A/N Sorry it took so long. Be sure to read the author's note at the bottom. Just as a warning, there will be a lot of perspective switching throughout this chapter. Hopefully y'all can follow.

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me!” John groaned, quickly rolling out of bed. He jogged across the room and hit the light switch, causing magical balls of light to appear near the ceiling. “EVERYONE UP!” He yelled, wanting to wake the other four guards that had been sleeping. Anything that required him to gear up couldn’t possibly be good. He wanted as much help as he could get.

Two of the guards immediately jumped up and started donning their armor, but, unfortunately, Lightning and Star were completely dead to the world, which meant Crimson was probably out too. He would have to have a chat with Pinkie later.

“Give me a SITREP!” John walked back to his chest and put on the fatigues sitting on top of it, completely ignoring his sling lying next to them. It would only slow him down.

The stallion in the doorway cautiously stepped into the room. “About ten minutes ago, three Manticores came running out of the Everfree and started rampaging through town, destroying anything and everything in their way. We’re doing everything we can, but we can’t hold them for much longer. I got here as fast as I could.”

John finished tying his boots and opened the chest, pulling out the tactical vest. “Alright, where are they now? And how many casualties are there?” He contemplated trying to wake Lightning and Star, but, even if he did, he had been through enough hangovers to know that they would be in no condition to fight a Manticore, let alone three.

“Right now, they’re in the market district, but they’ve somehow set fire to a few of the stalls. The fire brigade can’t get in there to put it out, and it’s starting to spread. As for casualties, most of the townsponies were already inside, so there are very few civilian injuries. However, we’ve already lost one guard, and three others are injured... but that was before I left”

John quickly did the math. Of the fifteen guards in town’s garrison, one was dead, three were injured, and three were incapacitated. That left himself, the three other guards in the room, and four others in good condition.

“Shit. Ok,” John grabbed his sidearm and clipped it around his waist, below the vest. He then pointed at the Pegasus guard that had just finished putting his armor on. “I want you to go to the crash site at Sweet Apple Acres and get Sergeant Ironhoof. Have him rendezvous with us in the market, but make sure he leaves a few guards at the crash site. If he gives you any shit, tell him I’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t get it over here.”

“Yes sir!” The guard ran out the door.

John grabbed his rifle and walked over to the second guard. “I want you to go to the Library and wake up Twilight. Inform her of the situation. If things go south, we’ll need reinforcements. Tell her to send a letter to the Princess, Luna if possible, and have her put together a response team, but keep them on standby until we need them.” The guard turned to leave, but John held up his hand causing him to pause. “Stay with Twilight until this thing’s over. She’s our link to the Princesses, and we can’t lose her. Keep her safe.”

The guard saluted and left. John checked the magazine in the rifle, making sure it was full. He pulled the charging handle, chambering a round with a *cli-clack*. He turned to the stallion that had woken him. “Take me to them.”

The streets were practically deserted. Every so often, John would see the figure of a pony dart across the street or look out a window, but nobody stuck around.

As the two got close to the market, John could hear shouting and roaring. He picked up his pace, but kept his rifle raised just in case. Soon, the smell of smoke permeated the air and the roaring intensified, accompanied by the crackling of fire.

John turned the final corner to the marketplace and took a moment to look over the situation. He knew the layout of the market from Twilight’s tour earlier; it was basically a giant circle in the middle of town, with various stalls lined up around the edge. However, he wasn’t particularly prepared for what he saw.

The marketplace looked like Hell.

There were broken and shattered stalls scattered throughout the marketplace. Toward the far side, a few of the stalls were on fire, but the fire had spread to the nearby houses. John had to squint to see them, but he could see the figures of a few guards and fire ponies taking cover behind various buildings and stalls that were still standing.

A loud roar derailed John’s train of thought.

“Sweet Celestia! Here it comes!”

Two guards taking cover behind one of the few intact stalls barely had time to move before a giant creature ran out of the smoke and began pummeling the stand into toothpicks.

John couldn’t help but admire the guards’ bravery as they quickly recovered from the assault and began jabbing at the beast with their spears.

