The Equestria Offensive

Fort Celestia Military Base, 8:25 A.M., May 17th, 2013

And so, their training began. Each team got their squad title, so, being as they were asked directly from the princess herself, Midnight’s team got the title “Alpha”. Hours turned into days, and days into weeks, until finally, the end of the month arrived, and their training was over. It was their final morning in the academy, and Midnight, Thunderstreak, Ace, Storm, and even Sergeant Mahoff were laying back and enjoying their final moments of peace before the war between the ponies and griffins began. Sergeant Mahoff took advantage of this free time to actually get to know his trainees a little better before they all parted ways. “So guys, how exactly did you each get enlisted in the army? I know Celestia asked you all personally, but how’d it all start? Why did she ask and why’d you say yes?”

One by one they each told their stories of pain, sorrow, and the need for vengeance. Thunder and his burning city, Storm and his slavery, Midnight and his father. While Ace was still a little shifty when it came to his back-story. Once again, Midnight was concerned about this, but decided to leave it in the back of his mind for now. A moment of silence passed, letting the information sink in with Mahoff, when Midnight spoke up. “Well, how about you, sir? How did you join the army?”

At that, Sergeant Mahoff snapped his attention back to reality. “Oh, me? Well, I guess it all started with my father. He helped with the making of this secret military. When I was nearly grown up, he said, ‘Son, have you seen the world? Well, what would you say if I said that you could? Just carry this gun, and you’ll even get paid.’ I said, ‘That sounds pretty good.’ So I started my training, began rising up in ranks until I became a sergeant, and the rest is history.”

Above the Cinereo Sea, 6:30 P.M., May 17th, 2013

The Cinereo Sea, thousands of feet below the UH-1 Huey Midnight and Alpha Team sat in, glowed orange as the glow of the sun disappeared beyond the endless horizon. Midnight sat in the open door on the south side of chopper, watching as hundreds of Hueys glided through the sky, guarding the transports in the sea below them. He sat next to Thunder, Ace was sitting in the back, Storm was manning the machine gun in the other door, and Mahoff sat in the passenger seat up front. Equestria had disappeared behind the horizon behind them, and nothing but open waters appeared in front of them. Midnight wore a dark-green ghillie suit with his M40 sniper rifle strapped to his back, and an M1911 in a holster. Thunder wore a black ski mask covering everything but his ears and his eyes, a full black suit, a suppressed MP5 strapped to his side,  two suppressed M1911s and his sheathed katana. Storm wore a green flak jacket, spit-shined black leather boots,a HK21 sitting next to him, and a shotgun strapped to his back.. Ace had a camo suit with a red cross on his shoulder and helmet, and carried a med kit with a defib attached to the side, a Spectre M4 in hoof, and an M1911 in a holster on his side. Mahoff, sitting up front, wore a dark green steel helmet, a full camo suit with warpaint, an M16a1 military grade by his side, and an M72 standing up on the back side of his chair.

Their mission: Take the city of Aurum on the shoreline of the Cinereo Sea. Caeli’s first advance into Equestria had been planned to set sail at 1900 hours. The goal was to stop them before they start. The sky-scraping port city of Aurum began making its way over the horizon, and just before that was the first fleet of Caelian warships.

*Target in sight. All naval personnel are free to engage on my command. All aerial personnel stand by until further orders are given.*

“Midnight, Storm, close your doors until given the order to open fire.” Midnight, Thunder, and Storm stepped inside and slid the two side doors shut, and both locks clicked. From the windows they could see the Equestrian fleet pulling ahead and closing in on the Caelian fleets heading their way. Bullets, missiles, rockets, all flying back and forth between the two lines of ships. The Equestrian fleet seemed to be holding out a little stronger then the Caelian, even without air support. The helicopters started their ways over the Equestrian fleet towards the Caelian fleet. “Storm, when the green light flashes, you’re free to open fire.” a red light started flashing on and off.

*Opening door* The lock on Storm’s door clicked open *Get ready* Storm slid the door open and picked up the gatling hanging outside *Light ‘em up!* Bullets roared from the front of the gun, tearing through the sky and the ships below them.

“Thunder!” Mahoff shouted. “Reload him whenever he needs it!”

