Fallen to Graceby Little WoodChaptersIntroduction: Going Down!Contact!Nice to Meet YouIntroduction: Going Down!The Black Hawk flew through the sky over Afghanistan. Inside was a team of USA Marines. Team Bravo, as they were designated for this mission. They were actually the Screaming Eagles, based on the fact they entered most combat fields via air drop. They were also fierce. Lieutenant Silver, or Eli, gripped his seat to keep from swaying too much. The ride was smooth, but every now and then a small bump would happen along. Sitting next to the edge of the helo didn't help. He observed his team. While he wasn't in charge, he was, technically, second in command. Captain Dreg was the leader of this team. He took a glance at each teammate. Major Kelly Kremer, who favored being loud in battle, using mainly big guns and big explosives. To further fuel her passion for all WMD, she had her own personal UAV armed with trinity rockets overhead. Major Chris Little, who was a sniper and crack shot with almost any gun. He preferred stealth, giving overwatch from the Black Hawk. Major Ashly Silver, his own sister, who was close up, but more of in a contact combat style. She carried her assault rifle, sure, but when she was inside a structure, it rarely saw use. Officer Uriya Freeman, who shared Kremer's love of explosives, but in a more psychotic way. While he didn't have a UAV, he did carry loads of frag grenades. And he tended to exaggerate. Private Mark Marquez, who was also more of an up-close-and-personal kinda guy. He was loaded with knives and usually carried a shotgun and magnum. And lastly, Private Jone Madec, who was just the all around kinda guy, not specializing in anything, but not preferring anything either. Eli took a look at his own equipment. A sniper rifle and a crossbow. He just prayed he never had to get to close. He had a knife, and he knew Krav Maga, but he wasn't too good with it. He took a glance outside. They were flying in formation with five other Black Hawks, each one carrying a different Marine team: Pouncing Wolves, Silent Snakes, Heavy Metal, Nuclear, and Gliders. They all had a mission today. They would go in and investigate the strange flux that had recently popped up in an area about fifty miles from their nearest base. The reason they were sending five teams was they had already lost three after sending them in one, then two at a time. There was something dangerous there, and they needed to find it and kill it. The fear of the unknown never entered Eli's mind. He had that pounded out of him when he jumped feet first into the small town of Gristokka, or hell, as he called it. It wasn't on the map because it wasn't supposed to exist, and it was the longest three days of his life. The very thought of going there made him shiver. His comm spit out static before the voice of Dreg came through. “All Marine Teams, listen up, we are approaching the NR zone. Once inside, we will be on our own. We have no idea what we're going into, but remember, Semper Fi!” As one, all the marines shouted out, “Semper Fi! Ooh rah!” Eli peered intently into the darkness of night, trying to make out anything. He thought he saw something, and was craning to get a glimpse of it when the helo bucked and swerved, almost throwing him out. Dreg shouted, also trying to keep his balance. “Pilot! Status!” “The controls are fried, sir! We just lost all power!” Eli knew what hat meant. If they jumped now, they would probably die. So they had to wait and hope to survive the crash. He held on even tighter as the powerless helicopter spun down to the ground. He could barely make out the forms of the other helos falling as well. What the hell was going on? The pilot shouted amidst grunts and the sound of the other Marines through the comms. “Brace for impact!” Eli saw the ground come closer until they were seconds away from collision. He closed his eyes. Was this how it would end? Rainbow Dash flew through the city of Cloudsdale. She was looking for her commanding officer, who should be around here somewhere. She had been at the barrier with her fiends Applejack and Fluttershy when they had spotted a massive force of Griffons above the Sweet Apple Acres. She felt bad for AJ, having to leave her home because the barrier couldn't reach that far. Living outside the barrier would be suicide right now. Rainbow Dash sped off once she saw three scouting forces of Griffons leave their main force. While the Unicorns were definitely helpful, and the earth ponies contributed their fair share, the pegasi were the main fighting force of Celestia's army. They were faster and more maneuverable. She found her, Spitfire, at the academy, where now, instead of training Wonderbolts, they trained new soldiers. It had been five years since they had converted it into a military academy. “Commander!” Rainbow Dash landed next to Spitfire. “What is it?” Spitfire turned from the group she had been instructing to address her second