The arrival

Wikieup, Arizona
9:00PM
Dakota POV
October 18 2019

The big sandy shoot has come to a close. It was time to go home now. My truck was loaded with ammunition for about 20 different guns. I was even towing A Modified L4 heavy gun behind my GMC that I had brought with me just so I could flex on everyone. The wind had started to pick up and it was starting to get dusty. Dust storms were actually not very common in Arizona as some people may believe. It was continuing to pick up and now I could probably only see 30 feet in front of me. Doing the logical thing, I flipped some switches and turned on my aftermarket lights mounted on the roof, in the bumper, and grille. It was still getting harder to see with all of the dust and I was starting to lose radio signal as well since the electrostatic charges from the dust storm, kept pinging my GMC's antenna. I could see something approaching in the distance but I don't know what. I turned on my hazard lights and slowed down to about 40 MPH, but it was all in vain. What had been approaching me was a runaway tanker truck. I jerked the steering wheel to the right but the truck cut left as I did so as well so we crashed together. I drove into a ditch at high speed and started rolling over, The large anti-tank gun hooked to my truck was now flying through the air as the truck laid on Its side and came down on it with my truck being only 10 feet away from it. I was in a lot of pain and now bleeding out and now I was trapped. I thought this was it for me, Once that 2-ton gun hit's the tanker, there is gonna be a massive fireball that incinerates everything, but fate had other plans for me.

When the gun did hit the truck, it did explode but something else happened as well, I was blinded by pure white light as I felt as if I was floating around in space. My wounds had somehow mended themselves, The damage to my truck had fixed itself and the anti-tank gun had even reattached itself to the hitch on my truck. The light started to die down and a felt a sense of weight start to take hold again as I reoriented myself but a sense of drowsiness and weakness began to hit me as well. My speedometer is being pegged way past the normal 140MPH limit which was not normal. The electronic speed counter was actually clocked at speeds that were within the Mach 2-3 range. The white light had all but died out but something was very off. My speedometer was now only doing 30 MPH and my truck was going the same speed, which was confusing since I had just been traveling at speeds nearly 3 times the speed of sound but what was weird was that I was now in a forest and the sun was starting to set. It had already set back in Arizona but something was very wrong. Before I could even begin to try and figure out what happened, I started to blackout, most likely from the difference in G-forces and lack of blood in some places. Before I did blackout though, I managed to pull the parking brake and shut my Ironhide Topkick off before I completely passed out.

10 Hours later
Silver POV

Reports had been coming in that a strange object was spotted entering the everfree forest 10 hours ago. I would've gone to investigate if it wasn't for the fact that we were shielded in canterlot as the changelings had planned out some sort of grand invasion during captain armor and princess cadence's wedding. All around the city was a pink bubble shield that went up as far as one mile at the top of it and was 6 miles wide. Captain armor was casting this spell along with princess cadence and taking turns casting it since it required a lot of magic to keep the shield up. Outside of the shield, changelings were looking down at us and trying to smash the shield in. Early warning alarms were going off as the citizens of canterlot were being evacuated via an underground tunnel system. My commanding officer was trying to tell me something but it was next to impossible since one of the warning alarms was only a couple hundred feet away from us behind a couple of houses. My CO was telling me to get ready for imminent combat as she was informed that captain armor had collapsed and passed out and the shield was about to fall. Any second the dome would collapse and these changelings would swarm in. It didn't help that this was early in the morning and it was harder to see them. Changelings kept pounding themselves against the shield as it had started to crack and parts of it fall and dissipate into thin air. Some of the changelings looked like they were dying when they hit the shield since there was green blood all over the shield and some of them had part of their heads missing

Just then, the whole dome had collapsed and vanished as changelings now began to flood into the city and landed on the streets. I was running through the streets with my CO trying to get back to the castle but we got separated in the chaos and I ran right into a trap. As I rounded a corner, I ran into a group of 10 to 15 changelings advancing towards the castle. I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared. The first one in front attacked without hesitation and soon the others did as well.

I only had my magic to defend myself but it wasn't enough. I managed to kill the first two that reached me but I was immediately tackled by the others. 4 of them had pinned my legs and the 5th one started to beat me mercilessly before I could light my horn and fire off any magic bolts. The one on top had dislocated the bone in my nose and I was barely conscious. Just as I thought I was done for, They all looked up at something coming down the road and I strained myself to look as well. What I saw coming towards us was big. It looked like a carriage without harnesses that was fully enclosed. It had bright lights on it, was all black, had the three letters "GMC" printed on the front in red, Had chrome pipes sticking up from the back with black smoke blowing out from them, had 6 huge wheels on it, had 4 doors, was pulling what looked like a large dark green cannon behind it, and was making a loud honking noise as it came towards us. The changelings immediately got off me and tried to get out of the way but the carriage like object purposely drove towards them and had hit 7 of them at high speeds. 3 of them got crushed by its huge wheels while the others suffered major injuries as green blood now covered part of the front.It had swerved and swung its backside away from us as it came to a screeching stop but that wasn't all.

The door on the front left of the ponyless carriage swung open as a tall bipedal creature jumped out holding something that I had never seen before. Whatever it was holding, it was made out of black metal and wood. It looked like it had a grip on both the front and back of it, had two long sticks hanging down from the very front end of it, there was a light grey tube attached to the top of it, and had an unusual large box thing hanging down from the center with brass tubes being fed from it to the object that it was holding. The creature itself was wearing blue pants, a hat, a black shirt with a picture of a similar object to what it was in, blowing black smoke with an arrow pointing at and saying "Prius repellent", some copper tone boots, and a vest with a lot of pockets on it.

Whatever this creature was holding, I immediately found out that It was a ranged weapon of sorts since it started firing white lines extremely fast as they pierced the bodies of the changelings as they began to drop dead. The weapon was making loud booms in rapid secession. I watched as the brass tubes fell out of the object and clattered to the ground. The creature stopped firing its weapon and looked at me.

"Oh shit!"

I was beyond shocked by the fact that it could speak, much less the same language. I knew right away that it was male by its voice. When he looked over at me, his expression changed to that of shock. He shouldered his weapon and rushed over to me. Before I knew it, he had picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and walked back over to his carriage. He opened up the front right door and gently laid me down inside. He put a strap over me and got in on his side and took off. Right before I finally blacked out.

2 hours earlier
Dakota POV

I had finally awoken from my blood loss induced blackout and was trying to get my bearings and gather myself. I already knew that I was in a forest and I knew what caused me to get here, tanker truck and a heavy gun. I decided to get out and have a look around but I didn't realize how cold it was outside. I shut the door to my truck right away and tried to warm back up. I turned my key halfway to turn on the electronics and see the thermometer. Upon turning the key, I was greeted by the annoying buzz of the low air buzzer. My thermometer was reading that it was 34 degrees Fahrenheit outside, "Great just what I need right now, a fucking cold start." I said to myself. I was super irritable at the moment since I had a pretty bad headache from a lack of blood and a collision between my steering wheel and my forehead. Deciding to suck it up and get over it instead of complaining to myself about it, I turned the key all the way as I listened to my Topkick's new detroit diesel engine struggle to start. I couldn't be bothered with waiting on the glowplugs so i just turned the key all the way. This 14L big rig engine actually had started faster than the old 6.6L Duramax engine that was under the hood originally. After finally starting the engine, I let it warm up a little bit before I put my foot on the throttle to help warm it up faster without stalling the engine. I finally got moving after 10 minutes and started looking for a way out.

While I was driving around, I continued to feel like I was being watched for some reason and I don't know why, it was creepy. I had music playing to help keep my mind off of it, Lil Tjay always did a good job of grabbing my attention. Something was definitely not right, everything looked way too colorful, too cartoony to be real. I would try to figure it out later, for now, I just wanted to get out of this damn forest. After an hour and 20 minutes of driving, I finally came to what looked like an exit. Happy to finally be out of here, I floored the accelerator and busted out full speed. My joy didn't last long though, I saw a bright pink ball in the distance just as the sun was starting to come up. "What the hell is that?" was my only reaction. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I started driving towards it to see what it was. I was getting a strange feeling that people were in danger over there and I hurried it up. When I got closer to the bubble I could see a city inside of it that looked very familiar. "Wait, No fucking way, there is no fucking way that I am actually here right now, there is no fucking way that I am in the land of Equestria right now." I kept saying to myself in disbelief. My brony knowledge had taken over and I confirmed that not only was I in Equestria, but I was also right outside the city of canterlot during the invasion of the said city during the royal wedding between shining armor and princess cadence. I looked at the dome and saw black bug horses that I knew were changelings. Acting on instinct to try and buy the ponies inside some time, I went inside my truck and got rifle out. I was going to try and pick them off one by one to weaken their forces. I found my Barret M82 and took aim. I already knew queen chrysalis was inside going off on an exposition about her plans and how she had planning this for more than a year and she had won, little did she know that I was here and that was all about to change

I centered myself onto some changelings that were trying to break down the shield. I was 3/4 of a mile away from the edge of the shield so I would need to compensate for wind, gravity and just about everything else heavily, I would also need to take the Coriolis effect into account. I took aim and fired. I also had a barret M107 in the bed but I chose the M82 since it had felt better to me. I picked out another target and fired. Somehow the majority hadn't noticed that their brethren were having their heads blown off right in front of them while the rest knew and were trying to find the shooter, but they were looking in all of the wrong places. Some of them had looked directly at me but only for a second before I blew the top half of their body off. As to how they had not seen a giant black truck and heard where the gunfire was coming from, it was beyond me.

The shield was starting to flicker and crack. I'm guessing that shining armor had finally given out and was no longer able to keep the shield up. I watched as the shield fell and changelings rushed into the city. Normally, I would've ran the other way, but this wasn't normal. I was in the land of Equestria, I was living every bronies dream at the moment, whether I wanted to or not, I had to help the ponies inside of the city as best as I could.

Throwing my rifle in the backseat, I reached into the gun locker under the back seat and pulled out a PKM LMG, an armored vest, Glock 18, and a lot of ammo. After grabbing all of the things I needed, I went back into the bed and pulled out something very useful from under a tarp. I had a mounting pole for a browning M2 HMG. Picking up the heavy MG, I managed to get it mounted up and secured on the pole and loaded. I also had a Russian DshK machine gun as well but didn’t have as much ammo as I did for the M2. I moved as quick as I could to get back in the driver seat. After that, I floored the accelerator and moved into the city as fast as I could. Smashing through the gates, I rounded a couple of streets before coming across a group of about 15 to 20 changelings, 5 of which were ruthlessly beating an innocent pony to death. Deciding not to let it go on, I floored the accelerator all the way and blasted my aftermarket truck horn. The detroit diesel engine was proving its worth right now as I blasted down the street at 137 MPH. They tried to get out of the way but they moved slower a Chevy Silverado.

I hit 7 of them, and I felt 3 of them get crushed under the wheels. I slammed on the breaks as the truck came to a screeching halt. I quickly got out, raised up my PKM and dumped rounds into the changelings as they tried to charge me. Something weird was definitely going on. I had held the trigger down for more than 10 seconds which meant the gun would have already run out of ammo 3 seconds ago, but this is Equestria after all, and literally anything was possible, and I say literally because it would seem that being brought here has given my gun an infinite ammo capacity. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a low groan come from the pony on the ground near me.

"Oh shit!" was all I could say as I shouldered my gun and rushed to her side. Her voice had already confirmed to me that she was a mare, most likely in her early to mid 20's. She had a coat of Lilac fur, bright blue eyes, and a pure white mane and tail. She was wearing black armor which indicated to me that she was a member of the royal guard, more specifically, the night guard. She had multiple bruises on her face from where the punches were landing and it seemed that the bone in her nose was dislocated. She had a nose bleed and one of her eyes was nearly swollen shut. She was very close to being completely unconscious. Acting as quick as I could, I picked her up and rushed back over to my truck. I opened the front passenger door and set her down gently on the seat and buckled her in. She had finally passed out from her injuries and slumped over towards my side. I got back in on my side and disengaged the parking brake and put it back into gear just as a massive group of changelings bore down on us from behind. I threw a flashbang out the window to try and buy myself a couple of seconds, and it surprisingly worked.

I continued driving through the streets of canterlot moving towards the castle. The sun was fully out now and I didn't need the lights anymore. I couldn't go any further as there was a massive crowd of changelings all bearing down on the castle itself. I could only make a stand now. I parked my truck in front of a vacant house that was evacuated and got out, I grabbed the mare out of my truck and dove inside of the house through the front window. I set the mare down as quickly as I could and grabbed my gun since more changelings were rushing towards the house. I sprayed down a group that had gotten closer than 50 yards before I got on the M2 in the truck bed.

Pulling rounds from the 200 round box and loading them in, I pulled the charging handle and waited until the majority of them were within 200 yards, then, I let loose hundreds of rounds into their ranks. I let the dust clear and saw that they were still coming. I let loose another hundred round burst and finished them off. Seeing as how I had time to get ready for another wave of them. I quickly jumped out of the truck bed and began to detach the L4 from my truck and got into position as fast as I could. It was extremely hard to maneuver this thing by myself as the gun weighed almost as much as the truck. After finally getting it into place and the dug in and put in place, I got the shells out from the bed and began the loading process. The shells themselves were heavy as fuck, weighing a hefty 231 pounds each but I was able to move them with relative ease since I had taken up bodybuilding as a bit of a hobby. After getting the first shell loaded up, I aimed the gun right down the road where I could see an army of changelings marching up the road towards me. There were hundreds of them but I was about to evaporate them.

After getting the gun centered and all lined up on them, I pulled the firing handle and watched as the 183MM shell left the barrel and rocketed towards the group of emotion eating bugs. The whole ground shook as the gun fired, windows nearby had been completely broken out, the gun itself had rocked backward towards me violently a whole foot and half, I was nearly knocked down on my ass, and a quarter of the changeling forces that were sprinting towards me now simply no longer existed, and where they once stood, there was now a crater in the ground. Opening the breach, I pulled the shell out and threw it on the ground as quick as I could since it was still extremely hot. I grabbed another one and got ready to fire again. Adjusting left, I targeted another group coming down a side street moving towards the castle. I fired again on them in order to buy the ponies inside some time just long enough so the real princess cadence and shining armor could Fus ro dah them out of Equestria, for a while at least. There was too many of them for me to continue using the L4 at the moment. I had mounted up the DshK in a window on the second floor of the house in case I needed to get inside and the M2 was no longer a viable option. I hopped back in the truck bed and was about to start dumping lead with M2 again. Before I could pull the charging handle, I got tackled out of the bed by one of the changelings. He had a knife in his magic and managed to stab me a couple times in the shoulders, but I had pulled my knife and buried it in his neck as he fell off of me, I also pulled out my glock and put three rounds in his chest for good measure. I got back up but they were all around me. I raised up my PKM and killed as many as I could.

After another 10 minutes of shooting and killing, something happened that I was starting to get worried about thinking that wouldn't happen. A pink force wave rapidly expanded out of the castle and blew away the changelings that were still alive, the dead ones, however, remained exactly where they where. I never took the time to think about what I had just done. I had just killed hundreds of changelings. I probably had more kills than the white death sniper from the winter war and I was only 18 years old. Bodies laid strewn about everywhere, blood, limbs, it was all over the place. Empty bullet casings littered the front of the house, and there were bullet holes everywhere. There were a few survivors that weren't blasted away just a moment ago that had just been laying in the street dying slowly. I grabbed the first aid kit from my truck and I patched myself up as best as I could and gave myself some morphine for the pain. I had also remembered that there was a pony that I had rescued earlier from certain death, I quickly rushed back inside to check on her. She was still unconscious and she still had plenty of bruises. I went into the kitchen to see if there was an Ice chest or anything that was cold enough to store ice. There thankfully was one right next to the back door I opened it up, grabbed a few plastic bags from a nearby cabinet, and made some ice packs. I walked back into the living room where she was at and put the ice packs on the bruised parts of her body. I also had wiped up the blood from earlier. Now came the hard part, I would have to wait until she woke up so I could reset the bone properly. I decided to take this time I had, I decided to look her over again to see if there was anything I had missed earlier. There wasn't much but I did notice that there was a word engraved on her armor where there would be a name tag on an American army uniform. "Sable" was all it said, I'm assuming that was her last name.

I had been waiting patiently now for 10 minutes before she finally started to stir, she was waking up. I watched as she slowly sat up and took the ice packs off of her face, most of the bruises were now gone and even her eye had almost unswollen all the way.

"Hey, Hey hey hey hey hey, Easy now, easy. You've been out for almost 45 minutes now. You took a pretty bad beating back there when I found and you could possibly have a concussion from how many hits you took." I said to her as she woke up. She seemed a little surprised by the fact that I could talk, but that was expected since I'm not from Equestria.

"Who...are you? and where are we right now?" She asked while sitting up all of the way.

"The names Dakota Rodriguez, I'm the otherworldly being that saved you from certain death earlier, and we are in a house right now that I ducked inside of when those changelings were coming for us, me specifically when I was trying to keep you safe, and im also hoping there are good doctors here on your world since I got stabbed multiple times in both of my shoulders." I said to her

"What do you mean? why were they going after you?" She asked

"I may or may not have killed the ones that were beating you and then killed a couple hundred more." I said. She seemed a little terrified now by the fact that I had just admitted that I was now a Killer.

"Anyways, that's enough about me for right now. You still have a dislocated bone in your nose that I need to reset for you." I said to her. She got kind of nervous when I said I need to reset the bone. She asked how I was going to do that and I told her I was going to move it back to where it's supposed to be and then pop the joint back into its socket.

After talking to her about for at least 3 minutes, She agreed to let me fix her nose for her. I asked her if she would like anything to bite down on during this to help deal with the momentary pain. She said yes but I couldn't find anything for her to bite, So I improvised.

"There's nothing in this house that I can find right now Ms.Sable , but, If you don't mind it, You're more than welcome to bite down on my arm if you want to." I offered to her. She took a quick minute to ponder this option and finally agreed to it. I got her leaning against my chest for support and told her to open her mouth as I brought my left arm up for her as she gently placed part of her teeth on it. I told her to let me know when she was ready by tapping me. She gave me a tap and I counted down from 3 to let her know that I was about to move the bone. I pushed her nose to the right pretty hard as she bit down on me with full force and we both gave multiple pained groans, her, because I was moving a bone back into place, and me because it felt like she could've crushed the bone in my arm at any moment with how strong her jaw was. Her nose was pointing the right way now, now to pop the joint into the socket. I then pushed straight back and heard the clicking crunch sound signaling that I had done it right. She let me go as she wiggled her nose to see how I did. She appeared to be able to have full range of motion over it again as she thanked me.

"No problem, Ms.Sable, glad I could help."

"You can just call me Silver, that's my first name. The only ponies that call me sable are the ones that are ranks above me and the princesses." She told me. I liked that first name, Silver. It had a nice ring to it. I was about to say something else when I heard something outside. Even though my truck was still running, I could hear what sounded like an army marching and an angry mob getting closer, And I was right. I looked out the window As I saw A lot of royal guards, and even more canterlot citizens all heading straight for me and they seemed pissed. From here, I could even see the element bearers and the 3 princesses themselves, but they seemed calmer than all the others and more confused even though I know that they could see the bodies everywhere. Deciding not to stick around, I grabbed my gun and ran towards the door.

"Well silver, it was nice meeting you but it looks like this is my exit cue to get out of here in one piece while I still can." I said to her. She seemed confused as I left and got in my truck. I had to leave my L4 here as I didn't have enough time to reattach it and get out of there unharmed. Silver rushed out of the house after me just as I through the truck in reverse and disengaged the air brakes. It looked like she wanted to say something but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw all of the bodies in the streets and the angry ponies coming up the road. I took the opportunity to make a quick escape. I pulled off a 180 turn as I tried to throw the truck into 3rd gear but my non-syncromesh gearbox was being a pain in the ass, and grinding and crunching the gears, but I did get it to shift and went from there. I was whipping my heavy ass truck through the narrow streets of canterlot and driving like baby driver. I was getting real close to buildings, light poles, trash cans, mailboxes, everything. I could see the exit to canterlot now. Just 2000 yards more and I would be home free.

However, As I got closer, the gate was starting to close. The royal guards were trying to box me in the city. Not giving them the chance, I through it into 8 high and completely floored the accelerator all the way. My speedometer was clocking in at 155MPH.

I managed to just barely escape canterlot as the gates closed all the way. As I looked in the mirror, I saw them continue to chase me. Winged bastards flew over the gate while the horny fucks teleported past the gate with their ground-dwelling brethren in their grips. "Oh you've gotta be shitten me right now." They were determined to catch me, I'll give them that.

The terrain in the valley and fields below canterlot started to get extremely rough. I was getting thrown the truck, guns were bouncing around, and ammo was clattering and getting really annoying to listen to. I looked behind me again to see just how close the ponies were, but that was my near-fatal mistake. I was looking too long and had hit a hole in the ground and lost control of the truck and started rolling a lot. My truck must have rolled 15 times before it landed on its tires and then tip over onto its side. As to how I just survived a crash at over 100MPH was only describable as pure luck. I had noticed a golden glow around the truck which had helped to land upright so I'm assuming that Celestia must have just saved me. I had bit my tongue hard on the impact and I was dribbling blood from my mouth and I had cuts now all over, mainly from the partially shattered windshield. I felt a massive flaring pain in my sides, most likely indicating I had a few cracked ribs. I grabbed the gun I was using earlier and got out and tried to run away as fast as I could.

"Stop where you are now!" I heard a voice call from behind me. In case any of them got too close to me and tried to restrain me, I had a few melee and non-lethal weapons on me. I had a baton, under my vest, an X26 taser, brass knuckles, and pepper spray. I shouldered my gun and pulled my taser out and pepper spray and waited for one of them to get close.

"Stop, now!" I heard a sort of gruff feminine voice shout out. I easily knew rainbow dash was right behind me with her friends as well.

"Dash, wait! You don't know If it's dangerous or not!" I heard a certain purple unicorn call out to her.

I could hear her running up behind me, Then, I struck. I flipped around and dropped down to the ground in less than a second and fired my taser directly at RD. I watched as both of the energized Prongs impacted and pierced her chest.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rainbow dash screamed extremely loud, almost eardrum burstingly loud as 50,000 volts of electricity pulsed through her body for 5 full seconds. Her friends all tried to tackle me, but failed as I gave them a nice long blast of pepper spray to the face. They all screamed equally as loud as I visibly winced from the ear rape I just got. They started rubbing their eyes and coughing violently, I ejected the cartridge in the taser and took this opportunity to try and run again, But the royal guards had encircled me and had left me with nowhere to go

"Aw shit, Here we go again." I tried to say as best I could despite the fact my tongue was still bleeding.

"Stop, Can't you see that he's hurt!?" I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me. Suddenly, She jumped out in front of me, teeth barred, and her horn lit, ready to vaporize everything around her.

"Silver!?" I said in shock. She had come back for me. "Hey, the least I can do is try and vouch for you so you don't get hauled away to the dungeon under the castle since you saved me earlier." She said. After that, all three of the princesses stepped forward including shining armor. Luna looked ready to kill me at any moment while cadence and Celestia looked much calmer. I reloaded my taser and drew my Glock in case luna tried to do something. Shining armor was the first one to speak up and addressed silver first.

"Sergeant sable, What are you doing!? Are you not aware that this being had just slaughtered over hundreds of changelings less than 30 minutes ago!?" he said.

"I'm very well aware captain, and he saved my life in the process! I was getting beaten ruthlessly beaten by 20 of them when he came out of nowhere and saved me from them. I still have the bruises to prove it as well!" She all but yelled. It's true, even from this angle, I could still see some black, blue, and purple spots on her face that hadn't fully cleared up when I had put the ice packs on her face.

"Is this true? did you really save her from a group of changelings earlier and risk your own life in the process?" Celestia asked me. I simply nodded as my mouth hurt too much to speak at the moment. "Are you able to speak at the moment, as you can understand us?" she asked, I shook my head this time. Celestia did ask me who I was though. I pulled out my wallet and showed her my driver's license. She took it in her magic and studied it closely before showing it to cadence, luna, and shining armor. She gave me back my license and I put away before she asked how badly I was hurt. Deciding to try and speak as best as I could.

"I bit down on my tongue very hard as you can already tell by the blood dribbling from my mouth, I got stabbed in both of my shoulders multiple times, and I have at least somewhere between 5 and 8 cracked ribs at the moment." I said as best as I could. "Also one more question, Will they be ok?" she said as she pointed towards the 6 elements of harmony that were all lying on the ground groaning in agony. "Yeah, they'll be fine, I used non-lethal weaponry on them to defend myself. The blue one with the rainbow hair was tased and others got pepper-sprayed. The effects of a taser last upwards of 7 minutes, and the pepper spray can be rinsed out of their eyes with soap and cold water

"I see. Please try to hold still as best as you can, I'm going to try and set your ribs as best as I can and suture your tongue for you." She said to me. silver moved out of the way and allowed Celestia to do what she needed to. I felt my tongue become one whole muscle again, my stab wounds close up, and my ribs fix themselves. I took off my bandages to confirm my hunch and stab wounds had indeed fully closed up. Silver had moved back to my side afterward like a guard dog and protected me. "Thank you, princess, but I have to ask, is there any way to fix that for me? because if you cant, then I've got a lot of repair work ahead of me. I said as I pointed to my truck. The GMC Topkick Ironhide edition was a very sturdy truck but multiple barrel rolls will total the strongest of vehicles, even tanks.

"Hmmm. I do happen to know of an old animation reverse and fix spell but I only used it one other time in my lifetime, and that was a long time ago. I don't know how well it will work but its worth a try to fix it for you." she said. "Please, I'll take anything that works just so long as I don't have to spend so much time on repair work to get back into working order." I said. Celestia seemed to understand what I was getting at and proceeded to light her horn up. Everypony turned to face my truck as a bright golden aura enveloped it entirely and parts of it that had flown off of it in the crash, began to reattach themselves. My truck was now upright again but now It was moving backward in the same way that it was going forward. It was now repeating the barrel roll's as more pieces of the truck reattached themselves, even the terrain was being fixed up from where the tires were skidding in the grass. My truck was now fully repaired and now sitting just a few feet away from the hole that I had hit. "Thank you, princess. You saved me from nearly a month of nonstop work of trying to fix it." I said to Celestia.

"You're welcome. However, I can't just let you go, You're responsible for the death's of hundreds of changelings and will need to come with us back to canterlot for questioning so we can determine what to do with you and make sure you're not a threat to the citizens of Equestria." Celestia said.

I let an extremely long sigh and agreed to go with them back to canterlot but I told them I wasn't going to leave my truck here, and I'm also grabbing my anti-tank gun on the way back. They all agreed to these terms, luna was a little hesitant to do so, but she eventually agreed to. Silver followed me over to my truck as I unlocked the doors and got in. I opened up the passenger side door for her and allowed her to get in. I don't know she was still following me around but I was about to find out. I did ask why it was so cold though, it was still in the low 80's back home on earth where i lived. Celestia had told me that it was November and it was mid to late fall currently. So that's why my engine was struggling earlier

"Hey, silver, About what happened back there, why did you stick up for me? I get the part that I saved you earlier and you wanted to return the favor for me, but you didn't have to. I know you could have just done your job and apprehended me. " I said to her.

"Saving somepony's life goes a long way here in Equestria. When you saved me earlier, defended me against the swarm of changelings bearing down on us, and risked you life for mine, I knew that I was in your debt for this. Besides, you seem like a good biped and it seems like there is a lot of interesting things about you and I honestly want to learn more about you." She said which was surprising.

"Well, you're gonna get that chance since I gotta go back to canterlot to be interrogated but I'm hoping it won't be too bad." I said to her. Everypony else was all around my truck ready to go. I started the truck up and listened to the Detroit diesel engine roar to life once more. I disengaged the airbrakes and put it in gear as I drove back up the mountain. All I knew now, was that things were about to get interesting.

