The Strange Tale Of Ezekiel Henderson

Chapters

Chapter 1: Fireteam Bravo
Chapter 2: What the h*** are you?
Chapter 3: Welcome to Ponyville
Chapter 4: What's a Marine?
Chapter 5: Come with us...
Chapter 6: It isn't good
Chapter 7: Better safe than sorry...
Chapter 8: No, definitely not natural...
Chapter 9: Ok, be careful....
Chapter 10: Hey the Pri-
Chapter 11: Wha eh go....
Chapter 12: Consumed, to be precise...
Chapter 13: Got it, but I can't reach it.....
Chapter 14: Don't Celebrate

Chapter 1: Fireteam Bravo

"Kitchen, clear!", PFC Jenkins' voice rang out as he swept the last room in the small house.

"Alright, next house. After it we're done for the day, ladies and gents", Sgt Holmes barked.

3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, 3rd Marine Division, 4th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Charlie Company, 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad, Fireteam Bravo. 12 Marines, 7 men and 5 women. All battle hardened soldiers. Each covered head to toe in the most advanced armor known to man, the product of nearly 3 centuries of well funded research. The suits looked like something out of a video game, gray ceramic plates with a black undersuit. Full helmets covered their faces, and each had customized their suits to meet their needs.

They were assigned to sweep the lower half of Naradi, a small backwater in Iraq. They walked back out in the street, trash and burned out, rusted cars littered the area. They moved quickly and silently to the next building, swept it with trained efficiency; it was clear. The marines started setting up camp for the night in the house.

"Damn,", Pvt Pokev complained, "this freakin sand gets everywhere." As he dusted some granules from his removed helmet.

"Stow the BS, Pokev, we all hate the sand.", rebuked Cpl Berdaki, as she cleaned her helmet's optics.

"Just be glad we ain't usin the mark 2's anymore. Damn, talk about sand collector.", Jenkins piped up from across the room, referring to the previous armor's tendency to trap sand in all the joints.

Pvt Fuller held up his canteen, "Hey! Don't be knocking Berdaki's pass times!", a possum grin spread across his face. Everyone laughed, save Berdaki.

The marines bickered, bitched, joked, and quipped for a while before deciding to kill the lantern and grap some Zs.

BOOM An explosion rocked the marine's "camp". Instinct took over as they geared back up within 30 seconds, more explosions sounded outside.

"Where the hell are they coming from?", Pokev shouted above the roar.

"SHUT UP AND KEEP FIRING!", Berdaki yelled at him. She leaned out the window and fired at the rebel soldiers who had begun pouring in to their block from all directions.

After the first salvo of artillery, none of which had hit the marine's position, rebels had started flooding from the alleys, appearing on roof tops, even showing up in an old Mi-17 helicopter.

"We're gonna get wasted in these thin walls!", yelled the Sarge, "Out the back!"

All of the soldiers complied. A large wall prevented their adversaries from reaching the blocks to the south-east of the marine's position, so that's where they ran.

"GPS says there's some old ruins a half a click to the south!", yelled LCpl Henderson, the fireteam's sniper/scout. "Thick stone walls, better cover, we can hold there til morning if we pick our shots."

The marines moved methodically through the town and across a small stretch of open ground. Their enemies pursuing them the whole way.

"There it is!", shouted Pokev, just before an AK-314 round struck his knee, he stumbled, then got up and kept jogging, thanks to his armor.

The marines reached the ruins, found suitable cover, and began returning fire. Enemies were falling, they had advanced armor and weapons as well, but were uncoordinated. They out numbered the marines by a large factor, but the the leather-necks were better trained. Thanks to their weapons, which utilized ionized gas instead of lead and brass, they needn't worry about ammo. The enemies weapons worked the same way, however, so the scales were balanced for the most part.

Henderson noticed a familiar silhouette on a rooftop. "RPG, GET DOWN!", he yelled.

WHOOSH The rocket streaked forward, slamming into one of the stone obelisks in the center of the ruins, which cracked and toppled. Then the ground began to crack.

"What the fuck?", Pokev jumped away from a fissure that appeared under his crouched form.

"EVERYONE MOVE! ITS GOIN IN ON ITSELF!", Berdaki yelled, herself leaping away from the large cracks.

Henderson made it to another large stone, resting on sold ground. He watched his squadmates do the same, save Pvt McKay, who tripped in a fissure.

"McKay!", he yelled as he bolted forward.

The crack behind her was getting bigger, the edges starting to fall in.

Henderson slid to a stop in front of McKay, grabbed her combat harness, and heaved her to safety. Thanks to Newton's Third Law, his feet slipped back, into the fissure. He grabbed the edge, only to feel it snap off in his fingers. He fell. He twisted mid air to at least see the end of the fall that would undoubtedly kill him. What he saw shocked him, a hundered meters below was a swirling blue vortex. Iridescent, it cast faint blue light on the walls of the chasm it sat in. In he went.

Chapter 2: What the h*** are you?

He woke slowly.

Damn, he thought, The fall didn't kill me and now I'm laying at the bottom of this goddamn hole.

He rolled over, and to his surprise, nothing hurt. He opened his eyes and was blinded by bright sunlight. He sat up then opened his eyes again. He furrowed his brow at what he saw. He was in a field, knee high grass surrounded him.

Wha- am I dead?, he thought as he looked around for angels and pearly gates, he saw nothing but more grass and a tree, here and there.

No, not dead. Or heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be

He noticed he still wore his armor, though his helmet had come off. He looked and found it and his weapon laying a few feet away. With no apparent threats, he slung his weapon and surveyed his surroundings from a standing position. He saw a dirt road in the distance, to which he began to jog.

Follow road, find people., he thought as he chose to go left on the road.

As he was walking he found that neither the GPS or radio in his helmet worked, Sunuva bitch, they need to make these things more shock resistant. He grumbled as he neared a thin forest.

A good 30 meters into the group of birches and oaks, he heard a noise. Instinct took over, he unholstered his sidearm and panned across the woods. 'Nothing', he thought as he replaced his handgun, 'Must've been a deer.' He had just resumed his brisk walk when something slammed him from behind. He landed on his face and felt weight on his back, he rolled and reached, found a limb and pulled. SNAP, a bone broke and he kicked his attacker off of him, it landed landed a few feet away. Henderson jumped to his feet and drew his pistol, then leveled it at his adversary.

"What the hell are you?", he muttered under his breath.

He stepped closer to the creature and saw it was an animal of some sort. It was unconscious, so he crouched beside it. It was small, about five feet from end to end. It had large ears and a small snout. What got Henderson was it's color, and the fact that it had wings. It was covered in light blue fuzz, and had a mess of rainbow hair on its head and a similarly colored tail. It had striking symbols on its hind legs, a cloud with rainbow colored lightning protruding from it.

The creature moaned and shifted. Henderson stepped back and took aim at the thing's head. It rolled and stood, head hung low and eyes closed. Henderson prepared to fire. It put weight on its front right leg and let out a yelp of pain. Then, as if he had made a sudden noise, it turned to face Henderson. Henderson's finger tensed, then froze at what the creature did next.

"Bring it on, hoss.", the creature said, as it lowered its head, laid back its ears, and snorted. But it stood in place, making no move to attack.

Henderson addressed it, "What the hell are you?", the thing's head still in his sights.

"I could ask you the same thing.", it answered after a few seconds consideration.

Henderson also paused, then decided to comply, "Ezekiel Henderson, Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps."

The thing's expression softened slightly, "Name's Dash, Rainbow Dash."

Henderson chuckled inside, but quickly reverted to the task at hand, "Why did you tackle me?", he had more pressing questions but tried not to get ahead of himself.

"Because you looked like a threat.", Dash said, matter-of-factly, "Why did you break my fore-leg?"

"Because you looked like a threat.", Henderson repeated, "Are you a threat?"

"That depends, do you plan on hurting me anymore?"

"Only if you plan on surprise tackling me again."

"Then I guess neither of us are threats.", Dash raised her head, "And you told me who you are, but not what you are."

"As did you.", Henderson holstered his handgun.

"I'm a pony, a mare pegasus to be exact.", she examined her broken fore-leg.

Pony, mare, pegasus. It's equine. A horse., he thought, then responed, "Human, male human."

"Human?", Dash cocked her head quizzically, "I've never heard of those."

Henderson looked down from Dash's face to her broken leg, "That's not going to heal on its own, you need medical attention."

Dash sighed, "There's a clinic in town.", she nodded down the road, "But I can't get there on my own."

Henderson mulled over these words for a moment, then walked toward her, "Hold still." He said as he crouched, put one arm just under her neck, another across her hind legs, and lifted her off the ground. He lifted her above his head and around it, then let her weight rest on his shoulders, in the same fashion a shepherd carries a lamb.

