Doppler's Log

Violence inbound

-June 7, 2021

-Unknown

-Undetermined Objectives

-3:10 PM

Deep inside the jungle of willows rested a swamp. It had random inclines in the terrain leading up such as hills do, but only a murky substance rested at the bottom. The water was shallow and much of the forestation grew well past the water level, but that was something to expect from such a place.

Something one wouldn't expect was a village. There were huts that rested only inches above the water and they were made of wood. Slightly organized bunches of bridges ran throughout the place as well. Poles of wood held everything up from the shallow water. The lumber was probably plentiful, considering that whoever built the structures was surrounded by it. But why would someone... or something live in such a place?

"Dammit, Barron, I'm going with them; that's final! You don't need to worry about me; I've done this before you know," a voice called. The source was a darker creature, much darker than the ponies. It was all black and had a pair of wings, paper thin and see through at that.

The species had some sort of a shell over its back which wrapped around its stomach as well. As for the head, it sported pupil-less eyes that looked like they would glow in a dark room. The horn was sharp and had a slight curve. The most unnatural feature had to be the randomly placed holes in its hooves. They ran only through the limbs and made it seem difficult to think the creature couldn't suffer of broken hooves commonly.

But that didn't include what it was wearing...

A military grade torso and leg set covered the creature's body in a digital forest green pattern. The top concealed eight fully loaded P-Mags which rested above the wearer's stomach. A helmet which poorly fit rested atop its head with the ballistic goggles perched up. On its back rested a hydration pouch covered successively by a backpack and assault rifle. On the right pant leg held a holster and sidearm tucked in it; the left held a few spare magazines for the rifle.

Where had they acquired such gear and why did they need it? Surely they couldn't find a way to use such weaponry, for hooves could not grasp firearms. The one making the outburst revealed herself to be female based on the voice. The creature sighed, "Fine, Just... Come back... Okay?" Barron regretfully spoke.

"You know I will. You just rest up, and be ready in case of..." She trailed off.

"I know... Just get going sis', and stay safe," said a concerned Barron.

The sister nodded in response and flapped her wings until they buzzed faintly. The movements were quick, much quicker than that of a pegasus pony's, but they needed to be. With the wings being as thin and fragile as they were, it was necessary to flap them at such a speed. Insect fit as a useful definition for them.

Flying was only noted as one of their tricks, as they acquire their names from a far more notable ability. Of course, it had only granted them notoriety over the years. But to prosper in a world that hates you; said actions were justified. This is what nopony could understand about them. At least, that's how the species saw it...

The ornery sister took to the skies above the forest to meet up with a small group of maybe nine or ten of her friends. They also had rifles hang off from slings and were equally as outfitted as the female creature.

This only made up a small number of what the colony held as a population. Each one would be important though, as they were born and raised to survive by whatever means they could. So off they flew, into the rest of Equestria to purge the population of their resources.

Ingot is the youngest member in the explorations group but is determined to make himself useful to the team through battle coordination. When in combat, he provides information on the whereabouts of potential leaders in enemy groups and organizes real time strategies to get the team by...

-Equestria, Ponyville

-Assist Citizens

-3:20 PM

"Time to move," Twilight said. She needed everyone out in a timely manner, for the trains stuck to a schedule, and she was determined to abide by it. Walking all the way to Canterlot was not an option; it would take around 6 hours if they went at such a pace; 26 Kilometers is quite a distance. Though Bellhop would have probably preferred that idea over revealing a special observations group, having hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into it, to the public.

Yet the pony couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something... or someone.

Entering Ponyville before was an adventure all on its own, but it was as if they were about to enter it a second time. Onyx remained unaware of how the denizens would react to them. Twilight tried to explain to them that all suspicions about the team would turn null when spotted with her and her friends. Bellhop wouldn't risk it though, so he kept his weapon drawn, ready to threaten anyone who opposed them.