The questioning

View Online

Canterlot city
10/19/19
Invasion of canterlot

1 hour earlier
Silver POV

I was continuing to fade in and out of consciousness for the past 20 minutes now. I could hear lots of loud booms and bangs outside, most likely indicating that the creature that saved me was still alive. I had blacked out again and came to again 5 minutes later when something ear piercingly loud exploded outside, whatever it was, it shook the whole house, knocked everything off the walls, and shattered every window. I could hear a metallic clatter outside and shortly after another minute, another huge bang. Whatever type of weaponry this creature had, was extremely powerful. From where I was currently laying down inside of the building I was in, I had a clear view outside and it seemed that he was using the cannon that he had from earlier. It looked like it functioned similar to our own cannons. He was busy loading it as I watched him take a large shaped projectile and put in first before sliding a large brass cylinder in behind it before closing the loading breach and firing it again. The blast had knocked me out again as it was so powerful. I could still hear the fighting outside as he continued to use his very powerful and advanced weapons against the onslaught of changelings. I had come to once again for a short while and saw him climbing in the back of his carriage and got ready to use another one of his weapons again only to get tackled out of it by a changeling. I watched hopelessly as the creature got stabbed multiple times before he pulled out his own, larger knife and stabbed the changeling in the neck. After he got up, He pulled out another smaller weapon from some sort of holster on his leg and fired it three times at the changeling that had attacked him before he put it back and pulled out the larger weapon again.

10 minutes later

Something had happened that finally put an end to the fighting. A pink wave of magic had rapidly expanded from somewhere in the castle and blasted away the remaining changelings to the farthest reaches of Equestria. Even though I couldn't open my eyes, I could hear him doing something. It sounded like he was bandaging something up as I heard stretching and tearing that sounded exactly like that of a medical bandage being used. I heard the door open up and listened to him walk closer to me, I'm guessing that he was most likely examining me to determine what to do with me. I heard him walk away into another room and open something up and started scooping something up. I could hear him walk back in a minute later over to where I was and then felt something very cold touch my face. They felt like ice packs which is what I'm assuming is what they were. I could hear him pull up a chair next to me and sit down, most likely he was going to wait until I fully regained consciousness again.

10 minutes later

I finally had enough strength to sit up and move around freely again. I moved to take the Ice off of my face but the creature that had saved me spoke up as soon as I did."Hey, Hey hey hey hey hey, Easy now, easy. You've been out for almost 45 minutes now. You took a pretty bad beating back there when I found and you could possibly have a concussion from how many hits you took." He said. I seemed to be genuinely concerned for me as he was looking me over to make sure I was alright. "Who...are you? and where are we right now?" I asked while sitting up all the way. "The names Dakota Rodriguez, I'm the otherworldly being that saved you from certain death earlier, and we are in a house right now that I ducked inside of when those changelings were coming for us, me specifically when I was trying to keep you safe, and I'm also hoping there are good doctors here on your world since I got stabbed multiple times in both of my shoulders." He replied. That explains the bandaging that I was hearing earlier. "What do you mean? why were they going after you?" I asked him, I was confused as to why they would go after him. "I may or may not have killed the ones that were beating you and then killed a couple hundred more." He replied.

The way that he had just casually admitted that he had killed over hundreds of changelings now made me scared for my life since I had a feeling that I could be next.

"Anyways, that's enough about me for right now. You still have a dislocated bone in your nose that I need to reset for you." He told me. I forgot that my nose bone was dislocated. I wasn't totally sure about this but after a few minutes, I finally agreed to let him fix my nose for me. He asked if I needed something to bite down on to help deal with the momentary pain. I did say yes and he proceeded to look around the house to try and find something for me to bite on. He came back a minute later, empty hoofed but made me a strange offer. "There's nothing in this house that I can find right now Ms.Sable, but, If you don't mind it, You're more than welcome to bite down on my arm if you want to." He said. I took a moment to ponder this option, I did eventually say yes to his offer. He told me to lean against his chest for support. He brought his left arm around and I rested my teeth on his arm gently. He told me to let him know when I was ready by tapping him. I took a few seconds and tapped his arm a few times to let him know to go ahead and do it. He started counting down from 3 to signal to me that he was about to move the bone. He suddenly pushed my nose left as I bit down hard on him and let out some painful groans. He had gotten my nose facing the right way again, but it still had to be popped back into its socket. He pushed forward on it as I felt it click into place. He let go of me as I wiggled my nose to see if he was successful, and sure enough, he was. I thanked him a lot for this as there is no way I could have done this myself.

"No problem, Ms.Sable, glad I could help." He responded It felt kind of weird to hear him use my last name like that. "You can just call me Silver, that's my first name. The only ponies that call me sable are the ones that are ranks above me and the princesses." I told him. I preferred if ponies just used my first name instead. I was about to say something else when we both heard something. He got up from where he was sitting and walked over to the window. His eyes widened a decent bit as he turned to me and said something. "Well silver, it was nice meeting you but it looks like this is my exit cue to get out of here in one piece while I still can." He said to me. I was confused by this and watched him run out the door and get back in his carriage. He never told me what it is. I ran out after him but froze in my tracks as I saw just what he had done earlier. Changeling bodies and body parts littered the road ahead of me. His carriage made a loud hissing noise and started grinding something before he had finally started leaving at high speeds. I'm assuming that he was going to try and leave the city. I could see all of canterlot's citizens marching up the road towards us. Among them were other members of the royal guard, the element bearers, and the princess's themselves. I felt sick to my stomach as I just looked at the bodies, I wanted to throw up so badly and I almost did. My colleagues continued to chase him all the way out of canterlot. Something told me they wanted to hurt him, and I couldn't just let that happen. He had saved my life earlier, the least I could do is try and protect him. I knew canterlot like the back of my hoof and I could tell he was trying to escape the city. I was going to take as many shortcuts as possible to try and catch him at the gates to canterlot.

I had been ducking through alleyways and side streets to try and catch up to him. I could see now that he was already outside of the city and heading into the valley below the city. I had made it to the gate and got caught up with the other royal guards that were in pursuit of him. I had to get to him first before anypony else could. I lit my horn and immediately used a short to medium teleportation spell that I knew of and teleported a mere few feet right behind him, but some of my colleagues had the same idea and teleported with me as well but they were about 70 feet ahead of me. We all had continued in pursuit of him until he hit a whole and wrecked his carriage. He was sent rolling through the air at least 15 times then I saw a golden glow around it that helped it to slow down and land upright and then tip over onto its side, I looked behind me and saw that princess Celestia was trying to slow down whatever this thing was and she had a big look of concern on her face. After It had stopped, There was a short pause before he got out of it and started running. I got a good look at him as he got out and now I was worried about him more than I already was. "Oh no!" I quietly said to myself. I could see that he had blood dribbling from his mouth, a lot of cuts on his face, and was running like he had cracked ribs. I just stood there, frozen in place as he continued running. I looked over at what he was driving, and it was completely destroyed. The top of it had caved in, the pipes in the back were bent sideways, some of the wheels were ripped off, It was leaking fluids everywhere, and there was broken glass everywhere.

"Stop where you are now!" One of the other guards shouted. I had forgotten that they were still in pursuit of him and I started running after him again. The 6 elements of harmony had all ran right past me and attempted to stop him. "Stop, now!" Rainbow dash, the element of loyalty shouted to him, but he did not stop. I watched him shoulder his weapon as he reached in his vest for something and pulled some sort of odd-looking yellow shaped object and a large silver spray can. Rainbow dash went in and tried to tackle him but I was not ready for what he did. Once she was closer than 15 feet to him, he flipped around and dropped down to the ground in less than a second and fired the yellow object at her as she screamed loudly. The other five elements attempted to tackle him as well but failed as he sprayed whatever was in that can directly into their faces. He made to get up and try and run again but realized that he was surrounded, Instead of trying to run again, he simply just chose to say "Aw shit, Here we go again.". I had enough, no more of them trying to hurt him, The other guards had formed a circle around him but that wouldn't stop me. I had to get their attention first so I could jump in. "Stop, Can't you see that he's hurt!?" I called out. A couple of the guards had turned around and looked at me as I jumped over them into the circle at high speed, kicking up dust. I had my horn lit and teeth barred as I came to stop right by Dakota's side as he looked up at me as the dust cleared.

"Silver!?" He said in shock. He was genuinely surprised that I was protecting him right now instead of just letting everypony else take him away. "Hey, the least I can do is try and vouch for you so you don't get hauled away to the dungeon under the castle since you saved me earlier." I said to him. I didn't want him to be hauled away since He had saved me earlier, and even though he admitted he was now a killer, he was nicer to me than any other pony that I had known, He was nicer to me than my parents for Celestia's sake. All three of the princess's stepped forward including captain armor. Captain armor was the first to speak up. "Sergeant sable, What are you doing!? Are you not aware that this being had just slaughtered over hundreds of changelings less than 30 minutes ago!?" He said to me. "I'm very well aware captain, and he saved my life in the process! I was getting beaten ruthlessly beaten by 20 of them when he came out of nowhere and saved me from them. I still have the bruises to prove it as well!" I yelled back at him. I knew I still had some bruises on my face and I could still feel them. Princess Celestia came forward next and asked a question for Dakota specifically. "Is this true? did you really save her from a group of changelings earlier and risk your own life in the process?" She asked him. He simply nodded since there was still blood dribbling from his mouth and It was easy to tell that he was in a lot of pain. She proceeded to ask him another question. "Are you able to speak at the moment, as you can understand us?" She asked him. He shook his head this time as I'm assuming the pain in his mouth was too much for him to handle. The princess did ask him who we was though. I was going to answer for him but instead, He pulled what looked like a cardholder made out of black leather and pulled out a plastic card that said "Florida under 21 driver's license" and showed to all three of the princess. They gave the plastic card back to him after looking at it for a moment. Next, the Princess asked how badly he was hurt, I knew he was gonna have to try and speak, even though it would be painful.

"I bit down on my tongue very hard as you can already tell by the blood dribbling from my mouth, I got stabbed in both of my shoulders multiple times, and I have at least somewhere between 5 and 8 cracked ribs at the moment." He said. I was right for the most part on his injuries, except for the number of cracked ribs he had. The princess asked one more question "Also one more question, Will they be ok?" she said as she pointed towards the 6 elements of harmony that were all lying on the ground groaning in agony. "Yeah, they'll be fine, I used non-lethal weaponry on them to defend myself. The blue one with the rainbow hair was tased and others got pepper-sprayed. The effects of a taser last upwards of 7 minutes, and the pepper spray can be rinsed out of their eyes with soap and cold water" He said. So that's what those things were. "I see. Please try to hold still as best as you can, I'm going to try and set your ribs as best as I can and suture your tongue for you." She said to him. I stepped aside so the princess could do what she needed to do, after she was done, I moved back to his side again so they wouldn't hurt him. The blood around his mouth had been dried up and cleaned away and he looked a whole lot better now. I watched him as he began to take off the bandages on his shoulders and he looked at them for a few moments before looking back at the princess.

"Thank you, princess, but I have to ask, is there any way to fix that for me? because if you can't, then I've got a lot of repair work ahead of me." He asked as he pointed to his carriage that was laying on its side. I never noticed until now that there was flashing amber lights on the front and back of it that kept going. "Hmmm. I do happen to know of an old animation reverse and fix spell but I only used it one other time in my lifetime, and that was a long time ago. I don't know how well it will work but its worth a try to fix it for you." I heard the princess say to him. "Please, I'll take anything that works just so long as I don't have to spend so much time on repair work to get back into working order." He said to her, sounding kind of desperate actually.

She seemed to understand what he was asking for and proceeded to light her horn up. Everypony turned to face his truck as a bright golden aura enveloped it entirely and parts of it that had flown off of it in the crash, began to reattach themselves. His carriage was now upright again but now It was moving backward in the same way that it was going forward. It was now repeating the barrel roll's as more pieces of the carriage reattached themselves, even the terrain was being fixed up from where the wheels. were skidding in the grass. His carriage was now fully repaired and now sitting just a few feet away from the hole that he had hit. "Thank you, princess. You saved me from nearly a month of nonstop work of trying to fix it." He said to Celestia.

He let out an extremely long sigh and agreed to go with them back to canterlot but he told them I wasn't going to leave what he called a truck here, and he's also grabbing his so-called anti-tank gun on the way back along with something he called a “DshK” They all agreed to these terms, luna was a little hesitant to do so, but she eventually agreed to. Dakota began walking over to his truck and I followed him, even though he was no longer surrounded by other guards, I still felt the need to keep out of danger as the royal guard is known to contain ruthless fighters in its ranks. I heard something click within in the truck and soon, a door swung open for me to hop inside with him. Dakota had asked me why I stood up for him and why I didn't just turn him over to the guards. I explained to him that saving somepony's life goes a long way in Equestria. It was only fair that I risked my job and freedom for his life as he did with mine, and I even admitted that I wanted to know more about him, but he said that I get that chance since he needs to be questioned by the princesses.

Dakota POV
Present time

After getting my answer from silver, I put my key's in the ignition of my Topkick and manually heated the glowplugs. The low air buzzer was annoying as hell, but I knew it would shut off once I fired the engine up and let it idle for a bit. Turning the key all the way, I cold started the engine again, but this time, I wasn't annoyed since I was in a much better mood now. The 14L Detroit 60 series engine roared to life once more as smoke was now blowing from the exhaust stacks and I revved the engine up to 2500 RPMs and the low air buzzer soon shut off as my air pressure built up to 120 PSI and I got going. I pulled out my phone and plugged it into the radio. If I was gonna have to drive through canterlot and get hated on by the nobles and have death threats made by them against them, I might as well have some music going to drown them out so I don't have to put up with their shit. The earth pony and unicorn guards had already gone back up to canterlot, along with the element bearers, So now it was just the pegasi guards and silver watching over me along with the princesses. I arrived back at the gates and I was let back into the city. There were guards everywhere trying to clean up what they could. I never noticed until now that the majority of them were all mares, I might have to ask what the male to female ratio in Equestria is when I get the chance in about 45 minutes. I was just rolling through the streets of canterlot at a solid 15MPH when I saw that the citizens of canterlot were now starting to return. They looked shaken when they saw the extent of the damage from the battle, but they seemed shocked and fearful when their eyes turned to me as my truck was rumbling up the hill towards where I was holding out. The bass was booming which was appropriate since boomin by daniel holter and old man Malcolm was playing right now through my stereo.

The nobles were now coming back and some of them were giving me the most disgusted looks ever while the rest just stared at me in confusion. The ones that wanted to do something and throw me out of the city, I just threw up the middle finger and smugly grinned as I passed, knowing they couldn't do anything without angering the royal guards escorting me up the hill. I turned onto the main road and saw my handiwork being cleaned up. There were carts full of body bags being hauled away while more dead changelings were being placed in bags, while the ones that were still alive were being tended to by medical personal from within the royal guard and a nearby hospital that I passed earlier in the downtown area while fleeing the city. The changelings that were outside and still alive, had tried to scramble inside of the nearby houses upon seeing me approaching, thinking I was here to finish the job, but I simply wasn't. I was here for my gun. I turned around and backed up slowly until I was about 5 feet from the barrel of the gun and got out. I asked silver to help me turn it around since I couldn't move it by myself. She got out of the truck and lit her horn, ready to grab the guns legs and help me turn it around. I put my hands on the left leg and got ready to lift. I counted down as a white aura surrounded the right leg and lifted. I ushered her to turn it around as quickly as possible since the gun was so heavy and I couldn't hold it much longer. I made it back 3 feet before a blue aura surrounded the leg that I was holding and I started looking around. I looked back over my shoulder as I saw cadence trying to help me move it before shining armor joined in as well. I took the opportunity to guide them closer until I could get the gun hooked onto the towing hitch. I brought the legs close together and put a pin through them and got it hooked onto the truck. I told them they could release their grips on the heavy piece of artillery and take a breather.

I plugged in the lights on it and got back in my truck, but not before I went upstairs and grabbed the other machine gun. I let Silver get back in as well and surprisingly, cadence and shining armor both got in as well. I wasn't gonna ask since they both looked tired after helping me out by maneuvering the heavy gun and holding it up long enough for me to get it hooked up. Silver had proceeded to take off her helmet and set it down on the floor as I got a nice long look at how long and straight her mane was, it went down past her shoulders all the way to her upper back. I offered them all some water as they seemed to be sweating a good bit and since I had a lot of water that I kept in my truck in the back. They all gladly accepted the kind of warm water that I offered. I watched as silver just shotgunned an entire bottle.

"Holy shit. Were you that thirsty?" was my response to her just slamming back the whole thing. I looked in the mirror to see both shining armor and cadence also shotgunning bottles from the case of 48 bottles I had. "Jesus, yall act like that was your last drink or something." I said to all three of them. What was a full 48 pack of water bottles, was now half-empty as they all continued slamming back water. I just chuckled at the display as I joined in their drinking game. They finally stopped once there were about 10 bottles left and they all started breathing heavily to try and catch their breaths. I was now approaching the gates to the castle and I gave the stock air horn three quick blasts before they opened up.

Celestia instructed me to park my truck on the grass next to the doors of the castle as I pulled up. Something looked off though, there were multiple sets of tire tracks that looked like they belonged to duallys and led around the side of canterlot castle. One set of tire tracks looked deeper than the others, I would have gone to check it out but I was still being followed by a unicorn, 3 Alicorns, and a handful of Pegasi so I couldn’t go anywhere they didn’t direct me. I would need to ask Celestia why they were there, they looked recent. I grabbed my keys out of the ignition and locked it up before they escorted me inside. Something came to mind before we did enter though.

"Hey, princess Celestia, don't take this the wrong way but, how come I'm not restrained right now?" I asked her. "That's actually a good question, I don't know if we have any shackles that would fit you. Why are you asking though, I thought you liked having full range of motion over everything." She said. "I do, but I don't want to spook anypony inside by the fact that I'm not from this world and I'm not being restrained by something." I said. It sounded weird but even I knew how this worked. "You make a very good point. I can send a pair of guards to find some shackles if you feel like this is the best idea." She said to me. I agreed and she sent two the guardsmares that were escorting me inside to find a pair of shackles. I didn't want the ponies inside of the castle to be spooked by me as I was being escorted, at the least, keep me at weapon point until I was out of sight of regular ponies. Sure it sounded like a fetish of sorts, but I knew it was for the best of everypony involved. The two guards came back empty handed 5 minutes later and I put my backup plan in action. I told one of the guards to give a weapon to silver and have them escort me to where they need me to go. Celestia, Cadence, Shining armor, Silver, and even Luna questioned my method of getting me to where I needed to be taken to be questioned. I told them it was for the best because a Bipedal creature from another planet that has access to technology centuries ahead of what most of Equestria had, was guaranteed to spook everypony inside and I would probably end up making a little kid cry in the process.

One of the guards gave her crossbow to silver and I told her to hold it a few inches from the back of my head while the other guards would have spears and swords pointed at me while I acted fearful. Celestia asked me if I was ready yet, I put my hands up and behind my head and said yes, after that, Celestia opened up the doors and instructed me to walk inside slowly. I knew how to make myself sweat without trying, so I did. Guards gave me passing looks as I passed by while regular ponies inside making their way out after the battle had ended, just stopped and stared at me as I continued on. I could hear some of them whispering to each other when I went past, mainly saying things like “What is that thing? Why are the guards escorting it through the castle, what’s that thing on it’s back, what is it wearing?” That type of stuff. I rounded another hallway and came to stop at a pair of double doors that were locked and looked like only members of the castle staff could access. Cadence stepped forward and stuck her horn in a small hole in the doors until I heard what sounded like tumblers unlocking and the door opening.

I was ushered inside and once the door was shut behind us, Luna told me that I could put my hands down now as we’re out of view of the public and we didn’t need to worry. Silver returned the crossbow to the guard that gave it to her and walked alongside me once again after we were out of sight of the public. I never realized until now just how tall these ponies were. Luna was easily eye level with me not including her horn, silver came up to my chest at a decent 5'0, and Celestia stood as tall as an NBA basketball player at 6’8, while I was a decent 6’1. We continued down the hallway some more until we came to another door that was unlocked and we went inside. There was at least 15 chairs and a large window that looked into a white room that had nothing in it except for a table and two chairs. Looks like this was the interrogation room. The door to the room was unlocked so, without waiting and wanting to get this over with, I went inside and sat down and waited for another pony to come in and get this started.

I had been waiting now for five minutes now before the door opened up and In walked Celestia and silver. Silver had brought an extra chair with her so she could sit down as well. Once they did both sit down, they both pulled out notebooks and pens and got ready to ask me some questions. Celestia went first.

"So, Mr.Dakota, we all already know each other in terms of names, but I would like to know about who you are, what you are, and where you came from." She said to me. "Could you possibly be a little more specific? because I could honestly give you my life story in full detail or just tell you what I was doing a few moments before I ended up in Equestria." I said to her. "Well, If im being honest, I would actually like to hear your life story, but...I'm not so sure Ms.Sable does though." She said to me. I glanced over at silver and awaited her response. "I don't mind. I would actually prefer to hear about it." She said. "Well then, I recommend grabbing some snacks and drinks because we are gonna be here for a while, but otherwise here we go. It all started when I was born in a place called San Antonio, Texas." I began as they began to write stuff down right away as soon as I began speaking.

6 hours later

"And that's how I ended up here in Equestria, saving this nice mare's life, putting down over hundreds of changelings, trying to escape the city, and nearly killing myself in the process." I ended. All three of us were pretty tired, and the whole room was a mess. Empty chip bags, bottles of iced coffee, half-eaten bowls of popcorn, empty cans of soda, half-eaten sandwiches, and water littered the once empty table. I got up and stretched out a lot since I had been sitting for so long that I had honestly thought my ass had slipped into a coma. It did feel good to have blood flowing in my legs again though. I walked over towards the door and opened it up and was actually surprised to see that the elements were here as well. I glanced over at luna and got the answer for a question that I didn't even ask yet. "they've all been here for the past 5 hours now." She said to me. Twilight was the only one still awake and she seemed super tired. After everything that had happened today, I don't blame her. She was taking her own notes about me and looked like she wanted to say something but just kept struggling to stay awake. I told twilight that I would answer any questions she had for me when we both got some sleep. She tried to complain but I stopped her and reminded her that sleep is a necessity to everyone and it can lead to health problems if you don't get any sleep, or too little sleep. After this, I decided it would be a good idea to try and find my way out of the castle since I could sleep in my Topkick for a while. I pulled out my phone and was surprised to see that it was already almost midnight. I nearly got lost but I managed to find my way out of the castle and into the front courtyard where my truck was parked. The backseat was able to be folded down into a bed so I could actually sleep properly. I had kept a blanket on the passenger side and decided now would be a good time to use it. Once I got comfortable, I shut off the map light, locked the doors, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

I soon found myself floating around in some sort of space like a dreamscape. Blue, white, and purple colors were all that I saw. This seemed familiar to me for some reason. I soon felt gravity take over and I dropped down onto the invisible ground. I got up and walked around for a bit to see if there was anything here. Not surprisingly, there wasn't. I heard hoofsteps approaching behind me and I turned around to see who it was.

"Luna, I had a feeling you would be here. What brings you here to the inside of my head?" I asked her.

"I have come here to ask you some questions of my own that I didn't get to ask earlier." she said.

"Well then, ask away. What do you want to know?" I asked her. Surprisingly she asked me about my truck and what it was. I told her that it was a 2008 GMC Topkick Ironhide edition that had an engine swap performed on it. I removed the old unreliable Duramax engine and swapped in a Detroit diesel engine that I pulled out of a totaled Freightliner classic and put a lot of money worth of engine upgrades into it as well. From minor things like a new set of manual glowplugs to the big things such as the twin-charged setup that I made myself, which consisted of 3 Keating machine turbos and two Weiand superchargers. I was surprised that I had the room in the engine bay for it, but then again, I had replaced the original V8 with an inline 6 so there was more room on the sides of the engine bay than there was before. Luna then proceeded to ask why I tried to flee the city after the battle was over. I explained that an army of citizens, her royal guards, her and her sister, cadence and shining armor, and the elements were marching right towards me and I could see the looks of anger, hatred, and wanting to murder me burning in their eyes. That's why I took off running, Well, Driving and nearly died because of it once I got into the valley below the city. She asked why I attacked the mane 6 like I did and had to explain to her that it was self-defense and that they would be fine. We kept going back and forth like this for about 20 minutes before she wrapped things up with one last thing she wanted to say to me.

"Before I leave and let you do what you want here in this dream, there is one thing you need to know. That mare you saved earlier today, Silver Sable, You both owe each other big time. She risked her employment and freedom for your life as you did with her's. She's trying to find a way to say thank you for what you did, I recommend you do the same." She told me before she walked away and disappeared into nothing. That got me thinking, How would I repay silver? What would she do for me? I would try to figure it out later, for now, since this was my dream, I changed up the scenery to an indoor/outdoor gun range and decided to work on my aim a little bit.

2 hours have now passed and I was starting to wake up. Everything went dark and my eyes became heavy again. I had a dry feeling all throughout my body and in my mouth as well. I sat up and stretched out before I looked at my phone to see what time it was. It was little after 8:00AM and it was super cloudy outside, pretty much just like home. I started thinking about home again, good ol florida. I was hoping that maybe there was a way I could go home, go back to the everglades. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard somepony knocking on the door. I spun around and looked outside to Silver standing there waiting for me. I got up and got out and decided to see why she was here, there is always a reason.

"Morning Silver, What brings you to my truck this morning?" I asked while stifling a yawn.

"Morning Dakota. I was sent here by princess Celestia to retrieve you and have you brought to the dining hall." She said to me, while trying to supress a yawn of her own. Im guessing that she hadn't been awake for long and had just recently started her shift as well. I locked the doors and followed her inside. We hadn't really said a word to each other the whole walk there. When we did get there, Celestia was already inside and enjoying her breakfast. She greeted me warmly and pulled out two seats for both me and silver so we could sit down.

"I take it you slept alright last night, Dakota?" Celestia asked me. "Yeah, I slept alright. Your sister came and visited me in my dreams last night and asked me some questions that weren't answered yesterday." I said. "Hmmm, well what did she ask you?" Celestia asked me.

"She asked me about my truck, to which I went into full detail about. She asked me also about the guns I had and how they worked." I said. "Speaking of my truck, I saw some tire tracks yesterday when I parked up and i've wanted to ask you about that because I never mentioned yesterday that back home on earth, I had a lot more than just the one truck that you already saw." I said to her.

Even though I lived in the Florida Everglades, A lot of my shit's been getting stolen off of my property and I don't know how or why. Really, who the fuck commits like 50 grand theft auto's in the Florida Everglades of all places? A lot of my vehicles that had gotten stolen were parked in and around a barn on my property that I wanted to use for storage and also use as a workshop. Ever since the 3rd theft, I had put camera's in and around it to try and catch the bastard stealing my shit, but every time one got stolen, the camera would go static for a full 2 minutes usually just before one of my trucks disappeared, I didn't care a whole lot that my Chevys and GMC's were getting stolen since GM is a pile of dog shit, but when one of my fords got taken, that's when I took action. I had collected and worked on old and new vehicles a lot with my friends so it was mainly project trucks that were already built that were disappearing along with regular work trucks, and even some semi's that I had acquired to do some heavy pulling when I went to pick up more than one vehicle that I had bought.

I was pulled back to reality when silver had been shaking me trying to get my attention now for the last two minutes. Celestia had said that objects similar to my Topkick had been showing up in Equestria now for the last three month's at random times, in random places. Something about this sounded suspicious, Objects that look like my truck ending up in Equestria, on the same day that they went missing and at the same time as well. I asked Celestia if she could explain this to me a little more. Instead, she offered to show them to me since I probably have the best knowledge on these things. I wouldn't say I knew the most about it, but I could probably explain to her what was showing up.

I accepted her offer and she got up and asked both me and silver to follow her. After about 20 minutes of walking, we ended up outside right back outside where my truck was already parked. Celestia asked me to get in my truck and follow her around the side of the castle where those tire tracks led to. It was much colder out this morning than it was yesterday which led to the engine having a much harder time trying to start in this weather. After about a full minute of cranking the engine, the detroit diesel roared to life once more but she was not happy. I always had to let the engine warm up a bit before I could move the truck otherwise it would stall on me. After letting it high idle for about 2 minutes, the engine was finally warm enough to move. I opened the door and offered silver and Celestia to get in since I had turned on the heat and I had heated seats, They both kindly declined my offer and proceeded to guide me around the side of the castle and follow the tire tracks until they stopped at what looked like a loading bay door. Celestia had lit her horn and activated what looked like a keypad on the side of the door as it began to open slowly. After it opened all the way up, Celestia and silver then decided to get in the backseat of my truck and told me to drive through the door and down the ramp. I did as they said and continued down the ramp for about four minutes until I stopped in a large white room and just stared at what I was seeing. "What the hell are these doing here?!" I said. Now, It was time for me to get some answers

An opportunity to start a new life pt1 (minor edits)

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Warehouse like storage facility under canterlot castle
10/20/19
10:44 AM
Dakota POV

"What the hell are these doing here!?" I partially shouted. I couldn't believe what I was seeing right now. All of my missing vehicles, were here in a warehouse underneath canterlot. Everything from a simple Cummins swapped Silverado classic, to my most loved and modified Ford ltl9000 that had the same Detroit diesel engine with the same mods in my Topkick. All of my missing vehicles were brought here to Equestria and have been sitting here, untouched for probably over a month now.