The duo was silent for a while, then Dash spoke up, her voice hitched whenever Henderson took a step.

"Where'd you come from anyways?", genuine curiosity in her tone.

"Well I was with my team, other Marines, warrior humans, and something went wrong and I fell into a hole and wound up here. Where is here anyways?", Henderson was leery to give to many details, his mission had been "hush-hush".

Dash wasn't satisfied with Henderson's answer, she decided to try again later. "Equestria." She answered, as if he should already know that.

Henderson thought through all his training, there wasn't a place called 'Equestria' in the Middle East; or any part of the world, for that matter.

Chapter 3: Welcome to Ponyville

They crested the top of a hill, at the bottom of which lay a small town.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Ezekiel.", Dash tried to gesture with her hoof, but of course Henderson had it pinned to his chest.

Ponyville? Kind of vain, we don't have a Humanburg., Henderson thought as he cringed at the use of his first name, he had never liked it. "Where in town is this clinic?", he had paused at the top of the hill.

"Other side, looks like you're gonna be makin some new friends.", Dash quipped.

"Oo, goody.", Henderson's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he made his way down the hill.

As they neared the edge of town, the townsfolk began to take notice of the awkward duo. Some walked briskly away, others stopped and gawked. A block away, Applejack rounded the corner, but slammed to a halt when she saw her friend in the clutches of the armored biped.

"What in tarnation?!", she exclaimed, "Hang on, Dash, Ah'm a comin!" She galloped ahead, about to make the same mistake Dash had.

"No, AJ, DON'T! He's cool, he's cool, calm down!", Dash shouted, still slung across Henderson's shoulders.

Applejack stopped a few feet in front of Henderson, head lowered, ears back, trying to look as menacing as possible. "Well, what the hay is it and whah is it carryin' you?", she asked.

"His name is Ezekiel, he's a human and he's taking me to Doc Needle.", Dash winced slightly, her fore-leg was swelling.

Applejack lowered her tone, "Did he hurt you?", Applejack's cheeks flushed with anger.

"Yes, but I tackled him first," Dash looked down in embarrassment, "So it's kind of my fault."

Applejack rolled her eyes, "Put her down, Ezekiel,", she stressed his name, in a mocking tone, "Ah'll take her from here."

She turned to look for Twilight, who had been following her, but had stopped and watched the scene, half in shock, half in curiosity.

"Twilight, whah don't you start asking our new 'friend' here some questions.", she helped Dash, who had been set down and had limped over to AJ. "Ah want some answers when we get back." She gave Henderson an evil look as she walked away, Dash at her side.

Twilight turned to look at the "human". She cautiously walked over to him, and stopped a few feet away.

"Uh, hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's librarian!", she smiled awkwardly at Henderson.

Wow, skittle horses, Henderson thought as he looked at Twilight's purple and pink mane.

"Ezekiel Henderson, Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps.", He said in the same authoritative tone with which he had introduced himself to Rainbow Dash. He noticed his hand rested on his holstered sidearm, he let it fall to his side.

"Well, um, welcome to Ponyville, Ezekiel!", the purple unicorn relaxed a little, "Where are you from?".

"Not anywhere near here, I don't think.", He wasn't quite ready to 'spill the beans' yet, but he wanted answers. "And you'd think I was crazy if I told you how I got here."

"Try me.", Twilight said, challenge in her voice.

Chapter 4: What's a Marine?

"Well...", Henderson shifted his weight to his other foot. Under his helmet his gaze shifted from Twilight's eyes to the ground between them.

"Its a... Its kind of... I don't... Is there someplace private we can talk?" Henderson didn't even know where to start, and he wasn't about do so in front of the whole town. He still wasn't sure if these things were hostile.

But, damn it, he thought, I need answers.

Twilight cocked her head to one side, "Uh, sure! Follow me, we can go to the library."

She turned and walked down the street, Henderson loped along beside her.

"Could you at least tell me how Dash got hurt?", she asked as they walked.

"She tackled me, it surprised me, I deemed her a threat, and I attempted to neutralize said threat.", there was no remorse in Henderson's voice.

"Were you trying to, um...", Twilight's voice wavered, "kill her?". She stopped as she made the startling revelation. "Are you going to try to... kill me? My friends?!", she stared at Henderson, nothing but fear in her large eyes.

"Whoa, slow down there Ms. Sparkle.", Henderson held his hands up, palms out, he tried to sound comforting, "I didn't know if she would try to do the same to me." He avoided the word "kill", it seemed to bother her.

Twilight blinked, unconvinced.

Henderson thought for a moment, then knelt down and removed his helmet. Now he was eye level with the scared unicorn.

Twilight was inwardly shocked by this action. Her eyes darted as she examined his features, which to her were so... alien, yet vaguely familiar.

Close cropped, dark brown hair covered the top of his head. His gray-blue eyes, as well as his ears and nose were smaller than those of a pony. Stubble, the same color as his hair, covered the lower half of his face, save his lips.

"I promise,", Henderson soothed, "I won't hurt you or your friends.". So long as you don't try anything., He finished in his head.

Twilight refocused on his eyes, he thought he could see a slight blush under the lavender fuzz that covered her face. She slowly pulled her gaze from his and headed toward the library. He replaced his helmet, just in case, and followed.

As they walked in the front door of the library, Spike looked up from the book he was reading, saw Henderson, and just about fell out of his chair.

"AHHH, A ROBOT!!!", he leapt between two bookshelves, then peeked out at the charcoal gray, reflective visored, plate armored human.

Twilight rolled her eyes, though she had thought something similar when she had first seen him.

"No Spike, he's a human. His name's Ezekiel and he's just wearing...", she turned to look at Henderson, "something."

Henderson uncrossed his arms, "Armor. Mark 3 Advanced Combat Exoskeleton. Ace suit for short." He turned a complete 360.

Twilight's examined this 'ace suit', it was more intricate and imposing than the Royal Guard's bronze armor. Her eyes were drawn to the odd looking device strapped to his back. She made a mental note to ask him about it, if he didn't provide an explanation of it.

"Yeah, armor.", she turned back to Spike, still behind the shelf. "He's about to tell us where he came from. And what he's doing here in Ponyville." She turned expectantly to Henderson, who sighed and began his tale.

"Well, like I said, I'm a Marine-"

"What's a Marine?", Twilight interrupted him.

He had been telling his tale and answering the unicorn's questions for a little over an hour. Twilight had gotten her explanation of the device on Henderson's back, it was an "M56 Designated Marksman's Rifle". Henderson had explained it's purpose, and a little of how it worked.

A couple of the faces he had seen in town were now spread about the table, they had been introduced as "Fluttershy" and "Pinkie Pie". Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Dash with her fore-leg in a cast, had entered just as he got to the part where the RPG was fired. Dash blushed slightly at the account of how her fore-leg was broken.

"And then we walked down the hill and into town, now here we are.", Henderson finished.

All five of the ponies' mouths were slightly agape.

"Wow," Twilight was the first to come out of the shocked trance. "That's, um... wow."

Applejack was the next, she addressed the other 4 ponies, "This sounds like somethin' Princess Celestia should know about."

Henderson thought talking to the one in charge sounded like an excellent idea.

The other pegasus, Fluttershy, looked out the window at the setting sun, "It'll probably have to wait til tomorrow, the last train of the day left 30 minutes ago.", she cooed in her surprisingly small, soft voice.

"Oh boy! Does that mean Ezekiel gets to stay with us tonight?", the pink mare, Pinkie Pie, exclaimed.

My daughter would love you. Henderson thought, referring to his 7 year old daughter's ecstatic disposition, no matter the circumstance. He didn't much care for the idea of having to wait until morning to go and see this "Princess Celestia", but some sleep sounded very good.

"Well, he can't stay here. There's no room.", Twilight said, glancing around at the piles of books. She looked at Applejack, "Don't you have a guest room in the farmhouse?"

"Yeah, but...", she looked at Henderson, "Ah still don't trust him yet."

Dash rolled her eyes, "AJ, look at him!", she motioned towards Henderson, just as imposing with his removed helmet. "If he wanted to hurt us, don't you think he would have already?".

"Well...But what if...", she let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, Ah guess you're right." She squinted her eyes at Henderson, "But one false move, soldier boy, and Ah'll have your hide."

Henderson very much doubted this, never-the-less he felt it best to simply agree, "You have my word."

Applejack looked at Dash, and her cast. "You ain't gonna be able to make it up to Cloudsdale, sugarcube. You should probably stay too."

Dash was still perfectly capable of flying, but she knew AJ wanted some back up, just in case.

"Sounds like a plan." she replied.

"Then it's settled, we'll all meet up here say... 8 o'clock tomorrow morning?", Twilight had gotten up from the table and was walking over to Spike, who'd fallen asleep at a nearby desk.

