Doppler's Log

You know what I hate in a story? People who have the god damned nerve to put an irrelevant romance between two characters in their story just to make it seem like they're relevant to the situation and not just side characters that aren't really important at all... Fuckin' punks, all of 'em!

-June 7, 2021 (Day One)

-Langley, Virginia (Central Intelligence Agency)

-Wait on Onyx

-7:23 PM

A well lit room full of computers and monitors all lined up neatly in rows. CIA member Jeffrey Hues worked alongside David Royecwitz in monitoring Onyx team's expedition. David, however, wasn't anywhere to be found. Jeff tiredly watched the screen while just waving off any ideas that whatever his co-worker was doing was important, or at least important enough for him to be gone this long.

So far, it seemed as if Jeff's skills weren't quite needed at all since Onyx could only really report if they exited the unknown land. But he was starting to worry; they had a little less than two hours to report in successfully and on time. He thought that maybe something could be endangering them... But then he looked at the pictures that Golf Squad had taken the previous day.

Hills, the greenest grass, lakes, some cartoony looking towns in distance shots; this didn't look like a place that could pose a threat to much anyone... Then he looked at a picture of those creatures. Black body, sharp fangs, menacing stare; it made confused him as to why such a dastardly looking thing made up the population of such a peaceful looking world. If only he were aware of the situation; no one had come back to inform him yet.

A hard pat on the back shattered his thoughts, "Any word yet, man?" Dave asked his watchful companion. That question was starting to drive Jeffrey insane...

"No. When we started this about seven hours ago, it was no. Two hours later, still no. At the mid-day mark, no. Eleven minutes ago, no. And when you ask me, SIX MINUTES from now, the answer will still be NO!" he barked.

"... A simple no would've sufficed, but... agh- anyways, good news, they had Dr. Pepper and I got you one," he said with a smile while setting it on the space next to Jeff's monitor. This shift of monitoring nothing was becoming exhausting.

Dave weakly chuckled, "So, any-?"

The CIA member, whom had been waiting diligently, threw up his arms to represent flipping over the table and his screen with a sound effect to boot. "Good to know I'm the only one taking this seriously. Why won't you!?" he questioned, probably louder than he should have.

Dave broke into a self-contained laugh, "dude, you need ‘a calm down. Onyx 'll be fine, alright? I bet they'll come up in the next hour or so; Captain Smith can handle a team pretty well you know."

"Yeah, I'll bet... I just wish you could show a bit of concern about this task rather than going to get food and stuff every 10 minutes," Jeff sighed to which Dave rolled his eyes at.

"Okay, if it'll make ya happy, I'll sit and watch this other screen just to be able to tell you what you'll already know when they show up. See how that works, eh?" Jeff merely groaned while sticking his forehead to the desk to rest until further notice. Dave slowly reached for the can of carbonated cola and pushed it inch by inch to his co-worker's head. The icy can touched Jeffrey's black hair and pressed against his cranium. He let out a prolonged and unnecessary sigh, for it was going to be a long day...

Staff Sergeant Jason Macombs (Ingot) remains neutral on determining if the US should be involved with Syria. He, like many others males, joined the military as a form of work, one that he expected to get paid decently for. As far as he was concerned, the Marines just liked to bust down doors of houses that were on the other side of the planet from him...

-Equestria, Canterlot

-Go back to Ponyville

-7:26 PM

Darkness had washed over Canterlot while Onyx and the supposed Element Bearers were talking to Celestia. It left a beautiful moon to behold though.

By now, they had exited the castle after more proper farewells and were on their way back to the train station. Getting back to Ponyville was easily possible because Celestia had provided train tickets to everyone, including Onyx.

Since the civilians that the soldiers passed up the first time were still the ones that remained outside on their way back, they seemed more accepting of their presence. Crowds that scowled the group, whether in confusion or disgust, weren't existent anymore. The lack of public shunning probably helped towards the humans' acceptance in this world.

Rarity insisted that the group explore Canterlot for just a teeny bit longer than Bellhop hoped for. Observing the gardens soon turned into meeting platoons of guards, one of which scorned Bellhop thoroughly... Some darker furred female one with purple armor named Make, or Quake, or something. She determined quickly that Bellhop was leading Onyx and demanded his respect. Fortunately, some of her minors came out and (figuratively) dragged her away before the Captain said something he'd regret.

After that, Rarity promised the Captain that they were returning to Ponyville... Which sidetracked into the mares exploring local vendors. He was annoyed that the team so easily bought into the whole experience and aimlessly wandered about the city with the mares. Any time he would bring up that getting back to Ponyville would be wise; they waved it off with "lighten up; it's important that we understand their culture".

After wasting a good three hours; the ponies finally decided getting back home was a nice idea... only because they were exhausted from walking around.

Of course, when arriving at the station, Steamer seemed to welcome them again to his express. Something Bellhop couldn't actually understand, for he was more focused on the trouble he had brought to Equestria so far. He didn't actually save any of the passengers on board, regardless of what he said to Twilight, the changelings would have done little more than kidnap one of the passengers. You couldn't convince this train conductor however...

"I can't thank you enough for helping the defenseless on board. The uh, the fallen in the box car were taken care of. I had some guards come to deal with that..." Steamer said a bit carefully, as if trying to show sympathy for the changelings.