Their offensive was short lived, however, as the Manticore swatted one of the guards away with its massive paw. The second guard hesitated for a split second, but that was all the beast needed.

John watched as the Manticore raised a paw to squish the pony like a bug.

////

"You okay?"

"Hurtin', but good."

Rumbler and Thunderclap were two of the lucky ones that weren't too terribly injured. When the attack had started, it was through sheer dumb luck that they were towards the rear of the formation when they were ambushed.

They had received an anonymous tip that a Manticore had wandered into town and was currently occupying itself by throwing a tantrum in the market.

This kind of thing had happened before, so they all had a general idea of what to do. You get a group of about ten guards, form a semicircle around the Manticore, then herd the animal in the direction you want. So, the Sergeant in command gathered the nine guards out on patrol, and they all headed toward the market.

It would've worked fine... if there had been only one Manticore.

The moment they entered the market, they were almost immediately charged by three Manticores, instead of only one.

Within the first few seconds, one guard was dead and at least three others were seriously injured. That was when the Sergeant realized that the excrement had hit the air circulation device, so he had his ponies take cover where they could and sent a flier back to the guard station. Soon, fire ponies arrived to put out the fire that had sprung up on the far side of the market, but they weren't fighters. So, they just tried their best to collect the wounded, suffering some casualties themselves as they were harassed by the three beasts.

The remaining guards did their best to stay alive long enough for reinforcements to arrive. They were somewhat successful. Most were still alive, but Thunderclap and Rumbler were the only two left standing.

“Sweet Celestia! Here it comes!”

Rumbler's eyes went wide. "Oh shit."

They could feel the ground start to shake as the Manticore descended upon the stall they were using as cover. Being a Pegasus, Thunderclap's reflexes were a bit faster than Rumbler's, so he practically crash tackled the earth pony away from the stall.

As soon as they hit the dirt, the only sounds they could hear were the sounds of splintering wood and a grumbling Manticore.

Seeing that the beast was preoccupied, the two ponies stood and exchanged glances. As one, they charged the Manticore and started jabbing it with their spears... which only seemed to make it angry.

*WHUMP*

"AHHHH!"

Rumbler looked over to see Thunderclap sailing through the air, landing in a heap a few meters away

Unfortunately, now there was nothing to distract the Manticore from Rumbler, who looked on in horror as the Manticore raised a massive paw over his head.

"...Horseapples."

He closed his eyes and thought about how he had failed everyone.

*BANG-BANG-BANG!......BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG!*

"........"

////

John couldn't stand by any longer. Much to the dismay of the guard next to him, he stepped out from behind the corner of the building.

"What the HAY are you doing!?"

He ignored the stallion, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

*BANG-BANG-BANG!*

He fired off three rounds, semi-auto, aiming for center mass. The rounds hit their mark, right in the Manticore's chest. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have much effect, other than causing the thing to stop and look up at him.

It looked angry.

John mumbled a curse and switched to full auto... aiming for the face.

*BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG!*

...

ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

"... Fuck me..."

John was preparing for the thing to flat out charge him and drill his ass into the dirt, but instead, the Manticore looked as if it was swatting at a swarm of hornets buzzing around its head.

He shrugged... and continued pumping rounds into the thing, advancing on it as he did so.

Round after round was sent careening into the Manticore, which was staggering backwards, still swatting around its face.

John's temper was starting to flare as he slowly walked through the carnage. He had burned through almost four magazines, and was just about to slap the fifth in when the Manticore fell, unceremoniously, into the dirt.

Swapping out for a fresh magazine, John slowly walked up to the large animal and fired a few rounds into its head, for good measure. He paused for a moment and looked over the creature. Its face was a bloody, almost unrecognizable mess. Apparently, Manticore skulls were practically bulletproof.

The crash of a falling timber brought John back to reality.

He looked around and surveyed the battlefield. There were very few stalls still standing, a few bodies were scattered around the edge of the circle, and the fire was quickly getting out of control.

It took him a second to find his voice. After all his years of combat flying, he was used to seeing carnage, but it looked completely different when you were a few thousand feet in the air and watching through a TV screen.

He jogged over to the stallion that almost got turned into a pony pancake. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah, thanks, sir. Name's Rumbler."