The 5 ponies said their goodbyes.

Henderson received an awkward, "Goodnight" from Twilight.

Fluttershy mumbled something resembling "Sleep well, Ezekiel." as she slinked past him.

Pinkie balanced on her hind legs and held a fore-hoof to her forhead, "Good night, SIR!". She settled back down on all fours, grinning ear to ear as she walked out the door.

Chapter 5: Come with us...

Henderson hadn't slept well at all. He had tossed and turned, had a nightmare, and his feet hung a good foot off the end of the bed he was provided. To top it all off, the filly introduced as "Applebloom" had had friends over, and their excited giggles and squeaks had woken Henderson on more than one occasion. Long story short, he felt like shit the next morning.

"You ready to go?", Twilight asked him when he, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash arrived at the library.

His response was a curt nod.

Ten minutes later the five ponies and their human companion were on the first train to Canterlot.

An hour into the trip, all of the ponies had fallen asleep. Henderson, who had been observing the pristine countryside, decided to take inventory of his equipment. Starting with his toolbelt, he made a mental list of its contents.

Knife, he unsheathed the eight inch, carbon steel blade, examined it, then replaced it.

He opened the right hip pouch, Three frags, two flashes, five chem lights.

The left hip pouch, Four rifle mags, three for my pistol.

He moved to his holster, removing the weapon it contained. He knew the magazine was full but ejected it anyways, Never hurts to be careful..., he thought as he returned the mag to the handgun, and the handgun to the holster.

He strapped his toolbelt around his waist, then unclipped his backpack from his armor. He unzipped the bag rummaged around inside.

Toolkit, he examined the small box containing assorted tools, used for field maintenance on his armor and weapons.

Five energy bars. He unwrapped one and munched while he continued rummaging.

Topographical map of south eastern Iraq. Fat lot a good that does me here...

He continued through his gear until he came to a picture of his wife and daughter. He held the photo in his gloved hand, suddenly wishing very much to be at home, in Montana. He replaced the picture, quelling his emotions.

He zipped the bag and reclipped it to his back.

He turned his attention to his rifle, propped against the seat beside him. He hefted the weapon onto his lap.

When he had first joined the Marine's, back in boot camp, he had discovered marksmanship was a natural talent of his. After boot he had underwent 8 weeks of hell, sniper school. It was the most difficult thing Henderson had ever done, but it honed his skills as a sharpshooter down to a razor's edge.

He examined the weapon that allowed him to use his talent and training to hit targets up to 1800 meters away, as that was the rifle's maximum effective range. His 'Model 2256 Designated Marksman's Rifle' fired super-compressed, ionized slugs of nitrogen. When the trigger is pulled, 11 grams of the gas is pulled from the magazine, ionized using power from a lithium battery also in the magazine, and sent down the barrel, which was lined with micro-processor controlled electro-magnets. The slug would leave the weapon with a velocity of nearly 960 meters per second. It could puncture an inch and a half of reinforced steel from a mile away.

He noticed the charge level on the mag was below ten percent, he surmised he had never reloaded after the firefight.

Easy enough to fix., he thought as he removed the near empty mag and placed it in a charging unit on his hip. All mk3 ace suits had one, it was a small and crucial asset on the battlefield. A soldier could recharge a mag in fifteen minutes, then use it and charge it again. If this soldier had five or six magazines, he would virtually never run out of ammunition. Crucial indeed.

He retrieved a fresh mag from his hip pouch and inserted it into the M56's receiver with a satisfying CLICK. The readout reset; one-hundred percent.

"Well, that's quite a story.", even Princess Celestia was near speechlessness after Henderson recounted the events leading up to, and the event of, his arrival in Equestria.

"Indeed.", Luna concurred.

The two matriarchs stood in the throne room of their castle, in front of them stood Henderson, behind whom stood Twilight and her friends.

"So, know of any way I can get home?", Henderson hadn't quite mastered the art of speaking to royalty.

The sisters looked at each other, Celestia shook her head.

"Nay, Lance Corporal Henderson, we aren't aware of any means by which you could return to your home.", Luna replied.

Damn, Henderson thought, How'd I know that would be the answer.

"Don't let your spirits fall, Ezekiel.", Celestia soothed, "With time, I'm sure we can find a way."

"Thank you, Cel- Your Highness.", despite the Princess's efforts, Henderson was crestfallen.

"Twilight," Celestia turned her attention to her protigee, "Make sure Ezekiel feels welcome in Ponyville. We will summon you if we discover anything."

Twilight bowed her head, "I will do my best, Princess.".

Henderson bowed slightly at the waist, straightened, and turned to go. In his frustration he began to feel hot and claustrophobic in his helmet, which he removed.

"Lance Corporal Henderson, wait!", Luna called after him.

He turned, looking at the two Princesses with his bare eyes, "Wh- Yes?".

With a full view of the human's face, the sisters looked at each other, then back at Henderson.

"Come with us."

Chapter 6: It isn't good

Henderson was offered no explanation of the Princesses' reaction to his removing of his helmet. Nor one for why they were leading him through several locked doors, down into the bowels of the castle.

Gone were they sparkling marble floors and velvet curtains when they reached a rather imposing looking iron door. Only after a complex series of glyphs were pushed did the door open to reveal a small library. Henderson watched as the two mares began to search through shelves of ancient looking tomes and scrolls.

"Our apologies, Lance Corporal Henderson." Luna spoke while she used her magic to remove items from the shelves, "Haste is of utter importance, provided our memory serves us well."

"And what memories might those be?", Henderson was getting impatient.

"Here it is.", Celestia blew the dust off of a large, leather-bound volume. She set it on a table in the middle of the room, and began to flip through the pages.

"Many a moon ago," Luna had turned her attention back to Henderson, "a group of fortune seekers discovered this, deep within a cave system in the far reaches of the Everfree forest."

Luna nodded at the old book, directing Henderson to step where he could see it better.

Celestia continued to flip through the pages, until she came to the page she wanted. Henderson couldn't believe his eyes. Covering one of the old, vellum pages, was a rendering of a human face. It was rather featureless, the eyes were hollow, it was bald, but human none-the-less.

Twilight and her friends, told to stay in the throne room but unable to contain their curiosity, came trotting into the room. All five gasped in unison when they saw what held the others' attention.

"Wait a second," Twilight stepped closer to the artifact, she lifted one side to peer at the cover, "You let me read this when I was just a filly." She looked at Celestia. "That would explain why Ezekiel looked so familiar.", referring to Henderson's first facial uncovering, in one of the streets of Ponyville.

"Yes. The recent disappearances of similar pieces drove me to store this more securely than in my study.", Celestia was still looking at the book.

Henderson snapped back to reality, "Wait, you said you read it. What does it say?", he looked at the page opposite the face, it was covered in characters, runes, if he remembered sixth grade history class.

Twilight looked embarrassed, "I don't know, I just looked at it for the pictures." She turned the page, revealing a rather detailed drawing of some type of machinery.

Henderson looked at Celestia and Luna.

"I'm afraid we don't know either. We've never been able to translate the text, despite many a scribe's best efforts.", Luna said.

"However,", Celestia began before Henderson's disappointment had fully taken hold, "We have the location of the cave from which it came on record. Perhaps if it was searched again, this time for information rather than valuables." She looked down in thought.

"Excellent idea,", Luna finished her sister's plan, "We will send some of our best to search the caverns. You needn't worry, Lance Corporal Henderson, soon we will have some answers."

Henderson wasn't worried, pissed would be a better term to describe his mood. He was, however, appreciative of the Princesses' efforts to help him.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Henderson would have rather gone with the "Princesses' Best" to the caves, he didn't handle idleness very well. The two had again instructed Twilight and her friends to make Henderson feel welcome in Ponyville, and that they would send word the moment they learned anything.

Over the course of the next two days, Ponyville's mayor introduced Henderson to the town's population; Cheerilee had further introduced him to all the little colts and fillies, who absolutely adored him; and Twilight had explained some of the great moments in Pony history to him.

Now it was a bright, sunny day and Henderson was helping Applejack in her orchards, "For your room 'n' board.", she had said. She was trying to teach him to apple buck.

"Then kick straight out.", the orange farmer grunted as she bucked the trunk of an apple tree.

Nearly all the apples fell out and landed around the tree, which she set about putting into baskets.

"Now you try, soldier boy."

Henderson walked up to the trunk of another tree. He wasn't about to get down on his hands and actually buck the tree ;however, he turned to the side and judo kicked the tree. One apple fell out.

"Mmph..", Applejack stifled a laugh, "Ah think it's safe to say you ain't an apple bucker.", she said through a grin.

Henderson shrugged, "And now you know why I left my parents' farm and joined the military." Even though they had worked a cattle ranch.

