During a mission, a team of 'off-the-books' special forces winds up in a new, wondrous land. A land that also happens to currently be at war.
This story is currently on a lengthy hiatus, but due to user feedback I will try to complete it and it will not be cancelled.
It was supposed to be a simple mission, the key words there being: 'supposed to.'
What happens when a team of elite special forces wakes up on a plane, their pilots gone without a trace and their communications gear not working? What happens when the only land that they see doesn't match any known continents on earth? What happens when they find out that this planet just so happens to not actually be earth?
Boss’ eyes felt heavy with post-sleep fatigue, urging him to take at least another few minutes of rest. Yet a low hum that seemed to rattle one’s bones kept him from re-entering slumberland.
Boss pondered upon this rumbling, specifically on why it felt so familiar...it almost felt like...
His eyes flew open, casting away the fatigue like an unwanted blanket. Boss looked around him, seeing the metal innards of a C-130S’s cargo hold and the six other sleeping figures slumped along its twin benches.
With the fatigue gone his memory rushed back to him, filling him back in on what exactly they were supposed to be doing.
“Damnit,” Boss muttered to himself, annoyed that sleep had snuck up on him and stolen some of his precious time.
Speaking of which, Boss glanced down at his watch, trying to determine what time it was. Hopefully it wasn’t too close to the jump, he still had a few things to go over with the team.
1200, his watch reported, garnering a frown.
That was impossible, they’d left at twenty-one-hundred. There was no way more than half a day had passed by. Unless...
Boss looked up, glaring around the hold before activating his comlink, switching to the pilot’s channel.
“Harbinger one, I think one of my team messed with my watch while I was asleep. How many minutes to the drop zone, over?” he asked.
The plane trembled a little bit as it met some turbulence, the specialized stealth engines continuing to rattle Boss’ bones. Yet other than the rumble, no other noise came from the plane, including Boss’ comlink.
Frowning, Boss tried again, “Harbinger one, that last question was for one of you pilots. I say again, how much time till the drop zone? Over.”
Again Boss was met with no reply.
His face taking on a scowl, Boss got to his feet and walked over to the door that led to the cockpit. He gave two loud, angry knocks before pushing it open.
“Your guy’s mics not working or something? How long until...” Boss was cut off by a startling fact that punched him right in the face: the cockpit was empty, the pilots were gone.
“What the fuck!?” Boss growled, stepping into the cockpit and glaring around the tight space, not seeing the pilots anywhere.
Looking over the dashboard, Boss checked to make sure autopilot was on. Once he confirmed that it was, he was struck by another fact: the sky outside was a light blue, something that should not be so considering that this was a night mission.
“Shit,” Boss swore again, changing channels on his comlink again until he reached the right one, “Harbinger one to JSOC, over,” he said, turning back to the hold and confirming that the pilots weren’t there either.
Silence was his only reply...again.
“Harbinger one to JSOC, important message! Over!” Boss tried again, growing both angry and uncertain.
“Boss?” a man with a bald head, shining white as opposed to Boss’ own ebony tone, asked, stretching. The man blinked dark brown eyes in an effort to clear them of sleep before turning to his superior, “What’re you yelling about?”
“The pilots are gone and the sun’s up, I’m trying to get to JSOC to try and find out what the hell’s going on,” Boss replied, then to his comlink, “Harbinger one to JSOC, answer me, goddamnit!”
“Wait, what?”
“Redneck, try to get JSOC on your comlink, we need to find out what’s going on. Pilots don’t just up and disappear,” with that, Boss gave the cockpit a final glance before turning back to the cargo hold, “Everyone up!” he yelled, stomping forwards to shake shoulders and get everyone awake.
“This is Harbinger two to JSOC, over,” Redneck said into his comlink, stretching his arms above his head and leaning forwards to look into the cockpit through he still-open door.
The cargo hold seemed to come alive as the other five members of Harbinger team came awake.
“Time to jump?” a man with ice-blue eyes and a head like Redneck’s asked, his accent hailing from Australia.
“Best hour of sleep I ever had,” another man, this one with light brown eyes and closely cropped black hair said.
“I think it was a little longer than that, Pike,” Boss replied, “get in the cockpit and keep us airborne. Something’s happened.”
“What?” Pike asked, freezing mid-stretch.
“Cockpit. Now. Keep us airborne,” Boss snapped, causing Pike to hop up and rush to the cockpit, muttering curses all the way.
“Harbinger two to JSOC, we’ve got a situation here, over,” Redneck said, shaking his head when he caught Boss’ eyes, he wasn’t getting anyone either.
“What? Did the pilots get drunk on the job or something?” a man with a smile and aryan features asked, looking from Redneck to Boss.
“Can the shit, Snipes. This isn’t the time,” Boss growled, tone saying that he wasn’t in the mood for any goofing around, “the pilots are gone and the sun’s up,” giving his watch a glance, he continued, “Everyone check your watches, what time have you got?”
“Twelve oh three?” the australian said, tone unsure.
“Twelve oh four, Dice,” Snipes corrected, his smile turned into a frown of confusion.
“Same here,” a man with an accent hinting at Russia said, brown-haired brows furrowed over brown eyes.
“Something’s definitely going on here,” a man with brown-blonde hair and green eyes added, “I’ve got the same time.”
“Me too!” Pike called back from the cockpit.
“Harbinger two to JSOC,” Redneck continued, nodding to Boss and tapping his watch, “urgent message, over.”
“Everyone check your comlinks, they can’t all be busted,” Boss growled, turning to the cockpit and heading in, “Pike,” he said, “Is this plane’s communications system working? Try to hail someone on the ground, find us a spot to land.”
“Roger,” Pike replied, slipping on a pair of headphones and tapping the microphone attached to them, “Mayday, mayday, this is C-130 aircraft...” he paused, finding the vehicle’s number, “...two-zero-niner-niner. We’ve got an emergency, over.”
That taken care of, Boss turned back to the cargo hold.
“I’m not getting anything,” Redneck said.
“Damnit,” Boss cursed, turning to Dice, the australian, “Dice, you’re next. See if you have any luck hailing JSOC,” he changed his comlink’s channel again, this time to a channel that communicated with the rest of his team, “Mic check,” he said.
“I heard you,” Redneck said, the rest of his team nodding as well, confirming that his comlink was working.
“Uh, guys,” the soldier with the brown-blonde hair said, leaning over an open compartment, “All the parachutes are still here, how’d the pilots jump?”
“Spotter’s right,” Snipes said, jerking a thumb back towards the plane’s door/ramp, “Plus, how’d they close that door after they bailed? It opens and closes from the inside, from the look of it, the cockpit doors are also closed. You can’t close one of those things after you jump out through it.”
“So, what?” the Russian asked, “Did they fucking land or something? Did anyone hear anything, feel us land?”
“Nope,” Snipes said, “Spots and I were asleep, Holey.”
“Same here,” Dice said, having tried fruitlessly to hail JSOC.
“Did you hear anything, Pike?” Redneck called into the cockpit, “What about you, Boss?”
“I was asleep as well.”
“Ditto,” Pike replied.
“Well, shit,” Spotter said, combing a hand through his short hair, “What if the pilots landed the plane somewhere and then sent us off again?”
“Oh, gimme a break,” Snipes replied, slapping a hand onto Spotter’s shoulder, “Why the hell would they do that? And how the hell would they get the plane airborne again, they’d have to bail out, remember?”
“Unless one of us took off for them,” Redneck suggested darkly, getting a variety of looks, “Not saying that one of us did, just that that’s a possibility.”
“Maybe it was Pike!” Snipes proclaimed, pointing a finger at the cockpit and getting some rolled eyes, “He’s the only one who can fly one of these things!”
“Go to hell, Snipes,” Pike replied annoyedly.
“Maybe we should get him and tie him up...just in case,” Snipes said, fingers knitting together evilly.
“Cut the bullshit, there’s gotta be a reasonable explanation for this,” Boss reasoned, thinking over things for a moment, a hand at his chin, “Everyone, gear check. I want to know if anything’s missing, if anything that wasn’t here when we took of is here now.”
Boss turned to the cockpit again, heading in.
“I’m still not getting anyone on the plane’s communicator,” he reported, “It’s also not like someone’s jamming us, the plane’s systems would detect that.”
“Hm,” Boss nodded, “Any idea where we are?” a closer look through the windows gave the view of a few white wisps of clouds with deep-blue seas below.
“Heading dead East over an ocean at twenty thousand feet. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine,” he tapped a small screen with his right index finger, taking that hand from the wheel for a moment, “Our GPS isn’t getting a signal, it says: ‘no connection.’ But that’s not possible; we’ve got nothing but clear skies for miles around and if our receiver was busted, we’d get a notification of that. So unless someone decided to turn off all the GPS satellites, we should be getting a signal.”
“And it’s not being jammed, right?” Boss asked, looking over the dashboard again.
Pike shook his head, “No, like I said, we’d get a notification if we were being jammed.”
“Damnit, well how much fuel do we have left? What’s your chances of landing this thing?”
“Fuel...” Pike said, checking the respective gauge, “We’ve got a bit less than half what we started with, enough for a thousand more miles...” he ran the numbers through his head, glancing at the ceiling of the cockpit and muttering a few numbers to himself, “...That also means that the States are out of our range, we’d run out of fuel before we hit them. As to your second question, I don’t know. I should be able to land us if we can find an airstrip, but landing something heavy like this in a field or the ocean isn’t gonna end well for us...at least not with me behind the wheel.”
“Are any of the instruments acting funny?”
“Besides the GPS...” Pike looked over the dashboard, “I suppose the onboard clock, we left at twenty-one-hundred, but now it’s twelve-hundred-hours. Also,” Pike ducked his head to get a better angle out the window, “the sun must be busted since it’s at about ten-hundred-hours in whatever time zone we’re in now. It oughta be later than twelve-hundred.”
“And you’re sure that we’re heading East? The compass isn’t broken?” Boss asked.
Pike frowned at that, looking over at the compass, “Well there’s a thought, I guess. But I doubt it.”
“Is there anything good that you can tell me?” Boss asked.
“Well we’re still airborne, so there’s that.”
“Yeah, but that ain’t gonna last,” Redneck said from behind Boss, causing him to turn and meet the man’s eyes, “Gear checked, everything’s where it should be, nothing’s where it shouldn’t,” he reported.
“Yeah, besides the pilots!” Snipes called from the back of the plane, “Couldn’t find them anywhere. Reminds me of my damn car keys, always losing those little bastards.”
“Whoa, landmass in sight, dead East!” Pike reported, “Someone get over here and try to cross reference with a map to find out where we are, I’m gonna try to get someone on our communicator again.”
“Redneck, Holey, Spotter, go help Pike with that map, find out where the hell we are and try to find us a place to land,” Boss ordered, the three soldiers headed to the cockpit while Pike began to send out their distress call again, “Snipes, Dice, let’s double and triple check our gear. I want to be a hundred and ten percent sure that we aren’t missing anything...”
“Nothing’s missing from any of our rifles?” Boss asked.
“Nope,” Snipes replied, opening and closing the bolt of his rifle to make sure that he’d put it back together right, “Sep’s fine, all your SARPs are fine, all our sidearms are fine, and our explosives should be the same. Unless the pilots decided to snort our powder and put the bullets back in before they played Houdini, everything should work fine.”
“Good,” Boss said, turning and striding to the cockpit, “So where are we?”
“Dunno,” Holey reported.
“Yeah, nothing’s matching up,” Redneck added, “We’ve tried every continent from every angle, we’re not getting anything.”
“It’s like we’re not even on earth anymore,” Spotter added.
“Bullshit,” Boss said, “Where the hell else would we be? What about civilization? Anywhere we can land?”
“We might have seen what looked like small roads or train tracks or something, but nothing else, meaning that those might have not been anything at all. There’s a large storm South and a large mountain North, so one of those might be hiding something. But nowhere to land and no one’s replied to my distress calls.”
“What...” Spotter began, choosing his words wisely, “What if this is one of those new simulators. Y’know, they put you to sleep and then put your conscience in a virtual reality sort of playing field?”
“Again bullshit,” Boss called, remembering a particular aspect of the relatively new device, “Remember that in those simulators it’s impossible to consider the possibility of being in a simulator. You can’t tell when you’re in a simulator, but you can tell when you’re not. Some sort of way to make sure people don’t go crazy, thinking that they might be in a simulator.”
“Boss’s right,” Redneck agreed, “but what if something went wrong? Whatever it is that they do isn’t working, allowing us to consider that possibility?”
“Quit it with these bullshit theories! There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for all of this!” Boss growled, the weight of the situation a dead weight on his back.
“And what if there isn’t?” Redneck asked darkly.
“Well aren’t you just a bucket full of sunshine as always, Reddy,” Snipes said happily.
“There’s always a reasonable explanation!” Boss repeated, stepping back into the hold, glaring at the ground as if it held an answer.
The pilots had disappeared, they were in the middle of not even god knew where with no map and no GPS, none of their communications systems were working, and it seemed that their watches neither matched what time it should have been, nor the time that it currently was.
‘Shit,’ Boss growled mentally, stopping in the middle of the cargo hold to think. His eyes suddenly alit the door/ramp, a smile crossing his face as he jogged forwards. Above the door, located on a small rack, was the plane’s black box. A device that recorded everything in the cockpit from the pilot’s voices to the instrument’s readings. If something happened in mid-flight, it’d be recorded on that device...
...Then again, they’d need to download the information off of the device before they’d be able to play any of it.
Boss considered his options for a moment, hand placed thoughtfully under his chin.
“We’re bailing out,” he said, turning to the cockpit and striding forwards.
“What?” Spotter asked.
“We’re bailing out,” Boss repeated, “Everyone, grab a parachute. Pike, I want you to grab the plane’s black box. We get the information on there and we’ll have an explanation of what the hell happened, double time, people!”
“Okay,” Boss began, his team assembled in front of him and waiting, “Listen up, we’re HALO jumping because I want as little time in freefall as possible. Pull chutes below five hundred meters. On the ground we meet up and find a small area to clear up and set down, try to see if we can’t jury rig these things,” he gestured to the black box Pike had strapped to himself, “to play via comlink or something. Independent of if we can or can’t, from there we try to find civilization. If those were train tracks or roads that you guys saw, they’ll lead somewhere. Anything I missed?”
“Rules of engagement?” Snipes asked, raising a hand as if he were in a classroom.
“Don’t fire unless fired upon. Even then, only try to scare them off. I don’t want to inadvertently start a war if some dipshit with an AK shoots at you and you blow his brains out.”
“Where are we setting up at? Our map isn’t right,” Pike put in.
“We set that up independent of a map, we should all land close enough that we’ll be able to get together and find a spot.”
“And if we don’t?” Redneck asked darkly.
“Always with the pessimism, Reddy,” Snipes commented, a smile on his face, “I can tell why you chose to be a clown here rather than in the circus.”
Redneck shot Snipes a glare, though kept his mouth shut.
“We will,” Boss reasoned, ignoring Snipes’ comment, “Besides, our comlink’s are working locally, we’ll be able to talk to each other if anything goes wrong.”
Silence reigned for a few moments.
“Okay then, let’s jump,” Boss strode over to the door/ramp’s opening mechanism and hit the button. Everyone slid their masks on to make sure they got enough oxygen on the way down.
Wind rushed past the C-130S, its noise more prominent with the new opening.
Snipes jogged forward and off the lowered ramp with a cry of, “Geronimo!” over his comlink.
Spotter quickly followed, Holey just behind him when a massive shudder wracked the plane. Spotter was already out, but Holey’s feet were knocked out from under him from the violent movement and he hit the ramp before bouncing out of the plane.
“Fuck!” he yelled.
The rest of the team pressed back as the plane began to tilt to the left, nose pulling in that direction.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Pike swore, rushing to the cockpit and almost falling over as he did so.
“Everyone just hold onto something!” Boss yelled as Pike began to right the plane.
“What the fuck was that! Ow, chërt vozʹmi!” Holey spat.
“What happened?” Spotter asked.
The plane was soon back on course, Boss rushed to the cockpit, hitting the door/ramp’s close button and quickly cutting off the sound of rushing wind.
“What happened?” He asked, pulling his mask back, “Is someone shooting at us?”
“In the C-130S? If they can lock onto us then they probably deserve to shoot us down, no,” He looked over the dashboard before muttering a curse and looking out the right windshield, “something hit our right engine,” he said, “goddamn bird strike! It looks like the engine’s still running, but at half speed, leaking fuel like a stuck pig.”
“Pulling chute!” Snipes called out, Spotter’s and Holey’s voices reporting the same thing a few moments later.
“Guys, it looks like we might be getting split up after all,” Boss said, “We’ll get to the ground and meet up then, out,” Boss said, turning to leave.
“Hey, wait a sec!” Pike said, leaning forwards to look out the windshield, “Boss, you see that?”
“What?” Boss turned.
“You see that?” Pike repeated, pointing, “Looks like a small town or something.”
Looking to where Pike was pointing, Boss noticed a series of shapes, mostly rectangular, that stood out from the surrounding area.
“I see it, that’s definitely a town.”
“What direction?” Holey asked over his comlink.
“Uh,” Pike said, looking down at the compass, “East, bearing about zero-eight-zero.”
“Change of plan, then,” Boss said, heading back to the hold, “We head to that town. Snipes, Spotter, Holey, we’ll scope out the area and wait for you guys there, got it?”
“Roger,” Holey replied.
“Okay, then, let’s get off this plane!”
“Hold up, hold up!” Snipes’ voice came over the comlink channel, “What the hell’s that?”
“What’s what?” Boss asked, over his comlink, already considering the fact that Snipes was messing around again.
“I’m serious,” Snipes replied, down on one knee with Spotter and Holey, pointing.
“I think I see it, small clearing, looks like someone set off an explosive there,” Holey added, looking at a small crater though the trees, “Recently too.”
“Well, look,” Boss began, the sound of rushing wind giving away the fact that he’d jumped from the plane, “We’ll be on the ground shortly, if you want to take a quick look then fine, just be ready to head after us when we hit the ground.”
“Spotter, cover us,” Holey said, gesturing for Snipes to follow.
Being the team’s primary designated marksman, Spotter moved up to a tree, pressing his weapon into the bark to steady his aim and looking down the ACOG scope attached to it.
Covered, the two soldiers headed in, moving towards its flank instead of heading directly for it.
“Everything looks clear from here,” Spotter whispered over his comlink, “Don’t see anything moving.”
“Roger,” Holey replied, equally quiet.
Holey and Snipes moved through the trees and foliage, eyes and weapons covering every angle, Holey with his rifle and Snipes with his sidearm.
The woods were oddly quiet, as if a predator roamed nearby, the little light that trickled through the trees did nothing to help the unsettling atmosphere.
“Fuckin spooky,” Snipes whispered.
“Shh,” Holey spat back.
As they neared the epicenter of what had originally appeared to be a blast, more details formed, giving them a better idea of what had happened.
“Check the trees,” Snipes pointed out, jerking his head towards some of the trees around the crater. Some of their branches were busted downwards, as if something had hit them hard from above, “looks like something fell out of the sky here if those broken branches tell us anything.”
“Really? What is it?” Boss asked, a hint of genuine curiosity tinting his voice.
“Dunno,” Holey replied, weapon pointed towards the crater, which appeared to be a yard or two in diameter, “But it hit recently,” he paused, “and hard, there’s still a few wisps of smoke coming off it.”
“Maybe it’s an alien spaceship,” Snipes suggested quietly, “Maybe they’re really small aliens.”
“Only one way to find out,” Holey said, looking around the area once more, he nodded to Snipes, who returned the nod.
The two sprinted forwards, coming to a sliding halt at the lip of the crater, freezing. Neither of them said a word as their gazes were glued to the crater’s contents.
“What is it?” Spotter hissed.
“Holey, Snipes, report. What’s in the crater?” Boss said.
The two soldiers looked up at each other, exchanging a blown-away sort of look.
“You see what I see?” Snipes asked.
Holey looked back in the crater, weapon trained on its contents.
“Sir,” Holey said, “It...it’s a small pegasus.”
Snipes looked back into the crater, staring confusedly at the grey-coated, blonde-maned creature of myth that lay before them, unmoving...
“What?” Boss’ voice came over the comlink channel, “Say again. What did you find?”
“Holey wasn’t joking, sir,” Snipes reported, “It...it’s a fucking pegasus!” He said, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear away an illusion.
