that it smelled of cordite and sulfur. I could hear the crackling of wood and the splashes of goo splattering. The flames licked at the walls as I continued my descent. I let my shotgun hang from the sling across my chest and drew my pistol.

“Why the fuck didn't I think of bringing a flashlight…” My voice echoed down the stairwell and before long I could see the hard cracked floor and the detached door. I silently snuck down the stairwell with my pistol raised. The first thing I saw when I glanced in the room was a hell of a lot of goo. More so than in the throne room. The second thing I noticed was a very, VERY large bug creature. Without thinking I dropped the torch and holstered my pistol while bringing up my RFB. The torch seemed to melt through the goo and once it became submerged, it extinguished.

“Hmhmhmhm, did you really think you can beat me in the darkness, Creature?” A cold, drawn out voice asked. Whatever this thing was, it was trying to mess with me.

“Not when I don’t need to.” I said as I pulled out an old, heavily used pack of matches and struck one. The light was small but it didn't take long to find my target. I threw the match onto one of the barrels of sulfur and the slow forming ball of liquid fire made enough light to see most of the room. I raised my rifle and looked around for the creature. The constant laughing seemed to pulsate around me. It didn't allow me to get a bead on where exactly this thing was.

“Such a shame you wish to fight me. We could rule this world, you know? Just you and me. Who could oppose us? Not to mention all the gold we would...Acquire.” The voice said as it started giving me an idea.

“Sounds better than living our lives in a forest. What exactly did you have in mind? I said as I lowered my rifle, if this was going to work I’d need to fake it well. The creature laughed ecstatically. I could hear the squishy clopping of hooves as they plodded across the goo.

“So frail, so manipulative, so...Delectable.” The creature said almost divinely.

“Chrysalis, I must ask you something.” I said smartly. The creature stopped in it’s tracks and seemed to lose breath.

“And that would be?” She asked in her usual cold as ice voice.

“Do you know what happens when sulfur and magnesium meet?” I asked almost innocently. It didn't matter if she knew or not, she knew I did. She reeled backwards and went to charge her horn but it was too late. With a twist I drew my pistol and shot some of the stone above the barrel of burning sulfur. I really hoped the stone actually had magnesium in it like castles did back home. With a deafening blast the barrel exploded in a massive wave of fire and heat. Chunks of burning barrel scattered itself around the room. The last thing I remember before passing out is a chunk of the room falling onto me and a large, charred and bleeding creature flying across the room.

The world turned black as I slipped into the divide.

Hamus

It’s been two hours since Nate left and Celestia still hasn't woken. Looking towards Luna I saw...Something inside of her. I would say hope but it seemed more than that. I could have sworn that her eyes fucking sparkled as she pulsed her magic into Celestia. With a choking gasp Celestia awoke. I rushed forward to hold her steady and help her out of the goo.

“Luna? Hamus? Wha-What are you two doing here?” She asked between coughs. Saying she looked terrible would be a compliment. Her mane was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, she was cut up badly and her normally white coat was a dingy color with a deep green hue to it.

“Long story short, bugs are spreading this goo shit everywhere, stealing ponies, and trying to kill us. Care to explain why?” Hamus summarized as he looked Celestia over one last time to check for any life threatening injuries.

“Changelings?” She asked breathlessly. Her face told the tale of prior engagements with these vermin. “If changelings are attacking then we’re going to need more hel-wait...Where’s Umbra?” Almost on cue, a massive staccato of explosions echoed through the halls. I sprung to my feet and raised my shotgun towards the sound.

“What was that!?” Luna and Celestia shrieked as they too rose to their hooves.

“I believe that was Umbra...God-dammit...You’d better be alright…” I said as I started to run down the endless hallways. the roar of flames and the crackle of stone pinpointed the way. After a few minutes of sprinting I arrived at a charred and destroyed section of the castle. Looking around I saw a large burned...Thing and in the center of the carnage, was Nate.

Without hesitation I ran down the stairs and over to him to check if he was still alive. Thankfully he was, however saying he was fucked up beyond repair would be kind. His body was a deep red from the heat and his clothes were burned harshly. His face on one side had a massive chunk of burnt flesh hanging from it and his right arm looked worse than burnt wood. His left arm was pinned beneath a massive chunk of rock. I immediately pushed the large rock off of his arm and went pale at what I found.

“Fuck me…” I said breathlessly. His right arm was mangled and broken but his left...I feared I wouldn't be able to save it. It was smashed horrifically with a massive pool of blood around it. A grunt from Nate told me he was waking up. It was at this time that the princesses ran over to look at Umbra’s condition and recoiled at the sight of him. After they spit out the rest of their stomachs contents, they rejoined me.