in command. “Scouting parties have left the griffons main force. I believe they are preparing to attack. I request extra units for my battalion at the front lines.” Spitfire thought this over a minute. “Are you sure?” “My gut says so, and it has yet to be wrong.” “Alright.” Spitfire blew a whistle and a team of thirty young and armed pegasi landed next to her. “We can't take any chances. I was saving these ponies for reinforcements, but take them with you.” She turned to the force behind her. “Captain Rainbow Dash is now in charge of you all. Do whatever she says.” “Yes ma'am!” Rainbow Dash flew back to the walls with her reinforcements in tow. While there wasn't as many as she had hoped for, she would have to make do. Once she got to the walls she ordered them to their stations and dropped by her friends. AJ was still by the walls, but Fluttershy had left for the infirmary and was replaced by Rarity. Rainbow Dash was impressed by the changes the war had brought upon her friend. Instead of the prissy, obsessed with fashion and all that shit, she had now become a warrior who had seen quite a few battles. She also supplied the army with clothes and organized several peaceful meetings with their enemies... all of which failed. “What's new, guys?” Applejack didn't take her eyes off the Everfree forest. “What the hell is that?” She pointed at the sky above the now desolate place. Rainbow Dash looked intently at the sky and saw that it seemed to be shimmering. “Not again.” She groaned. AJ turned to her friend. “What?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. AJ, nor any of her friends, had seen it the first time it happened. One oddly shaped object appeared and crashed in the Everfree forest. She reported it to command and they told her to keep quiet. Then it happened a second time. Two objects appeared out of thin air and crashed in the Everfree forest. This was the third time. She grabbed a pegasus named Glaze and one named True Shot and took off toward Twilight. “Twilight!” The purple unicorn turned to her friend with a frown. “What is it?” Normally, RD would be offended by that curt response, but the war had been hard on them all. “I'm leaving. I shouldn't be gone too long.” “Where?” “It happened again. I'm gonna check it out.” Twilight nodded and opened a small hole in the barrier. Once the three pegasi flew through, she asked one last question. “You did ask command to leave, right?” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Nope!” She flew off with Glaze and True Shot. They hugged the ground, trying to keep their profile low. If they were spotted and attacked out here, they were pretty much dead. They were almost to the Everfree forest when the sky above the forest lit up and this time five oddly shaped objects tumbled out of the sky, landing somewhere deep in the forest. Even though they were closer, Rainbow Dash didn't get a good look at them because of all the smoke they billowed. What were these things? Then she saw one of the griffon scout teams heading toward the forest. Rainbow flew faster, disregarding caution. The other two pegasi struggled to keep up. No way were those filthy griffons getting their claws on whatever it was that was in there. Author's Note Part one. Hopefully this story will be better than my other ones. Contact!Eli clenched every muscle in his body, waiting for the impact, but instead, it suddenly grew brighter all around him. He opened his eyes to see it was suddenly daytime, and the ground was still farther below. He made out a forest, but was spinning to fast to really discern how big it was. He looked once more outside the falling helo and saw what he thought to be buildings. The forest surrounded him and all he could see were branches and leaves. With a sudden jerk, the Black Hawk stopped moving. Eli flew from his seat right into his sister, who had also been flung from her seat onto the ground below. He took a quick look around. He and his sister were lying on the ground under the Black Hawk, which was only few yards off the ground, wedged in between two of the biggest trees Eli had ever seen. He hopped up and reached for his gun, but didn't find it. He still did a quick sweep of the area, but he spotted no immediate threats. Ashly, stood up. “Watch where you fall next time, got it?” He ignored the tease and searched for his sniper rifle. He found it stuck in a tree several yards of the ground. The rest of the team hopped out of the broken bird, each one seeming to be okay, save the two pilots, and Eli saw why. The cockpit had hit the trees head first, smashing it in and crushing those inside. He looked once more to his gun in the tree. As he was contemplating how to get it out, Major Chris Little shot the branch holding the gun with his sniper rifle. He was, by far, the best shot here. The gun fell to the ground with a dull thud as it hit the dirt. Eli picked it up and dusted it off. “Thanks.” He mumbled. Dreg began to issue