“And it’s alive,” Holey added, standing stock-still, not sure what to do.
“A pegasus?” Boss asked over the comlink channel, rightfully doubtful. The creature in question shook its head as if dizzy before spotting the two humans. Though an undertone of fear layered its features, curiosity seemed more present, “As in a mythological creature, pegasus? Horse with wings?”
“Not making this up, sir,” Holey replied.
“What the hell’s up with his eyes?” Snipes wondered aloud when the creature looked at him, showing a set of misoriented eyes. Kinda like a chameleon in a way.
“Guys...” Boss trailed off, silent for a moment as he chose his words.
“It’s kinda cute,” Snipes said, holstering his weapon slowly and bending down to one knee to get closer to the creature.
“Snipes, what are you doing?” Holey asked, weapon still trained on the creature and his body rigid, “We don’t know what this fucking thing is, what the hell are you doing?”
“Spotter, what’s going on over there, talk to me,” Boss said.
“Can’t see into the crater clearly, Holey and Snipes seem okay from here. Moving up,” Spotter replied, moving forwards with his weapon at the ready.
“Well I doubt he’s going to jump up and eat me,” Snipes retorted to Holey, “If anything, this little guy’s more afraid of us than we are him.”
Spotter came forwards, boots crunching over twigs and other forest debris as he went. When he got close enough to look down into the crater, he froze, eyes wide and staring at the creature before him.
“Holy shit,” Spotter breathed, pausing a moment in awe, “They...they weren’t messing with you, Boss.”
The pegasus looked up at Spotter, giving each of them a glance before settling back, as far as he could tell with the eyes the way they were, on Snipes. It opened its mouth...and spoke.
“What in the name of all things muffiny are you?” Derpy asked.
Not in English of course, that’d be way too goddamn convenient. That said, what was properly formed words for the pegasus, was utter gibberish to the ears of the humans (despite the fact that it’s being translated to English in the story).
“It can talk?” Spotter said, amazed, his weapon lowered and forgotten.
“Am I the only one not happy with a talking fucking pegasus?” Holey asked, worried.
The language barrier, obviously, went both ways. But the angry tone of Holey’s voice needed no translation, causing Derpy to lean a bit away from the soldier in question.
“Guys...you can’t be serious,” Boss said, a hint of doubt entering his voice.
“I don’t know how, but we...this...” Spotter was at a loss of words, crouching down next to Snipes, “We must’ve...gone through a...a wormhole or...I dunno...something! We’ve stumbled upon alien life, guys!” he looked at his two fellow soldiers, “Another fucking planet!”
“Um, I don’t know what you’re saying,” Derpy commented helpfully, getting the soldier’s attention.
“Um...uh...” Spotter began, clearing his throat, he pointed to himself, “Hue-man,” he sounded out slowly, gesturing to Holey and Snipes, sounding it out again.
“Guys!” Boss growled, the doubt gone from his voice.
Scrunching up her nose in an adorable way, Derpy spoke for the third time.
“H-hue-man?” she sounded out as if tasting the word, “Is that what you guys are? Hue-mans?”
A massive smile split Spotter’s face, “Holy shit, we’re communicating with an alien lifeform! My god, this is just...”
“God damnit!” Boss yelled over the comlink channel, “Shut-up and listen the fuck up now! You are to head to that town that we saw and you are to fucking meet us there, with or without whatever fucking pegasus you may have found! That is a direct order and I expect to see it followed, now!”
“This may not be the time, but maybe this is a simulation gone haywire,” Redneck pointed out.
The three soldiers standing over the pegasus paused, that thought knocking all others out of their minds.
“I mean, a talking pegasus? Isn’t there something that just strikes you as a little bit odd about that statement?” Redneck continued.
Spotter opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. Snipes’ smile faded into a frown.
“I mean, what the hell is this? Some kinda crazy sci-fi fanfiction or something?” Redneck went on, his logic answered with more contemplative silence, “Maybe I’m wrong and this is some whole new world, but what’s more likely between that and a messed up simulator?”
“Well then why can we consider the possibility that it is a simulation?” Spotter countered, “If it did go haywire, they’d wake us up.”
“Plus...” Snipes began to add, a voice in his ear shutting him up.
“Look, just fucking drop it! Whether this is a simulation or not doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we get to that town and see about getting the data off of our plane’s black box!” Boss growled, “Maybe you found an alien, maybe this is just some fucked-up simulation. Whatever it is, I gave the order to move, so move!”
“We need to get going,” Holey stated rather obviously he lowered his weapon slowly from the creature, pausing a moment longer before heading around the crater, “Let’s move.”
“Where’s he going?” Derpy asked, still not entirely getting the fact that the humans couldn’t understand her all that well.
“Fine. C’mon little guy,” Snipes said with a sigh, gesturing for Derpy to follow, the pegasus stared back without recognition of his words.
“On our way, Boss,” Holey said, “Can you patch us a link through your HUD’s compass? Give us a waypoint to go off of.”
“Yeah, wait one,” Boss replied, sounding a bit more calm now that things were getting back to normal again...sorta.
“Hey, I think Ponyville’s that way,” Derpy pointed out unhelpfully as she took flight and headed after the trio of soldiers, she paused in mid air, thinking hard, “Or is it that way?” she asked, looking to her right.
Hearing the creature talk, Spotter looked back, pausing to stare in wonder as Derpy hovered, gentle wing beats keeping her aloft.
“Whoa, it’s flying!” he said in awe, stopping to stare at the creature for a moment.
“If it shits on me, I’m going to shoot it,” Holey growled, giving a cautious look back.
“Guys, you should be seeing a waypoint on your HUD’s compasses,” Boss said.
“Roger,” Holey replied.
“C’mon,” Snipes gestured, waving Derpy forwards, “I wonder if we can teach him any tricks,” he chuckled, “maybe I’ll be able to make up for the time I tried to teach my dog to fly.”
“I’m not so certain that that thing’s a he,” Spotter stated, following Snipes again.
Having made up her mind, Derpy caught up with them. She kept pace with Spotter and Snipes, just behind and above them, listening to their conversation as if she could understand it...even though she couldn’t.
“Well does it have a dick?” Snipes asked bluntly.
“No,” Spotter replied as the trio continued to march onwards through the forest.
“Oh,” Snipes said, looking over at Derpy with a keener eye this time, “Well at least that means we won’t have to teach her not to hump Redneck’s leg or anything. I just hope we can teach him the same.”
“Fuck you, Snipes,” Redneck replied over his comlink.
“Will you settle for sexting?” Snipes asked, “Not sure what else I can do at this distance.”
“Heigh-ho! Heigo-ho! It’s off to war we go!” Snipes sang, “With tommyguns we’ll kill the nuns, heigh-ho! Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho! Heigh-ho, it’s off to war we go! With tommyguns we’ll kill the nuns, Heigh...”
“Quiet coms,” Boss ordered, cutting off Snipes’ beautiful singing voice, “We’ve been going for a while and I think we might’ve passed the town, does anyone see any signs of settlement? Smoke? Roads? Anything? Snipes, do you or Spotter have a good position where you could get a nice view of the surrounding land?”
“Negative, on that last one, scanning for others,” Snipes replied, the trio and Derpy, who’d been humming to Snipes’ tune, halting. The humans began to scan the skies and the horizon, looking for clues.
“What? Why are we stopping?” Derpy asked, landing on all fours, folding her wings, and looking up at the humans, “Ponyville isn’t too far from here.”
“Yeah, I don’t see anything,” Holey grumbled, squinting through the trees, “We’re still in a forest, looks like it get’s a bit less dense to the south but that’s as much as I can see.”
“Well we’re at what now appears to be the base of a mountain range, running east,” Boss said, annoyed, “Must’ve gotten messed up on the direction in freefall.”
“Well I’ve gotta get home,” Derpy said, opening her wings and heading off towards Ponyville, “My little Muffin must be worried sick that mommy didn’t pick her up at school,” she muttered to herself, “Darn runaway cirrus cloud.”
“Now where’s she going?” Snipes asked himself as the pegasus took flight.
“Maybe she knows where that town we’re looking for is?” Spotter suggested, “I mean, she’s a sentient creature, maybe that town was built by her race or something?”
Holey looked after the receding pegasus, thinking, “Worth a shot,” he admitted, starting off at a slow jog after Derpy with his fellows in tow, “We’re following the pegasus, I’ll keep you posted, Boss.”
“Roger that,” Boss replied, “Guys, we hold tight, wait for them to see if they can spot our town, Pike, start trying to see if you can get that black box to play through our comlinks.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Pike replied.
Derpy looked back, noticing that the humans were following her.
“Come on,” she called back gesturing for them to follow, “Ponyville’s this way if that’s where you guys are headed!”
The forest began to grow weaker and weaker around them, the amount of trees growing fewer and fewer until the land opened up before them in a set of rolling grassy hills. Gentle winds tickled at the grasses, swaying them gently back and forth in the breeze.
The group continued Southwards, their boots crunching over the grasses and the air refreshing and clean. Few clouds roamed the clear, blue skies, and the sun shone down warmly upon the landscape.
“Wow, this’d be the perfect place for a shopping mall or something!” Snipes commented, chuckling.
Derpy maintained a lead on the three soldiers, squinting ahead as she looked for Ponyville on the horizon. If her calculations were correct, Ponyville should be appearing any second now.
And as if on cue, a final rolling hill’s crest gave a perfect view of the village in all its glory. A happy smile on her face, Derpy landed on the hill, looking back at the humans as they ascended after her.
“See,” Derpy pointed towards Ponyville with a hoof, still looking at the humans, “I told you it was this way.”
The humans came to a halt atop the hill, spotting the town from atop it.
“Boss, we’ve found that town, the pegasus led us right to it,” Holey reported.
“Good job, miss pegasus,” Snipes said to the pegasus.
“Great, patch me a waypoint on our compass and we’ll head there now. Sit tight and wait for us.”
“Roger,” Holey replied, tapping at his HUD with his fingers to set up a waypoint and then send it to Boss.
Staring at the distant town, Snipes frowned. At the range he was at, small multi-colored dots raced through the town, he could swear that he could also see green flashes winking in and out of existence.
“Well I’ll see you guys later, then,” Derpy said, lifting off and heading down towards Ponyville.
“Spots,” Snipes said, still eyeing the town. He brought his rifle around from his back, “You see any weird light show coming off of that town?”
Spotter squinted towards the town in the distance, “Yeah, sort of. Why?”
Snipes crouched down, bringing the scope of his rifle to his eye...
“What the?” he wondered aloud.
Multi-colored horses were running to and fro, blackish ones, usually flying, chased after them. The black creatures were letting off green blasts of light every once in a while as they chased down their quarry. If he didn’t know any better, Snipes would have sworn that the town was under attack...
...come to think of it, Snipes really didn’t know any better.
“You should be seeing that waypoint now, Boss.”
“Snipes, what is it?” Spotter asked.
“Either we’re interrupting one of the oddest mating rituals I’ve ever seen, or there’s some fighting going on over there,” Snipes replied.
“What?”
“I think we should move up, get a better look at this town, I can’t see too well with this scope at this range, but it looks like there’s some group attacking that town,” Snipes said, “black things giving off green muzzle flashes or something.”
“They’ve got guns?” Spotter asked, worried.
“No, the creatures themselves are emitting the lights,” Snipes reassured.
“Well check it out and make sure, but hold fire, current rules of engagement still stand,” Boss replied.
“Roger that,” Snipes replied, getting up, “You guys try and get closer to that town and see if you can figure out what the hell’s going on. I’m gonna get atop a closer hill and get a better view.”
Holey nodded and the group split up. Holey and Spotter stayed low as they circled around towards the East while Snipes made his way to a hill to the Southwest.
Between the two groups, still approaching Ponyville, Derpy froze. Were those changelings in Ponyville!? She picked up speed, a worried look crossing her face as she made her way closer to the village. A mother’s fear for her child sliced through her veins, her belly growing cold as she picked up her speed, eyes uncrossed and searching.
Snipes settled down on a hill a few hundred meters from the small town, looking down his rifle’s scope to get a better look.
Meanwhile, Holey and Spotter rushed the final distance, pressing their backs against a building at the edge of the town, Spotter giving a quick peek around a corner.
“Shit,” Snipes murmured.
Black creatures with sickly holes and bug wings buzzed across the town, firing off green blasts of some sort at multi-colored horses, some pegasi. Wherever the green blasts landed, a large green stain was left. When a lucky hit landed on one of the horses, it appeared to stick them to the ground, immobilizing them while the black creatures pinned them down with more of the green stuff.
“Looks like we landed in the middle of a fucking battlezone or something,” Holey commented.
“What’s happening?” Boss asked.
“Our horse friends seem to be having trouble with some group of black, bug-winged things, looks like they’re getting rounded or something,” Snipes said. A pegasus broke from cover only to have its wings immobilized by a green blast. The pegasus drove into the ground, a bunch of the black things ganging up to pin it down with the green stuff.
“Maybe it’s a harvest or something,” Spotter muttered, a shiver coating his voice.
Snipes’ scanning came across a shade of grey, he halted and found the grey-blonde pegasus from earlier in his crosshairs. She was peeking around a corner fearfully, eyes frantically searching for something. He continued to look over the scene before him, drawing the crosshairs off the pegasus.
“Well keep watching from a distance,” Boss ordered.
“Got it,” Holey replied.
Chaos reigned in Snipes’ scope, the black things pinning down and rounding up their quarry. The creatures weren’t killing the horses that they were pinning down, but from what he could tell, getting stuck to the ground with green goop wasn’t a common pastime here.
Another flash of grey and the pegasus from earlier was in the spotlight again, this time with a smaller companion hiding beneath her, quivering in fear. She looked around frantically, Snipes able to make out a horrified expression on the creature’s face.
Some of the black things were closing in on the pegasus, fangs bared.
Snipes bit his lip, a considering expression taking ahold of his face, “Sir, permission to open fire...the locals aren’t playing very nicely,” he said, making up his mind.
“Denied, Snipes. Keep your cool and maintain an overwatch,” Boss replied.
“With all due respect, sir,” the pegasus continued to glance around in fright, looking for an opening to flee for while the black things continued to close in, their faces like those of rabid wolves, “We should be trying to get on good terms with the friendly locals, letting them get gooped alive doesn’t seem like the best course of action if we want their help.”
“Denied, maintain overwatch. You are not to open fire, do you understand me?”
“Boss is right,” Spotter agreed, “It’s not like they’re actually killing them or anything, maybe these horses aren’t the good guys.”
“I say again, do you understand, Snipes?” Boss asked.
The pegasus bucked at one of the black things, sending it sprawling. Her frightened eyes searching for a way out, for some escape as she turned this way and that, hopping away when one of the black things got too close, playing with her like a cat would a mouse.
“Yes sir...” Snipes said, removing his hand from the trigger...and pressing a button. His rifle’s bipod snapped down. He pulled back the bolt and let it snap forwards, chambering a round, “...sorry, sir.”
Snipes took aim, crosshairs lining up on one of the black things around the pegasus.
“Say again,” Boss’ voice asked, “Did you just say ‘sorry, sir’?”
Snipes finger closed around the trigger, a breath escaping his lips.
The one-hundred-eighty grain projectile left the rifle’s muzzle at three thousand feet per second, carrying about three thousand and six hundred foot-pounds of force. .300 Winchester Magnum was typically employed at ranges anywhere from nine-tenths-of to one kilometer, Snipes was only three tenths of a kilometer from his target.
That said, it took a third of a second for the bullet to hit one of the black creatures right behind the shoulder, a perfect kill shot through the heart and lungs. The creature was knocked over, skidding a foot with a splatter of gore from the side opposite Snipes. It didn’t get up.
“Snipes, what the fuck are you doing!?” Holey yelled as Snipes lined up for a second shot.
“Goddamnit, Snipes! I told you...”
“I’m not going to be able to get all of these guys,” Snipes interrupted, not listening, the black things and the pony’s eyes were glued to the fallen changeling, a sickly-green ichor forming a puddle around the lifeless body. He shifted his aim, firing again. Another roar was spit from the rifle, another of the black things fell, head jerking back as its neck was snapped by the bullet and collapsing dead against the ground, “Spotter, Holey, try to get any that head my way.”
The creatures were frozen in Snipes’ scope, ears and eyes now scanning in his direction. He put a bullet through a third creature’s center mass and like those before it, it dropped.
“I gave you a direct order, damnit! Stand down now!” Boss roared.
“Sorry, sir but I think that they’re on to me. Gonna have to shoot the rest or they’ll get me. Self defense and all that,” Snipes replied, “Guys, a little cover?”
Another report from Snipes rifle tore across the landscape.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Spotter grumbled, there was a chitter from around the building and a group of the black things started buzzing forwards. Spotter raised his rifle, opening fire. The 6.5mm Grendel rounds cut right through the creatures’ hides and knocked them from the sky. His weapon’s sound suppressor quieted the rounds to loud thwacks.
“Spotter, what the hell!” Holey yelled.
“Saving Snipes’ stupid, fucking ass. Help me, will you,” with the second source of gunfire, some of the creatures stopped, confused. Spotter dropped to a knee, lining up the crosshairs of his ACOG scope and giving each of the creatures two new orifices. Spent brass gave a short dance on the ground as it was kicked from the rifle.
“There’s the spirit!” Snipes fired again, one of the black things dropping from the sky in response.
“Shut-up, you stupid asshole! We’re only doing this to save your retarded ass,” Spotter spat back, “Holey, you with me?” Spotter peeked around the corner, more black things coming their way, drawn by all the gunfire.
Holey sighed and shouldered his rifle, “Govno,” he grumbled, “Let’s go.”
“Snipes, you disobeyed a direct order to hold fire!” Boss seethed.
“I said I was sorry,” Snipes replied.
“Fuck you, Snipes!” Boss growled, too angry to say anything else.
Spotter leaned around the corner, firing off quick, precise rounds from his rifle. The rounds connected with their targets, dropping them like liquid.
The creatures, finally, jumped for cover, disappearing behind houses while some of the stuck horses (though come to think of it, they were more like ponies if their sizes said anything) cried out in what Spotter assumed was fear, those that could covering their ears.
“They’re taking cover, Holey, take point, you’ve got the armor,” Spotter said, eyeing the area before them with a wary eye.
“Roger,” Holey replied, coming out from behind the building and moving forwards along the building, eye to his M68 CCO reflex sight.
A sixth loud report and a creature that had poked its head from cover dropped, a smoking hole in its forehead, the back of its head a mess of gore and its mouth lazily hanging open in a wordless cry.
Houses lined both sides of the street that the two soldiers were stranded on, a T-junction a series of houses ahead, giving quite a few alleyways for cover.
“Keep your aim front,” Holey ordered, peeking around the corner of the building he was currently next to, rifle raised. The red dot latched onto the grey pegasus from earlier. She held her forehooves over her ears, quaking in fear with wild eyes, a smaller pony beside her was crying as it gripped one of her legs. There was a black flash behind her as a few of the creatures dashed from the rear of the next building in front of him to the one he was next to.
“Watch rear!” Holey warned, pulling back and scanning over the area before him, “Three flanking!” he turned to the opposite alleyway, firing off a few rounds at some of the creatures hiding there.
“Roger,” Spotter replied, dropping to a knee as he swiveled around.
Another loud report followed the sound of bullet impact just around the corner.
“One dead,” Snipes reported.
Spotter was ready for the other two, four thwacks and the two creatures dropped, laying still as their green blood dribbled from their wounds, “Got the rest.”
“Moving up,” Holey said, sprinting to the next house and taking cover in the alleyway between this and the previous one.
“What are those noisy things!?” Derpy cried out from next to Holey.
Ignoring her, Holey brought his sight to bear on the opposing alleyway. One of the creatures stared back at him, frozen in fear. It began to turn as Holey fired off three shots, two of them connecting with their target.
“One down,” he reported.
Spotter followed close behind, moving to the opposite corner and peeking around...
...and coming face to face with one of the creatures.
Panicking, he fired off three quick rounds from the hip, hitting the creature in the chest. It collapsed with an ear-splitting shriek, writhing around in pain. Spotter checked to make sure there weren’t any more before lowering his rifle and putting a bullet in the injured creature’s head, silencing it.
“One down,” he reported, letting out a breath and holding down his corner.
Two more of the black things dashed from cover up the street, there was another report of gunfire and one of them dropped, the body skidding a few feet before coming to a halt.