They shared a chuckle at that.

"Ezekiel!"

Both Henderson and Applejack turned to see Twilight galloping towards them, flying above her was Rainbow Dash, who's leg had been healed thanks to one of Twilight's healing spells.

"Ezekiel!", she repeated.

"What?", he asked.

"Ezekiel, we....just got a," she was panting, she'd run all the way from town.

Dash, who'd landed, rolled her eyes and finished for her purple friend, "We just got some news from the Princess."

Henderson's eyes widened, "Well?".

"It isn't good."

Chapter 7: Better safe than sorry...

"What? Like, they didn't find anything?", Henderson had made the mistake of getting his hopes up, the news came like a slap to the face.

"No, something's..." Dash paused, "happened."

Henderson remained silent.

"The group that went into the forest has...um...disappeared."

"Well that's...um. Bad.", he hadn't expected that bombshell.

"It's terrible!", Twilight had caught her breath, only to turn to leave again.

"Come on!", she yelled over her shoulder.

Henderson gathered his gear from the base of a nearby tree and jogged after her.

This time a royal chariot had flown them to Canterlot, in a quarter of the time. Henderson had looked straight ahead the whole time, trying to ignore the thousand foot drop he was 8 inches from.

They came rushing into the throne room, in which Luna was standing, speaking to a guard. She addressed them as they entered.

"Twilight Sparkle, Lance Corporal Henderson, your haste is admirable."

Cut the crap, Henderson just about said as he came to a halt.

"We came as soon as we got your letter.", Twilight slid on the marble floor as she stopped.

"I assumed as much.", Luna turned to the guard standing beside her, to whom she introduced Henderson, and vice versa.

"Lance Corporal Henderson, this is Forged Steel, he was in the group that we sent to investigate the caverns. Forged Steel, this is the human interloper, Lance Corporal Ezekiel Henderson."

It felt weird to not be able to shake the hand of someone to whom he was being introduced, but Henderson was content with a simple, "Pleasure."

"Likewise.", the brass armored stallion replied.

"Now that they're here, why don't you tell us what you know of the disappearance of your companions, Forged?.", Luna phrased a stern command as a friendly question.

Forged cleared his throat and began, "Well, we got to the caves no problem. Shining Armor told another guard and me to stay at the mouth of the cave and watch to make sure, I guess, nothing bad went in after them.", he paused, as if having trouble remembering, then continued. "We were standing there for what seemed like hours, then we heard screaming.", both Twilight and Luna's eyes widened at this. "It sounded far away, like, really deep in the caves. The other guard, my brother Cast Iron, he went in to check it out.", Forged shuddered, "He was gone a while and then I heard him screaming as well, a lot closer.", Forged began to cry, "I wanted to go in and check on him, sniff, but I, I, I JUST COULDN'T! I WAS SO SCARED!", Forged screwed his eyes shut and tried to regain himself.

"You've undergone more than enough for a while, Forged. Go and rest.", Luna said softly, yet assertively.

The young guard slinked out of the room, towards his quarters.

Henderson was deep in thought when Luna addressed him.

"What do you make of that?"

"Well, it sounds like an ambush, obviously.", Henderson was rubbing his now bearded chin.

"Yes, it does. But what may have ambushed them? Their armor is enchanted to prevent wild animals from being hostile towards them.", Luna's mental gears were grinding as well.

"Would it have been Griffons? Or maybe changlings?", Twilight's voice was thick with worry for her older brother.

"Possibly.", Luna answered.

Twilight's 'worry look' doubled in severity.

"How fast can you get me to the caves?", Henderson asked.

Luna looked at him.

"Whatever is in those caverns caused the disappearance of a dozen royal guards, some of the most elite, I might add.", Luna couldn't believe the human's ridiculous proposition, "What makes you think you'll fair any better?"

Henderson smirked.

"Perhaps I didn't do a very good job of explaining what a Marine is..."

Henderson had convinced Luna to allow him to venture into the Everfree forest and try to find the missing guards. Though he probably would have done it if she had denied him.

It's because of me they are missing, he thought, So I need to go and...un-miss them. He smiled at his own dry sense of humor.

Though he really rather would have gone alone, but Rainbow Dash insisted upon coming with him, as did Twilight. Henderson drew the line at the former, she was too upset over her brother to be of any use.

The duo had followed the trail made by the original search group for a while, now they crested the top of a small rise and saw the cave entrance at the bottom of a large dip.

"Well, there it is.", Dash said as she carefully made her way down the embankment, followed by Henderson.

"Wait here a sec.", Henderson said. He stopped at the mouth of the cave and unslung his rifle, then his pack.

"What are you doing?", Dash moved closer to him.

"Remember how I told you this is for really long distance engagements?", he was setting out the tool kit and some parts.

"Yeah.", she replied.

"Well that's about to change." He set about swapping parts of his rifle for some out of his bag.

He removed the 29-inch barrel and screwed on a 15-inch one. Off came the 20 power, variable zoom scope, replaced by a simple red dot sight. Next, he attached a pistol grip on the tactical rail under the barrel, and a flashlight on the side rail. Then he used a screw-driver to turn a small knob on the side of the weapon's receiver. It adjusted how much gas would be drawn from the current magazine. He turned it down from eleven grams to four grams, increasing how many shots he could get per mag from ten to thirty. He returned all his extra parts and tools to their places in his pack, which was then returned to its place on his back. He now had a fully functional assault rifle, better suited for close quarters combat.

"You really think you're gonna need that?", Dash asked as they started into the cavern.

Henderson flipped on the gun mounted flashlight, casting eery shadows on the walls.

"Better safe than sorry.", he replied as he swept the walls and floor with his light.

They progressed ever deeper into the damp cave, the light from the entrance faded and disappeared. They saw all different kinds of imaginable cave formations, stalagmites, stalactites, springs, even a vein or two of what looked like gold. But not a single sign of Shining Armor or his subordinates.

They had been spelunking for about an hour when they stopped at a spring to drink and rest a moment. Henderson propped his rifle in such a way that the mounted light shown across the surface of the water.

"Mm", Dash was thoroughly enjoying the spring water.

Henderson had filled his canteen from the spring, and was sitting on the cave floor, leaned against a stalagmite.

"Ah,", Henderson finished a long swig and wiped his mouth with his gauntleted fore arm.

"If it wasn't for the circumstances, this would be fun.", he said as he screwed the lid back on his canteen.

Dash paused her drinking, "Scootaloo would love this.",she said with a chuckle, then continued.

Henderson though back to when Cheerilee had introduced him to all of Ponyville's children, er, foals. If he remembered correctly, Scootaloo was the little filly who had shot a spit wad directly onto the center of his faceplate, then hoof-bumped the colt next to her. He had rewarded her for her sharpshooting by carrying her under his arm for a while, much to the little pegasus' chagrin.

His thoughts were interrupted when Dash let out a surprised yelp and leapt back from the edge of the spring.

Henderson chuckled, "Salamander got your tongue?"

Dash violently shook her head, pointed at the water, then threw up on the cave floor.

Henderson sat up and peered into the shimmering pool. He searched for a moment, then found the source of Dash's surprise, and loss of lunch. Floating in the middle of the spring was a light-gray fore-leg.

Chapter 8: No, definitely not natural...

"Oh shit!", Henderson recoiled from the water.

He quickly recovered from his initial surprise, then scooped up his rifle and approached the severed limb. He knelt by the water and reached out to pluck it from the water, turning it in his gloved hand.

No, not severed. Torn. He thought as he noticed the jagged edges and snapped bone.

After a minute of scrutiny, Henderson set the appendage on the floor then walked over to Dash, who was still quivering on the other side of the pool.

"Hey, you alright?", he asked as he knelt beside her.

"Y-yeah, it just... it surprised me.", she said as she rose off the floor.

Surprise doesn't make you throw up. He thought.

"Well, come on. Something tells me we're getting close." Close to what, he didn't know.

They continued through the cave for a couple more hours, not finding anything else. Henderson was just about to say they should turn around and head out when he spotted something. The next bend in the natural tunnel didn't look so, natural. He moved closer and peered around.

No, definitely not natural.

The rough, jagged basalt that made up the rest of the cave morphed into smooth stone on the other side of the bend. He came completely around the corner and shown his light down the length of the now synthetic tunnel. His beam was stopped short by a wall and half open door.

"Whoa...", Dash said as she rounded the bend.

Henderson moved closer to look at the wall and its door. The wall, he discovered, was covered in glyphs, similar to the ones that filled the ancient book that started all this. He moved closer still, now examining the door. Made of the same material as the wall, the door was slid to one side, as if resting on some form of internal rollers. It was open just enough to allow an armored stallion entry into whatever lay beyond it. Henderson cautiously reached out to open the door enough for him to enter. It slid silently on its rollers. That's when Henderson saw the blood. It was everywhere, it glistened in Henderson's light. It coated the nearly all of the visible floor, thicker in some places than others.