“Right, if that’s what you make of it, I guess…” Bellhop said calmly, not trying to express his thoughts through his actual voice. He wanted to get this ride back over with quickly and preferred not to talk much while on it. Twilight levitated the twelve tickets to the conductor and he allowed them on board.

To Bellhop’s delight, the gawking pony that sat across from him on the last ride wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Actually, there weren't any other passengers on board... He just plopped down on a seat closer to the edge of the car. When all had taken seats accordingly, meaning in little separated groups of equine and human, the train took off. Next destination: Ponyville.

-7:33 PM

The box car was a bit quieter than Bellhop originally planned for it to be. He expected his team to be conversing a little bit, for they seemed so interested in them before. He scanned the bunch surrounding him for their faces. Most were looking down; probably thinking back on the incident only hours ago. To his dismay, he saw Clover in her more morbid state of mind. She sat next to Fluttershy, but seemed unwilling to grant her attention of any sort. The first kills, one of which she was responsible for, could have jeopardized their ability to stay longer than the first day.

Bellhop wasn’t sure if she was more worried about leaving before getting to know a friend better, or that she was partly responsible for making everyone else have to leave as well. He didn’t like seeing any of them in this light, it wasn’t right for anyone to think it was all over just yet.

“Miranda,” Bellhop spoke up, just wanting her to lift her head up.

“Y-yeah?”

“Everything’s gonna work out just fine, okay?”

“I… I hear ya,” she frowned while looking back down again.

“Miranda, please… I know this is corny n' shit, but if it doesn’t end well… then it isn’t the end yet, don’t forget that. That goes for all of you, yeah? We aren’t done here yet. Command knew something stupid was gonna happen if they gave us this much equipment, got it?” he said while looking around to make sure everyone heard.

He saw the slightly relieved faces of most, even the element bearers that Onyx group was entrusted to defend were a bit more comfortable. Other than the lightly disoriented Clover, most of the squad either smirked or nodded to their commanding officer. Clover was granted a hug by her pony counterpart, which she snuggled against.

Second Lieutenant Miranda Fey (Clover) joined the USMC at the age of 19 because she felt compelled to help the poor civilians of Syria in their time of need overseas. She found it difficult to muster courage in closer combat scenarios but was a professional distance marksman and worked her way up that way...

-Unknown

-7:37 PM

During the night, moonlight could at least assist inhabitants with seeing past their own faces. The same didn’t apply to the Everfree Forest however… The swamp remained the same at night as it were in the day: damp and gloomy. At night, it was impossible to see anything, but not for the changelings. Whether it was an environmental adaptation or a lucky mutation; their eyes had allowed them to see clearly in the darkness. As presented as a possibility before, their eyes actually did glow in the dark. It probably wasn’t a very useful effect, but a bystander would probably have a nice time looking at them.

In one of the wooden huts rested the hero of the train ride and her brother, “Sis’, c’mon you can’t get him back… It’s too late,” Barron said to his younger sister. She was staring into the abyss of black that was the forest at night. Her glowing eyes turned into narrow rectangles, showing a scorn.

“It’s never too late… Chip may still be okay, I have to be sure, Barron!” she shouted. She took responsibility for what happened to her friends a few hours ago. She thought they might be able to save Chip; the one whom Applejack knocked unconscious on the ride to Canterlot.

Barron let out a low groan, “Alright… But I’m coming with you.”

She nodded a bit satisfied that he was more accepting of her aggressive nature. Taking on problems immediately would be a useful tactic, for it worked so well all the other times. Barron had copied a Golf member that used an LSAT light machine gun. The weapon was heavier than basic rifles, but he got used to lugging it around while flying... sort of.

They left a note on the entrance of their hut “gone hunting” so that none of the others in their colony would worry too much. With a little more preparation, motivationally based, the two flew off into the night. They would hope to see their friend again soon.

A notable ability of Onyx's apparel is the ballistic goggles they wear. They represent snowboarding goggles, having one large lens that connects narrowly above the bridge of one's nose, with a dark tint. The notable part is its HUD system. On Earth, where satellites are abundant, the soldier’s HUD would inform a soldier of their latitude and longitude. In Equestria; the ability is useless...

-Equestria, Eagle Pointe

-7:42 PM

The night sky complimented Eagle Pointe with a nice, ambient, and dark blue. One of the cloud-made buildings was brightly lit from the inside and illuminated a bit of the platform it rested on outside. Inside were a few long tables that stretched across the walls and many, many folded up chairs underneath them.

Towards the center of the room were seven neatly placed chairs. Ahead of the chairs were some podiums with a few documents on each. It was livelier by the tables however, for ice cream and beverages presented themselves.

Six: six had graduated from the academy that day and couldn’t be more pleased.

There was one problem with The Force though… The six that had graduated made up six of only nine members in the entire company… Now why was this? They could hardly call themselves a squad, let alone company, so where was everyone else? The recruits were all on their own in the little party room while Gilda and Helios left so that they could talk to Captain Stride a little.

“So I say ‘What? I don’t even know you’ and she’s all ‘Well I don’t know you either!’ Heh, kids are always funny,” Decker said with a grin.