“Sir yes sir!” The hueys passed the first fleet leaving a huge dent, but some ships still stood afloat.

“I’m sure they’ll have reinforcements in Aurum. Anypony who can fly is being sent in to hold them back.” The door by Midnight clicked open. “That means Midnight and Thunder. Ace, take over on reloading duty. We’re going back for another round.” Midnight threw the door open and the two flew out the door towards the golden city of Aurum. Hundreds of pegasi sailed through the sky closing in on the port. Hundreds of bullets soared passed from the Caelian streets below. Pegasi across the sky dodged bullet after bullet flying towards them, some pegasi not dodging all and being taken down in the sky. Midnight and Thunder stayed close together as they found a tower just on the shoreline with two Caelian soldiers on the rooftop. Both Midnight and Thunder pulled out their knives closing in on the tower.

“Get ready!” Thunder shouted as they both put their hind legs forward. The griffins below began reloading their weapons as the two came down on top of them striking their knives through the griffins’ chests. “I’m going down to clear out the building. Then I’m getting behind their lines. I’m assuming you’ll find a good sniper spot. I’ll see you on the other side, my friend.” He quietly snuck his way down the stairs, leaving Midnight on the rooftop. Midnight walked up to the ledge, folded out the bipod, and aimed down his scope.

Down the city streets came a new fleet of Caelian soldiers. “Alright, first shot. Let’s make this count.” Taking aim down his sights, picking his target, and calculating for wind, Midnight pulled the trigger back. The rifle kicked back, the bullet soared, and through the scope, Midnight saw his first target fly into the wall of the building next to him. Midnight’s spine tingled in a new sensation. No...not new. There was a fleeting memory of this sensation tickling the confines of his mind. Midnight flashbacked to the time when he was controlled by Nightmare Moon. The time that he let her talk him into killing those who hurt him. He saw himself burn the three pegasi in Cloudsdale. He saw himself, not so willingly this time, stab Prince Blueblood with his horn. Then, he remembered that lonely griffin walking through the forest. He remembered her initial reaction to seeing him again. He remembered how that made his past hatred for her resurface. He remembered hailing flames down onto her, burning her alive. He remembered all of this in that moment after shooting that first Caelian soldier.

He held onto that feeling, and relished it. Suddenly, he was back on the battlefield, still looking down his scope to his first kill. Midnight turned and targeted another soldier. He fired, but the griffin moved unexpectedly, and the shot missed. The bullet landed close to the soldier so he jumped back. Looking up, the soldier spotted Midnight and started firing in panic. Midnight backed away and dodged a few of the bullets while one grazed his right foreleg. A searing pain spread throughout his leg but quickly died down to a slight throbbing. “First scar of war, I guess.” Midnight grunted through clenched teeth. Midnight decided to move positions on the building to better combat that Caelian soldier that nearly shot him. He looked over the edge slowly, searching for the griffin soldier. After a bit of looking, he found him still looking up at the part of the building where he first saw Midnight. Midnight slowly got him into his line of sight, aimed, and fired, quickly pulling back in case he had missed again. He relocated again and peered over the building’s edge. The griffin laid dead on the ground, a small pool of blood forming around him. “Alright, two down...” Midnight looked out over the city. Watching fleets of griffins march through the city, ponies and griffins flying through the air attacking each other, explosions and fire erupting everywhere, he sighed. “...an entire country to go.”