Henderson felt nauseous, despite this he leaned in the door, more of the room was now visible. Nothing but red from the floor to about half-way up the walls. He stepped in. He motioned for Dash to wait where she was.

There were a lot of doors in the room, all of which were open or crumbled and scattered on the near floor. He shown his light into them, they were just large, featureless rooms. Except for the last one he checked, it had a body in it. It was one of the original group, of that he was sure, but it was hard to tell. It had been mutilated, most of the pieces were missing or scattered about the room. The hair on the back of Henderson's neck stood up, he suddenly felt watched. He twirled to find Rainbow Dash standing in the door of the side room. Her knees were shaking and her eyes were locked on the mangled corpse.

"Dash, I thought I asked you to wait by the other door.", Henderson tried to sound comforting.

Dash's eyes remained locked on the body as she squeaked her reply. "I-I though I heard a n-noise out th-there."

Henderson knelt in front of her, then held her head in between his hands, forcing her to look at him, away from the mess.

"Let's go, we have enough to tell the Princesses that something terrible happened.", he said quietly, trying to comfort the blue pegasus.

Dash's look of utter disgust changed to one of quizzical shock.

"What? Leave now? We've gone this far, why not go a little farther?", she was trying to sound brave, but Henderson could hear the fear in her voice.

Henderson sighed, "Ok, but next time I tell you to wait at a door, wait at the door."

Dash nodded.

Henderson stood up and the looked around the room some more. They discovered that the door at the end of the room opened into a hall way, into which they ventured. Once inside the narrow passage, Henderson noticed a smell. It was a really strong rusty smell mixed with rotting meat and ammonia. Dash apparently smelled it too, she scrunched her snout and started breathing through her mouth.

"Ughh, what's that smell?", she asked. The only effect breathing through her mouth had produced was now she could taste the horrendous odor.

"I don't know, but it's getting stronger, so we're probably going to find out.", Henderson replied as he rounded a corner, rifle raised.

There was another door at the end of this part of the hall, this one closed. He approached it with extreme caution, doors in this place tended to lead him into rather gruesome scenes. To his surprise, it opened when he neared it. He dropped to one knee and prepared to fire at whatever came through.

Nothing did.

The door had opened on its own. Henderson glanced back down the hallway, there, on the floor, a raised panel. He had stepped on it, he was sure.

Dash stood behind him, looking rather confused.

"What?", she whispered.

"Nothing", Henderson mumbled. He stood and proceeded to the now open door. He peered inside, shining his light around the new room. It was a larger space that he was expecting. This room had two floors, the second consisting of a stone pad that circled the room. Henderson peered over the edge of this pad, seeing nothing but the blank, smooth stone of the first floor. He looked around the wall of the second floor, no doors.

"No way to go up here.", he said over his shoulder, "Looks like we're going down." Without waiting for a response, he stepped off the edge, expertly rolling when he hit the stone below. Dash fluttered down beside him.

He turned and swept the underside of the second floor, a lone door, closed. He walked to it. It seemed this door had no operating mechanism, until he found a small panel. He touched this and it opened, revealing a small lever, which he flipped. The door opened, revealing yet another room. This room was small, barely closet size. Another door sat directly opposite the one he stood in. Unlike the other doors, too damn many doors in this place, this door was rather large and imposing. It was at least twice as large, and boasted equally impressive locks, which weren't engaged.

If this was a movie, I'd have a bad feeling about this. Henderson approached the door. He noticed another panel on the wall.

Don't do it, he told himself.

Too late. He pressed the panel, which opened to reveal a rather anti-climactic looking lever. He reached out and flipped it. The large stone door rumbled and slid into it's frame. The unholy smell that came through the now wide open door told him they'd found whatever had produced it. The sound that accompanied the smell made Henderson regret his decision to flip that lever.

Chapter 9: Ok, be careful....

Henderson involuntarily backed away from the door. The cacophony the pierced the air was enough to send chills down the marine's spine. Dash just about fainted.

Henderson halted his retreat and watched the wide open door, through which nothing came but that horrendous smell and the noise; which, at first, Henderson had thought was screaming, now he realized it was a continuous series of high pitched, metallic, groans and squeaks.

Like heavy machinery. Really wet, muddy, heavy machinery., he thought as he also noticed a sloshing noise.

"What the hay is that?", Dash asked.

"Let's find out."

They ventured into this new territory, finding nothing but more stone walls and a few patches of dried blood. They continued deeper, after seeing that it was, yet another, hallway. The noise never ceased, and as they continued, Henderson noticed a deep undertone.

Sounds like the neighbor's subwoofers. Referring to the group of college students that shared the home next to his, back in Montana.

They rounded a corner, and things got nasty. The smooth stone walls faded into whatever was growing in the next stretch of hallway. It looked like the inside of a giant intestine, a few hours after Thanksgiving dinner. There were growths and fungus growing on the rippling, pale pink sides. The sound was emanating from this overgrown gut.

Henderson wasn't anywhere near about to go traipsing down this thing; however, he stuck out an exploratory foot. He touched the edge of the monstrosity. It was squishy, like he expected. What he didn't expect, however, is that it stuck to him when he tried to retract his foot. He pulled harder and his foot can free with an audible POP. Whatever this was didn't much care for the fact that its visitor was leaving so early. The deep bass noise intensified, Henderson could feel it in his chest.

"Uh-oh", Henderson backed up as some of the growths began to quiver and expand. One of them popped and out crawled several dozen, foot wide, metallic spiders. Another popped to reveal the same thing, then another, then another. These spiders came at the duo in a black tidal wave, there were hundreds of them.

"Go, go, GO.", Henderson backpedaled then turned and ran back down the hallway, making sure Dash stayed in front of him.

They came barreling back into the room with two floors. Henderson turned to the door from which they emerged, rifle ready. Dash flew up to the second level, then remembered Henderson couldn't fly.

"Come on!", she dangled a fore-hoof over the edge.

"You can't lift me, and there's no place to climb up.", he shouted as the first of the metal crawlies began to trickle through the door.

"How are you gonna get out?", she would find a way to lift him if he was hinting at staying.

Henderson looked around. There, a door he hadn't noticed in his first sweep.

"There. There's gotta be another exit. You go on through the way we came, it should be clear.", the things were getting close, "We'll meet back up at the trail head."

Dash didn't like this idea, but couldn't think of another way.

"Ok, be careful.", as if he needed that. She turned and galloped out.

The tidal wave had paused when it got to the large room , as if it had lost its prey. Now it had re-located Henderson and continued its advance. Henderson's rifle belched purpleish-orange fire as slugs of the same color hammered the horde. The rifle continued to boom as Henderson backpedaled to his new found escape route. He hit the panel and flipped the lever, opening the door. He backed through it, still firing. 11...5...2...Empty. He hit the lever on the other side, closing the door and shielding him from the remaining...things. He could hear them scratching at the other side, still trying to reach their prey.

He reloaded his weapon and followed the new hallway, Damn hallways.

He walked and walked and walked, Damn *mile long** hallways*.

After a half hour of nothing but featureless, stone walls, He came to... I'm removing all the doors from my house, if and when I get back to it. He pressed the panel and flipped the lever, the door slid silently open.

What. The. Hell.

Sticking with the tradition, this door led him to yet another surprise. This one in the form of what looked like an examination room. There were banks of old, dusty electronics on one wall, and cabinets on another wall. Four large metal tables dominated the rest of the space. Henderson opened one of the cabinets, it was filled with glass bottles full of different colored liquid, and spider webs. He opened another, surgical tools. It was obvious this was a medical facility of some sort. He moved over to the electronic equipment on the opposite wall. He had no idea what they were, just that they hadn't been used in a very long time. He continued through the room to the, Of freakin' course, door on the other side of the room.

He'd found the medical complex of the facility, he deduced as he made his way through several similar rooms. He was half way through number six when a noise made him stop. He held his breath and listened.

Clink, fsshh....clink, fsshh....clink, fsshh

Then silence.

The room he currently occupied was L-shaped, it bent to the left ahead of him. He quietly maneuvered around the room's tables, shining his light around the corner when he neared it.

He found one of the guards.

Chapter 10: Hey the Pri-

That's what Henderson assumed when he saw the red quadriped standing in the room before him. The guard was facing away from him. Henderson breathed a quick sigh of relief.

"Hey, the Pri-", he stopped mid-sentence as the guard turned to face him. This wasn't a guard.

