Broken Skies

         As the two of the remaining three pegasi had made it to Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia had gotten word of the two guardsmen being attacked. However, the other pegasus' wing was clipped and nearly cut off by a flying war axe thrown by a very lucky griffon. Back on point, Princess Celestia had sent for the two pegasi warriors to see her. Not soon after the request was sent, she heard the clip-clopping of hooves entering the throne room. Taking a moment to wait and see who they were, she then brought up the biggest question that was out there for the time being, -

"Who did this, Corporal?"

"I-It was the Griffons! It was a slaughter, the bulk of the Royal Guard stationed there were destroyed, maimed, or taken prisoner! W-We need to stop them before they take another town! Th-they might raze Ponyville, or Fillydel-" Celestia had interrupted the pegasus "-Guardsman, are you saying that the Griffons have declared war on us?"

"Y-yes Princess! But, we are heavily out of date compare to them! Our armor is nothing but enchanted gold plates, and our swords are made of brass! No means in offending you Princess, but we can't win this war. Not without help." came the Corporal's response to Princess Celestia's question.

"Then... it is time. They may take our cities, but not without a fight. Corporal, you are relieved of duty. Go spend the rest with your family, while you still can." Celestia had said, with a slight tone of worry accompanying her voice.

If war was truly initiated, than desperate measures would have to be done.

       -Base Camp Alpha, Research Team Epsilon-

  "Alright DuCreaux, hand me that tablet." said Wimbly, the team's chief researcher.

         Shortly after Wimbly's request, DuCreaux had complied, handing him a tablet that held most of the information the team had gathered during their team in Equestria. Wimbly had then began to tap around the tablet's screen, saving and recording information gathered on the planet to see whether it was colonizable or not. If one looked closely, they could see Wimbly navigating around the "FIM-Delta" files. Later that day, the fleet would arrive to assist in taking the planet for the Conglomerate. It also hd seemed that time passes by faster on this planet, with a timespan of only eighteen hours each day. It also appeared that the time pace also connects with the fleet's wormhole engines, thus causing the travel time between the two entities, fleet to planet, to meet earlier than expected. This could pose a problem, as they need to take planetary life scans up close. The energy field that wraps the planet distorts long range scanning which had only picked up small life signals. These scans had ranged from small rabbits to equine animals in nature, and even then the pictures that made out the creatures were very distorted. Truly, this planet was a mystery about to be unraveled.

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Twilight and Rainbow Dash had sped off into the Whitetail Woods while Rainbow was trying her hardest to teach Twilight how to keep afloat. Every few meters, she would plop down to the ground in a heap, so Rainbow had given up and decided to forgo the flying lessons for the when it was a better time. Right now, Twilight was beaming with hopes to see the aliens and possibly study them. However, the other half of her brain had realized the danger in the subject, yet she pursued that thought anyway. However, that tiny bit of paranoia had nudged her a good bit, so she kept a tiny pulse of magic in her horn to be activated at a moments notice.

After the short jog to the remaining spots of land they had to trudge through, the two had heard voices in the distance.

"Hey Wimbly, you hear anything? I heard some noises coming from over there." A gloved finger pointed in their direction.

Trying their hardest, Rainbow Dash and Twilight slouched downward and hid behind a bush. Heavy thumping emerged from the booted figure, warning the two of the scout trooper's feet, ever so slowly creeping up to them. But what really creeped out the curious duo, was the fact that it could speak in perfect Equestrian. However, the need to see the figure overwhelmed them. Taking utmost care in peering over, they could make out what was bi-pedal, covered in armor, and looked very frightening.

"Hey! Put your hands over your-! Oh. Just a few horses guys, no threats detected, carry on."

"Seriously dude, would it hurt to look at your visor's HUD for one second?"

"Not my fault the thermal and motion trackers are located at the bottom left!"

"Then get used to doing it, Campo!"

Soon enough, Rainbow Dash started to look furious. Deep in her mind, however, she was quite frustrated at these aliens not taking her as a potential threat. The weapons they had carry don't even look tough! They just looked like really blunt clubs!

Little to the duo's knowledge, the weapons fired .30-06 rounds of caseless ammunition, reducing cost and increasing effectiveness. However, through Dash's brash thinking, she hopped out from behind the bush and started spouting insults while angrily charging towards the man, huffing and puffing away.

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    "Holy shit! Get down, and that fucking pony spoke English!" Shouted Keith. "Possible threat detected at Base Camp Epsilon, Bullfrogs, are you getting this?!"

    Screech's voice emanated from Keith's shoulder radio, "Solid copy, coming in hot. You owe us one K, ETA 12 minutes."

    "You hear that gentlemen?! Defend the camp until backup gets here!" Came Keith's reaffirmation of orders. "We need to keep these alive, we might need to know just how the fuck these horses can talk! Aim to wound, open fire!

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    Twilight felt compelled to use magic and hold Rainbow Dash in place so she could negotiate peace with the aliens, for she was the Princess' emissary in the matter. But, one problem had remained - she was frozen in fear. The constant sound of harnessed thunder echoed in her brain, truly these xenos were advanced to a high degree of technology. Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled and took off after Rainbow Dash's act of aggression and tried to still her with magic. She charged a bit of magic and tried to grab hold of Rainbow with it. A struggle, a kick, and a small shriek of pain from Dash had held her down. In the end, she held the brash pegasus in place long enough for her to wear out, allowing herself to speak.

"Lemme go Twi! These aliens are a threat to Equestria, we have to stop them before they hurt anyone!" Came Rainbow's excuse to be released.

"No! You don't just charge at all your problems, even more so when your target is even more advanced than the entire Griffon military! Apologize now!" Scolded Twilight.

Dash then retorted with a tone of pain   , "Fine! But I still don't trust these things, if one of them hurts you, then a beating is in order!"

Twilight had then dropped Rainbow Dash to the ground, asking, "So, anything you want to say?"

"Gah, I'm sorry." Humphed Dash.

"Everyone, cease fire and check that bullet wound. Willows, restrain the blue one." - Keith had said while pointing a finger at Twilight - "So, who are you?"