The group followed his example, except Clover, she had faith in their society... and just common sense for that matter. The only ponies (That was the other thing: they were ponies; not combatants trained to kill on sight) capable of harming them were the unicorns based on their experience so far. It didn't make sense to believe that civilians would (or could) hurt any of the soldiers.

Twilight gradually opened the door and ushered the group of twelve forward. One by one they made their way out; some took more serious measures of exiting the tree house than others. Onyx walked skillfully with forced slowness in their movements while the mares carelessly trotted forward.

Somehow none of the citizens were wandering around the library. Bellhop didn't understand it really since the place was practically in the center of Ponyville. Though he enjoyed the thought of Onyx and the human race itself remaining unknown to these things; it wasn't going to last. After a minute of walking, those who walked with a tense pace soon eased up. There was no reason to be on alert, for the "they couldn't hurt us even if they felt like it" retort got to them.

Finally, inhabitants became noticeable. The tense motions came back in the group, causing Applejack to groan in disbelief, "Would y'all calm down? We're almost at town square. If y'er freakin' out now, then y'er gonna faint or somethin' when we get there," she growled, obviously annoyed with the groups unnecessary stiff movements.

Bellhop shot her a vexed look, masked by his facial apparel. He followed it with a gesture to the group with his hand to tell them to stop being timid with their movements, for Applejack's sake.

The group of twelve drew more and more curious eyes as they moved by; and why wouldn't there be? Two legged creatures, never before seen, wearing all black clothing and equipment. This inevitably caught the attention of the very promising demographic of absolutely everyone. Onyx tried to ignore it; they couldn't help but feel awkward around the mares too. Twilight and her friends just kept moving as if nothing was out of the ordinary; no species from another world here, no sir.

Bellhop just assumed they were used to this kind of attention...

Now they had gotten to town square, and became the center of attention of course, ponies of all varieties watched them walk by. Some showed more interest than others, as those who didn't went back to their errands. But, like the others, all it took was the knowledge that Onyx was traveling with this particular group to go back to what they were doing without suspicion. Twilight becoming a princess recently probably helped the group move by without harassment.

As they continued their way towards the station, three ponies trotted right for the group. They were clearly younger due to their size with a spatial difference in their colors of fur and hair. The voices were chirpy and cute, but to Bellhop, annoying. It wasn't for this reason he stopped them though. The one with red drapes of hair called out as she ran up to the dozen.

"Hey Sis'! Where-?"

"Stop right there! State your name and designation!" Bellhop growled.

"Oh, well howdy! Mah name's Applebloom and Ah just-"

"They're just kids Alex; the hell is wrong with you?" Hazel barked at her Captain's outburst. "Sorry about that... uh, Applebloom," she added, trying to be friendly enough to remember the filly's name.

"Applebloom, what'd ya' need?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, well the gals and Ah just wanted t' ask mah sister what's goin' on," she innocently continued her question from before. "Where 'r ya headin'?"

"Aw heck, we were just goin' t' Canterlot to see Celestia. The serious fellers ya' see here are comin' with us," she said, ensuring their victories for most authentic accents of the South.

"They're on a stealth mission, which's kinda like hide and go seek! But Mr. Braidy here made the biggest mistake of moving positions while hiding and I won!" Pinkie giggled.

An orange filly with purple hair spoke up, obviously more interested in the flying arrogance of the group, Rainbow Dash. She jumped once to get the floating pegasi's attention while talking. "So Rainbow Dash, do ya' wanna hang out when you get back?" the filly nervously asked, her confidential jump in vain.

"Uh, we might be there all night; sorry Scoots..." Rainbow Dash responded, feeling a little less than proud of herself for saying it. It certainly didn't cheer Scoots up very much.

The last filly, a white coated one with a puffy hair style rested a hoof on her orange friend. "Ah don't be upset, Scootaloo. Now we have time to work on getting our cutie marks!" She smiled, showing off teeth as white as her coat.

