Doppler's Log

Never take things at face value...

-June 7, 2021

-Equestria, Canterlot

-Speak with the Princess

-4:02 PM

The train came to a rusty halt, the breaks singing against the metal tracks for twenty or so meters. A station, obviously with more money invested in it than Ponyville's, is where the train stopped completely.

A large building with ornate window housing that made arcs in the wall. A second floor rested atop the structure as a balcony, judging by the gates on the roof, but must have just been for show, for no ponies were up there. The entire structure could double as a clock tower since there was a classic time tracker in the center.

The truly breath-taking part had to be everything beyond that clock tower and station. Canterlot was amazing! The city's walls showed off an overall shade of white with gold trimmings. Many of the buildings sported some odd spiral figure atop of them much like the Saint Basil's Cathedral over in Moscow. A river ran through the outer edge of the town. As if trying to pertain to a child's imagination of a castle; a drawbridge presented itself to allow any to cross into or out of the city.

And it rested on the side of a mountain. Your argument is invalid.

Though from any of the soldiers' perspectives, it was ridiculous. The place was a disaster waiting to happen... The captain was confused however. Wouldn't there be some castle that Celestia was in if she was a princess? All of the buildings looked as posh and expensive as the others. Some had an altitude advantage sure, but it was just because the floor they sat on was inclined.

Maybe the princesses were low profile or something in this world. After all, Twilight was just living in a library like any-... Okay, that's not exactly normal, but she was living as casually as any other pony in that village. Maybe this Celestia character did the same...

Bellhop kept his thoughts to himself throughout the rest of the trip. He made it his own task to bind the changeling and carry him to the castle to have them arrest him or imprison him or whatever they saw fit. But he couldn't get Spade's information out of his head. That little tid-bit, assuming it to be true, meant these ponies knew more than they let on, especially Twilight.

He wasn't about to go around throwing accusations though, no... The Captain wouldn't risk losing their trust, whether they really had it or not, just yet. Even if it were true, it didn't really mean anything. Had Twilight been strolling around in The Zone; it only meant just that: She had seen Earth and all its terrible features. She didn't know anything about Onyx or the military or the Russians. But he could always be wrong.

"If it's some threatening ordeal; it'll unravel itself soon," Bellhop decided.

The train car doors had opened which allowed all passengers on board to exit the train. Some were still a bit shaken up from what they had witnessed on board, but hopefully would be able to get on with their lives in the large and decorated city of Canterlot. The group of twelve, thirteen counting the incapacitated changeling, were the last to leave the train. The team, save for Bellhop, got off and waited at the deck next to the immobile train.

The captain now carried an immobile changeling over his shoulder. The poor thing was still unconscious from the battle only minutes ago. "Again, I'm sorry for the confusion, hopefully this kind of stuff won't happen to you anymore," Bellhop said speaking to the conductor of the train.

"It's quite alright, Captain. You did save everypony's life on board, I can't say I've seen a species like you before though. You're new around these parts then?" he asked, trying to get Bellhop to stop being so modest of what he did on the train.

The question did make him think. He figured that only Twilight and her friends knowing that there was a whole other world that Onyx came from was in everyone's best interest. All of the other ponies were better off ignorantly assuming Onyx came from some unknown area of the world they were already in.

"Yeah... Something like that..."

"Well, safe travels. And hey, my name's Steamer. It was nice to meet you," the brown haired pony said with a smile.

"Likewise, Steamer," Bellhop nodded, stepping off of the train and paying no eye contact to the pony. He really needed to get this damned side mission over with, and then go back to Onyx's main objective. Though he couldn't argue that this was giving the team some major insight that they probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Unless they somehow stalked them onto the train while-... He didn't want to think of what could have been...

"Canterlot should bring up your attitudes!" he called out while the train's whistle sounded and the locomotive started its journey to Ponyville.

Bellhop sighed again and turned to his team, the station, and more ponies staring in awe at the humans before them. How incredibly fitting. He didn't speak while walking by the group, but they understood from the silence that he wanted them to follow.

He didn't know where to go, but he just wanted to move away from these crowds. Celestia's home wasn't going to just be right in front of them when they got off the train anyways. Maybe one of the buildings would stick out enough to identify which one she resided in.

The group followed suit, not daring to start a conversation after what happened on the train. The same silent rules did not apply for Pinkie Pie though, "Well, this 's been a-"

Ingot snapped, "The next thing you say better be-"

"Stop it, stop the fighting!" Fluttershy burst out.

Ingot scratched his head and covered the ear that the shy pony just wailed into. "Look, my bad alright?" he groaned.

"Alright, we're done with the sulking, okay? The mission isn't over just because we killed someone. Command couldn't have really expected us to go in unopposed if they gave us this much firepower. What we did was justified, get it?" Bellhop said without hesitation. His eyes never left the path they walked on.

"Um... excuse me?" a voice from behind the ponies and human operatives. Bellhop was first to turn, always determined to set an example to his team.

However he cringed when making out what it was that just asked for their attention.

It was the mint green mare from the train ride along with a follower of her own. The pony that Bellhop deemed stalker was awkwardly shifting left and right rather than staring at the team with bulging eyes like on the train. The cream coated pony with two colors of hair impatiently waited for her shy friend to do something so they could move on.