“Another one bites the dust!” Snipes called.
“Moving up again!” Holey reported, “Spotter, get to my side and cover me.”
“Roger,” Spotter replied, jogging over to Holey’s side of the house and coming to a crouch, eye to his scope, “Go!”
“What’s going on!” Derpy wailed, eyes flitting between the two soldiers.
Holey rounded the corner and sprinted forwards. But as he did, one of the black things poked its head around the corner of a house up ahead, firing off a shot of the green stuff when it saw him. The projectile hit Holey, splattering over his rifle and chest, knocking him over with an ‘oof!’
“I’m, hit!” Holey yelled. From the ground, he brought his rifle to bear, the goop making it heavier as he lit up the area where the shot had come from, the shooter hopping back to cover with a cry of fear.
Spotter rushed forwards, grabbing Holey by the collar of his armor and dragging him back as he continued to pepper the house in front of him with suppressed gunfire. Derpy squeezed her hooves over her ears at the noise.
“How are you?” Spotter asked as he pulled Holey around the house, moving up to the corner to keep an eye on things. A few more black creatures rushed from cover to cover, Spotter noted them, but held his fire, they were moving too fast.
Holey grunted, sitting up and looking over himself.
“Is...is he okay?” Derpy asked.
“Suit integrity holding,” Holey gave a nervous chuckle as the adrenaline from getting shot began to ebb, he tried to gesture to the goop that covered his entire front, “Lucky for me, this shit wasn’t made to go through armor.”
“Boss, ETA?” Snipes asked, there was another report and another creature was knocked off its hooves, laying still with a hole in its side, “Reloading.”
“Ten mikes,” Boss replied, the anger in his tone quiet, but palpable.
“Can you walk it off?” Spotter asked, firing off a few shots as a black head poked around a corner, the owner of the head pulling back with a yelp. Spotter took a quick look around, the black things that they’d hit still looked dead, the trapped ponies trying to lay flat on the ground, none of them injured yet.
“Ugh, not easily,” Holey replied, he tried to raise his rifle, only for the green goop that connected it to his chest pulling it back down with an elastic snap, “My rifle’s temporarily out of action,” he let it hang by the goop, drawing his sidearm.
“So you’re stuck with that old museum piece?” Snipes inquired, voice hinting at a smile.
“Screw you. Sheptat was passed down from my grandfather to my father, then from my father to me. It’s tradition to carry her into battle,” Holey said, defending the old suppressed Makarov pistol, шептать carved into the slide, “Besides, she’s quieter that your stupid Glock!”
“Quiet coms,” Spotter ordered, “We’ll hold here, see if we can thin their numbers until Boss arrives with the cavalry.”
“No,” Boss replied, “When I get there, we are pulling back and we are putting distance between us and this stupid mess that our idiot sniper has made. Hold down and when we get there, be ready to pull back, understood?”
“Got it,” Holey replied, pulling back Sheptat’s slide to make sure that there was a round chambered.
“Shit, guys. Badguys taking to the air, watch yourselves!” Snipes reported there was another blast of gunfire, Derpy flinched at its sound and another of the black creatures fell victim to Snipes’ aim.
Spotter muttered a curse as a mass of black shapes took to the sky. There weren’t a whole lot of them, but there was still a lot more than either soldier felt like dealing with. Spotter sighted in, picking a target as it...continued to fly off?
“They’re retreating?” Snipes wondered aloud as the mass of black shapes gained altitude and began fleeing South.
The soldiers watched them for a while for good measure, to make sure they weren’t trying to bluff a retreat and come back around for another attack.
“Must’ve scared them off! Ha!” Holey said, the cheer of victory in his voice.
Spotter nodded, “Let’s sweep the area, make sure that they didn’t leave anybody behind.”
“One thing I know for sure,” Snipes began, “This sure as hell ain’t earth. We’ve left Kansas far behind, gentlemen.”
“No,” Boss’ voice growled over the comlink, “If you’re home free then put some distance between you and that town. You’ve all probably caused more than enough damage already.”
“Roger that,” Holey replied, holstering his sidearm and looking down at himself, “Let me just get this stupid gunk off of me. Spotter let me see your knife, mine’s stuck somewhere under all this shit.”
Spotter nodded, drawing the weapon in question and handing it over. Holey looked over the large green mess of gunk on him, wondering about the best way to deal with it, knife poised and ready.
A silence had fallen over the village, the ceased reports of gunfire heralding the battle’s end. Around town, ponies that hadn’t been captured started to poke their heads from their hiding places, coming out into the open with worried looks set on the skies.
“Are they all gone?” Derpy asked, looking towards the sky fearfully.
Spotter glanced at the pegasus, “Where’s a damn translator when you need one,” he muttered, keeping an eye on things outside the alleyway, rifle clenched tightly, but lowered.
“What?” Boss asked.
“Nothing,” Spotter replied, “that pegasus from earlier keeps saying stuff like I should know what it means.”
“Mommy,” Derpy felt a poke at her leg, she looked down at Dinky, who stared at her with scared eyes, “Who are they?” she pointed a hoof at the two humans.
“I think they’re called hue-mans,” Derpy replied, Spotter spared her another glance as he heard her say the last word, “I think it’s safe now,” she continued, “Stay close to mommy, okay?”
Dinky gave a nod and Derpy got to her hooves, poking her head out into the street and looking both ways before she headed out from cover, daughter in tow.
Confirming that the changelings were gone, ponies were now out in the streets, unsticking friends and family from their entrapments while cautiously avoiding the few remaining changelings, all of which were (obviously) dead.
In the post-battle quiet, voices began to speak up, calling out for loved ones and wondering at what had just taken place.
“What was all that loud noise?”
“Are...are they...d-dead?”
“Where did they all go? Why did they all go?”
“Who were those things that scared them off?”
Holey grumbled quietly to himself, cutting at the goop and chucking a piece on the ground as he removed it from his armor. The stuff was thick, heavily elastic, and adhesive as hell. But it wasn’t anything a sharp knife couldn’t cut through with at least a degree of efficiency.
“Boo!” Snipes said, Spotter flinching as Snipes came around from the back of the house behind them.
“What the fuck was that all about!” Spotter snapped, turning with a glower to Snipes.
“Just trying to startle you, I was gonna say ‘hey,’ but...”
“No, breaking ROE! What the fuck, man?” Spotter interrupted, “You’re fucking lucky those things don’t have anything that can punch through armor or Holey’d be in a bigger mess than he is now!”
Snipes shrugged, a smile on his face, “I felt it was our best course of action,” he gestured towards the street with a hand, “Win the people’s hearts and minds, get them to tell us where the badguys planted their IEDs and all that. Besides, they didn’t have armor-penetrating goop, all’s well that ends well.”
“That’s not your call,” Boss growled, “I gave you an order and you disobeyed it!”
“With all due respect to your orders, sir,” Snipes replied, “I don’t think that the gravity of our situation has grounded you yet. We’re stuck on another planet and we need to make friends, get connections and all that stuff if we want to survive.”
“Bullshit, we’re on another planet!” Boss growled back, “Someone’s fucking with a simulator. Whether you agree with them or not, you will follow my orders in the future, got it?”
“Oh, well do explain then why Harbingers are doing a sim! You know as well as I do that Harbingers don’t do sims outside of standard combat training!” Snipes retorted, ignoring Boss’ question.
Silence replied.
“I hate to play devil’s advocate, but Snipes has a point there,” Redneck reasoned.
“Well then maybe someone’s just messing with us,” Boss reasoned, though his previously steadfast conviction now bore a small crack, “They hooked us up and are playing with us, trying to see what we do when they pull some crazy world outta their asses...I still asked you a question, private, and I expect it answered.”
“What was the question again?” Snipes asked innocently. Spotter rolled his eyes as he kept an eye on things out in the open.
“I asked you if you understood that any future order that I give is not to be disobeyed. Are we clear on that point?”
“Not necessarily, no,” Snipes replied, both Holey and Spotter froze as they turned to stare at him, “With all due respect, sergeant we’re in way over our heads here, and I don’t think that you’re getting the gravity of the situation.”
A deathly silence fell.
“Care to run that by me just one more time?” Boss asked, voice a dead sort of calm.
“Okay! I think that everyone needs to shut up and chill the hell out!” Redneck interrupted. Boss began to say something, but was cut off, “Granted, Snipes, we are all in way over our heads with this mess, but if not Boss, then who do you expect to take in the reins and lead this group? At the end of the day, someone has to sit at the head of the table, so who?”
Snipes opened his mouth to reply, but never got the chance.
A massive blast of light and sound exploded from somewhere in the heart of the town. Shadows splayed out across the ground as a massive pink shockwave raced outwards from the sound of the explosion, passing through everything like a ghost.
The three soldiers flinched, but the wave just passed harmlessly over them, continuing onwards and stopping just outside the town.
“What the hell?” Spotter hissed, inching closer to the edge of the house to get a peek.
“What, what now?” Boss grumbled, a hint of worry coloring his tone.
“Chto za khren?” Holey wondered aloud, holding his arms away from himself, his body now freed entirely of the green goop from earlier.
“Whoa,” Snipes commented, “Geez, Holes, your smell must’ve scared all that green stuff off.”
“What are you...” Spotter started to ask, going silent when he spotted Holey. His head snapped back around to the town, where it seemed all the ponies were also free of their entrapments.
“Are you guys okay? What the hell was that big pink bubble?” Boss inquired, a hint of worry in his tone.
“Pink bubble?” Holey asked, handing the knife back to Spotter and checking his rifle.
“Whatever it was, Holey and all our colorful friends here are free of their flubber attacks,” Snipes said, “But I haven’t the first clue what in the name of hell it was.”
“Looks like our ‘colorful friends’ are on the move,” Spotter pointed out as the ponies began heading towards the epicenter of the blast, “Let’s get out of here while they’re distracted.”
“Yes, meet up with the rest of us, one of you activate your suit identifier so I can see where you guys are.”
“Roger,” Spotter said. He reached into a pouch and pulled out an antenna. He extended it with a series of snaps and then snapped it into place on his comlink’s earbud. A small red dot appeared on his HUD, in the corner of his vision, “Online,” Spotter reported.
“I see you,” Boss replied, “That waypoint on your guy’s HUDs should be up to date on where we are. We meet up and go from there.”
“Boss, where are you guys at?” Snipes asked as he followed Spotter and Holey away from the town. The two checked around the corners of the buildings they were hiding between and then moved forwards.
“Look at your HUD, there should be a waypoint on your...”
“No, I mean where are you guys waiting for us? What’s the terrain like and all that?” Snipes corrected, glancing back at the town as he jogged away.
“Rolling plains, why? You suggesting that we move to a different location?” Boss inquired, still angry.
“With all due respect, sir, not all the locals here are going to be friendly anymore. I’d personally feel more safe under the cover of some of the trees due West of the village,” Snipes said, looking West to the tree line he was talking about. The other two with him also looked in that direction, spotting where he was looking.
“He’s got a point,” Redneck admitted with some resentment.
“Thank you, Reddy,” Snipes said.
Boss was quiet on the other end, considering. The trio could almost imagine him give the sky above a cautious glance.
“Fine, just to play it safe we’ll get to a more covered position, head there and we’ll follow Spotter’s suit ID.”
“Roger that,” Spotter said, changing course and aiming for the treeline.
“But if those things that you pissed off come, Snipes. We’re leaving you to them, you got that?” Boss growled.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Snipes muttered, tone suddenly dark for a fraction of an instant.
“Damn,” Snipes muttered, lowering his rangefinder from his gaze, “Can’t see anything in the town from here.”
“Why does that matter?” Holey asked, continuously scanning the perimeter of a small clearing they’d found, “It’s not like you’re shooting anything else any time soon.”
“I’m bored,” Snipes shrugged.
“Well you won’t be for much longer,” Redneck replied via comlink.
There was a crashing of bushes and the three soldiers spun around, zeroing in on the cause of the noise. The other four team members approached through the brush.
“Ah, great!” Snipes said with a smile, “Now we can be one big happy family again!”
“Can it,” Boss growled, glaring daggers through his helmet’s goggles, “Everyone listen up! Spotter, Holey, Dice, and Redneck, you’re Perimeter. Call out if you see anything coming our way,” his eyes stabbed back at Snipes, “original ROE stands.
“Snipes, you’re staying the fuck where I can see you, Pike get to work on that black box. Everyone activate your suit IDs, if no one’s come looking to see what Spotter is then the locals are low tech.
“Perimeter, don’t get too far away, I want you close enough that we can get out quick in case the shit hits the fan...” his eyes lashed out at Snipes, “...again.”
A cacophony of, “Roger.”s replied, the four soldiers working the perimeter turned to leave, activating their suit IDs as they went. Pike pulled their plane’s black box out of his pack and got to work on it.
And then the shit hit the fan...again.
With a discharge of energy, a mass of unicorn Royal Guards, all in full armor, teleported into a circle around the seven men. The whole lot of them looked ready for a fight, faces contorted into snarls, teeth bared and horns aimed.
“Fuck!”
“Contact!”
“What the shit!”
Everyone but Boss immediately went into combat mode, weapons raised and targets found, their trigger fingers growing itchy.
“Hold fire! Hold fire!” Boss yelled frantically, “Lower weapons! Now!”
Everyone gave him a quick, cautious glance, but did as they were told. Almost everyone.
“Snipes, lower it, now,” Boss growled when Snipes refused to lower his sidearm, “That was a fucking order.”
The sniper hesitated for a moment, glancing from Boss to the Guards, but then complied.
The small clearing grew silent as a graveyard as one of the ponies stepped forwards from the group.
The humans all turned towards her, a range of everything from nervous to awed looks on their faces as she trotted slowly forwards, eyeing the humans with an unreadable frown. A set of yards away, she stopped, gaze scanning over them before settling on Boss.
“I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, who are you?” Celestia inquired in Equestrian.
The humans remained silent for a moment.
“Ugh,” Spotter groaned, coming up next to Boss and sliding his weapon over his back. He readied his hands. “We...” he began, gesturing to himself and his comrades, “....don’t speak...” he held his hands first over his ears, then mouth, “...your language,” he gestured towards Celestia.
Celestia looked puzzled for a moment, glancing over the humans once more before a look of understanding crossed her features.
She closed her eyes and raised her head, her horn starting to glow.
“It looks like we won’t be needing to ask them to ‘take us to their leader’ after all,” Snipes mused as Celestia grew still.
The soldiers eyed the Royal Guards again, noticing the fact that they’d seen recent battle if the way they looked said anything.
The Guards were bruised and battered, they ranged from having mere fatigue to a being near their collapsing point. Many of them sported small globs of green across their fur and dented armor. A lot of them also sported dirty bandages or spots of dried blood across their bodies, all testament to a heated battle.
What are you creatures? I cannot say that I have ever seen anything quite like you.
The voice punctuated each of the soldier’s minds, the tone curious and precautious.
Snipes hit his head with a hand, “Well great,” he muttered, “and just when I thought I’d be able to keep my sanity here just a little bit longer.”
“Bloody hell,” Dice muttered, the rest of the team also alarmed at the newfound voices in their heads.
The Royal Guards glanced from the soldiers that they were surrounding to Celestia, curious as well.
Celestia’s calm expression grew into a frown, her eyes still closed and her horn aglow with magical light.
You haven’t lost your sanity...creature.
We share a language barrier of tongues, but all creatures speak the same language in their thoughts. You need not think, I will be able to discern your thoughts if you speak.
“I’m not the only one hearing this,” Redneck began, looking to his fellows, “am I?”
“I don’t think so,” Boss replied, eyeing the ring of Royal Guards.
“Wait, so what’s doing this, then?” Spotter asked, gesturing to the ponies, “Is it one of them?”
“No, it’s me, Snipes. I’m the one doing it,” Snipes replied, “I’m using my powers of mindfuckery to screw with all of you.”
Yes. I am Princess Celestia of Equestria...the largest of the ponies who stand before you.
Celestia replied in her thought-speech, her face and tone taking a confused edge at Snipes’ comment with a hint of impatience.
I ask again, what are you creatures? I do not believe that you are native to this land.
The soldiers looked among themselves, unsure as to who should be the one to communicate. Having been the one who originally informed the Princess, Spotter took the stand.
“We’re, uh, we call ourselves humans...” he began awkwardly. Not entirely sure what else to say, he trailed off.
Humans..?
Celestia began, only to have one of the guard clear his throat noisily as he trotted to her side.
“Not to intrude on your conversation, Princess,” he began. The light faded from Celestia’s horn and she opened her eyes, looking down at the smaller equine, “but Canterlot is still under siege, we should be returning there as soon as possible to expel the remaining Changelings and reinforce Captain Shining Armor’s forces.”
Celestia gave a nod, “Prepare the teleport specialists for a jump back to Canterlot, then. I need but a moment longer to speak with these humans.”
The guard gave a nod, turning and ordering the group’s teleport specialists to get ready. Celestia turned back to the humans.
I apologize, but I don’t have much time to stand on ceremony. I may not entirely...agree with your methods, but I must ask for your help...
“No,” Boss cut in, “I apologize, but this isn’t our battle,” his eyes slid towards Snipes for an instant, “us eliminating whatever those things are was an accident, it was unintentional. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to deal with your own problems, let us deal with ours.”
“Actually, that was intentional,” Snipes spoke up, Boss spun towards the sniper, “Glad I could...”
Boss’ fist interrupted Snipes as it impacted his jaw, knocking the other man to the ground.
“Goddamnit, Snipes! I’ve had it with all of your fucking shit!” Boss yelled, raising his weapon as Snipes pushed himself to a seated position, rubbing his jaw.
The Guards, who had gone out of combat mode, instantly hopped back into it, the human soldiers returned the gesture in an instant, weapons raised and trigger fingers at the ready.
Boss ignored it as he turned his weapon on Snipes, face laced with rage. Celestia blinked in confusion at the sudden change, lighting her horn up to speak again, but was beat to it by one of the humans.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Redneck exclaimed. Boss spared him a sidelong glance, “Boss,” Redneck continued, setting his weapon down and showing his superior his hands so as not to provoke him further, “Not to sound like our friend here,” Redneck said, approaching slowly and jerking his head towards Snipes, “but I think you’re jumping the gun on this one,” he set his hand on the top of Boss’ rifle, pushing the weapon’s barrel away from Snipes, “I don’t like that asshole any more than you do, but we need to all keep our cool and carry on, sir. That means not shooting Snipes, okay?”
Boss glared from Redneck to the still downed Snipes, and back, “Fine,” he growled, then let out a breath, “No, you’re right.”
“Though if I may speak my mind, I think that we should be helping these creatures. Even if it just means standing around and being a deterrent,” Redneck added.
Boss’ glare returned, now focused on his second-in-command, “Fuck! Not you too, damnit!”
“Sir, if we’re right, and this is a sim, then think about it for a second,” Redneck tried.
“I have, Redneck. We’re supposed to keep out of these creature’s conflict, whatever’s on this black box...” he gestured to Pike and the black box he was holding, “...is what we need to be focusing on. These creatures are a distraction, JSOC wouldn’t want us deviating from our mission, so I won’t.”
“Boss is right,” Spotter added, nodding, “I disagree that this is a simulator gone wrong, but this isn’t our fight. We really need to get to know what’s going on before we make a decision on what to do.”
“No, both of you are wrong,” Snipes countered as he continued to stay where he’d been knocked, he looked at Redneck and amended, “Well besides Reddy here, of course.”
Redneck gave a small nod.
“One, this isn’t a sim, two, these guys are obviously the good guys!” Snipes gestured to the Guards and princess around them, “We’re fucked here and these guys can help unfuck us. They’ve got food, shelter, a place where we can set up and get a real game plan going. We scratch their ass, they scratch ours.”
Isn’t the terminology supposed to be ‘back’?
Celestia inquired with another confused frown.
“If you want to be unoriginal,” Snipes replied.
“Yeah, well one, this isn’t a democracy and two, even if it was, you idiots are the minority,” Boss growled.
“You want to put that second point to a test?” Snipes challenged, “Spots and you aren’t on Red’s and my bandwagon, but who is?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Boss growled, fingers clamping down on his rifle.
“Dice?” Snipes asked, “Who’s bandwagon are you on?”
