My Little P.O.N.I.E.S

Chapters

Chapter 1: Bullseye
Chapter 2: Tank
Chapter 3: Ghost
Chapter 5: Rescue Mission
Chapter 4: A Royal Invitation

Chapter 1: Bullseye

Last bullet. I have to make this count. If I miss, it's all over. I control my heartbeat, waiting for the perfect moment to fire. I look down the scope, and aim at my target. *Bang* Bullseye.

I look to my instructor to my right, and see him writing down on his clipboard. "Good job Bullseye. I guess what they say is true. You never do miss." He says, as he hands me a piece of paper. "Congratulations. You pass the marksmanship training. You are now officially a sniper for the Royal Guard. Take this over to Corporal Crybaby over there to get it finalized." We salute each other, and I walk towards the Corporal.

"Hey Crowley. I passed." I said, handing the piece of paper to him. He takes the paper from me, and as he usually does, sniffs the air, as if he had been crying. He takes one look at it, nods his head, stamps it with the Royal Seal, and hands it back.

"I knew you would, Bullseye. We don't call you that for nothin'." He said, sounding nasily. "You start on Monday. By the way, what do you have planned later?"

"Nothing really. Why?" I asked him.

"Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner down in Ponyville? I heard Pinky is throwing a good party tonight." He said.

"No thanks Crowley. I'd rather relax at home. Appreciate the thought though."

"Alright. I'll see you monday then." I wave goodbye, and leave the room. I look around the building, taking in the sights, glad I never have to be back here again.

The building is brand new, only a year or so old. It is built on the outskirts of Canterlot, and was made specifically for training new Royal Guard recruits. It's a large bulding, about 20 rooms, all of which are as big as the foyer of the castle. Each room is specially designed to tailor to each specialization, including marksmanship, stealth, hand to hand combat, engineering, and many more. I've only been interested in the marksmanship aspect of it. I leave the building, and start my walk home.

About 20 minutes later, I reach the front door to my house. It's not much to look at, only a small one bedroom home, but it suits me. I'm not really one for large crowds. I unlock the door, and walk in. I turn on the light, and flop down on my couch.

"Today has been a long day. I hope I finally made you proud Dad. I'm a sniper, working for the Princess. I know, it's not what you really wanted me to do, but you always told me, 'Do what your good at. Make a decent living, and live your life to it's fullest. That will make you happy.' Today is the day that my life will mean something. Today is the day I make you proud to call me your son." I put my hoof to my cheek, to see that I was crying. I sit up, but my face in my hoofs, and start to cry harder. "I miss you, so much." I then breath deeply, stop crying, and stand up. I turn off the light, and head to my room.

I look in the mirror on the wall, imagining myself in Royal Guard armor. I am a brown earth pony, with a black and red mean, with a matching tail. My cutie mark is a bullseye. I put my certification on my end table, lay down on my bed, and drift off to sleep.

Chapter 2: Tank

“Alright. I'm ready. Give me yer best shot teach.” I said. My instructor then lunges towards me, heading for a strike directly at my head. I sidestep, and he reacts almost immediately, changing the direction of his attack. I quickly grab his wrist, jump over him, and chicken wing him. Once I am behind him, I lift him up, and quickly bring him down, smashing him on the ground. I let go of his arm, and he falls limp. I walk to the edge of the mat, turn towards him, sit down and wait for him to regain conciousness.

10 minutes later, he wakes up, rubbing his head. “Ow. Damn Tank, you didn't have to hit me that hard.” He said, now rubbing his arm.

“Sorry. Can't control my own strength. Anything broken?” I ask him.

“Heh. Not this time. Well, you pass. Congrats.” he walks over to the desk on the other side of the room, and picks up a pen. He writes on a piece of paper, and brings it over to me. “Here. This is your certificate, proving you have passed the Hand to Hand combat training. You should think about becoming a fighter. Your pretty good.”

“I already tried that. There was no real challenge. Being with the Royal Guard should be more entertaining. More danger.” I said to him, standing up.