"I... uh... er, n-never mind, l-let's go Bonbon," She said, almost squeaking at one point. The one she referred to as Bonbon simply sighed and rolled her eyes, disappointed at her friend wasting their time. And with that, they strolled back to whatever they must have originally intended to do in Canterlot.

Bellhop raised a brow and shrugged. He continued walking, the squad and ponies automatically following him again. Twilight being skeptic of every single action the soldiers did asked, "Do you know where you're going?"

"If it's a princess we're looking for, then she'll be in the most blatant and large structure in the city," He replied while mocking royalty at the same time. In all seriousness, he was lost...

Twilight was failing to find a way to make him feel like an insignificant being at this point. Bellhop could tell his plan to prove his worth was working. He wanted to fully get it through her head that she wasn't in control of Onyx and it could very well be the other way around if they chose it to be. He looked to his left to see if his comment did any-... Why was she so smug?

"Oh, is that why we're heading towards the bakery?"

That brought his tedious pace to a halt and nearly caused him to drop the shape-shifter over his shoulder. The others stopped too, knowing that this would bring out an argument betwixt pony and soldier.

"Where are we going then?"

Twilight cocked her head at that, "No rude remarks this time?" she pondered, "If you were using your head; you-"

"When we stepped off the train; we should've headed to the first structure you witnessed on the train. It was the one with the little moat-waterfall and drawbridge. By the way, do you like the city so far? I think we should visit one of the stores when we're done visiting her majesty," Rarity said with a sheepish grin. Twilight groaned at her white coated friend...

"Nah, I think we're heading right back to Ponyville. Our CO's- Wha- hey, dude. 'Helmet stays on," Hazel cut herself off to scorn Ingot. Indeed, he had removed the last piece of his headgear to show his buzz-cut. He narrowed his eyes at the female guide. She sighed with little swats to the air, "You don't wear the helmet, battle comes outta nowhere, 'ya get shot in the head... Just... Wear it, 'k?"

"Sure thing, Sarg'," he pat it back on his head with a sigh.

"Lead the way then, Lavender," Mercury tapped the princess's horn. Before taking one step he received a light jolt on the offending forearm. He shook his shocked hand with a groan as Twilight skipped by with her smuggyness.

Clover chuckled, "That's whatcha get. Mess with- Ah, hey!" she gasped after something pat her behind. She connected the action to Hazel because she walked by right as it happened.

"Pants sagging, tighten your bel-"

"You couldn't 've just told me!?" Clover hastily fastened her clothes. She overheard a few giggles and blushed, "Sherry, come oooonnn."

"Are you people coming or what?" Twilight shouted from ahead and dragged over everyone's gaze. Bellhop had already been moving with the pony and shifted his shoulders a bit to get a hold on the knocked out changeling. Awkward shuffles quickly brought the rest of the ponies and soldiers to the two.

Bellhop wasn't much of a talker... unless being spoken directly to, of course.  Walking long distances to get some place annoyed him just from the thought, but he preferred keeping to his own thoughts on the journey. What Spade had told him, what was to come, when he'd confront Twilight about it. If he'd confront her at all...

How would she react if it weren't true? Maybe he'd get to feel what Spade had when Rarity flung him into the library... That white pony... He had harmed one of the people they were supposed to get to know better. Why were they just okay with this? Why wasn't the immediate reaction to try and maime the team? The Russian was a friendly guy, but...

This was just weird... They're being too friendly for Bellhop's comfort. Well, maybe not friendly friendly, but friendly enough not to go on a rampage when seeing bipedal creatures with weapons... Even when the creature was hurting their friend right in front of them.

Bellhop would remain-

A shout from afar to bring him back to reality. Before him stood a tall, bracketed gate with walls stretching across both sides to hold guards about eight meters above the ground. "Halt! In the name of Celestia!" a pony shouted out. It must have been a guard, which there were plenty of in this case, for they lined the top of both walls. They were suited up in a gold colored metal, complete with a helmet piece and blue cloth decoration.

He was quick to summarize everyone in the actual group. His expression seemed to be less... angered when spotting the mares that brought Onyx to Canterlot. He called out again in a calmer manner.  Some wielded spears and stuck the spikes towards the sky. Others did not have weapons of any kind, but the armor showed off their horns, implying they dealt with magic rather than weaponry. Soon, others that hovered in the air, flapping white wings arrived. Guards of all pony types ready to scold Onyx.

"What do you require, Princess Twilight?"

"We've come to converse with Celestia, for she requested our audience!" she shouted, making sure that the guard could hear her from their position.

"All of you? What are those anyways?" He skeptically questioned. Bellhop groaned when hearing him use the term those, because it meant he just saw Onyx as things rather than people let alone beings equivalent to that of a pony's.

"They're our friends, and it's urgent that they come along with us. Princess Celestia wanted us to bring them," Twilight explained, lying at the latter part.

"Understood, Princess. You and your friends may enter," he concluded while hitting the butt of his spear into the ground twice. Right then, the gate split in half vertically and opened inward slowly. The group of twelve entered while still getting scolds, though directed more at Onyx team.

"Who were they?" Ingot asked, a bit annoyed with the stares Onyx got.

"The Royal Guard. Celestia's soldiers, if you will," Rarity answered.

"Hey Twilight, isn't your brother supposed to be in the castle today?" Pinkie Pie bounced playfully while moving alongside the party of ponies and mares.