“Did you ever get her name though? I think I know who you’re talkin’ about, Deck’,” Eos asked, still smiling at his story.

Decker shook his head no, “nah, I think she said she heard her mother calling… Excuses, maybe she didn’t like her name or something.”

“I dunno, what do you think, Mist? …Mist?” Drift asked the only female gryphon in The Force besides Gilda. Though she was the only one among the recruits; she had gotten along greatly with the others in her team. Mist never had an issue with comfort around the other sex and they didn't seem to have a problem either... Except with him... She jolted out of her light daze when Drift tapped her shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Any particular reason you're always gawkin' at my cousin? Not saying that he doesn't fit the stitches nicely, but you're always doing that," he questioned with a comedic tone, hoping to not press on her feelings. She had been passively staring at Lift yet again... He was talking to his brother, Swift, on the other side of the room. It must have been about something private enough...

"'S nothing... I just... meh," she shied away from the question. Her awkward response seemed to catch the attention of the other two gryphons closest to her now, for they huddled around Drift to listen in.

"Meh?"

"Yeah, mhmm," Mist smiled robotically and chuckled afterwards. One thing the small amount of peers in The Force did allow them was to create a series of inside jokes... or a little humorous styling that teetered on just random and unrealistic responses to questions they didn't want to answer truthfully.

She sighed happily and smirked while rolling her eyes, "I dunno, he just... yeah?"

"What?" Eos grinned.

"You should talk to him, Mist," Decker suggested, followed by a sing-song tone, "If you don't; you'll never knooow."

"Psh stooop, It's not like that, Deck'," she waved off his smart-mouthing with another eye roll. Now that he mentioned it; the others seemed to draw to the conclusion that Decker did. "And I've talked with him before, just like I do with all 'a you boys," she scoffed again with a playful smile.

"hmm, I disagree. I distinctly remember you avoiding such conversations," Eos pointed out. "You always seem to shy away from him too."

"So? That doesn't really mean anything." They all gave her a grin of some sort which actually did draw some discomfort of her situation. "What? Please don't tell me you all think-"

"Yeah, man... er, girl; Lift's a cool kid. And it's kinda obvious whatcha think of him... so?" Drift continued his grin.

She tried to compose her expression for a brief moment... Only for it to turn into a happy sigh, "Okay... I may... kind-of-maybe-not-really-sort-of like him... More than I should... More than you fags at least." It drew chuckles as intended; friendly banter is friendly banter. "But... I don't know... Agh, he's kind of... up there. And I'm all... meh," she lowered her foreleg down to gesture "down here".

"Up there?" Decker asked while raising a brow.

Eos started chuckling and making crescents out of his eyes, "Damn, 'you think Lift's up there; then I probably make you 'gasm when you're-"

He was forced to dodge a punch while bursting into laughter. The other two began chuckling as Mist regained composure... and smiled at the good time they've created despite the topic's discomfort.

"I think you'll be in for a bit of a treat if you just speak to him a little," Drift offered with a wink. Maybe there was more to Lift than Mist assumed. Drift probably knew what he was talking about since he was the guy's cousin... But what if he was just comforting her into doing it? What if Lift didn't have the same feelings for her? What if she ended up looking stupid in front of everyone!? WHAT IF-

"Geez Mist, he isn't gonna stab you or anything. The worst he can do is turn you down," Decker said concernedly with a frown. He must've noticed her expression taking a worried turn without her even realizing. Upon realization, she changed it from a teeth-bearing-eyes-wide frown back to a mouth-closed-eyes-worried frown.

When giving his advice thought; it got rid of her light anxiety over the whole thing and even raised her hopes a bit... for now. "If ya go up to him, we won't watch or anything. We'll even call Swift over here so you can chat with Lift in private if you'd like, sound good?" Eos offered with a smile.

She looked over her shoulder behind her to see that Lift was still conversing with Swift. It looked like he was a bit worried about something as well... He turned to catch a glimpse of Mist before she immediately forced her head back towards the closer gryphons. She sighed...

"Okay..." Peer pressure claims another soul... For shame, EPOW!

They all formed smiles which reduced her anxious frown into an angered one. "Don't say anything to Swift and you better not lie and listen in, got it? Don't even look in our direction," the recruit spat. They all nodded and lowered their expressions from grins to basic smiles.

Drift gazed over to his two cousins and called out, "Yo, Swift! I need 'a ask ya somethin'. 'S personal, can you come away from the group for a bit?"

The gryphon in question stared blankly back at Drift then to his brother again. Lift nodded at Swift and received a pat on the shoulder from him which drew a smile from the timid lion-eagle hybrid. As Swift walked towards the group of four; Lift went back to his frozen dairy treat on the table.

Eos elbowed Decker which resulted in an unintended "Agh, what-", but he quickly understood what it meant. Hastily, he brought up a conversation about the miniscule amount of members in the EPOW. It wasn't to actually dwell on the reason, for most of them already knew why; it was intended as a distraction. While Drift pulled his cousin away from the small crowd, Eos had joined in on the forced conversation. Mist felt a small well-up in her throat as she finally understood "Oh, this is happening right now; not in the distant, distant future..."