“Man, your crazy. Usually people join up to get a good job, not because of the danger.” He said, shaking his head. “Oh well. To each their own I guess.” He then walks over to a corner of the mat, and says, “Send in the next one on your way out, will ya?”

“Sure thing.” I said, and head out the door. I look at the next recruit, and see that he is an average sized pony. “Hey, little guy.” I say to him. He looks up at me, and his eyes go wide. “Your next.” He looked like he was about to piss himself, when I turned and walked down the hall. I come out into the main building, just as a brown earth pony with black and red hair was leaving the marksmanship area. I saw he had a certificate as well. I paid no mind, and walked out of the building.

As I reached my house, I saw my little brother looking out the window. When he saw me, he got really excited and ran towards the door. Just as I reached the step, the door flew open, and a small red colt shot out the door, and right into me.

“Tank! Your back! So? How did it go?” He asked me, bouncing up and down.

“Hey Squirt. I passed. I'm now a part of the Royal Guard.” I said, walking into the house, Squirt in tow.

“Yipee!” He yelled. “My big bro is working for the princess!”

“Yep. Now, tell me. What are you still doing awake? It's late, and past your bed time.”

“Oh.” He said, and immediately stopped bouncing. “I was just waiting for you to get home! I'm going now. Goodnight!” He ran into his bedroom and shut the door. I walked into my room, and shut the door behind me. I put my certificate on the table, and looked at the picture next to it.

In the picture is me, Squirt, and my parents. Squirt was only a few months old, and was in my mothers arms. I was still a little colt myself. In the picture I was small. Really small. I use to be the shortest kid in my class. Now, I'm the tallest pony I've ever seen, next to the Princess of course. I'm a blue earth pony, with a large buckler as my cutie mark. I earned it protecting my little brother from his bullies. My parents died a few years ago, when they were traveling to Manehattan. They took a wrong turn, and a manticore happened to be waiting for them. Ever since, I have had to raise Squirt on my own. I walk over to my bed, lay down, and stare at the ceiling until I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 3: Ghost

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ. "Alright everyone. Times up. Proceed to the entrance, and we will tally up your scores." Says a voice on the intercom. The room is suddenly filled with light, as me and 5 others, stand up and start to leave the room.

"So, how do you think you did?" I heard a blue pony asking their red friend.

"Not too good. That guy over there is too quick." I heard him say in response. I smile, knowing he is talking about me, and leave. The others walk over to the bench, and sit in waiting. I walk to the corner, like I usually do, and lean against the wall. I notice the others whispering, and when I look over, they stop instantly. 5 minutes later, the instructor walks in.

"Well, I've looked over all your scores, and the winner is... Ghost. 30 kills, 0 deaths. Congratulations Ghost." He said. He walked over, handed me a certificate, and turned to the others. He read off their scores, which I didn't pay attention to, but I figured they were horrible, since nobody else got anything.

"30 kills? In 5 minutes? Man, no wonder we lost." I heard the blue pony from earlier whining as he left. I followed him out, and started heading home. Along the way, I was reading over my certificate. This is what it said:

In the name of our Princess Celestia, Ghost has succesfully completed the course on Stealth from the Canterlot Royal Guard Training Academy, or CRGTA. Due to his/her success, he/she is now officially a part of the Royal Guard of Canterlot, starting immediately. He/she will report for duty on the first available business day, Monday – Friday, 6:00A.M – 8:00P.M.

Signed,

Sergeant Espi O. Nage

Stealth Instructor

I reach the front door to my house, and see that it is left open a bit. I start to sneak around to the window, so I don't disturb whoever broke in. I slowly look into the room, and I can't see anything. All the lights are out, and the room is too dark to see into. I walk around to the back door, unlock it with the key above the frame, and sneak inside. I make my way slowly towards the front room. I look around the corner into the room, and I see the red pony from earlier looking around the room. I sneak up behind him and tap him on the shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing?" I say to him, as he turns in a jump.

"Oh, um. I was just, uh..." He said nervously.

"Just what? Waiting to get your ass kicked?" I said, threatening him.

"No! I was just trying to find out how you got so good at sneaking around.." He said.