"That's what the letter said, yes. And maybe he can back me up with explaining Onyx's presence," Twilight added, hinting that the group of humans was only causing them more of a hassle. Bellhop sighed, simply accepting that the alicorn was stuck up and changed the subject without insulting her back.

"What's so special about your brother?"

"Why he's none other than Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard!... Well, Captain of his guards back in the Arctic North."

"Another Captain, huh?" Spade chimed in.

Pinkie Pie bounced around the group while they purged forward, "Yeah, all this cool stuff's happening on the same day! Twilight's brother only came to Canterlot like one other time since he got married and went to live in the Crystal Empire! And we got to meet all of you! This day is crazy!"

"One thing we can agree on..." Bellhop mumbled.

Rainbow Dash spoke up before Pinkie could ask Bellhop to clarify his whispers, "Well, should we split up to find your brother or do ya wanna just head right to Celestia?"

"For Twilight's sake, let's just look for her brother. Onyx pick a favorite, six duos," Bellhop once again subtly poked fun at the alicorn while giving an order.

"I call Fluttershy ♥!" Clover hummed. The pale gold pony had no complaints. "At least they can get along well," Bellhop thought.

"I'm with Mercury, or... Bradley," Rainbow Dash clarified.

"Just Brad, thanks," Mercury wanted to get her on the right track.

"Wanna tag up with me, Pinkie?" Hazel asked.

"Sounds super!" she exclaimed while bouncing over to the female combatant.

Rarity cleared her throat next to Spade to get his attention, "I do believe you were hit in the leg, I'll move slowly with you". His leg stopped bleeding on the walk to the castle but still ached a bit while he moved. The bullet hadn't lodged into the bone fortunately. He just shrugged and stood idly by the white pony.

Bellhop and Twilight were quickly coming to the realization that they had only each other for partner options. They both sighed simultaneously. "Guess that leaves you and I, Alex," the alicorn rolled her eyes.

"I guess so. Alright, split up and find him."

Ingot was hoping that he could just use his time in the military to fund a college education but spiraled into somewhat of a clinical depression when he took courses. His grades suffered immensely as he mentally refused to do the work given to him. Without a college education, he figured he had nowhere else to go for work really in life, so he just continued working up the ranks of the USMC...

-4:17 PM

The skies of Equestria were probably the most breath taking features in the world. It was an unscathed light blue, complimented by the white puffy clouds that looked as if they made perfect use as mattresses. In all seriousness; they worked as building materials for this world.

About 260 meters from the ground were structures that scraped the blue air. It seemed that buildings were sitting on top of a large platform of a cloud to create a city. Maybe the platform was made of multiple clouds crushed together or had some special property,  for the objects on top of it didn't look light enough to just sit on top of something like a cloud.

Then again, anything seemed possible on this planet so far...

White columns surrounded entrances to white buildings. All of the structures rested on their own individual cloudy platforms. Harder material staircases and narrow platforms, made of stuff similar to the other cloud floors, connected all of the homes. Though, these didn't seem like homes.

One in particular had smaller puffs of clouds, as soft looking as the ones that didn't make up the town, surrounding it. And, like the others, used columns as a type of entrance rather than a door of some sort. Inside, instructions sounded about to have the recipient make haste.

"Hurry up, Helios," a voice called out.

Around the voice and in the room were desks, chairs, some papers, weapons... and winged beings dressed in gray suits with red complimentary trims. The suit was simply a torso piece that covered only their chests, allowing the tail and hind legs to move freely. Not to say that the vest restricted the beings ability to fly, for cuts in the back let the wings to break out when needed. It featured sleeves so that the forelegs snuggly held the clothing in place too.

Last was the hat... Dull gray, just like the chest piece of the outfit. It resembled that of a baker's cap (Not a chef's hat; a baker's cap). The individuals weren't planning on making pastries anytime soon though. The hat had a red circle about one inch in diameter placed directly in the center of it.

The one referred to as Helios was still filling a saddle bag, both pouches also gray with a single red stripe. He stuffed in water bottles, salty crackers, some gauze, and a pair of knuckle blades.

The weapon was plainly a sharp edge with three precisely put holes and an indent on the edge to grip. The blade itself extended 15 centimeters away from the handle indentations. Helios closed the pouches and strapped them around his stomach to stand on all fours efficiently while carrying supplies at the same time.

"I'm good to go, Captain," he said in a vexed tone. He didn't like to be rushed...

"Right. Get to-"

"we're going now, sir..."

Helios stretched out his wings along with his apparent friends in the room. The captain waited, expecting them gone two minutes ago. Several winged beings flew out of the open roof of the building to get to their new objective. Now soaring through the air...

"Really getting tired of him," a feminine voice spoke up while the group of four flew over the city.

"I know, Mist. You're almost done with the academy though, alright? Soon enough, you'll never have to hear of Stride ever again. Now just think of it this way, you'll be much better off than I am," Helios chuckled.

"Why's he so stern anyways?" another called out so that everypony could hear.

"Well, he's been through a lot, Decker. Obviously not a reason to go around yelling at new recruits all the time, but you know. That and he's kind of supposed to. Rookies need to be whipped up into shape I guess. And he takes it more seriously than anypony I know of."

"Heh. But seriously, how cool is it that I get to graduate under your watch, bro?"