It only took another nudge from Decker, who tried very hard not to look at her while he did it, to make her start towards Lift. The shy gryphon's heart started to beat a bit harder. She scolded her chest with a smack on the left side using her fist in an attempt to calm the organ, which didn't help much at all.

She got the pleasure of only seeing the back of his head for the agonizingly slow journey across the room so far. She had the odd assumption that seeing his face would make her feel that much more awkward. Mist failed to realize that it was inevitable that he would soon-

Lift's eyes went a bit wide with surprise when he turned to see Mist inching her way to him. He ducked his head down and frantically swallowed the delectable contents in his mouth. With a quick throat clearing, he brought up his head to see that the gryphon was much closer...closer than he hoped at least...

He stuttered, "H-hi, Mist..."

"Heh, hey there, I was um... Just walking around a-and thought you would... maybe wanna talk... a-about stuff...?" she asked nervously.

Lift coughed up a chuckle, "Sure, uh... What kind of stuff?"

She blinked...

"Fuck," Mist thought before coming to a quick-save question, "Actually, what were you two talking about a second ago?"

"Oh, um... Nothing really... Just... the ice cream..." he looked down. Though he was a bit taller than the female gryphon; he certainly didn’t want to show it. When perking his head up again and meeting her confused eyes, "It's good, yeah? You should try it- I mean, not assuming you haven't- I'm just... saying... stuff." He shrugged and forced his eyes to look anywhere except in her direction.

"Is he trying not to look at me?" she thought whilst being possibly annoyed at the assumption she came to. Her anxiety slowly worked down to a calm state and she raised a brow. "Could I talk to you about something... a bit more...personal?"

His head never rose again to meet her eyes. Mist frowned now and her eyes squinted in light anger, "Ignoring me doesn't make me leave". He scratched his foreleg against the floor slowly. He peaked up at the gryphon quickly before coughing and randomly turning back to the table to get a mouth full of ice cream...

"What are you doing?" Mist said while furrowing her brows.

He stooped away from the treat on the table and forced himself to stare down again after swallowing, "I... I'm sorry, I just...-"

Mist cupped her claw under his chin and applied pressure upwards. She forced his wide-open eyes to meet her not-so-welcoming ones. His pupils dilated when he heard his clothing behind him rustle slightly. He blushed lightly, "O-oh geez, I-".

"Listen, I don't want you to-"

"Recruits!” a voice broke all of their conversing, “Front and center!" Mist let go of Lift's chin and heard a lengthy exhale of relief... Why was he holding his breath? Regardless, they all turned to see Captain Stride, Lieutenant Gilda, and Staff Sergeant Helios. A moment later, they all lined up in front of him side-to-side.

"As a test of your initial acceptance, we came to the conclusion that you all stay up for a night watch over the skies of Equestria."

"What?" Helios frowned at his Captain.

"We agreed that you only needed two to come along with you Stride, and we said we’d do it, don't be like this," Gilda said as her face dropped to disappointment.

He sighed, "Fine, fine. I guess you’ll all be on your own for-"

"I'll come!" Lift shot a claw up hastily.

Stride turned to him and formed a smirk, "See? That's the one who's going to excel". Mist raised a brow while Lift awkwardly shuffled towards his superiors. Stride spoke on Lift's behalf again, "he's already got his wings unfurled; ready for anything". That one made the recruit blush and stare at the floor.

"You sure you want to, Lift? We're going to be out like all night; you'll need to wake up an hour after going to bed when we're done," Gilda said concernedly.

"Yeah nah, ’s fine," he replied with a forced smile. It earned another nod of approval from Captain Stride. Eos felt the subtle guilt trip reach him while he stared at Helios. The gryphon's returning stare seemed to spell out "You shouldn't let your friend do this alone, bro".

Eos groaned and slowly went over to the small squad of four. He hoped his simple presence would be able to inform them he was coming along. Lift didn't quite understand, "What are you-".

"I feel that I need the experience..."

"Eos..." he heard from the other side of the room. He turned to see Mist with a vexed glare. She put a finger up to her lips and squinted more intensely which he supposed meant "Tell him how I feel and your wings won't let you do night watch again anytime soon."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Time to go?"

"Yep, I'll lead. To everyone staying; behave yourselves please. Get to bed soon as well, for we won't be here to tell you," Stride firmly stated.

They all murmured something incoherent to themselves which possibly protested his order, but they nodded while doing so. With another quick inspection, Stride turned towards the exit and moved to it. The others in the group followed him suit without him having to ask.

The night breeze calmed down Lift's wings as they stepped to the edge of Eagle Pointe. With a calmed exhale, Stride dived off of the edge and spread his wings to begin a brief flying exercise. The others did the same and stuck close behind him. When they had enough stretching; they flew off into the night sky, ready to defend the grasslands of Equestria from threats.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Romance. It's a plot device.

Second Lieutenant Gilda joined the Eagle Pointe Over-Watch about two years ago. She had militant experience three years prior to that, but joined the EPOW afterwards. The gryphon earned her current rank after one and a half years of service to her new group...