It resembled one of Celestia's Royal Guards, but it was horribly disfigured. Most of its hair was missing, as were large patches of hide. Bulbous growths had sprouted on its back and neck. Its fore-legs had been replaced, or encased, by jagged, misaligned metal plates. Its face, or lack there of, had been split down the middle. A large, gaping maw occupied the jagged orifice.

Henderson's brief examination was cut short as this new monstrosity charged forward. It wasn't agile, it slammed into tables and equipment in its effort to claim its prey. It was obvious it wasn't about to thank its would-be rescuer with a hug, so Henderson fired. A three-round burst to the head was sufficient to drop the thing, the slugs blew divots in its skull and it fell to the ground, momentarily. Too Henderson's unpleasant surprise, the thing shakily lifted itself off the floor, then lumbered towards him. Its speed had been greatly reduced, but seemed otherwise unaffected by its wounds. Its large, vertically oriented mouth opened as it neared Henderson, revealing several rows of jagged teeth. It had come within ten feet of Henderson when he fired again. Another three round burst to its torso caused it to drop like a rock, and stay down.

Henderson was leery as he approached the beast. He nudged it with his foot just to make sure it was dead, it was. He peered into the holes his rounds had made in its head, what he saw looked more like muscle tissue than grey-matter. He knelt to examine the similar wounds in its chest.

Wait. Is that?

He pulled a flap of tissue out of the way. Sure enough, one of the spider creatures was firmly lodged on the guard's spinal cord. He had hit this parasite when he had fired the second time, he made a mental note of this as he stood and continued out of the room.

He had found his way out of the medical complex, through what looked like a machine shop, then living quarters. Between these he had encountered two more of the guards-turned-monstrosities, as well as another group of the mechanical spiders; all of which had fallen under well-aimed gunfire. Now, he was stopped at another door, preparing to open it.

And what wonders await me beyond this one..., he thought as he flipped the lever.

This time, the door opened to reveal a pleasant.

Bout damn time.

Sitting at the other end of the long room was what looked like a lift.

Hopefully a way out of this shit hole.

He forced himself not to jog to the other side of the room. He quickly found out just how well he had done with that decision. The room was lined with alcoves, spaced evenly down the length. Out from one of these alcoves came, A walking piece of shit. At least, that was Henderson's first thought as this behemoth stepped into view. It was large, very large, at least 8 feet tall. It was a mottled brown color, completely covered in the now all-to-familiar fleshy growths. It was thick, and bipedal, this one wasn't based on anything equine. It was nearly featureless, just a big walking deuce.

It shuffled about the room. Henderson knew he wouldn't be able to sneak past it, so he prepared to open fire. He reached into his hip pouch, drawing and priming one of his fragmentation grenades. The grenade arced across the room, bounced, and rolled under the titan.

BOOM

The monster's legs were blown off, it fell to the ground with a loud, wet thump. No sooner had it begun trying to pull itself around with its arms did it come under small arms fire. Henderson's rifle boomed as round after round pelted the beast. He had gone through two and a half magazines before it finally quit moving.

He made as wide a circle around it as he could on his way to the lift, on which he stepped and begun searching for the 'up' button. Then he heard them. Closely followed by visual confirmation. Thousands of the little spiders came pouring in from vents that sat in each alcove. If the first ones he'd seen had been a tidal wave, this was a tsunami. He fired his rifle one handed as he continued to search for the button, switch, lever, that take him out of here.

Ah ha.

He found it and pressed it with more force than it required. The lift groaned, then slowly started to rise.

Click, He reloaded and continued firing.

Another one of the behemoths appeared on the floor below him, as well as a half dozen former guards. He fired on everything that moved below him, fired until the lift rose into the ceiling. It continued to rise for another five minutes, then ground to a halt in a small stone room, in which he found a door. He sighed as he opened it, preparing for whatever lay beyond. It slid open and he was immediately blinded by sunlight. He blinked as his visor automatically polarized.

"Good door.", he patted the door he had just opened, then stepped through it.

He was on the side of an embankment, on a natural terrace, over the edge of which he glanced, there was a river far below him. He turned around, snow capped peaks towered above him. He looked back at the river, his eyes following its gentle curves, there, Ponyville sat beside the river. It was a good ten, fifteen miles away.

What I'd give for a helo' right now. He thought as he began his trek.

Chapter 11: Wha eh go....

Henderson had made his way down the mountain without incident, and had followed the river for about an hour. He then, after making sure he had his bearings, turned back into the thick forest. After another hour or so, he arrived at a trail; the trail they'd used to enter the forest, he surmised after he found one of his bootprints in some mud. Down the trail he went, towards the 'cave'.

Now where is Dash?, he thought as he arrived at the mouth of the facility.

She'd made it out. He knew because there was a set of out-facing hoofprints leading out of the hole. He followed them back down the trail, then they veered off into the forest.

Such a good listener..., referring to his parting utterance to her, 'Meet me at the traihead.'

Maybe she'd lead one of the beasts out of the facility, and she didn't want to lead it into town.

No, there was only one set of tracks.

He speculated on several different possibilities as he followed the pegasus' trail, deep into the forest. Then the trail stopped. Not faded, nor did he lose it, it just stopped. He glanced up at the canopy of trees and vines. Much too thick for her to have taken flight.

Snap

He turned just in time to see a hooded figure drop out of the tree he was standing beside. He tried to bring his rifle to bear but this newcomer was fast, very fast. It lunged forward and deftly knocked the weapon from Henderson's grasp, then sent him to the ground with a kick to the head, dislodging his helmet.

Ok, time to play., Henderson though as he rolled to the side, dodging another attack.

His adversary attempted another strike at his now unprotected head. Henderson blocked the attack with his armored fore-arms, then delivered a counter blow to his foe's side, who was sent into the side of the nearby tree. The shrouded figure crumpled to the ground, its hood falling to its shoulders as it did so.

Now, what are you?, he had a sudden sense of deja vu.

It looked like a bird, a quadripedal bird at that. Its large eyes sprung open suddenly, then locked on Henderson.

"FOOL!", it screamed just before Henderson felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck.

He reached around and felt something lodged in his neck, then removed it and brought it around to his face. It was a dart. He turned to try and find its origin. Another sharp pain in the side of his neck, another dart. He was feeling extremely drowsy, more so every second. He fell to his knees as he saw another hooded figure emerge from the underbrush, holding a long tube.

"Wha eh go-", he fell flat on his face.

He was having a nightmare. He was back in the underground facility, except this time he had no weapon, or armor. He was a greenhorn again, his body still weak and fat from eighteen years of pop tarts and weed for breakfast. He was being chased by not hundreds, or thousands, but millions of the small mechanical spiders. Through the cramped corridors and musty rooms he ran, until he came to a dead end. In rage he turned to at least let out a satisfying expletive before he was swept under the crawling swarm. To his surprise, the mass had been reduced to one measly spider, which he tried to stomp. He lifted his foot high above the crawly, then froze. He couldn't move at all. He watched in horror as it crawled up his leg, onto his back, across his shoulder, and onto his chest. He couldn't even scream as it began to burrow into his torso.

"NOOO!", his own screams woke him from this terror.

He was bound, his hands tied behind him, his ankles tied together. His helmet was missing, but a quick once-over confirmed he still had the rest of his gear. It was dark, but a sliver light leaked under the room's wooden door. He looked around the space he was in, a room. There were shelves in this room, on which rows upon rows of books and scrolls sat; as well as a large chest-of-drawers.

Footsteps, outside the door. They got louder and stopped, Henderson could see a shadow under the door, which opened to reveal one of the bird-like creatures.

"Please excuse my subordinates, they haven't the faintest concept of class.", it addressed Henderson.

So Tweety's a girl, Henderson deduced from the pitch of her voice.

"Well, I probably wouldn't have come willingly.", Henderson chuckled despite himself.

"Oh?", Ms. Bird Thing arched an 'eyebrow'. "We'll just keep our centuries of information about the horrors you just witnessed to ourselves, and you can be on your marry way."

Now Henderson raised a bushy eyebrow, "I'm listening. But do you think there's any chance I could listen with my hands where I can see them?"

Ms. Bird Thing's turn to chuckle, "Perhaps you would be a better listener."

She undid Henderson's bonds.

"Now, come with me. A supply closet is no place to discuss a topic of this importance.", she walked out of the room.

She led Henderson down an earthen hallway, roots protruding from the ceiling. They passed several rooms, most of which's doors were closed. Now they came to a rather, cozy, looking room. Wooden chairs circled a central fire pit, in which a fire flickered and crackled. Seated in some of these chairs were more of the bird-like beings, a few more sat at a nearby table, dining on some cooked fish. They all looked up at Henderson as he entered.

"Have a seat.", his hostess motioned to one of the chairs near the fire.

Henderson complied as Ms. Bird Thing introduced herself, "My name is Anchita. And you are?"

"Henderson. Lance Corporal Ezekiel Henderson."