"How long have all of these been sitting here for?" I quietly asked both Celestia, and silver as I shut off my Topkick and got out. "The last one that was brought here was that big red and black one sitting there in the corner." Celestia replied as she pointed a hoof at the LTL. Every last car and truck was here, completely untouched, perfectly clean. The list of vehicles here included the LTL9000, 2 Chevy Kodiak's, 1 Ford F550, 3 F450s,2 F350's, 2 F250s, 2 Silverado classic 2500's, 1 4th gen ram Laramie 2500, 4 GMC Sierra Denalis, 1 GMC MH9500, 2 ford F750's, 1 F650,1 Duramax powered suburban LTZ Z71, 1 cumstang (Cummins swapped mustang), 1 Jeep gladiator, 1 Jeep Wranglers, 1 Peterbilt 359, 1 2020 peterbilt 389, 1 Peterbilt 567 ultraloft, 1 Peterbilt 579 ultraloft, 2 P71 crown Vic's, 1 dodge demon, 1 1973 dodge coronet, 1 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner sr5, 1 challenger MT945B tractor (surprisingly), one kenworth C500, one kenworth W900, 2 2nd gen ram 3500 flatbeds, 1 first gen ram 350, 2 55 foot double-decker car transportation trailers, 1 Plymouth Barracuda, 3 dodge Dakota’s, 1 Pontiac grand am firebird, 2 Ford Raptors, 2 regular Ford F150s, 2 ford rangers, one ford GT40, 3 volvo vnl 860 semi's, one from 2003, another from 2015, the last one from 2019, 2 Nissan titans with one having a Cummins engine, two Toyota Tundras, 2 Ford Explorers, 2 Ford Expeditions, 2 ford excursions, 1 Chevy bison, 1 international lonestar, two western star 6900’s one being the 8x8 twin steer version, one MAZ 7310 that was very hard to get, one freightliner classic XL, One freightliner cascadia, one mack vision, one mack anthem, one Ford Fusion, one Ford Taurus, one Kia Optima, and one BMW M5.

“So, this is where all of my cars and trucks have ended up at. I gotta say, despite being here for god knows how long, they still look exactly the same way I left them before they were brought here, come to think of it, they all look brand new for some reason, like they’ve never been driven before.” I said. I climbed inside of the vehicles to see if the interiors had been cleaned out as well, and sure enough, they were. I didn't notice until now when I was climbing out of one of the Peterbilts when I glanced over at the odometer and saw that it was at 7 miles with less than 30 minutes on the engine. I checked the odometer and clock in the LTL and sure enough, it was the same as the one in the older Peterbilt.

"Something is definitely not right about all of this."

I said to myself. Taking the time to check the odometer's on every vehicle in the warehouse, they were all the same. The odometer in my Topkick was similar to all the other ones, with a few more miles on it since I was driving it earlier.

"Is something wrong? why do you keep checking the insides of all of these vehicles you supposedly own?"

I heard Celestia ask me while I was checking out the odometer in the coronet.

"It's weird how every last vehicle in here now has no miles on them at all. It's like they're all brand new, right off the production line."

I said. I was still just in awe by the fact that everything looked brand new. Sure I took great care of everything I owned, but they would still show their age regardless, mainly by idling rough and loping a lot, mainly because I could never be bothered with the task of fully rebuilding the engines.

"Well, Are they all brand new, or not?" I heard silver ask me. "No, more than half of all these vehicles are older than 10 years with that one being the oldest." I said as I pointed to the coronet which was now technically 43 years old. I didn't want to see them just sit here, I wanted them to be stored somewhere where I can easily access, maintain, and operate them, all of them. I decided to try and ask Celestia If there was somewhere more suitable that I could relocate my stuff to when silver said something and grabbed my attention.

"If you don't mind, you can use my property to store them if you want. I have a large backyard at my house that's almost 3 acres long and 1 acre wide." Silver said to me. "That could work, but are you sure you would want me to store them there? the place's where I would park them would leave tire marks and would stay there for quite a while." I said to her. "I don't mind. I never use my backyard anyways. I've actually been looking for an excuse to use it for something so this could work out for both of us. I don't live far from here, its about a 30-minute walk from the castle to my home if you stay on the main roads. I live in the suburbs of western canterlot and it's pretty hard to miss my house." Silver explained to me. "Well, if you don't mind if I park on your property and work on my stuff from time to time, then I don't mind. Would you mind if we checked out your home first just to make sure your backyard is big enough?" I asked her. "No problem. When do you want to head over there?" she asked me. "We can head over there right now if that's fine with you." I said to silver. She told me that works and we proceeded to head over to her place. I decided to hop in the coronet since I needed to drive something a little bit smaller so I could fit on the streets properly since most of canterlots roads are side streets and I could barely fit my topkick through the narrow side streets, the main surface streets were much wider though and easier to navigate. I opened up the doors on the coronet and allowed silver to hop inside with me. Celestia said she was going to stay here and wait for us to come back before she would allow us to move my vehicles.

Once I got the lap belt on, I looked through my clusterfuck of a key ring to find the coronets key and then stuck it in the ignition. Turning the key all they way, I listened to the 7.2L V8 rumble to life and felt the whole car vibrating with the engine. Narrowly avoiding scratching my topkick on the way out since it was still in the way, I started driving up the ramp and out of the castle. Leaving the castle and entering the city, clean up was still being taken care of as there was excessive damage to some buildings while others only had small amounts of damage like some roof shingles missing from the battle. The majority of the ponies who were currently out and trying to get some shopping done or look through piles of rubble that may have once been their home, all stopped to look at me as I cruised past. I could see looks of uncertainty on their faces while others had confusion currently as their expression as they most likely saw silver in her armor sitting in the passenger seat with me while she was giving me directions to her house.

10 minutes later

I was now In silver's neighborhood and was proceeding down the road she lived on and she said her house was the last one on the right. I could see her house now and I was in awe. Silver lived in a mansion, a fucking mansion, on a royal guards' salary of about 50,000 bits a year on average. The equestrian bit actually had almost the same value as the US dollar, being 2 dollars to the bit. "How the hell did you manage to get a place like this and not go into debt from the mortgage payments?" I asked while bewilderment was clear in my voice. "My parents had given me the deed to the house when I was 18 right before they moved away to a small town named ponyville. They said they were tired of the city life and wanted to go someplace quiet and get a smaller home, and in the process, they left a "Small" sum of 500,000 bits for me so I could finish paying off this house and provide for myself. I still like to go and visit them every now and then on my off day when the trains are running to ponyville." She explained to me. I pulled up to the gate where there was a gatekeeper who asked silver who I was before she briefly explained that she was allowing me to use her property to store all of my trucks and cars that had ended up in Equestria. The old guy seemed to understand and opened it up and allowed me to drive in before I pulled in the little roundabout she had in front of the front door with a fountain in the center of it. Shutting off the car, we both got out and she guided me around to the backyard she said she had, and holy shit was it huge. Silver's yard was easily the size of a relatively medium-large truckstop, with enough room for a whole fleet of Peterbilts to be parked up at. It was clear she had underestimated the size of her own property, like WAAAAYY underestimated unless an acre is bigger here in Equestria than it is on earth. Silver's backyard was easily 5 acres all around if I had to guess.

“Well then, this will do nicely. Given the size of this place, I could fit all of them here without even taking up a quarter of the yard.” I said to her. I even decided to park the first car here by going around to the front and bringing the coronet around And parking it up next to the back door. When I got out, I could see ponies inside silvers mansion looking out at me, most likely servants that worked for her. Silver did say she liked to do things herself, but with her home being so big and not wanting to move, she had kept the current staff employed to help keep her home in good condition while she helped out as much as she could.

“Well, that’s one car down, about 60 more to go. We best start walking back to the castle.” I said. Not wasting any time, we began our walk back to the castle instead of driving back because, 1 I needed to lose some damn weight because weighing 253 pounds at my age is most likely not healthy, and 2, it gave us the opportunity to learn more about each other that we hadn’t talked about yesterday. We left silvers street and had gotten onto the main road. We were talking about all sorts of things on our way back, mainly like our interests and hobbies. Silver asked if I had ever had a job before and I explained to her that I worked part-time as a stocker for HomeDepot back home as my first job. I asked her if she went straight into the royal guard once she was done with school and everything and she had but I wasn't surprised by it. She was very passionate about being in the guard and jumped on the opportunity to begin training for the guard when she was still 17 and still in high school. She had training on the weekends and was extremely excited to be welcomed into the royal guard officially right before she graduated high school and graduated 1st in the guard's academy. What still surprised me though was the fact that she was already a staff seargent and yet she was still only 19 years old, that made her just a year older than me. I had told her that I had wanted to join the marine corps at some point in my life after I got out of school and go onto to be either a tanker or a drill instructor. I had to explain to her what a tanker and a tank was so she wouldn't be left confused about it. We were just casually talking about other things and joking about other things as well while we walked back. We got a lot of confused and nervous glances from ponies who were out and about trying to help clean up what they could or just going out to get stuff.

8 minutes later

"And that's why some people may say I'm crazy because it's actually a wish of mine to experience a tornado emergency at some point in my life." I said. I was just casually talking about some of the things that I wanted to do in life even though some of it was questionable while the rest of it was outright stupid. We had gotten back to the castle now and were walking down the ramp to the warehouse where all my cars and trucks were sitting at and were about to tell Celestia that silver's backyard would work perfectly for me. True to her word, Celestia was still in the warehouse waiting for us while she was sitting on top of some crates scribbling something down in what looked like a sketchbook. "We're back Princess. Silver's yard will work perfectly and I'm ready to move as soon as she is." I said "That's great news. I did some research while you both were out and found out there Is a way to send you home Mr.Dakota, but there is a large catch." She informed me. Perking up at this, I asked her what the catch was and found out that the method that would have been used to send me home only has a 15 percent chance of success. In other words, im now stuck in Equestria for the rest of my life, but I didn't mind. "Well damn, oh well. I've wanted to try and start a new life anyways because I had a troubled upbringing earlier in my childhood and early teens when I was living in virginia since my parents were divorced and I had lived in an apartment complex that had a high amount of gang activity in the surrounding area, and after a particularly nasty fight with my father, thats when I decided to run away to Florida with some of my friends who were having similar issues." I explained in further detail than I did yesterday.

"Anyways, since I'm now stuck here for the rest of my life, I might as well seek out a job and someplace to live for the time being." I said before Silver interjected. "You're more than welcome to come and live with me as well if you want Dakota. It makes sense since you will already have your vehicles parked in my backyard that you move in as well so you can access them easier. I have a few guest bedrooms at my house that you can use and I can speak with captain armor to see if you can join the royal guard. The starting pay is around 30,000 bits per year and captain armor did say he thought you could be a viable asset to the guards." Silver said. "Well, I don't know what to say silver, but, thank you for the offer." I said "What are friends for? It's the least I can do." She said. It's funny because we had both only known each other for about two day's now and we had already hit it off and became friends and now, she was even offering me the chance to move in with her. Silver truly was a nice mare, she cared about me like a real friend and was the first pony I met that was genuinely interested in me and didn't see me as a killer because I killed a bunch of bugs, or as a lowly peasant because I wasn't rich or as strange hairless ape from another world. She simply saw me as just another living being, and I liked that because she wasn't one of those snobby fuckers who only looked to advance their own agendas even though she was extremely rich.

"Well, we best not waste any more time. I say we should use those packer trailers to move vehicles by 16 at a time, save us a bunch of time, and we should be done by sundown." I said "That sounds like it could work, but there is one problem. You're the only one that can is able to operate these vehicles, what are we supposed to do?" Silver asked the first half of the question while celestia asked the other half. I thought of something that could potentially work but was incredibly dumb.

"I can teach one of you how to drive one of the semi-trucks down here and then help me tie down vehicles when I load them onto the trailers and then proceed to take them to silvers house." I said. like I mentioned before, stupid ass plan that could go wrong In so many different ways. Surprisingly, the both liked the plan I came up with. I would fist need to teach silver how to drive one of the volvo's since those were the simplest trucks since I didn't want her grinding the gears and dropping the clutch in either the Peterbilts or the ford. I told silver to get in the 2015 volvo with me as I climbed inside and started the engine. The rumble of the swapped in Caterpiler C15 engine was a very nice sound. Pulling out and moving up the ramp, I stopped at the enterance and turned in my swivel seat and told silver to swap places with me. I gave her the rundown of what everything did and what she needed to know. I told her how to operate the clutch, how to shift up and down, how to go from low gears to high gears and then back to low gears, how to steer the truck, how to use the jake brake, what to do if the truck was on an incline, everything. I told her to pull the truck out and get it to the castle gates without going off the path or without hitting anything. I watched as she pressed the accelerator down ever so gently but the truck wasn't moving. It was in gear and everything, then it hit me. I forgot to tell her about the parking brake I told her to push the yellow knob in so that we would move forward. She did as I said and we started rolling forward. She got to the gate and the guard on duty looked confused but seemed to understand once we both cleared everything up for her.

I told silver to keep the truck going at a speed of 25 miles per hour or slower and to use the jake brake when going down hill. We had made it into a market place now and we were getting a lot of looks from many ponies who just watched as the Swedish big rig slowly rolled by. Silver was doing a very good job so far but I could see her visibly sweating as she was obviously nervous and a decent deal of stress as she had never done this before, that and the heat was on since it was cold outside. That reminded me about something. I got up out of my seat to look through the small closet behind my seat to see if I had any warm clothing in there so I wouldn't freeze my ass off when I'm out for a walk, thankfully, I found one of my spare winter coats and some jeans so I would be set for a good bit. I got back in my seat and I had talked silver through the whole thing to make sure she wouldn't hit anything and to try and help take her mind off of driving this thing, and it had worked. Before we both even knew it, we had already made it back to silvers home.

"Well look at that, you did it. We made it to your home and you did a great job. You're a natural trucker silver." I said to her "Now we gotta go back to the castle. Do you think you can handle that? or would you like me to take over?" I asked her. "I think I can handle it. It wasn't too bad on the way here, it shouldn't be too bad on the way back." Silver replied. "Alright then, Use the shifter to get us in reverse and turn us around and then when we get back to the castle, Ill hook up a trailer and we can practice with that." I said. She nearly made the mistake of using the seat shifter like I did since it wasnt hooked up to anything anymore since the original transmission was replaced with an Eaton 15 speed manual

Most people who have never even seen the inside of a Volvo semi would even think to look there for that shifter to get the truck to move and would instead just go straight for the gear shifter on the ground without even realizing that you need to use the other one first to put it in either drive or manual. Getting the truck in reverse, She had to partially pull into one of her neighbor's driveways. I could see in one of the mirrors that a pony walking her dog had to rush out of the way to avoid getting knocked over. This truck was a sleeper cab so it had no rear window and you had to rely solely on your mirrors or someone to spot you, which is what I did. This model was also the largest of the sleepers and was a double bunk as well. The pony behind us just stared at us while her dog barked uncontrollably while I was guiding silver backwards and getting ear raped by the backup signal before she was good enough to pull forward and I got back in. Getting the shifter into gear, we finally pulled away and started back towards the castle.

More ponies were out and about now and even more of them were staring at us as the futuristic-looking semi-truck rolled past at a low speed. I told silver to push the city horn if there was any pony standing in our way and to press the big air horn if there was a group of ponies in our way. I had built a quad horn setup into the truck along with the regular air horn that could be toggled on and off by using a switch next to the ignition. I had done the same for both of the other Volvo’s just so they would feel more like a mans truck. We had made it back into the shopping area from earlier and silver was just laying into the air horn right now. I told her to stop before she drained the air tank and that she only needed to use the horn if there were pony’s in the way. We were now right back outside the walls of the castle and had crossed over the little bridge that was really sketchy looking and went over a moat that was easily 15 feet deep that separated the castle from the rest of the city physically, I honestly thought it would collapse under the weight of the truck as we went back over it since it was only made of stone and some small amounts of wood but then again, it seems to be well maintained and should handle the weight just fine.

Arriving at the warehouse entrance, I told silver to swap places with me as we went back down the ramp so I could hook up to one of the trailers and pull it back out. Going all the way back down the ramp, I had forgotten that the trailers were parked along the walls and would be very difficult to get out here without hitting anything. I asked silver to get out and spot me as I reversed the truck and lined up the fifth wheel with the trailer’s pin. I got it lined up perfectly and got the trailer attached and just needed to connect the air lines and lights and then we could head back out. I raised the trailer legs and then got back in the truck with silver. I did a quick tug test on the trailer then pulled back out. I got us outside of the castle walls then swapped seats with silver again. I had to explain to her that a trailer will change the weight and handling of a truck and she would need to swing wide the trailer when turning right to avoid hitting anything.

30 minutes later

We had made to and back from silvers house again with no issues. She handled driving the truck amazingly and now it’s one to see how well she would do without any guidance. We would start to load my vehicles onto her trailer and then I would grab one of the other trucks and other trailer and load that one up as well then we would head to her home, and then unload the trailers. We were rolling through the streets of canterlot again with a large and long yet empty trailer that would either end in numerous close calls considering these are tight streets or in failure because we rolled the truck over, hit something, or jackknifed it. I glanced over at silver again and she had seemed to stop sweating now but I could tell she was still a bit nervous just by looking into her eyes a little bit. Her pupils were somewhat dialated and she was continuously glancing left and right. I decided to reach around and turn on the radio since yesterday both celestia and silver did tell me they have regualr AM/FM, So I decided to see what was on right now. I kept rolling the dial until I found an electronic music station that had just jumped into a news flash.

"Welcome back everypony. I'm your host, DJ PON3, and your listening to 102.8, The beat. We got some breaking news regarding the events that had happened the day before including the new creature that is now living in canterlot. We have been getting numerous reports now saying that yesterday it was discovered that this creature that was in canterlot had attacked and killed over 400 changelings during yesterday's failed invasion attempt and there were more reports that indicated that had saved a royal guardsmare's life in the process. Whats more surprising is that this creature is not only not from the planet of equis, but it also speaks perfect equish as well. He attempted to flee canterlot in a large black ponyless cariage that he had arrived in and exceeded speeds of 150MPH only to roll it over in the vally below the city and sustain major injuries. After reading reports from the royal guards that he had suffered multiple cuts from broken glass, a cut tongue, 10 stab injuries to both of his shoulders, and at least 5 broken ribs. After the benevolent Princess Celestia patched him up, He asked if there was any way that that she could fix his carriage that He said is called a Truck and then proceeded back into canterlot in order to pick up a large green cannon that he had left behind while fleeing yesterday before finally ending up in the castle for the rest of the night. He was later seen earlier today In a similar black carriage but more surprisingly, with the same guardsmare that he had saved yesterday and he was seen roaming around canterlot as well with this mare still, this time in a much larger carriage with this mare as well but this time, with her operating it. It seems that this otherworldly being is teaching this mare how to use his very unusual carriages and was recently spotted again traveling to and from a large mansion in the west canterlot suburbs, this time, with a very large and unusual looking object hooked up to the back of it, Not much else is known right now but the Princesses have stated that they will release a fully detailed report on this strange being within a week at most when it is complete and we will give you an update then, but for now we will continue to update you with what we get from you fillies and gentlecolts out there. Now, back to those sweet wubs you guys keep asking for!" The DJ said

I rolled the dial left some more to see if any other stations were talking about everything that had happened within the past day or so, and it would seem that just about every station was currently on its news brake. Each station's announcer was talking about me in different ways. Some were referring to me as "The hero from another world" while others had taken to calling me a monstrous killer and the rest being neutral about their stance on me. I rolled the dial back to the right to see if the stations on the other end of the FM band were talking about me as well, and they were sure enough. I switched to the AM band to see if there was anything else at all other than the news talking about me that was playing. Surprisingly and Not surprisingly, there were radio stations playing in high FM quality all up and down the AM band but they were on the news and talking about me. There was surprisingly only about 7 or 8 empty stations on the AM band as well.

"Well, it would seem that word travels fast and just about half of the entire planet is now aware that I exist," I said out loud to myself. "Well, of course, they know you're now here. You caused quite a stir yesterday by eliminating all of those changelings and then attempting to flee the city and attack the elements of harmony as well. That's guaranteed to get anypony's attention in this day and age. I'm honestly surprised no pony's tried to take you out yet." Silver said to me before I even realized I spoke out. "Hey, I acted in self-defense and you saw it. They were all about to pile up on me even when it was obvious that I had numerous broken ribs. Also, remember what I told you about using your turn signals at intersections like this." I responded to silver trying to explain my reasoning why I tased rainbow dash and pepper-sprayed the rest while also trying to remind her about driving a giant truck like this requires full attention. We continued all the way to her mansion and then repeated the process of going back to the castle.

“Alright silver, you’ve proven to me that so far you can drive a large truck like this with no problem, but now it’s time to see if you can handle a full route to and from your home without guidance AND without me in the truck. You will need to go back and forth with and without a trailer and without guidance from me. I’ll be following behind you in another truck to see how well you do. If you get stuck or need me to guide you through a narrow street, press this button on the steering column, Ok?” I said to her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I only have about 5 hours worth of experience operating this thing and you saying ive done an outstanding job so far doesn't say much that I'm ready yet. I feel confident enough with you guiding me through the whole trip but I'm not so sure I'm ready yet do this by myself." Silver replied to me. "You've got nothing to worry about. I already said that I will be following behind you in another truck and if you get stuck, just press that red button and I'll help you. You can already drive a truck better than I could when I first started driving them. I'll start you off easy by driving without the trailer and sticking to main roads as much as possible and then you can move onto a trailer when you feel ready." I said.

After getting silver to agree, I took control and got us back to the castle so I could detach the trailer. The hard part was reversing all the way back down the ramp and getting the trailer lined up against the wall. After finally getting the trailer positioned back where it was, I unhooked the airlines and wires then lowered the trailer legs. I made my way over to the Freightliners and got in the classic. I turned on the electronics and got silver on the CB radio and reminded her what to do. We both started our engines and let silver out first before I followed her out. We had made it to the gates and she was doing a great job so far, She remembered to swing wide for right turns since the truck she was in was longer than most and to slow down earlier. Because canterlot was like a giant hill in most places, I was constantly Jaking since we were mainly going downhill on grades ranging from 6 to 15 percent which would require the use of the engine brake to keep the truck from going too fast. The sound of the 10 inch straight detoit diesel engine paired with an 18 speed transmission sounding off was enough to be heard throughout the entire city given the fact that canterlot is an absolutely huge city. It was only when I was shifting gears that I could hear the engine brake In silvers truck which was significantly quieter than mine by a good amount given the fact that the truck she was driving also had a CAT engine which was notorious for being exceptionally loud, and probably because I also hadn’t straight piped it yet either so it still had its mufflers and standard pipes. We had made it to silver's house once again but encountered a problem that I didn't think about, There was not enough room for both of us to turn around without hitting each other. Improvising, I grabbed my CB and told silver that she would need to try and do a three-point turn while I reversed back down the street and she followed where I would let her out before I would get behind her again. There was just enough room in the culdesac she lived in to allow for the three-point turn to be made while I spotted her.

Silver had managed to get the Volvo turned around better than I probably could and in a shorter amount of time. Seriously, she probably only has about 3 hours worth of experience driving a big rig and already she’s doing way better than I probably could a year ago. Our trucks were now facing each other and ready to go again. I threw my truck in reverse as I now started going back down the street we would be going down again either later today or early tomorrow. The Side streets of Canterlot were a bit wider than I first thought because I didn’t need to cut the steering wheel all the way to the side before the cab was even in the road and I had a good bit of room to work with. The hard part would be when we had the trailers since we gotta swing wide with them so we don't hit anything and the fact that they're 55 foot long trailers would only serve to make it harder for both of us.

We were almost back to the castle now but there were a bunch of foals playing in the road and were blocking our way. I told silver to let me pass real quick so I could try and get them to move out of the way. I give a few quick blasts of the city horn but instead of moving out of the way like I had hoped they would, they just froze up instead and gazed and gawked at my truck with some of them just letting their jaws hang so low in awe that I honestly thought they would probably fall off if they didn't close their mouths. I asked silver through the CB to try and ask them to move since they would probably freak out if they saw me and run off screaming. I heard her set the parking brake as she got out of the truck while I shut my engine off and partially rolled my window down.

"She should have better luck talking to them than me since I don't think they would even know what I am and would most likely run away screaming." I said to myself.

Silver POV

Dakota had just stopped me and motioned for me to allow him to pass and get in front of me real quick before he stopped real quick and used his horn real quick. He asked me to get out real quick as there was a large group of foals playing in the road and he wanted me to get them to move out of the way as they would probably freak out if they saw him. I turned off the truck real quick and got out right as he shut his truck off. "Hey, If you can't get them to move out of the way, I'll just find a way to the castle using some side streets." He said to me as I walked past. Here goes.

"Hey kids. I know what you're all seeing right now is very cool and interesting, but I need you all to move out of the way because I and this nice gentle colt are trying to get back to the castle as we are doing something important." I said trying to get the little foals to move, but with little to no avail. Many of the foals wanted to actually speak to Dakota since it was in their nature as children to question anything living that they didn't understand. "Well, I can see if he has the time to talk right now but I can't guarantee anything since we're both busy." I said to them. I walked over to his truck but before I even said anything, he gave me his response to the question that I was about to ask.

"I heard the whole thing. I'm in no rush to get this done. The fact that they won't run away screaming from me just upon seeing me is all I need, but we should probably move the trucks off the road first. You spot me while I park them." He said. He started the engine again and proceeded to move his truck out of the road and reversed it into a nearby ally way. I could hear a lot of hushed gasps and oohs and awes coming from the foals as he got out and made his way over to the other truck and started to move that one off onto the side of the road next to the sidewalk before he finally shut it off and got out and walked over to us. Before he even had time to react, every last one of the kids rushed over to him and just started to bombard him with questions and just checking him out. It was kind of cute actually. Some of them even tried to climb on him.

"Hey Woah Woah! Bit close for comfort now aint yall?"

He was practically getting smothered at this point. Perhaps I probably should help him.

"Alright you kids. Give him some space. I know you all probably have questions for him."

"This is honestly more attention ive ever gotten at one time than compared to back home. Most of the time kids would just look at me out of curiosity."

1 Hour later

Standing up, he had to say sorry to the kids as we had to go but next time he saw them, he would show them the inside of the trucks if they wanted to. He began walking back over to his truck and stopped to say something to me.

“That was fun, I genuinely hope I get to see those kids again. I hope they all grow up to become something amazing. They'd have a better future than I've had."

After we finished talking about everything, we finally moved on and got back to our trucks and were about to head out, but the engine wouldn't start for some reason. I got out and walked over to Dakota's truck and it sounded like he was having the same issue. I asked him why the truck won't start and got my answer right away.

"If you're wondering why the trucks not starting, its because the engine has gotten cold and its going to be much harder to start it in the cold weather. Just keep holding the key all the way to the right but let off of it after every 15-20 seconds so you don't damage the starter motor. The truck will eventually start. Once it does start, just let the truck sit for a little bit so the engine can warm up." He said.

Following his instructions, I walked back over to the other truck and got back in. I did as he said and held the key for 20 seconds. The engine must have been really cold because it was not starting, until I finally heard a knocking noise from inside of the truck's engine and it finally started. I got out and walked over to Dakota's truck where he had just started to try and start his engine which sounded like it was having a rougher time until his engine started spluttering and finally started as well. We had let the trucks sit for about 10 minutes and let them warm up before we finally got moving again.