"I guess it's pretty nice, but don't get too comfy, Eos. I never agreed to handing out freebies," Helios grinned. "That goes for the rest of you too... though, just between us... I think you're all gonna be accepted. Just keep up your work ethic around here. Got it?"

"Sure thing, sir," said Decker. He had his head turned while speaking. And unfortunately, while waiting for a response that never came, he smacked into the column of another building. He fell to the cloud floor while Helios and the others flew down to help him.

"Decker!" Eos shouted, getting to his fallen friend first.

"Agh, I-I'm fine," he replied in a bit of a daze.

"You sure? Anything sprained, or broken? How many-?" Helios trailed off in an overly concerned manner before Decker interrupted him by stretching his wings. He then smiled and got up to stand on all fours.

"No need to worry, man. I'm all good."

"Heh, always a quick healer Deck'. Let's get to the next trial then," Eos smirked.

Decker rubbed his head and stared down while his companions moved into the building. "It's not really that I'm a fast healer, see I just hit my-"

"You comin', dude?" Mist called from inside, making the winged being flinch into realization. He jumped and made a dash to catch up with his team. In moments, he slowed down to once again be sided by Mist. On the inside of the column surrounded cloud resided a training course.

Near the center, the four spotted other friendlies. Another group of three, suspended in mid-flight, took orders from the female shouting below them. "Lift, you need to stay directly behind Swift when in line, he's the only thing on that field keeping you from going against the extra wind. Turbulence is going to throw you off if you don't stay center."

"Right ma'am, sorry ma'am!" he replied, unsatisfied with his effort.

"Yeah, don't stress too much, you've still got the other trials to make it up in," the squad leader replied to the anxious flyer, Lift. "Alright. Swift, Drift, Lift, finish up with a couple more laps to work out your wings a bit. Then get back to me."

They boasted air born salutes by using their forelegs with determined smiles and flew off. She redirected her vision at Helios's squad in the distance. Eos cringed a bit at the instructor's gaze from afar.

"Nervous?" Helios nudged his younger brother playfully.

"Maybe a bit... But we flew here all the way from Albatropolis. And I'm not leaving until I'm accepted first," Eos replied with a healthy boldness in his voice.

"New recruits again, Lift?" the sterner commander called out.

"Yeah, Gilda, I'm sure these ones will get through though," the leading gryphon responded. Helios moved up closer to Gilda while his squad followed. "Stride's in a mood again, so be sure your guys are up and alert when you head back."

"I hear ya, Heli'. In a minute, the course is all yours," Gilda said while smiling at her circling trainees. Mist also eyed them, exclusively Lift.

Decker nudged her a bit with a smirk, "What're ya staring at Mist?" It caused her to flush slightly and force her gaze downward.

"N-nothing... The sky's nice today..." she warmly smiled to herself.

"Stay focused and remember to curve, not bank on those turns, okay?" Helios stated, snapping Mist out of her fantasy. They looked up to him with vigor.

All of them were determined to pass basic training and get accepted into the EPOW, Eagle Pointe's air force. The fourth established gryphon company known as none other than Shock and Awe.

Command Sergeant Major Vasily Yetgarev (Spade) and many other GRU helped out Syria. Specifically Russia had ties with the Syria's government and leaders. Their part was pretty much making sure that the rebels didn't go too far (like chemical weapon attacks on the populace). Russia had pulled out of the war about 6 months after getting involved though, for they feared an international conflict with the United States if they continued...

-4:20 PM Smo' queed erreday...

The duos of Onyx and ponies all searched different parts of the castle, not including the throne room where Celestia was of course. They needed, or... Twilight needed in this case, to find Shining Armor to maybe help them explain Onyx's arrival.

But that didn't make much sense at all... How would he know anything of it? Maybe she was just hoping her brother would side with her if Celestia started yelling at Twilight. Bellhop lightly chuckled at the thought of the purple alicorn getting shouted at for being the arrogant pony she was over the last few hours.

"Is something funny?" Twilight asked, unsatisfied with getting the Onyx Captain as a partner to search for her brother.

"Nah, it's nothing. But you know what?" he responded, giving her time to mutter a 'what' before he continued.

"Yes?"

"You and I both know what you've been trying to do since we found you at the library. For hours now, I've humored you, diligently waiting for a just shrivel of respect, but you clearly aren't the kind of being that does that..."

She didn't pay him any eye contact as they continued walking...

"So know this, you don't lead this team. And I don't know if you've noticed, but we aren't gaining anything spectacular out of this little visit to your beloved princess either. This is a sub task, nothing more. And I was the one that allowed us to go through with it."

He overheard her hoof scrape the ground when she mis-stepped due to what she was hearing. He continued, "We could have just said solve your own damn problems and left you to die on your train ride here. Or get captured, whatever you feel you deserved... This is taking up time we could be putting towards what we actually came here for. One of our fifteen days has already been used up because of my concern for your species.”

Finally, she paid him full attention with a vexed glare which he narrowed his eyes at, "We aren't friends, and Onyx is going back to their original mission as soon as we're finished cleaning up your little changeling epidemic. Understand?"

"M-may I remind you that the changelings rising up in arms was your fault?" She furrowed her brows while trotting alongside the Captain, turning away again to avoid looking at him.

He gave that one a bit of thought and nodded with a shrug, "Yeah, I guess it was. But, now we’re all that more important to you," he smirked.