"Well, your not going to find it here. Now, get out before I make you wish all you got was an ass kicking." Without hesitation, he bolted out the door. I slammed the door shut behind him, and locked the door. I walked back to the back door, locked it, and headed upstairs to my room. I closed the door behind me, placed the certificate in my endtable drawer, and crawled into bed. I stayed awake for another hour or so, before I fell asleep.

Chapter 5: Rescue Mission

A/N: For some reason, everytime I check on this story chapter 4 is always unpublished. I'm sorry if that was true, and you guys couldn't read it, but I am “publishing” it to see if it stays that way.

Chapter 5: Rescue Mission

We finally reached the top of the mountain. Most of the men were tired, seeing as how we were in a hurry to reach the top. What we saw at the top however, was surprising. There seemed to be a large building built into the mountain. Around the entrance of the building were many bullet holes, and large chunks where an explosion happened were missing. On the ground were more bodies, strewn all over, and seemingly thrown around like rag dolls. I looked at the sign on the building, and read it out loud.

“Equestrian Foreign Species Research Center. Why is this here?” I asked to myself.

“Seems the Princess has some secrets.” Ghost said, while walking past me towards the entrance. “We better get inside. No telling what that guard is going through.”

“Right. Come on men!” I said, waving to the men behind me and moving forward. There were some audible groans coming from the tired recruits, but they followed in suit. Upon entering the building, we noticed it was rather dark.

“Man, for a fancy place like this, it sure is dark.” Tank said. “Guess our new friends aren't to fond of the light.” I nodded in agreement, and resumed forward. After adjusting to the darkness, I saw we were walking down a large hallway. The doors on the left and right sides were all open, some were hanging on one hinge, others were strewn with blood. I looked at the first door we came across, and saw a bloody hoofprint, which lowered down to the floor. No body, but there were bones scattered around the room.

“Whatever was in here, must have been hungry.” I said, then continued on. After walking a few minutes we came to large double doors at the end of the hall. I opened them, and saw we entered a large auditorium. After everyone was in the room, the doors closed behind us and locked.\

“Well, well, well. What have we here?” Asked a distant, but clearly audible voice. He sounded as though he was hissing his words. “Seems we have some more pathetic ponies who think they can stop us!” A large creature then fell from the ceiling with a large thud. He looked like a giant ant, but stood on 2 legs. He was heavily armored, and was a black color, with green eyes. “Tell me. What makes you think you can stop us?”

“We have you outnumbered.” Tank spoke up. “We have at least 40 men, and from what we've been told you have 30.” The creature laughed at the statement, sounding confident.

“Well, I'm afraid you have been misinformed. Dinner time boys!” He screamed. In an instant, smaller creatures, similar to him, started climbing out of the ground, and down the walls. We were vastly outnumbered. I ordered my men to fire, and quickly looked around for a good vantage point. On the left side of the room, I spotted a small staircase leading up to a higher level. I made my way for it, and quickly climbed up. When I reached the top, I looked over the railing, and saw Tank charging through the crowd of ants, heading straight for the leader. When he reached him, he grabbed him by the face, and slammed his head into the ground. Without stopping, he dragged him across the ground, until he was about 5 feet from the wall. He then threw him, into the wall, causing a small crack to appear. Before the enemy had a chance to recover from the blow, Tank punched right through his chest armor, and crushed the core with his hoof.

“Well done. But it's too late. Our invasion isn't stopped here. Your beloved Canterlot is already being attacked, by forces much stronger than this. You can not stop us.” With the last of his strength, he shoved Tank backwards, and exploded, causing a massive hole to appear in the wall. Upon seeing the leader destroyed, most of the ants fled, running through it, or digging away.

In the time it took for this all to happen, only me, Tank, and Ghost were left. The ants had surprised our men, by running into the crowd, and exploding, killing them all. Only 5 remained. I quickly looked down my scope, and noticed a small gap in the enemies armor. I took advantage of this, and shot through the gap, using my higher angle to shoot the core directly. This caused the creature to explode, also hitting his allies, causing 3 more to explode along with him. Ghost then appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and stabbing the last one through the back with his sword, causing the core to slice in half. He quickly pulled it out, and jumped backwards just as it exploded.

