> Frontlines > by MlpHero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frontlines By Mlphero123 *** For years, Equestria has known peace. The four Princesses united the many creatures and together, they formed a perfect society... until, a revolution happened in the Griffon Kingdom. The Griffon king couldn’t do anything about it, and eventually, the Griffon Kingdom was now a hot bed for new revolutionary ideas against the Princesses. The Royal Guard, along with their allies, the Changelings, Dragons, Hippogriffs, Yaks, and some defectors from the Griffons Kingdom formed the NEA, the National Equestrian Army. The Griffons felt this was a threat and they declared war on the NEA. This war would soon be known as, The Great Equestrian War. Spearhead looked at the article. He read it back and fourth. He stuffed the article into his bag and walked back to his house, which was only a few minutes away from the store. While walking, he noticed a few guards standing near a table with a few ponies lined up in front of it. He signed up for the draft to join the National Equestrian Army with his best friend only a few days ago. When he got home he went to his room. His mom walked in. “Spearhead?” “Yes mom?” “You’ve got a letter in the mail.” She gave the letter to Spearhead and left the room. He looked at the letter, confused. He wondered why he got a letter. He opened the letter, which read: Dear Mr. Spearhead, you’ve been drafted into the National Equestrian Army (NEA). The train to Canterlot will arrive in 6 hours. If you do not comply, you will be fined and arrested. Thank you for your service. Here’s your entry code: 59346 —Captain Armor of the National Equestrian Army. He reread the letter to be sure what he read was right. He checked to make sure he wasn’t in a dream. He was happier than he’d ever been in his life. He ran to the kitchen, where his mom and dad were making dinner. “Mom, dad guess what?” “What?” His dad asked. “I got in,” Spearhead replied, “I got into the Army!” “Really, that’s amazing!” His dad said. His mom came over and hugged him. There was a knock at the door. He walked over to get it. It was his best friend, Boltaction. “Hey Bolt.” Spearhead greeted. “Hey Spear, guess what,” “What?” “I got in!” Boltaction said pulling out his acceptance letter. “Me too!” Spearhead said pulling out his letter. The two grabbed each other’s letters and made sure it was real. “We should celebrate,” Boltaction said. “I’m thinking—“ “Champagne?” “You just read my mind, Spear.” Spearhead asked his mom if she needed anything from the store, to which she said, “no.” The two friends walked to the nearby store. “Who’s paying?” Boltaction asked. “We’ll flip a Bit.” They walked into the store and looked for the champagne. They looked around the freezers for the champagne. “Hey, look what I found,” Boltaction said pointing at something in the freezer. “Vodka.” “That stuff from Griffonstone?” “Yep.” Spearhead looked at the vodka. He wondered what it tasted like. Then he spotted the champagne. “Here’s the champagne.” He picked up a bottle. Then he grabbed a Bit from his bag. “Horn or Wings?” “Unicorns got a horn,” Boltaction said. “Alright,” Spearhead flipped the Bit and it landed on Wings. “Looks like you’re paying,” Boltaction said. “Lucky.” Spearhead walked over to the counter to pay while Boltaction went to get something else. He showed the clerk his and Boltactions I.D card. The clerk bagged the champagne and gave it to Spearhead. He looked around the store to find Boltaction. He walked towards his friend when he found him. “Here’s your I.D.” “Hey Spear, how are you going to shoot a gun with wings?” “Dad taught me how to shoot when I was thirteen,” Spearhead replied, “S&W Hammer-action.” “Oh, okay cowboy.” Spearhead punched his friend in the shoulder and the two walked out of the store. The two walked to the park to open the champagne. “Ready to open this Champagne?” Spearhead asked. “You bet—“ Boltaction was interrupted by the sound of a loud bell and distant pops. “The hell? Spearhead said, “that’s the emergency bell.” “Let’s move, Spear.” The two ran back into town. They were shocked to see the town in flames, with ponies running around, and griffons with rifles and sub-machine guns “They’re shooting civilians!” Boltaction whispered. He turned to see Spearhead running into the war-torn town. “What are you doing?!” “Finding my parents!” Spearhead yelled back galloping into town. He ran into his house and looked around for his parents. “Mom! Dad!” “We’re here!” His mom yelled, coming from behind the couch. “You two have to get to the Emergency Shelter!” “What about you?” His dad asked. “Give me the gun” His dad ran to the room and got the revolver and a couple of rounds. “Here.” “Alright, you two go!” Spearhead leaned in for one more hug from his parents and they ran out. He ran back to the park to find Boltaction. He found him in the exact same spot cornered by three griffons. He took two shots at the griffons. One fell down dead, another got severely injured. The remaining griffon shot at Spearhead with his bolt-action rifle. Boltaction picked up the dead griffons pistol and shot the griffon dead. The other injured griffon pulled out a small knife and tried to stab Boltaction, but was put down by Spearhead. “Thanks Spear.” “No problem, now come on.” “Where are we going?” “To kill these birds.” The two friends ran into town. They headed to the gun shop to try and get weapons. To no surprise, there were some griffons in there. Spearhead made quick work of them, taking two out with shots to the head, one more with three shots to the chest, and one more with a shot to the neck. The two ran into the store. Boltaction picked up a hunting rifle, a small pump-action shotgun, a semi-auto pistol, 5 throwing knives, and a hunting knife. Spearhead picked up another S&W Revolver, a double-barrel shotgun, a switchblade, and a few strobe lights. He also quickly made a few molotovs and picked up a sub-machine gun from one of the griffons. The two left the gun shop and ran out into the battlefield. Spearhead used his wings to grip both of his revolvers. He shot down two griffons while running. Boltaction ran into a building and pulled out the hunting rifle. He quickly picked off four griffons. Spearhead lit one of the molotovs and threw it at an airborne griffon, which just by luck, hit the griffon, causing him to fall out of the sky. “Hell yeah! You want grilled chicken, bastards!” Spearhead yelled. He pulled out the shotgun and shot another griffon. He turned around and blew another griffons head off. He watch as the headless griffon fell over. He opened the shotgun and slipped two more shells into the barrels. Okay, don’t get carried away, one bullet maybe all it takes for me to get a date with death. “Watch out!” Boltaction yelled. Spearhead turned to see a griffon pointing a pistol at his head. He activated the strobe lights and blinded the griffon, he quickly pulled out an unlit molotov and slammed it against the griffon. He took his lighter and and lit the griffon on fire. He watched as the griffon screamed and tried to put the fire out, but to no avail. He took out the SMG and ran to Boltaction. He shot down two griffons while entering the building. “Boltaction, we are leaving!” Boltaction ran down the stairs and out the door. “Where to?” “The Emergency Shelter!” The two ran towards the Emergency Shelter. They shot down many griffons in the process. They were about a few minutes away from the Shelter. “Oh shit!” Boltaction yelled. “Wha—“ the two were knocked down by a grenade. Spearhead turn around to see five griffons standing over him. “So you two are the ones who have been causing trouble.” “You bet we did, killed some of your friends in the process,” Boltaction said. “Well it’s time for you to join them.” Spearhead got ready for the inevitable. Just then, automatic rifle fire came from behind the griffons, killing all five off them. Spearhead pulled out his revolver and pointed it at the direction of the shooters. “Hold your fire,” someone said. Spearhead and Boltaction got up and stared in the direction off the shooters. Five figures emerged from the smoke, two dragon, two pegasi, and one unicorn, all in military armor. “The NEA,” Spearhead said. The two got up and walked towards the NEA team. “We’re sure glad to see you.” “No worries,” the unicorn said, “I’m Captain Shining Armor of the 13th Equestrian Battalion.” “You’re the one who sent me that letter,” Spearhead said pulling out the Acceptance Letter and giving it to Shining Armor. “What’s your code?” “59346.” “So you’re Spearhead, and what about him?” Shining Armor said pointing at Boltaction. “80174.” ”Boltaction,” Shining Armor said, “Alright you two come with us, let’s liberate your town.” Spearhead and Boltaction grabbed their weapons and followed Shining Armor and his small platoon. The group walked into Town Square. Spearhead noticed a small light reflection in the windows. “Sniper!” He yelled jumping into cover. ”Scorch, take care of that sniper.” “Yes sir,” one of the Dragons said pulling a stuck a dart-shaped item over the barrel of his rifle and fired it into the window of the building. The griffon yelled before the grenade blew him out of the window. “There are more coming!” One of the pegasus yelled. “I see’em, Dash!” Scorch said. “Ember, light’em up!” Shining yelled. The Dragon pulled out an LMG and opened fire on the charging griffons. The others also opened fire on the griffons. “I’m starting to like these two,” Dash announced. They continued to shoot for quite a while until the griffons gave up and left. They gave chase and followed the griffons to a checkpoint. Scorch pulled out another rifle grenade and waited for Shining to give him the order. Shining nodded and Scorch loaded the grenade with orange stripes around it and shot it into the checkpoint. The grenades exploded in small balls of fire. The screams of the griffons could’ve been heard from miles away. “Nice, Scorch,” the other Pegasus said. “Thanks, Flash.” The group continued to walk around the town, killing griffons and saving civilians. Spearhead pointed out that there were still ponies in the Emergency Shelter. They walked to the Emergency Shelter and opened the door to get inside. They got everyone out and did a roll call to see who was left, thankfully, nopony was killed in the altercation. Spearhead looked at a nearby griffon, who was crawling towards a nearby radio. “Pass me one of your throwing knives,” he asked Boltaction. He gave him the knife and he looked at the griffon and threw the knife at the griffon. The knife stuck into the griffons back. The griffon fell down dead. He picked up the radio. “This look like anything sir?” “No, just a broken radio,” Shining said grabbing the radio. He tried tuning the radio, but to no avail. “What do we do now?” Boltaction asked. “Now you join us.” Shining replied gripping his carbine, “come on, we have a train to catch.” The two friends looked at each other, both smirking. “Maybe we’ll get to drink that champagne after all,” Boltaction said. “Maybe buddy, maybe.” > Chapter 1: Sea Sick > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Months Later. Spearhead walked towards the Mail Center, holding a letter to his parents in his hoof. He went to the counter to pick up an envelope. He got the envelope and went to sit down and read the letter. Dear Mom and Dad, It’s been 5 months since I’ve seen you, I wanna tell you I’m still kicking. I want to tell you about the creatures in my platoon. First there’s my Captain, Shining Armor. He uses an M1 Carbine and Thompson M1A1. We’ve developed a great bond together. Me and him have exchanged some of our secrets. Although I have to admit, him failing almost every test he took in school was pretty funny. Then there’s obviously Boltaction, who’s developed a crush for our shotgunner, Rainbow Dash. The two both like using the Winchester 1897, and they like looking for trouble, heck, if there wasn’t a war on right now, they’d probably be off trying to start one. Next is our two medics, Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity apparently owned the boutique mom got dresses from and also uses a Springfield M1903. Fluttershy took care of injured animals, and also doesn’t like using her weapon, the M1 Carbine. Not sure how any of Rarity’s talents translate to medical, but I hear she’s got a good record. Next up is two Dragons, Ember and Scorch. These two are Heavy Machine Gunners, both using the BAR M1919. Ember also uses a M1 Flamethrower , and Scorch uses a M1 Rifle with Rifle Grenades. Then there’s Flash Sentry. He was once a Crystal Guard, then he was transferred to the NEA. He uses the standard issue BAR. Me and him have gotten along a bit. That’s all I have for now, I just wanted to tell you I was doing fine, From, Spearhead. Spearhead slipped the letter and a photo of himself into the envelope and closed it. He put the letter into a box where a Pegasus would fly it to Ponyville. He walked to the mess hall, where he said he was going to meet with Boltaction and Flash. He opened the door to the mess hall and walked towards Boltaction and Flash. Boltaction immediately turned his head towards Spearhead. “Hey, Spear,” Boltaction said. “Hey Bolt, hey Flash,” he greeted getting a seat. He looked at Boltaction, who was setting up a board game. “Up for a game of War?” Flash asked. “Sure.” The three sat down and started playing. “Alright,” Boltaction said, “the rules are very simple, each player will start in their respective base. Then they pick a team Ponies, Changelings, Hippogriffs, Dragons, Yaks, or Griffons. Then each player rolls a dice. The number you get is the amount of spaces you move. If you come into contact with another player, a battle begins. The player who gets attacked flips the Battle Coin. which says Fight or Flee. If you flee, you head back to base, if you fight, both players roll the dice, biggest number wins. If you attack a base same rules with Battling, biggest number wins. You win by A: eliminating all opponents, or B: Taking over all bases. Got it? Good.” The three started playing. Spearhead reached over for the changeling team, Boltaction went for hippogriffs, and Flash got ponies. Boltaction started. He rolled the dice and landed 3. Then Flash went, landing a 6. Then Spearhead landed 4. The game continued until Flash had 3 ponies left. Spearhead had 2 changelings left, and Boltaction had 1 hippogriff left. Spearhead rolled the dice when alarms started going off. “What’s going on?” Spearhead asked. Rarity appeared from around the corner. “You three, Captain needs you!” “Alright,” Flash replied. The three ran towards the control bay, where Shining Armor had been waiting. “Captain!” Spearhead said. “I’ve been expecting you three,” Shining said, “come here.” The three ponies walked towards him. Shining showed them a radar. “You see these blimps? The big green one is our ship. The small red ones are griffons.” The radar was beeping every meter the griffons moved. “Sir, what do we do?” Spearhead asked. “Go get your weapons, and defend our boat.” “Alright, come on!” The group ran down the hallway and into their quarters. Spearhead grabbed his rifle and the hammer-action revolver he took from home. He slid it into his holster and left. He ran out to the deck. “They’re boarding!” Somepony yelled. Spearhead whipped around and ran towards the griffon boarding party. Metal hooks latched onto the railings, allowing griffons to climb up. Spearhead threw two the hooks off, causing the griffons to fall into the water. He turned around and shot a griffon of the side of the ship. A griffon rushed his left flank. He turned to shoot, but the griffon knocked the gun away from him. The griffon dug his claws into Spearheads chest. “Help! Anypony!” The griffons claw went deeper, almost piercing threw the flesh. A shotgun blast hit the griffon in the back. Standing behind him was Rainbow Dash. “You okay?” She asked “Yeah, thanks Rainbow.” He replied getting up. The two ran to the front of the ship to help Boltaction. He grabbed his rifle and turned the corner to help his friends... when he saw a dead pony laying on the ground. “Sh*t.” He searched the body for anything. He found bullets, grenades, a flamethrower, and a fuel tank. “That was Fireshot...” Rainbow said, “he was a flame unit.” The two walked away from the dead pony and ran to the front of the ship. Boltaction and Flash were fighting back-to-back, shooting as many griffons as they could. Spearhead shot two of the griffons with his rifle, then turned and emptied it on a griffon coming up from behind them, the empty clip flying out with a satisfying Ping! Rainbow shot one griffon with her shotgun, then used her standard issue M1911 Pistol to take