"W-wha-"

"You can't face these guys on your own power, admit it. That orange one with the Stetson; the bullet was two inches away from slicing her artery open. What would you have done if we weren't there? What if we just never showed up? These creatures," he patted that knocked out changeling twice," would still have their guns, and you, would be dead... What's done is done, and the outcome is you need us now."

"Princess Sparkle, is this thing bothering you?" A female guard's voice came from behind them.

"... Not at all, thank you for your concern," Twilight sighed. "Do you by chance know where my brother is? It said he was here in a letter I received."

"The old Captain? He's speaking with Celestia right now. To be honest I thought you'd be in that room right about now rather than taking a stroll through the gardens," the guard responded a bit confusedly.

Twilight face hoofed and groaned. The guard's heart sank, for her mind naturally amplified the princess's frustration to an audible scream. "W-would you like me to take you to her?" she nervously offered.

"That's fine I suppose, but first I need to find my friends. Can we-"

*Onyx, her brother 's in the throne room speaking with Celestia, we've just been wasting our time so far. Regroup at the entrance,* Bellhop said through the earpiece while interrupting Twilight at the same time.

"Or... not," she rolled her eyes. "Let's get a move on then. Thank you for your help that you could have potentially provided if it weren't for his fancy gadgets,"

"I-... Thank you, princess?" she stuttered, not sure to make that out as a compliment or an angry sigh to her bipedal companion. She didn't much feel like asking her about it either.

"Right uh. Don't mean to be rude, but why is your purple friend such a bi-?"

"Finish that sentence and you're in a world'a hurt, pal," Rainbow Dash threatened, not very amused with Mercury's smart mouthing. He chuckled softly while she continued, "Twilight isn't a bad pony, she's just under a lot of stress, and you guys can't seem to see that."

"I guess so. So where do you fall on this whole... epidemic... as it were?" Mercury replied, not really taking anything she said before to heart.

Rainbow Dash sighed, "I just hope we can solve this changeling business like last time and get on with our lives. We aren't always doing the princess's bidding, y' know?"

"I hear ya. Believe me, we're going to make the changeling thing as quick as possible, then you probably won't even remember we're here while we go researching for whatever remainder of days we have left," he smiled, pleased with his ability to calm people down easily.

"Well thanks for at least taking responsibility for your own actions. That takes guts. Especially when it comes to something like this," she smirked.

"I'd thank you for thanking me 'n all, but I dunno what you mean."

"Well... I mean, wasn't their ability to get weapons... because of you?" She slowly expanded on her earlier claim.

"I guess in a way, yes. Onyx in particular? No. We established that it was a team that came here yesterday just to get a glimpse at what this world offered. Notice how they had ACR's and UMP45's?" he answered, trying to take some negative tension off of his team.

The rainbow maned pony just raised a brow in confusion. Mercury quickly realized why she was making such an expression, "ACR's and UMP's are what weapons the changelings were using. And as you could probably tell, they looked nothing like us. Don't the changelings need some sort of reference or model to base their forms off of?"

"I... think so... Well then, you have a point. But still, it's good that somepony's here to-"

"Somebody, kid."

"Wha-"

"The word you're lookin' for is somebody."

"Th-that makes no sense," she curved her lip to show disgust almost. Mercury thought on it for a moment.

"Not to you at least," he grinned while stopping at a large door. "Hmm, we're here then?"

"First as always," she smiled, satisfied. A familiar peppy voice redirected her attention and Mercury's.

"Then we found all of the elements at the same time! But I was super grumpy, and GRAY! Can you believe it!? I was totally gray! Then we split up for a bit, but Twilight found out how to make us NOT gray. She's smart like that. Then we became friends again, and- oh! Hey Rainbow Dash, and Bradley!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

She must have been talking for the entire time Hazel was searching around with her, for the female combatant's expression was astonishment. Ballistic eye wear and a black mouth covered her face up of course, but Mercury could kind of tell she was amazed at the pink pony's lack of a need to breathe when speaking.

"Ya don't have to really wear that stuff since we're not really being all sneaky like anymore, Sherry," Mercury chuckled. Hazel shook her head a bit to faze back into reality.

"Oh, right," she said while raising up the goggles to her helmet's forehead and dragging down the mask that covered the lower half of her face. It let her curly red hair bounce a bit and Pinkie Pie gasped, to which Hazel raised brow at.

"I got to see your face!" she bounced twice with a grin.

"Um, alright? Why's this a good thing?"

"Oh, well maybe it isn't really a good thing. I just thought you were self conscious of your face or something, so you hid it behind that head gear all day."

"Well, good to know there ain't a shortage'a nuts in the group," the combat medic groaned.

Hazel giggled a bit and pat Pinkie Pie on the head, "I like her. She's like a never ending fountain of joy."

"Yay!" she smiled in return.

"Come now, dearie, easy does it," said Rarity who was now only a couple of meters from the group and walking alongside Spade. He didn't show any sort of limp or physical struggle, but the white coated pony remained concerned.

"Howdy-ho," Spade waved to his team in a less than amused mood.

"And Vasily, I simply must know why it is you speak with that... eh, gurgle in your tongue. Are you trying to stand out? Public individualist perhaps?"