“What.... how?” I said, coming down the stairs, and looking at the dead ponies all around us. I dropped to my knees in disbelief. “I have never seen such destruction. If this is what we are dealing with, I fear for Equestria. Wait. He said Canterlot is already being attacked? We need to get back!” I said pulling out my transporter. Before I could push the button, Tank stopped me.

“Not until we rescue the prisoner.” He said. He then proceed to exit the room through the hole he created. I followed him, and we quickly came to a room marked “Holding Cells.” The letter were crudely drawn on, so we knew the creatures did it. Upon opening the door, we saw a blue unicorn in a cage, barely big enough to fit him. Tank walked to the door, grabbed the lock, and ripped it off. Benefits of strength I guess.

“Oh, thank you. I thought I was going to die in here!” The unicorn said. “My name is Navy Brave. Everyone just calls me Navy though.”

“Nice to meet you Navy, but we need to go. Canterlot is in danger, and we have to get back A.S.A.P.” I said. He nodded in agreement. We pulled out our transporters, and pushed the buttons. A bright flash of light appeared, then quickly faded. We were back in the yard in front of the castle, but nothing was right.

The whole yard and most of the castle seemed to be hit by explosives everywhere. All guards were dead, laying everywhere on the ground. We quickly sprinted into the castle, and saw something we never expected would happen. Laying on the ground, on the brink of death, was Princess Celestia. I ran up to her, and held her head in my arms.

“Princess. I am so sorry. We couldn't stop them.” I said, trying my best to keep calm.

“It's alright Bullseye. It is my time. The enemy has already taken over Equestria. Nobody is safe any longer. Please, protect my sister as best as you can. That is all I want you to do.” She said, weakly.

“But Princess, shouldn't we stop them? Take the land back?” I asked her.

“I don't care. Just, protect my sister. That is my final order. Now go, find her, and leave me to my fate.” She said. She used the last of her magic to teleport herself away, and left us alone in the hall.

“The Princess. That's it. I am stopping these son of a bitches, if it's the last thing I do. But, we need more soldiers.” I said standing up, and turning to Tank, Ghost, and Navy.

“I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll help any way I can.” Navy said.

“You have my blade.” Ghost said.

“And my fist.” said Tank.

“Well, guys, I think it's settled. Let's round up everypony we can, and start taking back our land!” I yelled.

The others yelled in agreement, and we ran out of the castle, in search of anypony still alive, and willing to help us take back Equestria.

Chapter 4: A Royal Invitation

One Year Since Graduation:

I awoke to the sound of my mailbox being opened. I walked downstairs, and out my front door to see Derpy putting in a letter. "Hey Derpy. How are you?" I asked her politely.

"Good! I got a letter here for you from the Princess." She said, taking it out of the mailbox and handing it to me. "Seems pretty important."

"Thanks. I wonder what it's about?"

"I don't know. Well, I gotta go. Bye Bullseye!" She said. She waved, and flew off towards Ponyville, running into a few trees along the way. I waved back, and went back into my house. I sat down on the couch and opened the letter. This is what it said:

Dear Bullseye,

I am writing to you today to invite you to the palace. There is something I wish to discuss with you, and a couple others you might know from your time in guard duty. Come as soon as possible.

Princess Celestia

I put the letter back into the envelope, and headed out the door. I stopped at my favorite restaurant for a quick bite to eat, then headed straight to the palace. Twenty minutes later I arrived at the gate.

"Hey guys. Can you let me in? The Princess needs to see me." I said to the two guards on duty.

"Sure thing. She has been expecting you." Said the one on the right. I nodded, and proceeded into the palace. Waiting on the steps, was Princess Celestia, and her sister Luna. I bowed, and waited for her to speak.