Midnight decided to make it a routine from there on to relocate and scout after each fire. After sniping about 20 or so griffin soldiers, Midnight made sure the perimeter of the building was secure, put away his bipod, and slung the rifle onto his back. “Better go see how Thunder’s doing.” He headed to the door that led to the top floor of the building, right before the roof. Opening the door, Midnight heard a loud explosion, and felt the building shake a little. It died down after a while, and Midnight waited for another one. When it didn’t come, he went down the corridor that led to the top floor below. He slowly opened the door, making sure there was no griffins in sight, then stepped all the way out into the hallway. “Guess Thunder did a good job.” Midnight decided to go back to the roof and find a different sniping location. As we started up the stairs, another, even bigger explosion sounded. Startled, Midnight stood motionless, once again waiting for another one. This time though, it did come. And another. More and more each getting louder and louder until they all melded together into one loud roaring sound. Midnight quickly ran up to the roof. When he reached the top, he felt a tremendous shaking, followed impossibly by an even louder explosion coming from right behind him. Midnight looked back to the bottom of the corridor, only to see the door at the end shattering to pieces with a wave of fire and ash following it, racing of the stairwell. Midnight pushed his legs with all his might, emerged from the exit of the corridor, spread his wings, and soared to the nearest building for cover. He may have been fireproof, but he’d still rather not get caught up in an explosion filled with potentially deadly debris and collapse along with the building. As he watched the building fall, he thought of Thunderstreak. “Is he alright?” He thought. “Was he caught in the explosion?” Midnight looked to the site of the destroyed building, smoke obscuring his vision, hoping his friend wasn’t dead.

“Hey there.” A voice said behind Midnight. Instinctively, Midnight spun around and pulled out his sniper in an instant, already looking down the scope to his next target. “Whoa! Whoa! Midnight stop! It’s me, don’t shoot!” The smoke still hadn’t cleared from the explosion. Midnight couldn’t see the one who was talking, but friend or foe, he held his aim and readied himself to fire. Slowly, the one who spoke walked closer to Midnight so they could see each other better. Through the smoke, Midnight made out what appeared to be a black and yellow striped mane and a sword. It was Thunderstreak. “What did you think I was? A griffin?” The smoke cleared enough so that they could see each other. Thunderstreak was giving a nervous grin, still looking at Midnight’s gun.

Midnight lowered his sniper and relaxed, filled with relief that his friend was alive and well. “Thunder, I was scared you got trapped in that explosion down there.” He gestured to the pile of rubble that was once a building.

Thunder smirked. “Actually, my friend, I caused that explosion.” He said proudly. Seeing the confused look on Midnight’s face, he explained. “While I was clearing the building I found some explosives in a weapon’s room. Decided to put it to good use and blew the place up.”

“Don’t you think you could’ve given me a heads up?” Midnight asked, mildly annoyed.

“Trust me, I was going to. Planned on doing it together while both of us were safe, but I had some unexpected guests show up. I had to get away from them and send them down with the building. I worried for you as well, but I know you. I knew you wouldn’t let yourself be caught in an explosion. I knew you would be safe.” Thunder explained with an apologetic smile.

Midnight gave him a strict look, then smiled and snickered. “Well I guess I can’t blame you for trusting in my amazing skills.” He gloated, a bit too obvious that he didn’t mean to really show off. He then patted Thunder on the back. “Well, I’m glad you made it out safe, Thunder.” They shared a glance of pride and accomplishment, then Midnight pointed out that the building they were on now was similar to the previous one. Same thing for nearly all of the surrounding buildings. “Think we could do it again?”

Thunderstreak grinned. “Not a problem. Let’s see who can kill the most griffins by the time we bring this building down.”

“Now you’re talkin’!” Midnight exclaimed. Midnight set up his bipod and sniper once again, shooting many Caelian soldiers without fail while Thunderstreak traveled through the building, clearing it of any griffins. Once Midnight heard the explosions start, he knew the shaking of the building would throw off his aim, so he went to the next building. Thunder flew up as the building collapsed and they each told how many they killed. They repeated this process for hours while the rest of the city was being slowly overrun by the Equestrian forces. When no major building was left, and that entire section of the city was griffin-free, they tallied up their score.

“My 173 against your 158, I won!” Thunderstreak cheered.

Midnight sneered at him playfully. “Yeah well that’s just because the buildings kept falling onto griffins I was about to get.”

“Well then, what say we keep going with the next city?”

“You’re on!” Midnight agreed, they shook hooves, and on that note, the city of Aurum had been successfully taken by the Equestrian forces.

“Don’t hold your head too high just yet, boys.” It was Mahoff along with Storm and Ace both at his side. “I want you to take a good look at the city behind you.” The city, once a beautiful gold now burns red in fires of the fallen buildings and broken roads. Ships at the port were capsized  and burning. The fleet of hueys soared through the sky. “Today was a great victory. I want you to remember that, but there were a lot of good men who lost their lives today, and I want you to never forget them.”