out two more griffons. Spearhead used the flamethrower to burn three more griffons, the heat from the flames were unbearable. How could any creature deal with this? He stopped shooting it and checked the area. “Are we clear?” Bolt asked. “Yeah, we’re clear,” Spearhead said with a sigh of relief. He checked the motion tracker on the flamethrower. It showed the position of the griffons and the position of ponies. “Captain and the rest of our crew’s in the Mess Hall.” The group ran to the Mess Hall and found the griffons trying to get in. Spearhead lit up the flamethrower and pointed it at the griffon. One of the griffons turned around and saw him, but didn’t have his gun. Spearhead used this time to say a terrible one-liner. “Guess you’ll need a firemacy.” He lit the griffon up, causing them to stumble around yelling. The group knocked on the door. “It’s us.” Spearhead said. While waiting, Boltaction walked over to Spearhead. “That was a terrible line. Those books you read have a lot to answer for.” “Yeah I know I still hate myself.” By this time the door opened and the Ponies let the group in. They went to the Captain. “Captain!” “Great to see you three made it through,” Shining said. “We can’t hold out much longer!” Rarity said. Rainbow Dash cocked her shotgun. Spearhead check his motion tracker. There was a big signal surrounding the boat. The squad ran out to the deck of the boat and looked over the sides. They looked at the boats that were surrounding them. The motion tracker showed another circle coming from behind the griffons. “Fuck me,” Boltaction said, “they got reinforcements coming?” “It appears so,” Shining said. The new boats appeared in sight. A transmission came on over the radio. “This is Captain Seaspray of the 14th Tidal Wave Battalion.” Shining replied with “This is Captain Armor of the 13th Equestrian Battalion, great to see you, Captain.” “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of the griffons.” A lot of gun shots rang as they heard the sounds of yelling. “You’re clear, give us authorization to board,” Seaspray said. “Alright, hop on.” More metal hooks latched on the sides, allowing hippogriffs to climb over the the railing. A purple hippogriff came over to talk with Shining. Another hippogriff followed behind him. “I’m guessing you’re Captain Armor?” “Yes sir, Captain Seaspray.” The two shook hooves/talons. Shining looked at the other hippogriff. “Who is she?” The hippogriff looked up. “I’m Lieutenant Silverstream,” she said picking up her gun. A griffon appeared from behind her. Shining pointed his gun at the griffon. “No no no no no! Don’t shoot him! He’s a defector!” Silverstream said pointing Shinings gun away from the griffon. “This is Private Gallus,” she said. Gallus didn’t say anything thing. He gripped his gun, staring at Spearhead. The group just stared for awhile. “So, what now?” Spearhead asked. “Now, we land on the beaches,” Shining said. Spearhead looked over the side of the ship. He looked at the beaches. He was ready for this, at least, he hoped. Not sure why the griffons tried landing on our ship, but whatever they wanted to do, they wouldn’t be able to do it. > Chapter 2: D-day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 6th 0600 Hours Off the Shore of The Griffon Country, Griffondy Pvt. Spearhead Spearhead, Boltaction, Rainbow, Flash, and Gallus sat at a table. “So he ask me for my watch and I’m like, ‘what the hell do you want my watch for? You’re the captain of the goshdamn griffonball team.’” Gallus said moving his knife between his talons. He was so focused on the conversation that he accidentally cut himself a bit. He looked at the wound in between his talons. He slid the knife over to Spearhead. Rainbow looked up. “Okay,” she started, “let’s make this more interesting.” She pulled a small pendent from around her neck, “Princess Luna, Guardian of Soldiers, she’s had my back since Yakyakistan.” She dropped the pendant onto the table. “Gallus, three times in ten seconds, she’s all yours.” Gallus raised his talons, “I don’t know.” “Oh, you could always wuss out.” Spearhead slid the knife back to Gallus, “my money’s on Gallus.” He grabbed the knife, “Alright, I’m in.” Flash looked away, “I can’t watch.” “Just time me when I’m ready,” Gallus replied, “now, back to my story, so me and my boys muscle our way into this poker game the opposing team had going on. We worked out a way they could signal to me everybody's cards, you should’ve seen the captains face when I took that pot.” He turned to Flash, “ready?” Flash nodded, “that’s what happens when you hustle a hustler, now.” He made the knife jump between his hands so gracefully, it could almost be considered a dance of its own. He finished and slammed the knife on the table, “You get flushed!” “No fricking way!” Bolt said. Gallus slid the knife back over and reached his talon out to Rainbow. “Mom said never shake hoofs with a griffon.” “That’s not what she said last night,” Gallus replied winking. Rainbow looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Eh, who needs a stupid pendant anyway?” “Apparently you did,” Gallus said flashing the pendent. “I’m gonna get something better, a real trophy, you’ll see.” “Good luck with that.” Spearhead was impressed. He’d never seen any creature do the knife game that fast before. He wanted to try it, but remembered it would be to easy, considering he had hoofs. Flash looked at his watch. “Oh crap!” He said, “briefings about to start, come on!” The group got up and ran towards the briefing room, where Silverstream was giving them the run down of what to expect. “When you get to the beach, get ready to find cover,” she started, “they’ll have bunkers with MG’s. Also, mines and mortar strikes are aplenty, so watch where you walk.” She stepped down. Shining Armor walked on. “Remember, who and what you fight for! Hooah?” “Hooah!” The ponies repeated. “That’s right, now head to the armory and get ready.” The ponies and hippogriffs went to the armory. Spearhead walked to his respective armor stand and slipped on the armor. “What’s this for?” Gallus asked curiously. “Armor,” Spearhead replied slipping the chestplate on. His fur turned from its normal goldish yellow look to a snowy white color, his dark blue eyes turning into a much lighter blue. Boltaction, on the other hand, turned into a deep gray color. “Why did it change you?” “It’s a way to show patriotism, and to strike fear into our foes.” Spearhead picked up his rifle and revolver and left for the boat. He climbed down to the deck of the boat. Already he felt uncomfortable, especially with the water that laid across the floor of the boat. The boat started moving towards the shoreline. The ponies stood in formation. Spearhead looked over the side of the boat, the waves crashing and knocking the boat around. He looked at Gallus and Silverstream. The two had some form of connection, he just couldn’t figure out what it was. “Alright,” Somepony started, it was the Sargeant, Sargeant Halberd, “get ready for the ramp to drop, you move or die!” That vote of confidence didn’t really help. Spearhead took out a cigarette, and using the lighter he brought from home, lit it. He smoked it for awhile before he got bored and threw it over the side. He studied his surroundings. Some ponies were throwing up, probably a mixture of the heavy meal and the shaky water. “Sir! We got incoming!” The driver yelled. A mortar strike landed near the boat and exploded in the water. Then a hail of bullets came flying around the soldiers. “Everyone down!” Silverstream yelled. The soldiers ducked down as the bullets flew past them. Spearhead looked over the side, only to see mortars and bullets hitting the water. The boat hit the shore and the ramp dropped. Bullets flew in and soldiers dropped. Spearhead looked and saw the some of the bullets had cut through the soldiers like wet paper, some even maiming their limbs. He crawled over to the side of the boat and jumped over the side. He landed in the water, the armor weighing him down like and anchor. He looked around, seeing many ponies throwing off their armor and weapons and swim to the surface, other weren’t quick enough or were seasick and drowned. He tried to swim to the surface, but the armor was too heavy. Someone came from behind him and pushed him up. He surfaced and caught his breath, then looked around to see his savior. It was Silverstream! “Come on kid, move!” She said. He followed her orders, moving to the shoreline. While walking, a hippogriff from the boat next to him, jumped into the water while on fire. When he surfaced he was dead. When Spearhead got there, he saw a even more horrific sight. The bodies of hundreds, maybe even thousands of dead hippogriffs and ponies, some ponies out of guard form some in. He was so focused on the hellish sight that he didn’t realize that there were bullets coming his way. He turned and saw the bullets coming. He panicked thinking he was gonna die when Ember tackled him. The two got behind a nearby tank trap. “Corporal, what do we do?!” He asked Ember. “Like hell if I know!” She replied pulling a nearby BAR to her. Another soldier was calling for help. Spearhead got up to help him, before another lightning strike of bullets tore the pony to pieces. Halberd dived into cover next to them. “Spearhead, join that battalion of pegasus up there!” He said firing his Thompson at the bunkers “Yes sir!” He flew up to the others. They flew to were the Griffons were bunkered at. Somehow, even with this giant battalion, it still felt like a trap. He raised his rifle just in case. The battalion got closer, where they saw a giant defensive line of bunkers, closely followed by a small city. They noticed the bright spotlights that came from the city. “That’s the garrison!” Spearhead yelled. They got closer, very confident, only for another hail of bullets to come through, sounding like a million hornets. Spearhead could only watch as some Ponies got a quick and painless death, while some got hit in the wing a fell to their deaths. He only heard the gunshots and the screams of the pegasi who fell to their death. But then the gunfire stopped, which was confusing considering they’d only cut down a good fifty, while they still mobilized in hundreds. They just stood still, pointing their guns in all directions. The sound of wheels had drawn their attention. They stared in the direction of the sound, which turned out to be griffons rolling something towards their original position. “Should we shoot?” One soldier asked. The griffons moved the thing towards them, then out of nowhere another hail of bullets came flying towards them. However, these bullets seemed different, as they tore through pegasi like someone had thrown a rock at wet paper. Spearhead could only watch as the soldiers fell down dead, as the gun blew the top half of their bodies off. A pegasus came flying to Spearhead, “we gotta move now—“ he was cut off by a bullet that blew his entire upper body off, covering Spearheads hooves in blood. Spearhead and the remaining Pegasus flew back down to the ground. Some soldiers fell to their death as both normal and cannon fire decimated them. Those who’d survived landed back down on the ground. Spearhead ran over to Shining, avoiding the giant guns fire. “Sir!” “Yes Private?” “The griffons! They have a garrison in the nearby city!” “You must be talking about Griffatin.” Another cannon shot flew past them, hitting a wounded Pony and tearing his head off. “Celestia’s mercy.” He looked up to Spearhead. “Private take this!” He said passing Spearhead a metal rod. “Bangalore, take it to the barbed wire wall!” Spearhead nodded and made a break for the wall. He had to avoid all of the mines, mortars, gunfire and more. He dived behind the wall and waited for more soldiers to show up. Boltaction took cover beside him. “Spearhead!” He yelled, “use the banger, I’ll cover you!” He positioned his rifle to face the defilade, “after we breach, keep pushing towards the bunker!” Spearhead pulled the bangalore from over his shoulder and aimed it at the barbed wire. “Light it! Light it!” Boltaction yelled. He pulled the pin and threw the bangalore onto the wire, “fire in the hole!” The explosion sent a deafening ringing down his ear as he watched everyone around charged into battle, some getting cut down by the MG fire. Flash helped him up. “Come on Spearhead!” He said grabbing Spearheads’ hoof. The two ran into the battle. Spearhead ran two a nearby gunner nest and jumped in. A griffon appeared and tried to shoot him, but Spearhead was faster, putting two bullets in his chest. He ran out and saw a griffon shanking a pony. When the pony fell down, Spearhead shot at the Griffon, but missed, and the rifle made its signature ping. Spearhead tried to draw his revolver, but the griffon tackled him. With the pistol knocked away from him, the griffon raised the knife up, but was put down by Gallus with his rifle. Gallus stared in horror as he’d just realized what he’d done. “I just killed one of my own...” Spearhead looked at Gallus, knowing this was probably hard on him. He looked up and saw the big gun aimed at Gallus, who was still standing there. He instantly jumped up and tackled Gallus into a trench. He looked at Gallus, who was still traumatized. “Gallus come on!” “Am I... Am I evil?” “No, your not. It was just natural instinct, come on Gallus, push forward!” “Okay!” He took a breath in, “okay.” The two ran up the nearby hill. Spearhead took this time to reload his rifle. Silverstream looked up at the guns’ dugout. “Spearhead, Rarity, Boltaction, go capture that gun.” The three nodded and left for the cannon. The group moved as quietly as they could, as they wanted to ambush the griffons. They took cover behind some crates. They counted to three, then they let lose, cutting down their enemies like they were shooting targets back at Basic. The griffons fell as hard as they’d hit. The ponies ran over to the cannon. “The hell is this thing?” Rarity asked. Spearhead wall around to what appeared to be the trigger. He looked through the cross hairs, which had a line going through the middle of it with a metal dot in the center. “Looks like a cannon,” Spearhead replied. He pulled the trigger and the cannon fired. Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! The cannon smoked like a stove after it fired the rounds. Spearhead motioned for Boltaction and Rarity to help him push it back to the squad. The cannon was surprisingly not that heavy, but was actually light, even with Rarity not using magic. They moved it to the squad, who stared in awe at the cannon. “The Höllensturm,” Gallus said. “The what?” Rarity replied. “That’s it’s nickname,” he said, “it’s Griffish for ‘Hell Storm’. But it’s real name is the Flak Cannon.” He walked around the gun, admiring it like it was a diamond. Ember came running towards them. “Captain! Lieutenant!” “Yes Corporal?” “Griffons, over the hill!” She said pointing at the nearby hill. Shining turned to Spearhead, “Private, can you—“ “All ready on it.” Again, the gun wasn’t heavy, which was surprising seeing as how it did so much damage. They positioned the cannon and aimed it at the charging griffons. Spearhead cranked the handle and let loose. He decimated the griffons, well at least those who couldn’t get to cover, those were picked of by Rarity and her sniper rifle. Spearhead backed away from the gun as the barrel smoked like a cigarette. He was in a mixture of disgust and amazed. “That thing is evil,” Ember said, “and I would know.” “Come on, we got a job to do,” Shining said, then looked at two more soldiers, “you two, get on that gun, let’s turn it against those sons of bitches.” Walking through the war-torn city was somewhat eerie, as it was new soil that they were walking on, and anything could happen. Spearhead looked down to his hooves, the sound of his metal boots click-clacking with every step he took. The town was quiet, and only the sounds of marching could be heard, with the occasional whisper here and there. He looked up at the sky, which had been filled with big grey clouds. Then thunder came a’ knockin’. Shining raised one of his hooves up. “Alright, Sergeant Halberd,” he started, “you take a squad and capture the town hall. Me and Lieutenant Silverstream will find an exit out of this dump.” Halberd nodded and motioned for his squad to follow him. Spearhead and several others walked deeper into the city, checking every corner and every alley. He looked at the Rifle he was holding, the mud and sand from the beach covered it. He noticed Flash closing a container that read Griffon Shoreline, Griffondy: June 6th. He walked over to Flash and asked him about the container. He explained that each one held soil from each place he visited while