"You may stand." She said in her soothing, yet firm voice. I stood, as straight as possible, trying to make myself look presentable. "Come. The others have already arrived." She walked up the stairs, with Luna right behind her. I followed her up, and into another room. Sitting in one of the five chairs around the table, was Tank. I worked with him a couple times on some undercover missions, and we worked well together. Celestia and Luna sat in the chairs at the head of the table. I sat in the chair next to Tank.

"Ghost, if you wouldn't mind, take a seat." Celestia said. I turned around and saw Ghost standing in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall. I didn't even notice he was there. He always was good at staying quiet. He walked over, and sat in the last available seat. "Thank you. Now, the reason I called you all here today, is because I have been watching your progress, and I must say, I am impressed. I havn't seen ponies with your abilities in a long, long time. Because of this, I have a special mission for the three of you. I have received reports, that on the edge of Equestria, that a new species has been discovered. The scouts that discovered them, were attacked when noticed. Out of the twelve ponies in the squad, only two returned. Luna and I have discussed this, and we have decided the only reasonable thing to do, is to send someone to try and stop them. We are going to send three squads, led by you three. We want you to choose who is in your squad, and when you are all prepared, we will teleport you there. Is there any questions?"

"Yeah." Tank spoke up. "What exactly are we trying to stop?"

"They seem to be giant insects, but are made of a strange material. The scouts said that they can regenerate lost limbs, unless the "core", as they called it, is destroyed." Luna said.

"How many are we looking at?" I asked.

"Right now, about 30. But it is possible there are more on the way." She said. "It's possible we are looking at an invasion. But you must know, if you can't stop them, come back. We will give you this." She held up a small machine, about the size of a remote. "If you are in trouble, push this button. It will bring you back here."

"Alright. I guess we should go get our squads ready. We will return shortly." I said. I stood up, bowed to the Princess, and left the room. Immediately I started to look for recruits.

Thirty minutes later.

I returned to the yard in front of the castle. In my squad I had 15 men. 10 were normal, run of the mill guardsmen, 3 were ranged support, and 2 were snipers like myself. Ghost returned just after me, and had only 5.

"Ghost? Why do you have so few men?" I asked him.

"Quality over quantity." He said. Tank then came back with 20 men, which all seemed to be shaking in their boots.

"Ha. Looks like I got the most recruits!" he said.

"Looks like they are about to run away though." I replied.

"Not if they know what's good for them." He said. Celestia and Luna then came out of the castle. They walked across the lawn to meet us.

"Good. Looks like you're ready." Celestia said. "Shall we proceed?" We all nodded. "Good. Now, when you get there you will meet up with a scout squad. They will tell you where to go."

"Right. Here is your transporter. When you are done with you mission, use it to return, or if need be, to flee." Luna said, handing me, Tank, and Ghost our own teleporters. "They are made with magic, so when you use it, you and your... surviving squad, will return together." Most of the recruits started to look at each other with scared looks.

"Well, there's no time to waste. Send us out there." I said to Celestia. She nodded, and her and Luna walked to opposite sides of the group, to make sure they included us all in their spell. Their horns started to glow, and they lowered them to the ground. A magic circle surrounded all 43 men, and then there was a flash of light. A second later, the light dissipated, and we were standing in a field. What we saw, changed our lives forever. Before us, lied a town, about as big as Ponyville, minus the orchard, burning. Laying all over the streets were dead ponies, of all ages, from children to elders. Closer to the field, we saw the scout squad we were supposed to meet up with.

"Oh. My. Celestia." I said to myself. I quickly ran up to the squad to see if there were any survivors. 10 men were dead, and 1 was badly wounded. I ran up to him, and pulled a medkit out of my saddlebags.

"Don't bother. I'm... a goner." He said, sounding as though he was on the brink of death.

"What happened here?" I asked him.

"The creatures. They.... attacked.... the town. We.. tried to... stop them. Too.... powerful. They... took one.. of our men. They... headed for.. the mountain." He said. I then watched, as his head slumped to his chest, and he died.

"Those bastards." I said, starting to tear up. I stood up, and looked at the mountain in the distance. "They will pay for this. Let's go men!" All at once, we started to run towards the mountain, to save the lone pony, and get revenge on the creatures who caused such destruction.