-Equestria, Grasslands (Near Canterlot)

-Rescue Chip

-7:56 PM

Though Barron was used to hefting around his LSAT while flying around; the endurance required to do so for such a time was wearing him down. His sister groaned at the strained changeling that accompanied her. She stopped moving forward and lowered her altitude to float a few meters from the ground level.

Barron also soared down to her level...then fell down with an audible thump on the grassy floor. The sister groaned and swooped down to land next to him.

"Sorry, just tired..."

"From doing what? You were-"

"I was worried about you! Everypony else and I were waiting diligently on your return; preparing to give help where it was needed. When you got back we were appalled, but you saw us; why do I have to point this out?" he frowned worriedly.

With a sigh, he shifted to his human counterpart with green flames covering him. He let the LSAT sag on the grass beneath him after unhooking it from the 3-point sling, convenient now that he had thumbs. "I guess I'm just too worried about you... Also, this thing's really heavy, you have no idea..." Barron snickered.

"Then why'd you choose that one to begin with?" She raised a brow then sighed, "C'mon, we're almost there. The castle's in our vision, Barron!"

"Yeah, about that... How exactly are the two of us supposed to take on the entire Royal Guard?" Barron asked skeptically.

The sister readied herself to retort in a belittling tone... only to realize that she had no answer, for they hadn't actually discussed a plan. They were about to waltz right on in to the most heavily guarded city in Equestria without any strategy... She scratched a hole-punched hoof on the side of her head.

"Um... We could take one of the guards as a hostage after we demonstrate what the weapons are capable of?"

"Okay, but how do we find the cell after that, and how do we know that he's-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" she roared which made him sit down in sorrow. "He is alive, and we're getting him back tonight! I'm ready to do whatever it takes for the safety of our own, but you...you just complicate things like this... I think it's because you never even liked Chip."

He took the dangling helmet off his head and narrowed his eyes, "What?"

"You heard me, brother. You dislike him, therefore you feel as if he doesn't deserve your assistance when he needs it the-"

"This is just absurd! Sis', just because I never really talked to him doesn't mean I hate him. And stop this-... Agh, guilt trip! It's no good for either of us," he spat.

"Then fly with me or go home. If holding the damned thing is so hard; I'll do it for you, alright? You need to hold mine though, 'cause I'm not doing both."

He sighed and stared at the light machine gun on the ground. Sighing, "Fine, I just wish you were a bit more patient with these things. If I hadn't have stopped here; we'd die due to a lack of preparation."

With a quick groan, he hefted his LSAT back up and clipped it to both sling hooks. After he confirmed that it firmly stuck to him, or it at least wouldn't fall off during a flight, he morphed back to his changeling self. It earned a smile from his sister...

"I know you mean well, Barron, I just want what's best for everypony."

"Yeah, it's fine Ski-"

Something dark and roughly his size drove him into the ground rather harshly. Before the sister could react, she had met the same fate and had the luxury of a mouthful of grass while the rifle knocked the wind out of her. Oh, how perfectly it had been placed as it hit the ground before she did when being pummeled down.

Gasping for breath as soreness washed over her stomach, she saw that Barron was looking up to what struck him down. It pinned him as he stared in fear at it. In another second, it hit him over the head and rendered him unconscious... But what was in store for poor Ski-?

The same exact thing... she felt cold as darkness took over her vision...

"You get 'em, Gil'?" Captain Stride asked calmly as he sternly examined his prey.

"I told you not to call me that, Cap', and yes..." Gilda replied scornfully.

Lift, Eos, and Helios had landed subtly behind them waiting for further orders. Gilda got off of the female changeling and turned to her recruits and fellow CO. Helios stepped forward to see that one of them had started to bleed slightly. A crack in her left foreleg started seeping out a dark green, yet oddly neon against the night, liquid. Lift seemed a bit disgusted at the appearance... maybe he was squeamish...

Eos kept glancing over their equipment, "What’s that stuff they're wearing? I don't recall them having uniforms."

"Uh... I dunno, whad'ya think, Serg'?"

"Some kinda armor...maybe," Helios squinted.

Stride seemed unimpressed with any new motives or adaptations the threat was developing. He was certain that it would be in vain if the changelings attempted any other assault. But that only left one more matter, for they were a bit too close to Canterlot for his liking. "Alright, finish it. Can't have 'em coming back. Lift, you want to do the honors?"

"M-me? Finish what?"

"Them," he raised a brow, "with a blade or something, c'mon there might be more around here or some coming to check on them."

"You want me to kill them?" his pupils dilated in anxiety, "W-why?"

Stride sighed, "Look to your left, what do you see?"

The recruit turned his gaze over his shoulder while seeing the other curious eyes of his squad mates. His vision met the castle of Canterlot... He then turned back to the team, all eyes fixated to him as he felt his heart sink a little. "I-I... No..."

"No?" Stride questioned in disbelief.

Gilda rubbed her temple, feeling that sticking up for the recruits would only benefit her later on, "Why do we need to kill them, huh?"

"Why? Why not?" he asked with his eyes closed and an even more calmed tone. It looked like he was scoffing the downed changelings by refusing to pay them any eye contact.

"Well... they didn't actually do anything..." Lift mumbled.

"Can't we just take that stuff they're wearing away... or maybe even throw them in prison back at the Pointe?" Eos shrugged.

