Equestrian Rage

Less Than Human

The three princesses made their way towards the Ponyville guard post, while the town was usually quite tonight the post was anything. They could hear cheers and shouts coming from within, though if the expressions of the guards on duty whom  would steal an occasional glance towards the room housing the humans, whatever was going inside was quite fun. When they had entered the main gates, quickly silencing any guards that dare alert  those inside the room who had arrived. As they neared the room that kept their bipedal guests they could hear cheering and laughter followed a voice muffled by the walls. Reaching the door Twilight went to open it but was stopped by Celestia's wing, letting the door open a small bit they listened to the strange creatures as each took turns standing offering a toast, they would then down a shot and refill it. Judging by the fact that only one of the six bottles of the only strong liquor available in Ponyville was empty they had just started.

"To Archibald Henderson, Grand old Man of the Marine Corps!" Toasted Lt Raine.

"To Carlos Hathcock, Father of Marine Corps Sniping!" Toasted Sgt Szwast.

"To Dan Daily, Who showed us how to live forever!" Toasted Cpl Mayakovsky.

With that they finished another bottle, Waters simply stood and handed each one of the last four bottles of the crude whiskey. With that he undid the cork of his bottle and lifted it, the three others doing the same, "To every Marine whom wore this uniform, all whom gave some of themselves, and to those that gave all. Who's legacy of military virtue we honor tonight, though you are gone, as long as there is air in our lungs you are not forgotten."

With that he started to down the bottle, the other three doing the same but at that moment the doors swung open. Quickly pulling the bottle from his lips he dropped it and yelled 'attention on deck' as the others did the same. James felt the warm fuzz as his mind slowed and quieted before clarity came flooding back. He simply shook his head as he saw the same disappointed looks from the other four.

"I suppose that means that we'll have to drink now only for the taste." James joked, the others giving small uneasy laughs.

"If only we had some high quality bourbon," Nick said.

"I've always preferred the 25 dollar ones myself," said James

"Vodka, any type really," Said Olga.

With that they all burst into laughter, then the door opened and three alicorn mares stepped inside.

Immediately all four shot up in attention and all four shouted, "Good Evening Ladies!"

-----

Twilight stood stunned after she opened the door, the humans just stood there straight as she, Princess Luna and Celestia all came into the small room. Giving a warm smile to the bipeds she broke the tense silence that now filled the room after Twilight had made their presence known to the four.

"Well I must say, I was not expecting such a welcome from you after all the alcohol that you consumed. Please sit before one of you gets light headed." Celstia offered as she and Luna observed the humans.

Exchanging a few glances they all sat as Lt. Raine approached the three, "Princesses Celestia, Luna and Twilight Sparkle, first let me say..."

"So you're Lieutenant Raine" Celestia said in an amused voice, the three simply chuckled as they watched Lt. Raine only smile and laugh softly.

"I'd trust that all you've heard of me is pleasant, Princess."

"Other than you are eager to speak with us, we have heard little about you actually" stated Luna.

"Yes, though there are several legends of your kind. Though few are flattering," mused Celestia as she looked to the other three before turning back Lt. Rain, "So why ask for our help in restoring your people?"

"We need to," James interrupted before Lt. Raine could say anything, "greatness has been trust upon us. While you two hold all life in your hooves, but we are charged with the hopes and dreams of a dead race. We aren't you or your sister, Princess, we are not use to having such responsibility. Even if we somehow managed to resurrect mankind, what then? We would need to have land to house everyone and start rebuilding, regardless we either need your aid or one of your neighbors."

Luna studied the human that spoke, he definitely stuck her as one that had thought his words through carefully.

"Besides, you're asking the wrong questions Princess. You've implied that we somehow need to prove that humanity deserves this second chance. That's not the real question, it's weather or not you're willing to be known as the one that wouldn't give us a second chance"

Luna's eyes went wide as she looked to Celestia, whom looked back to her before giving a small nod.

"That is quite bold..." Celestia waited for the man to offer his name.