deployed. Spearhead nodded and walked away. He noticed that Halberd was looking at Gallus in a strange way. Gallus noticed and backed away. He turned to Spearhead. “What’s wrong with Herr Halberd?” “Herr?” Spearhead asked. “It’s Griffish for sir or mister.” “Oh, well I don’t know. Sarge hasn’t been this on edge, even after all we been through.” A small noise came from a nearby store. The soldiers turned and aimed their guns in the direction of the sound, all except Fluttershy. “tu uns nicht weh!” Gallus looked up, “wir nicht, du kannst rauskommen,” he said in his griffon dialect. Three griffons stepped out. “Don’t shoot, we’ll leave.” The family ran away. “So they can speak Equestrian?” Fluttershy asked. “Yeah, but they speak Griffish here for obvious reasons,” Gallus replied. One of the griffons came running back. He looked at Gallus. “für griffon und ruhm,” he said, “for Griffon and Glory.” “For Griffon and Glory,” Gallus replied. The griffon nodded and ran back to his family. Halberd looked at him. “For Griffon and Glory, huh?” He said. “Yes sir, not everyone agrees with the new regime,” he said, “some griffons started resistances, and are fighting for freedom.” “Interesting, everypony watch your shot, there are still civilians out here.” The soldiers marched to the town hall. When they got there, they noticed a few griffons running away. “Get them!” Halberd said, “you five, with me!” Spearhead and the other four soldiers followed the Sergeant. They walked to the door. Spearhead bucked the door down, then the soldiers walked in. They looked around the town hall room. A hail of machine gun fire flew into the room, everypony dropped. Spearhead got behind a nearby table. He stayed as quiet as he could, when the griffons walked in. One griffon took his helmet off and wiped his forehead. Spearhead looked at Sergeant Halberds body, who was twitching. He used a nearby mirror to see the exposed enemy. He took a deep breath in and shot at two griffons. One fell down dead and the other injured. He ducked behind the table again. He heard the living griffon yell something. “Hilfe! jemand!” Spearhead looked in the mirror. The griffon wasn’t armed, at least not that he could see. He heard movement coming from in front of him, but when he turned, it was just Halberd getting up. The Sergeant started limping towards the downed griffon. He looked at the griffon for awhile, before drawing his Pistol. “No wait! I have a family—“ Bang! By this time, Gallus has run in and saw Halberd shoot the griffon. He stared at the Sergeant in horror as he dropped his rifle. “Sir, you— you didn’t have to shoot him, he— he was surrendering.” “Gallus look,” he started, “there is only one rule in war, kill or be killed,” he pointed to the dead griffon, “it is us, or them!” Gallus just nodded, picking up his rifle. Halberd turned to Spearhead, “Private, that was you on the gun right?” “Y— yes sir.” “Good job out there,” he said moving past Spearhead. While walking he patted him on the shoulder and said, “worthy of a promotion, I believe.” Spearhead turned to Gallus who looked at the dead griffon. “Kill or be killed my flank.” He walked over to the dead griffon, drawing his knife and looked at the talon. Than, he craved in an ‘X’ with FGAG in going through the middle. Spearhead took out his journal and drew the symbol as best as he could. The two left out and followed Sergeant back to the others. They walked to where the rest of the platoon had set up a small base camp. He sat around the campfire and ate the MRE’s that we’re provided. Spearhead pulled out his journal, and looked at the sky. A small drizzle of rain came down. He quickly wrote in the journal before it could get ruined. Taking this beach is somethin’ I’ll never forget, especially with how many Ponies got killed. Only Celestia knows when this war will end. On the other note, Sergeant Halberd had killed a surrendering Griffon. I’m not sure if he was putting him out of his misery, or just amping up the bloodshed. I sure hope it ain’t the latter, otherwise I would not want to be on his bad side. That’s all for now. Celestia, please watch over us. —Pvt. Spearhead > Chapter 3: The Resistance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 7th Griffon Outskirts 0730 Hours Spearhead cleaned his rifle, occasionally looking up to his comrades playing small games and chatting. He reached into his saddlebag and took out a bayonet. He stuck the knife onto the barrel of his rifle. “Private!” Shining called. Spearhead looked up. “Yes sir?” Shining walked over to the Private, carrying a sheet of paper. He sat down beside him. “Look Private, we got a unique opportunity here,” he opened the paper, which turned out to be a map. “Me and Silverstream found this area and thought it would be a good flanking area,” he said pointing to some farmlands down north, which as he stated, flanked around the city of Aviation and they could hit it from behind. “Hope that rifle is ready.” Spearhead nodded. “Alright, be ready in ten minutes.” He left Spearhead to speak with the other officers. Spearhead looked at the rifle, which as of now was so clean, he wasn’t even sure it could get dirty. He pulled out his journal. Private Spearhead, 13th Equestrian Battalion, Griffon Outskirts I ain’t sure what I’m more worried about, the technology these griffons can muster, or the fact that they could ambush us at any moment. I’m still a bit shaky after yesterday’s altercation, especially with the beaches and Sarge killin’ that griffon. I’m still debating with myself over that. In any news, today we flank the griffons through some farmlands. I hope nothing goes to bad, although, I’m in a goshdamn war, and everything is wrong with war. —Pvt. Spearhead The small task force of thirty soldiers walked through the fields, some stopping to eat some of the corn and apples that were being grown. Spearhead didn’t trust the food, as he thought it was poisoned. They pushed through to a farmhouse. “Corporal,” Shining said. “Yeah?” The pony replied. “Take a few soldiers and go to the left—“ Shining was cut off by a bang which flew past him and hit the Corporal in the head, causing blood to spray everywhere. “Sniper!” He yelled. The sound of trees being knocked over drew their attention to the forest behind them. A large metal vehicle rolled up from behind them. “Run!” He yelled. Everyone broke off into small groups and scattered like roaches when a light was turned on. The metal vehicle turned around and shot at them, both with the MG, and With the cannon. Spearhead ran into Gallus, who motioned for him to come with him. The two ran into the forest, avoiding MG fire. “Come on, Spearhead!” Gallus yelled. They ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, until eventually, they couldn’t tell where they were. “Where are we Gallus?” Spearhead asked hoping the griffon knew this part of the Griffon Kingdom. “I don’t know… I’ve never been this far out.” A nearby bush made them jump. “Drop your weapons!” A grey griffon stepped out from behind the bushes and aimed her gun a Gallus. He dropped both his rifle and pistol. He looked at her, then said, “if you’re going to kill me, you might as well do it!” He took a deep breath, “For Griffon and Glory.” The griffon lowered her gun, “what?” “For Griffon and Glory, the resistance motto.” He showed her the inner side of his talon, which had For Griffon and Glory! carved into it. She then flashed her talon with the same engrave on it. Gallus looked at her, “The resistance.” She started to apologize and offered to take them to a nearby resistance camp. The two agreed and followed her. While walking, they found out her name was Gabby and that she had recently joined the resistance. The two soldiers introduced themselves and also mentioned the metal vehicle that had scattered them. She said it was a new vehicle that the griffons named the Tiger Tank. The two looked at each other, and then back at Gabby. The group walked through some bushes and found a camp full of resistance griffons. The camp was composed of tents and a nearby target range, a big mountain a little ways away, and a flag in the middle with the resistance symbol on it. The griffons turned to the two soldiers. One griffon stepped up and looked at them, “Gabby,” he said, “who are these two?” She looked at him, “they’re soldiers of the NEA,” “Spearhead stepped up, “Private Spearhead,” Then Gallus, “Private Gallus.” “Gallus?” The griffon said, his red eyes fixed on Gallus, “Gallus, is that really you?” Gallus looked as confused as an ant if it were put miles away from its nest, “it’s me, Rocky.” “Rocky?” Gallus said. The two ran over two each other and hugged, “I missed you brother.” “I missed you two. I missed you two.” Spearhead stared at the two, obviously pretty confused. Rocky looked at him, “oh! Where are my manners? My name is Staff Sergeant Rocky, I see you’ve met Corporal Gabby.” “Copy that Sarge,” Gallus replied. Spearhead looked at Rocky, “sir, we need to find our squad. That tank could still be out there.” Rocky looked at him, “well, maybe you could help us with a problem first.” “Anything,” Spearhead replied, “what do you need?” “Come with me, I’ll show you.” The two soldiers, Rocky, and Gabby walked up to the top of the nearby mountain. There they found a snowy white griffon with arctic blue eyes, and three grey downward triangles on his forehead, peeking out of a scoped Kar98k. “Winter!” Rocky called. Winter turned around and looked at the four, “Staff Sergeant, Corporal.” He turned to the other two, “why hello, the names Specialist Winter,” he said. “Private Spearhead, and my friend here is Private Gallus.” Winter nodded, then went back to looking through the scope. “Anything new?” Rocky asked. “Negative sir, they still got our boys.” Spearhead and Gallus took out their binoculars and looked through them. They saw more of the Griffon Farmlands and the Countryside in general. Then they saw a group of griffons holding more griffons hostage. They knew immediately they were resistance. Then some more enemy griffons walked into view, pointing guns at a few ponies. “They have some of our soldiers,” Spearhead said. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get them back,” Winter said. He looked through the scope again, “wish I could drop’em right now.” “You’ll get your shot, don’t worry,” Rocky said. “Sergeant!” Someone called. They turned to see another griffon running toward them, “what is it?” Rocky said. “A couple more ponies just showed up, says they’re with NEA, they’re at the Medic Tent The group moved down the mountain, with the exception of Winter, who stayed up there to watch the perimeter. They walked to the Medic Tent. There stood Boltaction, Rarity, and two more Ponies. “Rarity! Bolt! I thought we lost you!” Gallus said. Spearhead looked at the other two soldiers, “who are you two?” The first one, an orange earth pony,  stepped up, “Private First Class Applejack,” she then pointed to the other Pony, “this here is mah brother, Big Macintosh, Big Mac for short.” Big Mac nodded and looked at his sister, then back at Spearhead, “they got some of ours.” “I know, and they got some resistance soldiers,” he said. He started to think of a way to help the soldiers, then it clicked. “I have an idea.” The others looked at him. All he could do was smirk. Spearhead walked through the forest, right towards the griffon camp. As he stepped through the bushes, and walked into the camp, the griffons turned and aimed their guns at him. He surrendered and they took him into the camp. As they walked he asked them to play Revolver Roulette, saying he’d rather risk his life then be captured. They agreed and went to go get another pony to play. As they sat down, the Lieutenant gave them the revolver and they started playing. The gun landed on the other. Click! He breathed heavily. Then spun the gun again, this time landing on Spearhead. Click! He spun it. It landed on him again. Click! It landed on the Pony. Click! He spun it again, it landed on him again. Click! He spun it, it landed on Spearhead. He put the gun to his head and… He grabbed the Lieutenant and shot him with the revolver, then grabbed the griffons pistol and shot down two more griffons. A third tried rushing him, but he was put down by Winter with his sniper. Spearhead picked up the MP-40 SMG from the Lieutenant and fired at three more griffons. Then the resistance rushed in with their SMGs and Rifles. Spearhead followed them and ducked behind cover. Gabby threw him his weapons and he fired at the griffons. “Rückzug!” a griffon yelled. Gabby looked up, “they’re retreating!” As they got up, Winter came on the radio that Rocky was carrying. “Sir, you guys got a problem.” “What?” He stood silent for a few seconds before saying, “there’s a tank coming towards you.” Everyone stood in silence. They all just looked at each other and nodded. The sound of trees falling drew their attention. The tank rolled over the hill and drove towards them. They retreated to nearby rocks, some of them getting cut down by MG fire. They stayed behind the rocks for about twenty seconds before Rocky said, “Spearhead, take this,” he gave Spearhead a small device, “Tank Killer, throw it inside of the tank, we’ll draw its fire.” He and several other griffons ran in multiple directions. The MG spun in all directions like a deer would if it were surrounded by wolves. Spearhead ran towards the tank. The MG aimed at him. Rocky shot at the tank, then ran around it in circles. Spearhead climbed onto the tank and opened the MG nest. He shot a griffon with his revolver, then took the Tank Killer and threw it in. He jumped off and watched as the griffons said stuff like, “ Scheiße, raus!” and “geh raus! jetzt!” then the tank exploded in a massive fireball, taking all griffons with it. Gabby stepped beside him, “good job Private,” she said, “a job well done.” Rocky came up, “I agree.” The group looked at the sky, which was clearer than a blank canvas. The sun was shining down on them, “gotta love that Vitamin D,” Gallus said. “Praise Celestia brother,” they walked over to the prisoners. Rocky lead the other resistance griffons away so they could talk. Spearhead and Gallus talked with the other NEA soldiers, “have you seen the others out there?” Gallus asked. “Negative,” one of the soldiers said as Gallus cut him free. Another soldier spoke up, “I saw a group of NEA soldiers running towards the north,” she pulled out a compass. “Alright, then that’s where we’re heading,” Spearhead said. “Alright but can we rest, I’m really tired,” she asked. “Alright,” Spearhead said. They walked back to the resistance camp, where Rocky gave them tents. Spearhead pulled out his journal. Private Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion Griffon Resistance Camp I’m not sure if me and Gallus were just lucky, but we were able to rendezvous with a couple of resistance griffs long enough to find some of our soldiers. Tomorrow we’re heading north to find more of our soldiers. I hope Captain and the others are okay. Spearhead, Boltaction, Applejack, Rarity, Big Mac, and Gallus walked through the thickets, the plants making them itch a bit. They found a griffon camp. “That’s where they got our guys,” Big Mac said whipping his BAR over his shoulder “Winter, you in position?” Spearhead asked. “Yeah, they’re in my sights.” Spearhead looked through his binoculars, “I see Captain Armor, Corporal Ember, and a few more.” “Alright,” Gallus said. He gripped his brand new MP-40. “Alright, everycreature now your position?” Spearhead asked. They nodded. He took his M1 and fired. The others broke off into their positions. Mac fired his gun at the griffons. Rarity shot her bolt-action rifle while Applejack shot her sawed-off shotgun. Gallus went to the prisoners. Spearhead coved Gallus, “Gallus, get them I’ll cover you!” griffons tried rushing them, but Winter took them out. Spearhead charged at a griffon with his bayoneted rifle and stabbed the griffon. He drew his revolver and turned to Gallus and shot. A griffon behind Gallus fell down dead, “fuck!” he yelled, then he turned to Spearhead, “you could’a killed me damnit!” “But I didn’t,” he ran over to the soldiers, “Captain, Corporal, you alright?” “We’re not dead yet,” Ember said, “now could you please get us out of these ropes?” Gallus and Spearhead cut them loose. Ember went to cut everybody else loose. Shining looked at Spearhead, “good job, Spearhead, you did good,” he put his hoof on Spearheads shoulders, “good job, Corporal,” he walked over to Rocky. “Corporal Spearhead, has a nice ring to it,” Boltaction said. “Thanks buddy,” Spearhead replied. They walked back to the resistance camp. Spearhead returned to his tent and wrote in his journal. We found our soldiers. Captain is contacting