John sighed. One small victory. He then switched into command mode and began issuing rapid-fire orders to anyone within earshot. "Alright, we need to get that fire put out before it spreads any further! Get into those houses and make sure nobody's in there! If you have to, knock on a few doors and get help!" The fire ponies immediately sprang into action, a few going to pull their wagon out of an alley, the rest running towards the burning buildings. He pointed at the guard that he had left behind when he began firing on the Manticore. "I need you to double-time it to the hospital and get as many doctors as they can spare! The rest of you..." He looked around. The only ones standing were himself and Rumbler. "Shit... Alright, let's see to the wounded as best we can. Reinforcements should be here soon."

"*sigh* I hope you weren't expecting much."

John turned around and saw a battered and bloody group of guards, numbering five in total. It took him a second to recognize sergeant Ironhoof through the gore. "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

"We ran into one of your friends. The only problem was that, for some reason, normal tactics don't work against these motherbuckers. I lost one of my ponies when that thing steamrolled us, three more were critically injured before we finally managed to drive it off. I left two guys back there to take care of the poor bastards... Looks like you've had some fun too."

John looked around. "Yeah. I was still back at the station when I got the news. Anonymous tip said there was only one of them, but these guys got hit by three. Killed that one," John gestured over his shoulder at the massive body. "so that means two more are still out there." He looked over the group of ponies in front of him and checked his ammo supply. "And from the looks of it, we've got a snowball's chance in hell of getting rid of them without help."

"You could say that again."

John hung his head and placed a hand on his forehead. "I really hoped it wouldn't have come to this." He looked up at Ironhoof. "It’s safe here, for now. I need you and your men to stay here and do what you can to help. I've got doctors on the way. If you can, get all the wounded back to the guard station, it's safer than out here." Ironhoof nodded, and john turned toward Rumbler. "Take me to the library."

////

////

"Twilight. Hey Twilight..... TWILIGHT!!"

Twilight cracked her eyes open, wincing from her splitting headache. "Oooh, my head. Not so loud Spike."

The small dragon rolled his eyes. "Don't you have some sort of anti-headache spell or something?" Twilight stared at the dragon for a few seconds, then flared her magic. Spike faceclawed. "Anyways, there's a pony here to see you. He says it's urgent."

Twilight screwed up her face in confusion, then looked at her clock. "Who would need to talk to me at this hour?"

Spike shrugged. "Looked like a guard. Must be important."

"What do you mean, 'looked like a guard'?"

Spike deadpanned. "It was dark. Didn't want to turn the lights on and wake everyone."

"Oh, right." Twilight remembered that all her friends had decided to sleep over at the library after the party, seeing as they all could barely walk in a moderately straight line.

Twilight opened her door and walked down the stairs into the dimly lit library. When she reached the bottom, she noticed the silhouette of a pony that appeared to be wearing armor standing by the front door.
Man, Spike wasn’t kidding. I can barely see a thing in here.
She turned around and flipped a light switch at the bottom of the stairs, bathing the library’s interior in a warm glow of light, and eliciting a few groans from the sleeping ponies sprawled out on the floor.

The guard blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the light, then walked across the room, carefully avoiding the sleeping ponies. “I’m sorry to bother you at this time of night, Miss, but there’s a… situation… in town.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What kind of situation?”

“Three Manticores have attacked the town. They are currently in the market district, and I have orders to inform Canterlot of the situation”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. ”WHAT!!!” More groans were heard from the floor. “Not good. This is NOT GOOD! SPIIIIIIIKE!!!!!!”

A grumbling baby dragon walked out of Twilight’s room and began descending the stairs, ears covered. “Sheesh, Twi, you don’t have to be so loud all the time. Wha’dya want?”

“I need you to send a letter to the Princess. Manticores are attacking Ponyville!”

“……” Spike stared at Twilight for a moment, then proceeded to roll around on the floor laughing. “BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh man! Good one Twi!”

Twilight looked as if she was about to brain aneurism, but the guard simply cleared his throat and gave the baby dragon the typical ‘Royal Guard Stare’. “She’s not lying.”