"Sweetie Belle, where are your manners? Introduce yourself, please," Rarity said, pestering the filly to show some decency in the presence of otherworldly beings.

"Oh right. Hi there, I'm Sweetie Belle! This here is-"

"Scootaloo, I'm Scootaloo. This is Applebloom, "the orange filly spoke up, cutting off Sweetie Belle and presenting Applebloom.

"And we're~" the red haired filly hung the last note of the sentence, getting the other three ready to sound off.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" the three exclaimed.

Clover giggled at their unbelievable cuteness.

"Adorable," Ingot added sarcastically.

Hazel tried to retort, "Lighten up, Jason. I know it's silly, but-"

"I remember that we have got a train to catch or something, friends?" said Spade, trying to remind everyone of their objectives and deadlines.

"He's right. Sorry girls, but we have a job to do. We'll talk some other time. C'mon, we need to get to the station to get our tickets!" Twilight explained.

"Bye!" the three called out as Onyx made their way to the station with the ponies. The two groups picked up the pace a bit to get to the station in a timely manner.

With more (expected) public gawking and shrugging; they eventually made it. The train, powered by coal, whistled once as the conductor peaked out of the side. Like every other horse in the town, this one stared just as blankly. Bellhop rolled his eyes behind his visor and continued examining the locomotive from his distance. Continuing; it sported seven cars, each with a more ridiculous design than the previous, including the caboose.

The mares paid for twelve tickets since Onyx obviously didn't have the money to pay for them themselves. Twilight felt compelled to do so because it was her idea to bring them along and get them involved. She was also responsible for compromising Onyx's existence to the ponies of Ponyville, so it wouldn't make much sense to have the operatives sentenced to waiting around.

Bellhop rolled up the sleeves on his torso piece, exposing the rubber made wrist band that showed off the USMC he always wore. He only did this because it was hot out and the use for his active camo would be null in this situation anyways. He also lowered the mask, but kept the visor set over his eyes. Bellhop noted that his comrades had removed any facial apparel hiding their identity from these ponies. Sighing, he upped his goggles too… Not like it mattered anymore.

Of course, as soon as they stepped aboard; the combatants got the same stares and baffled facial expressions from before. Most were able to ignore the civilians at this point, Bellhop being the only exception.

His distress made sense though, who could ignore the one with the widest open eyes in the entire car? It bugged him. He waved a hand at the mint green colored pony, who was too interested in the Captain and his team, hoping it would ease her gawking. Immediately noted as a mistake; the mare's eyes went even wider while her mouth hung open.

A cream colored pony sitting next to the astounded pony poked her several times. It must have made the light green pony shift back into reality, for her eyes and mouth were no longer obnoxiously open. She then smiled while looking over to the cream colored pony again with "I told you so" etched into her face.

Twilight was close to taking a seat right across from the mint green pony and her friend before Bellhop quickly called out, "Can we sit in the next car over?"

"Why?" Twilight asked, barely interested in hearing his reason.

Bellhop didn't say anything to explain, he simply narrowed his eyes and darted them to the ponies on his right. He was hoping the gesture would explain exactly why to her, which it did. The purple pony grinned too widely for his comfort after a brief giggle.

"Nah, this car has way more ponies in it! This way you can get publicly accepted even sooner!" Twilight explained, trying to make Bellhop as uncomfortable as possible before they arrived.  She was trying to manipulate the team, break their sense of control over the situation. But Bellhop wasn't going to take it. In due time, would he prove that it was a mistake to underestimate a Marine.

Onyx members just appeared peripherally out of nowhere next to Bellhop as they sat down, the ponies taking all other seats. The Captain looked back, now fully realizing that he had to sit right across from his potential rapist. Though the seats lined up like any average bus back on Earth, the gawking pony remained parallel with Bellhop's row but on the other column to his left.