some of our soldiers on the beach and garrisoned in the city to move to the camp. I’ve also been promoted to Corporal. We’re planning to build more structures in the camp at Rocky’s request. The soldiers who are coming are carrying materials. I’m not sure what tomorrow’s plan will be, but whatever it is, I’ll be prepared. —Cpl Spearhead > Chapter 4: CSB > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 12th Resistance Camp Cpl. Spearhead 0700 Hours Spearhead carried a box on his back, with Boltaction and Gallus helping him. They looked over to Shining, “something big is happening,” Spearhead said. “Gotta be. The princesses are here,” Gallus said Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight walked with Shining and Halberd. They examined the map Rocky set up, he greeted them and looked back at the map, “we’ve received intelligence from our liaison in the Resistance in Aviation on a supply train carrying V2 Rockets for an attack on Equestria. It must be stopped before it can launch  Celestia looked at Shining, “you and the 13th Equestrian Battalion proved yourselves on the beaches, which is why you’ll get both the opportunity and privilege.” “Thank you, your majesty, but this seems like a job for more than one platoon,” Shining said. “That is why we’re teaming you up with the CSB,” Luna said. A couple of jeeps pulled up to the camp. Three changelings hopped out of the first jeep. “Princesses,” the taller one said. “Captain Thorax, Sergeant Pharynx,” She greeted. She looked at the light blue changeling, who just nodded while looking down. “Sorry about Corporal Ocellus,” he looked at her, “she’s just worried about me leaving my subjects.” She spoke up a bit, “yes sir,” she whispered. Thorax stroked the top of her head while smiling. Celestia smiled, then looked at Spearhead, who gave a salute. She looked at Shining, “the fate of our home rest in your hooves.” She walked over to Spearhead. “Princess is coming. Better make a good first impression,” Boltaction whispered. Spearhead chuckled. Spearhead watched as Celestia walked over to them. He’d never thought he’d ever seen anything so beautiful and majestic. “Your majesty,” he said saluting. Boltaction followed suit. She looked at them, then at Gallus and the pendent around his neck. He smiled awkwardly as he didn’t know if she was happy he’d fought for them, or ashamed that he’d left his own. “You know it’s not the latter,” she said. “H… how—” “The look in your eyes,” she put a hoof on his shoulder, “I’m just glad you’re fighting for what you believe in,” she turned to Spearhead, “Captain Armor told me about your achievements, Corporal. I look forward to seeing your achievements after this operation,” and with that she walked back to the others. “Lucky bastard,” Boltaction said. “I know,” Spearhead replied smirking Pharynx and Ocellus walked over to them. Pharynx looked at the three, “You won’t be needing your rifles, Ocellus threw them Grease Guns and suppressors. “You’ll be using these.” The three looked at each other, then nodded. The five talked for a bit, then Shining and Thorax called them. “Looks like it’s time to go,” Ocellus said. “Alright,” Spearhead replied, “c’mon you mooks, let’s move.” They walked over to the rest of the platoon and got ready. Corporal Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion. Resistance Camp If we’re gonna make our mark then we gotta be ready for anything, like teaming up with the CSB, Changeling Stealth Battalion. With their help, we’re gonna stop a Supply Train carrying ordnance to a launch sight. Hang tight Equestria, we’re gonna buy you more time. Corporal Spearhead June 12th Griffon Railway Station. Spearhead, Gallus, Gabby, Bolt, Rainbow, Flash, Shining, Halberd, Thorax, Pharynx, and Ocellus walked towards the Railway Station. Ocellus drew a bow she’d got from Pharynx. They got behind some rocks, then Ocellus spoke up, “Reminds me of the time we parachuted into Ceraon, ambushed that Griffon Patrol.” “You’re just an old romantic,” Pharynx replied. The train moved into view. “Hey you gotta give those griffs some credit, trains right on time,” Halberd said. Spearhead chuckled, “biggest train I ever seen, thickest armor too.” Gabby looked at him, “it’s a Panzerzug,” she looked back at the train, “the V2s it carries has a range of over 200 miles, more than enough to hit Equestria if in the right position, we can’t let them reach the launch sight. Halberd started shushing everyone down as a patrol approached them. “Alright,” Thorax said, “me and Ocellus will take them out, Shining will provide covering fire.” Shining walked towards Spearhead, “Spearhead,” he whispered. Spearhead turned to Shining, “since you and Gallus were so gung-ho in the farmlands you’ll provide them with covering fire, come on!” They started to walk, “suppressors on!” Halberd whispered. Spearhead and the rest of the platoon slipped their suppressors on and followed the Officers. They took cover, then Thorax looked at Spearhead, “the sniper is yours,” he said. As Spearhead got closer to the griffon, Thorax whispered, “use your knife, Spearhead.” He took out his bayonet and grabbed the griffon around his beak. He brought the knife up and slammed it into the griffons neck. “Good job, now the Officer.” Spearhead nodded and aimed, then fired, the kickback and auto-fire almost throwing him off balance. The griffon fell down dead as the others looked around. Then Pharynx took one out with his Crossbow, then Ocellus used her Bow to kill the other one. Spearhead didn’t like the kickback of auto, so he switched to semi. “Great shot,” Ocellus said looking at Spearhead. They moved towards the house. “Captain!” Thorax whispered, “take a few soldiers and go around the house!” “Alright, Spearhead stay with Thorax.” “Yes sir.” Thorax and Spearhead moved towards the house. Thorax went through the door, while Spearhead climbed through a window. Another griffon walked in their way. “I got’em,” Spearhead whispered. “Careful!” Spearhead grabbed the Griffon around the neck and held him in a stranglehold. Crack! Spearhead dropped the dead griffon and moved towards the exit. As he walked to the exit, he saw Ocellus grabbed a griffon and pulled him through a window. He walked through the doorway and saw Ocellus shanking him with a knife. She looked at the nearby griffon sniper, “he’s yours, Spearhead.” He walked over and started stabbing the griffon with his bayonet. He peered over the fence to see a couple griffons, and one pulling up in a truck. He jumped out of a hole in the fence and landed on the boxes. He snuck in between some fence and a wall. He stopped after a trucks lights came on. He watched as it drove and it was followed by another griffon. He grabbed the griffon and pulled him behind the boxes, then he slammed the griffons head against the wall, leaving a bloody mess. He turned and walked back the way he was going. He saw another griffon staring at a mirror. He pulled his silenced SMG and pointed it at the griffons head. He fired it causing the Griffons’ head to explode and the mirror to shatter. He moved under a truck hoping none of the others heard it. He stayed there for thirty seconds until he was sure. He crawled from under the truck and continued to crouch-walk to a nearby table. A truck pulled up. He saw a griffon Officer get out. He grabbed the Officers leg and pulled him under the table and killed him with a brutal necksnap. He continued his way to the train and crawled under a small hole in the wall and found some griffons around a bonfire. He raised his gun and started firing, watching the griffons fall. “Halt!” Someone called. Spearhead turned to see a griffon holding a gun to his head. “Got’im.” Another griffon appeared behind him. He dropped his gun and surrendered. He noticed a shovel on the ground. He blinked three times. An arrow flew into the second griffons neck. “What the?!—” he was cut off by Spearhead swinging the shovel at his head. Then he brought the shovel down into the griffons back, and with a heart wrenching crack, broke the griffons spine. “Thanks Ocellus.” “Don’t mention it, now come on.” The two moved through the door and into the house. Another griffon stood there, but was quickly put down by Pharynx. “Change of plans!” Thorax yelled. They ran outside. There where a few ally Jeeps pulled out. Thorax looked at them, “we’ve been spotted!” A mixture of ponies, hippogriffs, changelings, and resistance griffons hopped out of the Jeeps. Shining looked up to them, “Thorax! Trains leaving!” “We can’t let it get away!” Thorax yelled. The four ran down to join their comrades. They fired at the oncoming griffons. A stray grenade exploded near a changeling soldier. Spearhead heard his cry for help, “ah, help!” Spearhead ran over to the downed changeling, “give me covering fire!” “Please, get me outta here!” “Don’t worry! I got you!” Spearhead said grabbing the changeling and, using his wings to grip his revolver, shot at two griffons. He dragged the changeling behind a wall, then Fluttershy came running, “you’re gonna be alright!” “Thanks! I owe you my life!” Spearhead looked at Fluttershy, “I’ll take care of him!” “Alright.” He ran right back into battle. He fired at two more griffons with his SMG. Click! He ejected the magazine and slipped in a new one. He took the suppressor off, knowing it limited the lethal effect of the bullets. He moved behind a truck and fired. He switched from Semi to Auto. The spray of the gun was almost uncontrollable, and if this was the Grease Gun, he sure didn’t want to use a BAR, or maybe he was just used to semi-auto guns. He shot at a Griffon using an MG15. He crawled over to it and picked it up. He used the bipod to aim and balance. He fired at five griffons, who all fell down dead. Silverstream came over and commandeered the gun. Pharynx came running, “here, take this!” He said giving Spearhead a Sawed-off Shotgun. He moved to the house and waited. He opened the door and fired the shotgun at a griffon who was standing in front of him. The griffon went flying into a table. He moved behind the counter, then peeked out and fired at another griffon. He popped the first two shells out then loaded two more shells in. He moved to the door and opened it. He was greeted by a hail of Flak fire. “Shit!” He yelled as Flak fire tore through the wall and door of the house. Ocellus ran past him, “Corporal get up!” She said reaching a hoof out. She helped him up. “Everyone in the Jeeps!” Halberd yelled. Ocellus and Spearhead hopped into the first Jeep. Then Spearhead turned the key in the ignition and slammed on the pedal. The last thing they heard was Thorax yelling, “we can’t let it get away!” They drove along the tracks to keep up with the train. “Floor it!” Ocellus yelled. They continued to follow the train, then it started firing the Flak Cannons, “Shit! It’s firing at us!” She yelled. Some of the trees had been it. “Trees coming down! Watch out!” As they fell, some blocked the tunnel, forcing them to take the dirt road. As the tunnel ended, the train came out guns blazing. Spearhead had to carefully maneuver around the Flak. One bullet flew right past them and hit the ground near the other Jeep, causing them to go off road. “Crap!” Ocellus said looking at the road, “they’re gone it’s just us!” They continued on the road. The train seem to go off road. Then a bridge came into view. “Drive under the bridge!” Ocellus ordered. Spearhead nodded and drove under the bridge. He saw a turn coming up. “Sharp turn comin’, hold on!” Spearhead yelled drifting the Jeep like he was flying in a race. Then after the turn they drove down the path. A dirt ramp came into view, “hold on!” The Jeep flew in the air as they went over the ramp. “Awwwwg!” Ocellus grunted as they hardly hit the ground. They continued down the dirt path as the train moved down the track. “I’m gonna puke!” Ocellus said. The disappeared out of view for a moment. “I should’ve drove!” Spearhead looked behind to the MG, “now's your chance! Take the wheel!” He replied jumping onto the gun. The train appeared seemingly out of nowhere, blowing its horn, “SHOOT!” Ocellus yelled. They drove right up to the train, then its side door opened, “light them up!” Spearhead nodded a fired the MG. The bullet tore through the griffons as they fired their guns. He looked at a nearby oil tank and fired at it. The tank blew up and took most of the griffons with it. Then a hill separated them from the train. “We gotta get to the front of the train!” Ocellus said. They drove until the train came back into view. “Keep firing!” Spearhead pulled down on the trigger. He cleared his thoughts as he fired, only hearing the MG fire, which sounded like a drummer rapidly hitting a drum. His eye caught another oil tank, and he fired at it. The explosion this time around was louder, probably because they were so close to the train. “Nice Spearhead!” Ocellus yelled. He looked at her, then Flak started back up, “get us outta here!” She drove closer to the train, “they can’t hit us if we get up close.” Spearhead got back on the MG and continued to fire. Then something, a building by the looks of it, struck the MG. While they were down, a griffon stood on top of the train and threw a grenade into the Jeep. “Grenade!” Ocellus yelled. She took out her Mauser C96 and fired. The griffon fell off the train and hit the hood of the Jeep and flew off. Spearhead reached for the grenade, “I got it!” He grabbed it and threw it away from the Jeep, but it exploded near the Jeep. “Buck!” Ocellus yelled as she tried controlling the vehicle. The Jeep swerved right and left, then it drove onto the tracks and the train hit it. The train dragged it for awhile. Spearhead looked at the Jeep, “Ahh! Jeeps comin’ apart!” Ocellus looked around, then back at Spearhead, “jump!” She jumped over the side of the Jeep. “Shit!” Spearhead yelled. Then after a small debate with himself, he followed suit and jumped off and looked back at the train. Time seemed to slow down as he flew from the wreckage, metal from the Jeep flying in all directions. As he landed, the train derailed, causing all of its train cars to fly with it. A few cars landed in a giant pile. As he started to get up, an unseen gas tank exploded, sending him and the cars flying. He landed on his stomach, then turned over. Another car landed straight up and started to fall. Spearhead quickly backed up as the car fell, and with it, an unlucky griffon, who was crushed by the car as it hit the ground. Another car flew up, hitting the tower, causing it to fall over as well. Spearhead seemed to go between a state of blackouts and consciousness. “Spearhead, where the h*ll are you?!” Ocellus yelled. He turned onto his back as Ocellus came into view, “I’m coming, hang on!” She stepped out of the smoke and dust. “Holy shit! Did that just happen?!” “Can’t believe we made it!” “That’s one for the books! I hope your friend Flash brought is camera!” “Halberd might even get off my ass for five damn minutes!” As she helped Spearhead up, a bullet flew past them, “look out!” she yelled dropping to the floor. An injured griffon stepped out holding an SMG, but was quickly put down by another gunshot. A brown griffon with a white head and yellow eyes walked up. “Follow me, I’ll take you to your platoon.” Spearhead looked at her, “I’m sorry, who the hell are you?” “A friend, now hurry!” Spearhead and Ocellus exchanged looks, then got up and followed the griffon. Ocellus found her Bow and Arrows, but Spearhead couldn’t find his SMG or Double-barrel, so he was left with his revolver, bayonet, and five grenades. He followed the two over another broken car. They found two more griffons, who fired at them. Ocellus took one out with her Bow, and the other griffon took out the other with her SMG. They moved to the dead griffons. Spearhead picked up a bolt-action rifle from one of the griffons. A griffon appeared over another downed train car, and Spearhead fired at him. He pulled back on the bolt, causing an empty shellcasing to fly out. They moved up, and crawled under a passenger car. They got up and moved over to another passenger car, where a griffon stepped out. Spearhead, with lightning quick reflexes, pulled his rifle up and shot the griffon in the head. They moved through the car and took cover. Two more griffons appeared. Spearhead pulled on the bolt, aimed and fired, the primed it again. Ocellus pick off the other. They moved to a downed griffon officer, who the ally griffon shot with her Po8 pistol. They moved over to another car and had to crawl under it. A few more griffons appeared, followed by the sounds of barking. A dog ran at Spearhead. Out of fear, he aimed the rifle at the dog and shot. He felt bad as he pulled back on the bolt. He fired at two more griffons. Click! He