Spike blinked as realization slapped him across the face. It took him all of half a second to pull out a piece of parchment and quill.

The guard walked over and stood next to Spike. "Alright, listen closely, and write down everything I say exactly as I say it."

////

Luna was sitting on her throne, and there was only one word that would describe how she felt. Bored. She had never liked listening to pompous nobles prattle on about whatever the 'lowly peasants' were doing wrong or why they should be entitled to things. She had stopped listening to the stallion in front of her almost immediately after he began speaking. In fact, she was almost ready to take a nap, which was surprising since she had slept almost the entire day before and she had only been awake for a few hours.

"-and so that is why his house should be demolished and a decorative fountain be built in its pla-"

*POOF*

Luna's eyes shot open as a scroll appeared in front of her. The noble didn't look too amused.

"Why, the AUDACITY!" The noble spat, "I have been waiting two days for this audience, and it is interrupted by a floating piece of... of, PAPER."

The Princess ignored the flustered pony and grabbed the scroll with her magic, opening it.

REQUEST FOR REINFORCEMENTS

Recipient: Princess Luna
Sender: PVT Shimmering Stars (U-1602-6)

Under Orders From: 1st LT John Killinger

Reason for Request: Ponyville under attack from three (3) Manticores originating from Everfree Forest. Situation deemed as CAT=ALPHA/X-RAY. Local guard contingent ineffective. Heavy casualties sustained. Possibility of harm to ELEMENTS. Possibility of loss of Ponyville.

Action Taken: Request for reinforcements sent by 1st LT Killinger to forces stationed at SITE D04. Forces sent to location of ELEMENTS to ascertain status (All six (6) ASSETS deemed safe at this time). 1st LT Killinger departed to aid forces in defense of Ponyville.

Action Requested: Assembly of Strike Team for aid of Ponyville. To be placed on STANDBY until deemed required by 1st LT Killinger. Size of force required, unknown.

Notes: Further Intel/Status Updates will be sent when information received.

"-bsolutely PREPOSTEROUS!"

Luna had had enough.
"SILENCE!!!!"

At the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, the noble practically back flipped through the throne room doors. Normally, this would have put a smile on the Princess' face, but not now.

"SERGEANT!"

One of the guards standing at attention along the walls came running to the throne, giving the Princess a precise salute. "Yes, Milady?"

Luna levitated the scroll to the guard. "Take this to Captain Armor. Have him ready an airship." She stood from her place at the throne and descended from the dais.

"Right away, Ma-am! If I may ask, where are you going?"

Luna turned toward the guard, fire in her eyes. "To rouse our Knights."

////

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"YES!"

"No."

"YES!!!"

"For the last time, No. I'm sorry, Ms. Sparkle, but I am under direct orders from the Lieutenant. I cannot permit you to leave the premises."

Twilight huffed. She had been arguing with the guard for over ten minutes.

After Spike had sent the letter, she had woken up all her friends (who were none too happy about it). A quick spell to relieve the effects of their hangovers, and an explanation to inform everyone of the current situation, caused the inhabitants of the library to turn into something akin to a bunch of zombie apocalypse survivors.

The guard was standing in front of the door making sure nothing got in or out, Twilight was arguing with the guard about leaving to help other ponies, Fluttershy was quivering beneath the table she was hiding under, Rainbow Dash was going on about how she was going to 'kick some Manticore flank', Rarity and Applejack were worrying about their siblings, and Pinkie Pie was bouncing around on the ceiling. Spike was just standing at the foot of the stairs, watching the mayhem.

Twilight thought for a moment. "The Lieutenant? The last time I saw him, he could barely stand... because somepony spiked the punch... again."

The guard rolled his eyes. "Not that lieutenant, the other one."

Twilight's brow furrowed in confusion. "But he's the only..... oh, that lieutenant."

"Yeah, that one. And seeing as Crimson left him in charge, he has full command over any and all royal guard in town. He only wants to keep everyone safe, and I'm not about to break orders."

Both Twilight and the guard jumped when they heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"Damn straight you're not, now open the door."

The guard unlocked and opened the door, revealing a stressed looking human in full battle gear and a guard that looked beat to hell. "Sweet Celestia! What happened to you, Rumbler?"