"Ezekiel, a fitting name for a warrior.", Anchita replied. "And don't worry about your equine friend, she is sleeping soundly in one of the rooms we passed."

Henderson felt some invisible weight lift off his shoulders.

"Now", Anchita stretched out her forelegs for the fire to warm, "I suppose you're wondering who we are and why the hell we've brought you here."

Henderson smirked, "You read my mind."

Chapter 12: Consumed, to be precise...

Anchita's story of her species, griffins, and their standing in Equestria captivated Henderson. Aside from the living nightmares he had just spent an eternity fighting, he was convinced Equestria was rather free of conflict. Anchita's tale of how to the ponies had shunned Anchita's people said otherwise. Henderson had also recounted how he arrived in Equestria, and explained himself to Anchita.

"Now, as to why you are here.", she had moved to the dining area, and had just finished her meal. "We brought you to our sanctuary because Equestria is about to be destroyed. Consumed, to be precise."

Henderson's mouth dropped open.

"Wha-, Did you just say it's about to be consumed? By what? Those walking shits down in those damn caves?", Henderson stood from his chair, his fists resting on the table.

"Calm down, Ezekiel. Please, take your seat.", Anchita nodded at Henderson's now vacant chair. "Now, this is an urgent matter, and I don't wish to diminish its severity. However, we can't just rush into this, as you and your blue friend did. It won't be hard for you to handle, but-"

Henderson was rubbing his temples, "Please, just get to the fucking point. I've dealt with this mystery crap since I was dropped into this place."

"Very well, to hell with subtlety.", now Anchita rose from her chair. "Not only is Equestria about to be destroyed, by the monstrum, but its your fore-told duty to stop them. Furthermore, my comrades and I are the only ones on the planet with the informative resources pertaining to the monstrum to be of any practical use to you. And if you're wondering why I'm referring to those 'walking shits' as monstrum, it is because that is their correct title. The full version of which is Monstrum de Mortuus, meaning, monter of death.", Anchita paused her rant to take a breath, "We had all remaining specimens contained in that ancient facility, until recently. You didn't free them, neither did Celestia's 'best'. They freed themselves, broke out from the opening near Mustangia. They've consumed nearly all the population.", she noticed Henderson's cheeks turn red with anger, "Oh? Did dear Princess Celestia fail to inform you of that little tid bit? Well don't feel alone, there isn't a non-royal soul outside of Mustangia, besides us of course, that knows about it. They're starting to show up in neighboring territories, assimilating all sentient life they come into contact with.", another breath, "How do they do this? You ask. Well, its quite interesting. The small mechanical spiders, called parasiti, burrow into a host, take over its central nervous system, then make a few physical changes in the form of cancerous growths, organ repurposement, and bio-metallic limb replacement. With a now completely deformed, completely submissive slave, called a servus, the parasitus guides its new host in an effort to find more hosts, for the new parasiti that grow in those fleshy sacks.", another breath, "If they can't find a suitable host, but enough organic matter is present, they will simply build a large organism, usually in the shape of a large biped, this is called a gigas." Anchita stopped.

Henderson stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Where did they come from, and how do you know all this?"

"I can answer both of those at once.", she drew a breath. "Several thousand years ago, Celestia and Luna had just claimed sovereignty over ponykind, a group of adventure seeking foals found the Saddle Arabia entrance to the caves. They accidentally released the monstrum, all but one of the foals became the monstrum's first victims. The one that survived warned the townsfolk, who fought of the waves of parasiti and gigas. Despite their best efforts, the ponies began to fall, either being eaten outright or transformed into servi. My many greats-grandfather was the leader of a nearby griffin tribe. Hearing the screams ,he gathered his finest warriors and descended into the town, slaying monstrum as they went through the town, looking for survivors. Sadly, they found none. It was this violent loss of life that drove my ancestors to form this group, sworn to wipe the monstrum from the face of the planet.", she paused to take a drink of water, "Similar incidents happened over the next hundred or so years, each were quickly quelled. Just after the death of my many greats-grandfather, the entrance to one of the caves was discovered near the Crystal Empire. In my ancestors went. They returned with a plethora of information pertaining to the monstrum, including what I've told you about them. Well, long story short, they got the monstrum back into their hole, then sealed them in. Like I said though, they've resurfaced, and have already consumed twenty percent of the planet's population."

Henderson mulled over this information for a good five minutes before he gave his educated opinion on the matter, "Holy shit."

"Its way beyond our power to stop them now, and I do believe that's why you're here, in Equestria.", Anchita settled back down into her chair.

Henderson shot her a quizzical look, "What makes you say that?"

"The old book in Celestia's basement."

Henderson hadn't forgotten it. "The one with a picture of a human in it?"

"Yes. It was stolen from us decades ago. It was one of about four we had yet to translate into Griffish, our dialect of Equestrian. Those four, along with dozens of other scrolls and such, were taken."

"Who took them?"

"Celestia and her royal friends, they had never liked the fact that we knew something that they didn't. That, and the fact that they didn't want their 'subjects' to know that there was something terrible crawling around beneath them, drove them to steal them. And slaughter half our group.", Anchita's talons had dug into the wooden table.

"Well, there's only one possible solution.", Henderson stood and put on his helmet, "We go steal them back."

Chapter 13: Got it, but I can't reach it.....

"What?!", Anchita's eyes were wide, "I mean, yes, that is the only way to retrieve them, but STEAL them? From Celestia's castle? Are you mad?!"

Henderson shrugged, "Maybe. Do you see any other way we're going to handle this?"

Anchita considered his words, "True, but..."

Henderson stepped forward and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder, "Come on, let's get Dash and get going."

Anchita sighed, "Fine, I'll take you to her." She walked back down the hall from which they had entered.

"She's in here.", she opened the third door on the right. It opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, asleep on a cot, curled up under a thick blanket.

Henderson walked over and gently shook her shoulder, "Dash, get up, we're moving out."

"Mm hmph mughsh...", she shoved her head under the blanket.

"You'd never make it in the marines...", Henderson muttered as he shook her again, "Get, Up."

"No, leave me alone Twilight, I don't want any coffee...", she slurred.

Henderson straightened and sighed, "Fine, we'll do things the fun way." He raised his rifle and fired a round into the dirt wall, blowing a sizable divot into the hard-packed clay.

His actions had the desired effect, the blue pegasus shot straight up, impacting the ceiling. She fell back down, landing on the cot. She grunted and flipped her mane out of her eyes.

"Was that really necessary?", she groaned.

"No, but it was hella funny."

Henderson and Anchita had filled Dash in on their plan, who, of course, refused to participate. Only after Anchita had told her that one of her subordinates, Hassan, had watched her sleep for an hour did she decide that leaving with them was a good idea.

Without either a train, or a royal chariot, the trio was forced to walk to Canterlot. They'd been doing so for the past five hours, and Canterlot was just appearing in the distance, illuminated by the setting sun.

"Damn.", even Henderson was panting, "When do y'all plan on inventing helicopters?"

"Invent what?", Dash was now flying beside Henderson, as was Anchita.

Henderson looked at his flying companions, "Never mind."

It was well in to the night when they arrived at the base of Canterlot's wall, not an easy task considering the city's geographical location. They found a drain, covered by a metal grate.

"See?", Dash pointed at the grate, "We can't even get in! Oh well, we tried." She turned sharply and began to walk away.

Anchita maneuvered in front of her, holding a talon to her chest, "Alone, in the dark with the monstruum?", the hooded griffin hissed.

Dash's discomfort at this thought was outwardly visible. She considered Anchita's words, then begrudgingly turned and walked back to Henderson's side.

"Well how are we gonna get in?", she repeated, "Ezekiel, you're not strong enough to bend those bars."

"Oh ye of little faith...", Henderson pulled out his toolkit, which was proving itself to be a very useful asset. He removed a small plasma torch, lit it, and held it to one of the metal bars. One by one, he cut through them, catching them as they fell.

Henderson gestured at the breach, "Ta da."

Moving through the drain system allowed the trio passage straight into the castle, no city-guard trouble involved.

The drain had emptied them into a side-room of the castle's basement system. Henderson recognized the hall outside the door, and was able to return to the subterranean library with ease. After four tries, he guessed the correct code on the glyph system, and they were in.

"Ok, look around for it. It's got some bars and triangles on the spine, and a triquetra on the cover.", he started searching the shelves.

No...no...no...n- There!, he reached for it, high on the shelf, facing outward.

"Got it.", he whispered harshly, "But I can't reach it."

Dash rolled her eyes, "Pfff, ground-pounders.", She flitted up to the book's level and laid hold of it.

"No thanks necessary.", she handed it to Henderson.

"Ok, lets get out of here.", he started back to the closed library door. He came within two paces of it.