We had now made it back to the castle and I had to hook up a trailer now and to make a run to my house and back here without hitting anything. Setting the seat lever to R, I began to move backwards and had to line up the little peg sticking down from the bottom of the trailer with part of the truck that connects it and hook up the cables. I asked Dakota why he was doing the same but to my surprise, he needed to get used to driving with a trailer through the narrow streets of canterlot as well since he wasn't used to driving a large truck through tight urban areas, especially with a long trailer. We finally got both trailers hooked up and we were ready to go. We had left the castle and were back in the streets of canterlot. the main streets were wide enough for us to drive side by side without the risk of hitting each other. We were going downhill at a decent rate until the street got narrower. Dakota had slowed down and stopped to let me pass him on the right. I was now leading the way towards my home and we would have to get in to my yard just to turn around and get back out.

2 hours later
Dakota POV

I was finally done teaching silver how to drive a truck and she had done amazingly. It was a little bit past 6 in the evening now and the sun was only just starting to be set. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now when my stomach decided to vocally protest the absence of calories while I was unhooking the trailer from my Freightliner and standing next to silver.

"Well, you certainly sound like you haven't eaten in a while." she said while helping me lower the trailer legs. "Well yeah, I haven't had anything at all today since breakfast this morning. I would actually like to try out some of the local eateries in the area, but you'd have to tell me if they were any good or not because I'm not from around here." I replied. "There is a local sandwich place not far from here, It's in the shopping district and has the best pasta and potato sandwich served on sourdough and it is so good." She said. Already was I picturing the delicious-sounding stack of food and it was making my mouth water. "Well then, lets go. You lead the way, I'll be right behind you." I said. Silver honestly kind of took it as a challenge, like she wanted to race or something. There was one more thing I wanted to say first before we went out again. "By the way silver, since you did a great job driving earlier, that truck is now your's to keep and use as you wish." I said.

I watched as her eyes grew a bit in surprise. She wasn't expecting me to say that the truck that I let her drive was now hers. "Well then, if that's the case, Ill race you all the way to Prime Rye and back!" She said before dashing for her Volvo. "Hey no fair! I gotta unlock my door!" I shouted. I got back in my truck and it was now a match of Freightliner vs Volvo. Who would win? Detroit diesel, or CAT? I felt my competitive spirit rise up and take over. I could tell now I was going to enjoy my new life here in equestria.

Rescue mission

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6:06PM
Western Canterlot
Dakota POV

“Hey, no fair! I gotta unlock my door!” I was now getting into a truck race with silver to a local sandwich joint called prime rye after a long day's work. I had finally gotten my engine started and had just barely caught her leaving the gates of her mansion. We were equally matched as she had the entire layout of Canterlot memorized while I could drive these big rigs like race cars. It would still be easy for both of us to see where the other was in the city because both of our trucks were painted a bright glossy red and because I could see the heat waves exiting the exhaust pipes. I was actually drifting the truck through the streets and it was both fun and dangerous. I could tell now that it was going to be a close draw all the way to the end. The only way I could tell I wasn’t going the wrong way, is because there was a large sign sticking up 90 feet in the air just like some fast food joints and gas stations did back home to advertise to people driving along the highways out in the middle of nowhere and let them know that place was there. I had rounded a corner and was approaching the restaurant Silver had recommended but it was going to be a close finish because just as I had rounded the corner, Silver had come off a side street and was now side by side with me and it was now a straightaway to the sandwich joint and now it was a matter of who could shift quicker and keep the throttle to the floor. Silver was ahead of me but I was quickly gaining on her. We had about 2 miles left before we would reach the restaurant and it was going to be very close.

"Come on silver, let's see if you can catch me!" I shouted into the CB radio and blasted the air horn. "Bring it! if I win, your paying for both of our meals!" She responded. We were neck and neck but silver passed me on the right side and I was now starting to get into the lower Triple digits. I Was raging and banging my hand on the steering wheel. There were ponies out and about still all just standing on the sidewalk and watching us blow past them at such high speed. Even though they were pretty much just a blur, I thought I could actually see some of them cheering us on, but I wasn't sure since we were going so fast.

It was the final home stretch, just one more mile. If I could pass her, silver would be paying for our meals. I had caught back up to her but it was meaningless now as we had just passed the restaurant and I had one. I was feeling very cocky and paid the price for it since silver voiced her victory on the CB.

“YEEEEEHAAAW! That’s what I’m talking about, This thing rocks!” She shouted. She had put on a bit of a southern accent there. She also seemed to like her new VNL as well.

“Yeah, yeah I get it. You won and I gotta pay for the food.” I responded in a pissed voice. I flipped on the jake brake and started to apply the brakes to slow down before I reached the end of the road. Silver got behind me and managed to turn around but there wasn’t enough room for us to do so. I would have to make a u turn and go all the way back down the road until we were right outside the restaurant and park up outside.

"That is what i'm talking about! No pony knows Canterlot like I do, woohoo!!" She shouted victoriously. “Oh shut up. If I hadn’t given you a truck that had a C15 with a big ass marine camshaft, I would’ve gapped you on the straight away." I said in a somewhat competitive tone. I wasn’t gonna be a sore loser about a race.

"Hey, maybe next time, I’ll show you around Canterlot and maybe you might memorise it’s layout. don't be mad that I caught you in the end, be happy that we got to have some fun together and maybe next time you’ll win." She said trying to keep my spirits up, which seemed to work. "Next time, ill be sure to get a faster truck then." I said. "Well then, Ill take more shortcuts." She responded cockily.

Silver proceeded to start taking off all of her armor before heading inside. She took off her hoof plates or whatever they're called then her helmet and finally her chest plate. I had never seen her without her armor on until now and I had gotten a full look at her cutie mark as well. It seemed to be a saber being unsheathed with a glint on the part of the blade that was exposed.

"Let's head on inside." Silver said. Following her inside, some of the ponies just gave us confused looks like every other pony I've seen in canterlot while others surprisingly clapped and cheered as they were more aware of what had just happened just minutes ago as Silver and I finished our race and some ponies were congratulating her on her narrow victory before a waitress walked over and greeted us.

"Hi, welcome to prime rye! how many today?" she cheerfully greeted us with a rather strong Brooklyn accent. "It's just the two of us." Silver said.

“Alright then, if you two would kindly follow me please.” She said. I couldn’t help but try to figure out who this mare was. I know I had seen her in the show before but I can’t quite remember from where. She was entirely purple with a grapevine cutie mark and purple eyes, a little too much of one color. She led us to a booth a few seconds later. She then took our orders for drinks before she walked off to the kitchen.

“So silver, I gotta ask you something. Do most ponies around here easily adjust to new things here on your world or am I just imagining things?” I said randomly. That question had been hugging me now for the past day and a half that I’ve been here.

“They do actually. We’re able to adjust so easily to new things because of how often weird and unusual things happen in Equestria that it’s almost become an everyday occurrence. If there’s a day without something strange happening, it either means that we were able to catch a break or something is going to happen soon and it’ll be big. Kind of like how you ended up here and put down part of an army.” She said.

My phone kept vibrating in my pocket for some reason but I wasn’t gonna check it out right now because I was always given shit about being on my phone in a public place by the boomers who act entitled to everything just cause their old and think society would be better off if we didn’t have phones and the internet. My phone was most likely going off because of some mobile games I had that were trying to get me to come back and play them because I hadn’t played them in a few days or they were telling me to hurry back because there was a special offer that would run out soon or something. The waitress came back a minute later with our drinks on her back and that's when I recognized her. Berry Punch, that's who she was. I knew she looked familiar but couldn't quite figure it out until now. She gave us our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Me and silver both gave her our orders before she walked back to the kitchen. I didn't notice until now just how modern this place seemed compared to places back on earth. There were some small flat-screen TVs above the bar but they were in black and white and the quality was kind of low but it seemed like they were on a news channel right now. There were also some weird looking carriages parked outside by our trucks that didn't seem to have the harnesses that would allow for another pony to pull it and seemed to look like it would use a small 4 cylinder engine or electric motor to turn a drive shaft connected to a gearbox. I was about to ask silver about it but she already answered before I even opened my mouth.

"Magic. Those carriages use magic to move without the need of another pony and are pretty pricey. Most of the nobles here in canterlot have one but they are available to the common pony, just without some luxury features like seatbelts and airbags." She said.

"Sounds just like when cars were still being developed back home but the seatbelts and airbags soon became mandatory to put in every car as they were relisted as safety devices." I replied.

Berry Punch came back with our food a few minutes later and we dug in. After a long day of work, I needed this food more than anything. My phone kept going off in my pocket and I was starting to get annoyed but it could wait until after we left this place.

20 minutes later

I was super full and ready to fall asleep now. That sandwich silver recommended really did a number on me but it was delicious. Silver paid for our food regardless as I had only been in Equestria for about a day and a half now and I had no money that they would accept.

"This place has amazing food silver, glad you recommended it. Once I can get a job and some money, I'm gonna start coming here every day for lunch." I said.

"Glad you liked it. Even though Prime rye is local to canterlot, it's loved by ponies around the world." She said.

Silver had already paid and we were about to leave but my phone started vibrating again before I finally decided to see why. I know for a fact Equestria had no cell towers but somehow I had a signal and I had almost 40 new unread text messages. It wouldn't say from who until I unlocked my phone but right before I swiped up to activate the face ID, my phone started ringing. Back home, my ringtone would have scared the absolute crap out of someone because of the fact my ringtone was the emergency alert system. I was shocked to see who was calling. I answered and brought the receiver to my ear.

"Sterling!?" I shouted. How was he calling me? Did he somehow get sent here to Equestria as well?

"Dakota!? Oh thank god! I tried to call and text everyone else but you're the only one my messages went through for!" He said. I can tell he was quite panicked.

"Just calm down man, where are you right now? Can you tell me what you were doing beforehand?" I said. I had a bit of a panicked tone as well laced in my voice along with a good bit of worry. Ponies inside the restaurant had for the most part, stopped what they were doing to look at me, obviously interested in what I was doing.

"Im in some sort of clearing in a forest right now. There's a small path close by but I can't get to it. I'm in a tanker truck right now that I had jumped onto that started rolling away from a gas station without its driver. I was in Arizona at the time attending a gun show and I couldn't stop the truck because the brakes weren't working and the throttle was stuck and I hit a pick up truck head-on and caused the tanker to explode. I'm still in the truck and I don't know what to do, Please, Help me!" He said. So apparently one of my best friends may have killed me back on earth and now we were both in Equestria since we both died.

"Ooohhh Sssshhhhhhiiiit alright! If that truck has a sleeper in the back, get in it and stay as low as possible. Lock the doors and do not start the engine. Just hold tight, I'm coming to get you." I said. I didn't even realize silver was right next to me before I put my phone back in my pocket and bolted out the door. I got in my truck and started it as fast as I could and started it before I took off in the direction of the castle. Silver took off behind me trying to catch up. I reached the gate and made my way towards that loading bay door that led down to where my stuff was at. I forgot that It had a keypad lock on it. I got out and tried to remember the number Celestia put in to unlock it before Silver came up next to me and got it for me before asking me what was wrong.

"Dakota, What's wrong? I know something's got you spooked judging by what you were saying and how fast you ran out of the restaurant. Just tell me what it is and I can help you. I can get some help from the rest of the guard and we can solve this issue together." She said. It was good to see that my only other friend in Equestria had my back and was willing to help me save the other one.

"One of my friends is here in Equestria and he's in a clearing in some sort of forest. I don't know exactly where though but I need to get him out of there as fast as possible as he may be in danger from whatever's in the forest he's stranded in. I need you to inform the princesses about him showing up and get search parties looking for him. I need to know now, are there any forests close to canterlot?" I said.

"The closest one is the everfree forest close to ponyville and that's at least 3 hours away by train as well as its huge and has many clearings in it. It could take up to a week to completely search the forest." She said.

"Do what you need to but I'm not gonna leave him to die there. I need this door opened now so I can get some stuff I need to get ready to go into the everfree." I said. Silver almost immediately entered the code for the door and told me the passcode before she ran back to the front of the castle to inform the princesses of the situation. I got back in my truck and drove all the way down to the warehouse turned garage and got out of the Freightliner I was driving. I knew the terrain in the forest was awful and I would need something big and powerful to traverse the forest without getting bogged down. The only two trucks that would be able to move through the forest and bring back the semi sterling was sheltering in were the Kenworth C500 and the MAZ 7310. The MAZ was an 8x8 while the kenworth was a 10x10. I ultimately decided on the MAZ as It would have no problem moving through mud and water and whatever else was in the way and would be able to pull the truck sterling was in out of the forest without any issues because I had somehow managed to cram a CAT C32 Acert engine into it even though part of it was sticking out of the top and back because its a marine engine. Don't ask how I made it fit, it was a lengthy process to say the least. It was an 8x8 monster with differential locking along with some of the biggest tires I had ever seen. I walked over to my topkick, grabbed my PKM as well as my Keltec KSG 25 before walking over to the giant Belarusian truck and got in. I stopped real quick though and thought about what else I may need to go into that forest. I knew the everfree was dangerous just from watching the show, but I didn’t know just how dangerous it really would be in real life until I actually went in there, I walked back over and reached back into my Topkick and pulled out my Milkor M32A1 MGl that I had bought for 7000 dollars during the big sandy shoot. If anything like a hydra or a manticore, or even an Ursa Minor decided to try and fuck with me in there, I was gonna blow its Ass to pieces, an ursa minor I might struggle with though unless every round hits it in the face.

I started walking back over to my MAZ and stuck the keys in and started cranking the engine. It started faster than the Freightliner did. Probably because it was much warmer down here than it was outside. I flipped on the all wheel drive and threw her into 1low. The new cat engine I put in added three extra tons of weight and so I had to beef up the suspension so it wouldn’t give out under the weight of the new engine. These upgrades included Titanium alloy shocks and leaf springs along with torsion bars made from hardened steel and the installation of hand made sway bars that I made with tungsten. These ponies parked my maz all the way in the back but I was able to just move forward since all of my vehicles were parked like they were in a parking lot. I proceeded to drive up and out of the warehouse.

I came up to the top of the ramp and saw silver waiting there for me with a lot of Pegasi, earth pony, and unicorn guards. I pulled up in front of them and killed the engine.

“I take it you’ve already told them what’s going on?” I asked silver.

“I did. They know what to look for and I’ve told them to signal every pony else nearby and to send runners/flyers to pass on the message that they found your friend and are to report his location to you first.” She said. “I told Princess Luna and she’s coming with to help with the search along with captain armor.” Silver added on. I saw the two other ponies she was talking about.

“I’ve already ordered my troops to not harm your friend if they see him. They are not to approach if they feel their lives are in danger. Even though I’ve assembled a whole battalion to search for your friend, I can’t lose anymore guards than I already did a few days ago. I already know things are going to be difficult for every pony involved as well since the everfree is much more dangerous at night.” Shining armor said.

“Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. I’ve known him for 3 years and he wouldn’t hurt any living being purposely for any reason.” I said. Shining armor was skeptical along with Luna. I pulled out my phone and dialed sterlings number and put the call on speaker.

“I’ll prove to you that he means no harm to any of the mares and stallions under your command captain.” I said.

“Hello?” Sterling answered quietly.

“Sterling it’s me. I’ve got a giant search party organized and we’re about to come look for you. However, the locals aren’t so sure that your harmless, probably cause of me and what I did a few days ago.” I said.

“Whoever you are, I swear I won’t hurt you. I don’t have any weapons and I’m hiding like Dakota probably told you that I was. Whoever you are, you need to hurry, I’ve been hearing a lot of things that Don’t sound good. It sounds like there may be wolves nearby.” He said. “Timberwolves. There’s Timberwolves close to your friend.” Luna interjected.

“Alright, like I said, keep the doors locked, stay low in the back, and do not start the engine. Turn off your ringer and try not to make any noise. We’ll be there soon. Stay safe and text me if anything else happens.” I said before I hung up the phone.

“You heard him. He’s surrounded by Timberwolves but they’re unaware of his presence right now. Let’s roll, silver your with me, I need you to help me operate the radio so we can narrow down his location.” I said. The unicorns teleported away with the earth ponies while the Pegasi took off with Luna flying towards the everfree. I told silver to hop in the seat behind me since that’s where the radio was at and to keep rotating the large dial I pointed to until the frequency number came to set on 154.325 megahertz. I fired up the engine again and flipped on the lights. Shining armor hopped in on the other side of the truck. I’m guessing he still didn’t trust me and wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure I wasn’t leading his guards into a trap.

I stepped on the gas and we bolted out of the castle and made way to the everfree. Once we were out of the city and safely off the mountain, I floored the accelerator and kept shifting up until i was finally in the final gear and my speed was capping out around 178MPH. I knew I was probably scaring the crap out of both silver and shining armor by driving this fast but I didn’t care. I pulled out my phone and asked sterling if he had anything useful at the moment. He said he had the two-way radio I bought for him as a birthday gift which was good. I had taught him a bit of Morse code and told him to continuously send out the SOS signal so I could find him.

1 hour and 10 minutes later

I was now passing by Ponyville and I could see the edge of the everfree now. I saw a trail leading in and I saw a whole lot of unicorns and earth ponies waiting there for us. I set the parking brake and got out along with silver and shining armor.

“Alright, as your boss already told you, one of my friends is somewhere in this forest surrounded by Timberwolves. From what he told me, he said he’s in a clearing close to a trail that he can’t get to. If you find something that looks to be important, report it ASAP. Earth ponies and unicorns, split up into search parties of anywhere between 15 to 40 ponies per group and walk the trails. Pegassi, you guys are to fly over the said forest and look for any clearings and fly down and inspect them. If you see a large vehicle similar to what I just showed up in, report it immediately to either me, your captain, or the princess and watch the area around it for any signs of Timberwolves. Any questions?” I said. I could see shining armor glaring daggers at me out of my peripheral vision, to which I kindly responded to by glaring broadswords at him. I didn’t care if he was pissed that I was calling the shots. My best friend is in that forest and I’m not gonna let anyone stop me from trying to save him.

No pony said anything so we got the search and rescue operation underway. I told silver how to adjust the power to the antenna on the truck so we could see how close sterling was. It was at maximum power right now which meant that I had a receiving range of 110 miles right now and the signal was rather weak. We’ve got a long way to go.

1 hour and 45 minutes later

I had been driving through the everfree forest and I had silver bring the power down to just 5 percent. Sterling was close, he was very close. From where my MAZ was right now, he was at least 3 miles away in any direction. A unicorn and earth pony scout team had found him recently at least 45 minutes ago and runners had reported his location to me and we’re leading me towards him but they haven’t made contact yet. I pulled out my phone and called him again.

“Sterling, one of my search parties has found you. You can’t see them right now and I’m less than 5 miles away. They’re going to attempt to make contact with you. Regardless of what you see, DON’T panic, Ok? I’m going to stay on the phone with you until you do meet them. What you’re going to see will seem like a bad dream, but trust me this is reality.” I said.

I rolled down my window to tell the runner to pass the word on to try and make contact with him. She simply nodded before teleporting away, probably to her group to approach sterling.

“Alright sterling, get ready to meet the locals, and like I said before, don’t panic. You can get up to look in the side view mirrors of the truck. What you’re going to see will look fake as fuck and seem like you’re in a dream, but I guarantee that it’s real, Ok? Don’t hang up alright?” I said.

“Dude, please tell me you are actually fucking with me right now. Tell me this isn’t real.” He said. “Why are there miniature white horses with wings and horns in golden armor holding swords and spears walking up to the truck right now?” He said, sounding even more distressed than ever.

“They’re the locals I was talking about, and no, I’m not fucking with you on any of this, everything you see is real. I was in the same situation a few days ago, And they're ponies, not horses. We’re not in America anymore, let alone even on earth anymore or even in the same solar system.” I said.

“They’re knocking on the door, what do I do?” He asked.

“Roll down the window a little bit and answer any questions they have for you. I should be there in 5 minutes.” I said. I hung up my phone again and continued driving. My high beams were illuminating more than just the path in front of me. I could see part of the beams shining almost directly upward into the night sky as they illuminated treetops and everything in front of me.

I came up to a group of guards a minute later that pointed to something off to the right and it would seem that I found my best bud, and like he said, there was no way to get to him directly. I saw a gap in between the trees that I could use to get my maz through as there were only saplings in the way and I would be able to go over them no problem. I backed up and started driving over the saplings towards sterling. My hunch about him being the one that killed me back on earth would appear to be right because the truck matched the same color as the one that hit me and had a fuel tanker hooked to the back of it that was blown apart burnt to shit and I had even caught a brief glimpse of the license plate before I died on earth and it matched. I could see sterling standing up in the cab now as I pulled up in front of him and got out. Sterling almost immediately got out and rushed over to me as we gave each other a bro hug.

"I was wondering when you'd get here. These ponies kept trying to speak to me but I wasn't sure what to say because they had weapons and I didn't want them to stab me if I said something wrong." He said. I can understand where he was coming from because talking ponies with swords is not something you see every day.

"Trust me, if they did hurt you, I'd Almost immediately start kicking ass and taking names until either I ran out of ass to kick, or was finally stopped. Remember that I'll always put myself in the line of fire to keep You and the rest my friends safe." I responded.

"Come on. Let's get this truck hooked up and get out of this forest before something comes and tries to kill us. I can tell now that these ponies are going to have a field day when they find out that you're here as well because some of them are already distrustful of me because of what happened a few days ago." He said. I told sterling that it's safe now to start the engine in the truck he was in because there were guards here now keeping an eye out for trouble as well as I was here and my engine was probably generating enough noise as it was. I walked back to the MAZ and got out a set of 3 towing ropes from a utility chest behind the Fifth wheel trailer hitch I installed a few weeks ago and lined up the MAZ with the truck that sterling was hiding in. Apparently he jumped onto a western star, specifically a 5700XE . These trucks very rarely had major issues so the fact that the brakes failed meant that something had gone majorly wrong. Either there was a leak in one of the lines, or in the tanks themselves. I got down on my hands and knees and started looking at them and It looks like the brakes had locked up and wore the pads and discs down so quickly that they no longer had contact between each other because the heat generated from the friction also caused the discs to warp and cause little peices of the pads to fly off so not enough air was out of the question completely. The heat generated must have been really intense because the discs were completely black and smelled similar to burnt oil.

“Jesus Christ. This thing was bound to crash and kill something either way. The brakes are completely fucked so I’m gonna have to try and replace them regardless if this thing is ever gonna move again safely. The heat, warping, wearing, and stripping has rendered them almost entirely useless. I think the only way you could possibly stop is by using the trailer brake. As for the throttle, I’m not even sure where to start.” I said to no one in particular. "I won't be able to fix it either for a long time because this place lacks the proper equipment I need such as a 4 post hydraulic lift, pneumatic tools, specialty brake tools, spare parts, and metric and standard size Ratchets and wrenches." I said.

"So that thing is just a battering ram waiting to happen, again." Sterling said.

"Yep. pretty much. We already found that out first hand and I sure as hell don't want to again." I said. I still got headaches from the impacts every couple of hours but they usually only lasted about 10 minutes or so.

I hooked up one of the towing ropes and hooked it up to a hook on the MAZ first. I got it hooked to one of the hooks on the western star and made sure that they wouldn’t fall off while I’m pulling the disabled truck back to Canterlot. I was finishing up with the final towing rope when a loud earth-shaking rumble happened.

"What the hell was that?" Was all I said before another tremor like rumble came. They kept coming and didn't stop until I saw the source of the shaking. I looked up past the western star and came face to face with an ursa major. I just stood there in a somewhat terrified state, mainly cause I didn't want to piss it off.

"Silver, Shining armor, both of you get in the truck nice and slowly. Sterling, you get back in the truck you were hiding in and steer it. I don't know what that thing is or what it’s capable of and I don't want to find out first hand. We gotta get out of here." I said just barely above a whisper. “That’s an Ursa Major. Biggest animal in all of equestria and they’re extremely dangerous.” Shining armor whispered to me. They did as I said and slowly walked back and got into the MAZ. That ursa was looking straight at me and I didn't like it one bit. I put the truck in gear and started to move slowly out of the clearing and onto the path. The guards that were with us, had scattered and fled back in the direction of ponyville. The fact that the ursa was now following us was all the more nerve-racking. I kept looking in the mirror as I went in but the ursa didn’t seem the slightest bit angry or anything, of anything, it looked more concerned and worried than anything else which was really odd. I came up to a turn on the path but the ursa put one of its paws down in front of me blocking the main path, like it wants me to go down the side path for some reason. Doing what it wanted to avoid getting killed, again, I hung a right and kept going all the way down the path with that ursa following us until I saw something up ahead that left me shocked.

Lying in front of me were 2 dead hydras and a wounded Ursa Minor with numerous downed trees pinning it to the ground, making it impossible for the minor to move and what looked like bloody ripped out claws laying on the ground next to one of the hydras. I looked back at the ursa majors paws and it seem that the claws belonged to the major because she was missing most of them and her front paws were covered in blood. Now I see what the Ursa major wanted from us. It's young was attacked and It needed our help to get it free because the mother lost a good portion of her claws making her unable to move the trees. Her cub was unconscious and wouldnt be able to move the trees itself because they were the size of the redwood's back home on earth in california. Although not as tall as real redwoods, they were still just as thick as real redwoods. I was going to need the C500 to help move the trees because the MAZ wouldn't be able to do it alone. Sure this truck was a former mobile ICBM launcher but there was no way it was going to move these trees by themselves. I got out and unhooked the towing ropes from the western star and turned the truck around backed up next to one of the trees. Along with the three towing rope points, I also had installed 3 winches on the back of the truck that could each pull 22,000 pounds. I had decked it out to be prepared for anything and everything. I hooked them up to the tree one at a time while silver brought them back in. I told shining armor that the other truck I would need was still back at canterlot and I would need it if we wanted to get that ursa free. He was reluctant to anything but eventually teleported the both of us back to canterlot and into the warehouse where the truck was at.

I walked over to the C500 and looked through my key ring to find its key. I really needed to create grouped key rings so I can Not have this clusterfuck. I found its key and unlocked the doors and got in. Before I could start the engine though, Shining armor had encased the truck in a purple aura while his horn was glowing brightly. He had teleported us back into the forest and not far from the site where we found the ursa minor and I could see the ursa major from where we were right now. Shining armor had collapsed onto the ground and I had gotten out to help him.

"I'll be fine. long-range teleportation spells involving large and heavy objects is an exhausting spell, even for the most experienced unicorn sorcerers." He said. I helped him up into the truck and got back in and proceeded over to where the Ursa was and got the Kenworth lined up next to the MAZ and like the MAZ, the Kenworth had the same 3 winches installed on the back, each one rated for 22,000 pounds. I got out and started hooking up each winch to a part of the tree that the MAZ was already connected to. I had shining armor bring the lines back in and we were ready to move the first tree off the ursa minor. I told silver to get in the MAZ and to get ready to move the tree.

"Alright silver. On the count of three, we're both gonna floor the accelerator and get that tree off that ursa cub." I said into my CB. I gave the count and we pulled forward. like the C32 powering the MAZ, the C15 in the C500 was beefed up to be as torquey as possible. Twin turbos, full force fuel injectors, cold air intake, everything. We were slowly but surely moving the downed tree off of the ursa cub even though the tires were digging into the ground a little bit and kicking up mud. We got the first log off and pulled it off to the side. That was one down and it looked like 9 more to go. I got out and started unhooking the winches from the tree while silver did the same.

I backed the monstrous 10x10 up until I was in a good position to hook up to the next tree. Silver was still unhooking her winches and was having a bit of trouble with it so I was on my own for this one. I repeated the process of tying the cables around the trunk and clipping them together before bringing the winches back in. I moved forward slowly until the winches stopped me. I slowly pressed the accelerator and felt the tires digging in again but I was slowly moving forward and bringing the downed tree with me. I got it off the ursa cub and brought it over to where we had brought the last tree. Silver had finally gotten the winches she has having trouble with unhooked and backed up towards the third tree right as I finished up with the second tree. We repeated the process of backing up, hooking up, and pulling off trees as the Ursa Major watched us carefully.

25 minutes later

We were all but done but we had run into a pretty big issue. The last tree we would have to pull off the ursa cub was so much bigger than the other trees. It looked like it was at least three times thicker than the other trees we pulled but not as long thankfully.

“What’s the hold up?” I heard shining armor call from behind me.