dropped the gun and pulled out his revolver, but didn’t need to as the others had already killed them. They moved over to another car. “Your platoon is through here,” the griffon said. They crawled over the car and saw Gabby and Rocky. “I believe these two belong to you.” He walked over to them. “I see you’ve met Gilda, she’s a member of the Helios, the Aviation Resistance.” “She killed a griff that was gunnin’ for us,” Spearhead said. “You could at least try to capture and interrogate them first,” Rocky said slipping as clipboard between his wing. “That would be more trouble than they’re worth.” Shining ran over, “thought we lost you. Looks like you two’ve done some damage.” “The train was supposed to be stopped, not destroyed,” Gilda said. Halberd walked over, “hey, I’m sorry everything didn’t go as planned, but on the bright side, we just alerted every Celestia damned griffon outpost in the whole area, so we gotta move. Come on.” Everyone started moving. “Not until we finish the mission!” Gilda said, “isn’t that right Rocky?” Rocky started to speak. Spearhead just stared at the sky and waited for the next push forward. I don’t know how, but somehow me and my new friend, Corporal Ocellus, survived wrecking that train long enough to find ourselves rendezvousing with a tough resistance girl. Goes by Gilda. She’s a member of the Resistance in Aviation and if you can believe it, she made us crawl through the wreckage for some papers. She needed them for a mission in Aviation, and she had a job for us too. Corporal Spearhead  13th Equestrian Battalion Train Wreckage By blowing up that train, we bought Equestria more time. Now we’re moving into Aviation, a Griffon city. Hang tight, liberations coming soon. —Cpl. Spearhead > Chapter 5: Liberation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 23rd Cpl. Spearhead Helios Resistance Base Corporal Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion Helios Resistance Base It’s been two months since we took out that train. We’re in Aviation, a city with less support for the New Regime, which we learned is called the Eiserne Krone. Using the intel captured from the wreckage, we’re planning to liberate Aviation. Sign me up. Spearhead stood in the corner of the room with Boltaction and Flash. The three listened to the conversation between the officers. Rocky looked at the group of officers, “using the documents we got from the wreckage, Gilda and I will use them to impersonate Griffon Officers and blow the gates to the garrison.” The yells of other Resistance Griffons caught their attention. “This way gentlecolts,” Gilda said leading them to another metal door. She opened the door, where all the NEA and Resistance soldiers could see the lit up Garrison. “The Garrison is run by a griffon Officer named Polizeiführer IronClaw. When he couldn’t find my, he came for my mother, then my friends, and finally my father. Tonight, all we’ve lost, all we’ve fought for, will mean something. Tonight, we take back our city.” Rocky pointed to the building being lit up with lights, “the Garrison. Our contact there will provide us with explosives to blow the gates, that’ll be your signal to approach.” Gilda looked at the NEA soldiers, “we’re counting on you.” Shining nodded, “alright, come on.” The soldiers followed. Boltaction looked at Spearhead, “griffons won’t give up that easily.” “If we can survive Sarge and the beaches AND the tank, I’m pretty sure we can survive this.” Thorax walked past the two, “I fought alongside him at Yakyakistan,” he slowly paused, then started speaking again, “we should all be so brave…” He walked away. Gilda walked past the two friends, “it won’t be long now meine kameraden. But first, we enter the wolves den. See you there.” She walked off, leaving Spearhead and Boltaction. They exchanged looks. Tonight, they take back Aviation. Sfc. Gilda Griffon Garrison 0930 Hours The ride to the Garrison was stressful, especially with the motor vehicle, which had just been invented not to long ago and they still needed to get used to driving. Gabby had her talons gripped in the wheel like she would a gun. “One more checkpoint,” she said. A group of griffons were harassing a couple. “Hades’ thugs,” Rocky murmured watching the the two married griffons  The griffon waved his talon. “We’re going, we’re going,” Gabby said. Gilda looked down, “soon this nightmare will be over,” she said looking at her knife, which when concealed, looked like an ordinary pen. Rocky looked at her, “if you’re stopped, your cover story must be iron-clad. Let’s go over it again. You are Eris Schneider, a military attaché. You were sent by Galtron from Foreign Intelligence, to ensure IronClaws safe return to Griffonstone, take some time to go over the dossier.” She opened the small book Rocky gave her, which had all of the information she needed. She noticed a small picture of the Contact. Rocky spoke again, “this is our one chance, recruiting our inside griffon came at a terrible price. Hopefully, he’s obtained the explosives we’ll need to blow the gates.” “You worry too much, Major.” “That’s my job.” Gabby looked at her, “I’ll meet you in front of the Garrison when the operation was complete.” They nodded and got out of the vehicle, then Gabby drove off. Rocky walked over to Gilda, “who sent you?” “Galtron.” “Good,” he gave her a briefcase, “whatever happens, you must maintain possession of the briefcase at all time.” “I’ve come this far, I’ll be d*mn sure I’m gonna finish it.” Rocky nodded and walked towards the entrance. Gilda opened up the dossier to read again. Name: Eris Schneider Purpose: Travel Documents For Polizeiführer IronClaw Commanding Officer: Galtron Residence: Griffonstone (You May return here for reference) She closed the dossier and walked towards Rocky. He was already being questioned by the griffon guards. He was finally let him through then the griffon looked at Gilda. “You there, show me your papers,” he said in Griffish dialect, which just translated right through Gildas’ ears. “Here you are,” she replied giving the guard her dossier. He read through it, then looked back at her, “I’ve not seen you before, what it your purpose for this visit?” Choose an answer Continue Reading Reassignment Move to ==***== Travel Documents “I was reassigned here from Griffonstone,” Gilda said. “That’s odd, it says here you have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw.” Rocky looked over, “move this along, Sergeant, I’m in a hurry.” “Of course sir,” he handed the dossier back to Gilda, “go right ahead Fräulein Eris.” She nodded and walked towards Rocky, who threw away a cigarette he was smoking. She walked towards the door, still a bit rough after what just happened. Next time she wouldn’t be so lucky. “I have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw,” she replied. “I was not notified of this, but your papers seem to be intact,” he handed the dossier back to her, “go right ahead Fräulein Eris.” She nodded and walked towards Rocky, who threw away a cigarette he was smoking. The two walked to the door and Rocky smoked, “now remember, your contacts name is Flynch, he’s brown in color and is wearing a grey Officers uniform. Tell me the pass phrase.” “Valentine.” “Good luck,” and with that, Rocky opened the door to the Garrison. The building was lit up by lanterns and candles. It hadn’t impressed Gilda, as she’d seen many Garrisons that looked like this. She looked at Rocky, who was chatting with a couple of griffons at the reception desk. “Hello,” he said, “I just arrived from Griffonstone, do you know any good hotels?” Gilda walked away before they gave an answer. She walked to the stairs, but the guard stopped her, “this stairway is for officers only, you can try the back stairway.” She nodded and left, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She walked towards the back stairs. Along the way, she got a lot of suspicious looks from the other griffons. When she reached the back stairs, she saw guard standing there. “Halt,” he said, “if you need to use these stairs, I’ll need to see your papers.” She handed the dossier to him, “here you are.” The guard opened the dossier, “you must be a new transfer. Who are you here to see?” Continue reading Polizeiführer IronClaw Move to ==***== Polizeiführer Griffax “I have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw.” “Ah, Herr IronClaw must’ve ordered the main stairs off,” he stepped aside. “I’m here to see Polizeiführer Griffax.” He looked at the dossier, “it says here that you are here to see Polizeiführer IronClaw!” he slammed the dossier on the floor and pointed his MP-40 at her, “come with me, and we’ll sort this out!” (If you chose opinion 1) She walked past the griffon and walked up the stairs. When she reached the top, she was met with a ton griffons. Anyone of them could’ve been Flynch. She walked through the hallway. She decided to ask a guard. She walked up to the guard. “Excuse me,” she said. “How can I be of assistance, Fräulein?” “I need help locating an officer named Flynch.” “Okay, but I’ll need to see your papers.” She gave the dossier to the griffon,”where are you from, Fräulein?” Continue reading Griffonstone Move to ==***== Griffondy “I came from Griffonstone,” He nodded, “you’re all set,” he closed the dossier and gave it back to her, “he’s in the offices down the hall, should be one with a Hades flag over it.” “Thank you.” “Don’t mention it, Fräulein Eris.” “I came from Griffondy,” she replied. He pointed his MP-40 at her, “it said you came from Griffonstone! Come with me, we’ll sort this out with the Duty Officer!” (If you chose option 1) She walked down the hall. She found the room the guard was talking about. She walked in to see if she could find Flynch. She walked past many complaining griffons who were at their respective desks. “Looks like another day here, I swear I haven’t seen my bed in a month,” one of them said. Gilda looked around until she found a brown griffon in a grey uniform. “Excuse me, are you Officer Flynch?” “Yes, what do you need?” “Have you seen works of Valentine?” He nodded, “yes, the Autumn Song is my favorite.” “It is a favorite of mine too,” Gilda replied. “This way Fräulein Eris,” Flynch said moving towards the exit. Gilda followed. The two moved into an old room that probably hadn’t been used in a while. Flynch closed the door then looked at Gilda, “we must be brief!” he whispered. “Are you ready to make the exchange?” “No, you’re early, and I’m late for a meeting. Use your cover to get into IronClaws office on the third floor, from there you can avoid the three checkpoints by cutting across the north wing.” “Okay, meet you there.” Flynch opened the door and Gilda walked out. She headed down the hall, then left for the third set of stairs. She walked up the stairs and walked over to IronClaws office. She walked over to the front desk. “hello Fräulein Eris, how can I help you?” the receptionist asked in her griffish language. “I have documents for Herr IronClaw. Can I see him?” “No, he is currently…” she paused for a bit, “... in a meeting, if you’ll wait in his office, he’ll be with you in a few minutes.” “Thank you,” Gilda said. She walked over to the door. She opened it and walked in. She looked around the room. The fireplace warmed the room almost like a blanket. It remained Gilda of her home. She walked over to the windows. She reached for the window handle. “What are you doing at my window?” a dark, gritty voice said. She turned around to see a white griffon with red eyes staring at her. He didn’t need to have the uniform, or have all his medals, it was no secret that this was IronClaw. Gilda froze, staring at him like how a deer would stare at an oncoming train. “Sorry Herr Kommandant, I just wanted some air.” IronClaw walked towards her. She slowly calmed down, although it wasn’t easy with IronClaw being the killer of her family. “I am Fräulein Eris. I come from Griffonstone with your travel documents.” “Fräulein Eris,” he said walking towards his table. He reached for a bottle of wine. “You studied abroad. It was Saddle Arabia, right?” “Yes, that’s correct. If you’re ready, I can show you your documents now.” He walked over to her, holding two wine glasses. “We will get to that.” He handed her one of the wine glasses. “Thank you.” He gave a smile, “don’t thank me yet, Fräulein Eris.” His tone sounded weird, but Gilda ignored him. “Now if you’ll indulge me, perhaps we can converse in Equestrian cause as you know, practice makes perfect,” he said switching from Griffish to Equestrian. She nodded. “Please, have a seat,” he said switching back to Griffish. Then back to Equestrian, “have a seat.” The two griffons walked over to the very expensive and overly decorated desk. Gilda found her seat while IronClaw sat on his desk. “So, Herr Wingspan sent you to arrange for my departure, I am flattered.” Continue Reading Galtron Move to ===***=== Wingspan “It was Herr Kommandant Galtron.” IronClaw gave an almost spine chilling laugh, “very good, one can not be too careful these days.” “Yes, Herr Wingspan wanted you back in Griffonstone.” IronClaw looked at her, “did he now? And I thought it was Herr Galtron who sent you.” Gilda felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. He’d probably found out now. This isn’t going to end well... “Oh well,” he said in a strangely cheerful tune, “the only constant is change and all we can do is adapt.” Thank the Griffon King. She was safe. “You look so serious,” he said eyeing her down like a hawk. “Let us drink.” He raised the glass up, “to my return to the Kings Land.” He leaned in, “the ponies deserve each other. Then they both drank from the glass. “But mein gosh!” IronClaw said setting the glass aside. He got off his deck and walked towards the fire place. “I will miss the cuisine.” He brandished a fire poker and walked towards his fireplace. “Take the ortolan; that tiny, delicate songbird.” He started stirring around the fireplace. “It’s eyes poked out so it can gorge, then it’s drowned in cognac.” He raised the fire poker from the pit. “It’s ingenious.” He moved away from the fireplace. “I’m not sure what I will miss more. Savoring the sweet flesh. Or watching it thrash to death.” His tone was dark and gritty. He slipped the fire poker back into the basket. “However there is one thing I am certain of.” He looked back at Gilda. “Watching your family and friends drown under my talon gave me the greatest pleasure of all. Gilda!” He grabbed her and threw her down to the ground. The glasses fell to the ground and shattered. IronClaw choked Gilda. She looked around for any form of weapon. One of the wine glasses that broke was right next to her. She reached out her talon. She grabbed the wine glass and stabbed IronClaw in the side. He rolled off of her. She pinned him down and stabbed him once. “This is for my friends and comrades!” Then again. “This is for my parents!” Then one more time in his neck. “And this is for me!” She leaned in, then whispered “For Griffon and Glory.” She wiped his blood on his uniform and picked up the briefcase. She walked over to the window and opened it. She climbed through the window. She walked to the other building. A couple griffons were playing pool. She waited for a while, then they left. She crawled through the window. She walked  through the hallway and into the War Room. There, Flynch was waiting. She walked over to him. She started speaking back in Griffish. “Your reports came in from Griffonstone.” “Thank you, I’ll tend to them as soon as possible.” Gilda gave a slight bow and swapped the cases around. A few guards came in. “Seize that spy! one of them yelled. “What is this about?” Flynch asked. The guard walked over to him and pushed past him, causing a scene. The guard reached for the suitcase. “There’s a pack of explosives missing from the Munitions Storage. You where the last one seen there!” “This is absurd!” He searched through the case, “nothing,” he said. The other griffon grabbed Flynch. “No matter! Everyone show us your papers!” Gilda quickly left. She walked down the halls. She walked towards the meeting point. She turned a corner and was greeted by both Rocky and another guard. “Halt! Let me see your papers.” “Here you are.” “I’ll also need to check your case.” “I’m late for a meeting.” He threw down the dossier and grabbed his MP-40 “Fräulein! Your case— argh!” Rocky grabbed him and stabbed him in the chest. He dragged the body into the closet. Gilda followed him in. “You never disappoint.” He looked at her, “we’ve been compromised, the whole damn place is on alert.” “They’ve captured our contact.” “I’ll get him, you need to plant the explosives,” he looked at her, “you do have them, right?” “Of course.” “Alright, you’ll need to blow the south and north gates.” He