Click, resonated from the door's lock system.

Henderson froze, then darted behind a shelf, HIDE, he motioned to Dash and Anchita, who complied with haste.

No sooner had the trio concealed themselves, the door opened and in stepped Princess Luna. She began searching the shelves, pulling out books with her magic. She amassed a small pile on the central table, apparently her evening reading.

Her brow furrowed, she moved the books faster.

"Where...", she muttered.

Damn, Henderson thought. She was looking for the book he held against his torso.

She stopped after a few moments, apparently accepting the fact that her sister had taken it, or something similar.

Ok, now leav- what the heck are you doing?

Luna closed her eyes tightly, and held her breath.

POOSH, the book disappeared from Henderson's grasp, only to reappear, hovering in front of the indigo Princess.

Oh come on...

Luna telekineticly picked up her stack of books and sauntered out of the library, shutting the door behind herself.

After a few more moments of hiding, Henderson stepped back out into the room, as did Anchita and Dash.

Henderson fought the urge to slam his fist on the oaken table, but settled on removing his helmet and rubbing his temples.

"Well," Anchita sighed, "What now?" She turned to Dash, "And, no, we're not giving up and leaving."

Dash snorted, "I know, I know."

The trio stood in silent contemplation for a few minutes, until Dash spoke up, "Anypony else have an idea besides going and getting it from wherever Princess Luna took it?"

Both Anchita and Henderson shook their heads.

"Dang, that's what I thought."

The trio crept silently through the subterranean tunnels. Now, out of the basement and into the great marble halls of the main floor, they slinked towards the throne room, through which lie Luna's study.

Henderson held up a closed fist, signalling his companions to stop. A guard passed through the hall in front of them. He entered the next room and Henderson resumed his crouch-walk, followed by his quadripedal companions.

They entered the throne room, dark and cold; though a faint light shone through the crack of Luna's partially open study door. Henderson slid up to this crack and peered through, into the lantern-lit room. Luna was lying on her bed, on her stomach, her books spread out in front of her.

There was no way they were getting to the book they wanted.

Henderson turned to his followers, "Find someplace to hide, and get comfy. We're going to be here a while."

They nodded and walked to different parts of the room. Dash glided up to a small ledge near the ceiling, where she blended in with the moonlit marble ceiling. Anchita flew to another ledge, on the other side of the room; untouched by the moonlight, her dark robe allowed her to hide. Henderson walked to a nook behind the Matriarchal thrones, where he settled into the shadows.

I hate waiting...

Chapter 14: Don't Celebrate

They'd been waiting for a couple of hours. Dash had fallen asleep, reluctantly followed by Anchita. Henderson, unable to look through his gear or do anything else that would make noise, was now lost in thought. He replayed the events of the past five days in his head. His freak arrival in Equestria, the events at Canterlot, the ordeal in the caverns, meeting Anchita and her colleagues, all leading up to where he was now. He had thought, on more than one occasion, how his predicament couldn't be real. But as the situation progressed, it became apparent that this was no vision.

His attention was brought out of his thoughts and back to reality. It took him a second to realize what had cause this sudden change of focus.

The light. The thin stream of light coming from Luna's study had gone out.

Henderson pulled himself tighter into his hiding spot. He could hear Luna's hoofsteps, metallic clicks of gilded horseshoes on the marble floor. The Princess stepped out of the study, and made her way out of the throne room, then down the hall towards her bed chambers.

Henderson heard the bedroom door open, then close with a resounding thunk.

He stood from his sitting position, "Anchita, get Dash up. Luna's gone.", he whispered harshly to the dozing griffin.

Anchita woke from her doze, "What?", she whispered back.

Henderson pointed at Luna's study.

Anchita nodded, then flew over to where Dash was sleeping. She woke the pegasus and they flew down to the floor, joing Henderson.

"Let's get the book and get out of here.", he whispered, then slowly opened the study door.

Whoever'd made the door had done their job well, it didn't creak. They stepped into the room, illuminated by moonlight. A minute of searching, and Henderson found the book at the bottom of a stack on Luna's desk.

"Ok, got it. Let's get out of here before something else happens to it."

They left Luna's study, and had made it half way back to the drain through which they entered the castle.

"I can't believe this hair-brained scheme actually worked.", Dash whispered as they slunk through marble hallways.

"Don't celebrate, we're not out yet.", Henderson rebuked, "And something tells me this was the easy pa- UGH!", Henderson was cut short as a golden blur slammed into his side. He landed on his back, a royal guard standing on his chest.

"Intruder!", the guard yelled, before he brought his front hoof down on Henderson's helmeted head. The helmet's HUD flickered.

Henderson slammed his gloved fist into the side of the guard's head. The guard was knocked unconscious and fell to Henderson's side.

"Come on!", the element of stealth lost, he picked up the fallen book and ran towards their exit. Dash and Anchita flew ahead of him. He could hear guards behind him, their hoof steps echoing loudly.

The boots and knees of Henderson's armor used a complex system of springs to increase the speed of the user. This, combined with his own physical ability, allowed him to run at around fifteen miles per hour in full combat gear. This had saved him on many occasions throughout his career. But the quadripedal anatomy of the guards granted them speeds greater than Henderson's, and they soon overtook him.

Henderson swung around and sent one guard to the ground with a haymaker to the face. Another guard leapt at his head. Henderson ducked and grabbed the guard's front leg, then slammed him to the ground. Henderson knew he couldn't take on the rest in hand-to-hoof combat, so he reached to drawn his side-arm. He brought it to bear, then leveled it at an advancing guard's chest, and pulled the trigger. The handgun discharged, sending a three gram slug of ionized nitrogen streaking towards the guard at twenty-four hundred feet per second. The fraction of a second required for the weapon to recharge hadn't even passed when, much to Henderson's and the guard's surprise, the slug stopped mid-air. Henderson and the guard's froze. The one whom Henderson had fired upon slid to a stop, mere inches from the glowing, sizzling projectile. Something wet and warm began to spread across the floor below the saved guard.

What the..., Henderson noticed the group of guards, except the one sitting in front of Henderson's bullet, were staring beyond him, behind him.

Henderson slowly holstered his weapon, raised his hands, and turned around. Standing in the hall behind him was a very angry looking Celestia. Her horn glowed with a faint aura, undoubtedly the reason for the halted projectile. The glow disappeared, Henderson heard the slug drop harmlessly to the floor, closely followed by the guard.

"Ezekiel,", she made no effort to hide her anger, it dripped from her voice, "What do you think you are doing, breaking into my castle, stealing my things, and attempting to kill my guards? Explain yourself."

He then noticed Dash standing guiltily behind the Princess. Beside her stood two guards, barely able to hold Anchita between them.

"Well, ma'am, I can't argue two of those things. But I'm not stealing from you.", Henderson still had his hands raised, the book sat on the floor behind him. "That book belongs to Anchita", he nodded to the captive griffin, "and her family."

"And what gives them right to ownership of that relic? Her ancestors found it in a cave. We have just as much reason to own it as they do.", she stepped closer to Henderson, never looking away from his covered eyes.

"You're wrong. You want it to keep knowledge of the monstruum and the ordeal in Saddle Arabia away from your subjects. They want it, need it, to try and stop those beasts."

Celestia sucked in a breath, staring at Henderson with dilated pupils.

She looked at her guards, "Leave us.", she looked at Henderson, "You and your accomplices come with me."

The guards hesitantly sifted out of the hall, back to their posts. Henderson lowered his hands and motioned for Dash and Anchita to follow him.

Celestia took them a few doors down, opened a rather ornate looking one, and stepped inside. Henderson and his 'accomplices' followed suit. Once inside, Celestia shut the door, then locked it. They were in her bedroom.

"You fool! Do you know how hard I've worked to keep the monstruum in secrecy? Do you know what would happen if word of them spread?", Celestia now looked more worried than angry, but still very angry.

"What would happen?", Anchita raised her voice, "Look at what's happening when you're not telling them! How much of Saddle Arabia has been consumed now? What are you doing to stop it? Nothing!"

"Hold your tongue, griffin! I am co-ruler of Equestria, and I will not be insulted in my own home.", Celestia rebuked Anchita.

Anchita inhaled as if to let out a well-worded, and possibly curse laden, reply. But she thought better of further angering a being that could teleport her to the center of the planet. She settled on a growl.

"She's got a point, ma'am.", Henderson crossed his arms, "The best thing you could do is tell the public and form a militia to try and stop this thing."

"No, you don't understand.", Celestia sighed, "As long as I've been on my throne, I've maintained the idea that Equestria is a place of peace. And that all our problems could be solved if we just work out our differences, and live in peace and harmony. I believed this myself, as I had never seen anything that would say otherwise." She paused, and sighed again.

"Well, I was wrong."