“This last tree is too big for us to move. The trucks wouldn’t be able to even make it budge without sinking the tires into the ground and being buried up to their chassis’ in mud and dirt. Even if we brought all of the vehicles from Canterlot, they wouldn’t be enough either because they may have power, but I don’t have enough towing ropes and winches to safely and securely move the tree. And I also don’t want to teach 50 more of your guards how to drive for this one time event. Teaching sergeant silver over there was already long and taxing enough as it is.” I said

“Is there anything at all you know of that could do the job of moving that last tree so we can get out of here?” He said back to me.

“We would need a mobile hydraulic crane capable of lifting and moving roughly 1200 tons.” I said

“Well do you know of any other way to move that tree then?” He said.

“No. The only way to move that tree is to get the aforementioned mobile crane from my world and bring it to equestria, and even then, it still requires special training and entire teams of spotters and engineers to operate properly. I only know how to use small truck mounted lumber loading cranes as well as some other types of machinery such as excavators and loaders and not to mention the fact that I’m self taught. Since I worked full time doing manual labor when I wasn’t trying to run a garage with my friends, I did have access to some training manuals so I could work properly, but they didn’t tell me everything I needed to know.” I said.

“Well regardless of whether you know how to use it or not, that’s our only shot of freeing this ursa cub and returning to civilization.” Shining armor replied.

“I’m going back to Canterlot to inform princess Luna about the situation and see what she can do. I already know she’ll be there and waiting but she won’t expecting for just one of us to return. We’ll return soon. Just wait here.” He said before teleporting away.

“Not like we can anywhere or anything even if we wanted to, Fuckin Jackass.” I said to myself.

“Hey, captain armor would never intentionally leave any pony behind to save himself. He might still be on edge from the invasion a few days ago, but he means well.”

I heard silver call out from behind me. We had only known each other for about 2 days now but she had already learned what the profanity we use means so it was easy for her to tell what I meant when I called her CO a jackass, probably cause I swear so damn much.

“I’ve only known him for a day and he’s still distrustful of me. As it is with me, I don’t trust him much either and he just seems like a huge asshole. If it wasn’t for the fact that you informed Princess Luna of the situation, he would most likely just say I’m on my own to go and find sterling and we probably would have both died.” I said.

“Even though it’s not my place to say, he did seem kind of like a giant dick and just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.” Sterling interjected.

I was about to say something when I was interrupted by 2 bright and intense flashes of blue and white light suddenly forming out of nowhere to my left, leaving my stunned for a few seconds as I was hunched over and rubbing my eyes as I felt them watering up and trying to get my vision back.

I looked over to see what the cause was and it was shining armor and princess Luna. They had caused me to go temporarily blind and deaf.

“Well, at least you weren’t kidding when you said be back soon. Good to know that you wouldn’t leave us here.” My eyesight was now coming back fully and my eyes had stopped watering now so that was good.

“Shining armor has already told us about the situation. Whatever you need to help this ursa and her cub, name it and I’ll see what I can do.” Luna got straight to the point so I decided to as well and pulled out my phone and searched for the picture of the crane we would need.

“In order to move that last tree, we need a mobile hydraulic crane strong enough to lift roughly 1000 tons. It would require a whole team of spotters and engineers to operate safely but just the 5 of us can make it work. This is what we need.” I showed her the picture of the crane and almost immediately, luna lit her horn and started to channel a lot of magic into it. Her body slowly started to lift up off the ground as the crane slowly started to appear in the clearing with us, and it was massive. Luna stopped channeling as we now had the final thing we needed.

Now sitting Before us all was the biggest mobile crane earth had to offer. The monstrous Liebherr LTM 11200 was our best bet at moving this final tree. The entire thing was here and already fully assembled.

“If this thing can’t move that tree, nothing can.” I will be damned if this thing can’t lift it. These things were used in the construction and deconstruction of wind turbines and buildings.

“Alright, first things first, get this thing started. Sterling, you start the truck engine while I start the cranes engine. Silver, captain shining, I’m gonna need you spotting me to make sure the hook and chains are lined up properly, your highness, I’m gonna need you to help me and sterling hook up the chains and secure them in place.” I began barking orders as we all got to work.

Sterling got the truck started no problem as I climbed in to see if the cranes engine could be remote started. Thankfully, it could be started just like the trucks engine. Just turn a key and hold a button.“Alright, step one complete, now for step two.” I made my way over to the rear of the truck and climbed into the cranes control cabin. I thought the layout of the control cabin would be extremely complex and it was to a certain extent but it was still much more simple than an older lever operated crane.

“Ok, now for step two. Gotta swing the anchors out and deploy them to keep the crane from tilting and falling over during operation.” I was looking at the controls on the seat, monitors, and switch boards in the control cabin, trying to figure out where the anchor controls are.

I found a set of buttons next to the right control stick that had pictures of objects that seemed like the anchors that could control them. I pressed one that had a picture of 4 posts swinging outward and felt the truck jerk a bit. I pressed and held it this time and watched as the anchors started to move outwards. I kept the button held in as the anchors moved out all the way until they stopped. Now I needed to extend and lower them. Looking at the set of buttons again, I found the one that extends the anchors outwards and followed the same process of holding it until they came to a stop. I finally proceeded to lower the anchors and watched as they slowly came into contact with the ground and although unevenly at first, slowly lift the entire truck up off the ground.

“Alright, next thing to do now is find out which joystick does what”

I started with the left one first but that didn’t do anything accept cause a console to beep angrily at me and flash a message saying “boom must be raised first” that means the right one does what I’m gonna need it to do. I ever so slightly pulled back on that one and heard the the cranes engine start to rev up as the boom now started to slowly raise up. The boom slowly cleared the truck and was now extendable. I tried the other joystick again and this one made the boom extend and retract while twisting it left and right also made it raise and lower the hook. I started swinging the crane to the left but jerked the crane a little bit since I wasn’t used to something this responsive and in the process, knocked something over behind my seat.

I looked over to find something useful and convenient at the same time. There were ten Motorola APX7000 two way radios sitting in charging docks. There was also a Motorola PM400 mounted next to a switchboard next to the seat which I had failed to notice until now. I quickly leaned out of the control can and whistled as loud as I can, getting everyone’s attention. They came back over real quick and handed out the radios and told the ponies how to use them so we could communicate better.

All the radios were set to the same frequency and we soon got to work lifting the tree. There was just barely enough room for the crane to be operated and this was getting a bit sketchy.

“Alright your in a good position, start bringing the cables down.” Sterling gave the order and I twisted the left knob to start lowering the cables. I watched as the hook slowly came down and everyone started attaching the ropes and chains they had when luna came and knocked on the window.

"We don't have much time left. That ursa major is getting rather impatient with us and might act on her own if we don't hurry up."

She said. I wanna know though, how did she figure that out?

"How can you tell its getting impatient with us?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Many ursa's posses telepathic abilities that allow them to communicate with many creatures through a neural link to the brain of the creature they want to communicate with. Its a rather easy spell to learn for beginners." She explained. The show never mentioned anything about telepathic ursas. But then again, This probably isn't the same equestria as I saw back home on TV.

"Alright well, The hook just got lowered down and they're hooking every rope and chain up right now. It could probably go a bit faster if you went and helped them." I said. She nodded and flew back over to the tree. It took almost ten minutes before the final connections were made and the chains were hooked up to the crane. I climbed back into the control cabin and got ready to lift.

"Alright, everyone get behind the trucks. if the cables snap or something goes wrong. I refuse to be held responsible if something does goes wrong and any one of you gets hurt." I said into the radio. I waited until everyone got behind something and then, lifted.

"Going up, Watch your heads." For some reason, they all got underneath the cranes ballasts. I wasn't gonna question why though. I slowly pulled back on the stick and heard the engine rev up as the fallen tree now ever so slowly started to raise up into the air. I could hear the cables creaking and groaning from the stress they were under but I tried not to think about it too much. The tree was now fully up and off the ursa cub and I could see how badly hurt it was. Many branches where snapped off from other trees and were stuck in the cub's torso and legs. Scratches and Scrapes were up to 4 inches deep in some places if I had to guess, and It seemed to be missing some teeth as well.

"Alright, swinging left, watch yourselves."

The way those Hydras fucked them both up was brutal. Some serious fire power would be needed if a hydra found its way out of the everfree and decided to attack a small town. My thought process was interrupted by the sound of an extremely loud snap rang out. I looked up and saw the tree start to sag, and see a chain link coming straight at me. I acted so swiftly and began swinging the crane to the left all the way until it was over the trees. The rest of the chains started to snapping and shit went south very fast. I grabbed my hand piece and shouted pretty loudly.

"Watch out, Watch out, Watch out!! The chains are snapping and the trees coming down!!!!"

I shouted. I reached around and slammed the control cabin door shut so fast that im sure if I had slammed it any harder, I would've broken the glass. The tree came down and kicked up a bunch of dust and rocks as it hit the ground. A piece of wood hit the left side glass pane and caused a sizable crack right next to my head. Once stuff was done flying past us, I got out and could barely see jack shit. I looked up and I could barely make out the form of the ursa major moving towards its cub.

"Silver!?, Sterling!?, Princess!?, Captain!?"

I called out, Hoping that they were alright.

"We're over here! I'm alright"

I heard sterling call back to me. At least I knew he was alright. I did not wanna have to bury my best friend today.

"I can't see anything! What about everyone else!?" I called back, feeling my way over to the back.

"I'm fine!" Shining called out.

"I'm good!" Silver yelled back.

"I'm alright! What happened!?" Luna shouted.

I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that everyone's alright. The dust was settling as well so the visibility was improving as well.

"The chains snapped under the weight! I thought they would've been enough!" It might have not have been the best option I had, but it was really my only option. We all looked up to see the Ursa minor starting to get up and the Major nursing its young one. Before long, They walked off into the forest.

"Well, now that thats over, what do we do now?" Sterling asked.

"I saw we get out of here and get some rest." Silver said as I was about to say something.

"Might not be as easy as Sergeant sable says it is. What do you plan to do with this, Crane, as you call it?" Shining armor said, Still being really suspicious of me. He did have a good point. I took a few moments to think about what I wanted to do.

"Leave it."

"What!?" Both luna and shining partially shouted together at the same time.

"Yeah. We leave it here over night, And me, Silver and sterling Can come back for it in the morning. Besides, not like anyone else knows how to drive something." I said.

"How can I be sure you're not just saying that and you're planning to hurt a bunch of ponies?" Alright. I've had enough of his shit. Time to put this shit bag in his place. I got up in shining armors face and just layed into him

"You know what? I've had it up to HERE!, with your shit, you prejudiced fuck! ever since I got here 3 days ago, I've heard nothing, but questions and distrust from you. You're the equivalent of some racist white supremacist race groups back where sterling and I come from. I had to grow up around a lot of racism, when my father wasn't in a drunken rage and beating me for no reason. I saw that fucking smirk on your face when your little lynch mob came after me after I killed those changelings, I saw that look of wanting to kill another creature in your eyes, and I ain't having it anymore. If you have a problem with me, tell me to my face and we can settle this like men right here and right now, and you can catch these fuckin fists. OR, you can shut the fuck up, and we can end this now and I won't mercilessly kick your ass. Besides, If I actually wanted to cause harm to any ponies I saw, I would have done it by now. Fuckin asshole." I finished by shoving him backwards. I turned around and walked away towards the trucks when I heard someone walking up behind me.

"You alright? I've never seen any being lose their temper like that or talk to captain armor like that before." Silver said, probably trying to calm me down.

"I'm fine. Just couldn't handle him constantly treating me like im just a threat to your kind." I said

"I see. Well, if you don't mind me asking, what did you mean by all of that? The thing about your father and these groups you mentioned." She asked. I knew she would ask about that as soon as I mentioned that. So, I figured I might as well tell her.

"Well, I had a lot of trust issues with my dad growing up when he was serving in the army and after he came back. After he came home from being deployed for over a year, He turned to drinking to try and cope with everything he saw while stationed in this country named Iraq. Whenever he was drunk and or just angry, he would always take it out on me. My parents had divorced over it and my mom had moved away to another part of the country and unfortunately couldn't afford to take me and my younger sister with her since she didn't have very much money so we were forced to live with him. He had gotten married again but I had a feeling this was just so he could have a place to live in that he didn't pay for. I was tired of how he treated me and at the age of 14, I joined a gang for protection against him in exchange that I would do some lifting and deliveries for the gang I joined. Needles to say, When I spoke directly to the leaders of the gang I joined, they were pissed to find out that I had gotten both verbally and physically abused for over 7 years and they gave me a burner phone to use in case of emergency and my dad was even more pissed about the fact that I was getting involved with these guys, but they did a better job of looking after me than that shitbag ever did. The bosses had put me up with a little apartment of my own on them, it wasn't much, but it was better than living in that house with him. Sterling here eventually came to me for some similar reasons and he eventually joined up with us as well and moved in with me. Both of our fathers decided to show up to our main hangout one day while armed and decided it would be a good idea to try and kidnap us to hurt us even more. Little did they know that everyone of us was packing heat and as soon as they showed up to our spot while holding shotguns, more than 10 of us had pulled out submachine guns and pistols and it was an intense stand off. I had disowned my dad right in front of everyone that I had even come to recognize as my new family. Over time, I had moved all of my stuff out of his house that I had to leave behind because I left. Dumb bastard forgot to change his deadbolt and I was able to get in Since I still had a key to his house and we loaded whatever I had Into some vehicles and took it back to our apartment. My stepmom understood why I was doing all this stuff and helped out when she could. I still feel bad for her since he used her. A couple years later when I was 16, I decided I wanted to leave virginia and asked my bosses if they could hook me up down south in florida and they came through for both of us. They put me in contact with their groups down there and said I was free to join down there. After that, Me, sterling, and my sister all packed our stuff up into two moving trucks and said farewell to virginia and began the long drive to florida. We were given fake drivers licenses just in case we ran into any trouble with law enforcement and we got intiated with the clique down south. We made new friends, got some more money, and opened up a garage near the everglades while our home that we were now living in was located in the everglades itself. Shortly after that, We both ended up here after crashing into each other by sheer coincidence. We worked on everything we could big and small. What ever kind of vehicle you brought us, we could fix it or mod it to your hearts content. I had left my sister with instructions on what to do in case we go missing and where all my cash was kept so she could provide for herself and who to call"

After that lengthy explanation I gave her, she seemed to understand where I was coming from. Having a childhood and teenage years like mine would be hard for anyone but somehow I pulled through. That was an achievement within itself.

"Well if you don't mind me asking, You mentioned something about some groups earlier as well. What did you mean by them?" She asked. That would be a long and complicated explanation. I just told her that I would tell her once we got everything situated and taken care of.

"I say for now we get out of this forest and get some rest." I said

"I could really use some after everything thats happened." Sterling said.

"Same here. can't Function without proper sleep." Silver added

"You two can go back to canterlot if you want. The three of us are just gonna sleep on the edge of the forest until morning." I said.

luna and shining armor reluctantly agreed and left. I quickly shutdown the crane's engines and then the three of us climbed back into the trucks and started up the engines. Silver drove the MAZ while I took the C500 and towed the western star while sterling steered it as well. We drove around the dead hydras and went back the way we came. I told sterling to turn the key just enough to turn on the trucks electronics so we could communicate through the CB's.

"Soooooo, Where exactly are we?" Sterling asked.

"I ain't got no fuckin idea. I'm just as in the dark about this place as you are." I said. Knowing damn well we were in the everfree forest and in some random ass part deep in the forest.

"We're in the Everfree forest. Biggest forest in all of Equestria. Home to many dangerous creatures in Equestria. Very few ponies have ever journeyed this far into the forest considering that its very dangerous to journey into the forest alone, especially at night. Very few ponies actually even enter the forest at any time because of how dangerous it is." Silver added.

"Alright then, Good to know." Sterling said.

We had kept going for a while and enountered some difficult terrain like I predicted. Deep mud, Uneven paths, and running water all posed a small challenge but it was nothing that we couldn't handle. AWD and locking differentials meant that traversing the land easy as opening a door. The only difficult part we came across was when we had to go through a narrow pass and seeing as how the trucks were rather large it was a bit of a difficult to squeeze through, especially when pulling a truck that has no power and very little steering. After getting past that little gap though, It was smooth sailing from there on out. The whole thing was relatively uneventful say for whenever an animal would run across the path in front of us and silver would have to slam on the brakes and cause us to hit them as well. We had actually come back to a part of the trail where it was wide enough that we could drive side by side. I overtook sterling got next to silver partially until we eventually saw the edge of the forest. Thats when I thought of something to pass the time.

"Hey, guys, Why don't you two head back to canterlot and spend the night there? I'll stay here for the night. You two drop off the broken truck and find a way to come back in the morning. This is so we don't have to make multiple trips." I said.

"You know what? That actually sounds like a good idea. I can find a way to get us back here in the morning, So long as your friend isn't afraid of heights or he doesn't get air sick." Silver said.

"Wait, what do you mean by afraid of heights?" Sterling asked.

"I can get a pegasi carriage for us in the morning and they'll get us back here in just 20 minutes since the canterlot taxi company employs some pretty fast pegasi. They'll drop us off wherever I tell them to and I'll pay for it entirely." Silver said

"Alright. I'll go with her to this canterlot place and stay there for the night and we'll come back in the morning." Sterling agreed to go with silver back to canterlot for the night and they would come back in the morning. I swapped the towing ropes up so sterling would be pulled by silver and they took off and I pulled off to the side of the trail and set the parking brake and shut the engine down. The sleeper in the back was kind of small but it was just fine for me. It was nice and cool out tonight so I quickly turned the electronics back on and cracked one of the windows. I climbed into the back and layed down, slowly drifting off to sleep. The familiar feeling of what felt like I was falling was always un-nerving but I learned that means that I've entered my dreams. I soon felt something beneath my feet. I opened my eyes to see that I was standing on something, but nothing at the same time. Looking around, the landscape was a familiar mix of blue, purple, white, and green blobs that mixed with each other. I knew I was in that dream realm again from last night. I walked around seeing if there was anything around but there was nothing. The sound of my boots hitting the ground was all that could be heard until I heard what sounded like two pairs of footsteps coming up from behind me. I turned around to see both Princess luna and surprisingly shining armor walking up to me.

"Oh, its you two. What brings you here?" I said

"Well, first off, I wanted to apologize for the way I've acted lately. I didn't know what you had to go through growing up until you had lashed out and said everything. I was only trying to protect the citizens of equestria from more invaders. It was supposed to be my wedding day, and it got ruined by that...Whore and she used me to gain power and hurt more ponies." Shining said, sounding sincere about his apology and even a bit sad towards the end.

"Its not your fault. I don't blame you for acting the way you did. You were just trying to do your job and keep others safe, like a soldier should. I hope I didn't complicate things further for you." I said. At least I know now he probably wouldn't be a huge prick anymore.

"That's not the only reason we're here though. There's something much more important that we need to discuss." He added on.

"We have reason to believe that another attack on canterlot is very likely within the next few days and we need your help." Luna said.

"Me? What am I supposed to?" I asked.

"You have those very advanced weapons that were able to kill changelings from a distance. They could be very beneficial to the defense of canterlot. You would be compensated for your actions and be given full citizenship in equestria." Luna said. I can see why they would come to me with something like this. A guy with access to automatic weaponry that has bottomless magazines would seem like a good candidate to assist in the defense of a city that is essentially in the very early Victorian era except they didn't have stuff like we did during that time period.

"Alright, I'll help. But there's no way I can do this alone. I'll need help defending and I want two things aside from citizenship for when this is over." I said.

"What is it that you want?" Luna asked

"I want a job that has good pay and hours, And I want sterling to have to have the same thing as me." I said.

"It's a deal. If you enlist with the royal guard, I'll personally over see your training. It's only a month long and the starting pay is usually 52000 bits per year and that number increases by 7500 bits per year with every promotion. I'll put you under staff sergeant sables command since you two are already well acquainted. I'll give your friend the same thing if he chooses to join. If not, there are some open positions in the castle staff since some of our staff was changeling spies." Shining armor said.

"Alright. But like I said, gonna need help. I'll need some ponies that are willing to volunteer to learn how to use firearms in order to defend against a possible attack. I have an idea on how to keep the castle safe at the very least." I said. Shining armor had volunteered right away to learn how to use a gun surprisingly. I figured since we were in a dream, It would be easy to change things up a good bit. Luna had told me how to make things appear and change the scenery so I changed it up to what would've been my land back home in the everglades and had a large open area ready for us to use. There were three folding tables next to each other with different guns on them. Pistols, smgs, and rifles.

"Alright. I'm gonna start you off with some basic firearm safety rules. First off, never point a gun at something or somepony you don't intend to fire at. Make sure that you eject the magazine, eject the round thats already in the chamber, put the safety on, and keep the barrel pointed towards the ground." I said. I gave him the full break down on how to be effective at many different ranges, How to properly handle and maintain a gun, how to clear a jam, how to load and reload, the difference between different ammo types, and how to compensate for recoil, bullet drop, wind speed, and wind direction. Shining armor had gotten pretty good with a long range rifle, unusually good as well. I had an idea for if and when this potential next attack starts.

"Times up, Not bad." It's surprising how good he was for using a gun of modern origin for the first time. I heard learned form shining armor that equestria had a limited supply of old flintlock muskets and pistols and he had a decent amount of experience using them. Despite having small amounts of modern technology, guns from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries weren't a thing. Most of the guards that were given these flintlock weapons had preferred to stick to using swords, lances, halbreds, or crossbows, or so i was told since he also said that they weren't very accurate past a certain point.

"Well, The suns going to be raised soon and you both will wake up soon. You two will need to come up with a plan for if an attack is likely. Whenever you return to canterlot, my sister shall fetch for both of you to discus this matter further." Luna said. I had kind of forgotten she was with us but then again, this was the dream realm so she could've been anywhere. We wrapped things up and everything started to go dark, indicative that I was starting to wake up.

"I'll see you back in canterlot!" Shining armor called out before the dream ended. I was awoken to the feeling of very cold air even beneath the blanket and I was shivering like crazy.

"Note to self. Don't leave the window down when its close to winter." It had to have at least been in the upper 20s throughout the night. I put my coat back on and rolled the window up.

Sterling had texted me 5 minutes ago and told me that him and silver were in ponyville at the moment and walking towards the forest. I could barely see them on the edge of town and sure enough, they were slowly walking towards me. I tried to start the truck but forgot that diesel engines and cold weather don't go together very well. The engine was spluttering a bit so that was a good sign that it was getting some fuel and it was combusting and the fuel wasn't gelled up. It was still early in the morning so it wasn't quite light out yet. The sky was still a very dark blue and the sun had to peak over the horizon.

"Come on, you're a CAT! You're supposed to be the pinnacle for on and off-highway truck engines! You have no problems starting in this weather, You have brand new glow plugs. Come on!" I was getting a bit frustrated again by the engine not starting, but nowhere near as frustrated as I was with my Detroit. After finishing that sentence, the big brute started, and right as silver and sterling approached me.

"Morning guys. Fancy seeing you already here this early." I said.

"Yeah. I would've slept a bit later until the sun was fully out, but she woke me up saying we needed to go now in order to get here before the cab company got busy." Sterling said.

"Hmm. Well I just got the truck started so its gonna be a few minutes before we can go anywhere because I gotta let the engine warm up." I said. I didn't even notice that the two of them had coffee until silver floated a cup over to me.

"I can't start any day without this. I figured you'd might want one as well. I got you the same thing I got. Vinti Pumpkin spice latte with whole milk and three shots of espresso." Silver said.

"Thanks, I can barely function without coffee either. Here, lets get inside the truck. Might be a bit warmer in there." I said. They agreed and We all climbed into the truck. Me and sterling sat in the seats in the front while silver sat down on the bed in the back. I looked at the gauges and the engine temperature had slowly raised a bit. Figured I'd give it a few more minutes before we went back into the forest. I decided I might as well tell them what Luna and shining armor told me in my sleep last night since they would likely back me up in the upcoming attack.

"Alright, guys. I've got something important I need to tell you both about and I cannot stress this enough that numerous lives are at risk here. Silver I don't know if you were informed about this or not but I'm gonna tell you anyways just to be sure. Last night, Princess Luna and shining armor came to me in my dreams and warned me of a second attack on canterlot being very likely within the next few days and they need my help with its defense. I need to know now if you two will help me defend it if and when this attack happens." I said.

"Of course I'm gonna help, that's my job as a royal guard. To keep the capital safe is to keep the whole country safe." Silver said.

"You know what? count me in to. I'll stick by your side to the end bro." Sterling added. It was nice to know that both of them had my back now for whenever the next blood bath takes place.

"Thanks. I don't think I would've been able to hold off a whole army on my own. I struggled just to keep them away from us when I saved silver a few days go." I said.

"Wait, you saved her? How?" Sterling asked.

"When I first arrived here, an attack like the one thats likely going to happen was already taking place. I found her getting brutally beaten. I ran over her attackers and gunned down the rest that survived. Afterwards, I picked her up and tried to get her someplace safe. We ended up holing up in some random house while she was still unconscious and I was putting down a lot of these attackers." I said.

"Its true. I still have the bruises to prove it." Silver added. I quickly looked back at her and she still did. Most of them were completely gone but she still had a few on her face but they were barely noticeable, mainly being a rather faint blue with a reddish outline, but almost completely gone. I took a sip of the coffee silver had gotten me and it was definitely better than the pumpkin spice coffee's from back home, that was for sure. The actual pumpkin part was a bit sweeter than I prefered but not unbearably sweet. The spice created a nice smell that made the whole truck cab smell very nice and it was at the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold.

"Alright. I've let it sit for about 15 minutes now. I think we should be able to get going now." I said. I put the truck in gear and quickly pulled us out of the forest and turned around so we could head back in. It still looked like it was night in the forest so I put the high beams on and kept going. I only had a glock on me for defense so if something big tried to attack us, chances are we would probably be fucked.

1 hour and 45 minutes later

"Alright, I think this is it." I said as we approached the clearing where we found that ursa cub last night and sure enough, The crane and the dead hydra's were still here.

"Alright. Silver, you'll drive the C500 back while me and sterling drive the crane truck. I want you to lead the way alright?" I said. She agreed and we got to work packing up the crane. We quickly started its engines back up and I climbed into the control cabin. I retracted the hook, brought the boom back in, lowered the boom down, raised the anchors, and brought them back in towards the truck. I did a quick once over to make sure everything was in the right place and we were good to go. I shut the cranes engine off and got in the actual truck part of the crane. It reeked of sweat and cigarettes but it was bareable. I just rolled down the drivers side window and we got on our way. The truck sat low to the ground but we still were able to make it through whatever got in our way. It felt weird to drive because it had all wheel steering but then again, something of this size would have that in order to maneuver through small spaces a bit easier.

1 hour and 30 minutes later

We were now approaching the gates to canterlot and I never noticed until now just how truly huge the city was. From here, the castle was like a giant block compared to the rest of the city. It sat higher up on the mountain with walls that had to have been at least 50 feet tall. You could barely see towards the other end of the city without having to squint your eyes to see what was over there. Many billboards and signs advertised shops, restaurants, and services. Me and sterling had just been chatting it up and listening to music when I checked my phone to see what time it was and saw what song was next up in my playlist. Me and Sterling loved this song so much that we had both memorized the lyrics and could sing it in our sleep.

"Hey, let me ask you something. Do you know what life is?" I asked, trying to get him to join with me for when the song started.

"Uhh, no? What do you mean?"

"No, I mean Do you know, what life IS?" I had to put some emphasis on the is part but he immediately got it.

"Wait, Ooohhhhhh, Yeah I do!" He said excitedly right as the drums and guitar of our favorite tom cochrane song started

"Life is a highway!" We said together as the song started. I cranked the volume all the way up and rolled the windows down all the way. I had also put the song on repeat because when I say that we would sometimes sing this song for hours, I meant that we would sing it, for hours. We were in the city now and were going uphill. I'm guessing we were on the main road because it had gotten pretty wide but there were already lots of ponies out and about that had stopped to look at us, probably more at the crane than us while we were singing along to tom cochrane.

"I can hear that music from up here. What is that?" I barely heard silver say over the radio.

"This is our favorite song that we grew up listening to. This is Life is a highway by tom cochrane. It was also produced by the band rascal flatts but we like the Tom chocrane version better. It's real good, you should listen to it." I said before turning the music back up. We were coming up to the castle again and this time when we crossed the bridge and the massive gates were opened, Princess celestia was waiting for us. I turned off the music and pulled inside as we parked up next to the wall on the inside.