“Sorry to disappoint, mate,” Dice replied, “but I’m not on yours. Whatever’s going on here, sim or not, it’s way over our heads and we’re way out of our element. Maybe we should help these...ponies,” he gestured blindly to Celestia, not breaking eye contact with Redneck and Snipes, “but at this point in time, and in the foreseeable future, we need to make like the Swiss and stay out of the way of the big dogs,” Dice finished, walking over to stand beside Boss, Spotter, and Pike.
Snipes gave an annoyed frown, while a hint of a smile broke through the surface of rage on Boss’ face.
“Pike?” Boss asked, not taking his glare off of the two rebels.
Pike glanced from Boss to Snipes and back, his shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh, “Look, sir. In all reality, I don’t know half of what I’m doing here,” he gestured to the black box, “It’s a long shot, but maybe these creatures can help us. Technologically advanced or not, a few extra helping hands would make getting this info off much easier.
“If you say that the info on this is key to finding out what the hell’s going on, then, no pun intended, but, I say not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Snipes looked to Boss, a smile on his face as Pike walked, with an uncomfortable look on his face, over to Redneck and Snipes.
Holey, who stood in the middle of the two groups, looked from one to the other.
“Govno,” he grumbled.
Boss gave a growl, “Holey?” he asked.
“Why’d you have to pick me last?” he muttered under his breath, looking over both groups. All six of his comrades, plus most of the ponies, were staring at him, making him feel like a comedian before an unpleasable crowd at a stand-up show.
Boss glared with an angry look, as if telling the soldier to step over to his side. Snipes gave him a thin, knowing smile, like he already knew how this was going to end. Redneck stared with a cautious look, as if he might be afraid of his fellow going to the other side. Spotter had his arms crossed, like he knew he was right, and expected Holey to know the same. Pike just looked plain uncomfortable, he shifted the black box in his grip and rubbed the back of his neck. Dice stared with an unreadable expression, though his seemed to tell Holey that, at the end of the day, the decision was his to make, he didn’t much care what side Holey picked.
Holey gave an annoyed moan, not happy to be the last player picked for a game.
“The way I see it, Boss, sim or not, we’ve got some pretty powerful enemies right now, but no allies to back us up when the shit hits the fan again,” he gestured to Celestia, looking at her for a second, and she at him, “these guys look like some pretty good allies to me, and my gut tells me that I’m not wrong when I say that Snipes and Redneck are right,” he stepped over to their group, increasing the count to four, “sorry, sir.”
“Sorry, my fuckin ass!” Boss spat.
“It’s not our fight!” Spotter added.
“It is now, Spots,” Snipes replied.
Spotter turned to the Sniper, “Yeah, only because you went and fucking broke the ROE, asshole!”
Snipes gave a shrug.
So you three won’t be joining us, then?
“That would be accurate,” Snipes nodded.
“No it would not, Snipes!” Boss growled, taking an angry step forwards, “None of you are going anywhere until I give the order!”
“Boss, calm down,” Redneck started, “Just be quiet and think about this for a second...”
“No, you will follow my orders!” Boss cut in, raising his rifle, a sudden tenseness spilled into the air. None of the other soldiers raised their weapons, but, for the most part, they weren’t far away from doing it, “Or I’ll disqualify you from this sim the hard way.”
Redneck’s brow knitted in anger, “Alright, that’s it! I’m enacting a relief for cause on the grounds of threatening two of your men, now with excessive force and acting erratically in the face of a stressful situation! I’m taking command of Harbinger team!”
“Princess, we need to leave, now!” the Guard from earlier growled, glaring at the humans.
The princess nodded, “Include those four in the spell, cast when ready.”
“You heard her!” the Guard yelled, “everypony prepare yourself, we’re jumping into a hot zone!”
“Over my dead body, you are,” Boss growled, “You four will stand down imm...”
There was a massive blast of light and sound, the forest around them coming alive as the discharge of energy sent leaves and other debris in every direction, the trees’ limbs flailing as if in fear of the teleport spell. The three soldiers were forced to cover their eyes until the debris settled.
Boss was the first to uncover his face.
The ponies and the four rebellious Harbinger team members were gone.
Pillars of sickly black smoke twisted and writhed up into the air from a series of fires spread throughout the city. Even at a distance, these, as well as the occasional missed spell flying into the air, were enough to show that something wasn’t right.
The city itself was covered with splotches of the green goop that the changelings used to ensnare their prey. Whether misses that had hit buildings, or hits that had trapped ponies, the stuff was everywhere, a testament to a long, ongoing battle.
Filling the air like missed spells, cries of help and pain rang out from stuck and injured ponies both Guard and civilian.
Small skirmishes in the streets poofed in and out of existence here and there, but if the massive cloud of black shapes and green flashes said anything, the majority of the battle was focused around the Royal Palace.
Teleport spells are never comfortable. Getting one’s atoms ripped apart and then reassembled in the blink of an eye somewhere else kinda has that effect.
That said, not knowing that you’re going to be suddenly teleported (much less, never having done so before) only adds to the discomfort of it all.
The four soldiers collapsed to the ground, pained expressions on their faces.
Pike weakly pushed himself up with his forearms, his head spinning, and puked as his stomach kept churning in his reassembled guts, most of the sound drowned out by another battle cry from the Guards.
“What the fuck!” Redneck moaned, eyes and jaw clenched tight as his head pounded.
“Spread out and open fire!” one of the Guards called out, firing a spell and knocking a changeling out of the air, “Push for the Palace!”
Are you humans okay?
Snipes pushed himself to his feet, stumbling backwards a few steps like a drunk before falling on his ass. He gave a pained chuckle, “I’ve been worse,” he said.
Pike had finished losing his lunch and wiped his mouth, spitting to clear it as he got to wobbly legs, readying his rifle.
I apologize, but I couldn’t wait any longer.
“What the fuck did you do?” Redneck asked, getting slowly to his feet and squinting as his eyes readjusted from being torn apart and reassembled. He blinked them rapidly, as if he had water in them.
We’ve teleported to Canterlot, it’s under siege by the Changelings.
Celestia cast a quick spell to deflect an incoming blob of green, a golden light vaporizing the adhesive substance. The Royal Guards began to move out, each of them spread out so the changelings couldn’t get any multi-kills, or multi-sticks, with their attacks.
What you’re currently experiencing is teleportation sickness, I was unaware that you aren’t familiar with teleport spells. It should pass shortly, we’ll wait for you and then advance on the palace.
“Govno,” Holey muttered for what felt like the hundredth time that day, getting to his feet with the rest of the team, their heads starting to clear as their bodies readjusted.
“If you want to move up, you go ahead without us,” Redneck said, shaking his head and shouldering his automatic rifle, “We’ll be with you shortly,” he turned as the Princess began to advance with the Guard, stunning or expelling any of the changelings that got within range, “Snipes, find a roost and give us sniper support and updates on enemy movements, the rest of you follow me and open fire!”
Snipes drew his sidearm and rushed off into a side alley, the rest of the team following as Redneck pushed after the Princess. He raised his rifle, firing a burst at a flying changeling and causing the creature to jinc away from the hot lead.
And as if on cue, the changelings again took to the skies en masse, the airspace being filled almost instantaneously.
“Shit!” Pike exclaimed.
The three team members halted, dropping to their knees with their eyes and weapons skywards. Each began to fire into the mass of creatures as...again they retreated.
The massive black cloud flew up and away, moving off southwards from the city.
“Well that was easy,” Holey commented after a moment of silence.
“What?” Snipes’ voice came over their comlinks.
“Those things, Changelings, are retreating,” Redneck replied, watching as the group of Guards started to rejoice as they figured this out, cheers were shouted into the air, a few pegasi chasing the fleeing mass a bit longer than needed, “Meet back up with us.”
“For beers and burgers...on my way,” Snipes replied.
“Seems fishy, them just running like that,” Pike said, glancing around, “those things fought a lot harder when it was just Snipes, Spotter, and Holey, and there were a whole lot less of them back there.”
“I say: ‘don’t look a static target in the mouth,’” Snipes retorted, “If the enemy wants to be retarded, that just makes our jobs a whole lot easier.”
“Pike’s right,” Holey said, eyes scanning the streets with his rifle.
Redneck looked between the two, “Well keep an eye to the horizons, then. Never hurts to be prepared.”
“They didn’t return last time,” Snipes said, now close enough to not have to rely on his comlink, “I’d say that we’re pretty safe, maybe these ‘changeling’ things are inherently a bunch of pussies.”
“I’d say the evidence says otherwise,” Pike pointed out, gesturing around the city, “I don’t think that pussies have what it takes to fight a prolonged battle.”
“The locals don’t have guns,” Snipes retorted, hefting his own rifle for emphasis, “we do.”
“Whatever the case, just keep your eyes open. Until those things come back or something else comes up, we need to get that info off our black box,” Redneck cut in, he gestured for the others to follow and started towards the Princess and the Guards.
“And how, pray tell, do you intend on doing that?” Snipes asked as the quartet made their way over cobblestone streets, “ask for a nice computer and maybe some wireless internet while we’re at it? I wonder if their porn’s any good,” he muttered the last part to himself.
“What do you mean?” Redneck asked.
“Shit, he’s right. Our technology might not be compatible,” Pike answered, “sim or not, it’s not gonna be easy to get this info off of here without some decent equipment.”
The Guards were taking orders from their superiors, small groups rushing off as they were given them. They appeared to be in heightened spirits after the quick victory, a renewed vigor in their steps.
When the four approached the Princess, she was staring off at the Southern horizon, her keen gaze seeing the ever-retreating black cloud like no mortal creature could, “What are you up to, Chrysalis?” she murmured to herself with a small, contemplative scowl.
When she noticed the humans, she turned to them, igniting her horn and closing her eyes.
I suppose another thank you is in order, humans. I can’t imagine how long it might have taken without your aid.
“You’re welcome,” Redneck replied, scanning the skies, “So that’s the last of them?”
Celestia nodded.
Unless more of them decide to attack, which is unlikely, then yes.
“Glad to hear it,” Redneck said, he looked over his shoulder to Pike, “So what do we need to get that info off the black box?”
“That varies,” Pike said, letting his rifle hang by its strap and slipping the black box out of his pack and examining it, “Unfortunately for us, there’s no QAR on this thing, so we’re gonna need quite a bit more than a desktop computer. There’s specialized equipment that they use to get data off the FDR, CVR, and the SVR so...”
“I’d ask you to say that again, but that’d just be stupid,” Snipes said.
Pike raised an eyebrow, not sure exactly what to say.
“Layman’s terms,” Redneck put in, giving Snipes an annoyed look.
“Oh,” Pike said, turning back to Redneck and the Princess, “Sometimes these black boxes come with something called a Quick Access Recorder. As the name suggests, they’re used for quickly accessing some of the data that this thing records and in more recent years simply use a USB cable to connect to a computer.
“However, as this black box doesn’t have one, that option is eliminated. The three things that this does have, the Flight Data Recorder, Cockpit Voice Recorder, and Semi-active Visual Recorder, require specialized equipment that I don’t have.”
“So we’re fucked?” Holey asked.
Pike shook his head, “I more-or-less know how that specialized equipment works. Had to wipe data off a few Cessnas back before Harbingers. Give me enough time and supplies and I might, and only might, be able to get some of that data off,” he frowned in thought for a second, “Probably easiest to get the audio stuff, might be able to play it through our comlinks.”
I apologize if I sound ignorant, but what exactly are you talking about? Perhaps we don’t see in the same colors because that ‘black box’ looks more orange than black to me.
“It’s orange so it’s easier to find,” Pike explained, “they just call it a black box because it inputs, outputs, and transfers data without knowledge of the internal parts...or something like that.
“What it is, specifically,” Pike continued, approaching the Princess and holding the box closer to her, so she could see, before remembering that the princess was closing her eyes in concentration, “is a data storage device for our aircraft that brought us here. We assume that getting the data off of here is crucial to this simula...to, uh, finding out what went wrong and how we got here.”
“Still going on about this ‘sim’ shit,” Snipes muttered quietly.
“Shh,” Holey shushed.
I think I understand.
Celestia replied via thought-speak.
Though what kind of ‘aircraft’ are you talking about and how exactly did it bring you here? Is it an airship of some sort?
“We’re not at liberty to discuss those specifics,” Redneck cut in before Pike could speak, “Enough dicking around now. Pike, what do you need to get the audio files off of that thing? What do we have and what do we need?”
Pike thought for a moment, tapping one foot, “Well...”
“Sooo...” Dice began, cutting into the silence that had been plaguing the trio for a while now, “Where exactly are we going?”
Boss, in the lead, showed no sign of replying, trudging onwards with his hands clamped tight around his rifle and his skin clamped tight around his jaw. His boots crunched through bushes, his eyes not looking away from an unknown destination.
“Boss?” Dice tried again.
“We’re going to find our plane,” Boss replied through clenched teeth.
“And why might that be?” Dice asked.
Boss didn’t answer.
Dice looked back over his shoulder, exchanging a worried look with Spotter.
“Boss, we don’t know where that plane crashed. It could be anywhere from ten to a hundred kilometers away. Are you sure...”
“Damnit, Dice!” Boss growled, turning on his heel and glaring at the man, “Just let me occupy my fucking mind with something before I go batshit insane and lose it!” he glared for a few more seconds before turning back around and stomping off, “What in the name of fuck is going on here!?” he asked, more to himself than anyone else.
“If I may make a suggestion, sir,” Dice spoke up again, “perhaps we should find a place to set up a small FOB and go from there. That should take enough time to let you calm down after...well, everything that’s happened today.”
“Yeah,” Spotter put in, “Maybe we could check our maps and try to pinpoint where that plane went down before we go blindly looking for it.”
“We don’t have any maps, Spotter,” Boss reminded, coming to a stop and taking a deep breath, his shoulders sagging a bit as he released it, “Despite that, Dice is right. Let’s find a high point, those mountains we saw to the South earlier. We get up to a decent spot, maybe make a lean-to, and form a decent plan from there.”
“Maybe we should go back to where we were, the others might come back,” Spotter suggested as Boss headed off again.
“Fuck the others,” Boss replied.
“The sun’s getting closer to the horizon, are you sure that we want to be getting up someplace high like a mountain? These trees would do a better job of stopping the wind, keeping us a bit warmer,” Spotter tried again.
“We’re putting as much distance as possible from where we last were,” Boss growled, not looking back as he continued on his way, Dice right behind him.
Spotter paused for a second, looking back the way that they’d come. Looking back forwards, towards the two receding figures, he ejected a round from his rifle and quickly set it on the ground, pointing the way that they were going.
That done, he jogged forwards to catch up, disappearing into the brush.
A small black head poked around a tree, icy eyes glaring after the humans, black ears pointed forwards.
The changeling gestured for the others to follow, moving in after the humans.
“...and one of our comlinks,” Pike finished the list.
Had her eyes not been squeezed shut, Celestia would have blinked once in surprise.
That is...quite the list.
“Yeah,” Snipes agreed, “So maybe if you could point us in the direction of the local...hardware store or something? Maybe lend us a credit card. Oh, and don’t worry, my credit score’s good.”
Again, Celestia would have blinked once in surprise had she been able to.
“Just ignore him,” Redneck said, rolling his eyes, “So, can you help us or not?”
I’ll see what I can do, humans. Hopefully many of the things you seek will be found in Canterlot’s royal laboratories.
“Princess!”
Celestia opened her eyes, turning towards the voice. The humans, though unable to understand it, looked to the fast-approaching source.
Twilight Sparkle and the five other elements of harmony stopped before the princess, giving a quick bow. All six were clad with their respective element, and like the guards had seen battle if the few cuts, scrapes, small green blobs, and fatigue said anything.
“We came looking for you the second the changelings started to retreat!” Twilight panted, “What hap...”
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, who are you guys?” Pinkie interrupted, suddenly next to Pike with a huge smile splitting her face.
Pike flinched at the spontaneous proximity, “What the hell?”
“Pinkie, what...” Twilight began to berate before spotting the humans as well. A curious gleam entered her widening eyes.
“I’ve got a feeling that either we’re about to either be eaten alive, worshipped as gods, given our fifteen minutes, or some combination of those three,” Snipes hypothesized.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack inquired, inspecting the humans with a wary eye, “who the hay are these...” she searched for a word, “...things?”
“More like ‘what are they?’” Rainbow Dash commented, hovering a bit closer to get a better look.
“Yes, maybe ‘what are they wearing?’” Rarity put in quietly, eyeing the human’s armor with a hint of distaste, “I hate to sound like a nag, but I don’t think they’re here to win any fashion shows.”
Fluttershy declined to say anything.
“They call themselves humans,” Celestia explained, getting everypony’s attention, “they say that they came here from quite a distance by accident via some sort of aircraft. As you may be able to imagine, they do not speak Equestrian.”
“Ooh!” Pinkie exclaimed, getting an idea, “Can we be, like, diplomats for them or something? I mean, since we’re the elements of harmony, maybe we could be the ones to show them around!” she gasped as she got another great idea, “I can help host the ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party!”
Celestia smiled at Pinkie’s enthusiasm, but said, “I’m afraid that that might be a bit of a problem, seeing as they do not speak our language.” before the pink pony could rush off.
“Princess!” Redneck spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. He waited for Celestia to begin her spell and continued, “I hate to kill your conversation, but how can you help us with the black box?”
Celestia nodded once.
Ah yes, I’ll see what some of my ponies can find. In the meantime, perhaps you four would wish to rest.
“Actually, it might be better if I went with whoever you were sending out to find what I need,” Pike reasoned.
Redneck nodded, “That and we should probably go back and get the others. Hopefully Boss’s had enough time to cool off.”
Your reasoning is sound, I shall send some ponies to collect your friends, as well then. One of you should probably accompany them.
“Two of us will,” Redneck replied, “Holey, you and I are going to go after the others. Snipes, you’re with Pike, go find what we need, okay?”
Pike nodded.
“Got it,” Holey replied.
“Okay, Pike. Let’s go dumpster diving with the locals!” Snipes said.
“Wait, so, excuse the interruption, Princess, but what exactly is going on? Who are these...humans? Why are they here? For what...”
“Do they like cake?” Pinkie inquired thoughtfully, “Or cupcakes? Ooh, or maybe pie? Or...or all three?”
“All will be explained in due time, my student,” Celestia replied, then to a nearby Guard, “Please prepare a small group for teleport to where we came from. Meet back here and include these two,” she indicated Redneck and Holey, “You are to locate the other three humans and bring them back.”
“Yes, your highness,” the Guard said, saluting and rushing off.
“Wait, so what’s goin’ on here?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, is somepony lost or something?” Dash added.
“Oh...my, I hope not,” Fluttershy said quietly.
Celestia shook her head, “There are three more humans that we were forced to leave behind in the woods near Ponyville. Hopefully they remained where they were and finding them should be easy.”
“We can’t spare many ponies, Princess,” the Guard said, having returned with four others in tow, “Most of us are still in the middle of finishing up around here, searching for any hiding changelings and helping the civilians with search and rescue aid first aid, there’s still a lot of fires to put out and quite a few ponies are still missing.”
Celestia’s gaze met her soon-to-be setting sun, “For their sake I hope that they didn’t travel far, then.”
“We could always help, Princess,” Twilight offered, “my friends and I are from Ponyville after all, maybe we could help find these humans if things go South.”
‘...things go South,’ the words echoed in the Princess’ mind, her eyes turning that way for a moment, finding the changeling swarm gone from sight on the Southern horizon.
“I don’t see a problem with that...though I won’t need all six of you to go at once,” Celestia said, adding the last part quickly, glancing South again.
“I can go,” Rainbow Dash offered, “show these humans just how awesome we ponies can be!”
“I think that the word: ‘helpful’ would be a better choice than: ‘awesome’,” Applejack added sternly, then to the Princess, “you can count me in as well. Maybe Fluttershy can come along too, she can always ask any critters if they saw those humans go anywhere.”
Celestia gave a single nod of approval, “Very well, then,” she turned to the group of guards, “add these three elements to your teleportation spell as well as the two humans and cast when ready.”
Celestia closed her eyes and ignited her horn.
Prepare for another teleportation spell.
“Roger that, Princess,” Redneck said.
With a blast of magical energy, the guards, elements, and two of the humans disappeared.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Princess, what is that spell that you’re using to communicate with these humans?” Twilight asked curiously, “It might come in handy later on if they need to speak with us and you’re not around.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, my student. I’m certain that they’ll wish to leave once they’ve found what they’re looking for and fix their black box,” Celestia replied, “the spell also requires much study and needs a great magical tenacity, far more than most mortals possess.”