The grin she wore, Bellhop assumed, said a lot about her personality. He sat uncomfortably, making any uneasy movements to tell the mare to stop staring at him without actually having to say it.

Suddenly the train jolted with a rusty squeak and made Bellhop jitter. Mercury, sitting next to the Captain, pat his shoulder to rhetorically ask, "Ya alright?" Bellhop narrowed his eyes when returning a glare, but it did little to intimidate him.

Clover is the younger of the two female combatants in the explorations group but is a higher rank than Hazel. Her CO's beforehand found her more useful in over watch roles and long distance take downs, most of which were done outside of heavy combat situations. So far, she handled them all flawlessly. She despises the term "sniper" and prefers "precision marksman"; though no one understood why...

-3:37 PM

Mercury took notice his superior's discomfort after a few minutes of the train's progression and wanted to help him out. Of course, the medic wouldn't simply tell the mint green pony to "Stare at her own arse for a change," for that was rude. So, he would create a conversation to at least take his captain's mind off of the mentally defective pony across from him. He turned around in the seat to bury his knees in the cushion while staring at Twilight, "So what's the issue with uh... changelings I think ya called 'em?"

Twilight awoke from her own arrogant thoughts of taking full advantage of Bellhop's team. She stressed over the question, since the initial attempt at a response was an outburst, "the issue is everything!" she shouted hastily.

"What's to be worried about here exactly?" Hazel questioned.

"'Cause a years ago, they nearly took over all a' Canterlot by corruptin' Twilight's brother. Their queen kidnapped his bride and even shape shifted to make everypony think she was her!" exclaimed Applejack, also pressed on the question.

"Nice one, Sherry," Ingot snickered.

"Well I didn't know!" she retorted, trying to waver off her insulting tone from before. Ingot rose up his hands to his chest and pointed his palms towards Hazel to show defeat and possibly an apology for his pestering.

It went silent again for a few moments, minus the other little conversations going around the box car, before Rainbow Dash pointed out something else that had been making her wonder about the well-being of Onyx's arrival. "So, I've been meaning to ask... You guys had like... no idea what to expect from Equestria right?" She trailed off, waiting for a response to confirm her next question.

"Well, not entirely. All we had to go by was that oh, the place looked beautiful and like it was straight from a cartoon. That and these pic's of some creatures that Golf Team must've seen," said Hazel while dragging out some images.

Five of the six ponies taking Onyx to Canterlot, Fluttershy being the exception, got up from their seats and gathered around Hazel to see the photos she had. Twilight's, Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as they all shouted out the same conclusion.

"That's them!"

"Yeesh, calm down," Hazel snapped while covering her ear that they shouted closest to.

They cowered back, sheepishly grinning to pass for a silent apology. "Those are changelings, sorry for yelling," Twilight made her lip quiver down in guilt.

"It's fine... Rainbow Dash, what were you getting at before?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, right. So, you came here with little to no info on what we're capable of, but you came here without any sort of weaponry or anything? What if the Royal Guard found you or something? I don't think they would have reacted as nicely as we did," she asked, trying to show some concern for their possible well-being.

At first, Bellhop repeated what she just said in his mind several times "As nicely as we did," because he wouldn't exactly describe their first encounter as nice. However, there was no need to touch on their behavior from earlier, as it would not do anyone or anypony any favors.

"It's touching that you're concerned, but there's no need to be," he said while pulling out his F2000. The Rainbow haired pony looked at it, her expression unchanged from prior to when he dragged up the rifle.

"It... doesn't look very sharp..."

"It's a firearm, Rainbow," Hazel corrected her observations.

"It lights your arm on fire and you can blast people that way!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Though, it sounded more of a cry for attention rather than her tossing ideas or explanations. Hazel would be the one to either humor or correct the pink pony. Bellhop raised a brow...