orders. “Alright ladies, no lollygaggin'.” He pointed at Mark, Uriya, and Jone. “Gather what you can from the Black Hawk, take a full inventory.” As they left to do their work, he turned and pointed at Eli and Chris. “You two, scout around. Establish some sort of perimeter.” Eli nodded and followed Chris as they took to the right of the crash and began to form a circle. They saw nothing to important for a while. But this forest gave Eli a weird feeling. Like something was watching them. There was also an overpowering smell. The feeling got higher and soon, Eli couldn't ignore it. “Chris?” He nodded. “I feel it too.” Chris brought his sniper up and did a full sweep of the area. Eli peered into the bushes ahead of him, thinking he saw something. There was a big mass somewhere deep in foliage. He brought his scope up and looked closer. There was definitely something there. Then to glowing eyes opened up to reveal they were staring directly at Eli. He tapped Chris' shoulder. “Run... now...” Together they bolted back toward the crash sight. It didn't seem like the thing was following them. “What did you see?” Chris asked as they darted through the brush. “Don't know. Big. Glowing eyes.” Chris stopped. “That's it? You made us run for something you barely saw?” Eli got defensive. “Yeah, my gut told me to run, and I always go with my gut.” “Well, where is it?” Chris asked. “I don't see it chasing us.” As he said those words, something massive crashed through the trees above, landing right next to Eli. He turned and fired his rifle right into the beast. Then he saw his enemy. A massive wolf figure, glowing eyes and razor teeth. But the most disturbing thing was it seemed to be made of wood, thick, dense blocks of wood. He could tell it was the source of the smell. He jumped back as the beast shrugged off his shot and swung a claw at him. Chris fired a 50. cal round into the beast's head, but that only succeeded in leaving a hole in it's head. Chris grabbed Eli and jumped down a small rise. “Let's go!” Eli ran with Chris, this time for his life. He tried to glance back, but couldn't see anything. He could hear it, that was for sure, and smell it. Him and Chris slid behind a log and peaked back over. The beast crashed through the trees, knocking them over as it searched for its prey. It sniffed the air a bit and turned to face their direction. It crouched low, like it was ready to pounce. Before it could do anything, something crashed through the trees and slammed into it, full force. Eli was startled and relieved at the same time. What were these now? He tried to get a good look at the things in front of him. It had wings, that was for sure, but it also had a body like a... a... lion? It's face was that of an eagle or something. Griffons? Suddenly, it began to click in Eli's head. He knew what those wolf things were, and he knew that the other figure was a griffon. Were they... no... they couldn't be... could they? Another griffon joined the first in battle as they brought the beast down. Chris grabbed Eli and together they sneaked back to camp. It was hard to find their way back. They got turned around a bit and the trees blocked out a lot of the light, so it wasn't easy to find the small clues that pointed the way back. Eli was now on high alert, looking every direction and not once taking his hand off of his gun. Dreg was the first to meet them. He had a look of concern on his face. “We heard gun shots. What's going on?” Chris shook his head. “No idea. There are monsters here, ones I've never seen before.” “Explain yourself.” Dreg barked. “Wolves that looked to be made of wood, as well as...” he searched for the right words. “Griffons.” Eli finished. “And those other beasts were timberwolves.” Dreg narrowed his eyes. “How would you know?” Before he could answer, Uriya ran up to them. “What happened?” Dreg silenced Uriya with a wave of his hand. “How do you know?” “We're in Equestria, sir.” Rainbow Dash made to the forest without incident. Actually, that was the easy part. Making it through the forest would be the hard part. This place had been dangerous before the war, it was triple that now. After the griffons invaded for Celestia knows what reason, evil beasts had moved in, and those that had already been there got worse. She drew her sword, as did Glaze. True Shot drew his bow, stringing an arrow, ready to fire at a moments notice. With Rainbow leading, the trio carefully made their way through the forest. The way was dark and gloomy. The trees had been green before, despite the evil that resided here. Now they were black, each one dead and cold. She picked up a faint noise, something akin to howling, far enough way to not be a big concern, but still had her worried. If timberwolves got to what ever she was looking for, they might break it. She picked up the pace. Glaze was able to keep up, but True Shot called out, “Hold up guys!” Rainbow turned to see him staring into the brush. “What