“Oh,” Twilight said, ears drooping slightly.
“What’s wrong with their black box? More importantly, though, what type of black box is it?” Pinkie asked, “is it a lunchbox? With cake or something else yummy that’s now stuck inside?”
“Um, hey,” Pike cut in before Celestia could reply. The alicorn cast her translation spell again, “so what exactly can we do to start finding what I need to get the data off this?” Pike indicated the black box.
Ah yes, let me see.
“Might be a little hard to do that with her eyes closed,” Snipes commented, “why’s she always close her eyes anyways?”
I’m concentrating on the spell that I’m casting. I may be an alicorn, but this spell still requires a great amount of concentration to keep up.
Celestia replied.
“Oh,” Snipes replied, “wait, spell?”
Yes, Spell. Now, as to your predicament, please follow these three ponies, they’ll take you to where I hope you’ll be able to find most of what you’re looking for.
Celestia ended the spell, turning to Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie, “Seeing as how most of the Guard are busy, would you three mind showing these humans to the royal laboratories?” Twilight’s eyes lit up at the word, “They are looking for a list of different mechanical utilities and I believe that that is the best place to start.
“You should only have to lead them there and tell anypony present that they are to cooperate and let the humans borrow what they need. If you should need me, I’m currently going to consult with my sister and your brother on what course of action to take now that the changelings have retreated.”
“Yes, I’d love to!” Twilight exclaimed, then calming her voice at the odd looks she got, “I mean, it would be my pleasure to show them to the royal laboratories.”
Celestia nodded and unfolded her wings, “I leave our guests in trusted hooves then,” before crouching and leaping up into the air, headed towards the palace with an entourage of pegasi Royal Guard flocking after her.
Redneck stumbled backwards as he, Holey, the Guards, and three elements of harmony reappeared back in the forest.
“Fuck,” he mumbled as what felt like every muscle in his body throbbed.
“Roger that,” Holey grumbled, collapsing to his knees, breathing heavily as if he’d just run a long distance.
The Guards, upon a quick head count, began scanning the area for the other three humans.
While neither Applejack, Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash had teleported often, if ever, their magical tolerances were far higher than that of the humans, and they recovered from the teleport almost instantly.
“Are...are they okay?” Fluttershy wondered aloud with worry in her eyes, watching as Holey got to his feet, a hand pressed against his chest.
“There’s no sign of those humans,” one of the Guards pointed out.
“You sure this is the right place? Puddle Jumper?” another asked, turning to a fellow Guard.
“Yes. I traced our previous magical signature back, this is the place,” Jumper replied.
The second Guard nodded, upon seeing that the two humans had recovered, he spoke, “Okay, everypony, let’s see if we can find out what direction they went in, spread out and look for signs.”
“I’ll go circle around and look for them up there,” Dash said, leaping into the air and blasting through the treetops.
“You two, follow her,” the second Guard said, indicating two pegasi, “Report back here if you spot them.”
The two nodded and shot up after Dash.
The second Guard then trotted over to Redneck and Holey. He pointed to them, then his eyes, then to the ground.
“Look at the ground?” Holey inquired.
“They’re not here,” Redneck pointed out, starting to scan over the ground with his eyes, “he probably wants us to help find out which way they went. I’ll see if I can get Boss on TeamCom.”
“Oh, right,” Holey replied.
“Redneck to Boss, come in, over,” Redneck said into his comlink.
Twilight kept looking back over her shoulder, an assessing look on her face as she studied the two humans walking behind her. In return, Snipes kept giving her a little wave each time she looked back at him as the group’s foot and hoofsteps echoed off of the shining marble floors of the Royal Palace.
She was almost bursting with so many things that she wanted to ask the humans: Where did they come from? How did they use magic without horns? Did they use magic? What was their culture like? What did they eat? Where they herbivores, carnivores, omnivores? The possibilities were endless!
“I feel obligated to at least try to make their attire look nicer, but I don’t see how I can ask for their cooperation if we don’t even speak the same language,” Rarity mused to herself, filling the semi-quiet of the hallways.
“What?” Twilight asked, turning from the humans to Rarity.
“Their attire!” Rarity replied, “all dark, drab, dull! It needs more color to it, maybe some reds, whites, blues! Something to make it stand out and not just look like a dull, stormy day!”
“Oh,” Twilight replied, “well, maybe that’s what their species is into, they might be partially color blind, like diamond dogs, or selectively color blind like dragons where they see some colors better than others.”
“I suppose...but still,” Rarity muttered.
Twilight looked back over her shoulder again, coming up with a few more attire-based questions, and spotting something wrong.
“Wait,” Twilight said, coming to a halt, “Where’s Pinkie?”
“She was right behind the humans, I thought,” Rarity replied, also stopping and turning, seeing that Pinkie was, in fact, gone.
“What?” Pike asked as he and Snipes stopped.
“I hope they aren’t stopping to take shits or anything,” Snipes said, eyeing the ponies warily.
Pike looked back over his shoulder, staring down the hallway but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“Wait, wasn’t there a third one somewhere behind us?”
“Ugh,” Twilight groaned, “You didn’t hear her say anything about going to the restroom or throwing a party or, I don't know, something that Pinkie would say before suddenly disappearing?”
“No,” Rarity replied, thinking for a moment, “I suppose that that should have tipped me off that she was gone in the first place, actually.”
“Okay, the royal laboratories aren’t much further down. We’ll drop the humans off there and then track down Pinkie. Hopefully she won’t have done anything too crazy by the time that we do.”
With that, the group continued moving forwards for a while before Twilight spotted the door she was looking for. Her hoofsteps quickened as she zeroed in on the door.
“Here we are,” Twilight said, halting before a large wooden door, a panel above enscribed: Royal Laboratories “The Royal Laboratories!” she announced as she opened the door with her magic, gesturing with a hoof into the room as a blast of green gunk knocked her off her feet with a startled cry.
“Shit!” Pike yelled, reaching back for his rifle.
“Changelings!” Twilight cried out, fighting against her sticky bonds.
Rarity hopped to the side of the door, another blast of green almost getting her, “Twilight! Are you okay?” she called out, eyes wide with worry for her friend.
Snipes and Pike took the other side of the door, both checking their weapons to make sure they were locked and loaded.
“I’m fine! Go get some Royal Guards! Hurry!” Twilight called back, she looked into the labs for a second, eyes bulging, “watch out!”
A changeling hopped from the doorway, horn glowing green and aimed at Rarity.
“Surprise, motherfucker!” Snipes shouted, putting two bullets in the back of the creature’s skull. The changeling dropped instantly, spell discharging harmlessly into a wall. Snipes poked his head and handgun around the door.
The room inside looked like someone had dropped a tornado into it. Tables and cabinets and large things with blinking lights were flipped over and strewn across the room. Everything from paper to quills and ink fountains were also scattered everywhere. To top it off, there was a group of changelings staring back at him and a few stuck, struggling ponies held down by their green goop.
Snipes ducked back as the changelings gave a few chittering cries, all of them leaping towards the nearest piece of cover, a few firing shots at Snipes, who ducked back.
“A bunch of them with hostages,” Snipes reported.
“Shit,” Pike growled, “any other doors for them to get out of? Windows?”
“Dunno,” Snipes replied, “Gimme a sec,” he poked his head around again but immediately ducked back as a few green blasts greeted him, “still dunno,” he said.
“Goddamnit,” Pike growled, looking down and checking himself, “you have any flashbangs?”
“Nope,” Snipes replied, he paused for a second before holstering his sidearm and pulling his rifle from his back, “I do have a bang, though.”
“What?” Pike asked, eyeing the large weapon.
“What are they doing?” Rarity asked, hooves quivering in fright, eyes pasted to the dead changeling right in front of her.
“Look at the ears on these things,” Snipes pointed to Rarity.
“I don’t know, but go get some guards!” Twilight called back, still struggling to free herself. Her horn gave off a few sparks of failed spells, the goop blocking her magic. Rarity nodded and rushed off.
“They’ve got far more sensitive ears than we do,” Snipes said with a smile, “therefore...” he poked his rifle around the corner and fired a few shots blindly into the room, the hallways echoed loudly with the ear-splitting reports of the sniper rifle’s louder cartridge.
Twilight gave a startled yelp, ears going flat against her head as a loud ringing droned out everything else.
“Go!” Snipes yelled, setting down his rifle and drawing his sidearm.
The two soldiers rushed around the corner, eyes to their gunsights.
A few of the changelings were covering their ears, bodies poking from cover. The two soldiers opened fire. Pike put two rounds into the first one he saw, Snipes putting three into another, both creatures dropped and a third followed as Pike fired off another quick burst.
A few wild, green blasts forced the two soldiers to cover. Pike ducked behind a fallen cabinet while Snipes yanked a fallen table onto its side, using it like a wall.
“You see any other doors?” Snipes yelled, holstering his sidearm and drawing his knife.
“Um...yeah, one!” Pike called back after a quick peek from cover.
“Keep an eye on it, don’t let any of those fuckers escape!”
“Roger,” Pike called back. One of the changelings, dragging a struggling, stuck pony, was moving quickly to a door, Pike put two rounds through the creature’s side and it dropped.
Meanwhile, Snipes rammed his knife through the table and used the weapon as a handle for his impromptu shield. He drew his sidearm again and started forwards. A series of jolts rocked the table as the remaining changelings shot at it.
“Sucks when your shit can’t penetrate anything, doesn’t it!” Snipes taunted. A changeling appeared around the side of the shield, Snipes lashed out with his boot, hitting the creature in the nose before it could stick him. The changeling recoiled with a pained cry and Snipes put two rounds into its face.
There was a sudden buzz of wings and Snipes was knocked off his feet as the table exploded, something hitting him hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him skidding.
“Shit, Snipes!” Pike cried.
“Fucker!” Snipes swore, he saw movement in his peripherals and turned his head to meet the eyes of a changeling, “Shit!” he yelled, bringing his gun hand to bear only to find that it no longer held a gun.
With a chittering cry, the changeling lunged at him, fangs bared and horn charging up. Snipes grabbed the creature by the throat, holding it at bay. Its front legs cartwheeled in the air as the hind two dug into the marble flooring and its wings buzzed, trying to overpower him.
Snipes snapped his head around, looking for his lost gun and spotting it. He reached out for it, fingers brushing the grip.
“Just hold him still, I’ll...” Pike began, shifting aim.
“No! Keep the rest of them from poking their heads up!” Snipes yelled back.
Reluctantly, Pike did as he was told.
Snipes tried again for his gun, but his fingers only knocked it farther away, “Fuck!” he muttered, “you aren’t making this very easy!” he growled at the changeling, which continued to try and overpower him. Snipes tightened his grip on the creature’s neck, but the chitin plating held fast. Seeing as that failed, Snipes rammed his fist into the changeling’s face and it replied by sinking its teeth into his hand, getting a cry of pain from him.
“Just fucking shoot that thing already!”
“A little hard without a gun!” Snipes shouted back as he tried to get his hand back. He used the changeling’s momentum from its struggling to bring it in an arc over his head and ram its face into the floor on the other side of his body. The move had the desired effect of making it release his hand, but it wasn't all that it did. The changeling’s horn discharged, sticking Snipes’ right arm, the one the changeling had been biting down on, and the changeling’s face to the floor, “stupid dipshit!” Snipes called, right before the changeling pulled out of its own goop like the stuff was water, “shit!”
Snipes reached out and grabbed the first thing he could, swinging a piece of the broken table into the changeling’s face. The changeling recoiled back and Snipes noted his knife was stuck in the piece of table. He grabbed the hilt and planted the piece of table against his foot, yanking the blade out.
The changeling shook its head, eyes narrowing and horn glowing green as it glared down at Snipes. A single suppressed thwack split the air and a bullet punched into the changeling’s skull. Its horn discharged again and it collapsed to the floor.
“You’re welcome,” Pike said, turning his gun back towards the door he was guarding.
Snipes quickly cut his arm free, wincing as he flexed his fingers, and holstered his knife. He crawled over and grabbed his gun, turning to face the next changeling...which didn’t come as silence echoed over the room.
“Was that the last one?”
“I don’t know,” Pike replied.
Snipes got to his feet, gun trained in front of him. He scanned the room, seeing the scared ponies trapped in green goop, most staring back at him with fear.
“Don’t worry, everybody,” Snipes said, lowering his handgun, “you’re all safe n...” a flash of black in the corner of his eye cut him off as he swiveled, training his gun on a single black head poking from cover.
The changeling ducked away before Snipes could fire. He dropped to a knee, training his weapon on the overturned filing cabinet that the creature was hiding behind.
Nothing moved.
“C’mon, bug brain! Poke that head out of cover so I can put a fuckin hole in it!” Snipes called out.
“What are you talking about now?” Pike asked from his spot behind cover.
“One left, got him trapped behind cover, cover me.”
Pike got to his feet, moving over so he got a clear line of sight on the cabinet, “Covering,” he reported.
Snipes stood up and walked forwards, cresting the cabinet and coming to a halt.
The changeling was laying on its belly, body quivering as it held its forehooves over its head defensively.
“Aw, I think he wants to surrender,” Snipes said, kneeling down and pressing the barrel of his handgun against the changeling’s head. The creature opened its eyes, the frightened blue orbs zeroing in on the gun. The changeling chittered something that Snipes didn’t understand, “Sucks for him that Harbingers don’t take prisoners.”
Snipes pulled the trigger and a click echoed around the room.
“What?” Snipes stood up and eyed his sidearm, noting that the slide was stuck back just a bit, “Goddamnit, fucking thing’s jammed. You want to do the honors?”
A clatter of hooves sounded outside the door, drawing both soldier’s attentions away from the changeling. The changeling made a break for the door, wings buzzing furiously as it tried to escape. A yell of alarm only barely escaped Pike’s lips when a glowing bolt stuck the changeling mid-flight and it crashed to the floor.
A few Royal Guards charged up to the downed changeling, one of them tapping it with a sparking horn. The changeling gave a yelp and went limp.
“Geez, took them fuckin long enough,” Snipes pointed out before fussing over his handgun in an attempt to fix the jam.
Pike watched as the Royal Guards started freeing the stuck ponies, a few of them nudging the dead changelings with anything ranging from looks of horror to emotionless masks.
“Somepony get me a magic yoke over here!” one of the Guards shouted from the last changeling, which, on a closer look, was still breathing, if a bit slowly.
One of the Guards trotted over with a metallic neck-brace and snapped it around the changeling’s neck. There was a small, green spark at the changeling’s horn.
“Got one alive!” the Guard reported, “it’s subdued!”
The two humans watched as the Guards cleaned up. Snipes finally fixed the jam, sliding the slide back and forth to make sure it was all good. Pike noticed the two ponies that had led them here, the white and the purple one, enter the room as well.
A passing Guard gave the two humans a quick once-over, coming to a halt and pointing to Snipes’ right hand. More specifically, the blood trailing from the bite mark from the changeling.
“Are you injured?” he asked.
“No speak Pony,” Snipes replied, looking down at the Guard.
Pike turned, noting the wound, “You’re bleeding.”
“I ain’t got time to bleed,” Snipes replied with a chuckle, holstering his weapon and looking down at his hand, “oh wait, you’re right.”
“God-fucking-damnit, Boss!” Redneck growled, “I know that you can fucking hear me on this channel! Now answer, damnit!”
“Wonder why that one keeps talkin to himself,” Applejack wondered aloud to herself, giving Redneck a backwards glance, “Seems real angry for some reason.”
The medium-sized group had searched the woods in the general vicinity with no luck. Fluttershy had asked for help from the local fauna and was rewarded with a single cartridge, pointing in the direction that they were currently heading.
“He’s just going to keep ignoring us at this point,” Holey commented, “I doubt that these trees are enough to block a radio signal.”
“They aren’t,” Redneck growled through gritted teeth, “and there’s no way in hell that they got out of range that fast.”
“Hm. So who do you think left the cartridge for us to find?” Holey asked as the two trudged onwards.
“Spotter,” Redneck replied, retrieving the round from his pocket, “it’s one of his match-grade rounds.”
“Oh,” Holey replied, looking over at the round before Redneck pocketed it again.
“Damnit, Boss,” Redneck growled, “where the hell are you?”
“We really shouldn’t be ignoring them like this,” Spotter said as the trio made their way around the mountain, looking for a way up the darkening slopes, “there’s a strength in numbers that three guys can’t provide...at least not as well as seven.”
“Maintain quiet coms,” Boss replied, not looking back as he trudged onwards, “We aren’t associating with any of the others, is that understood?”
“With all due respect, sir...” Spotter never got the chance to finish as a green blob splattered across his left leg, gluing it to the ground. He gave a startled cry as he tripped and fell, his ankle twisting harshly within its green prison, “ow! Fuck! Taking fire!” Spotter yelled out.
“Give a bearing!” Boss yelled as he and Dice leaped to cover, two green blobs splattering across the ground where they’d been standing moments before.
“Damnit, I don’t know! It’s those black things from earlier!” Spotter said. A rising drone of wings began to surround the trio, a few more green blasts hitting the trees that the soldiers were hiding behind, effectively keeping them pinned down.
“How bad are you hurt? Can you move?” Dice called out, Boss leaned out of his cover for a moment, weapon to his eye. A single green blast zipped past his head and he pulled back, muttering a curse.
“No! This green shit’s adhesive as fuck! Twisted my ankle bad!” Spotter yelled back, looking back over his shoulder at his leg. A few changelings swapped cover, advancing, “They’re advancing on us!”
Spotter looked back forwards, grabbing his gun and rolling over with a grunt of pain. He fired off a few wild shots at the changelings behind cover.
“Boss, orders!” Dice yelled.
“They fired on us, follow ROE and try to keep them from advancing!” Boss replied. He peeked from cover for a fraction of a second, assessing the battlefield. They were still surrounded by trees on all sides meaning that cover was aplenty, “Spotter, pop one of your smokes. Dice, wait for it to cover him and then get him up!”
“Roger!” Spotter called, grabbing one of his smoke grenades.
“Roger!” Dice replied, waiting.
Spotter pulled the pin on his smoke grenade and rolled it past his feet so it was between him and any advancing enemies. He switched back to his rifle in time to spot a changeling peek from cover. He fired off a few shots and it ducked back behind a tree.
There was surprised chittering as the smoke cloud began to form, hissing away from the grenade and into the general area.
“Smoke’s covering! Get over here!” Spotter called out.
“If they’re intelligent they’ll use this time to advance on us, stay frosty, you two!” Boss yelled.
One of the pegasus guards ducked back through the tree canopy above.
“Sir, there appears to be some sort of smoke cloud up ahead. We aren’t sure if it’s the missing humans for certain,” he reported with a quick salute.
“Good,” the unicorn guard from earlier said, “which direction?”
“Orient a few degrees South and you’ll be headed right towards it,” the pegasus replied.
“Okay, then! You heard the stallion!” the unicorn called to his fellows and the two remaining Elements, “meet back up with the Element of Loyalty and Convection Current and scout ahead. Try not to get into any trouble, okay?”
“Yes sir,” the pegasus replied, zipping back up through the trees.
“Double time it, we’ve got some humans to find!” the unicorn called to the others as he began to gallop forwards.
“Where are they going?” Holey asked as the ponies headed out.
“I don’t know,” Redneck replied as he took up a jog after them, Holey in tow, “but I heard both of them say the word: ‘human’, so I’ll bet it’s the others. C’mon!”
“Does this look infected to you?” Snipes asked, holding up his bandaged hand for Pike to see.
“What? No. How the hell am I supposed to tell?” Pike replied, glancing over at Snipes’ hand for a second, “One: it’s bandaged, and two: you just got bit a few minutes ago, there wouldn’t be any sign of infection yet.”
Snipes sighed, “Nobody gets my references,” he muttered a little sadly.
The ponies were, piece by piece, putting the room back together as the two soldiers watched from the sidelines. The smaller creatures had made some progress, the room looked much more presentable than it had a few minutes ago.
“I wonder if the others are back yet. They missed out on all the fun,” Snipes said over TeamCom.
“They’d let us know over TeamCom when that happens,” Pike reasoned, “what the hell is taking them so long?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Snipes replied with a smile, looking over at Pike smugly and getting a pair of rolled eyes as a prize, “either way, if they decided to go through a drive through or something then they’d better bring me something back.”