"Who's the tall one?" Sterling asked me.

"That's this country's leader. I already talked with her face to face." I said. Sterlings facial expression immediately changed as soon as I said that.

"Wait, She's the leader!? What's she doing here!?" He asked.

"Would you calm down!? She was waiting for us because when I asked you if you would back me up in the event of an attack. She needs our help because I have guns with bottomless magazines and a heavy artillery piece. She'll tell us more when we go inside." I said. Despite everything we've gone through together, he was still a bit slow in the head but he eventually understand's everything. I shut down the engine and we both got out and walked over to her.

"It's nice to see that your all ok, especially after what I heard last night. The everfree's extremely dangerous, especially during the night." Celestia said.

"Well It's nothing we weren't able to handle. We humans are pretty resiliant, but we're still just as fragile as any other species." I said.

"I'll keep that in mind but for now, Please come with me. There is some important things we must discuss regarding the safety of canterlot in the upcoming days." She said.

We followed her inside and something told me that if an attack on canterlot was imminent within the next few days, this upcoming battle would be bloodier than the last and much more intense, but for now, all we could do is plan out what we were going to do and how to handle it.

The second defense of canterlot

View Online

2 days later
Just outside the main gates of canterlot castle.
12:41 PM

Silver POV

This was it. Another changeling attack on canterlot was about to happen. Captain armors scouts had reported back half an hour ago saying that two extremely large changeling swarms were spotted rapidly approaching canterlot from the south and were less than 20 minutes away. Dakota and his friend sterling were almost prepared. Something had happened with a large box in the back of the truck he had initially arrived in equestria which now allowed him to pull out anything he wanted to so long as it could fit. Something similar had happened to the box that he had stored the ammo for his large cannon so whenever it was empty, all he had to do was close it and leave it closed for a few seconds and it would be fully restocked.

Scene music

Currently they were putting on these big bulky suits of armor from their world that could stop the projectiles that their weapons fired. They gave me some training on how to operate their guns as they called em and told me that I would hold the gate with captain armor and a few other guards that under went the same training while they charged head on into their ranks to inflict as much damage as possible. Captain armor was posted up in the wall in a peep hole with one of the rifles that dakota gave him to use for when the changelings eventually came up the road. The shield that was up around the city now had a magic suppression barrier that disables any and all changeling magic and heavily suppresses flight magic but many unicorns had volunteered to help keep it up during the attack. They stood very little chance of victory at the moment. Many roads were blocked off to try and funnel them all down the main road towards the main gates where we would be. Most if not all ponies in canterlot decided to evacuate while the rest that stayed in the city were told to head to the castle since that would be the safest place to be since it was locked up tight at the moment. Once they got close, some gaps would open up in the shield but the suppression barrier would still be actively in place, making most changelings fall to their deaths if they were too high up.

"We look exactly like proper juggernauts right now."

"You're telling me. Never before have I felt so powerful."

Both of them were talking about their suits right now. They still had their helmets and neck peices off and their weapons were not loaded right now either. I'm not sure what they meant by the term "Juggernaut" but I'm guessing it has to do with the suits of armor they were wearing and the juggernaut part having to do with some sort of miltary from their world.

"Hey! the swarms are less than 5 minutes away! get ready for their attack!" A runner had come running up the road reporting that the two swarms were rapidly approaching. I got back in the rear of dakota's truck and got on the machine gun like he told me to and got it ready. The two of them put their helmets and neck pieces back on and loaded their weapons. I could see the swarms approaching over the horizon now, merging to become one truly massive swarm. There is no doubt that queen chrysalis was with her army again. The gaps were opened up as planned and they took the opportunity to fly through, only to fall rapidly. The ones that were coming up the road tried to fire some sort of magic but failed.

Cha-chunk, Cha-chunk

"This is it. You ready to make history?"

"Damn right I am. Let's fucking do this!"

I could barely tell which one of them was which now with that weird armor on and both being virtually the same height.

"Silver, We're firing the heavy gun. We're gonna advance down the street and try to push them back out of the city. Watch your fire if you see one of us. These suits may stop bullets, but not one fired from that gun." Dakota said. At least the suits didn't alter their voices.

"Firing heavy artillery! Cover your ears!" Dakota shouted. He yanked a cord and fired the huge cannon. The shockwave from it firing still hit me hard and nearly knocked me over. As the dust cleared, I saw the large shell impact down range, taking out a large group of changelings.

"Let's go! We're gonna bring the fight to them, And were gonna make every bullet count!" Dakota shouted as the two of them took off down the road.

Dakota POV

Running as fast as you could in a full suit of body armor that weighed little over 165 pounds and could probably stop 338 lapua rounds from far away, Me and sterling were now running down the road to meet the changeling army head on. With our M240B and PKM machine guns in hand, they were now coming up the main road, coming right at us. Depending on where the fighting took us, Some vehicles were put in key locations around canterlot in case we need to make a quick getaway.

"Wait until they're at least 200 feet away, then we'll gun em down." I said. Our helmets had radio's built in to them to make communications a bit easier because trying to talk while wearing all this armor would probably be hard considering how much was on and around our heads alone at the moment.

"They're in range, Light em up!" I said.

We both raised up our guns and opened fire, mowing down the changelings that were charging at us.

"I told you, You'd die!" Aside from the bullets we were firing at them, shouting insults and other things as loud as we could to taunt and mock the changelings was something else we did as well.

The few Sniper's on the walls that we trained were providing some help but not too much to really make a difference that we could notice. Besides, 2 days worth of training Isn't going to be much anyways.

"Keep moving forward! We gotta push em back as much as possible! These ponies are depending on us!" I shouted.

"I know! It'll be our heads as well if we fail and they overrun them back at the castle!" Sterling shouted back.

"Overlapping fields of fire! Don't give them a chance to get close!" They were getting desperate to try and get close enough to stop us and it was showing. Despite the fact they couldn't fly higher than 10 feet, they could still fly relatively fast. Any changelings that were doing this were prioritized and quickly shot down.

"Come on! Who the fuck wants a piece of us!? You're nothing compared to us!"

The attack was going perfectly as planned, when suddenly-

Click

"Oh fuck! My gun jammed!"

"What!? Of all times, Fucking now!?"

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Keep em off of us!"

I started clearing the jam but the barrel was pretty hot but i could still fire it after it cooled to a reasonable temperature. I clearly wasn't going to be firing my PKM again anytime soon until it cooled down enough. I held the gun in my left hand while I drew my glock with the right. I don't know what it was the bottomless stuff in this place, but It had affected our magazines as well. Whenever a clip would run out with my glock, all I had to do was close the slide and it would be ready to fire again. Similar to my PKM which I couldn't use right now except that had a truly bottomless magazine, I would never have to reload it and the mag would never run truly empty. We kept moving forward, slowly but surely.

It was hot as hell in these suits of armor but at least I knew it would keep me safe from whatever these changelings had. We kept advancing to the point they were practically on top of us now. Some of them had melee weapons such as swords and daggers but what are those gonna do against layers of kevlar and hard armor plates? Nothing, that's what.

"It's gonna be hot where all you fucks are going!"

One changeling had actually gotten really close to me and nearly collided with me. I had quickly shot him down and smacked him with my PKM. it was cool enough to use again and so I continued my hail of 7.62X39MM ammunition into the changeling ranks. We had to resort to hitting some of them with the butts of our guns since they had gotten so close to us. I admired the attempt of them to try and bring us down with swords, spears, and daggers, but they just werent going to do anything against suits of kevlar and steel plates. I figured I might as well grab a sword off of one of them to keep just in case guns were no longer an option.

"Look at em run! They're scared shitless!" Sterling seemed to be enjoying this bloodshed judging by his tone.

"They're trying to regroup! Come on we gotta get after these shape shifting bastard!" I replied.

As we continued to run down the road, I looked up at the barrier around canterlot. They just kept coming. I could tell now our guns were likely gonna overheat before they called in a full scale retreat. Despite these suits normally being unbearably hot, that weakness was proving to be more of a benefit right now since its close to winter time and if we were just wearing regular kevlar vests and helmets, we would have been freezing our asses off. They got smart and figured out that if you had entered through a higher part of the barrier, they would die from falling to their deaths, but if they entered at the ground level they would be fine. We rounded a corner and saw the retreating changelings disappear around a corner on a street to the left, seeing that they couldn't go further cause the road was blocked. We had kept following them for a while and I was feeling quite exhausted already since these suits were so heavy but I knew that it was necessary to ensure we wouldn't get hurt during the fighting. The skull painted on the face plate did obscure my vision a bit but not by much so I was able to stay effective.

We had turned the corner together and saw an even bigger crowd of changelings standing in front of us but what was different, was that there were some huge ones with what looked like natural armor on top of its head and shoulders. These brutes as I decided I would call them, were at least a good 3 feet taller than the regular changeling drones that we had just cut down. We were just standing there, staring each other down, Humans to changelings. I had decided to try and update silver on the situation and report to her about the brutes.

"Silver, its me. We got a situation. These changelings have brought in heavy reinforcements they've got these huge changelings that have what looks like natural armor covering just about the entirety of their heads, and shoulders. Anything we should know?" I said into my ear piece .

"BZZZZZZZZZZZZ THEY'RE ZZZZZZZ GET BA ZZZZZZZZZZZZ EXTREM ZZZZ DANGEROUS ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ DON'T TRY TO ZZZZZZZZZZZ DIE TRYING ZZZZZZZZZZ FALL BA ZZZZZZZZZZ NOW!"

Her voice was coming back extremely garbled and staticy. I couldn't make out more than a few words of what she was saying.

"Silver? Silver!? Fuck!"

The barrier was likely jamming our comms since it was already blocking out all changeling magic. All I had gotten out of her was what sounded like extremely dangerous, and fall back now. If we fell back though, they could easily catch and kill us. If we were going to die, we were going to die fighting.

"Well, we cant runaway. Change of plans, load your black tips. They should punch through those things plates with relative ease." I told sterling.

The entire changeling army before us tensed up and got low into a fighting stance as the brutes gave a loud, guttural growl as we changed our mags. Pulling the charging handle on my PKM, Sterling followed suit. As we raised our guns up, The changelings in the front slowly moved out of the way to make way for someone. Seeing who it was, my will to fight grew ever stronger and I could feel some sort of new anger slowly building up inside me. Queen chrysalis, had decided to show her ugly face and approach us.

"GU ZZZZZZZZZZ NOW, SHES GOI ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ FALL BAC ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ DON'T TRY TO ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

I reached up and adjusted the radio piece on my helmet so that silver was barely audiable. I looked back at the castle and It was clear as day that she had a perfect vantage point and could see everything that was going on. I could barely see her at all, but it looked like she was trying to get backup for us. We were at least a good half mile away from the castle but I could see her perfectly.

"So, you two are the ones responsible for impeding my progress. Hmmph, I expected something a bit more, intimidating. It does not matter however, You two won't stop me from claiming what is rightfully mine. Surrender now, and I just might let you live." Apparently Queen chrysalis thought she could just tell us to put our guns and down and put our hands behind our heads and think we would listen. I decided I would try and force her to stand down by showing her dead to her.

"Lady, I don't know who the fuck you are, and I don't really care either. But you must be really fucking stupid, to think that two beings, not from this world, that also just killed a sizeable portion of your army is going to surrender just because you said so." This seemed to infuriate her, prompting her to stomp closer to us.

"I do not care how many of my kind you claim to kill!! Equestria will fall and bow before me!!! Both of you included!! You will bow before your queen!!!!!"

I decided that since she had gotten close enough to grab her horn and pull her close enough to get a chilling message across. I shouldered my gun and pulled her close enough to the point that she was basically touching my face plate.

"Listen here you dumb whore, and listen well. You, and your army are up against the wall, and we, are the fucking wall!! Our kind, is no stranger to genicide. I don't care what false kingdom you claim to rule over. If the two of us have to hunt down your species to protect the ponies of this nation, we will, and we'll do it ourselves if we have to. Do you understand!? This is your one warning to back down now, and get the fuck out of here, before I change my mind. If you choose to be retarded enough and try and fight, I will lash you to a cross, and pull your ribs out through your back into the shape of eagle wings, and nail you to the walls of the castle, so that all of equestria, can see what a huge failure you are. If I have to drag your ass back up the street to prove to you that i'm not fucking around and make you die a slow death, I will." I finished by pimp slapping her and waited for her to make her move. This new rage that was building up inside of me was reaching a boiling point.

"KILL THEM!!! AND REMOVE THEIR HEADS!!!"

Bad move bitch.

"Prioritize the large fuckers first! Try and aim for the same spot if you can!" the two of us resumed our killing spree as we opened fire and attempted to kill the brutes. They howled in pain as the bullets clearly penetrated their armor and were causing serious damage. Eventually, the brutes fell dead. I switched to the sword I had pulled off of one of the dead changelings earlier and decided to get up close and personal while sterling kept his machine gun out. I was removing heads one after the other and getting covered in blood. I had to try and wipe the green off of my visor since it obscured my vision. Never before had I moved so fast under so much weight but the rage burning within me and the adrenaline being dumped into my blood had allowed for it to happen. This was truly something else at the moment. Never before had i been so angry that i was able to be so agile and deadly in a suit of armor that kept me from doing much.

I felt something extremely sharp pierce me in a weak unprotected part of my armor where the kevlar wasnt as thick as it was in the front or back. It didn't feel like anything other than a flesh wound and I quickly turned my head to see what had caused it. Queen chrysalis had tried to stab me with her horn, So I decided that she would no longer have one. As soon as she retracted it from my armor and made to try again, I punched her in the face and momentarily stunned her and then put her in an arm lock. I wrapped my right hand the base of her horn and then, with all of my strength, pulled it as hard as I could. She let out unholy shrieking screams as the fighting stoped and as her horn started to seperate from her head. I was actually pulling it out of the roots as well. That had to have been extra painful. More blood had sprayed on me and some of it even got on sterling since he was standing right next to me. With one final pull, I had seperated her horn from her head. She dropped to the ground in pain and just layed there. All of the changelings stopped and stared at her like they didn't know who she was anymore. She just kept screaming as she bled out. I kneeled down next to her and decided to try and be as intimidating as possible to get a message across.

"I warned you dumbass, and you didn't listen. I wonder if your whole race is as arrogant as you are. however, its not too late to surrender. You can call off the attack and run away, and we won't pursue you and we'll let you be, or, if your still too dumb to take a hint, I can finish you right now, and put more of your soldiers in unmarked graves. What happens next is entirely up to you." I said as I stood back up.

She had a look of pure fear in her eyes but I could also see what still looked like blazing fury in her eyes as green blood continued to run down her face. I decided to get a message across to her army as well.

"Let this be a lesson to not only her, but all of you. This, is what happens when you piss off the wrong species. your leader is severly mutilated and made an example of."

"CONTINUE WITH THE ATTACK!!!!! WE WILL NOT FAIL, NOT AGAIN!!!! KILL ALL WHO STAND IN OUR WAY!!!!" She was really retarded as it would seem. After having her horn ripped off, she still thought she had a chance to take over equestria. She quickly got back onto her hooves and ran back into her crowd of mindslaves. There more brutes in the back of the pack that let out a loud howl as they charged towards the front to try and kill us. Realizing I still had chrysalis's horn in my hand, I tucked it away in one of my pouches and un-shouldered my gun as me and sterling opened fire again, bringing the brutes down as more of the drones charged at us but some of the dashed past us as they made their way towards the castle. We quickly put down the changelings that attempted to fight us but as I turned around and saw how many of them had bypassed us and proceeded towards the castle.

"Oh shit! Come on, We gotta get back to the castle!" I shouted

"How!? We'll never make it back in time!" sterling replied

"What street are we on!?" I asked. Sterling quickly looked around before he told me where exactly we are.

"Were at the cross streets of iverson and tension road." He said. Remembering what we had planned a day in advance, There should be a tundra parked close by in an alleyway that we can use to get back to the castle quicker.

"Check the alleyways! There should be a pickup truck parked in one of them that we can use to get out of here and back to the castle!" We had to find it and fast. The unmistakable sound of an M2 machine gun opening fire in the distance followed by other small arms opening fire as well indicated that we had to act fast or the castle would be over run.

"I found it! Over here!" Sterling called over to me. I ran into the alley as quick as i could and saw the tundra covered up by tarps and and trash.

We quickly removed everything and got ready to peel out. "Get in the bed! I'll drive, you shoot! Blast as many of them as you can!" We needed to get out of here as fast possible. I helped sterling climb into the bed before I jumped into the drivers seat and got going. Many streets we took were blocked as we were trying to get back on the main road to get to the castle. This usually took us further away from the castle but we eventually found our way onto the main road, Sterling was sliding around in the bed a lot because of my erratic driving but he was managing to stay in relatively the same spot.

"Silver, Silver if you can hear me, Watch your fire. I repeat, watch your fire. We're coming up the main road right now and we're gonna be in your line of fire." I really hoped she heard me otherwise we were gonna get lit up.

"Hey! what do we do when we get back to the castle?" Sterling asked me through the back window.

"When we get there, We get out and we hold the gate with the ponies for as long as we can. We may have bottomless magazines but we still gotta worry about our weapons over heating. We don't have any water to cool the barrels down so we gotta fire in short bursts instead of just holding the trigger down like we have been. I'm thinking that once we do get back, we can," My sentence was cut short by bullets impacting the front of the truck. My message didn't make it back to silver since she had opened fire on us.

"SON OF A BITCH!!!!! GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD DOWN AND KEEP IT DOWN!!!!" I heard a loud pop and lost control of the truck, meaning I lost a tire.

"HANG ON TO SOMETHING!!!" It was no use. Doing nearly 90MPH with a blown tire was not going to end well. As quickly as the gunfire had started, it had stopped.

KA-BANG

As quickly as everything had happened, it ended. I felt no pain as the crash happened. The airbags deployed, the horn got stuck, and I got knocked out cold.

Silver POV

"BZZZZZZZZZZZ We're co BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Watch your ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" I could not hear a single thing Dakota was saying. His voice was coming back extremely distorted. I couldn't make out a single thing he was saying except for something that sounded like he was saying "We're coming" and "Watch your" something.

"Sergeant! there's another large group coming up the road!" One of my squad mares told me.

"Get in position to fire again! Wait until they're in range then let em have it! Be careful though, I think the humans are coming back and they're likely gonna be right behind them." I warned her. We can't afford to lose them this far into the battle. I watched as the group of changelings got closer and closer and then, "Open fire!" numerous guns opened up and we watched as the changelings drop dead. I should have given the order to cease fire as soon as there were only a few left. Dakota and his friend sterling were in fact both right behind them as i watched them get hit numerous times as bullets impacted the front end of the vehicle they were in. I watched as glass cracked, sparks flew, and a wheel blow out. They violently crashed into a building right next to the bridge to get into the castle. Which ever one of them was in the back got violently thrown out and landed on the other side of the moat that seperated the castle from the rest of canterlot.

"Oh Buck! Oh buck oh buck oh buck oh buck oh buck oh buck oh buck!" I immediately took off to make sure they were alright. That crash was extremely violent and I could assume they would both be badly hurt. The horn was going and whichever one of them got flung from the back slowly got back up and waded through the deep water back to the other side to try and help the other one out.

"Sergeant wait!" I heard one of my squad mares call out to me but I had to help get them out and to safety one way or the other. I watched as the one that got ejected tried to open a door but couldn't. He quickly called out to me and said something I really did not want to hear.

"It's no use! The doors jammed shut! The crash caused the body to bend badly and Dakota's pinned inside! We gotta hold out as long as possible until they give up, Or you or whoever is in charge does something to get them out of here as fast as possible!" Sterling as I now learned, was the one that was still somewhat combat effective, and seemed to be in bad shape as he was struggling to run across the bridge with me. He quickly turned around shot a few more changelings that were coming up from behind, still not learning that the castles front entrance was a death trap. After killing them, He dropped his gun and dropped to his knees and slowly removed his neck armor, face plate, and finally his helmet. His face was soaked with sweat and so were his bangs. He then clutched his sides in what I could only guess was pain judging by his facial expression.

"Captain armor! What do we do!?" I called up to him, Hoping he knew what to do.

"I don't know! The princesses are in the bunker right now, The train carrying Reinforcements from ponyville is still more than 20 minutes away, and I'm really hurting from firing this thing!" He said. I was really panicking in my head now. If we failed, equestria would be under siege from the changelings. Suddenly, sterling got back up walked back over to the crashed truck that he was ejected from and reached through a broken window and grabbed dakota's gun and set it up on the sandbags we had setup.

"What are you doing?"

"It's looking...more and more like...were just gonna have to hold out as long as possible. I'm not much of a strategist, but I think...We might have a better chance if some of you...moved up across the bridge. If some of your soldiers with guns Get into windows on the upper floors of those buildings and take up defensive positions just in front of the truck...We should be able to keep dakota safe, and have a more effective kill zone." Sterling looked like he was on the brink of collapse. I rushed over to try and help keep him standing. It was extremely hard considering how heavy he was with all of this armor he was wearing. Instead of trying to carry him all the way to the castles infirmary, I decided to set him down behind the sandbags and to run and go and get him some help. The gates opened and out walked captain armor and another guard pony.

"Go and get a few medics and an engineer team together then inform the princesses, seargent! I'll take it from here for now until you get back!"

"Yes sir!"

Doing as I was told, I ran back into the castle to update the princesses on the situation and get a few medics.

Sterling POV

I watched as that pony named silver ran back inside and replaced by 2 other ponies.

"Corporal Halbred, Get on that machine gun and await further instructions!"

"Yes sir!"

The pony in the armor with the purple accents then turned to face me.

"You said your name was sterling right?"

"Yeah, always has been. Why?"

"You and me and the few guards that you and your friend dakota taught to use these guns are all that's standing between them and equestria's fate. I'm taking what would be his place here out in the front with you."

"Alright then. I put his gun over there against those sandbags."

I mounted my gun on this set of sandbags and waited with him to see when these so called changelings would show up. I took the time to try and load the large artillery gun sitting in between us. I recalled the steps dakota took to load and use it. Twist something to open the breach, put the projectile in, put the propellant in behind it, close it up and lock it, and turn something to make it be able to fire before yanking a cord to actually make it fire. I did those steps one at a time as best as I could. I didn't know how this thing worked like he did since he had an affinity for military weapons, equipment, and other things like that. After getting it situated and hopefully loaded properly, I slowly ran the cord through my hands and waited until more of them came. Slowly but surely, they had all amassed into one giant group now and were quickly approaching.

Scene music for closing fight scenes

Doing what dakota did earlier, I yanked the cord as hard as i could, despite how much it hurt. The huge gun fired, sending a shockwave out in all directions as it rocked back and nearly knocked me down. It was definitely disorienting to say the least. My had was spinning and my ears were ringing for a few moments before I eventually regained my senses. I quickly put my helmet back on and got back over to the sandbags before I crouched down and got ready. They were coming now, and they were coming fast.

"Here they come! This is it! It's now or never, Let them have it!" I shouted as best as I could.

I held down the trigger as a few of the other ponies quickly started firing. The faster cracking of the M240 I was using almost non audible over the rest of the gunfire and the slower chunking of the 50 cal machine gun from behind me was much more prominent. That pony that was called out, Halberd, I had glanced back when I had stopped firing to clear a jam and he had a look of determination, anger, and focus on his face. He looked a lot like that pony named silver that ran off earlier. As far as I could tell, the only difference between them was his height and a slightly different fur color, his being a bit darker. Focussing back on my gun, I cleared the casing that had caused it to jam and closed it up and pulled the charging handle and started firing again. I could feel the adrenaline wearing off, and the pain in my sides and head growing in intensity. Ignoring it and focusing on what was in front of me, some of them were trying to take cover behind the truck that we crashed in. Knowing what they were actually trying to do, I quickly mowed them down.

"Keep them away from the truck!! They're gonna try and use dakota as a means to stop us!!"

They kept coming and were gradually getting closer and closer, not caring that they were tripping over their dead comrades to try and get in. Some of them had gotten as close as 5 feet but they were quickly put down. It was looking more and more like they might actually overwhelm us until they started to fall back. I could hear some of them shouting retreat orders. It was about time their brains started working.

"They're running! Pick off any stragglers and finish them!"

Doing what that commander pony said, i picked out the ones that were lagging behind the rest and finished them off. Watching them fly off once they exited the city, realizing that they stood no chance of victory with us around, was a smart move. It was finally over. I made to stand up from my crouching position, but as soon as I did, the pain hit me harder than a brick wall. I quickly collapsed and soon felt what i could only assume was blood staining a lot of my clothes underneath this heavy armor.

"Oh no! Cpl.Halberd give me a hoof over here!"

"Yes sir!"

They both ran over to me as soon I collapsed, seemingly now very concerned with my condition.

"Come on Sterling! You've made it this far and the battles over now! Stay with me!"

"Don't forget about........Dakota. He's probably hurt way worse than me."

"Halberd, You go and see if you can help his friend! I'll do what I can until sergeant silver returns!"

"Yes sir!"

I was starting to blackout. The exhaustion from the fighting really was taking a toll on me. pair it with blood loss and I would likely be out like a light within the next minute or so.

"Hey, no no no no no! Come on man stay awake! Just try and stay awake alright!? helps on the way, just stay awake alright"

His efforts were in vein as my eyes closed on their own accord. His voice became distant and eventually there was nothing but darkness.

Silver POV

After having updated the princesses on the situation and gathering a team of medics and engineers, I was leading the way back outside as fast as I could. It sounded like the gunfire had all but stopped as I got closer to the main entrance. When I did get there, I opened the doors and opened the castle gates. The fighting had all stopped, but as I looked around, sterling was now laying on the ground with captain armor trying to remove all of his armor.

"Captain!"

"Sergeant! They both need medical attention now!"

I gave him 3 of the medics I had gathered and went across the bridge to where they had crashed. A familiar pony was trying to get him out but couldn't. He immediately stopped what he was doing and snapped to attention when he saw me.

"Sergeant!"

"No need for formalities right now halberd! Let the engineers do their thing then once they get him out, We're gonna try and remove all of his armor and let the medics go from there!"

"Yes ma'am!"

I had to partially cover my ears since the horn was still blowing and it was extremely loud. We watched as the engineers took a saw and started cutting the door open. Halberd had shielded his eyes as best as he could but he was still standing a bit too close. He was a great friend to have, My longest lasting friendship has actually been with him. We grew up together and what not, But he could still be a bit dumb at times, kind of like now. The saw stopped and they started pulling the door back, Allowing his heavily armored form to be freed.

"Hey sergeant, Can you give us some help here? He's pretty heavy."

"No problem."

I assisted the engineers in removing him from the truck. We fully got him out and were about to load him onto a stretcher when something fell out of one of his pockets. We all stopped to see what it was and it was...disturbing, to say the least.

"I-I-I-Is that...What I think it is!?"

"Oh my god! Silver I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Why did he have this in the first place!?"

I picked up in magic and grimaced as I examined it. It was still dripping fresh green blood and there were parts of scalp and roots still attached to it. The shape was easily distinguishable as well. Dakota had removed queen chrysalis's horn and kept it. Maybe this is why the attack was called off. He had permanently wounded their queen and made her unable to lead in some way, possibly by removing her ability to attack, maintain her hive through the hive mind, and overall just keep herself safe from attacks.

"We can worry about what he did later. For now we have to strip him of his armor and move him."

Carefully and slowly, We started removing his helmet first. We then started with removing the armor around his torso. There were a lot of pieces that interlocked and connected. Trying to figure out what was connected to what was a hassle, especially considering his life was on the line right now. Once we removed all of his torso pieces, he had yet another piece of armor on underneath all of these pieces. He really was not taking any chances at all. We had to carefully remove that piece as well before we finally removed all of the armor from his torso. He had a facemask on still so we quickly took that off as well. It was nothing more than just a simple piece of cloth that went over his whole head with two holes cut out for his eyes so he could see. When we took it off, His face was soaked in sweat and most of it had been absorbed into the mask. The pungent smell of it was extremely strong and made almost all of us gag. Looking back at dakota's unconscious form, there was a large bruise on his forehead. We lifted up his shirt and there were fresh bruises and even a few cuts here and there but nothing super serious. Most of his injuries were going to be internal such as when he first got injured, judging by that impact from earlier.