Spade rubbed his head with the palm of his hand in stress. "It is because English was not my first language you undersized horse. Man, Hazel, can I trade ponies with you? This one is... Eh, she's so... posh," Spade rolled his eyes. Rarity didn't seem to take kindly to the way he described her just then. He wasn't trying to offend any of the ponies or anything, but whatever Rarity was talking to him about probably just didn't meet his interests.

"Hmph. I may be small, mind you, but no mere equine comes even close to looking as fabulous as a pony does on a regular occasion," she explained with a bit of posture while rising up her nose at the Russian. He simply rolled his eyes again.

"And that's when I found Angel and-... Oh, we're here it looks like," Fluttershy said when appearing with Clover. Clover smiled and leaned in close to the pale gold pony.

"I think you're just about the cutest thing I've ever come across ♥," she whispered while rubbing the top of the pony's head. Fluttershy made crescents out of her eyes and smiled. Mercury and Rainbow Dash gagged simultaneously, then immediately noticed they copied each other's reactions.

Hazel chuckled, "Maybe you two have more in common than you thought."

"Heh, yeah. There was actually a cider mill close to where I lived when I was a kid. They made these cinnamon powdered donuts that were probably the best things ever," Ingot smiled. The orange earth pony following him took every word to heart.

"Well it's good that ya were into farm work when ya were younger, keeps y'er strength up," Applejack grinned.

The battle manager shook his head, "Nah, Michigan has farms, but I don't think I lived near any of 'em."

"Oh, didn't mean t' just throw-"

"You're fine, I can't honestly remember doing anything special as a kid though. I kind of just wound up doing this right after high school, and I've never really looked back," he trailed off starting to linger to old memories of home, "I guess I got into this because I felt sympathy for those civies in Syria. 'Whole thing started 'cause our they told us their government was killing them."

"W-what!? That's awful! Why would they do th-?"

"Pretty much the civies didn't like the current law system, so they rebelled. Protests come around, police are told to beat the protesters, rebels start riots in the streets, and they suppress media outlets so no other countries find out about it. That kinda stuff."

He looked at Applejack with her dumbfounded expression, "Unfortunately, like my friends and I predicted, it's turning out to be another Afghanistan..."

"Whad'ya mean?" Applejack asked with great concern.

"The war is a never ending loop basically. Remember I said that there was a rebellion and they are against the government? As it would turn out, a lot of those rebels are cooperating with a terrorist faction from the last war we were in. So, we have a handful of militias trying to kill us there, and we have the Syrian military trying to kill us there."

"But... How can ya help them if they don't even want it?" Applejack asked.

"Well, that's what I mean. 'S funny: we actually supplied those rebellion factions in early 2013. Everyone thought 'Murica was just insane. The civilians do need our help, but supplying the rebels was stupid... I still, to this day, can't believe we all sat there wondering how Al Qaeda worked its way to a threat again. The US has no business in the Middle East if ya ask me. Those people can't get it together..."

"Doesn't mean they aren't worth defending, Sergeant," Bellhop said a meter away from him while catching up alongside Twilight.

"HeyJasonWhoIsGodAndWhatDoesHeOrSheDo?" Twilight quickly muttered in an almost unintelligible way followed by a cough. Bellhop face palmed and shook his head left and right in frustration. Again, someone was endangering the good meaning of the mission. He felt like he was the only one who bothered reading the damned log before they stepped off the Huey in Pripyat...

"He's a spiritual being widely credited in the US... and Ireland or something as being the creator of the universe. He belongs to the religion of Christianity and is said to be a miracle worker of sorts."

"Oh... that's ne-"

"But, there's no proof of his existence other than a book written a couple thousand years ago," Bellhop sighed.

"Interesting, does everypony in your world believe that?" said Twilight.

"Again with that stupid word" he thought, "I said widely, not factually. Besides, there are far more religions than just Christianity. This one just so happens to be more popular than most."

"Do... you believe in it?" Applejack asked a bit shyly.

"I've been... iffy over the past couple of years on it. The more I move on in life, the more I find reason not to believe someone's watching over me at all times," Bellhop said with his head turned towards the sun set.

Ingot curved his lip to show disapproval, "Well, what do you-"

"'S enough, we can talk about this some other time. I'm sure everyone's waiting at the door as we speak," Bellhop explained while walking in the direction of the rest of his team. "Now c'mon."

First Lieutenant Bradley McCoy (Mercury) tries to keep a lighter mood running in his operations to help everyone remember that being happy isn't the worst thing to be in a situation. He has a degree in psychiatry and has helped many soldiers with their PTSD and injuries on the field...

-4:24 PM

"You totally copied me, admit it!" Rainbow Dash raised a hoof.

Mercury shook his head at the childish pony in disapproval, "Amazing what little things it takes to rile you up. Fortunately, it's just as easy to calm you down."

"Brad, why do you have to make 'em all mad right away?" Hazel sighed.

"Making her-? I'm not making her mad. If she's actually getting pissed off then she's taking things way too seriously. You're not actually mad, are you?" he cocked his head.

"No way, I'm just saying you're trying to-"

"Oh right, the point. Well, this was what you call a coincidence you ignorant, ignorant pony. I could have just as easily rolled my eyes, or as likely not have reacted at all."

"Whatever, ya better get ready t' have your jaw drop in awe when you see my stunts in the air. Just you wait; you'll never sit again when you stand up from-"

"Pestering them again, Brad?" Ingot called out.