is it?” She flew over to him and looked the direction he was. Her mouth dropped open. What the hell? “What the hell are you talking about, Lieutenant?” “Sir, I know this place, and those monsters. We are in Equestria from MLP.” “MLP?” The commander scrunched his face up. Eli sighed. “My Little Pony.” Dreg shook his head. “Oh, that shit.” He turned toward Uriya. “You have the list of inventory?” Uriya nodded and handed him a piece of paper. He read the list out loud. “Let's see here. We got three ARs, five 1911s, two Barrett 50 cals., a crossbow, and three SPAS shotguns. Plus about ten combat knives. Ammo wise, we still got about three hundred rounds for the AR, fifty rounds for the Barretts, ten bolts for the crossbow, about a hundred shells for the shotguns... oh! And about two hundred rounds for the pistols.” He turned the page. “We have three med kits, about two rations per person, and six canteens of water.” He crumpled up the paper. “Alright, Ashly!” The Marine walked over to her commander. “Yes sir!” He handed her the ball of paper. “Distribute as evenly as possible and ration the food.” She took the paper, nodded her head, and took off to the crashed bird. Eli watched her for a second before Dreg slapped him. “I don't know how you know what you do, but until you prove otherwise, you're in charge of most everything here unless I say otherwise, go it?” Eli was taken aback. He gathered his senses and nodded his head. “Yes sir!” Dreg walked away, leaving Chris and Eli alone. “Well,” Chris said. “Got any orders, sir?” Eli tried to push Chris. “Cut it out.” He decided to check in on the rest of the team. “Actually, Chris, finish the sweep, but stay closer to the crash site, got it?” Chris laughed and jogged away. Eli walked up to the collected pile of various military equipment. He immediately picked up his crossbow and bolts. They were his, a special gift from his parents, and he didn't want anyone else to have them. He saw Kelly slumped against a tree, holding a device that looked like a thick iPad in her hands. “Hey Kelly?” She lifted her head. “Yeah?” He sat down next to her. “You okay?” She nodded. “Yeah... I guess. I don't have any air support here, wherever we are.” Eli smiled. “Just find another way to make things explode. You'll be fine.” He slapped her on the shoulder and walked back over to the equipment pile. Ashly was sorting it all out. When she saw him, she pointed to a pile to her right. “That's your stuff. Be careful with it.” He examined the pile. A medkit, probably because he was the third most skilled medic on the team. There was a knife, but he forgo it since he still had his own. Two rations, a water canteen, and some ammo for his sniper rifle. He pocketed his stash. Not much, but they'd have to do. He made mental note to try and find that town he thought he had seen. If they were actually in Equestria, this was probably the Everfree forest, and that would mean the town was Ponyville. If they survived, they'd go there. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her eyes. Were those... were those... humans? But... those were just a myth! They shouldn't be real! She did a double take. Yep. They were dressed a little strangely, but they were there, and they were human. She recognized them from her ancient mythology class back in the third and forth grade. She took a look around. They were about fifty meters away. She saw the object that fell out of the sky, or at least, one of them. It was wedged between two trees. The humans had a pile of stuff that one of them was going through. One of them had a stick in his mouth and there was smoke coming out of it. Two others appeared to be talking to each other. One was slumped against a tree. Another was standing just off from the group, apparently trying to keep watch. The last she saw kept raising and lowering a long... thing he held in his hand. It was black, and curved in a few places. What was it? Suddenly, her ears perked up. She heard the faint rustle before the griffons exploded from the trees and dived toward the humans. Rainbow Dash instantly reared up and charged into the clearing. But before she could make it, a griffon had already hit her from above, knocking the sword out of her hoof. She grappled with the beast, trying her best to keep the deadly claws from her face. Glaze and True Shot had been attacked as well, leaving her on her own. She punched the griffon's face, causing it to pull back slightly. That was all she needed as she bucked and kicked the attacker away. She rolled to her feet and grabbed her sword, spinning around in time to ran her blade through the pouncing griffon's heart. The griffon screamed, then flailed about. Rainbow Dash pulled the blade out and gave it a quick slash, cutting the griffon's head clean off. The headless body flailed a bit, then fell to the ground, lifeless. She turned to see Glaze had defeated her griffon and was helping True Shot. Rainbow dashed into the clearing