"Uh, not quite Pinkie," she said while removing the magazine of her MTAR 21 and suppressing a smirk. She dislodged one of the NATO cartridges from the magazine to show the mares. "See, these are bullets. Pretty sharp, huh? Now imagine; these can travel at incredible-"

As Hazel continued the trivial explanation; Spade subtly spoke, *Captain, move to the third radio channel please*. Bellhop turned to him to notice that he put his mask back up and slumped into his seat and facing the window beside Hazel. He wanted to privately cat apparently, so Bellhop faced the window as well to make others pay no attention to him, *What's happening?*

*That purple one uh... Twilight. I believe there is more to her than we know.*

*Holding back on us, Russia?* Bellhop asked bluntly.

*More correctly; the KGB I'm afraid. Since that portal was in Pripyat, you can probably imagine that we were the first to find it. Well, actually with the US tag teaming with us to evacuate all the damn Stalkers; we both found it.*

*Alright, so?*

Spade slouched from his seat and turned over to glance at Twilight. She, like all the other mares, was listening to Hazel babble on about how much more efficient weapons on Earth were. With a sigh and awkward shuffle to sit up straight, *I think she was running around in the zone before we even knew about the access to her world.*

*What? How?*

"Something wrong?" Twilight's ears perked up.

Bellhop turned away from the landscape he was simultaneously observing to see that everyone was paying attention to him now. Maybe he wasn't as quiet as he thought himself to be. Lowering the facial accessory, "Nothing, uh... What kinda stuff do you ponies do for fun?"

Twilight raised a brow but Pinkie quickly shattered any of her ability to follow up with her suspicions, "Oh, loads of stuff! There's-!"

*That's how it's done. What's up now?*

*There have been rum- eh, not so much rumors. But uh... Agh, let me explain. A man in the KGB... er, Nikita I believe. He reported seeing some small horse roaming the nuclear exclusion zone about three years ago. More specifically, he noted how it was a purple one with darker hair to compliment the coat. He failed to tell us if it had a horn and wings like Twilight though, I am unsure if it was the same creature... But how many times do you see a purple pony on Earth, eh?*

*Huh... I guess we'll figure this out eventually. That skank doesn't sound like she's telling us everything any-*

*See? Now that is the attitude that will not get us where we need to be with these ones. Just try to play along with their little civilization; we may learn something. That is why we are here, yes?* Spade smiled... Well, none saw it, but Bellhop just figured he was doing it behind that facial gear.

Bellhop sighed and looked back to the random activities that Pinkie Pie was spouting out of her mouth left and right. Though the new information and possible history of Twilight did take his mind off of the staring pony sitting right across from him, he couldn't ignore her bulging eyes of amazement that she showed as Hazel's explanation of the weapons progressed.

Still, the mares and everyone in Onyx were somehow able to ignore that mint green pony. Pinkie Pie was the first runner-up to attempt at taking Bellhop's mind off of the awkward pony, "So, you just take-"

"Cap', we got pass byers, your 6'," Ingot pointed past the window while squinting. It caused everyone to turn their attention away from the energetic pony yet again. Hazel could tell she didn't like everyone shunning her from the conversation, but that was far less important than what awaited outside.

They spotted ten figures from the windows of the train thanks to Ingot. With a more defined examination, they could tell they were the doppelgangers that Twilight had gone so far to warn them about. With any effort put into a glimpse, one could tell the black creatures were flying, and they were intending to board the train.

Twilight leapt from her seat with a slight hint of excitement; probably from the thought of getting even more payback from her last encounter with them (As mentioned before in Canterlot). "That's them! Get down and use your invisibility spell! We'll handle the changelings!"

Mercury ignored her incorrect assumption that the active camouflage was a spell to speak reasonably, "Out of the question, miss. We made it our sub task to protect you, so that's what we're going-"

"She means to not let them morph into your copies and wreak havoc on Equestria using y'er advanced weaponry 'n whatnot," the apple farmer sighed.