"I'm not- you know what? Fuck it, yeah I am. Look how pissed off she is. Look at the pure hatred and rage flowing from her angry blue face," he said while pinching Rainbow Dash's cheek. She flinched back and stuck her tongue out at Mercury.

"What'd I tell you about swearing!?" Twilight shot a hoof at Mercury.

"I can't fuckin' quite fuckin' remember what the fuck you're fuckin'-"

"That's it; you're done making fun of everypony!" Rainbow Dash shouted while gaining altitude. Her wings flapped more quickly as she darted towards the unimpressed combat medic. He simply stepped to the left and she zipped past him and into the wall next to the large door in front of Onyx and the ponies.

Mercury slowly stepped towards her and kneeled to lift her head up. The pony's magenta eyes were making circles while he spoke. "Hey Rainbow Dash... Y' alright? How many fingers 'm I holding up?" She didn't respond in her dazed state. He chuckled slightly before getting a scornful response.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Twilight yelled.

"Hope it was worth it, 'cause now you're going to apologize and carry her. Now," Bellhop commanded.

He sighed, "Sorry that you lost your temper and pointlessly threw yourself into a wall. And due to this action that you did, I have to unjustly carry you for the rest of the trip."

Bellhop rubbed his right palm in his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, facials off. We're not keeping this disrespectful tone anymore, alright? We need to make a decent impression-"

"Which you've failed miserably at so far," Twilight corrected him.

He groaned, "Fine whatever, we're sorry that you don't like us and whatnot. But the last thing we want is to make you all rise up in arms. So we're fixing this changeling issue, and we're fixing it as soon as possible. All good, Sparkle?"

None of the mares responded while any Onyx members who hadn't lifted their facial apparel off did so. "Let's go then," Bellhop said while pushing the door open. He was disappointed because he actually expected the throne room to be right on the other side. He scolded himself tacitly while the others moved by.

In moments, they were through the lengthy hall way. The corridor had other smaller doors on either side, but the one that everyone desired was obviously standing out. They stood behind yet another large door, possibly bigger than the one to enter the hallway to begin with, and heard voices on the other side.

Rainbow Dash squirmed a bit in Mercury's arms, "Let me down, I can walk..." The combat medic complied and set her on the floor. She immediately swept his legs off of the tiles by using her own and sent him to the ground with a thud and grunt. "And kick," she chuckled.

He planted a palm on the floor and used a bit of momentum to horizontally swing his legs behind him and then in front, also taking down the rainbow haired pony. Bellhop walked at Mercury while he was still on the floor, making him inch back more and more to avoid being stepped on.

"Will you quit it!? Where do you get off Bradley, huh!? If she wants to act like a fuckin' child, then-!"

Rainbow Dash started laughing obnoxiously while getting back up. "You really thought I was being serious? Puh-lease, banter is my game, and this guy knows how t' dish it out well enough. Good to know I can use this as a new form of it though. I get him mad at you even if I'm the one who started it!" She started laughing again before Applejack smacked her over the back of the head, immediately causing her to stop and groan.

"Guess that goes for both of us," Bradley smirked.

"Ya done? Are we done with this?... Good, how 'bout we do what we came here for. Can you hold off acting like idiots until then? Please?" Bellhop asked impatiently. All of them shaped up their attitudes to the situation appropriately and stood straight. Bellhop traded looks with the mares and his squad and patted the unconscious changeling on his shoulder.

"If she asks you a question, just answer it in a decent and sophisticated manner. Can you at least give me that Alex?" Bellhop nodded to confirm that she had nothing to worry about.

With one last sigh, he shoved open the door with his shoulder as the mares scampered by him to get in first, followed by Onyx, and lastly Bellhop. As expected, he entered in receiving stares and silence for a greeting. Whatever the well decorated guard with blue hair was saying before, Onyx and the mares had cut the conversation short.

He spoke to a pony that was much larger in stature and had a white coat. Her double colored mane flowed as if there was a draft right next to her head but never showed any signs of ceasing. "Twili'?" the red coated and blue maned pony called in a (not often around these parts) masculine voice. Twilight reacted excitedly at the sight of the one asking her name.

"Shining Armor! It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed while galloping up to wrap him in hooves. He hugged right back while the large white pony stared in discomfort.

Clover giggled to herself, "Heh, Twili ♥" she cooed.

"Clover..."

"I know," she smiled softly.

"Princess Twilight?" the larger white pony called out.

"Y-yes your majesty?" she stuttered while jumping away from her embrace with her brother. Bellhop figured that this pony had to be Celestia... Well, Twilight referred to her as her majesty anyways, so it could be her.

She lacked any expression on her face while she continuing, "I requested that you and your friends come here as soon as possible."

"Of course, and here they-... Oh... Right," she sighed when realizing again that she brought along six more guests. It made Bellhop feel very uneasy about being here again, and it only made him wish they never failed the stealth portion to begin with.

Fortunately, it was allowing them to get a better idea of who was in charge and how things worked. They had been exposed to more of the land in one hour moving around than when they were sneaking around in Ponyville. It seems that Spade was right in this aspect... but only this one...

"It is alright, my faithful student. Who are they? Can they speak our native tongue?" she asked, showing a bit more interest in Onyx now. Twilight's ears perked back up, knowing she hadn't disappointed her mentor after all.