Rumbler huffed. "Good to see you too, Shimmer."

John walked into the library, closely followed by Rumbler. When they were both inside, the door was shut and locked again.

////

Upon entering the library, John unslung his rifle and propped it up against the wall. "Alright, Shimmer was it?"

The guard at the door saluted. "Private Shimmering Stars, sir."

John nodded. "I assume you sent the letter?"

"Correct, sir. I received confirmation a few minutes ago that an airship and a contingent of reinforcements has been placed on standby, awaiting your orders."

John paused and surveyed the room. Every single set of eyes was directed at him. "Send it."

////

*POOF*

Luna was standing in front of the awaiting airship, a contingent of Lunar Knights behind her and Shining Armor next to her, when the letter appeared.

REQUEST FOR REINFORCEMENTS

Recipient: Princess Luna
Sender: PVT Shimmering Stars (U-1602-6)

Under Orders From: 1st LT John Killinger

Reason for Request: Reinforcements deemed required by 1st LT Killinger. Forces from SITE D04 suffered heavy losses en-route to aid local forces.

Action Taken: Attempting relocation of casualties to local HQ; medical staff en-route, under escort. Attempting relocation of ELEMENTS to local HQ; under escort.

Action Requested: Reinforcements sent ASAP

Notes: If possible, reinforcements are to help extinguish fires in market district after threat has been neutralized. One (1) Manticore dispatched by 1st LT Killinger. Lethal force has been used and is authorized.

"It is time. Captain Sanguine, ready thy troops."

"Yes, Milady." The Captain turned to face the rest of the Knights. "YOU HEARD YOUR PRINCESS! MOUNT UP! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

With practiced movements, all the Knights, as well as the Princess, the Lunar Knight Captain, and Shining Armor, were onboard the airship in a matter of seconds. A few minutes later, the airship was zooming towards Ponyville.

////

The guard station was utter chaos. Wounded ponies were everywhere, doctors and nurses were running around trying to help everyone, and ponies were showing up seeking refuge. It was so bad that John and the rest of his group could barely get through the door. Apparently, the Manticores weren't distinguishing between guards and civilians.

"Jesus Christ, it's a mess in here." John had to literally step over ponies in order to get to the stairs. Ascending them and opening the door to the guards' quarters, he saw that Lightning and Star were still sleeping. Gesturing at the two ponies, John walked across the room to his chest and pulled out the can of 5.56 ammunition. "Twilight, is there anything that you can do about those two?"

"Of course." John watched as twilight levitated the two guards a few inches into the air, then dropped them on the floor, waking them instantly. She then cast another spell, but John didn't know what that one was for.

John began refilling his spent magazines. "What was that last spell for?"

"Oh, that was just to relieve the effects of the hangover."

"Ah." John cleared his throat, getting the attention of Lightning and Star, who were rubbing their heads and looking at all the ponies in the room with confused expressions. "You two better get your gear on. Ponyville is under attack and we need all the help we can get." John then turned to the girls and two other guards. "Girls, I need you to stay here and do what you can to help. Same for you Rumbler, you're in no condition to fight." There was some grumbling from Rainbow Dash, but it was quickly quelled by a raised hand. " Twilight, if you could, can you go wake up the Lieutenant if he's not already up?" Twilight nodded then left. "Fluttershy, I'm sure the doctors could use a hand downstairs. If there's not enough room down there, bring some ponies up here. Pinkie Pie, if you could, go outside and try to cheer everyone up. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow, try to help out wherever you can, but do NOT leave this station." A few nods and grumbles later, the only ponies left in the room were Rumbler, Shimmer, Lightning, and Star. "Rumbler and Shimmer, stay here and try to keep everyone calm and as organized as possible. I'm sure the Lieutenant will help."

"Yes, sir!"

John finished reloading all of his magazines.

"What are we going to do?" Lightning asked.

John smiled. "Well, you two drew the short straw. I'm going out to do some damage control until reinforcements get here... and you're watching my back."

The two guards' eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks and they exchanged glances. "Y-you're kidding. Right?"