"Onyx, pull reflector. It's too risky to be revealed to these guys right now," Bellhop commanded his team. They followed the order immediately while passengers on the train panicked. In moments, the soldiers fitted entirely in black became unable to find because of their armor's ability.

Mercury pondered a thought out loud in the radio, *Wait, if they copy our forms, do they automatically get the weapons n' stuff too?*

*I dunno, just-*

Right then, the changelings burst through the train's windows, sending shards of glass over the innocent passengers. Of course, they had their heads covered by their own hooves; only a reasonable reaction to the glass. When looking up again, the civilians quickly felt outmatched and helpless due to the threat in front of them.

Only six of the creatures burst into the locomotive, the other four resided on the roof, waiting to see if their friends came out okay. Inside the train however, panic still went about as one spoke up. He wore the clothing of any modern day soldier in the United States; complete with a digital forest pattern and a Remington ACR on his back.

"Alright, we'll make this brief so you can go on with your lives," the changeling spoke in a modest tone, trying to calm down the ponies on board. Most on board were confused now though. They were not aware that the species could communicate like they could. "We're taking two of you hostage to help-"

"You aren't taking anypony you fiends!" Twilight snapped while slamming a hoof down into the floor.

One of the supporting changelings felt a bit worried now, "I-is that the princess's student?"

"I-... It doesn't matter! We were given a task and we're doing it! Grab one of them and let's go!" another shouted clearly in hesitation, unsure if they should stand up to Twilight and her friends.

One attempted to knock over Applejack, only to receive a buck to the face. It sent the changeling flying across the train's length and planted him against door to the next car over. Others, now intending to simply avenge their injured friend, darted at the apple farmer. Twilight and Rainbow Dash gladly greeted them with blasts of magic and a forceful smack across the face, making them unable to get up.

The three left held a shaky stance, knowing they had underestimated what the mission would require of them. Bellhop lingered to his own thoughts, wondering why exactly they were wearing such apparel and why it looked familiar.

The armor was one thing, but they also had the weaponry of a modern day soldier in the United States' Army. He couldn't think much of it before one of them shouted again. His eyes darted anxiously around the car before he pointed a hoof at Fluttershy, whom was cowering in the corner still.

"Her! Take her and let's get the hell out of here!"

"H-how though!? They're too strong!" another cried out, now understanding how badly Onyx's new friends outmatched them.

The leader responded while erupting in green flames surprisingly, "Like we've been told to do." The fire that surrounded him ceased after a few seconds. Now, it wasn't a four legged creature that stood anymore. It was a man, a man equip with weapons to even oppose Onyx.

The other two also performed this technique, reshaping into soldiers of their own tier. The leader pointed his ACR, hoping that the mares knew what it was capable of, "Get out of our way, now! Or we'll fucking kill you!"

"Not gonna' happen, ya' varmint!" Applejack yelled as she hopped forward to attack.

"Applejack, wait!" Twilight yelled in vain, but the leader's firearm made a deafening sound around the inside of the box car resulting in many screams of confusion. The apple farmer fell to the floor, bleeding from a fore hoof and wincing at the pain it created.

The changeling's expression didn't change as he threatened them further. "That was your only warning! Now move!"

*Clover, Ingot, let's sweep n' knock 'em* Bellhop commanded through the radio. Three operatives of Onyx team slowly moved into a position behind the three shape shifters aiming weapons at the mares. The leader kept shouting demands as Bellhop spoke again, "Call it."

All three operatives used the same disarming maneuver: grab the barrel and yank upwards while positioned behind the target so that the gun smacks into their forehead. The upwards pull ensured everyone's safety by pointing out of harm's way, and the smack to the face would make them drop the weapon.

Usually...

Clover's target managed to fire off a couple of shots into the roof due to a panic reaction from the blow to his head. A second later, Mercury, Spade, and Hazel pointed their own weapons at the changelings while Bellhop, Clover, and Ingot restricted them. Exposed to the public once more and their new changeling acquaintances, Onyx had the enemy where they wanted them.