Dice set his rifle down next to him, drawing a large knife in one fluid motion as he assessed Spotter’s injury.
“Know anything about this stuff?” he asked, poking at it with the knife.
“No. Try using your knife,” Spotter replied scanning through the smoke for any signs of changelings, Dice instantly dug his knife into the goop with an expert’s precision as and began to cut away.
There were occasional bursts of chittering from different directions, the sounds getting closer and closer with each chitter.
“Moving to your previous position, Dice,” Boss whispered into his comlink, “from there, flanking left. Stay quiet,” Boss began to creep to his left, towards where Dice had been hiding previously, scanning with his eye to his gunsight constantly for enemies.
“Boss?” Redneck’s voice asked back over the comlink, making the leader of Harbinger team want to smack himself for breaking comlink silence, “What’s going on? You guys in trouble?”
“Shit,” Boss muttered, not looking away from his weapon’s sight.
“Fine, be an asshole. We’ll catch up to you guys soon anyways.”
There was a crunch that sounded like a boot on a twig. Boss swiveled, dropping to a knee and finding a changeling in his sight. The changeling dove behind the cover of a tree, firing off a wild shot of goop that splattered against a tree harmlessly.
“They’re flanking us!” Boss called out, jumping behind a tree of his own.
“I’m working as fast as I can, Boss!” Dice yelled back.
Boss leaned around his cover, aiming at the tree that the changeling had taken cover behind. There was a spark of green in his peripheral vision and before he could react, his rifle was knocked away, sticking to a tree and covered in green goop.
“Fuck! My gun...” Boss turned in time to get knocked over by another changeling. The creature hissed in his face as it tried to pin him to the ground. Without hesitation, he drew his sidearm, tilting the weapon upwards and putting five bullets into the changeling, dropping the creature with a choked yelp of pain.
“What happened to your gun?” Dice called back as Boss shoved the body aside and got to his feet.
“Stuck to a fucking tree, how’s...” the other changeling poked its head around the tree and fired off a shot. The projectile struck Boss in the chest, knocking him off his feet. His head struck the ground hard, sending pain splintering through his skull. A black shape appeared before him, there was a flash of green, a spark of pain, and then everything went black.
“Moving to your previous position, Dice; from there, flanking left. Stay quiet.”
“Boss?” Redneck asked, surprised to hear Boss’ voice over his comlink, “What’s going on? You guys in trouble?”
The group of Guards, Elements, and humans continued towards the smoke, alert and ready for anything. The trees grew more dense, blocking out most of the area a few tens of yards in front of them and making it all that more difficult to spot anything.
Redneck waited for a reply, but got none.
“Fine, be an asshole. We’ll catch up to you guys soon anyways,” he grumbled.
There was a rustling from some bushes off to one side. Immediately everyone in the group turned to face them, horns charged and trigger fingers ready where applicable. Fluttershy gave a squeak of fear and hopped behind Applejack, peeking over her friendly cover.
“Don’t worry, guys!” the pegasus from earlier said, hopping out and letting everyone relax a little, “Just me.”
“Fleet Wing?” the group’s unicorn leader asked, “What do you have to report?”
“It was just a campfire, couple of ponies cooking some stuff on a little trip. They said that they thought they saw something heading South-ish that might have been the...um...” he looked over at Redneck and Holey, “what do you call them, again?”
“Humans.”
“Right, humans,” Fleet Wing said, storing the information away for later, “anyways, they went thataway,” the pegasus pointed South with a hoof and hopped into the air, hovering, “So if you’ll follow me...”
“Fleet Wing, hold up a minute. I want to ask you something,” the group leader said.
“Yes?”
“What’s my name?”
Fleet Wing gave his superior an odd look, “Why do you...”
Without hesitation, the group leader charged up his horn and fired a concussive punch, hitting Fleet Wing right in the chest, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him falling groundwards. The pegasus hit the ground and, with a flash of green light, the changeling lost its disguise.
“Govno!” Holey exclaimed, raising his weapon.
“What the fuck?” Redneck concurred, raising his weapon as well.
Before the changeling could get back up, the group leader leapt forwards and pinned it to the ground. He brought his horn to bear, bringing the glowing tip into contact with the changeling’s skull. The changeling countered, catching the pony’s horn with its own glowing one.
There was a visible struggle for a few moments before the green glow was overcome by the unicorn’s yellow. The changeling yelped and went still, breathing slowed to the rhythm of sleep.
“What in the name of Celestia?” Puddle Jumper exclaimed.
“Oh...my...” Fluttershy mumbled.
“Quiet!” the group leader hissed, dropping low to the ground, “stay low. Jumper, get us back to Canterlot! Bring the changeling.”
Everyone dropped low, the humans included as they noted the ponies doing it.
Puddle Jumper nodded, horn igniting with magical light.
“Hey, wait just a galdarned minute!” Applejack exclaimed, albeit quietly and with an anxious look around her, “We can’t just leave Rainbow Dash behind!”
“We aren’t,” the group leader asserted, glaring at Puddle Jumper when he noted he had listened to Applejack and stopped preparing to cast the teleport spell, “we’re retreating and coming back with reinforcements! Fleet Wing, or...” the leader gestured to the unconscious changeling, “...that thing, was probably going to lead us into a trap, that means that there’s more of them around here, more than we can safely handle.”
“No! Don’t cast that spell!” Applejack asserted, pointing a hoof at Puddle Jumper, then to the leader, “We can’t leave Rainbow Dash to the changelings! She’s one of the Elements! By the time that we get back, she’ll already be gone! We can’t let that happen.”
“Ugh! Cast that spell, Jumper! She’s a civilian and I’m your commanding officer!” the leader turned to Applejack, annoyed look on his face, “be quiet, Element of Honesty, if we go after the Element of Loyalty now, the changelings will get you and the Element of Kindness as well! We can’t risk that!”
“I’m an Element of Harmony, I’m pretty sure I outrank him!” Applejack countered to Jumper before turning back on the group leader, “and we have names, you know! But listen, Fluttershy and I know these woods well enough, we can sneak around, find Rainbow, and get back to Canterlot before the changelings know we’re even here!”
“Jesus, what the flying fuck are they arguing about?” Redneck grumbled, eyeing the woods carefully.
“Don’t know, I just hope there aren’t any more of those fucking black things around here. Why the hell did it look like one of those flying ones with the armor?” Holey replied.
“Magic!” Redneck exclaimed sarcastically, shaking his head, “how the hell should I know?”
Holey just shrugged.
The leader considered for a moment, glancing around the ground around him as if some of the dead leaves and brown dirt might hold clues to the right answer.
“Star Shine, sir?” Jumper asked, looking a little nervous, horn glowing dully with pale light.
“No, we go to Canterlot. A sneak attack might work...but only if we knew the enemy’s whereabouts, and we don’t. If we move fast we can still maintain the element of surprise and return in force,” Star Shine said, “Cast the spell.”
“Oh, for pete’s sakes!” Applejack grumbled, getting to her hooves and stomping over to Star Shine, “Fine, you go and Fluttershy and I will stay here. I know for a fact that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t leave us, so I sure as hay am not gonna leave her!”
“You don’t have that choice!” Star Shine asserted, “now stay down, you’re making yourself a target by standing...” a blast of green goop hit Applejack from behind, knocking her into Star Shine and sticking them both to the ground.
Fluttershy let out an ‘eep!’ while the other two Guards and two humans let out curses in each of their respective tongues. One of the changeling’s legs kicked as if the creature was dreaming.
“Cast the spell now!” Star Shine yelled, squirming in the green goop.
“Charging!” Jumper replied.
A few stray shots of green goop shot through the trees, zipping over the pony’s heads. In a panic, Fluttershy bolted towards Applejack and Star Shine. A stray shot grazed her flank right before another caught her hind hoof, bringing her back down to the ground and knocking the breath from her lungs.
“Holy horseapples!” Jumper exclaimed.
“I’ll try to free her!” the one remaining Guard said, crawling towards Fluttershy, who squirmed and tugged against the goop around her leg.
“No time, casting the spell!” Jumper said. He released the charged spell and the free ponies and humans disappeared from the clearing with a blast of magical energy.
Fluttershy stopped struggling, ears falling flat against her skull and her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she realized what had just happened.
“Um...well this is awkward,” Applejack mumbled as the sounds of buzzing wings grew louder throughout the forest.
There was a blast of magical energy as the Guards, humans, and one out cold changeling reappeared in a Canterlot square.
The sun burned into Redneck’s eyes as his muscles tingled from the spell. Holey dry heaved, trying not to throw up.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Jumper exclaimed, hopping to his hooves and looking around with frightened eyes, confirming that they were the only ones who had made it.
The Royal Guard were still in the process of cleaning up after the attack, albeit almost done. A few Guards rushed over upon seeing the new group teleport in.
“What happened?” one Guard asked.
“Didn’t three of the Elements go with you? Where are they?” another added.
“We were attacked by changelings!” Jumper exclaimed, “they got the elements, Star Shine, Fleet Wing, and Convection Current!” his eyes widened as he realized something, “We need to get more Guards and go back after them! Now, before it’s too late!”
The first Guard that had spoken nodded, “Everyone spread out and get more Guards! We can’t let the changelings take the Elements! Puddle Jumper, wait here and watch the humans, we’ll be back shortly.”
The others nodded and each rushed off to get reinforcements.
“Oh, sweet Celestia, what have I done!” Jumper cried, “I shouldn't have left them there! I...I...”
“Fuck me!” Holey growled, “I swear, the next time one of those fucking horses does something like that...” he gagged again, trying to keep the contents of his stomach where they were.
“Ow, shit do I hate doing that!” Redneck growled, switching on his comlink as he and Holey got to their feet, “Snipes, Pike, report.”
“Well it’s nice to see you too, Reddy,” Snipes replied.
“We were going to grab the stuff, but encountered more of those changeling things. Done and dealt with, but they really trashed this place, might take some more time to get what we need,” Pike added.
“Oh yeah, and one of those fucking things bit me. They have really sharp teeth. How’re you holding up, find the three musketeers?” Snipes continued.
“Negative, last we heard of the others they were in some trouble. A minute later we got ambushed by a changeling...oh, and be advised, I think those things can change shape, or turn into friendlies. The one that got the jump on us was disguised as one of those flying ones. We got ambushed and then I guess one of them teleported, or whatever, us back here. I can only hope that they’re collecting more soldiers to...”
There was a soft click of hooves on the cobblestone streets, followed shortly by something that was a little less quiet.
SO THOU ARE THE HUMANS CELESTIA HATH TOLD US ABOUT.
“What the flying...” Holey began, the two humans cringing at the loud voice that was suddenly in their heads. They turned to see none other than Princess Luna standing before them.
Puddle Jumper gasped, immediately saluting the princess.
“And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?” Redneck asked, rubbing his ear as if someone had yelled in it, only to realize that that wouldn't help due to the fact that the voice was inside his head.
WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA OF EQUESTRIA, SISTER OF PRINCESS CELESTIA OF EQUESTRIA AND GUARDIAN OF THE MOON AND STARS.
“Okay, Princess Luna of Equestria,” Redneck said, “I assume that someone’s taking us back to get the rest of our team. So if you could kindly point us in...”
DO NOT FEAR, HUMANS, THE GUARD SHALT TAKE IT FROM HERE. OUR SISTER, PRINCESS CELESTIA, HAS REQUESTED YOUR PRESENCE. WE SHALT TAKE YOU THERE SHORTLY.
Redneck opened his mouth to reply, but a quick teleport spell silenced him and forced him to stumble backwards with an aching stomach as he found himself someplace new.
“Oh, for the love of god, will you fucking creatures stop doing that!” Holey yelled, dropping his rifle to clutch at his skull.
WATCH YOUR TONGUE, HUMAN! YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF...
“Luna,” Celestia said, tone motherly as she sat upon her throne, “thank you for bringing the humans here, but would you mind toning your thought-voice down just a bit? We reserve the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice for times when the extra volume is actually needed, these days.”
“Apologies, sister,” Luna said, “we are still a bit out of date with the current times.”
“No need to apologize, I understand,” Celestia replied, “but please excuse the humans for their...” she glanced at the two in question, who were again recovering from mild teleport sickness, “...liberal application of foul language, I believe it may be a custom of theirs.”
“Oh,” said Luna, as the two ignited their horns.
“Okay, we’re here. Can you please make this quick, we’ve still gotta get the rest of our team,” Redneck began, noting that the princesses were casting their intercommunication spell, “those changeling things couldn’t have been there by accident or mere coincidence.”
I have tasked the Equestrian Royal Guard to handle this problem. We’ve dealt with the changelings before, and I feel that now that they have hostages, the situation calls for a less violent approach.
“Well then I’ll have to apologize for ruining your perfect little plan, Princess. If you think that I’m just going to sit here with my thumb up my ass, waiting for you...”
Redneck was cut off as the doors to the throne room burst open behind them, Twilight, Rarity, Pike, and Snipes rushing in. The first two of the quartet looked alarmed and anxious. Both Celestia and Luna stopped casting their translation spells, focusing on the two ponies who had just entered.
“We came as fast as we could, Princess!” Twilight exclaimed, “What happened to the others? Has the Guard found them yet? Why are the changelings attacking again? How did you know that they were...”
Celestia held up a single silencing hoof, quieting Twilight in a second.
“The Guard should have left moments ago, we can only hope that they’ll be able to get your friends back in time,” Celestia reassured calmly.
“Rarity and I need to go help them!” Twilight asserted, Rarity adding her vote with a nod, “We can...”
“I’m sorry, Twilight, but until further notice you and the rest of the Elements must remain here. I took an unnecessary risk in sending your friends to help in the first place, I cannot make that mistake again.”
“Well you guys sure got to the castle fast,” Snipes commented, joining Holey and Redneck with Pike, “you beat us and those damn ponies had us double timing like we were back in boot camp,” Snipes considered something for a moment, “though there was a lot less yelling...”
“Those damn horses teleported us again. Ugh,” Holey shuddered, “fucking hate that feeling.”
“We weren’t able to get anything yet,” Pike reported to Redneck, “some of the ones with armor practically threw us out after these two,” he gestured to Twilight and Rarity, “ran off. Not that we were going to find anything in that mess of a room anyways.”
“With all due respect, Princess Celestia, those are my friends that we’re talking about here! We can’t just leave them to...” Twilight tried again.
“You won’t be leaving them to anything but ponies who will try their hardest to get them back. The Guard shall not let us down, you’ll see,” Celestia intervened.
“But...”
“No ‘but’s’, Twilight,” Celestia calmly asserted, her tone ending any further argument while not sounding at all angry or otherwise violent, “Now...” she ignited her horn again, eyes closing in concentration.
Where were we...
Redneck turned from his comrades, facing the princess.
“There’s still three of my fellow soldiers out there unaccounted for, Princess,” Redneck said, pointing a finger towards a stained glass window for emphasis, “Just because a few of your guys got taken doesn’t mean that you get to kick us out of the fight.”
“What’s he saying?” Twilight whispered to Luna, who began to translate.
It does if ‘kicking you out’ ensures that none of my little ponies are harmed by your overzealous use of violent methodology.
“Them’s a lotta big words, big horsey lady,” Snipes said with a poor attempt at a southern drawl.
“Shut it, Snipes,” Pike hissed.
“Well, hey! If the big lady with the wings and head phallus wants to keep a group of Harbingers out of a hostage situation then don’t blame me if I don’t see it her way.”
“Head phallus!?” Twilight muttered, exchanging a perturbed look with Rarity, “is he implying...”
“Excuse me?” Redneck asked, turning on the team’s sniper, “that seems a rather different tune that you were tuting not an hour ago...”
“Yeah, because an hour ago we weren’t dealing with hostages, Reddy,” Snipes replied, “Harbingers don’t have that good a track record with delicate situations. It comes with the job description of ‘Harbingers don’t fucking exist’. We aren’t SWAT or SEALs, we’re the guys who come knocking when somebody higher up the food chain wants something illegal done without getting a bad rap.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t be trusted not to fire on friendlies,” Redneck asserted, “and do I need to remind you that those friendlies are our own men? Boss, Spotter, and Dice are somewhere out there and we don’t know whether it’s in enemy hands or not,” Redneck took a step forwards, pointing an accusatory finger, “do you think Spotter would do something like this? Would he just ditch you because of your so-called ‘job description’.”
Snipes crossed his arms, “Would Boss?”
“Would Dice?” Redneck growled.
Would both of you please step away from each other and calm yourselves so that we may discuss this peacefully?
Celestia interdicted.
Snipes and Redneck held a glaring contest for a few moments before Snipes uncrossed his arms.
“Sure,” he took a step back. Redneck glared for a second longer before relaxing his stance and turning back towards the Princess.
“Fine,” Redneck added, “let’s discuss this peacefully.”
“Mother fucker...” Boss mumbled, squinting against the pain, “did I get shitfaced with the other guys or something?” he tried to bring up a hand to rub his head, only to find it held down by something, “what the?” he turned his eyes downwards, his blurry vision clearing.
“You get shitfaced?” Spotter asked, making Boss realize that he wasn’t alone and was still on a mission. In an instant, everything came flooding back, reminding him of the situation.
“Fuck! Where are we!?” Boss asked, struggling as he opened his eyes, looking around.
“Beats me,” Dice grumbled, “those black things jumped me as I was cutting Spotter loose, and the next thing I know, I wake up here with one mother fucker of a headache,” he looked between the two others, being in the middle of their trio, “seems the same thing happened with you guys.”
“Shit, so what? Those black things captured us?” Boss reasoned, looking around. He and the others were all stuck in place by some greenish-black cocoons that reached up to their necks, the interiors of the cocoon felt mushy and thick, though not heavy enough to hamper breathing.
The room around them had one entrance and was entirely black, a few phosphorescent veins ran across the ceiling in a natural looking way. The three were dispersed in a row, more or less all facing the entrance. A constant dripping sound echoed from some far off place.
Boss noted with a sense of unease that all of their weapons were gone, their helmets also missing from the room.
“Looks like it,” Spotter grumbled, glaring unhappily around him, “fucking Snipes. Had to go and start shooting at whatever the fuck these things are. Perfect first contact scenario! Absolutely perfect!”
“As I recall,” Boss replied evenly, ignoring the argument about whether or not their current situation was real, “you and Holey opened fire as well.”
“Yeah,” Spotter admitted, trying to turn himself to get a better look at Boss, but finding himself unable due to his predicament, “but that’s only because they were going after him. An asshole he may be, but I’m not going to leave him to the buzzards,” his frown deepened, “hell knows he’d have done the same for me.”
Before Boss could reply, a loud clacking sound disconnected from the constant dripping, the sound of hooves trotting over stone. All eyes went to the single entrance, varying feelings of unease and anger flowing amongst the three.
And along came Queen Chrysalis. Her mane, tail, and gossamer wings looked disheveled, her eyes bore a half-hidden fatigue, and her limbs were still filled with holes.
“I hear that you don’t understand this language,” she said, gaze sliding between the three faces as she stopped in the middle of the room, two smaller changelings flanking her.
“Ugh, jesus, these things never learn,” Spotter muttered to himself before turning up the volume for the changeling Queen, “We don’t speak your language!”
Chrysalis turned her gaze to him and he flinched as she started to come forwards. Her horn began to glow with a magical, green light as she approached the human.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! No! I didn’t mean anything!” Spotter exclaimed as, approaching, Chrysalis lowered her horn to his forehead’s level, not stopping her slow-but-steady approach.
“Hey, what’re you doing, black thing?” Dice yelled warningly to Chrysalis, “don’t you fucking do it!”
“Guys! Help!” Spotter called out as the changeling queen drew ever closer to him, eyes unfaltering as he tried to squirm away.
“Trying! Can’t!” Boss growled as he tried to force his way out of his binding shell, Dice trying to do the same. Both soldiers struggled, exertion showing on their faces as they tried to force their cocoons open to no avail.
Chrysalis’ horn made contact, diving right into Spotter’s skull like a knife through butter. His and Chrysalis’ eyes grew wide as a pain drove itself like a chisel into Spotter’s skull.
He would have screamed, but a sudden mental connection to Chrysalis overloaded his brain. His jaw fell open in a dumbfounded look, his eyes a million miles away from the sensory overload. In an instant he could feel the other creature’s mind. Raw emotion berated him, a mixture of anger, rage, desperation, sadness, fear...and a single spark of hope.