opened the window. “Alright.” She stepped outside. Rocky handed he a Po8 and a suppressor. “Have to stay quiet,” she said screwing the suppressor on. She glided down from the balcony and landed behind a truck. She looked over the truck. A few griffons were walking towards her. She picked up a rock a threw it. It hit the ground and the griffon’s split up. One was heading towards her. She pulled out her pistol and shot at him. He fell down dead. She dragged his body and hid it near some oil bins. She moved to one of the others. She grabbed him and snapped his neck. She walked over to the southern gate. She looked around. No griffons were guarding it. She moved to the gate and placed the charge. “Just one more.” She turned around and walked towards the northern gate. While walking, she noticed four griffons walking towards her. She moved around them and crawled under a truck. She then moved towards a griffon with his back turned. She aimed the gun towards him. Next thing she knew, the griffons blood was everywhere. She walked over the dead corpse. There it was, the north gate. She moved closer. No guards. Perfect. She moved to the gate, walking past the large truck. “Hey!” She quickly whipped around and pulled her gun, which resulted in a hail of gunfire. She quickly dove behind the truck and fired back. She looked around for anything. Then another sound came. “Argh!” Silence. Then someone said, “Gilda get the charge!” Flynch! She quickly go up and put the final charge on. “Now it’s up to you and your team, Spearhead.” Corporal Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion Streets of Aviation Darkness wasn’t worrisome for the NEA soldiers, it was the fact that Gilda and the others were taking a long time. There was barely enough space to hide, especially behind cars. Spearhead looked at his pocket watch. “They’re late,” he whispered looking at Sergeant Halberd. “We gotta move now!” “No, hold you fire until they blow the gates!” Around five seconds went by, then… Boom! “Alright! Let’em have it!” Halberd yelled. Spearhead and his comrades piped up from behind the cars and fired. A group of griffons dropped to the ground. “Push forward!” Spearhead yelled. Silverstream and her squad moved from out of several stores along with resistance griffons. She ran towards Spearhead and Halberd. “Listen up!” she started, “we need to connect with Shining at—,” she was cut off by a bullet flying past her head, “woah!” she looked back at them, “connect with them down the block. Then we attack the garrison!” Halberd nodded. Spearhead looked over the hood of the car. He grabbed his rifle and vaulted over the car and ran towards Boltaction and Flash. “Bolt, I need you to cover me with your rifle, then you use your shotgun in the store. Flash, you’re with me. Hooah?” “Hooah!” the two soldiers repeated. “Alright, Flash let’s move, Bolt, meet us at the store!” Boltaction nodded and took aim with his rifle. Spearhead and Flash ran towards the store front. Flash took out a couple of griffons with his carbine. Spearhead shot at two griffons with his rifle, but missed one of them. “Cover me!” Flash yelled. “I gotcha covered!” He raised up and shot at more griffons as the charged him. Ping! Flash finished loading his magazine in. “Cover me now!” Flash nodded. Spearhead loaded the ammo clip into his rifle and chambered the round. A sniper shot came from Boltaction. Spearhead and Flash moved up. He called for Boltaction to come on. Boltaction looked over his cover at the sound of Spearhead’s voice. He took a breath and ran. Spearhead and Flash covered him as he ran towards the store front. He dived into his comrades. Spearhead helped Boltaction up. Flash had his back on the wall, gun ready to fire. “Buck it down Corporal,” he said. Spearhead nodded. He and Boltaction moved towards the door. Ember jumped beside them. “Ember,” Spearhead said. “Let me do it,” she said slinging her BAR over her shoulder and pulling out her flamethrower. Boltaction nodded and got back. Ember kicked the door down and burned the place to hell. All that could be heard was the screaming griffons and the sound of the flamethrower shooting off. She shut the weapon off and unslung her BAR. Spearhead took point with his rifle. A couple griffons appeared from behind the counter and started firing. “ töte diese Hurensöhne!” one of them yelled. Spearhead took a grenade from his vest and threw over to their assailants. “Scheiße! Scheiße!” Boom! “Come on, let's move!” Ember yelled. The group moved out of store and onto the streets. Spearhead dove behind another car. He raised his rifle and fired. Boltaction took aim and fired from behind. Thorax dove beside Spearhead. He raised his Mosin-Nagant and fired. “Corporal, I need you to move up, I’ll cover you!” Thorax yelled firing his rifle. Spearhead looked up and spotted Pharynx. He quickly ran towards him. He dove beside Pharynx. “Lieutenant!” Spearhead yelled landing near Pharynx, “where’s Captain Armor at?!” “He’s up there!” Pharynx replied firing his crossbow. Spearhead looked up to see Shining and his troops moving down the streets. “Pass me your pistol.” Spearhead nodded and gave it to him. Pharynx got and shot the revolver at a couple of griffons. “Here,” he said giving Spearhead the now empty gun. He raised up and fired with his crossbow. “Now let’s move up!” “Hooah!” Pharynx looked back a couple of changelings, “Чего же ты ждешь? Давай!” he yelled at them. “Да, сэр, лейтенант, сэр!” they repeated. They moved up towards Shining and his squad. Spearhead jumped over a couple of sandbags and landed near Shining. “Captain!” “Great to see you Corporal!” “Same to you sir!” he looked over the sandbags, “what’s the plan?” “We’re meeting up with a yak and and a crystal guard division, 99th Armored Yak Battalion and the 7th Diamond Infantry Division.” “Alright.” He took time to reload his revolver. He raised up and fired his rifle. Ping! He slipped a new clip into the rifle and chambered a round. “Every creature, move across the bridge!” He and Shining moved towards the bridge. Shining and Spearhead ducked behind a small wall as MG fire cut down a few soldiers. Spearhead looked over the wall. The garrison was close, but the MG was holed up on one of the floors. It had a giant hole blown in the wall. He threw a grenade at the MG, but it missed. “Damn it!” The soldiers stayed down. A couple soldiers took potshots at the griffons, with some of them falling by the MG. “We can’t advance until the MG’s down!” Shining said. “We can’t hit it right sir,” a changeling said, “we gotta flank it!” “Are you crazy?!” a hippogriff said, “we can’t step out there!” The soldiers laid there, waiting for someone to come up with a plan, then… “Zabij je!” “What was that?!” Spearhead asked. “Our backup,” Shining replied. A hail of MG fire has launched. “Zurück! Zurück!” Then the MG fire stopped. “NEA soldiers alright?” They looked over the wall to see a couple of yak soldiers standing there. “Yeah, we’re alright,” Shining said. One of the yaks stepped up. “My name Captain Groundbreaker,” he said. He looked over to another yak, a female by the looks, “this Master Sergeant Yona.” She gave a small nod. Boltaction walked up to Spearhead. “This is our backup?” Spearhead nodded. “I wouldn’t want to mess with them, just look at the guns on their backs!” Spearhead looked at the yaks. Then he noticed the large HMG’s (heavy machine gun) on their backs. “Kinda guns are those?” he asked. Groundbreaker looked at him with a smile, “this ZB-53.” Shining looked at him, “MG37.” Spearhead nodded, then looked back a the yaks, “don’t you guys use small arms weapons, like rifles?” Yona pulled a small (at least compared to her) bolt-action rifle called the vz.27 Rifle. It looked like any other rifle. Some yaks actually carried Lee-Enfields, probably lent to them by the Crystal Empire. Then Groundbreaker pulled out a pistol and SMG. The pistol was called the ČZ vz.27 and the SMG was called the ZK383. Shining looked at them. “Alright, I think it’s time to move. We gotta link up with the crystal ponies at the gate.” “Okay, we lead the way.” Boltaction looked at Yona, shaking with excitement. Yona looked at him. “Pony want to ride?” He nodded. Yona leaned over and Boltaction climbed on. “Pony use machine gun.” “Okay!” He chambered a round in the gun. Groundbreaker looked at his troops, “Vojáci, prorazte!” “Ano pane!” And with that, the yaks started walking towards the garrison. Boltaction and the other yaks, with the help of a contraption they were wearing, fired their MG’s. The griffons retreated to the garrison as fast as they could. They got closer and closer until they’d reached the gates. The soldiers stepped up to the crystal pony soldiers. Shining spoke up, “Shining Armor, who’s in charge?” A crystal stepped up, “Captain Emerald here sir.” “Emerald, I need you and your soldiers to follow me and my squad into garrison and clear it out.” “Yes sir!” He turned his soldiers, “what are you waiting for? Grab your weapons and move!” They all nodded and picked up there weapons. The group charged into the garrison. Boltaction raised Yona’s MG. When they walked into the courtyard, all they saw was Gilda, Flynch, Rocky, and Gabby fighting against the enemy. “Let’s light’em up!” Boltaction yelled firing Yona’s MG. The soldiers ran and took cover with the four griffons. They raised guns and fired. Spearhead ran up to Rocky. “What do we after this?!” Spearhead asked. “We gotta flush out the building! Come on!” “Alright! Push forward! Come on!” Spearhead and the others charged into battle. They reached the entrance door. Boltaction switched his rifle out for his shotgun. Rocky kicked open the door. Boltaction fired the shotgun at a poor griffon who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The griffon flew back into a table. The NEA soldiers moved in, picking off the blinded griffons. A resistance griffon ran over to Spearhead, carrying a box of bottles. “Here!” she said. “What are these?” “Molotov’s!” A smirk grew on his face. “Alright, I’ll put’em to good use!” He took the box and ran. He took cover behind a table and lit one of the molotov’s. He threw it towards a group of griffons. An unseen fire extinguisher exploded, sending the griffons every which way. They moved up to an office. Spearhead took the entire box and lit them all. Boltaction opened the door and Spearhead threw the whole box in, then Boltaction closed the door. They held it shut for twenty seconds, then opened it. The place was burnt to hell, no one survived that. “We won,” Shining said, “we f*cking won.” Outside, the griffons of Aviation where celebrating their victory. Burning Eiserne Krone flags, firing guns in the air. Spearhead watched as the resistance and soldiers celebrated a victory that would go down in history. He smiled. He then noticed a certain royal carriage landing on the ground. The four princesses stepped out, probably to celebrate as well. He didn’t question it. He just smiled. He grabbed his journal. Liberating Aviation is something I’ll never forget. After all we’ve been through, I’m glad to see a well deserved victory being well spent. With our new yak allies, we’re gonna push all the way to Griffonstone in no time. —Cpl. Spearhead > Chapter 6: New Recruits and Transfers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spearhead laid in his tent. It had a few weeks since the Hearth’s Moon Truce and some of the griffons joined their side. No doubt the news spread to the Eiserne Krone. He rolled out of bed and grabbed his rifle and walked towards the bonfire they’d lit. He sat on the logs and started cleaning his rifle. Shining walked over to him. “Hey Corporal.” “Hey Captain, what do you need?” Shining sat next to him, “today, we got some new soldiers moving in.” Spearhead nodded, “what do you need me to do?” “Well, today we’re attacking an airfield,” Shining said pulling out a map. He showed the map to Spearhead. “This is their final test.” “Alright Captain.” “Good, get ready. The recruiters will be here any minute. Get your rifle cleaned and your bayonet sharpened.” “Hooah Captain.” Shining gave a salute and walked off. Spearhead looked at his journal “Hooah.” January 4th Corporal Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion It has been a week or so since the Hearth’s Moon Truce, at least that’s what everybody’s calling it. I’m still kinda mad at Zeus, one of the griffons I met during the truce, for running away with the enemy griffons. As for new news, today we’re attacking an airfield with the help of some new recruits and some transferred Officers. Me and Winter are scouting ahead, then after we regroup with the others, then we attack. Spearhead and Winter crawled through the grass and shrubbery. Winter held a suppressed pistol while Spearhead held a suppressed revolver. “What’s the plan?” Spearhead asked. “Simple. We take out defenses, then we radio the others and destroy ammunition storages, and finally, communications.” The sniper looked at the pony. “Here, take this.” He handed Spearhead a small marksman scope. “Put it on your rifle.” Spearhead nodded and put the scope on his rifle. The two crawled towards the base, which consisted of a giant building and a radio tower. Winter pulled out his binoculars and scouted the area. “Sniper on the tower.” He pulled out his iron sighted Kar98k. With one trigger pull, the sniper fell down dead. All attention turned to them. “Take’em out.” Spearhead nodded and peered through his scope. He saw a couple of griffons hiding behind boxes. He took shots at them. He killed one with a headshot. He killed the other with two shots, one to his exposed leg and one to the chest. Winter on the other hand was dropping griffons like he was shooting targets at Basic. Spearhead was impressed by the griffons skills. Spearhead continued firing at his opponents. One of the griffons tried to hit him. He ducked past the bullet and took a couple potshots at his assailant. Ping! “Cover me.” “Gotcha covered.” Winter continued firing his rifle at enemy griffons. Spearhead another clip into his rifle. He looked through the scope. Then he saw a canon. “Flak Cannon!” “I see it.” Winter didn’t even seem phased by the threat. He took aim, then said, “the key is to aim at the ammo caches.” With one trigger pull, the cannon exploded in a fireball. “Damn Winter.” “I know.” He got up and whipped an MP-40 over his shoulder, “come on, let’s get down there.” “Alright.” The two soldiers slid down the slope and landed on the ground. They charged at the base. Spearhead took off his saddlebags and pulled out the radio. “Sharpened Dagger, Sharpened Dagger, this is Pine Bark 4 6, you can move in when your ready.” “Copy that Pine Bark, we’re moving in. Sharpened Dagger out.” Winter loaded a new clip into his SMG. Spearhead raised his rifle and fired at his assailants. Ping! “Cover me.” “Already on it.” Winter fired his SMG. Spearhead loaded another ammo clip into his rifle. Click! “Cover me,” Winter said. “Gotcha.” Spearhead started firing again. Winter loaded a clip, then raised up and fired. “Just gotta hold’em a little longer.” “Alright.” The two held their guard for about five minutes. Then, “Pine Bark, Pink Bark, this is the Cloudsdale Air Force. We were sent by Captain Armor.” Spearhead picked up the radio. “Weren’t expecting you. What happened to Captain Armor?” “It’ll take some for him to get there, ETA, fifteen minutes. We’ll help you for now.” “Alright, Corporal Spearhead at your service.” “Lieutenant Soarin, great to meet you.” “Alright, let’s talk more when you land. Also keep in mind I have a resistance griffon on the ground with me.” “Alright, we’re gonna airstike’em first, then we will wait for Captain Armor.” “Yes sir, over and out.” A few seconds later, an airstrike came in. Then ponies dressed in blue landed next to the two ground soldiers. Two pegasi landed next to the NEA and resistance soldiers. One of them, a light blue pegasus, took off his goggles. “I’m Lieutenant Soarin. You must be Spearhead.” “Loud and clear.” He turned to Winter, “this is Corporal Winter.” “Glad to be here,” Winter said aiming his rifle at the base. “Nothing left of the defense.” “I think we can see that,” the other pegasus said. “Calm down Thunderlane,” Soarin said. He turned back to the NEA soldiers, “Sorry about Sarge here, he’s kinda a nuisance.” “You can thay that again!” somepony from the back yelled. “Shut up Fleetfoot!” Thunderlane yelled back. “Those names…” Spearhead looked down, trying to remember where he’d heard those names, “you’re the Wonderbolts!” “Got that right kid,” Thunderlane said. “Cut it out Sarge.” Spearhead looked at them, “we waiting on somepony?” “Yeah, we’re waiting Captain Spitfire. She’s doing reconnaissance around the base.” “Alright.” A couple of