“Fuck…” Nate grumbled out as he tried to hold his wounds, neither arm responded to the command. Pain flashed across his face as I looked to the princesses.

“Please tell me you can do something…” I said in a forlorn panic. I already knew the answer but desperately wanted to be proved wrong.

“I...Maybe? We may be able to save his limbs with the proper help…” Celestia trailed off as she panicked.

“Fuck…” I slouched down and kissed Nate's forehead. “I’m so sorry brother” I said as I reached down and picked him up as gently as I could and placed him on my shoulder. His cries of pain echoed through the destroyed room around us. his blood quickly stained my sleeves as I turned to walk out of the room.

As we entered the hallway, I noticed the black creature was stirring. I walked over to it and kicked it square in the jaw while I yanked up the shotgun with one hand. I placed the barrel straight unto the side of it’s head and fired. Green ichor was sprayed all over the floor as the creature lay limply on the floor. I spit on it’s carcass as I carefully picked up Nate and ran along with the princesses to the nearest occupied hospital.

---

Omnipresent

Earth

A lone supply truck pulled through the massive gates that made up the military's headquarters in the India district. The guards aimed their weapons at the truck until the driver stepped out of the vehicle and showed himself to the guards. One of the snipers on the wall recognized the man and told the gatekeepers to open the gates.

The rattle and scraping of heavy metal rattled the man's ears. He returned to his truck and drove steadily through the new-found doorway. After a short drive across the opening barracks he arrived at a small building made of salvaged metal and stacked cars. He parked the vehicle and grabbed the large canvas bag beside him.

“Morning Uri.” The man, Uri, heard from behind himself. Knowing who it was without looking he started to smile.

“Morning David” He replied in a thick Russian accent. Uri was one of the few that wanted to come help the United States after “The Event”. The heavy set Ukrainian man turned and hurled the large bag towards the skinny male behind him.

“Nice haul Uri, this should keep us fed for a few days at least.” The man said happily as he dug through the bag full of canned foods. “Boss Man wanted to see you by the way. Better not keep him waiting.” The man replied as he slunk back into his small metal hut.

Uri always hated going to see the Boss The spineless coward has never done anything for himself or his comrades. The way his small face just seemed to leak out lies and hate for everything made Uri wonder if he could make a basketball out of it. But none the less, he walked towards the command tent.

The guards out front smiled at Uri as he arrived and moved enough for the large man to pass.

“Have fun.” He heard one of the guards whisper as he passed, earning a grunt for his effort. Inside the small olive colored tent sat a lone desk with two chairs and a few books scattered about the floor. There was a small laptop in front of a scraggly looking man. He looked up over his small framed glasses and stared into Uri’s deep amber eyes.

“Sergeant Thorne. You wanted to see me?” Uri said as he stood ramrod straight in front of the man's desk.

“Uri. Sit.” The man commanded in an unsettlingly deep voice. With a sigh he removed his glasses and dragged his small tan hands over his face before settling his icy blue eyes on the man in front of him.

Uri sat in a dilapidated wooden chair causing the chair to scream in protest at the large tanned man. “Uri, care to tell me why you haven’t been meeting the quota?” The man said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“We've stayed in this location long enough that it’s getting much harder to find things worth scavenging. I recommend we either open trade routes or move locations.” The man stoically replied.

“Uri, I didn't ask for your opinion on the situation of our base! I asked why your dumb ass can’t do something as simple as finding food! You have until the end of today to bring back forty pounds of food or don’t bother returning.” Uri gawked at the number bestowed upon him. The sergeant was asking for a week of scavenging in mere hours!

“There’s no way that could happen! Is impossible!” The Ukrainian man shouted in protest, letting his accent soak through. But Thorne wasn't in the mood for this at the moment.

“Get the fuck out there and scavenge! Take a group from the reserves and go!” The sergeant screamed as he rose from his chair and stared down the large man. Uri toyed with the thought of crushing his face with his boot before silently turning and walking out of the building.

He walked towards the local Garrison and threw open the door hard enough to slam the handle through the wall on the other end. everyone stopped to see what commotion was going on when they spotted the huge man. He silently walked over to his locker and strapped on his gear. Large reinforced plates rested snugly over his body as heavy mesh coverings took the space under the armor.

He looked like the Middle Ages and the Present collided in an arms race. He grabbed his helmet which covered everything down to his shoulders. He was not sure what it was made of but it proved itself in combat. The metal helmet bent in all the places it needed to for full maneuverability and still held up to anything short of a .50 caliber armor piercing round. The helmet had no viewpoint to see from. Instead the man saw out from a large screen that encompassed all of the front and sides of the helmet. From what he could tell, there must have been thousands of microscopic cameras on the helmet. The armor was standard issue for a Spartan but his weapon was not.