Chrysalis, after the mere second she needed to do what she desired, pulled back, clenching her jaw and squeezing her eyes shut. She placed a hoof to her head as if struck by a sudden, intense headache. Beside her, both changelings flinched as well. Spotter gasped, his mind still reeling.
“You sack of shit!” Boss roared at the changeling, trying to lunge towards the Queen, “I’ll kill you!”
Spotter wore a dazed expression on his face, staring off into nothingness for a few seconds before blinking a few times.
“What in the name of…did I just get mind raped?” Spotter asked himself.
“Wait, Spotter?” Boss asked, turning his raging gaze from Chrysalis to Spotter, noting that the teammate was not, in fact, dead.
“You alright, Spotter? What the hell just happened?” Dice asked, glancing from the recovering Chrysalis to Spotter and back.
Spotter opened his mouth to speak, but something else beat him to it.
“Now, which among you is the leader?” Chrysalis asked in flawless English.
Thank you. Now, let us discuss the next course of action more reasonably. My species has dealt with the changeling menace before, rest assured, we know what we’re doing, your people are in good hooves.
Redneck, still upset, looked to the Princess, “But you don’t understand our language! How do you expect to communicate what’s going on to my men? You need us there.”
A fair enough claim, I suppose. If any of you wish to go, you may. However, I must ask that any of you going relinquish your weapons for the duration of the mission.
Snipes chuckled, getting annoyed eyes from the other three humans in the room.
“Don’t you say a word,” Redneck glowered, turning at the sound of the laugh with a face laden with sudden anger.
Snipes, smiling, gave a nod and gestured for Redneck to continue.
“Apologies, princess, but where we go, so do our weapons,” Redneck replied as he turned back to the princess, getting a pair of rolled eyes from Snipes.
Celestia frowned.
Then I must ask that you remain here.
“In spite of the fact that the language barrier here is going to make it all that much harder to rescue them,” Redneck continued, anger still noticeable on his face and in his tense stance.
Yes, in spite of that fact. I’ve witnessed what your weapons are capable of and I do not want them being used in my country or in any way that may affect my people. The fact that I let you hold onto them is only forced by the fact that I do not understand how they work or how they may be turned off.
A noticeable redness filled Redneck’s face. He took a step forwards, opening his mouth and pointing an angry finger to reply, before Holey stepped in.
“Whoa, there. Let’s not get over-agitated by the poorly-worded princess,” he began, setting a hand on his superior’s shoulder before turning to Celestia, “Princess, that’s a very delicate topic to bring up.”
I don’t see how that’s...
“Drop it,” Redneck growled with a deathly glare, stopping Celestia mid-thought speech.
“That’s no way to talk to the princess,” Twilight muttered to herself, Luna still translating the conversation to her and Rarity in the background.
Fine. Though I retain the request that if you wish to go on this mission that you do not bring your weapons with you. Such is my request if you wish to go along. Do not forget that you’re in my country, my rules apply here.
“Look, if that’s the way it’s gotta be, then fine,” Snipes said, “I’ll go with them. I’ve got no problem letting someone babysit Sep and my sidearm for a bit.”
Sep?
“Not important,” Redneck growled before turning to Snipes, “No, you aren’t going anywhere. Especially not anywhere near Boss for the time being,” Redneck turned back to Celestia, “none of us are going anywhere without our weapons, we don’t know this land at all and I’m not willing to let something get the better of me just because I’m not armed. We’ve already lost three men, I’m not losing any more because they can’t fucking defend themselves.”
Resorting to petty cuss words is not going to get you anything, Redneck.
“Yeah? Well neither is playing nice, it seems,” Redneck countered.
The Princess’ face grew into an annoyed look, her eyes ever-closed as she remained in deep concentration.
Is there no way for you to set your weapons from kill to stun?
“No,” Redneck replied, shuffling his feet to take a more comfortable stance, “we can aim for less-lethal areas, but that’s about it.”
Then I must ask that you remain here. For the duration of your stay...however long that may be.
“Well,” Snipes said, clapping his hands together, “that’s that, then. Can we please finish up with this god-awfully boring argument and get on with our lives?” he looked around at his comrades.
“I would, but that’d mean going after the others,” Redneck replied through gritted teeth, turning to Snipes, “something that this high-horse doesn’t want us doing for no good reason.”
Another flicker of annoyance flashed across Celestia’s face.
No good reason? Ours is a land of peace and harmony and you and your tools of death threaten that peace and harmony. I will not have you influence my people with your barbaric methods!
“Oh really?” Redneck turned back to Celestia, growing anger in his voice, “so you call being at war with those changelings a perfect picture of peace and harmony? Hell, if that’s the case then I’d like to see what you call war and chaos!”
Celestia’s frown deepened, her brow furrowing in mild anger.
You came to our nation at a bad time.
“Yeah, no shit!” Redneck spat, “And another thing! You seemed pretty okay with the idea of us helping out retaking this damn castle place not two hours ago with guns blazing! What the hell happened that now makes us abso-fucking-lete?”
I thought it was necessary at that point, desperation clouded my judgement. We now have the upper hoof over our enemies and my desperation has led to logic and your barbaric measures are no longer needed.
“Well ain’t that just perfect!” Redneck growled, jabbing a finger towards the princess, “once you’re through wiping you just throw us in the shitter and flush us down with the rest of the shit! You fucking…” he sputtered for a moment, searching for a decent word, “...tyrant!”
“This is getting way out of control,” Holey muttered to himself.
Now it was Celestia’s turn to look enraged. She took a menacing step forwards. When she spoke again, her mental voice had raised a few notches. Redneck half-raised his rifle, the other soldiers tensing up.
I WILL NOT BE INSULTED IN MY OWN THRONE ROOM! SO LONG AS YOU REMAIN IN MY KINGDOM YOU WILL DO SO AS VISITORS AND FOLLOW MY LAWS OR SO HELP ME I WILL BANISH ALL OF YOU TO THE SUN!
Her horn’s golden glow grew brighter as she took another step forwards.
“Back off!” Redneck yelled, raising his rifle as he retreated a step, “or so help me..!”
“Whoa!” Holey exclaimed, running to the spot between the angry princess and human, “Let’s everybody calm down here. Tensions are high, I know, but let’s just…”
“Out of the fucking way, Holey!” Redneck growled, eyes aflame with rage.
“Reddy, seriously, back the fuck off now,” Snipes cut in, drawing his sidearm on his superior officer, his tone suddenly dead serious.
Redneck turned his head to the Sniper, leaving his rifle trained on the princess, “The fuck? Put it down, Snipes, I’m warning you.”
“I’m warning you, dickhead,” Snipes retorted, not lowering his handgun.
“Seriously..?” Holey put in, Pike backing away in silence, clutching the black box to his chest as if to shield it.
BOTH OF YOU LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!
SISTER-
Luna began, only to be interrupted.
“With all due respect, Princess,” Redneck began, turning his head back to Celestia, “which is none, shut the fuck up!”
“Guys..!” Holey tried again, more loudly this time.
“Yeah, listen to the bible-humping skinhead,” Snipes said to the Princess, tone still no bullshit, his eyes deadly serious, “you aren’t helping this much.”
“Fine...dumb motherfuckers,” Holey growled quietly to himself, as he knelt down, digging through his rucksack.
“Fuck you, Snipes! What the-”
“May I have your fucking attention!” Holey yelled, drawing all eyes to him. He stood back up, hands spread out as if he were going to be crucified. In one hand he held the green orb of a hand grenade. In the other...a pin.
The room grew silent.
“We,” Holey began, his voice calm and quiet. He spoke slowly, looking from Snipes, to Redneck, and the Princess, “are going to play the quiet game. Or so help me I’m going to kill everyone in this room,” he looked back over the three once more, “Okay?”
“I lose!” Snipes called out, some of his serious tone dying.
Holey glared over at the sniper and Snipes drew his fingers across his mouth as if he were zipping it shut.
“Who the fuck gave you the-” Redneck began.
“Quiet,” Holey interrupted.
“I know you aren’t going to drop it, Holey. Stand down,” Redneck ordered, though most of the redness had died from his face, a hint of doubt in his voice.
“Oh really?” Holey inquired, a mock-inquisitive look on his face, “I’m still of the mind that this is a simulation and that if we die here then we just wake up in a big metal cylinder with a bunch of wires attached to our skull.
“The worst thing that’s going to happen is I’m going to get marked down for something stupid. If you’re so sure, then just say something,” Holey looked at his superior more pointedly, “just one more thing, Redneck.”
Again silence fell over the room. Redneck opened his mouth to say something, Holey tightened his glare at him.
Redneck remained silent, closing his mouth, his weapon lowering shortly thereafter.
“And if you’re wondering, Princess,” Holey looked back over his shoulder at the alicorn, “this is an M sixty-seven grenade. If I drop this, it’s going to kill everyone in this room,” he turned back to Redneck and Snipes, “just to dispel any doubt.
“Now, I want everyone in this room to lower their weapons and calm down before we proceed. All this ear and mind splitting yelling is giving me a goddamned headache and is getting us nowhere. More shit than we ever dreamed we’d ever face is happening and no one is hunky-dory. We’re all on fuses shorter than the one that I hold in my hand and if we start exploding, everyone’s going to end up just as fucked as if I drop this grenade.”
The room stood dead still. Celestia remained with a glare where she stood, eyes squeezed shut and horn aglow with light. Redneck’s glare had faded and his weapon was raised, but slightly off target now. Snipes still had his handgun raised, but the seriousness had died from his face.
A click startled everyone as Snipes hit his handgun’s decocker, dropping the hammer without setting off a round. He lowered the weapon and slid it back into its holster, letting his arms hang loosely by his sides.
Redneck turned his gaze to the Princess, hesitating a moment before lowering his rifle and taking his finger off the trigger.
The Princess’ face remained fixed in a glare as she stood where she was, two aggressive steps towards Redneck.
“Please take a couple steps back, Princess,” Holey requested. The Princess flinched at the words, her glare deflating part way before she took two steps back, “Thank you. Now, I’m finding this whole ordeal to be boring as all hell so why don’t we all just take a five minute break and get all of our arguments settled, alright? Plus, this grenade is getting heavy and I’d like to put the pin back in now.”
“Okay, fine, Holey’s right. Everyone’s PMSing and we need to all take a quick tampon break. Let’s go!” Snipes said, gesturing to the door and leading the way.
Redneck spared Holey a quick glare, but complied with a, “I’ll be back, Princess.”
Celestia remained silent as Holey slid the pin back into the grenade, tossing it casually form one hand to the other as he followed the others out of the throne room. Pike hesitated a moment before following after Holey, leaving the ponies to themselves.
“What the hay is a tampon break?” Twilight inquired to no one in particular.
“You...you can talk?” Spotter asked, breaking the silence. The other two continued to give the creature nothing but jaw-dropped looks.
Chrysalis regarded them for a moment before speaking again, “I could always talk. It was your dialect that was simply unknown to me. So I pulled it from your mind,” Chrysalis replied, taking another step towards Spotter, making him flinch as she eyed him up and down, “Don’t worry about any precious secrets within that skull of yours, though. I left everything else untouched as per law.
“But enough idle chit-chat. Tell me...are you the leader of your group?”
“No, that’d be me,” Boss spoke up, finally finding his voice, “and...and as such I ask that you release us at once. There’s been a misunderstanding that we need to clear up.”
“Pulled it from my mind?” Spotter wondered to himself, ignored by the others.
“Oh really?” Chrysalis asked, turning to the darker skinned of the three humans, she examined him glaringly with greenish-blue eyes, “do explain, then.”
“Earlier today, some of my men went against my orders and opened fire on what I assume are your people. I do not know what made them do it, but I assure you that it was against my orders,” Boss explained, trying to adjust himself within his cocoon-like prison.
“Really, now?” Chrysalis inquired, pressing her face closer to Boss’ own, a flash of anger lighting her face. Boss didn’t flinch as he tried to keep his face neutral in spite of everything, “and was it also against your orders when you ‘opened fire’ on us not an hour ago?”
Boss met her angry look with one of his own, “Your people attacked us first in that case-”
“After you had provoked us,” Chrysalis cut in as she pulled back, turning her back on him an examining a hole-filled hoof with downcast eyes, “making that action wholly legitimate.”
“Except that my men went against my orders in firing on your people!” Boss retorted with a growl, again struggling temporarily to escape from his entrapment, “they acted as their own party!”
Chrysalis pondered a moment, lowering her hoof to the floor and tapping it for a few short seconds before turning back around to face Boss, “Fair enough...to a degree,”
“To a degree!? No! Not to a-” Boss was again interrupted.
“In any case!” Chrysalis interrupted again, once more stepping closer and giving his trapped form a slow once-over, “you are in no position to dictate terms to me. If you want your freedom then there’s one thing that I need from you first.”
“And what’s that?” Boss asked with a growl.
“Your weapons,” Chrysalis began, a smile crossed her face as she leaned in closer, “you must show me how to use them…”
“Well, all of us almost just died,” Snipes commented as the double doors leading to the throne room slammed shut.
“Shut it,” Holey grumbled a second before Redneck did. The second soldier, however, had more to say.
“And what the fuck was all that back there!?” Redneck growled, jabbing with a finger towards the door.
“I’m not going to have to pull the pin on this thing again, am I?” Holey inquired, tossing the grenade from one hand to the other.
Redneck gave the other soldier a sidelong glare.
“Either you two debate this civilly or I will,” Holey warned, “I’m not listening to anymore yelling.”
“Fine,” Redneck growled, taking a calming breath and facing Snipes, “What the...hell was that back there?” he asked once more, voice a tad calmer, arms crossed in front of him.
“I think they call them ponies or something,” Snipes quipped with a sly grin.
Redneck scowled back.
“What do you mean by ‘that’?” Snipes inquired.
“You drew on me,” Redneck replied throwing out his arms for a second, “What the hell?”
“Same reason Boss drew on me back in the forest,” Snipes replied evenly, copying Redneck’s stance.
“Because you’re losing your shit over everything that’s happening?” Redneck demanded, “Can’t take the heat or something so you’re freaking out?”
Snipes was quiet for a moment before replying, “Okay, fine, I lied. I did it because you drew on the princess.”
Silence.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Redneck asked as his face twisted into a scowl. He took a menacing step forwards. Both Pike and Holey also gave the sniper strange looks.
Snipes didn’t flinch, “You threatened the horse with the horn and wings,” he explained.
“What the...you…” Redneck sputtered for a moment, “You drew your fucking gun on me because I pointed mine at her!? The fuck is up with your loyalties, man? You don’t answer to her, you answer to me! She’s not the one who gives you orders that you are supposed to fucking follow!”
“I’ve begun to question previous loyalties myself, Reddy,” Snipes replied, arms still crossed in front of him, “face the fucking facts; whether you like it or not we’re stuck on an alien planet with no way of getting back. That stupid little black box,” he gestured calmly to the device Pike was holding, “it’s not some fucking key to some fucked up sim. This is the real world!” He gestured outwards with his hands, looking around slowly before settling his eyes back on Redneck, “Everything you see here is real. Wake up and smell the ashes!”
“Yeah, because that makes perfect fucking sense!” Redneck retorted, “we somehow landed on some alien planet with telekinetic mythological creatures!”
“Why would JSOC put us into a broken sim?” Snipes demanded, the cheer gone from his voice once more, voice now level with Redneck’s.
“I don’t know!” Redneck yelled back.
“Exactly!” Snipes replied, throwing out his arms again, “there’s no explanation for why they’d pull us from our mission mid-flight without telling us! Training?” he ticked off a finger, “No! They want to fuck with us?” he ticked off another, “No! The situation changed in the course of an hour?” and another one, “No! Someone they had us fuck decided to return the favor?” one more, “No!”
“Then how do you explain all this?” this time it was Redneck who gestured around him.
Snipes shrugged, “How do you explain the seven wonders of the world? How do you explain the big bang? How do you explain the popularity of Uwe Boll movies?” he paused for a moment, “Honestly? There’s plenty of things in life without decent explanations. Nothing logical makes sense besides what I can see with my eyes,” he jabbed two fingers towards his face, “And you know what? Maybe it’s for the better!”
“What?”
“Maybe it’s for the better!” Snipes repeated, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m lost in fucking paradise!”
“The fuck are you going on about, Snipes?” Redneck asked.
“I’ve seen and done things-” Snipes began.
“Oh, don’t give me that fucking crap,” Redneck complained, “We’re soldiers, there’s some stuff that we do that isn’t entirely nice but that doesn’t-”
“You’re not a sniper, Reddy, you don’t get time to think about killing someone!” Snipes yelled, interrupting Redneck. The unexpected outburst startled the superior soldier into silence and Snipes continued, “I do. I know every detail, I see every detail. Watch that startled expression the second before a man drops from a bullet to the heart, watch a bullet go through some little…” Snipes stopped himself, overcome with a sudden inner struggle. He turned around to face the wall, his tone was dead serious, “Short story short, sometimes you feel like you get to know a bit about these people before you kill them, they aren’t threatening you, they don’t even know that you’re fucking there! And a lot of the time with Harbingers, we’re not killing people who deserve it! I’m sick and tired of doing it! Sick and tired of killing people who don’t deserve it for people I don’t even fucking know!
“Harbingers has had me do some really fucked up shit, Redneck, and this!” he turned back to the trio, his expression pained, “This is where it all ends! All the bullshit! Here I can finally do something good for once in my military career! Wherever the flying fuck your stupid god dropped us, it’s all crystal clear!” he rapidly tapped his skull with a finger as if to emphasize his point, “Right and wrong are as clear as day and night! This world is black and fucking white! Here, I know that I can defend the right from wrong! I don’t have to go around doing some political prick’s dirty work! Here, I can finally do something that is fucking right!”
Another bout of silence erupted, Redneck’s face twisting into a disgusted look.
“Jesus Christ, man. You’re fucking insane, you know that!? You’re no fucking better than Boss!” Redneck snapped, “What the fuck, man? So, what? This is where you aim to redeem yourself? Get to play the bold and righteous hero in your own sick little world? Save the miniature colorful horses from the black evil things!?” he paused, struggling with his rage for a moment, “And what...the fuck is this shit about who we kill in Harbingers? Doing some political prick’s dirty work? Let me tell you something, you piece of fucking shit! You tell me what we were doing before we took this little side trip to insanity, huh?” he stepped forwards and jabbed a finger into Snipes’ shoulder, pushing the other back a step, “What were we on that plane headed for Cuba for, anyways?”
Silence fell on the room where Chrysalis, two changelings, and the three human prisoners resided in the wake of the Queen’s statement.
Boss’ face remained annoyed. If the statement had been shocking, it didn’t show.
Dice reevaluated the Queen with his eyes, sizing her up with a curious eye.
A knowing, and somewhat scared, look crossed Spotter’s face.
“So you can beat the horses,” Spotter said, half to himself.
“The Equestrians,” Chrysalis corrected with a hiss, “but yes. It will ensure our victory and our survival in our war against them.”
“No. Absolutely not! We can’t take sides in a war that doesn’t concern us,” Spotter asserted, “We have no purpose being here, we can’t help you or the Equestrians.”
“You aren’t the leader of your group,” Chrysalis retorted, turning to Boss, “Well?” she inquired.
“I may not be, but I’m certain that I speak our team’s opinion when I speak,” Spotter countered, looking to the others for support.
Boss remained silent for a short time under the scrutiny of all eyes in the room. Spotter’s determined pair told him that they had no right being here. Dice’s told him that he’d stick by whatever decision he chose. Chrysalis’ showed a determination and, while he was no expert on reading the eyes of aliens, there was a hint of something else in them as well…
“What are you going to do if we refuse?” Boss inquired.
“Keep you here and continue on with my war against the Equestrians, we will win,” the last part was a statement, Chrysalis’ voice dead certain, “When I eventually get your other friends I shall have their testimonies and shall decide whether or not to consider you enemies to our hive. After that...who knows?
“If, on the other hoof, you decide to help us, we shall make certain that you are handsomely rewarded. We shall drop all charges against you three, even your traitorous members if you like, and let you do as you see fit after we win this war.
“If you choose to help me then I am certain that the war shall end far sooner. With your technological edge, Equestria shall surrender.”
Boss was again quiet for a moment, an evaluating look in his eyes.
“You can’t be serious, Boss!” Spotter exclaimed.
“I’m considering all of our options! Now be quiet, that’s an order.”