Stride sighed, "I suppose... You recruits tend to know better than I do anyhow. Everybody always calls me on my moral standings with these things... I guess I should start to believe them". He started to stare off into the night sky, appearing to wait for a response. Understanding that one would never come, "Regardless, you're the ones carrying them, that is, of course, after you bandage the bleeding one."

Lift heard him say the words but didn't quite comprehend it until they were all staring at him again. "What, me?"

"Yes, patch her up. I need you both to get some type of experience out of this," he chuckled while tossing a small roll of white gauze to Lift. The roll of bandage fumbled through Lift's claws and ended up making him dive to catch it. He sighed as he worked his way to the unconscious changeling. Gilda stepped back slightly to give him some working space.

A minute in...

"Okay, what the hell! The thing's skin is made of glass or something, i-it won't stay, I swear I'm trying," Lift angrily undid the wrap of medical cloth. His claws fidgeted slightly as he brought them to eye level, they were soaked in that repulsive green substance... He felt his stomach tumble a bit...

Eos took notice to his friend’s uneasiness, "Uh... Li-?"

Lift forced his head to the right and vomited into the grass.

Gilda face-clawed while Eos and his brother turned away in disgust... Stride just raised a brow, "Son, are you not good with seeing this sort of stuff?" It was in an officer-to-recruit way, not in a father-to-actual-son way... Because clarification.

After a couple seconds of recovering from the episode he had, Lift turned back and shook his head "no" with a dumbfounded frown, "What makes ya say that, Cap'?"

Stride worked his way over to the injured changeling and snatched the gauze roll off of Lift. He sighed, "Just don't stare at your hands while you wipe them off..."

He bent down towards the changeling before Gilda called out, "Uh, I could do-"

"Relax; I'm not going to hurt it," Stride squinted, "Quite the contrary, yes?" The officer wasn't going to wait on her permission to save a bleeding changeling...

After maybe 10 seconds, he had the wound patched up to the best of his ability... Really he just knotted the ends together after wrapping one around multiple times which ensured the gauze would stay in place. As for the wound itself, he didn't know...or care for that matter...

"Alright, pick a favorite Eos and Lift," Stride ordered.

Lift flipped over the feminine changeling and raised a brow. He picked up a tan colored... whatever it was and held it by a grip. "What's this thing?" he asked while setting it down gently and away from the doppelganger.

"Maybe a weapon... It doesn't seem like something that somepony with hooves can hold though," Helios chimed in. "That other one had some strange form before you tackled him, Stride."

"Yeah. Hey yeah, you're right... I need you two to take the possible weapons along with us while we go back to base. We good?"

They nodded eagerly, hoping to obtain as much information as soon as possible...

In 2016, the Selective Service System expanded to include women ages 19 to 23, as opposed to the men being 18 to 25. Unfortunately, Syria required said act to go into effect for the fourth time in the history of the United States. However, the draft was only in effect for 3 months, from mid-April to early July...

-Equestria, Ponyville

-7:57 PM

Much of the time passed had been spent through conversations of sports and leisure activities, specifically the ones on Earth. Rainbow Dash seemed the most interested, of course, and the others just enjoyed hearing about a planet that was similar to theirs in more ways than they could imagine.

Mercury described the Olympic Games and its routine occurrence every four years. Since Rainbow Dash was indeed Rainbow Dash; she claimed that she would win any event. Spade shot down her theory by explaining how most of the competitors spend around half their lives training for only one event. He also suggested that wings would give her some sort of unfair advantage...

This quickly led to the mares, primarily Applejack, gushing about Dash's athletic abilities. Mercury only had to mutter a "ya don't say?" before the pegasus got all up in his face about daring to question her amazing skills. Push came to shove and the medic found himself offering to race the pony… Fortunately, the banter, insults, and slanders came to a halt when they shook on it. Mercury cringed at the pony spitting on her hoof before the initial shaking part, but it did seal the deal.

“When are you two going through with that?” Ingot asked with a smirk.

“Some other time,” Bellhop said in a calming tone, for he wanted this to settle down rather quickly. “Right now we decide whose staying up for nightly rounds of the town.”

“Hm, why do you need to do that? You should probably go to bed or something. Won’t you need rest for your exploring and helping us with the changelings?” Twilight asked in a, for-once, concerned tone. Then again, she might have just been concerned about their ability to do something in her interest, much like a slave owner’s interest in the well-being of the slave…

“That’s why we’re doing a night watch; what if the changelings suddenly decide those damn ponies got our friends killed, let’s get them when they sleep, huh?” Ingot said to back up his commander. “And it’s not like staying up all night is hard; we do that all the time in danger zones… it just takes will power.”

“And for explaining, you’re one of three that gets to go to bed tonight. Tomorrow you’ll be up though. I’ll stay up tonight, so whose doing that with me?” the Captain asked. The others gave him antsy looks, even Ingot.

“I don’t really have to go to bed toni-.”

“You should spend the night at my house, Sherry!” the pink pony jumped.

"Huh? Wha- I mean, are you sure Pinkie? We’ve only known you guys for like two hours,” Hazel replied in an uncomfortable manner while understating their actual time spent with them. “I’d hate to impo-.”