bushes started rustling. A grey unicorn stepped out, followed Shining and the other soldiers, and the new recruits and transfers. “Captain,” Spearhead said. “Corporal,” he turned to Soarin, “Captain Soarin, Sergeant Thunderlane.” Shining looked around, “where’s Spitfire?” “Right here,” somepony said. A yellow pegasus mare landed in front of Shining. “Sorry ‘bout the wait, I was just doin’ some recon around the base.” She lifted her goggles up. “Well what’s it like?” Halberd asked. “No one around the base, so their probably all holed up inside.” “Alright,” Shining turned to the brown unicorn, “Lever, I need you to take a small platoon and go to the rear of the base. That way you’ll be flanking them.” “Yes sir,” Lever said. He picked a small group of soldiers, Spearhead and Boltaction included. They started their walk to the back of the base. Spearhead looked over to Boltaction, “hey Bolt, who’s Lever?” “He’s our new Sergeant… and my big brother.” Spearhead looked at him, “really?” “Yeah.” “That’s great. Maybe he’ll go easy on us.” “Maybe.” The group approached the base. They moved around to the rear entrance, where cargo was supposed to be moved to. Lever looked over to a green earth pony, “Sandbar, I need you, Table Turner, Spearhead, Boltaction, Smolder, and Spike to move into the ammunition storage, rest of us are gonna help Captain Armor with communications.” “Yes sir,” Sandbar replied. “Spearhead, Boltaction, you two have had the most combat experience, you two will lead.” “Yes Sergeant,” Spearhead said, “come on guys, let’s move.” The small platoon of six soldiers moved to the base. Spearhead looked at the soldiers, “suppressors on.” He looked at Smolder, “Smolder, you’re a heavy gunner, right?” “Yeah.” “Alright, you stay behind us in case things go loud,” he looked at her pistol, “and keep your silenced pistol out too.” He turned to Spike, “do you operate HMG’s too?” “Nah, I’m normal infantry.” “Alright, use your suppressed weapon.” Then he turned towards Table Turner. “What about you?” “Same thing as Spike, normal infantry.” “Alright,” he said. He looked at Sandbar, “here, take these,” he said handing Sandbar the charges. The soldiers moved in through the storage room. Spearhead pointed to to griffons. Boltaction made quick work of them by putting two bullets into each of their skulls. They moved towards a hallway. Spearhead motioned for them to wait as a patrol walked past. He looked at Sandbar. “Put’em down.” Sandbar moved up, then fired all seven shots from his pistol. The griffons fell down dead. He loaded a new clip into his gun. Spearhead moved up. “Good job, know let’s move, ammo deposit is this way.” He looked over to Sandbar, “I hope those charges are ready.” Sandbar nodded. The squad moved towards the deposit. They stopped at a door. Spearhead read the sign that was over it. Munitionsdepot Nur autorisierte Soldaten! “This has to be it.” Spearhead cracked the door a bit. Bingo. He motioned for everyone to move in. There laid a lot of guns and ammunition. Sandbar started planting the charges. He handed the detonator to Boltaction. Spearhead peeked out of the door. A griffon was headed towards them. “Hurry up.” “We’re almost done, aaanndd done.” Sandbar rose up. Spearhead flew the door open and shot the griffon dead. “Come on, so we can blow the charges.” The squad left the room. When everyone was out, Spearhead looked over to Boltaction, “do it.” Boltaction smiled, “with pleasure.” Click! Boom! An alarm started blaring. The soldiers looked up. Spearhead turned his attention to Smolder, “that MG ready?” “Always.” She picked up her Bren LMG and waited for her targets to appear. Boltaction loaded his incendiary shells into his shotgun. Sandbar, Spike, and Table Turner lifted their guns. The door was broken down and the griffon's charged in. Smolder cut them all down with her Bren. “Nie masz szans!” she yelled. “Achten Sie auf das Maschinengewehr!” one griffon yelled from behind cover. Spearhead took a grenade and threw it. The griffons screamed in panic just before it exploded. The soldiers moved up to the hanger. There stood Shining and the rest of the platoon. They six soldiers moved towards their Captain. “Captain!” “Spearhead, come on!” The soldiers dove behind cover. Spearhead looked at Shining “what now?” “The communications relay is this way, we gotta keep pushing.” Spearhead rose up and fired his rifle. Five out of eight of his bullets found targets. Ping! He loaded clip into his rifle. “MG42!” Table Turner yelled. A hail of bullets rained down on them, cutting down a few soldiers. Spearhead and Sandbar raised up to fire. Ping! Ping! The two ducked down, “we can’t hit it!” Sandbar yelled. Smolder looked over the oil barrel she was behind. The bullets turned to her, “d*mnit!” she yells ducking down. She looked over to Shining. “Can’t get a clear shot!” Winter looked over towards a couple boxes. “Spearhead.” “Yeah?” He pointed towards the boxes, “that’s a good flanking position.” “But we can’t reach it.” “I got this,” Gallus said, “Schlagen Sie mich nicht, ich kann ihn flankieren!” “Jawohl!” “Alright go Winter.” Winter took off and ran. The MG guard thankfully didn’t shoot at him. Winter dove behind the boxes. He unslung his rifle and looked through the iron sights. He looked at the MG guards nest. “Möge deine Seele Frieden finden.” Bang! It was a clean headshot. “We can move up now!” The soldiers moved up the stairs where the MG guard had been. As they walked past Winters kill, Sandbar tried to take a peek. Winter grabbed him and said, “Einige Geheimnisse sollten nicht gefunden werden.” That dialect was enough to scare the young GI from the dead griffon. The soldiers moved towards the communications room. The door was reinforced. Sandbar walked up and more charges on the door. “3 2 1.” Boom! The soldiers charged in and blind fired their guns in every direction. Pings and clicks came from every direction. The smoke cleared and everyone looked around. Five griffons laid dead, others where on the ground begging for their lives. Halberd looked up, “why don’t we just kill’em now?” “We need’em Sarge,” Shining said, “Spearhead, Boltaction, and Table Turner, you guys clear this place out, then meet us outside.” “Yes sir!” “Hooah!” “Affirmative.” “Alright, come on guys.” The other soldiers left, leaving the three NEA ponies in the communications center. “Well let’s get to work you mooks,” Spearhead said. They all moved towards cabinets and radios, looking for orders and classified intel. Spearhead opened a small cabinet with red Griffish writing on it. He opened the cabinet and found two papers. Eingestuft Maybe. He slipped the files into his saddlebags. He looked over to the others, “anything else?” “Nope.” “Nadda.” “Alright, let’s move back.” The three soldiers moved back to the others. While passing by the MG nest, Table Turner looked at the griffon Winter killed. A clean bullet through the eye. “It impressive when you know Winter uses iron sights,” Spearhead said. The soldiers walked out of the base. Shining looked over to them. “Alright, a large griffon force is headed our way,” he said, “the princesses have ordered us to retrea— Sccss, hello?! Anyone?! Shining picked up the radio, “hello?” Finally! Who is this?! “Captain Armor of the 13th Equestrian Battalion.” Captain Armor! I need help! This is Captain Emerald! Me and my squad are pinned down! We need backup! “But we were ordered to retreat.” Pleas— Scck! Shining looked down, “we’re helping them.” Halberd looked up, “but we were ordered to retreat, and we have prisoners.” Shining took note of this, “alright, Halberd, you and Dice Roller will stay here and watch them.” “Yes sir.” “Of course.” “Alright everyone else, let’s move.” Spearhead looked up. He liked that Shining was willing to disobey orders to save a couple of soldiers. Then he looked towards some nearby trees. A black figure with light yellow eyes. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing stuff. The figure was still there. Then it started moving towards him. “You guys see that?” Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at. “What are you looking Corporal?” Halberd asked. “You seriously don’t see that?” Everyone looked over to the direction, then back to him. They disagreed. Spearhead took his helmet off and hit himself in the head. He slipped his helmet on. He looked at the figure. It was still there, and it was approaching him now. He took off his helmet and threw it at the figure. Everyone flinched. “Are you high?!” Boltaction yelled. “No! I ain’t!” He drew his revolver, “don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot!” Everyone flinched again. “Calm down Spearhead,” Shining said. “I warned you!” He tried to pull the trigger, but couldn’t. “What the?” He couldn’t pull the trigger. He popped the cylinder out. The bullets were still in. “I should be ever to shoot.” He looked up. The figure grabbed him. “Ahh! Ahhhhh!— Beep! Beep! Beep! A stamina drained Spearhead opened his eyes. He looked down to a device on his mouth. He took the breathing mask off. He looked around the room. Shining was sitting next to him. “Spearhead! You’re awake!” “‘Course I am Captain.” “What happened Spear?” He rubbed his head, “well Cap, last thing I remember was that figure grabbing me.” “I don’t know what to say.” “It’s okay Captain.” Shining looked down, “please, don’t call me Captain.” “Why?” “Well... > Chapter 7: FUBAR > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It started after you’d passed out. We watched you drop your pistol and collapse like a domino. We ran towards to catch you.” “Is he alright?!” Boltaction asked. “Fluttershy ran over to you. She asked us to help with the armor. We took your armor off and the appearance seal dropped, revealing your goldish fur and feathers. Fluttershy put her ear to your heart.” ““He’s alive,” she said whipping some sweat away from her head.” “I sighed with relief.” “What happened next Cap?” “I’m gettin’ to that. So then we loaded you onto Yona and the yaks carried you to the nearest hospital. Then I told Halberd, ‘we’re goin’ to get Captain Emerald.’ ‘But we were ordered to retreat.’ ‘I know, but I can’t leave any soldier to die.’ Halberd nodded and guarded the prisoners. Then we left for Captain Emerald.” “Didn’t Captain Emerald assist us at Aviation?” “Yeah. Anyway, me and the squad moved towards Captain Emerald and his squad. It was a long walk, but we got there. What we saw wasn’t a battle as much as it was a massacre. Emerald and his soldiers were trapped in a trench. I ordered our troops to charge into the bloody battle. I lead ahead and jumped into the trench, ‘Emerald!’ I yelled. He looked at me. ‘Captain Armor, we’re sure glad to see you!’ Emerald said. ‘Glad to be here, how can we help?’ I asked. ‘Well, as you see we’re trapped. We need to deal with the MG nest.’ ‘Alright, we’ll get it done.’ I turned to Leveraction, ‘alright Lever, I need you and a squad of five to take out that pillbox.’ ‘Yes sir!’ He said, ‘alright let’s move!’ They left for the pillbox while I stayed with the others. Sandbar ran over to me, ‘Captain, I got a call from Luna.’ ‘Pass it here.’ Sandbar gave me the radio, ‘your majesty?’ Shining Armor, what is going on? Where are you? ‘I’m assisting Captain Emerald, he’s currently under attack.’ I replied. We ordered you to retreat. ‘I now, but… I couldn’t leave them. Please, we need reinforcements, can you send somepony, anypony? I’m sorry Captain Armor but I cannot allow that. ‘But your majesty—’ No buts, you need to retreat. I looked down and sighed, then I looked at the radio, ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll have to deny that order.’ Captain Armor, this is serious, retreat now. That’s. An. ORDER. ‘To Tartarus with the orders! I’m helping those soldiers!’ Captain Armor if you disobey your order I’ll have no choice but to— scck! ‘Sorry Luna.’ I looked over my shoulder. Emerald and a few of our soldiers were firing at the enemy. I raced over to help them. I fired five shots at the charging griffons. I killed two and injured another. Winter and Emerald ran beside me. They rose up and took potshots at the griffons. I loaded a new mag into my gun and fired. I prayed for the reinforcements to get here. Then, almost like a miracle, the griffons started falling back.” “Really? That’s great!” “Well, it was until…” “Until what?” “The— Emerald— He— he died!” “Wha— what do you mean?” “The tank arrived after the griffons started retreating.  ‘Panzer!’ Emerald yelled. I looked over the foxhole to see a Panzer rising over the hills. ‘Bazookas! Shoot it with the Bazookas!” Four crystal ponies ran over and shot at it. It must’ve been armored because the shots just bounced off of it. Emerald looked at me, ‘we can’t hit it, we gotta destroy it from the inside!’ He gave me an explosive charge. ‘We’ll cover you sir.’ ‘Alright,’ I said. As I ran out of the hole, I heard the sounds of gunshots ringing out from the right. The tank was occupied for now, so I hopped on. I grabbed the charge and was about to open the hatch when the tanks cannon swung over and hit me. I flew off the tank and into the mud. I backed up as fast as I could, then I realized that the charge was sitting on the engine. Out of fear and desperation I blew the charges. The tank started backing up. I kept backing up, then… Bang! I looked over my shoulder and saw a tank shooting at the Panzer. Then I noticed a pony in the MG nest. I heard cheers from my troops… Then the Panzer blew up the tank. The ponies thankfully got out. I heard the sounds of grunting. I looked down to see two griffons crawling from under the tank. I thought I was dead but then Emerald came to my rescue with his Thompson. He reached his hoof down, ‘it’s okay, I got you Cap.’ Bang! Next thing I knew, Emerald collapsed on top of me, ‘Emerald!’ I cried. A griffon stepped out holding a smoking pistol. He jumped down and started speaking Griffish. He walked towards me still talking. Then I noticed the small glimmer of silver near Emerald; his pistol. I quickly grabbed it and fired it through Emeralds holster. I drew the pistol and fired it again. ‘Emerald!’ somepony called out. A crystal pony moved towards me. ‘Enemy reinforcements! Fall back!’ she yelled. I grabbed Emerald who looked at me, gasping for air. ‘I’m not- not gonna make it. Leave me,” Emerald said. ‘I got you!’ I grabbed his breastplate and started dragging him. He yelled something, but I couldn’t hear much of it. I grabbed his revolver and fired at the charging griffons. ‘Come on! Fall back!’ somepony yelled. I ran out of ammunition. Something exploded next to us, sending us flying into a nearby crater. I got up and started dragging him again. I put him behind cover and ran back for his revolver. I grabbed it and ran back. I grabbed him again and dragged him towards our line. ‘Ahhh!’ We got closer to the line, ‘stay with me!’ I yelled. I jumped over the sandbags and carried him over. I sat him down against the sandbags, ‘Emerald?’ More soldiers ran past me and retreated into the woods. ‘Brother!’ a mare yelled. She landed next to me. It was the same mare I’d seen earlier. ‘Sapphire,’ he said. He looked at her for a bit. ‘Go. Run. Get out of here, both of you, I’ll hold them off.’ He grabbed a nearby BAR. He kissed his sister and she turned and ran. I looked at him. ‘I’m not leaving you,’ I told him. ‘Go Shining, you got a family.’ ‘And so do you! I won’t let them receive a folded flag by somepony else, you’ll be there to do it!’ ‘Go, I’ll hold them off.’ I sighed, ‘it was an honor.’ ‘Yes it was, now go.’ I left him and ran into the woods. Before I left, I turned to see him gunning down griffons like a madcolt. I felt hope; maybe he would survive. But that’s how life works. A bullet caught him in the shoulder. ‘No!’ I yelled. He turned to me. I looked away as a soldier shot him point blank. I turned and ran back into the woods. I ran until I got back to the airfield. There I saw Halberd and Dice Roller being treated by medics. I asked Halberd what happened and he told me that they were ambushed by a bunch of griffons. They knocked Dice out with a gunbutt to the back of his head, and they’d shot him. The other prisoners ran off, but he managed to injure some of them. The next thing I know, I see a division of NEA soldiers. A truck pulled up and out stepped Luna and her personal guards. She greeted me and told me she needed me for a meeting. I hopped into the truck and she drove us down to the beach, where a boat would take us back to Canterlot.” Spearhead looked down to his hooves, “I’m sorry about Captain Emerald sir.” “Don’t be.” “But I don’t get why Luna didn’t want to help those soldiers. She could’ve sent any nearby infantry units to assist you guys. I don’t get Captain.” Shining looked to his hooves then back at Spearhead, “please, don’t call me Captain.” “Why sir? I mean, it's what you are and it's who you’ve always been to me.” “I know, but… ...Spearhead… ...I’m no longer a Captain.” Spearhead felt his world collapse. Had he heard that right? Did he hit his head? “You’re not serious. Right?” Shining embarrassingly pulled out a piece of folded paper. Demotion This paper is proof that Shining Armor of the 13th Equestrian Battalion has been demoted. Reason: Disobeying Orders Current Rank: Captain New Rank: Private Signed by Princess Luna and the Department of Defense. Spearhead couldn’t believe it. “I’m— I’m speechless…” “I know.” “But why? Why did this happen? You tried doing the right thing.” “I know, it’s just, the Princess sees it otherwise.” He put his hoof on Spearheads shoulder, “but hey, I have a bit of good news, you’ve been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.” “You don’t have to lie to cheer me up.” “No. I’m serious, Shining said. Spearhead looked at him, “I asked the Princess about it as my last wish as a Captain. She agreed.” Spearhead looked at his friend, “I’m— I’m speechless, thank you.” Shining chuckled, “so when can I get out of here and back out there?” “Hate to burst your bubble but we’re actually planning to negotiate with Hades.” “Oh.” “Yeah, you’ll be attending as an Officer to represent us, and I’ll be attending as Prince of the Crystal Empire.” “Alright.” “Good, the navigations start in a next week, hope to see you there.” “You too, see ya later.” “Bye.” Shining Armor walked over to the door and left, leaving Spearhead in the room alone. He reached over to his journal, which had been placed beside him. Today was a pretty bad day. First we lose an Officer in combat, now Shining Armor is demoted, leaving me as the Lieutenant of the 13th. We start negotiations next week, and I’ll be attending them. I hope they go well so I can get out of here. —Lt. Spearhead > Chapter 8: Negotiations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 12th Lieutenant Spearhead 13th Equestrian Battalion Griffonstone Today, we’re going to try to negotiate our way outta this war. I have been chosen to represent the 13th, as I’m currently the highest ranking officer, as most of the others are either dead, or injured. Shining is also going, but only because he’s the price of the Crystal Empire, and he has to go for political reasons. I really hope that we can stop this war dead in its tracks. If we can, we could save millions of lives. If we don’t… well, Celestia be damned. Spearhead woke up to the sound of marching. He got out of bed and grabbed his weapons. Instead of his normal rifle, the M1, he was now issued the M1928 Thompson. He hated automatic weapons as he was used to only firing bolt action and semi automatic weapons. They thankfully let him keep his rifle, but he took the SMG as a backup weapon. He now had an arsenal of four weapons: his rifle, revolver, griffon pistol, and his SMG. He stepped out of the tent and found the princesses and the politicians. He walked over to the many political figures. Celestia looked over. “Lieutenant Spearhead,” she said smiling. “Your majesties.” He walked over to the table with the politicians. He saw the many creatures that were fighting in the war. The zebras and horses stood out as they weren’t on the fields that he fought on. The zebras fought in the savanna regions of Equestria, and the horses fought in Saddle Arabia and other desert regions. They both were usually seen with weapons like the Lee-Enfield and other weapons given to them by allies. “Is this everyone?” Celestia nodded. “Okay.” Spearhead looked at the map of Griffonstone. He looked back up to the politicians. “I’ll go get my soldiers ready.” He walked over to a nearby bell that was used to wake everyone up. He pulled down on the string, and the bell rang, sounding like a gunshot of its own. The tired soldiers walked out of their tents, slugging in a zombie-like matter. “Pull it together!” Spearhead said to his soldiers, who all wasted no time and snapped into attention quickly and effectively. Spearhead heard the politicians “ooh’s” and “ah’s” as they watched the newly promoted Lieutenant work his magic. “Alright fellas. We got a march ahead of us. We’re here to protect our higher ups in case things go loud.” The soldiers looked at each other. “How are we gonna do that?” someone yelled out. “Yeah, the griffons won’t let us anywhere near the King with weapons,” another soldier said. Spearhead nodded. “I know. That’s why we’re only carrying concealable weapons. Pistols, knives, sawed-off shotguns, hell, even SMGs if you can hide’em good.” The soldiers looked at each other. “Well, get moving!” The soldiers nodded and went to work, grabbing any weapon they could use. Spearhead walked over to his tent and grabbed his revolver and the pistol Zeus gave him during the Hearths Moon Truce. He looked over to his SMG. He could turn it to semi-auto, but it would lose its power. He reached for the gun. He placed it back and reached for his hatchet, another gift from Hearth’s Warming, courtesy of his dad. He walked out of his tent, and was met with Luna. “Oh. Your majesty.” She looked at the officer. “Where’s your weapon?” Spearhead reaches for his revolver and pistol. “Here they are.” She frowned. “That’s it?” He put his two sidearms back in their holsters and pulled out his hatchet. She frowned again. “An axe?” He nodded. “A hatchet, actually.” She looked at him. “Does it matter?” He shook his head. “No ma’am.” She looked at his tent. “Don’t you have any stronger weapons?” He looked back. “I have a rifle. But that’s not very concealable.” She looked over to his weapon. He was right. There was no way he could hide the three foot long rifle under his armor, let alone get it out if he needed it. Then she got an idea. “Get your weapon, Lieutenant.” He nodded and went to retrieve his weapon. He grabbed his weapon and walked back to the Princess. “Here it is.” She nodded and reached for something. Spearhead was confused. What was she gonna give him? She pulled out a small pendant of some sort. “I usually only give these to the Lunar Guard, but I think you should have this one, Lieutenant..?” “Spearhead. Lieutenant Spearhead.” “Yes. Lieutenant Spearhead. Here, take it.” Spearhead reached for the pendents, which were Lunar Guards insignias. A dagger dawning Luna’s wings with the Lunar Guard motto, “Loyalty To The Moon!” engraved onto them. He looked at the princess. “Thank you, your majesty. But I don’t understand how this will help me hide my gun.” She looked at his rifle. “Put one onto your weapon.” He put the pendent on the side of his rifle. He watched in amazement as his rifle seemed to vanish out of existence. The only problem was that he could see his weapon. “Now, put the other onto your armor.” He abided and stuck it onto his dog tags. He looked over to his weapon, which was covered by a green outline. “Amazing…” “Thank you. Now only you can see your weapon.” She gave a smile. “Thank you, your majesty.” “It was my pleasure. Now, I believe that you have a group of politicians to escort.” He smiled. “Yes ma’am.” He gave a bow. “Thank you Lieutenant.” With that, the night princess trotted back to the other politicians. Spearhead walked over to Boltaction, who was cleaning his pistol. He looked over to his commanding officer. “Hey Lieutenant.” Spearhead laughed. “Come on Bolt, we’ve been friends for years, you don’t gotta address me by rank.” Boltaction laughed. “Copy that.” The two friends laughed. The pegasus looked over to the politicians. “I ain’t sure I’m ready for this.” “I’m calling BS. Shining trusted you to this. If you don’t do it, then who the hell can?” “I guess you’re right.” Bolt laughed. “I always am.” “Like hell you are.” Spearhead looked over to the unicorn. The two friends laughed like they were sharing a drink. Spearhead got up. “Come on Bolt, we got some V.I.Ps to escort.” “Copy that Lieutenant.” The two friends got up and walked towards the gathering soldiers and politicians. If they could negotiate their way out of this, then millions of lives would be saved. If they couldn’t. Celestia be damned. <•>•<•>•<•> Spearhead and the many, many soldiers, and the politicians were walking, or in the soldiers' case, marching, towards the capital city of Griffonstone. He found the situation alien. He’d always been used to Shining or Halberd leading; not him. He was proud of his promotion, but he wasn’t sure of his leadership. He’d always thought he’d fight for the 13th, and not lead them. Primo Victoria. Right? He’d always liked that motto. After a bit of reading, he’d found out it meant “at first victory” which he always liked as he felt it encouraged the 13th to push on, even if all hope seemed lost. The Lieutenant snapped out of his daze when he felt his hooves touch a more tough ground. He looked up to the Griffonstone gates. He took a breath. “Alright. Here we go,” he whispered to himself. The group marched through the gates whilst being watched like mice. Spearhead shuddered as if a cold gust of wind touched his spine. “Fuckin’ creepy huh?” Boltaction asked. “Yeah,” Spearhead replied. He looked over to the griffons. “I bet they wouldn’t have a problem killing us right here.” “You bet,” Boltaction replied, trying not to make eye contact with the guards. He looked at some of the buildings. “How much you wanna bet that there’s a sniper in one of these buildings?” “My frickin’ life.” Boltaction chuckled. “Fair enough.” “Just stay on your guard.” He looked around the concrete city. He stared at some of the civilians, some of whom looked happy to see them. Others not so much. “I don’t think we’re getting out of here that easily.” “Yes sir.” The group continued marching towards the capitol building. Spearhead looked over to Gallus, who looked pretty terrified. “You alright Gal?” The young griffon looked over. “Yes sir. I’m just worried about meeting Hades head on.” The pegasus smiled. “Don’t worry. He shoots at you, I’ll put him down personally.” He smiled. “Thanks, sir.” “No problem, kid.” The Lieutenant looked over to Ocellus, who was marching next to Pharynx. “How do y’all feel about this?” Ocellus smiled sheepishly. “A bit nervous.” Pharynx on the other hand was frowning. “I can’t believe the War’s ending so soon.” Spearhead was confused. “What do you mean?” Pharynx looked over to him. “I haven’t seen any action since the Pony-Changeling War, and we couldn’t even kill each other in that war. Now we can, and it’s being stripped away like that? It’s- what?” The soldiers stared at him like he was a sadistic psychopath. He smiled sheepishly. “Okay. I might’ve phrased that wrong. But the point is, I may not see any other action besides this, and to have the adventure end so soon is… y’know.” Spearhead could almost agree with him. He could never come to terms with the horrors of war, but he would miss the adventures he had with his comrades. He looked over to the changeling prince. “I guess I understand that.” Pharynx nodded. “I guess it was great while it lasted.” “Don’t be so sure,” Gallus said. “It’s Hades. Only way we could end this war is to put a bullet through his skull.” Pharynx smirked. “Well, that probably won’t be the easiest.” Flash looked over. “The hell do you know that?” “I’m the brother of a king. His security’s gonna be through the roof.” Flash rolled his eyes. He took out another container and scoped up a patch of dirt, then wrote Griffonstone on the lid. “Still collecting dirt, Sentry?” Flash looked over to Bolt. “Screw off.” Spearhead laughed. “Why do you wanna to remember this stuff?” Flash laughed. “Might be worth something in the future.” “Maybe it will be,” Spearhead said, chuckling. “Somepony is gonna want that for a museum or something else stupid.” The group continued walking to the capitol building. Spearhead couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching them through a sniper scope. He looked around the giant city, looking at every high building, searching for any signs of a possible sniper. Light reflection, any possible movement, anything that points to a sniper. He looked back at Shining, who had his head hung low. He walked over to his former Captain. “Captain- I mean… Shining?” “Y-Yeah?” “Are… you alright?” Shining hung his head. “I don’t know.” Spearhead nodded. “You know I could promote you to Sergeant and—” “It’s not gonna work. Until I can prove that I can lead you guys, I can only be promoted to a First Class.” “It’s better than nothing, though.” Shining nodded, “I… I guess.” He sighed. He looked up. “Hey, we’re here.” Spearhead looked up. There sat the capital building, which looked very different from the Canterlot castle as it was a somewhat tall buildings, almost like some of the skyscrapers. The front gate was made of what Spearhead could only assume was iron, and was guarded by two griffons holding MP-40s. Nearby sat a checkpoint with more guards and an MG42. Some of the guards had weird looking weapons and armor and uniforms. It appeared to be a sort of camouflage as posed to the normal gray armor and uniform. Their weapons on the other hand looked like a mix between a rifle, but was magazine fed like an SMG, with the magazine clip protruding from the bottom. “Hey Winter, who are they?” The snow schemed griffon looked at the. “They’re the SS Eisenadler. They’re the griffon elites. Trained killing machines of the Eiserne Krone. They’re equipped with heavier equipment like ‘42s and those weapons right there.” Spearhead stared at them. “What are they?” Winter thought for a few seconds. “I think they’re called STG44’s. They’re kind of like a BAR and a MP-40 mixed together. The fire power of a BAR, but the speed and mobility of an MP-40.” Spearhead looked in amazement. “Wow. You guys have made some pretty great technological advancements.” “Yeah. You have to admit, our Generals have their heads up their rears, but our engineers reach for Elysium.” “You can say that again.” “Yep.” The guards opened the gates and they walked in. Spearhead took a breath and walked in. <•>•<•>•<•> Spearhead stared around the room. He didn’t feel safe, as many of the soldiers had to wait outside of the building. The many politicians waited for Hades to start. “Okay, as you all know, this War is taking a toll on all of our soldiers. It needs to end. Now.” The Princesses looked at each other. Celestia opened her mouth, but was cut off by a nearby zebra, “I agree. I will gladly pull my kingdom out of this War as soon as you can pull your soldiers out of our land.” Hades seemed to get mad. “Why should we? Your land is filled with rich materials that would keep our war-machine and kingdom going for years. I will not leave unless you agree to split your resources.” The zebras stared in disbelief. The leader spoke again. “But… our subjects need the resources to survive! We can’t afford to-” “Well, the Eiserne Krone isn’t pulling out unless we get half of your materials.” The zebras pulled back and waited in silence. Hades looked over to the hippogriffs. “What about you, Queen Novo? What would you like?” “Well, I want to stop losing soldiers in this war.” “Well, just pay up war reparations.” Queen Novo looked like the zebra leader. “But I must feed my subjects.” “Well, I need to fix my cities. Think about it.” He turned to Thorax and Pharynx. “What about you two?” “We just want peace,” Thorax said. “Well, I’ll take half of your land.” The two siblings looked at each other. “But, we don’t have a lot of land to spare,” Thorax said. “Yeah. And what’s in it for us?” Pharynx asked. “Well, A. your subjects stop dying, and B. I’ll fund the advancement of your hive in exchange for farmland and my subjects' security.” The siblings looked at each other. Their bolt rifles were getting faulty, especially with weapons like M1 and MG42 being used. And their farmers were starting to tire out. “We think about it.” Hades nodded. He stared at Celestia. “What do you want? If it’s war reparations, then forget it.” “We just want the War to end,” the celestial princess said. The other ponies nodded and murmured in agreement. Spearhead looked at Shining, who also nodded in agreement. He looked back at Spearhead, who nodded at him. He nodded back and looked back at Hades. Spearhead followed suit. Hades smiled. “Well, I want the war reparations for the suffering of my soldiers and destruction of my cities.” Boltaction leaned closer to Spearhead. “Coming from the f’er  who’s committing war crimes,” he whispered. Spearhead kicked him under the table. “Ow!” He whispered-shouted. “Can it!” Spearhead whispered back. Bolt rolled his eyes and stared at Hades. The griffon king looked at the many politicians and delegates. Spearhead looked at the king as he smiled. This was going to be a long negotiation.