“Might I ask why you are fighting?” Dice spoke up.
“Survival,” Chrysalis stated, turning to him.
“Care to elaborate?” Dice asked.
“My race, the changelings, feed off of the emotion of love: the action of having a creature care for us whether that action is forced or genuine, though genuine love tastes so much better. Without it we wither away and die.
To put it simply: the Equestrians are a very loving race. Diplomacy has failed and so if my species is to survive, we must take what is ours by force!” a brief fire glared in the Queen’s eyes, a similar blaze taking the lesser changeling’s eyes as they bared their short fangs.
Dice noted the display in silence, eyes scanning over the action cleverly, “And how has diplomacy failed? What did you do to try to get what you wanted?”
“I petitioned to Princess Celestia of Equestria for help. All that I asked was for some of her subjects. Just enough to keep us going. Simply put: she adamantly refused. I made my intentions clear, and she knows how our species functions. She knows that if she refused, that we would die.”
“Enough of this!” Spotter exclaimed, “we can’t help them, it isn’t our-”
“Quiet for a moment,” Dice retorted, cutting Spotter off, “explain to us, then, how your species functions.”
Chrysalis eyed Dice quizzically for a moment, as if trying to discern his motive, a single brow raised curiously before she spoke once more.
“We do ingest both solid and liquid fuel,” she glared off at a wall, the two smaller creatures fluttering their wings as if agitated, “though both have been hard to come by in recent times. But that’s not important, our true sustenance is gained when we can draw the energies of love from another creature.
“So long as the creature’s love is directed towards us,” she pointed a black hoof to her chest, “we can suckle off the love energies. The more that we get, the more powerful we become.”
“I see...I think,” Dice replied, “and what happens to the quote “victim” un-quote as a part of this process?”
Chrysalis frowned, “Short term effects are negligible. If we feed off a creature for too long, they can become emotionally drained, this is sometimes permanent. They are effectively uncaring, robot-like in all that they do.”
“Hm. So if I were to love you, that’d work?” Dice inquired, “hypothetically,” he added a bit apprehensively.
Chrysalis eyed him silently for a moment again before breaking out into a laugh, throwing her head back as the two smaller changelings at her flanks smiled with choked hisses of laughter.
“Apologies if I offer insult, but I doubt that a creature like yourself has much potential for love,” Chrysalis gestured vaguely with a hoof, “what with your weapons and demeanor. You’re a war-loving race like the griffons. Correct me if I’m wrong, but love isn’t the highest link on your species’ chain, is it?”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean-” Dice began.
“‘Maybe’ or not, the Equestrians are a species who do have love set as their top priority. Above all others, they are the only ones with the capacity to keep my race alive and yet they refuse to do so!” she growled with the stomp of a hoof, the two smaller changelings bristling in unison.
“Well maybe they’ve got a good reason,” Spotter put forwards.
Chrysalis bared her fangs, turning to Spotter with glaring eyes. The other two changelings mirrored her as she began to approach the soldier.
“What good reason is there for the extinction of my species!?” she yelled, voice deadly as she came closer, eyes igniting with anger. The two changelings by her side mimicked her angered look.
“I...well...um…” Spotter stuttered, eyeing her approaching horn sharply, “are you certain that there is no alternative? You...mentioned griffons earlier?”
Chrysalis snarled, turning away from Spotter and trotting a short distance away, “The griffons are a cautious, but war-loving race. They’re intelligent and the only thing holding them back from taking Equestria are the ponies inhabiting it. They have very little grasp of magic, the Equestrians are masters of the arcane arts.”
“Magic?” Dice inquired.
Chrysalis snorted, looking at the soldier, “Do not tell me that you do not know about magic.”
“Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand,” Dice replied flatly, “simple tricks.”
“Do you call this!” a flash of green fire erupted around Chrysalis, the humans flinching back at the sight. When the fire cleared, Princess Celestia eyed the three warily, “a simple trick?”
“Maybe not,” Dice admitted, looking the Princess up and down, “how do you do it?”
Chrysalis flashed back to normal, “All changelings have unique camouflaging abilities. We can draw upon the magical energies around us to reshape our forms to a degree.”
“Some sort of weird radiation, maybe?” Spotter muttered to himself.
“Enough of this idle chatter,” Chrysalis spoke up, turning to Boss, “hurry and make up your mind. Are you with my species?” her tone darkened, “or against it.”
Snipes folded his arms, but was otherwise silent, glowering back at Redneck.
“Go on! Fucking tell me!” Redneck demanded.
“Bounce off fucking Cuba to hide our actual approach vector, HALO jump into North Korea, bust down some doors, and shoot some of their nukes off before going ghost,” Snipes said, almost mechanically, “The nukes get zapped by our satellites, no harm done to anyone, and everyone and their fucking whore grandmother shoots off their nukes at North Korea, wiping the communist cock-suckers off the face of the earth before they start the third world war. No one’s the wiser. No one hates on the States. We’re one big happy family again.”
“And you think that’s just some pencil dick desk-worker’s wet dream fantasy?” Redneck growled, “These fucking banana skins are getting worse by the fucking hour back home! It’s the cold war all over again only this time someone is going to press the big red button and if we don’t control who does it when then the whole world’s fucked!” Redneck clutched his skull with rage for a moment, “Goddamnit, Snipes! The world needs this to be done! You your-fucking-self were on board with this plan not...what? How long have we been here?”
“Less than a day,” Holey reported, glaring eyes showing that he was on Redneck’s side for this one.
“Yeah, less than a fucking day ago! And already you’re calling everything quits and saying ‘fuck the world’ like some...some dickheaded misanthrope!?”
“This world doesn’t need us to make Korea blow itself up!”
“Ours does!” Redneck yelled, pushing his face in closer to Snipes.
The two large doors to the throne room burst open, Luna stepping through with an annoyed look on her face. They closed before the humans could look inside. Luna quickly closed her eyes and lit her horn with magical light.
WHAT IS ALL THIS YELLING THAT WE HEAR!?
“Just a happy little conversation, Princess,” Snipes replied with a lingering hint of anger.
IT DOTH NOT SOUND HAPPY TO OUR EARS.
Luna retorted in thoughtspeak..
“What do you want?” Redneck asked, a slight growl in his voice.
Luna’s frown deepened with annoyance.
WE HEARD THY YELLING AND CAME TO SEE WHAT WAS THE MATTER. WE HAD THOUGHT THAT ALL OF THEE WERE CALMING THYSELVES FROM THE HEATED DEBATE, YET FIND YOU HERE IN YET ANOTHER.
“Geez, what’s with all the capslock?” Snipes inquired, covering ears to no effect.
WHAT IS THIS CAPSLOCK THAT YOU SPEAK OF?
“You’re very loud,” Holey dumbed down.
WE ARE SIMPLY USING THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE! AS IS STANDARD FOR SPEAKING WITH OUR SUBJECTS.
“Yeah, well we aren’t your subjects, so could you please talk to us a little more quietly?”
Luna paused for a moment, frowning as if a sudden realization had struck her.
OH, WELL...perhaps we could lower our voice a tad. Our apologies, we should have remembered that diplomats do not tend to enjoy the Royal Canterlot Voice...
“No harm done,” Snipes replied, anger gone and cheer aplenty as he waxed out one of his ears with a finger, adding, “...I hope.”
Our sister wishes that you make up your mind. Shall you lay down your arms and join a group to find your fellows or stay behind the walls? Our sister wishes to know soon, for she has other duties to attend to.
“Hmph,” Redneck harrumphed, crossing his arms, “We don’t go where our guns don’t, that’s final.”
Luna nodded.
Good, for we believe that we may be able to help you do so, but you will require those weapons.
“How about this,” Boss began, again trying to adjust himself in the cocoon, “You let us out of these goddamned things and let us all sort this out amongst ourselves,” Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, Boss added, “Privately.”
Chrysalis closed her mouth again, considering for a moment, dripping water echoed throughout the cavern, “You’ll try to escape,” she stated, eyeing them warily.
“We don’t have our weapons and we don’t know the way out,” Boss countered, “You give and you might get. I’ll consider your offer if you let us walk around and think about this without you breathing down our backs.”
Chrysalis snorted, “We’ll win this war either way, I don’t have to play nice with you to get my way,” the changelings at her sides looked equally derisive.
Boss was quiet for a moment, meeting Chrysalis’ eyes without flinching, “Bullshit,” he stated plain and simply.
Chrysalis grew silent for a moment, her gaze turned calculating for a moment, eyes flickering amongst the three captive humans. A thin smile finally creased her lips.
“Fair enough, you called my bluff,” she said, aiming and firing a trio of green blasts. The soldiers flinched as the blasts struck their cocoons, making the structures wither away and release their captives onto the hard floor. Green slime, coating their armor, dribbled off as if some massive creature had sneezed on them.
“Ew,” Spotter muttered as the stuff steadily peeled off under its own weight, puddling on the floor at his feet.
“You have five minutes,” Chrysalis said, turning to the exit with her two changelings on her tail. As she headed out, she called back, “try anything and there will be a thousand of my changelings to put you back in those cocoons. This time I won’t leave your heads exposed.”
And with that, Chrysalis and her underlings were gone.
“So how’re we getting out of here?” Spotter asked in a hushed voice once he assumed that Chrysalis was out of earshot.
“We might be taking sides,” Boss said, half to himself as he stretched with a thoughtful face, staring off at a wall with a pondering gaze.
“What? No! We can’t!” Spotter exclaimed in a hushed voice, throwing a scared glance down the tunnel, “Boss, this isn’t our fight!”
“That’s what I was telling myself earlier,” Boss replied, giving the younger soldier a stern look that he returned with a frown, “only now we’re forced into a position where not choosing sides gets us in deep shit,” he turned his gaze upwards, only seeing the black ceiling laced with phosphorus, glowing veins, “someone outside the sim wants us to take sides in this...maybe opposite ones from the rest of the team. I don’t know why, but maybe we’re supposed to know that this isn’t reality.”
“You still think this is a sim!?” Spotter exclaimed, throwing another cautious glance down the hallway, stance growing more agitated.
Again Boss turned to Spotter, an uncertain look crossing his face, “Mostly, yes,” he replied, pausing for a moment, “I’m keeping all options open and it’s the one that lets me keep my cool the best.”
“Yeah, plus,” Dice added, checking over his gear and frowning at both his missing knives and medical equipment, “if what our lovely friend said is true and the pon-, er, Equestrians denied them a food source, then perhaps they aren’t the ones on the moral high ground after all. I mean, that’s just fucked up.”
“There’s always two sides to every coin,” Spotter put in, sending an unhappy look to Dice, not convinced.
“You don’t think I know that, mate?” Dice asked, “We are going in half-blind if we choose one side or the other as is.”
“But that’s what Harbingers do on a normal basis,” Boss added neutrally, “Most of the time we’re going in with only half a clue about the general terrain, enemy identity and armament. It’s our job to figure out the ROE once JSOC dumps us in hell.”
“Yeah, and we need to maintain your first ROE. This isn’t our fight!” Spotter said with a stomp, not caring that his voice was suddenly raised above a whisper.
Boss considered for a moment longer.
“Maybe you’re right...maybe you’re wrong. Whatever the answer is, I’ve got a decision to make.”
“Well good, then!” Snipes exclaimed, clapping his hands together and clasping them before him, “What’s the plan, Princess?”
Luna’s mouth turned into a confused frown.
Thy eagerness surprises us. Though it is suitable all things considered. Come, our sister wished us to show thee to thy quarters, and we wish for a more secluded spot for our plans...
Luna led the group down glorious halls lined with massive pillars, the high ceilings somewhat comical compared to the size of the ponies that must have built them. It seemed that those with great power built even greater things, both human and pony.
Luna eventually came to a door, which she opened with magic. Everyone and pony filed in and the door was promptly shut.
The room was roomy and semi-dark, light flowing in through a couple of windows and onto sets of priceless furniture and decorations. A brick fireplace sat against one wall, the floors, walls, and ceilings clean as new. Artfully carved chairs sat around equally lavish tables. The group spread out around the room.
“For someone who I don’t think likes us all that much, Celestia doesn’t seem to spare any expense,” Holey said, eyeballing the room.
“It’s you and your dirty Russian blood she doesn’t like,” Snipes joked, looking out a window, “Pretty view.”
“Screw you, Snipes,” Holey grumbled, eyeing the room with a frown.
“So, Princess,” Redneck began, turning to Luna as she lit up her horn, “what’s this plan of yours?”
We shall tell thee. It was well known that Queen Chrysalis of the changelings was going to make a move well in advance of her actual attack, the one that you helped to beat back. My Night Guard were able to spot a few changeling dwellings that had been secretly erected by some of her soldiers.
“Not so secret if you guys knew about it,” Snipes commented, turning from the window.
Luna smiled proudly.
Not so secret at all so long as prying eyes know all the weak points. Our night Guard were and still are watching a good number of these dwellings secretly, ready to strike on my command.
“And you’re in contact with your Guards?” Redneck asked.
Yes. You can imagine, then, where we are going with this. One of our spying teams spotted what they believe to be thy fellow soldiers being taken with a number of ponies and the stolen Elements of Harmony. Our plan, therefore, would be to send you in to get them.
“Hm,” Redneck nodded thoughtfully, he pulled a chair away from the room’s table, sitting down gingerly as if he was afraid he might break it, “And what’s your sister’s angle on this?”
Luna didn’t reply immediately, considering her words before putting them to thoughtspeak.
We...we did not inform our sister of this because we feel that Queen Chrysalis makes her...unstable...for lack of a better word. Our sister grows agitated and tense, very moody and...well...violent at the mention of the changeling queen.
“So...what? Like she’s on her period or something?” Snipes asked, leaning against the wall next to the windowsill.
“Shut it, Snipes,” Redneck growled, throwing the other man an annoyed look.
What?
“Ignore him,” Redneck said, “So what’re the details of this plan of yours? Who’s going? What are we up against? When do we leave? All the good stuff.”
Our plan was to send two of thee with a group of our own agents. These two groups would enter the spot, a cave system, locate those who needed rescuing, and bring them back.
“Why only two?” Redneck asked, the others sharing his curiosity.
Our sister, Princess Celestia, is keeping an eye on your magical energies. She fears all of thee, perhaps rightfully so. She is, hopefully, only doing so passively, meaning that her attention is not fully given to watching your magical energies. Thus, she would not notice if two of you were to suddenly disappear.
“Magical what?” Holey inquired with a derisive look, doubtful.
“Yeah, what’s this about magic?” Redneck echoed.
What do you mean? Thy magical energies are thy inherent magic reserves. They may be viewed like a candle against the magical energies of the air around you, like holes in fabric.
All four humans swapped confused looks.
“I think you just made even less sense,” Snipes put in, “Are you trying to say that ‘magic’ is real here?”
Did you not see it in action with our and the Guard’s teleportation spells? Of the changeling’s shifting of their shapes? Do you not have your own forms of magic in your land?
“Kinda,” Snipes replied with a grin, “Got a box of playing cards?”
“Shut it, Snipes,” Redneck cut in, not bothering to give Snipes an annoyed look, “Look, whatever, if it means we get things done the Loch Ness monster’s real too. Small things aside, two of us meet with your guys, then what?”
You mean to tell us that thy land does not have magic?
Luna replied in thoughtspeak, surprised.
“Yes, but drop it for now, okay? We’ve got a mission to plan,” Redneck said, tone growing more annoyed.
We see your point. Anyways, we can have two of thee teleported to the location of our waiting agents. They will lead the charge into this hive to retrieve thy stolen soldiers and our stolen subjects.
“I’m not so certain that ‘leading a charge’ is the best course of action when we’re attacking an unknown enemy structure,” Redneck replied with a frown, “I assume that we’ll be facing plenty of those changelings there, on their own turf no less. That doesn’t bode well for an attacking group.”
“Unless we’ve got superior firepower,” Snipes chimed in, jerking a thumb to the rifle slung across his back.
“Even then it’s not good odds,” Redneck shifted in his seat, “do they have any form of ranged communication? Any sort of alarm system?”
All of the drones share a link to their queen. What the queen knows, so do the drones and vice versa so long as they are within a reasonable distance. They do not share this link, however, amongst drones. As to alarms, we do not think that they have much, perhaps patrols?
“This ‘link,’” Redneck began, “how powerful is it, exactly? What specifically can it do? Can they chat with each other, for example?”
Not...exactly,
Luna began, thinking hard to remember.
It mostly concerns thoughts, desires, broad subjects. The queen might wish that something be done and her drones will hop to it. Vice versa, a drone or swarm of them may run into trouble and the queen will know of it. That particular scenario tends to lead to either a retreat or more drones heading into provide assistance.
“Okay, so that makes our lives a bit easier then,” Redneck replied, “Do you have any idea what sort of numbers they’ve got? How many of your agents will be going with us?”
Luna was silent for a moment in thought before thoughtspeaking again.
They may have in the upwards of a hundred drones. Our strike team is currently ten strong, though we expect twenty more to join.
“Bringing the count to thirty strong minus two of us soldiers going along?” Redneck inquired, Holey and Pike sharing uneasy looks. Those were far from good odds, even for Harbingers.
Luna only smiled.
You doubt the capabilities of our night guard?
“No offense, Princess, but a hundred to thirty is typically what’d be considered even odds for a defense on our part. Even then it wouldn’t be a problem, but we’re running into a cavern of terrain that only the enemy knows. We’ll lose all forms of stealth the second we fire a shot, suppressors or no suppressors with all that echo.”
Oh. Well, while we assure you that our night guard is rather capable, We must ask...you do not have anything quieter? Or, um, nothing less deadly?
“There’s always knives,” Snipes suggested with a shrug, tapping his own weapon’s hilt, “this isn’t some kiddy’s arcade shooter, is it? Our guns do more damage than our knives?”
“So no, we don’t. The way we roll, people tend to die,” Redneck replied, ignoring his comrade’s comment, “And we don’t have any maps of these caverns, do we?”
We do not.
“What about the surrounding area? At least a kilometer square?” Redneck continued, already going over game plans in his mind.
We believe that we do have those.
“Okay then, get me something. I want to see what’s at our disposal when it comes to terrain.”
“You have reached a decision?” Chrysalis asked, two drones at her sides. Whether they were the same ones as before or not was impossible to tell to the humans.
“One with conditions,” Boss nodded, standing at ease with his men making a V-shape behind him.
The changeling queen’s face turned a shade more sour, “So long as they do not overstep any boundaries…” she trailed off, the changelings at her sides bristling a bit.
“I have chosen to take your side in this conflict,” Boss said, the sour look leaving Chrysalis’ face, “but you are going to call a cease fire and we are all, that is my team, you, and whatever ceremonial guard you want to bring, going to hold negotiations with the opposing side...”
“I already held a meeting with that white whore! She refused my people…” Chrysalis practically yelled in anger, the changelings bristling.
“The situation has changed drastically!” Boss yelled back, taking a threatening step towards Chrysalis, a move that caught her and her changelings off guard, “We, as in my team both present and AWOL, will be attending as well. As you’re well aware, my team makes your conflict dangerous because our style of play involves actual killing. From the look of things, that’s not normal operating procedure for you guys.
“Now, maybe it’s dumbing it down, but our world had a multi-decade conflict that we like to call the cold war about thirty years ago,” Chrysalis was silent and unsmiling as Boss continued, “we call it that because not a single shot was fired. Now why was that? Because the two sides had something new to war. We both had weapons that could level cities with the push of a button, arsenals that could turn continents into ash. No one was willing to have a battle where that sort of stuff replaced infantry and armor because everyone knew that it would end all life on the planet.
“Skip forwards to present day,” Boss gestured around the cavernous room, “We’re new to your war. We’re the weapon that will level a city, the arsenal that will turn a continent into ash. We’re the weapon that no one is willing to use against the other because both sides know that the casualty reports are going to start including entire books of dead things. It’s not the weapons that end the war, it’s the threat of them.
“Now I get that maybe it’s a long shot, but it won’t be the first or the last time that I choose to make a long shot,” Boss finished.
Silence fell on the room, dripping continued from farther down the tunnels of stone.
“And this is your only request,” Chrysalis stated the question.
“We also don’t kill anything that’s a non-combatant and you use us sparingly. Your commands are our orders, but we do not shoot civilians and you only use us when you need to,” Boss added, “Now I get that my demands are hefty, but,” he lifted an index finger, “You can’t tell me that the payoff isn’t worth it.”