“Nonsense!” she exclaimed, “Would it make ya feel better if I said I wanted you to?”

“A…little… Thank you,” she replied a bit shyly. She never did like accepting gifts or hospitality because she felt she owed the person something afterwards. Nonetheless, it meant she wasn’t staying up that night.

“Miranda, would you like to come by my house? You can rest up there… You know, if it’s alright with you…” Fluttershy reduced to a whisper and hid an eye behind her bangs.

“Alright with me?" Clover asked in a confusedly. The pale gold pony was offering hospitality and asking if it was okay with the person she offered it to... Then she saw that Fluttershy was starting to buckle down in her seat, for the pony thought she was imposing on...the only possible imposer...

“I’d love to, ‘Shy. ‘Much appreciated,” Clover accepted, making her another resting soldier for this night. Ingot was unconfirmed, but Bellhop still needed two to actually stay up.

Applejack smiled at Ingot to which he let out an unsure, “Uh, I-”.

“Jason, would ya want t’ sleep in the barn back at the orchard?” she asked. Then she thought about how the day had gone so far. Ingot probably knew where the barn was already, for Onyx had been spying on them only hours ago. She looked back to the combatant again; expecting an answer. Ingot had the same problem that Sherry did with kindness, except maybe twice as bad…

“I, uh… I’ve got a sleeping bag n’ everything; I’ll be fine.”

“Fine? Fine where? Outside?” she raised a brow.

He sighed calmly, “Yes.”

“Then ah’m asking ya to stay in the barn tonight. Ah won’t take no fer’n answer, friend,” said Applejack while patting a hoof on the seat for emphasis.

He exhaled slowly again, failing to make eye contact with her, "'Kay.”

“Al-…right… Well, that leaves you two and I then,” Bellhop declared. “Thank you for providing shelter and such, we’ll try our best to hold up to our word with protecting you.”

"I think you'll do fine. Vasily sounds like an excellent combatant, so I can trust that six of you will be six times more efficient I'm sure," Twilight said with closed eyes, little smile, and a slow nod.

"I...guess so?" Mercury agreed with her, unsure to take that as a compliment.

"Shouldn't be any trouble, Miss Sparkle," Spade smiled.

Right as she felt comforted and a bit more accepting of their presence; they felt and heard the squeaky breaks being deployed for the train. A speaker clicked and allowed Steamer to talk to everyone on board. *Attention passengers, the train has arrived in Ponyville. Time is 8 o' clock, thank you for riding with us.*

Bellhop sighed, "Alright, pleasant dreams you three. Mercury, Spade, let's move."

-8:17 PM

Mercury sat against one of the many poorly placed houses in Ponyville as his helmet light kept illuminating whatever he paid attention to. He turned the stupid thing off, not like he'd need to see anything anyways. Maybe Bellhop would just forget he was part of their pointless three-man night patrol and he could sleep against this house.

No such luck prevailed when he heard grass rustles from in front of him. With his eyes closed, he slumped further down into the pavement until he was laying and sighed, "Whatcha nee-?"

"Changeling!" one yelled.

"YOUR DAYS OF TYRANNY ARE OVER!" another shrieked.

"Tyranny? What's that mean, Sweets?" a third chirpy voice asked.

"Ain't the likes a' you three supposed to be in bed by now?" Mercury sighed. He was wishing now that it was his commanding officer that showed up rather than these three kiddies.

With a groan, Mercury stood up and began walking away from the trio, unwilling to explain anything to them. He felt no need to, for he assumed that they could at least remember their encounter several hours ago. The crusaders quickly swapped glances of anxiety amongst themselves.

Without need of much more motivation, Scootaloo sprang up in pursuit of the British combat medic... Hearing her scampering towards him; Mercury ducked to nearly avoid the orange filly trying to tackle him. The victory was short lived as the other two also pounced at his legs and forced him to the ground.

He groaned, "Fuckin’ hell, go n’ bug Rainbow Dash or somethin'!"

"Twilight told you not to curse anymore. Also, they're just kids. C'mon now," Spade chuckled while coming towards the group. The fillies bunched together in fear and stiffened up when seeing him. Mercury got up and patted the dirt off of his clothes while walking over to the Russian.

"They attacked me, so they get cursed at. Nothin' personal. And seriously, don't act like they've never heard such language before. 'Specially since that orange one's always around 'Dash," he squinted his eyes.

It drew a gasp from Scootaloo, "You're the ones from earlier?"

Mercury rolled his eyes, "No shi-"

"Isn't it time you gave someone a break, Bradley?" Bellhop came from around the house that the medic was resting on moments ago. The captain was met with a light scold all the way from England. He ignored it and figured that Mercury was just tired or something. They had been moving around for most of the day.

"Ain't it time you gave all of us a break?" he raised a brow at the unmoved Captain. Shaking his head, "Look, 'm sorry. It's just... Doesn't this all seem just a little silly? I mean, a world full 'a ponies that talk and fly and do magic 'n whatnot," he squinted. The operative thought the last notification of their abilities would take the cake to support his explanation: Magic.

"What's wrong with us?" Applebloom frowned.

"No, nothin's wrong with you per say, but little horsies don't speak... or create societies on their own for that matter where we come from if ya know what I'm sayin'. And all the other stuff I listed..."