"Alright, lets get him on this stretcher and get him to an infirmary. We need to act fast though, time is of the essence."

I reminded them about the severity of the situation and that dakota could have life threatening injuries. We carefully placed him on the stretcher and then started to carry him back into the castle. His friend, sterling was being placed on a stretcher to be carried inside as well.

They may have just saved canterlot, but now they needed to be saved. This is going to be a difficult battle now to keep them alive since none of us know anything about human anatomy.

"Come on dakota. Just hang in there a bit longer, you're gonna be Ok, I promise."

I let the docs take him and his friend as I know as i was going to be needed somewhere else soon. For now, the day was won.

A minor case of amnesia and moving day

View Online

2 days later
10/24/20
7:34AM
Canterlot castle infirmary
Combined ICU area

Silver POV

I was stationed in the infirmary to watch over the humans until they woke up. They've been out for two days now but the docs did say that they have head up nicely and today is the day that they both should wake up. The impact from the crash really did a number on them. Fractured ribs, a broken femur, moderate head trauma, a broken nose, and a few other things that I don't know how to pronounce so I won't try to pronounce them.

According to the doctors though, They're both lucky to be alive. If they weren't wearing as much armor as they were when they crashed, they surely would have died. I could feel the frustration just absolutely radiating off of the doctors when they were working on them, and I don't mean that in as in the frustration on their faces was so apparent, I mean it as I could actually feel it, like I could physically feel the frustration. What I mean by this is that because I'm not actually a pony, but something else entirely, something that could literally feel the emotion in the air around me.

I'm not a pony, but a siren, One with a birth defect thats more of a blessing instead. I'm a bit smaller than most sirens but we treat this defect as a gift since it allows us to perfectly blend in with pony society. I'll talk more about that later though. I did feel a bit weird around dakota when ever i was close to him.

I don't know how to explain it properly, but I felt good around him. I felt safe, happy, and even confident. I knew what some of these signs meant, but there was no way he was the one, i've only known him for a week now and he wasn't even from the planet of equis but then again, We sirens don't have to know any creature at all to know if they were the one who we were destined for.

I heard hoofsteps slowly approaching and glanced over to see who it was. The captain and halberd were approaching with the princesses in tow.

"Any word from the doctors yet sergeant?"

"Aside from that they should possibly be waking up today, i've heard nothing from them all morning sir."

"Very well. We were going to wait inside for them to wake up. You're more than welcome to join us if you wish to."

"Yes, your highness."

I stepped aside and let them pass, entering the room. I followed behind them and closed the door behind them as well. They were in two beds at the far end of the room, separated by a curtain and they were both hooked up to an array of machines. Bruises and sealed cuts covered much of their bodies and there were even a few stitches here and there but for the most part they seemed to be relatively ok.

"I'm thinking once they start to wake up, we need to get full details about what happened. If the extent of what they did gets leaked to the general public, public opinion could drastically change about them, and not in a good way."

Captain armor had really changed his attitude towards the humans ever since the meeting in the dream realm. He went from hating them with a burning passion, to now almost trying to be their friends.

"Captain, with all due respect, you saw just what their weaponry did and how it devastated chrysalis's army, Let alone that one had her horn as well AND how much more advanced it is compared to ours."

Halberd was pointing at the fact that they practically destroyed her army and dealing immense amounts of casualties, while they became the only casualties for our side. All of the bodies had been cleaned up but there was still a lot of blood stains on streets and some buildings and their weapons also created a lot of holes in said buildings with the projectiles they fired. Construction teams have been busy filling them ever since the battle ended. The ponies affected were compensated for the damages to their homes and businesses.

"I'm well aware corporal. I was using it as well, and so were you. I doubt that they would've been so willing to let us use them if they didn't trust us and show us how to use them."

He had a point. They could've easily said no and we would have had to improvise and the outcome could've been so much worse, but we asked them for their help. We didn't demand it at all, we merely asked them if they could possibly help us and they said yes almost immediately. Something about it felt strange though, Dakota spoke up first almost right away and seemed dead set on helping us. I figured it was probably a feeling of obligation or something that was telling him to help. I'm not sure what it was but it felt like a sense of patriotism.

"Look, I understand your concern corporal, but you gotta understand that now I'm also trying to keep a good public image of them in order to avoid spooking the public and allowing massive distrust, isolation, and hostility to build up between them and the humans."

I can tell what he's getting at but I don't know what he's trying to say exactly. I guess its time to ask him though.

"Captain, If you don't mind me asking, but what exactly do you mean by 'A good public image'?"

"I mean, I don't want them to look like ruthless killers in the eyes of the equestrian public. I want them to look trustworthy, like they can be relied on in a situation, And I just might know how."

"And.......How might you plan to do that sweetie?"

I was just about to ask the same question when princess cadence spoke up first.

"When the wedding actually comes around, I want them on my security detail.'

"WHAT!?!?"

Literally all of us shouted that at the same time. I bet the princesses and halberd all thought he was insane because of what he just said.

"Captain armor, with all due respect sir, but have you completely lost it?"

"Yeah im with halberd on this one. I'm not against the idea, But why? Why would you do something so risky?"

I'm not trying to bash on the humans for what they did or captain armor's idea, but I am questioning his thought process, and possibly his sanity. Why would he be so quick to change his stance on them?

"I understand you all have some major questions, but hear me out. I want them to be on the security detail on our special day for two reasons. 1, its to show the general public that if I trust them to be in close proximity to me and cadence, then they can to. And my second reason is to dissuade any would be attackers from trying to sabotage the wedding since they're already larger than most ponies and I heard some of the doctors talking about them and apparently even while they're unconscious, they still have quite a large fear factor surrounding them. Some of the doctors sounded like they were afraid to even go near them."

Some of that sounded exaggerated, but still believable. Depending on what was seen by who and how it was interpreted to others, Some might not be able to believe it and will probably be afraid of them for a while. Local media was already having a field day with what happened. Some ponies who had stayed in their homes caught the whole thing on video and presented it to the news networks. They were seen walking through the streets and gunning down any and all changelings that came at them or tried to go past them.

"Your highnesses, I know you're all probably not confident in my abilities to keep equestria safe after the first attack, but I know the risks and what needs to be done. I won't let the safety of equestria be compromised a second time. I promise."

"I-I-I Sure hope you know what your doing captain. This is so sudden and out of the blue."

Princess celestia certainly seemed like she was possibly having her doubts about this. Princess luna included judging by her current facial expression.

"Your highnesses, If I may request it, i'd like to speak with sergeant sable and corporal halberd alone."

I didn't like how he said that. Why would he want to speak to us alone with the princesses not in the room? Something didn't add up.

"O-Ok then."

The princesses left the room. Princess cadence being the last one to leave, gave a slightly worried glance towards us before she closed the door. As soon as she did, Captain armor sat down and removed his helmet and also proceeded to start rubbing his eyes.

"I've been working so hard to try and calm the public's fears about them, but i've had no luck in doing so. I just wish there was someway to get them to see through what they saw, and see that they're not a threat."

He looked so tired when he looked at us. the captain looked as if he was carrying the future of equestria on his shoulders right now, and I can't say I blame him.

"I'm asking both of you for help, Not as your commanding officer, but merely as a friend in need. I'm not ordering you two either. You won't be penalized for refusing to help."

"Whatever is sir, I'm sure me and sergeant sable can help you out."

Even in times like this, halberd seemed to still be as optimistic as ever. It's good to see that at least somepony around here still has high spirits.

"Thank you. Whenever they wake up, I'd like for you both to help educate them about equestria and what they need to know. I also want you both to offer them their positions on my security detail and I want you both on the team as well to assist them. Keep in mind that this is only an offer and not an order. You can both decline if you want to and I won't reprimand you for it. However, if you choose to accept, there will be a big promotion and a pay raise in it for both of you once this is over."

The mention of a pay raise and a promotion grabbed my attention almost immediately, The thought of ascending to a higher rank almost made me say yes instantly. This sounded too good to be true.

"I'd more than happily do it sir. Anything to help the humans and make sure another attack doesn't happen."

I replied almost immediately. Halberd followed suit shortly after and for the first time in a while, captain armor cracked a genuine smile, one of the few of legitimate happiness i've seen.

"Thank you both. I promise to uphold my end of the deal. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Anything for you sir. We're just doing our jobs."

"Please, just call me shining armor. Formalities are only needed when on duty or during ceremonies."

This was certainly something I never would have expected him to be like this. I'm guessing it came from being an older brother to one of the element bearers, Whom i've had the pleasure of meeting before and even befriending all 6 of them.

I was about to say something when the sound of a bed creaking and shifting under covers interrupted us followed by a familiar voice.

"Mmmm. The hell? where am I? And....How did I get here?"

The sound of Dakota's tired and quiet immediately captured our attention. He started to try and sit up but shot back down, likely in pain.

"Owwww! What happened to me? Why does everything hurt all over?"

We got up and quickly walked over to him. His friend, Sterling, was still out cold. We tried to calm him down, but he didn't seem to remember what happened.

"Easy there. You got knocked out during the battle for canterlot. Your truck crashed and you were knocked out on impact. You might still have some injuries that have not totally healed yet."

I told him what had happened as best as I could, but as soon as he looked at us, He seemed to be terrified as all tartarus.

"What the hell!? Ok, I'm either dead, crazy, high, or drunk because multi colored talking horses shouldn't exist!"

What has gotten into him? He seemed just fine before and even during the battle, why was he acting so weird all of a sudden.

"D-Dakota! It's me silver! I'm the pony you saved from getting beaten to death little over a weak ago. Do you not remember that?"

"I don't know any talking horses by the name of silver! Stay away from me! I mean it! I ain't afraid to start swinging!"

I was now genuinely concerned and worried about him. I've never seen any pony act like this before. He looked like he saw some sort of spook and couldn't trust any pony.

"Why is he acting like this sergea-Oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nooooooooooooooooo. Don't tell me has amnesia, that's the last thing we need right now."

Captain armor spoke up. Is that why he was acting so strange? Does he really have amnesia? This really just put a whole damper on everything.

"Uuhhhh. Should we fetch one of the doctors?"

"Yeah we probably should. Should I let the princesses know as well?"

"Yeah, they need to know about this."

Halberd walked out of the room to update the princesses and get the doctors assigned to them. He closed the door behind him and I could hear faint, muffled talking behind the door.

Cli-Clack

A very familiar and now nerve racking sound came from behind me. I slowly turned around and saw dakota holding a gun and pointing it right at both me and captain armor. How did we forget he had it?

"W-Where did you-"

"I felt it digging into my waistline. Was conveniently loaded and I even have a spare mag. Some dope forgot to check in my clothes for a weapon. Now, I wanna know how I got here, How you know who I am, and why I'm in a hospital bed. Best get to speaking, before I get to blasting."

"Y-You got it. You're the boss here. W-What do you want to know first?"

"Let's start with how I got here and then go from here. Tell me the truth, and I promise I won't shoot you."

"Alright. I'll start at the beginning for you. You first showed up here in equestria nearly two weeks ago. We didn't know exactly where you showed up, but you said you woke up in some sort of forrest near canterlot, the city we're in now. You had originally said you had driven for an hour before you finally escaped the forest."

After I stopped speaking, he took a few moments to process the "new" information. The princesses had re-entered the room and he grew tense again.

"I-I can kind of remember something like that happening, but....My minds still super hazy. Tell me more about what happened, and remember. I want the truth and the truth only."

"Right. This had happened during the first battle for canterlot. We had gotten reports about a strange and large black object that you call a truck being spotted exiting the forest from some of our patrols who got locked out of canterlot when the battle started and the barrier went up. They had reported back shortly afterwards when you had retrieved a weapon and began attacking the changeling drones that were smashing the barrier in an attempt to bring it down. They described as long and black, making loud booming noises as it fired a white line that traveled at a considerable speed before they made contact with them, Causing their head and part of their shoulders to explode. Apparently you were nearly one mile away as well when you took those shots."

He seemed kind of shocked by this. It seemed reasonable since he was having trouble remembering a lot of things right now.

"No. There's no way. My aim is not that good. There's no way; I don't own a rifle powerful enough to fire rounds that far."

"Don't you?"

Princess celestia spoke up before she lit her horn. A few seconds later, the rifle in question appeared before us. The magazine was removed and the round in the chamber was ejected. It was the same one he let captain armor use during the second battle. We had went through everything he had until we found a small booklet that had a picture of the rifle in question on it and was labeled as a field manual. The rifle in question was called a Barrett M82A1 and was quite powerful to say the least.

"This is what you used. You allowed me to use it in the second battle for canterlot and it packed quite a punch. It took out those changelings with no effort. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure any weapons you have could make quick work of anything that lives. It's quite terrifying to be honest."

We all waited for a response from him. He started making expressions, like he was deep in thought, as if something was starting to come to him.

"I-I-I-I think I remember something like that. I don't know for sure though. Something about this seems very familiar. I don't know for sure though. What else happened?"

I went on to tell him how he saved me from being beaten to death. That was the next logical step in this.

"Well, once you entered the city, You kept going in random directions, until you came across me. I had gotten separated from my unit and nearly died. I was pinned to the ground was getting beat mercilessly, so much to the point that my nose was broken and i was constantly fading in and out of consciousness. I couldn't quite see what was happening after you had saved me, but you had put me in your truck and attempted to get somewhere safer. You ended up holding out in an evacuated house somewhere in the south central side of canterlot and decided to make a stand there. You had some sort of piece of heavy artillery as well. It was nothing like any of us had ever seen. It's loaded from a breach instead of the bore and uses cased propellants. It created such a powerful shockwave that it knocked me out and I can only assume that the blast shattered the windows on nearby buildings because they were all blasted out. Once it was over, You tended to me as best as you could, you placed an ice pack on my face and reset my nose for me afterwards. Things kind of went south afterwards though."

I doubt he would believe that part is true though. Making him sound like he had taken on the changeling army and defended me sounded very far fetched. This was going to be the hard part of refreshing his memory.

"Hmmm. You make it sound like I was a one person army, something I couldn't do, not without help at least."

I was about to say something when halberd came back in a moment later and rushed into the room. He looked a bit frazzled to say the least.

"Guys! there's a breaking news bulletin! You gotta see this! The humans are on the channel 4 news!"

He made to turn on one of TV's in the room and tune it to the proper channel. We all looked to the tv once he got it all worked out.

"This just in, New footage regarding the humans involvement during the second battle of canterlot has surfaced and been brought to our attention. What we are about to show you is very graphic and might not be safe for some viewers. If you're squeamish or sensitive to the site of blood or other bodily fluids or parts, we advise that you look away now."

The reporter finished before the camera switched to a shaky camera view of both of them, all clad up in their armor, just plowing through the changeling army.

"Come on! I'll kill you fucks myself!"

"This footage was given to us by a resident of canterlot who wished to remain anonymous and sheltered in place instead of evacuating. She described the whole ordeal as being utterly terrifying and she had never feared for her life more than she did at that moment."

The footage cut back to the battle being recorded.

I'm here hiding with my girls! We're all really scared and both of the humans are right outside our home right now! They've just been killing the changelings nonstop now and they wouldn't let up! Their weapons are so loud that its causing our home to shake! I can barely hear anything else right now!

The pony who had recorded this obviously feared for her life and her daughters. The camera panned downwards and I briefly saw what looked like a knife next to her. The camera had then cut to when they were coming back. I watched as they took fire from us and crashed hard, again.

I could tell that everyone winced upon seeing that again, It's kind of hard not to when seeing something like that. Halberd turned the TV off while I turned back to face Dakota. It wasn't hard to tell that he was having a hard time believing what he just saw, and I honestly don't blame him. He doesn't remember what happened so it makes sense that he wouldn't believe that he had did that. He seemed a bit more relaxed though, having lowered his gun a bit. We all conversed with him some more for the next twenty minutes and it seemed to help slowly help him remember.

Eventually, he asked one thing and my response is what triggered something to cause him to remember everything that happened.

"Hey, who are you anyways? And why are you helping me?"

"I'm silver sable, And im paying you back for saving me."

Something about that caused him to shout in pain as he threw his gun and held his head as he groaned. I quickly grabbed the gun and got it away from him as he thrashed around.

"Dakota!? Whats wrong!?"

"Aahhhhhh! It feels like i just got hit in the head with a sledgehammer!"

Some doctors rushed in to try and help but he wouldn't stop moving around. I stood next to him and tried to hold him in place as they administered painkillers. I eventually let go of him as he stopped thrashing. He sat up once the pain was gone and looked at me.

"S-Silver?"

I smiled as he remembered now. I walked back over to him as he looked at everypony else.

"Welcome back. Sorry if we may have been a bit different, but with the way you were acting because you didn't remember anything and you were pointing a weapon at us, We had to be cautious so you didn't hurt us. I can only hope you're friend sterling won't do the same thing."

He then looked over at him. Sterling was still unconscious but didn't suffer as many injuries as dakota did, even though he got flung from the crash.

"How bad is he?"

"He didn't get as hurt as you did, but the doctors are saying he'll be out longer than you, Possibly another day or so. Doctors said you both lost a significant amount of blood so they had to give you guys transfusions."

"Wait, transfusions? How? We're not the same species, much less probably even compatible."

"You'd be surprised by how magic was able to rectify that problem."

"Wait, what?"

I let the doctors explain to him that magic was used to alter some blood they already had to be useable so that they could give to him. The magic itself was now part of him as well and wouldn't hurt him as long as he didn't try to do anything crazy with it. They explained it accelerated his body's natural healing process and any minor injuries he received would have closed themselves up very quickly. Eventually, we told him that once the doctors gave him a quick once over, they would get him his discharge papers and he would be free to leave.

Eventually, He was up and moving again. He grabbed his stuff and was ready to head out.

"Hey, you wanna see something before going back into the city?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Follow me."

I lead him towards an outside exit. I had a feeling he would like and appreciate this at the same time.

Dakota POV

After being allowed to leave, I grabbed whatever I had and followed silver. Apparently she had something she wanted to show me, she seemed a bit excited about it as well as she wanted me to hurry up. We eventually found ourselves outside and walking around to the front of the castle. We eventually came to what she wanted to show me, and I was genuinely surprised.

"Woah. Silver...You loaded the trailers while I was out?"

"I sure did. I thought you might appreciate it if I gave us a headstart on moving things. It wasnt easy though. I had to learn on my own how to put these things on the top, not realizing you could lower the back as well. Also not to mention I had to look through that mess of keys you have to find the right one for one of those other trucks with the flat tops to make it fit under the trailer."

I climbed onto one of the trailer and looked at everything. She had done a really good job as well. Everything was properly tied down, Axles were chained, there was even space between vehicles, and the trailer brakes were connected up properly. She had gotten a freightliner and a peterbilt all ready for moving while i was unconscious. Now i have to admit that silver seems to be really resourceful and dedicated. This likely took many hours to do all on her own without the proper knowledge but also having done an excellent job. There were a few straps that I was wary of since they were a bit loose but i tightened them up myself and got off the trailer.

"Wow. Silver, i think you just saved us 3 hours of work. You did all of this while I was out?"

"I sure did. I asked haberd to help me as well, mainly with tying the vehicles down. I thought you'd maybe want to get started on moving as soon as possible."

She smiled at me before tossing me the key to the Freightliner, showing that she was eager to get started. I found it kind of cute actually. Never before had I seen a pony so interested in human tech that they were willing to use it as well, at least not like silver was.

"Well then. Let's not waste any time and let's get moving."

We entered our haulers and started em up. Felt good to get behind the wheel again with a full load. I let silver lead the way out and followed behind her, swinging wide to avoid hitting anything on the way out, we maintained a slow pace through canterlot since we were carrying a heavy load. I got mixed looks from the general population, some of respect and praise, some of just outright fear and a bit of anger. I can't blame em after what happened. If I saw two aliens covered head to toe in thick and heavy armor just bulldozing through an army trying to take over my home, I'd respect them but id still be afraid as well, knowing they could easily kill me at any time.

Back to the drive at 5, Silver was doing a pretty good of following the instructions i gave her, she was swinging wide and staying to the left or right depending on which way we turned and only got back over when it was safe to do so. I was genuinely impressed with her driving skills already. Although something tells me she may have practiced a bit while I was out cold but that's never a bad thing. I came to a stop as she got ready to take a hard left. Silver got as far over as she could, even going up on the curb a bit to make the turn. I saw the back tires getting awfully close to the curb on the other side. I cued up the CB and got ready to tell her to stop in case she was about to curb the wheels. She kept getting closer and closer but she managed to clear it perfectly and kept going.

"Were you about to say something?"

"Uhhh...No. forget that i even pressed the button."

Now it was my turn to take this turn. I repeated the same process and also went up onto the sidewalk as well, albeit a bit further than she did to ensure my back wheels also cleared. I got off the sidewalk and back onto the actual road once I was mostly clear. I continued following silver for what felt like an eternity, mainly cause she wouldn’t get it up over 20MPH for some reason. We eventually came to a spot where the road widened up enough for me to pass her and I did exactly that. Once the opportunity presented itself, I shifted into 7 low and went around her, quickly getting in front of her, but also causing her to slam on the brakes in order to avoid a collision, I hoped they didn’t lock up though. I know it was a dick move but I wanted to be done already.

“Sorry silver, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and I don’t want to be stuck behind you all day.”

I didn’t even bother waiting for a response from her over the CB as I picked up speed and got further down the road, taking some turns rather recklessly. I didn’t hit anything, but I know I was definitely leaving tire marks on the road, or at the very least making them screech. Ponies had gotten caught completely by surprise and were practically hugging the buildings as we came down the road. I’m certain it was more or less because of me as silver was playing it safe while I wasn’t.

I had actually beaten silver to her home as well and was pulling around back to begin unloading when she finally pulled up as well. The brakes hissed and squeaked as she backed up and stopped next to me. I had began lowering the ramps and undoing the first set of straps when she came over to talk to me.

“You need to slow down when going through canterlot like that. You almost killed somepony when you turned onto my street.”

“I already said I was sorry, but there’s no time to waste right now.”

I immediately went back to unloading the trailer, pulling a grey ford raptor off first. I parked it out of the way and away from the house. I made sure to tell silver to group vehicles by their manufacturers for simplicity reasons. It took nearly 45 minutes, but both trailers were already unloaded and the first 16 vehicles were parked. At this rate, we should be done by midnight at the latest. I was idly making small talk with silver as well while we loaded, transported, unloaded, and repeated the process. She wanted to know just how advanced human civilization was if we were able to make cars that were capable of doing literally so man things that seemed mind boggling to ponies, but normal to us.

Again, her fascination and eagerness was showing and she couldn’t hide that smile of hers that I had already come to like as well. I could only hope though that other ponies would come to accept us like she did. As to why silver basically just welcomed us with open arms, I had no idea, but I wasn’t complaining either since she was gonna give me a place to stay and possibly a job as well. Once we were done though, we packed the trailers up and went back to the castle to repeat the process.

12 hours later

We were finally done. I had just finished parking a Peterbilt when silver came up to me, looking just as exhausted as I was. She had long since removed her armor and much of her fur was matted where the main body piece rested. It was easy to tell where there also heavy sweat spots judging by if certain spots looked wet enough. I wasn’t one to judge though since I knew my forehead was very likely glistening right now. She had a small smile on her face though as she spoke to me.

“I’m glad everything’s over now. Whew. What a day it’s been.”

“You’re telling me. I’m super tired after moving everything. I’m about ready to pass out.”

“Let’s go inside then. I’ll introduce you to the ponies who help keep my place nice and show you where you’ll be staying.”

I did exactly that. She lead me around to the front of her home and opened the door and we entered into a large foyer. The place was stunning to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the generic and typical marble floors and pillars one would expect in a rich persons home, but it was done nicely though and it was a first for me. I was snapped out of my thoughts when silver rang a little bell, soon summoning what I assumed were the ponies that worked for her. Before us stood butlers, maids, cooks, and gardeners. Silver introduced me to them and said that if I ever needed anything, they’d gladly get it for me. It took little over 10 minutes for that little meet and greet to wrap up but once it did, silver proceeded to lead to me where I was gonna be staying.

Eventually, she lead me to where I would be staying. She opened the door and a grand looking bedroom was revealed to me. I was taken back by it’s astonishing features. There were dressers made of very nice oak, full size mirrors, a massive balcony that I could stand on and look out at the city from, and the bed itself which was absolutely huge. There was surprisingly a fire place as well which I could tell I would probably be using throughout the next few months while it was cold out. I looked over and saw a full-size walk in closet next to what looked like the bathroom. I’m hoping it’s fully stocked because I realize just how desperately I need a shower right now.

“If you need anything, the servants will get whatever you need, and im right across the hall if you need me for anything.”

Silver left and soon I was alone. Deciding not to waste a moment, I quickly went into the bathroom, and jumped in the shower. It took some fiddling with the taps to make sure I didn’t freeze or burn my ass off and to actually get the water to come through the shower head, but soon the filth from fighting and nearly dying was being washed away. After I was done, i went and got ready to go to sleep. That bed looked inviting. As soon as I sat on it though, I thought I was gonna go straight through since it was so soft. It felt like it was at least 70 percent memory foam. The bed was nice and cool though and I quickly tucked myself in and dozed off almost immediately.

That night, I slept better than ever. Tomorrow held the challenge of seeing if sterling would be in the same boat as me in terms of amnesia, or if he would be ok.

An opportunity to start a new life pt 2

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The next day
Silver sable’s mansion
10/25/20
1:30 PM
Dakota POV

I had just dropped sterling off at silvers place after picking him up from the hospital and was in my room trying to clean my sunglasses when someone knocked on my door. Unsure of who it was, I opened the door and saw a maid standing there. I didn’t need anything cleaned at the moment so I wasn’t quite sure what she was doing until she said something.

“Sorry to bother you sir, but lady silver asked me to give you a message before she left a few minutes ago.”

She asked one of her maids to deliver a message? That sounded a bit strange but I guess it kind of makes sense if she needed to tell me something but she was possibly in a hurry.

“Ok. What did she say?”

“Lady silver wish’s for you to meet her at the sandwhich shop the two of you ate at a few days ago. There are several of her friends there who would like to speak with you.”

“Ok. Thank you miss. I’ll head over there right away.”

I went and grabbed my jacket before walking outside. I decided to take the fastest thing available and jumped in the demon before heading over to prime rye. Going through canterlot generated attention like usual, mainly because I’m not a pony and I’m from another world. But I feel like it’s more or less because these ponies also weren’t used to the sight of cars for the most part. Sure they had those carriages that functioned like cars, but they were still nowhere near as sleek, advanced, or loud. The removal of the muffler from the car was likely what got the attention as it amplified the sound of the supercharger a little bit, but mostly when the engine was reving up and down. I spiked the throttle at an intersection and managed to scare a few ponies, getting a bit of a laugh out of it as well. I was slowly memorizing the layout of canterlot more and more as I traveled more. I had learned about a few shortcuts that I had taken to get from silvers place to my destination but that was about it right now.

Eventually, I came up to where me and silver ate that night and saw her sitting outside with 6 other ponies. Who they were though, caught me off guard. I thought back to what that maid told me and replayed that message in my mind.

“There are several of her friends there who would like to speak with you.”

“Silver is friends with the element bearers? How?”

I unknowingly said to myself out loud as I pulled up closer and closer. They soon noticed me as they waved at me, seeming happy to see me. I pulled up to the curb directly next to them. After shutting off the engine and making sure I had everything, i stepped out and walked over, making sure to lock the car up. It felt even colder today than it did yesterday so I could only wonder about how cold the winter was going to be.

“Hey silver. You never told me you knew these mares. What’s up with that?”

I nonchalantly asked before hopping over the fence in between us and taking a seat between her and twilight sparkle.

“I was planning on possibly telling you yesterday but that whole fiasco with amnesia and then the two of us being busy yesterday made that a bit difficult.”

She did have a point. Getting situated in my new home with her did take priority and there wasn’t a whole lot of time to talk unless it was related to all the hauling we were doing yesterday.

A waiter came over and asked me if I had i wanted anything. I ordered the same thing I had for dinner a couple nights ago with silver after that race along with a water and some coffee. After doing that, I asked what the special occasion was for wanting to meet me again.

“I had already covered the majority of what you guys wanted to know. What else could you possibly have questions about?”