“What’s got you getting geared up, Uri?” One of the men asked from behind. He sounded overly cautious, almost as if Uri was a wild animal. The hellish man turned towards the group and selected a handful at random.

“You five! Gear up, we’re going on a raid.” Was all the man said before turning to his locker. Inside was what appeared to be a massive metal square. With a guttural grunt the man lifted it onto his back, letting the armors exoskeleton take all the weight off of him. He grasped hold of a small black handle on the side of the case and tugged it out causing a band to fall from the bottom of the case. inside the band he could see rows and rows of bullets. Only one came out at any given time but the band itself held five rows that all fed into the single opening.

The man returned to his locker and picked up the custom made cannon. the large frame weapon took all of his strength to pick up. He pulled out a thick piece of metal from the side of his armor and placed it below the weapon and into a slot on the underside of it. releasing the gun, he found that it stayed in the position he left it in. grunting in satisfaction he grabbed the massive band and clipped it onto the side of the massive weapon. Pulling back the charging handle, the massive 20mm rounds Fed through the belt and into the weapon. He grabbed the weapon and found it floated around smoothly. He placed it in a low ready position and waited for the rest of his team to finish gearing up.

The man stoically watched as the men ran about and grabbed armor and rifles alike. Once he saw the last of his impromptu squad put on the last of his armor he started towards the door.

“Alright. Let’s move.” Was all he said as he walked out into the night. The men mumbled out affirmations and followed the brute of a man.

Time seemed to crawl by as the men stalked their way through the night. The sound of crumbling concrete and squealing metals were their music as they walked through the destroyed landscape. There was what appeared to them as a large forest ahead. They heard rumors that it was the last bastion for the Rebels, none had yet to guess why they never attacked. Veering off from the forest, they tracked a small stream.

Uri

All this water is really starting to piss me off...We have only been following this steam for a mile and the constant splashing and bitching of these “Men” is enough to drive anyone insane!

“Something feels wrong here…” One of the soldiers forebodingly warned. I have yet to learn this little shits name. Jacob? Jacky? Jock? Fuck it, I doubt he’ll live long enough for it to matter anyway.

“You've been saying that for the past 500 meters. Care to explain more?” I asked sarcastically. However, this little spitfuck jumped at the opportunity to gripe to whoever would listen.

“Well...It’s that type of feeling that makes your hair stand on end. Like how you’d react if you were being hunted.”

“Son...That is the stupidest thing I've heard today.” I said dumbfounded. How could one man hold this much stupidity!? We continued on until we came across an old house. It had some long dead soldiers in front of it showing that the Rebels were still very much active.

“Snipers...Clean holes right through their heads. I bet there’s more inside too…” One of the soldiers said solemnly. I grunted and walked as gracefully as a treant to the front door of the building before kicking it clear off it’s hinges. The scraping of metal on concrete reverberated throughout the halls.

The first thing I noticed was two more dead soldiers laying by a snuffed out fireplace. The second thing was a few small crates of assorted weaponry. It looked brand new, like they haven’t been in a crate for over forty years. I walked forward and looked at the crates before picking them up and handing them to my followers.

“Why do we have to carry everything again…” I heard one of the men complain. Ignoring it, I motioned for them to be silent and follow me. We cleared the rest of the building finding a few strange scorch marks of the floor and another dead body. We returned to the main room of the building and looked around for anything useful.

“Ugh! It reeks in here!” Someone shouted while doing some mix of blowing his nose and inhaling violently. I looked on in curiosity as the rest of the men started acting strangely as well.

“I’m gonna be sick…”

“Agh! My head!”

“Aah!”

“We gotta get outta here!” As much as I agreed with that last statement, we had a job to do. I opened my mouth to say something to the men but was quickly interrupted by a deafening clap of thunder. I looked to the ceiling to silently curse the sudden storm but was blinded by a flash of light. I looked on as one by one, the men disappeared in blinding green light. I cursed my luck just in time to see one last flash.

Time stood still but for a moment as I looked on at the creature in front of me. It’s large bloody fangs dripped with anticipation as it watched me. It’s blood red eyes stared on with cat like pupils. It seemed to stare deep into my soul as it blinked. It’s eyelids moved much like a lizards, moving sideways to close. It raised its front claws off the floor and let loose the most guttural roar I've ever heard. I raised my weapon to it and readied myself.

“Yekani, isilo. Lolu kuzakuba ukuphela kwakho. Buyahamba, ingane yami yesono. Phakamisa amafulegi zami black of inzondo kulabo kwangenza bakhothamele okufunwa yibo labaprofethi bamanga..” The beast echoed through my mind. I couldn't understand what it said. But I felt it was important.

With a flash, I disappeared along with the beast.

Cryptic Visage

by deathdude223

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11