"There's no flying on your planet?" Scootaloo stood dumbfounded.

"Or magic?" Sweetie questioned.

"Well, actually we can fly with the help of machinery. I have not heard of a horse born with wings yet. I do not know. You crazy Americans are always cross breeding and such; have you done something like that yet?" Spade asked.

"Okay, One: we don't do that kind of stuff just 'cause we're Americans. Two: Pegasus… Pegasi?... and unicorns are impossible creatures, they don't exist unless it's part of a story or mythology," Bellhop groaned. Then he took notice to two of the three fillies staring sadly at his remark.

Regardless of attempting to make an adult argument, he had to remember that children were still up and about. He sighed, "I'm simply talking about our world. In our world, there is no such thing as childish as magic."

"No magic? Well how do you do anything?" Scootaloo questioned."

"Science, orange one," Spade smiled.

"Science?" Applebloom frowned, "Ain't that a tad bit borin'?"

'S funny you say that, because science is magic," said Mercury.

Bellhop raised a brow, "Um, no, science is the systematic knowledge of the physical or material world based on observa-".

"But look at what it's accomplished," the medic waved a hand and shook his head "no". "Only 100 years ago would we call what we have available now in the medical field witchcraft. We can fly above the clouds, ride over oceans in hours, and go to other planets for..." he was about to boast a "fuck's sake" to further drive his point, but remembered there were young ears among their conversation, "Peat's sake."

"Science is the best thing to happen to humanity," Spade chimed in.

"I... guess... But whenever you say magic, it always gives me the impression you think God did it or some other stuff," Bellhop finally spilled what bugged him about that statement. He noticed the fillies perk their ears at that word as he said it. He sighed, "Alright, why is it so easy to get the interest of these people? You saw that green eye-fuck on the train right? She couldn't stop staring at me. And why is it that the word God makes all of your heads auto-target the offending voice?"

"Well, wad'ya mean god?" Sweetie Belle asked quizzically, "Does Celestia know about your world too?"

Bellhop would have retorted, but then forced himself to come to terms with what he was about to express... So he didn't, "Just forget it, please, I'm getting ahead of myself..."

"Maybe you're tired or something. Wanna take a nap? Oh wait, silly me, we gotta do a night watch for a threat that'll never come," Mercury smirked. "Also, how come you're the only one that gets to break the rules?" he further inquired, calling Bellhop on swearing a couple of statements ago.

It earned an annoyed glare from Bellhop before Spade chuckled, "I'm starting to wonder just how it came to be that someone like you got in the SAS. You keep boasting your laziness when something does not come in your favor, friend."

"And that's where medical skills come in, mate. I can excel in that and they see fit to put me in spec ops 'n whatnot."

"Mate?" Scootaloo cocked a brow.

Mercury rolled his eyes while Bellhop took on, "The changelings seem to be a threat, the only possible one, and you would risk them coming in here and raising hell?"

This earned a scold from the combat medic, "And you're gonna try 'n shame me into doing this?"

"Sha-?"

"Y'know what? Don't bother. I'll do this lil' patrol thing or whatever, but I can see right through your persona, Cap'n. Be open to criticism every now and again, mkay? I'll see you around," Mercury finished for him. He then walked off into the darkness that was Ponyville during night.

Spade stood a bit awkwardly next to a still Bellhop. "He'll come around... So, uh... How did you three know of the changelings? You accused Bradley of being one."

"Hm? Oh, we heard about wut happened on the train ride. Ponies that got back from Canterlot spread news like wildfire 'round here," Applebloom answered.

"Hope we can prevent any more of these mishaps... What are you three doing out this late anyways? It would be pitch black if it weren't for our lights," Spade asked.

"Well, we heard about the changelings on the train..." Scootaloo noted.

"The town ponies seemed awful worried," Applebloom added.

"And we haven't figured out our special talents yet, so..." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"You want to see if you're good at looking after the town during night?" Bellhop asked. They smiled blankly to answer his question... He caught a glimpse of Spade chuckling before sighing, "Can I ask why it is you keep going on about talents and stuff? Are your parents hell-bent on figuring out your major for college?"

"Oh no, mister, ya got it all wrong," Applebloom giggled, "We're tryin' t' get our cutie marks!"

"Didn't you notice the little mark on Rainbow's flanks?" Scootaloo asked.

"I... didn't spend much time ogling pony butt, so no," Bellhop said sarcastically.

"The mark represents a ponies’ special talent... Most ponies get theirs when they're young. All 'a the school kids got theirs already..." Applebloom said while her ears drooped to the sides of her face. The other two mimicked her action and lowered their heads when reminded of their sluggish step forward in life.

Bellhop sighed, "So you're trying to see if there's some talent in patrolling or night watching over a town? That sounds like something the Royal Guard would do."

Sweetie perked her head up and gave puppy eyes, "Can't be sure until we check."

The look didn't affect Bellhop's sympathy, but did make him realize what they were passively asking of him... "If you'd like to stay up and guard this place with us; I guess that's fine. Just get to bed at a reasonable time, yeah?"

They all chirped a vexing, "YAAYYY!"

Bellhop sighed while turning to Spade, "Let's find Bradley…"