Randomly, a grunt of pain came from above everyone in the train and a thin strip of blood ran down from the hole in the roof. Panicked conversing ran about from the terrified passengers, but Bellhop tightened his grip to draw their attention once more, "how many more of you are there!?" he shouted while not receiving a response. "Answer me, dammit!"

The changelings were shocked. They all had a look of complete and utter fear on them while restrained. Rainbow Dash mocked them in their new position, "Hah! Not so tough now, are ya?"

"W-what are you doing!?" Twilight questioned fiercely, for Onyx did not abide by her wishes for staying hidden.

"How many more have come here with you?" Bellhop shook the changeling, ignoring Twilight's rage and trying to force an answer out of his victim at the same time. The changeling looked over to his equally as frightened friends.

"Coal..." he sighed while looking at his female companion, "... get out of here." Just as he said those few words, the one identified as Coal erupted in flames along with the other captive.

The green fire made Clover and Ingot released their grips, not knowing if the flames could actually harm them or not. The leader, which Bellhop only half-restricted, brought up his secondary G21 to shoot the Captain behind him in the head.

Mercury shuttered at the sight, causing his finger to jump back. The medic's P90 fired a round off and hit the human-morphed changeling in the forehead. He shot once while falling due to a shock reaction and grazed Spade's shin before dying. The two that escaped Clover's and Ingot's grasps now flew out of the window to retreat.

Before anyone could even comprehend what had just occurred, another shout came from behind their left, "Bleak, NO!" a downed changeling yelled while shifting into a soldier form of his own. Bellhop, desperately trying to keep the situation under control got ready to redirect the changeling's line of fire before it happened.

Unfortunately, he couldn't expect what the doppelganger actually tried, which was jumping on the seat and springing into the Captain of Onyx team. The enraged shape-shifter struck down the Captain, intending to avenge his fallen ally.

Clover was quick to pull up her G19 and aim at the target's head. The changeling showed no intension of ceasing to shoot Bellhop with his UMP45. Without any more hesitation, the female precision marksman pulled the trigger, ending the black creature's life swiftly.

Bellhop tossed the flaming body away from his downed state to get back up. He jittered due to the green flames, but quickly discovered that they weren't lighting him on fire or causing any pain. When the flames died down, it revealed an eyes wide corpse on the floor. This made two...

"C'mon, get up Specter! We've got to get out of here!" A voice, sounding similar to the one from above the car before, called out. It was a female changeling, urging her downed teammate in the back of the train car to get up and escape too. Onyx, save for Mercury, swiftly raised up arms while Bellhop got back to his feet.

"Stop right there!" Ingot shouted, hoping they would comply so that they could acquire some answers as to what was going on. Mercury now tended to Applejack's hoof while she lay parallel with the floor of the locomotive.

The one being helped up started a question, "w-what about-"

"There's no time; we need to go now!" the female changeling shouted again, stretching her wings and quickly taking off out of the train. Bellhop raised his fist at Ingot, telling him not to shoot... He might penetrate the door and hit civvies in the next car over. The other swiftly followed her, leaving Onyx as clueless as they were when the battle started. At least it was over... Another wince made them all redirect their attention downward.

"You're gonna be fine, stop y'er whinin'," Mercury said in an annoying way while wrapping some gauze around the apple farmer's bleeding hoof. It quickly blotted in red, but halted further loss of blood.

"Cap', I think this one's unconscious," Hazel said slowly while removing her hand from the throat of a floored changeling.

"Alright, use something to restrain him... Is there like a prison or jail or something we can take him to in Canterlot?... Twili-?" Bellhop questioned before turning to see shocked ponies all around him. It put his question on hold so that he could assess the terror and confusion of the passengers.

"Y-you... killed them..?" Rarity slowly came to a realization.