"Sergeant James Waters, ma'am"

Luna gave an uneasy took to the human as Celestia studied him, Twilight just watched dumbfounded before she gave a nervous laugh and came between the sisters and the Marine, "Um Princess, since they've been here they've honored our laws and have actually offered insight in many fields and also have shown me that they can..."

The warning sirens started to blare outside, the sounds of hooves running and shouting outside. Soon a small contingent of guards barged in, surrounding the four Marines with weapons drawn. Quickly the four backed together as the guards shouted to get down onto the ground, while others insisted for the three princesses to get to a "safer location." The four exchanged glances before Lt. Raine responded, "Negative."

"Guards what is the meaning of..." Luna nearly screamed before a shrill shriek interrupted her.

Before any could react a rather deformed looking human had shot through the door, moving agilely above and through the ground, vaulting over the alabaster alicorn and launching itself at the equally stunned humans. The bald, yellow skinned creature knocking James violently to the ground as blood sprayed everywhere. As the shock wore off, the two enlisted Marines quickly ripped the thrashing creature off their comrade, upon seeing the blade now lodged into Jame's chest Szwast quickly grabbed the head of the creature whom had started to wail as it was held down. His gave a quick jerk of his arms and with a resounding crack the creature went limp and silent.

With that Adam looked to the ponies and shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, GET A FUCKING MEDIC!"

The guards didn't move till Princess Celestia ordered them to do as the man said. James coughed and gargled blood as he started to panic, his breath labored and pained as his chest. Quickly the three humans held down and tried to aid their friend as the guards formed a protective wall of pony and armor between the princesses and humans. When the cry of pain from James caused Twilight to teleport in front of the guards, Szwast and Lt. Raine were holding down the wounded man as Olga tried her best to put pressure on the wound, the man was shaking and shivering. His labored breath was shallow and his skin almost looked as white as Rarity's fur. By the time that they had the wound wrapped they noticed that, his chest wasn't moving anymore. While he hadn't lost much blood, the shock from being stabbed so close to his heart and then said knife removed had been too much for his strained heart. With that she started to preform CPR for several agonizing minutes as Twilight only watched threw teared eyes.

With no response to her efforts, Olga simply closed the Marines eyes for him and stood. The guard that had left before returned with a mare in a slightly different set of armor than the other guards. Looking to her she spoke with a calm that Twilight couldn't understand, "You're too late Doc."

"How....can you be so calm, he's dead!" Twilight nearly cried out,

Olga snarled and turned to face the young princess, her voice trembling but still dripping venom  "and who's fault is that? You took us in, he was under your protection, he trusted you."

Thump

Everyone looked to Jame's body as his chest heaved into the air, and a gasp came from his mouth as he turned over and coughed and got up onto his hands and knees. Taking his hand to his face he took a moment before he staggered to his feet, "Owe."

Raine and the other two just looked to him, "You were dead!" stated Raine.

"Nanotrytes, they.... oh god my chest, they repair damage and given enough time inbetween buildup, they can discharge a shock like a defibrillator, FUCK!" He clenched his chest and pawed at the bandaged wound before he stood back up.

"So you seem to have cheated death, though your connection with your attacker is still in question." Celstia stated, making her way through her guards with Luna following behind, "We'll need to investigate this connection, I trust you understand."

James simply looked to the body of his attacker and gave a small nod, "he's obviously from an Ark, it looks like someone decided to play with his genetics. His body's deformed in several places, I doubt much of the man that went into the chamber was left when he attacked us." He walked over and knelt down, pulling at the rag covering the torso he saw two things that peaked his curiosity. One was a pair of dog-tag, the name was not one he recognized on the roster of volunteers from his tablet, the other was a very distinct brand over his heart, shifting to allow his hosts to see he looked to them and asked, "this symbol mean anything to you?"

Both sisters looked at it and gave a small nod, "I think it's best we have that discussion somewhere safer. Rest, tomorrow morning you leave for Canterlot."