"Nope. The way I see it, Lightning will be up in the air providing recon, while you and me, Star, are on the ground. I'll be doing most of the heavy lifting anyway." John slapped a fresh magazine into his rifle and cycled the bolt. "Now come on, we're burning moonlight."

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!"

John and Star had been walking around Ponyville for the past fifteen minutes with no sign of the two remaining Manticores... until about ten seconds ago.

"LIGHTNING! IF WE GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

They were now sprinting for their lives, away from the Manticore that had jumped out of an alleyway.

"But this isn't MY fault!"

John and the unicorn sped around a corner, causing the Manticore to slip and fall.

"NO, BUT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING TO MAKE SURE THINGS LIKE THIS DON'T HAPPEN!"

John quickly spun around fired at the Manticore. Unfortunately, the beast raised its arm at the last second, protecting its head. He was about to fire again when the sound of screams permeated the air.

"Second Manticore located! Two blocks east! Just smashed through the front of a house!"

John cursed and started running again, the Manticore in hot pursuit. "Alright, Star?"

The unicorn was right on the heels of the human. "Sir?"

"You're not going to like this, but we're going to have to split up."

"..."

"We can't stop running, or else that bastard," John gestured over his shoulder at the Manticore, "is going to catch us. And taking on two of them at the same time would be just plain stupid."

There was silence between the two for a few moments as they kept running.

"...Understood, sir. I've got big boy here, you go save the day."

John nodded. "Don't do anything stupid. I need you in one piece."

With that, John and Star split up, Star leading the Manticore on a wild goose chase, and John running toward the ever increasing screams.

He skidded to a halt at the corner of a building. Across the street, there was an average looking, single-story house, its only demeaning feature, a massive hole where the front door used to be.

Against his better judgment, John quickly crossed the street, rifle raised, and entered the house.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Quietly stepping into what looked like a living room that had been hit by a tornado, John had to repress a gag as the smell of death assaulted his nose. In the middle of the floor, was a stallion. That had been ripped in half.

This time, he couldn't suppress the feeling as he keeled over and retched into a corner of the room. Once his stomach contents had been emptied onto the floor, he left the room and began to search the rest of the house.

The hallway and bathroom were clear, but the kitchen contained another casualty, this time a mare lying in a large pool of blood, large gashes on its sides and face. A quick check of the pulse confirmed that the pony had died.

John had almost finished clearing the house. He was pretty sure that the Manticore had already left, seeing as there was another huge-ass hole where the back door used to be.

He made his way to the first bedroom and checked the doorknob. Unlocked. Opening the door with one hand and leading with his rifle (couldn't be too careful) John quickly determined that the room was unoccupied.

Exiting the room and moving to the second bedroom, and final room of the house, John checked the doorknob. This time, it was locked.

Seeing no other alternative, he clutched his rifle with both hands, reared back, and planted a boot next to the offending doorknob. The door smashed open and John quickly entered and cleared the room.

Nothing.

He was about to leave to see if he could track down the Manticore, but a quiet noise stopped him. It sounded almost like... crying?

Surveying the room again, he still didn't see anything, until he heard a rustle from underneath the bed. Unslinging his rifle and dropping to his knees, John steeled himself and slowly looked under the bed.

"...Shit."

Author's Note

Alright, it's about time. Decided to split it up into two parts (still editing the second half) so it's not going to be as long as I hoped. Since I was away last week, work (at work and around the house) has piled up like a hungry man's plate at a Chinese buffet, hence the long wait for the update. Haven't had that much free time to really sit down and write. Things should clear up in the next couple of days though.

It's a wee bit past midnight, but you can blame that on the stupid bolds, italics, and underlines not carrying over from Word, otherwise, I would've had this up forty five minutes ago. Dammit. Please don't crucify me.

Might redo the end bit at some point. It gets a bit fast.

Also, I want to know what you all think about the spacing between transitions and stuff. Is it easy, or hard, to follow? should I do anything differently?

Also, also, If you see a blog update from me, it's most likely a status update on a story, so I would recommend reading it.

'Tis all for now.

As always, GIMME ALL TEH FEEDBACKS!!!!