Fluttershy burrowed herself into a corner of the still moving train while Rainbow Dash pet her head to comfort her. The other ponies in the train all stared at Onyx team while small puddles of dark green blood formed beneath what they had achieved. Bellhop sighed...

"Two of you go check the rest of the train, make sure no one stuck around..."

"R-right... Sherry, with me," Ingot said softly. She complied and they went over to the next car to check for enemy stragglers.

"B-but I thought...-" Pinkie Pie trailed off, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"We've stepped in to dangerous grounds now, hyper one... It will not ease up anytime soon..." Spade frowned at the not-so-energetic-anymore pony.

"Why did you have to kill them!?" Twilight anxiously shouted.

"I don't know," Mercury replied.

"B-but... w-wh-"

"I dunno!" he shouted, practically shaking the car, "My finger slipped, alright!? My fuckin' bad... Jesus..." He was upset because he knew all too well that his little flaw just cost Onyx the mission. Don't kill the inhabitants. The commanders stressed it to them at least three times before they came to Equestria. Of all the rules; that seemed most important and they already blew it.

"We didn't have a choice," Bellhop spoke up, trying to make it seem less severe than it already was.

Twilight jittered with worried eyes and a mouth open frown, "I told you not to do anything! Y-you couldn't even handle doing nothing!? What is wrong with-?"

"The fuck did you want to happen exactly!?" Bellhop shouted, not caring who was listening in at this point. "If we hadn't of done something right then, your damsel in distress there would be a hostage to who you claim to be the enemy!"

A bit taken back now, Twilight knew the Captain had a point... Though the cursing didn't sit right with her... Fluttershy may have very well been missing and even more ponies could have gotten hurt if Onyx had just sat doing nothing.

*Passengers, sorry for the scares on board, the train will now be entering Canterlot. Thanks for riding with us,* a voice called over a megaphone from inside the box car. Almost right after a speaker click sounded off, Hazel and Ingot returned through the door they went in before.

"Train's all fine and dandy," Ingot said while sulking back.

"Good," Bellhop replied. Glaring back at Twilight reminded her that she had nothing to complain about what Onyx just pulled. They saved their lives for all they knew. Clover was looking down now as well, showing off some minor depression because she thought she was also responsible for the team's failure.

"I'm sorry, sir... I-I didn't mean to shoot him, h-he just-"

"What are you sorry about?" Bellhop squinted, "Again, it was something that had to be done. If you hadn't of done it, I'd be dead, and you wouldn't have a leader anymore. What I'd like to know is how they got those guns and armor."

"It looked like Golf Squad's don't you think?" Hazel asked.

"Must've been," Spade sighed.

Mercury studied his companion. "You need me to-?"

"It is fine, no need to worry, friend," Spade replied, trying to just walk off his flesh wound while giving a weak smile. "Urgh, Der' mo..."

"We've got to do something about this... We're going to make this right, okay everyone?" Bellhop raised his voice, asking everyone in the box car. He got worried stares and silence in return. Sighing, "Let's just go see this Celestia then..."

Captain Alex Smith (Bellhop) doesn't tend to discuss what went on during his time in Syria. He holds himself responsible for deaths of many men, including soldiers of the United States. Sometimes he questions his own ability to lead a team...

Back in Ponyville, a small purple and green dragon scampered to the Golden Oaks Library. Being one of the only beings in Ponyville that walked on two legs, his arms were able to carry two filled bags of groceries.

He bumped open the door with his barbed tail and entered what he would call home. Immediately, when entering, he set the bags down and tried to catch his breath. He also allowed his arms to flail below him so they could regain strength from the stress they had just faced.

It wasn't long before he noticed something else that was odd.

"Twilight? I got the food like you asked me to," he called out. He would receive no response. Forgotten and left behind by his friends, he set down the bags with a sigh. The dragon slugged up the staircase afterwards and dropped into his bed to sleep off the aggravation...