"Princess, with all due respect, this incident also causes us to question if we should trust you. Your ponies have hindered our mission of awaking the others since discovering us. And now one of our own has suffered what would normally have been a mortal wound, you can understand that we'd be hesitant to go anywhere with you right now," Lt. Raine stated rather coldly.

Giving a sigh of defeat she looked to the officer, "that symbol is one of House Windscar from the Griffon Empire."

-----

It was early morning, the silhouettes of four Marines and six mares outlined the train platform as the sun started it steady climb of the morning sky. Each of them had their weapons of choice and a small pack on their backs. Each also carried a black garment bag as they quietly boarded the nearly empty train. What passengers were in the couch seats were asleep so they missed the strange passengers boarding as they shuffled into a private car towards the back. Quickly the humans stowed their bags and soon James and Adam were helping the train staff load the ludicrous amount of luggage brought by a certain marshmallow colored mare.

"SERE, Scout Sniper School, Jump School and now I'm reduced to bellhop" Complained Adam

"Best not anger our betters, they won't give us a tip if you don't shut up and smile now boy," retorted James in the most racially insensitive Uncle Tom voice he could muster, causing both to smile and chuckle to themselves.

The Elements just looked to the two in confusion as Lt. Raine just shook his head, "shut up and get that loaded ASAP!" he shouted to the two whom were now laughing more than working.

Adam quickly got back to working in silence as James turned, giving the lieutenant mocking bows as he kept talking in the voice, "Oh yes massa, right away massa, I be a good worker massa, no need to beat me massa." This only caused the officer to roll his eyes and sneer as he headed to the car. Shortly everything was packed and James walked up and gave a deep bow, dialing back the voice he said. "Ladies, your luggage is stored, please allow me to escort you to your car.

Rarity simply covered his mouth with her hoof as she stifled a giggle and responded, "well, it's nice to see you know how to treat a lady when she travels." With that she trotted past James as the other five quickly shuffling past her, each giving awkward thanks to James, Applejack and Rainbow showing mild annoyance and telling him to stop 'indulging her'.

-----

Soon everyone was inside and the train started to take off. James and Adam sitting a ways apart as they six mares all sat together, Pinkie sticking her head out and letting the wind whip through her unruly mane. Lt. Raine was sitting at the opposite side of the car with Olga sitting in the middle across from the mares. After some time of silence James started to hum a tune to himself. He started to tear apart his rifle, pulling a cloth and cleaning kit from the buttsock and started to methodically clean the rifle. At this point he'd cleaned it at least a hundred times since he had woken up, despite only firing ten rounds to zero the rifle the morning following him awaking. Rainbow Dash looked to him as he removed the bolt and was running a brush against it before wiping it down with a rag.

"Whatcha' doin' James?" Asked the rainbow maned mare.

"Weapon maintenance, it's a strange kind of meditation for me I guess."

"Darling, do know that we don't mind helping with whatever is troubling your mind," Rarity said with an assuring tone.

"I don't want to talk about it," James stated rather coldly, sitting up as his eyes meeting theirs.

"Well if you don't want to talk about it-"

"Fluttershy! He's obviously troubled by something, the best thing right now is to talk to a sympathetic ear," Rarity chided.

"It...it's just that well if he's not ready to talk, we shouldn't be forcing him Rarity.."

James pinched the bridge of his nose before standing and walking towards the back of the car, opening it, "excuse me, I need some air."

Raine looked to the mares before he sat up and looked to them, "don't worry, he'll be fine, just enjoy the ride." With that he stood and followed James, seeing him leaning against one of the low rails and looking out at nothing.

"Sergeant, you want to talk about it?"

James just kept looking outside, "no sir, I do not."

Raine just looked to him and leaned against the side of the car, "you leave someone behind?"

"Three deployments and three dear John letters, I stopped getting attached long before Apophis, sir."

"Then what has got you out here?"

"Those tags I pulled were from one of the troops that were suppose to protect the Super Ark, I know who was in charge of it's security and if he's alive then it's a mistake we'll need to correct sir, sir."

"what's the name of this mistake, Sergeant?"

"General Martin Cross" James spat out the name in a disgust.