"They can, your highness."

"Soldiers of the United States, please state your names and designations," Celestia asked. Bellhop thought on her words for a moment. How would she know they were from the US? He stopped thinking when meeting her soul devouring stare again. He shook his head a bit to break the mesmerizing gaze.

"Alex Smith, Onyx Squad Captain."

"Bradley McCoy, team medic," said Mercury.

"Uh, Sherry Giles, I work with maps and navigation," Hazel credited herself.

"Jason Macombs, battle management and designated marksman," Ingot said.

"M-Miranda Fey, team sn- no, uh... precision marksman," Clover stated shyly.

"Vasily Yetgarev, I give out-"

"You're from Russia?" Celestia asked.

"Eh, yes ma'am. I work to supply the team with any extra ammo they require."

"What... is that on your shoulder, Captain Smith?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It's a changeling. There was an attack on the train ride here, but we were able to fend them off," Bellhop sighed.

"Why have you brought it here though? And what happened on the locomotive?"

"Uh... I assumed you had a prison or something and again, we were attacked."

"Was anypony on board harmed?" she asked in a very stern manner.

"Not to our knowledge, no," Bellhop replied, "Uh, Vasily here was grazed on the shin. He should be alright though. We... had to kill two of these things, the rest fled when they saw themselves as outmatched."

"You... killed th-"

Multiple ponies called out in Onyx's defense, particularly Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight. Audible bursts of "They had no choice!" and "It wasn't their fault!" went about as Celestia tried to make peace of the scenario.

"Enough! Captain, you're certain that none were harmed on the ride here?"

"Yes, ah... wait, no Applejack was shot in the leg too, but Mercury patched her up."

"A-Ah can walk just fine, y'er majesty," the apple farmer added.

"Listen though; we came here to understand what this world is all about and what it's like... If you have a problem, we can he-"

"Alex!" Twilight blurted out, for she thought Bellhop's tone was indecent. She looked back to Celestia, who was staring in a bit of concentration.

"Perhaps you can assist us in this matter."

"Whatever you need. Keep in mind that we only have fifteen days here. Fourteen since today's almost over. Our expertise is limited in some areas such as air travel and transport, but we have the weapons required to combat the changelings. And there's something else. They have access to these weapons too."

"What are you implying, Alexander?"

He once again had to waver off how she knew full versions of names or what country each of them were from to answer, "I mean they used their abilities to transform into soldiers. But not us, mind you. The changelings must have copied the forms of members in Golf Squad, the team that came here a week ago."

"I understand," she smiled.

Shining Armor, the only sort of guard in the room, chimed in with suspicion, "Princess, are you sure that we can trust them? They just-"

"Oh c'mon, Shinin', they're professionals!" Applejack boasted Onyx's skills.

"Darling, it would have been easy to tell if they meant harm when arriving," Rarity chimed in, adding to Applejack's praising of Onyx. She forced herself not to bring up how Onyx actually introduced themselves...

"I think you can trust them! I trust them! They're trust worthy ponies!" Pinkie Pie blurted out ecstatically. Everypony in Equestria should-"

"You mean everybody. Everybody in Equestria, Pinkie," Hazel attempted to correct her energetic friend.

"Huh?" she raised a brow.

"Well, not everyone is a pony, therefore- agh, never mind, Sorry Celestia..."

"'Tis quite alright. Back on the subject, we would be happy to accept your services Onyx team. Could I ask of you to defend the Elements of Harmony back in Ponyville? I would also ask if you could simply defend the Element Bearers themselves? They are of upmost importance to our society and it is crucial that the changelings do not harm them, especially when they are unable to defend themselves to such tiers of weaponry," she trailed off, subtly silencing herself to give a sense of uncertainty.

Just as she had hoped, it affected Bellhop's sympathy. Not before Mercury interrupted his thought of course, "Elements a' Harmony?"

"You know, Laughter!" Pinkie Pie bounced.

"Honesty," Applejack hummed.

"Radicaln- Er... I mean, Loyalty!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"Generosity," Rarity smiled softly.

"Kindness and affection," Fluttershy heartily spoke.

"And Magic," Twilight boasted.

"Right. So, we'll need like a photo ID or a description of some-" Bellhop began.

"No you don't," Twilight corrected him.

"You've been doing this task throughout your entire stay in Equestria so far, Captain," Celestia noted while hinting at what Bellhop wanted to know.

"Understood. Onyx, hope ya like who you paired up with, 'cause they might be the only thing you see for the next couple of days."

"Thank you in advance for your help, I wish nothing but good fortune for you and your team Alexander. Have a safe journey back to Ponyville."

"Good bye, Princess. Shining, it was good to see you again," said Twilight.

"Yeah, but it looks like you have to get go-" Shining Armor was unable to finish before being embraced in his sister's telekinesis grip and dragged to her for a farewell hug. They went on for around five seconds before letting go of each other. Twilight turned to face Onyx again.

"Alex?" the decorated pony asked.

He looked up to him, waiting for Shining to continue.

"Take care of my sister please."

"I'll do whatever I can, Captain," he replied while giving a warmer smile. Shining also found it fitting to smile back.

"Really, can we switch, Sherry?" Spade asked silently as Rarity scolded him...

...

And so their fate was sealed...