That’s when I noticed twilights excitement growing. I almost forgot that she was seated next to me as well. I had to mentally prepare myself for the amount of questions I was likely about to be bombarded with. Surprisingly though, she didn’t ask a bunch of junk at once. Instead, she explained that she was fascinated by human levels of tech and particularly, our transportation methods and asked me to tell her more about cars and how they worked.

“Well, that’s a big answer I can give you miss sparkle. Cars are luxurious and complicated machines. Some are slow and affordable, others, like that one that I arrived in, are fast and expensive. Certain vehicles like those trucks me and silver were driving yesterday, are designed to pull heavy loads over long distances, with an emphasis on the 'Home away from home' term, literally.”

I explained a bit more what all that meant, mainly what I meant about trucks and how they were built with the truckers in mind driving them. To my surprise, twilight then asked more about my ride of choice for today. I got up from my seat and explained it to all of them since it was certainly something special.

“This, my little pony, is a 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT demon. It’s special because of the new engine I had put in it that had 200 more horsepower than the original engine and after some fine tuning, now nearly makes 1200 horsepower.”

I unlocked the car and popped the hood to show them what made this car so fun and fast.

“Feast your eyes on the 7 liter supercharged V8 that is this cars engine.”

Unsurprisingly, twilights eyes lit up with excitement, but what did surprise me is that everyone else did the same as well, even coming over to take a look at it. I explained what certain things were and what they did such as the supercharger, coil packs, air filter, radiator, battery, alternator, and so on. They’re well all baffled by the things I said and what they do, mainly because I went into specific detail about these things. Twilight still remained intrigued before she asked me another question that I probably should’ve seen coming.

“Is there any possible chance I could get a close up experience and be in this car with you? I want to see what it’s like. You make. It sounds so exciting!”

I looked to her friends for approval. They just nodded, likely saying yes to get her to possibly stop talking.

“I suppose a a little trip around the city could be beneficial to both of us. I’ll let you ride with me, and In exchange, you tell me where we are at certain times so I can figure out the layout of this city better.”

“Deal!”

I shut the hood and got in the car. The engine roared to life once more as it made everyone jump a little bit from how loud it is. I had to clear a few things off the passenger seat so twilight could get in but it was nothing of importance. Once she got in, I helped her buckle up before she asked yet again what stuff did on the inside. I explained more about the radio, climate control system, and the gauge cluster on the drivers side. After getting everything situated and squared away, I shifted into 1st and slowly left, taking the purple mare around the city. I picked up speed in certain areas, mainly near the outskirts where there were less ponies to be in the way. I looked in the mirror as well to see rainbow dash and fluttershy both following us as well. They likely just wanted to make sure I didn’t take twilight anywhere suspicious or tried to hurt her.

After driving around for a bit, we returned to prime rye. I told twilight that a full power test wasn’t possible right now unless we went somewhere open and empty where there was no chance to crash into anything but she seemed to understand thankfully. I let her out and killed the engine before following her back to the table as well.

“Well? How’d it go? Did twilight go full egghead mode on you while you two were on the move?”

Rainbow dash piped up, acting like she hadn’t been following us the whole time but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Not really. She asked plenty of questions, but not too many about the actual car. I’m guessing she was fascinated by how advanced human tech is.”

The purple mare in question still looked a little starry eyed as she eyed the car up, likely already wanting to go for another ride.

“Well, maybe I should continue to indulge her desire for knowledge about human tech. Who knows, perhaps the rest of you can learn a thing or two in the process as well.”

I simply put that idea out there to let them think about it. Unsurprisingly, twilight wanted to go again, so I decided to change things up a bit.

“Another ride sounds nice. I think I’ll show you what a big truck is like compared to a compact muscle car like this. Give me 30 minutes to go and get one.”

I was about to leave when silver jumped in the car with me and said she had something she wanted to talk to me about.

“Hey, what’s up? You got something important on your mind?”

I popped the question as I started driving away. She then proceeded to pull out some papers she managed to hide underneath the scarf she was wearing.

“Here. We promised you this, and we delivered on that promise.”

I took a quick glance at the papers but couldn’t tell what they were so I had to ask her what it was.

“It’s the papers saying you’re officially a citizen of equestria now. Along with them is some stuff you’ll need such as tax documents that you need to fill out, a social security card, and even an official canterlot ID card since I’m assuming you’ll be staying here since I’ve given you a place to live as well.”

I couldn’t believe it. They actually kept their word and made me a citizen of equestria. Normally that’s probably every bronies fantasy, to go to equestria and become a citizen, but I didn’t think it would actually happen for me. I managed to contain my happiness and put the papers in the glove box for safe keeping while thanking silver In the process.

“Thank you. I never thought this would actually happen. I doubt very few would actually go through this kind of effort for me. You really are a great friend silver, and I couldn’t be happier to have met you.”

She blushed and tried to say that it was nothing and I probably would’ve done the same for her if she somehow wound up on earth. Once we got back to her place, we parked up and decided on which truck to go back and show the element bearers. Deciding on the 389, we jumped in and drove back. This time we definitely got more attention due to the even louder engine, squealing of the brakes, and smoke blowing from the exhaust.

Once we were pulling up to the restaurant again, I flipped on the engine brake and that definitely scared everyone around a little bit.

“There’s plenty of room in here if you all want a ride.”

Naturally, the rest of them said no but twilight managed to somehow coerce her friends to ride along with us and soon enough, they all piled into the truck. They were impressed by how much bigger it looked inside compared to outside. It was a double bunk sleeper so they all had some room to sit down on both bunks.

“I’ll try not to go too fast or brake too hard so that you three on the top bunk don’t fall off.”

The turbo’s whistled as I moved away, beginning another trip around canterlot. The sounds the truck made were more than enough to keep them all captivated such as the air brakes squeaking, the engine revving up and down, and even the static coming through the CB randomly.

Deciding to give them something else to listen to, I slowed down and pulled out my phone, letting them get a taste of what classic rock back on earth sounded like. Soon the sound of familiar artists filled the cab as I began to sing along with a few of them as well. Eventually the songs stopped and I found myself at the gates to the city. There wasn’t enough room to turn around where I was currently so the only way to go back was to descend down the mountain then drive all the way back up. I explained it to everyone in the back and they seemed to understand it well enough. Soon the gates were opened and we were descending the mountain. I had to hit the jake brake almost immediately once I saw how steep certain slopes got. The sound of the Jake brake partially startled the element bearers but quickly adjusted to it once they realized it wasn’t the truck falling apart or breaking around then. Rainbow dash still decided to pipe up about it though and ask what the noise was about.

“What is that ear piercing sound?”

“That’s the engine brake. It’s helping to keep us from gaining speed while we travel down hill. At these speeds and In something like this, it could be pretty bad if we crashed.”

That seemed to satisfy her as she stopped asking questions. The sound of the jake brake echoed throughout the valley as we got lower and lower on the mountain, eventually reaching the bottom. There was a new gate at the bottom that wasn’t there before when I first arrived in equestria. It seemed makeshift for now, mostly being made of wood as no bricklaying had been started. The guards there let us pass before I turned around began the trip back up the mountain. The turbos were practically singing the whole time they whistled like crazy. The windows needed to be rolled back up because of how loud everything was. Once we were back in the city though, I took us back to the sandwich shop where we were originally. We set back down at the table we were originally at and picked up a new conversation topic.

I told them more about what earth was like, specifically Florida, and how me and sterling made a fortune running a slightly illegal repair shop near the Everglades while we actually lived in the Everglades. One particular sub topic though peaked rainbow dash’s interest. The fact that me and sterling raced on a regular basis at high speeds on mountain passes. What followed was basically a back and forth between me and the cyan mare. Apparently street racing was almost the exact same as sky racing in equestria. It was a head to head race between two rivals. The first to reach a certain point wins. Similar to street racing, a sky race could also be arranged in a way where the first Pegasus to either ascend or descend to a certain altitude along a set course would win, just like how the first driver to either reach the top or the bottom of a mountain would win. Driver/flier skill and technique was also virtually the same. Whoever could overcome any challenges and pass their opponent stood a high chance of victory. The only difference was the dangers. High speeds in a car traveling downhill was likely to kill you if you crashed or jumped a guard rail somehow. Things then shifted to the two of us talking about our fastest times and riskiest maneuvers.

“Wow! How did you get around him!?”

I was explaining to dash about how I beat a local in Georgia on his home turf using a certain technique from a certain anime I had grown very fond of over the years.

“I used the rain gutters to get some extra speed and slip past him on the inside. Dumb bastard thought that just because he was in a brougham, I wouldn’t be able to pass him because of how wide that car was. The look on his face though when I slid by him and dusted him on the straightaway. I was a bit worried though for him. That car has a fuck ton of understeer and he easily could’ve died that night if he wasn’t careful.”

“Wow. It sounds like it got nuts on the mountain.”

“It did, but he was a good sport about it and said that he’d gladly go again anytime I wanted to. Unfortunately though that ain’t possible since there’s no way for me to go home. It’s fine though. I’ve got an opportunity to start a new life and I’m not gonna let it go to waste. I’ve got citizenship now and after this wedding, I might have a job as well.”

I felt a little happy knowing that I was able to put my bad past behind me now and start fresh. Eventually though, we had to wrap things up and part ways for the rest of the day. Silver asked if she could ride with me back to her place and naturally I said yes. I waved goodbye to the others before dash called out to me, saying she’d love to hang out at some point soon. Once silver climbed in, it was a smooth ride home. Eventually though, the purple-ish mare spoke up, telling me something kind of surprising.

“Hey uhh….Dakota? Sorry about waiting to tell you this, but……my family kind of wants to meet you.”

At first I didn’t think much of it, probably just like her parents and any siblings she may have had is what I thought she meant, until she told me.

“That’s fine. I’m guessing it’s just your parents and probably some siblings?”

“N-No I meant my entire family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, the whole shebang.”

I nearly slammed on the breaks upon hearing that.

“I’m sorry, what!? Your WHOLE family? As in every last one of them?”

“Y-Yeah. All of them.”

“How many family members are we talking here?”

“A…A lot. Like almost 100.”

I thought for a few moments before I turned back to her.

“Look I’m not angry. Just disappointed that you didn’t tell me this sooner. I probably have no right to be disappointed yet since we’ve only know. Each other for a week now, but still. When do they want to come and meet us? Tomorrow?”

“Within the the next two days they want to stay for 3.”

“Ok. We have time to get ready for them. Tell them it’s fine and they can come. I’ll tell Sterling about this so he’s in the loop as well on what’s going on. Again, it would be nice if you gave me a bigger heads up next time.”

“Ok I’m sorry! Please just don’t hate me for it.”

I merely chuckled at that, knowing I’ve got a lot of learning to do before I could get fully settled here in equestria.

“Relax silver. I don’t hate you. I could never hate a pony that’s helped me as much as you have.”

She relaxed a bit after I said that as we got back on the road.

Once we got back to her place, I went told sterling the news that silvers extended family was gonna be coming to meet us in the next couple of days and we had time to get ready. He wasn’t as caught off guard by it as I was but I still needed to tell him that it wasn’t a big deal and that it could be good for both of us. I told him if he needed anything before that time came, he needed to tell me or silver. Unsurprisingly, he told me he wanted his charger from earth. If you hadn’t guessed by now, we’re mopar guys and big v8s are our thing. I told him he’d need to go and find silver and tell her. He unsurprisingly got up and went to look for her. I figured since I got a few days before her family would come and see us, I’d take the time to familiarize myself with the layout of canterlot and perform vehicle maintenance to kill time.

For the first time in a while, I felt as if I was actually in a place where I belonged, where I was welcomed. Canterlot was certainly a welcome change compared to Florida. That much I was sure about. I went to sleep that night actually happy for the first time in a while knowing that my life was turning around even though it seemed like a fantasy. In a few days I would my roommates and hopefully they wouldn’t see me as an abomination or try to swarm me. Hopefully.

Meeting the family

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silver

silvers relatives

Steel halberd

sterling

3 days later
Silver sables mansion
10/28/20
11:51 AM
Dakota POV

Today was the day. Today silvers whole family was coming to meet me and sterling. I was busy doing a tune up on the Volvo I gave to her as a gift for letting me stay with her when the mare in question walked out and came over to me. She looked a little nervous.

”hey”

“What’s up?”

I just got a message from halberd. He said he saw about 7 of my cousins and 3 of my aunts and 2 of my uncles in the center of the city heading this way.

“Is that good or bad?”

Either or. But they’re early.

“Oh. Well, I’m sure they probably just eager to get a head start at meeting the other worldly beings that saved you during that invasion. Hey if you don’t mind, once I’m done putting oil in this thing, I’m gonna head out to a store real quick. Will you be fine until I’m back?”

yeah. My house phones are capable of calling that portable one you carry all the time so I can ring you if I need you back here as soon as possible.

“Ok. I’ll be back as soon as possible then. I should be back after about 30 minutes.”

Once I was done tuning up silvers truck. I threw the empty oil jug away and started it up to let the new fluids cycle through the engine for a bit. The only thing I needed to do now before it got too cold was add anti gelling additives to the fuel tanks so that she could drive during the winter if she chose to. After that was done, I hopped in my Truck and drove to a convenience store about 10 minutes a way. I had kept my eyes out for any members of silvers family, looking for anypony that vaguely looked like her. I didn’t want to run into them in public since I didn’t have silver with me to keep them in line. When I did get to where I was going, I parked in an alley way so that my truck wasn’t blocking the road. When I walked in, I was greeted by a friendly and familiar face.

”Hey what’s going on man? How you been?”

“What’s up bro? Things have been good lately.”

Halberd had his own little store he ran in addition to being in the guards as a way of making some money on the side. In the time I’ve known him now, we’ve gotten to be good friends. He’s like that one really cool and chill kid that everyone knew and liked in school regardless of who they were.

”so what’s happening? You here to buy or chat?”

“Both. You should know that by now.”

”I had a feeling. I set aside the usual stuff for you.”

Halberd pulled out several energy drinks and two freshly made soft pretzels. I was surprised he had the skill to make them given how well made they looked. He made them on sight and sold them at rather low prices. He put a discount on for me and invited me to come around behind the counter to talk.

“Thanks man. So how’s business been lately?”

”Its been good. I’ve actually been offered by somepony to open a second location near the castle. Lots of hoof traffic around that area so I could see a big spike in customers. The pony who wanted to partner with me and open a second place said his reasoning was for getting fired from his last place after apparently buying something for himself when he wasn’t supposed to.”

“Damn. That sounds a lot like home though. One friend I knew that worked in retail nearly had that happen to him after buying something for himself and adding on an employee discount when someone else was supposed to ring him up.”

”Yikes. That sounds like a really dumb way to get fired. I guess that’s what happened to this pony though that wants to help open a second location. Anyways what are doing here? I thought silvers family was coming to meet you and your friend today.”

“They are. I guess I’m just a bit nervous is all which is why I decided to come here. Help relax a little bit before I eventually go back over there. Sterlings out and about right now as well. My guess he’s probably feeling the same stress I was as well and needed a bit of time to clear his head before we do this.”

”I got you. If it helps, I can come with you. I’m sure having a non pony friend there to help keep you calm would help. I’m not even running this place today. I was just here to handle a few money related things and that’s it.”

“Really? Thanks man, I owe you for this. Don’t let me forget that Hal.”

”Dont mention it bro. I got your back.”

He gave me a hoof bump before he stored some money bags in a safe before and grabbed a few things before he joined me and followed me outside. He had already climbed into the truck before I had even fished the keys out of my pocket. I hadn’t even heard the door open or close either but I wasn’t about to try and figure out how he got in without making a single sound.

Disregarding it though, I climbed in and got us on our way. We had taken a detour and were just driving around the city to take in the sites and memorize more of the area. We were about 10 minutes away from silvers place when things suddenly went wrong. 2 loud pops were heard soon followed by the sound of flapping as the truck suddenly lost a ton of speed.

”What was that!?”

“Shit. I think we just blew two tires. We have to stop now and change them before we continue.”

I put on the hazards out of instinct and pulled us off to the side of the road. Getting out and walking around to the back, the damage was as I expected.

“Goddamnit. Looks like things just gotta go wrong left and right at seems.”

”uhhh, I’m no expert when it comes to stuff like this but I don’t think that, is supposed to look that way.”

“Nope. Not at all. I’m gonna call sterling. We’re gonna need his help changing these tires.”

”ok. Hopefully silver or her family won’t be mad that you both aren’t there when she needs you to be.”

“That can wait honestly. This is more important and we can’t just leave the truck here. The door locks malfunctioned a while back and I still need to get around to fixing that problem. We also can’t just leave it here in the middle of the road.”

”Ok. I’ll help you guys however I can.”

Getting my phone out of the truck, I tried to call sterling so he could come and get us out of this mess.

“Come on. Pick up that damn phone bro.”

Sterling POV

I was about to talk to that purple pony that had provided us with a place to live and was working on getting us jobs since she looked like she was having an all out anxiety attack when my phone rang. Looking to see that it was Dakota, I answered it to see what he needed.

”Hello?”

“Sterling? I got a bit of a situation. Can you help?”

He sounded mildly frustrated but if he needed my help, I’d have to do what I can to get him out of said situation.

”Yeah. What happened, and what do you need?”

“I blew two tires on the way back and the trucks sitting right now since we can’t move right now. I’ve got halberd with me so we have extra manpower if we need it.”

”You blew two tires? Fuck. Ok, what were you driving, and which tires are blown?”

“The new mack anthem. Both inner duals on the center axle. I haven’t checked the outer duals yet so we may need more than two tires. There’s already a spare on the back of the truck so you should only need to bring one. Bring everything you can. We need to make this as quick of a job as possible.”

”Ok. I’ll get everything and head over to you as soon as possible. Where are you right now?”

“He told me his location and I hung up and got ready to head out. That purple mare was looking at me the whole time though and she seemed more nervous than ever now.”

”What was that all about?”

”Dakota’s stranded. He needs me to come and help him.”

”What!? But you can’t just leave now! My family’s gonna start arriving here any minute and they’re gonna be mad if they see that neither of you are here!”

”Look I know this whole situation has you really stressed out, but I can’t just leave my best friend stuck. Your relatives came to meet both of us, not just one. If it helps at all, this shouldn’t take longer than 45 minutes.”

”O-Ok. I’ll try and delay them and stall for as long as I can until you guys return. Please, be as quick as possible though. I don’t want to get cursed out over you two not being here.”

”Relax. You’ll be fine. Dakota will protect you if anything happens.”

She seemed to understand and let me go. Heading outside, I chose an F550 for the job ahead and got it loaded up. Putting a spare tire in the back along with some air tools, Jack, Jack stands, and whatever else we may need, I got on my way over to him. He wasn’t far thankfully and this should only take so long.

I found him and he was examining the damage. His grand halberd was with him as well trying to get the debris off the road. Those two got along so well that they were already inseparable. If there’s one thing that Dakota and that plucky unicorn shared in common the most, it was that they were easy to piss off and would fight anyone who challenged their authority.

I parked up in front of him and got out. He immediately walked over to me and already began the joking.

“Well would you look at that. It’s a 6.0 that’s not blowing blue smoke or knocking like a Jehovahs witness.”

”Ahh yes. The magic of completely tearing down an engine and replacing the parts that cause that sort of thing is truly something. Especially after you modded this thing to stage 5.”

“Yeah, I know I’m a bit of a magician in the shop. Let’s get to work though. I already examined the damage and the outer duals are fine, same story with the rear axle tires. No observable damage to the inner or outer tires. I’m guessing I may have hit something and they blew easily. These tires were already on their last legs anyways.”

”Alright. Let’s get to work then. I brought everything we needed along with some extra stuff we may need.”

It took us 10 minutes just to get the truck up on jackstands. After that, we had to wait for the compressor to air up before we could use any of our air tools. I hope silver was doing alright. She couldn’t be worse than us I’d imagine.

Silver POV

I most definitely was NOT ok right now. More of my family just showed up. Those two were out doing whatever but I’m sure they weren’t changing tires like sterling claimed they were. The foals that came along didn’t mind that they weren’t here, they’re just having fun. Adults on the other hoof could only be stalled for so long. I had told them the truth that Dakota had blown some tires and that sterling went to go help him but I didn’t tell them how long it would take. I mistakenly told them it would be a quick job knowing when it likely wasn’t going to be. I was doing the best i could to keep my nervousness and anxiety in check but sooner or later I was gonna slip up.

My parents were now walking up to me, likely about to ask the question of where they were. My anxiety was spiking and I had a feeling it was showing. I needed to try and keep calm and play it cool. I braced myself for whatever they could possibly ask and approached them as well.

”Hey mom. Hey dad. You guys excited to meet the humans?”

”Hi sweetie. We are indeed. If I may ask, where are they?”

”uhhhh. Dakota got stranded on his way back and sterling went to go help him. They’re working as quick as they can to fix the issue and get back.”

My mom seemed understanding for the most part but I knew she could easily see right through me and see just how nervous I was. My father on the other hoof, seemed like he was waiting for her to leave to speak with me alone.

”ok then. Well I’m excited to meet some other weirdly beings that saved my girl. I’ll leave you with your father in case he wants to talk. I’ll be outside if you need me.”

With that, my mother took her leave. Once she was gone, my father stepped forward. He had looked a little suspicious of what I said but otherwise unbothered by it.

”Sweetie, what’s really going on?is what you said the real reason why they’re not here at the moment? Or did something else come up with them?”

He was thankfully a lot less pushy than my mom but still wanted to hear what I had to say. Doing the best I could, I calmed myself and told him the truth.

”What I said is true. Dakota encountered a problem on his way back and sterling went to go help him. I can even call them if you want to hear it for yourself.”

”Why don’t we give them a ring then? Perhaps you could lend them a hoof as well if they need it.”

Seeing where he was going with that, I told him to follow me as we came to my room. I picked up the phone on my nightstand and put in the number Dakota gave me. The phone rang for a long 20 seconds before he finally answered.

”hey, Dakota. How are those repairs coming along? Are you done?”

“Not quite. We needed to replace two tires and one of them still needs to be aired up. The main problem is that the pump we’re using doesn’t have pressure worth a damn and it’s taken nearly 15 minutes just to get the first tire aired up. We’re about halfway done airing up the second tire. After that we just need to put the last tire back on. We’ll be mobile again after that.”

”ok. Please just hurry.”

“Working as fast as we can. We’ll be done soon.”

After that, I looked at my father and hung up the phone.

”Just give it some time. They’ll be back soon.”

”I see. Thank you sweetie.”

I breathed a sigh of relief after that but my father wasn’t done yet.

”look, I know your mother can be overbearing about certain things, but it’s because she cares about you. It’s best to just answer her questions to get through it as quickly as possible.”

”thanks dad. You’re the best.”

”anytime sweetheart. Now, how about we occupy your other relatives. You know they’re not as patient as I am. The humans let you use their stuff? Or even those big contraptions outside?”

”Touch and use? Dad, one of them gave me one of those big trucks outside and said I’m the owner of it now. They already trust me that much.”

”Oh my. How about you go out there and show everypony what it can do then? I’d sure love to see it.”

With that out of the way, I walked with my father outside to the backyard in a much more calm and better mood. I had the Keys Dakota gave me and everypony was wandering around the vehicles. When we got to the truck he gave me, I went inside and grabbed something he wanted me to do.

”Dakota said that one of the headlights is burnt out and wanted me to change them if I could. He left me new lights and instructions on how to do it. Think you can help me dad?”

”of course sweetie. What do we need to do?”

I looked at the piece of paper he left me before reading out the instructions.

”Step one. Open the hood all the way to gain access to the lighting assemblies. There’s a latch on either side of the truck that needs to be undone first before we can open it. I’ll get the one on this side if you get the other one.”

Without saying a word, he undid the latch on the passenger side before I asked him to help me pull the hood back. It was pretty heavy and required us both to really pull hard to get it open.

”Oh sweet celestia that’s heavy. I don’t know if an old stallion is cut out for this.”

I laughed at his joke. My dad wasn’t even in his 60s yet and he jokes about being old.

”ok. Step 2. disconnect the headlight connector from the main assembly and twist the dust cover counter clockwise. Repeat this step to remove the bulb itself from the housing. Sounds easy enough.”

We had to use our magic to do this since our hooves can’t reach inside the housings to gain access to the lights. Once we did get the lights out, we set them aside. Some of my cousins began gathering around us to see what we were doing. Soon, a third of my family was watching us.

”Alright. Old lights out. What’s next sweetie?”

”Step 3 is to remove the new…..hikari? Is that how you say it? Remove the new hikari LED bulbs from their box and insert them into the housings and rotate clockwise to secure them.”

I grabbed the box out of the truck and opened it up. Inside there was 4 lights. Although they were in fact just lights, they still looked very futuristic. I pulled one bulb out and passed it to my father before grabbing the other one. Following the instructions, we carefully inserted the bulbs and rotated clockwise to secure them.

”ok. Step 4 says to plug the new lights in and put the dust covers back on. After that, the final step is to repeat the process for the high beam lights.

After that, we simply repeated the process and replaced the other bulbs. It was actually easier than i thought surprisingly. By the time we were done, everypony had gathered around.

“Hey sweetie, why don’t you try showing us what it can do? This human stuff looks very advanced and interesting.

Without saying anything, I got in the drivers seat and put the key in the ignition.

”Hey, stay back from the engine. It’s got a lot of moving parts and I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”

Everypony took a few steps back before I turned the key all the way. The engine struggled for a few seconds due to how cold it’s been getting lately but eventually started. The result naturally got oohs and Ahhs from everyone. I got back out to close the hood and thanked my father for the help. I quickly tested the new lights and even In broad daylight, they were still super bright.

Just then as well, I heard two more engines growing closer and closer. They were back. I could finally breath easily again knowing that sterling and Dakota had returned. All attention immediately turned to them as they pulled in. Sterling parked immediately while Dakota drove all the way to the end for some reason for stopping. A set of lights on his truck soon came on followed by a very loud and piercing beeping sound that startled everyone. He slowly backed up into a certain space, being very meticulous about how he moved. He get hitting the brakes before he eventually gave up. He pulled forward before starting to back up again. This time, he backed all the way out towards the front. My best guess was that he left the truck on the street. Now comes the big moment. How is everyone gonna react to them and their weird tech?

Dakota POV

I tried backing into the spot I was originally parked in but couldn’t do it I gave up and parked out on the street before walking around back with halberd.

“Fuck me. I know my family is huge but silvers has to be at least five times bigger.”

”No shit. There’s gotta be at least 90 ponies here. I bet there’s more on the way as well.”

“Well that’s just great. Hopefully things will go fine.”

As soon as they layed eyes on me, some of them started walking towards me. When some of silvers younger relatives like her cousins got close to sterlings car, I got a dickhead idea. Sterling had his charger brought to equestria for some reason he refused to tell me but he give me his spare fobs if I needed to drive it.

“Hey, watch this.”

I pulled out the red fob and hit the panic button, setting off his alarm and startling everyone. I couldn’t help but laugh.

I am 100 percent going to hell for this. I already know it

”Youre an asshole. I saw this coming but you still are.”

“That’s why you like hanging with me so much.”

”Youre damn right. Now come on. Go say hi to them. They came all this way to see you and you’re friend.”

I disabled the alarm on sterlings car before I started walking again. Eventually, I started talking to them and meeting silvers family one member at a time. Sterling came over and we answered a bunch of questions and took her family for drives since they were curious about our vehicles. When I met silvers parents, they seemed really sweet and nice. We were both able to have a conversation with them and have some laughs.

2 hours later

We were still outside and at some point sterling and I making passive aggressive remarks towards each other and everyone seemed to laugh at certain points. Eventually sterling made on remark that got me fired up.

“Yeah well maybe if you could run a pass down the brasstown bald as fast as you can run your mouth you’d actually be able to compete with me, but everyone knows that’s still gonna be a fantasy for you boy.”

My words suddenly got a lot of Oohing and soon sterling got a little pissy.

“Alright, let’s treat these ponies to a nice show then. Tomorrow at 10 pm, you and I are gonna race it out on this mountain. Winner gets 5000 dollars!”

“You’re on fat ass!”

It suddenly turned to cheering as now these ponies had an event to watch tomorrow and more than likely all of canterlot would be watching. What did I get myself into?

A sable made of silver

by Tornado siren lover

The arrival

The questioning

An opportunity to start a new life pt1 (minor edits)

Rescue mission

The second defense of canterlot

A minor case of amnesia and moving day

An opportunity to start a new life pt 2

Meeting the family