this time, making a beeline for the closest griffon. Fluttershy was tending the wounded in the infirmary when she got the message. Spitfire wanted to see her. She finished with the patient she was working with before she headed out to Cloudsdale. The trip was almost peaceful, a lie in the world they now lived in. While Fluttershy hadn't become a cruel mare, she was still a lot less shy than she was before the attacks. She didn't hesitate to kill if need be, but was always gentle with her friends and patients. She was with her animals, until... until the griffons had killed them all... even... even Angel Bunny. She sniffed back the tears. That was four years ago. This was now. She arrived at the Pegasi Training Center, or the Wonderbolts Academy, as it had been previously known, and easily found Spitfire. “Yes?” The timidness was all but gone from her voice. She wasn't harsh, but it didn't sound like she whispered any more. “Ah, good. My top medic.” She waved away the group she had been training. “I need you to go to the front lines and assist the pegasi fighting there.” Fluttershy nodded without hesitation. “No problem.” “Also, keep an eye out for Rainbow Dash, would you? Apparently she tricked Twilight into letting her leave without permission.” Fluttershy nodded her head. That sounded like RD. “Got it.” She left for the barrier and didn't stop for anything. This was her second time on the front lines, and she was ready to fight and help her friends. AJ was still there from when she last left. That poor mare would die of exhaustion if she kept this up: barely sleeping or eating, always on duty. “Hello Applejack.” Fluttershy landed next to her friend. “Oh. Hi Flutters.” Fluttershy didn't really like that nickname, but she didn't care to much. “I'm here to help. You are still in charge, aren't you?” AJ nodded. “Yeah, I am. Alright, you can go n' help them pegasi over there.” She pointed at a group just off to her right. They seemed to be struggling with a few tasks. Fluttershy got to work, all while keeping an eye on the sky. She hoped Rainbow Dash hadn't gone into the Everfree forest. Few made it out of there alive. Nice to Meet YouEli didn't know what to do. He had been standing there, waiting for Chris. Everyone else was either finishing their tasks or recuperating. They hadn't exactly expected an attack, least of all from griffons. They had been stealthy getting here, but then they had exploded from the trees, screeching and diving for whoever was closest. He watched for a second as Kelly grabbed her shotgun and fired at a griffon diving for her. He saw Jone get tackled and pinned to the ground. He heard the commander shouting as he wielded dual pistols. He snapped out of his trance and fired his weapon at a griffon attacking Ashly. It was just instinct, to protect his sister. He fired twice, each round piercing the beast's neck. It tried to scream but instead blood spurted out of its mouth and neck. It collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony before Ashly finished it off with a knife to the brain. He turned around to see if Chris was nearby, but instead saw a griffon who had, apparently, been trying to sneak up on him. He brought his gun up, but the beast smacked it away and tackled him. Eli flailed around as he crashed to ground, the griffon above him, eyes gleaming with blood lust. Eli grabbed his knife and tried to bring his hand up, but the griffon pinned his hand down. He brought his arm up and pushed on its neck as it shoved its head down in an attempt to bite his head. Eli pushed with all his might, knowing he would die otherwise. But the griffon was too strong. It wasn't long before the griffon had its beak on his forehead, mouth open and teeth bared. The griffon's head exploded as its body was flung to the side. Eli looked around and saw Kelly right there, pumping the empty shell out of her gun. She gave him a hand up then ran back into the fray. But Eli stopped dead in his tracks before he could take three steps. A light blue blob flew out of the trees and toward the nearest griffon. It stopped for a minute to ram a blade through the beasts head before continuing into the fight. Eli's mouth dropped. “Wha-wh-wha... what? Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow Dash attacked the griffon that was still somehow on top of Jone, stabbing through its neck. The beast roared in pain as it clutched at it's throat. With a final scream, it collapsed on top of Jone as Rainbow withdrew her sword. Eli charged into the fray, training and survival instincts kicking in. He dropped his gun by a tree and unsheathed his knife. He jumped onto the back of a griffon that was attempting to take flight. He stabbed the blade into its shoulder as it took off, eliciting a bellow as it tried to shake free its attacker. Eli held on for dear life, as he was now at least forty meters in the air, and a fall now would probably kill him. The griffon dropped towards the trees. Eli took this moment of free falling to remove his knife so he could plant it in the griffon's neck. The griffon opened its mouth to scream but only sprayed blood. It tried to open its wings but its body wouldn't respond; the pain was just too much. Eli held on tight and braced himself as they crashed into the trees. The first impact threw him from the dying enemies body and into another tree, which, fortunately, had bigger branches. He was able to stop his descent by grabbing a small branch, which snapped and dropped him onto a larger branch. But he couldn't breathe! His chest tried to fill with air, but his lungs refused to cooperate. He grabbed a nearby branch as he swayed back and forth, trying to get in a single breath. Just as he felt he was going to pass out, a tiny puff of air made it into his lungs, followed by more until he could take a full breath. He gasped and spit out some blood that came from somewhere in his body. He didn't think about that too much now, He just focused on getting his breathing under control. He looked down at the ground to find he was still pretty high up. He saw the body of the enemy lying almost directly underneath him, its head, legs, and wings all bent at the wrong angles. No doubt it was dead. He took a minute to regain his senses. What had just happened? He attacked a griffon, yes. It flew into the air with him on its back. He... stabbed it in the... neck? Yeah, the neck. They both fell and then crashed here... right? Of course, how else would he be here? He knew he had to get back down, so he tried to climb down from branch to branch. Unfortunately, not all the branches could hold his weight. The third one he stepped on snapped under his weight, letting him fall the few meters he had left to the earth. He landed on top of the griffon with a thud, once again having the breath knocked out of him. Shit. He rolled off the griffon and caught his breath. It wasn't as bad as normal, but he still took a minute. He looked back to his fallen foe and retrieved the knife from its throat, letting more blood fall to the earth. He wiped the blood off his blade before sheathing it. He checked to make sure he still had his pistol, which he did. Now, where was he? They must have flown farther than he thought. He remained completely still, trying to hear any clue as to where he should head. He heard gunfire way off in the distance, so he decided that way was his best bet. He had only taken one step when his nose was assaulted by an unsavory stench. Shit. Rainbow Dash pulled her blade out of the neck of a fallen enemy. She turned to see that the scouting party was larger than she had anticipated. Many griffons were still diving out of the sky to replace their fallen. They were determined to kill the... humans, that had arrived, for whatever reason. No matter, she knew what she had to do. Glaze came out of the bushes with her sword drawn, attacking one of the beasts that was currently trying to surprise the human with a stick in his mouth. The human turned with a look of shock on his face before continuing on his little cussing spree. She saw one of the humans jump onto the back of a griffon as it took off. She followed, knowing that no one could ride a griffon. She would probably have to catch him when he fell. At least, he assumed it was a he. To her surprise, he didn't fall through all of the crazy aerial maneuvers, and was even more surprised to see the griffon drop into the forest with the human still on its back. She tried to follow, but was attacked by another griffon, who had followed her. She swung her sword and blocked the blows from his own. It was a deadly dance. This griffon was more deadly than the others. He knew his stuff. She saw an opening in his defense and thrust her sword through the gap. It pierced his wing, nearly cutting it off, causing him to scream as he plummeted, no longer able to fly. She watched as he fell into the trees only to be caught by a thick branch. Oh, right! The human! She searched for him but couldn't see him through the trees. She flew below the canopy, searching again. Then she saw him. And she also saw the timberwolf, slowly creeping up behind him. She uttered a battle cry and dove for the timber wolf as it jumped out toward the human below. Eli turned around, pistol drawn, knowing what was coming. He aimed at were he figured the beast would come from. Sure enough, it pounced out of the trees, and Eli popped off two rounds before having to dive out of the way. The next three minutes were a blur. He hit the ground and came up rolling only to be knocked to the side by the timberwolf. His gun left his hand as he sprawled on the ground. He looked up to see the same blue blob, which he figured was Rainbow Dash, fly out of the sky and hit the wolf, causing them to tumble and roll down a hill. Eli grabbed his pistol but was tackled by another timberwolf as they both fell down the hill as well. He landed on top and pushed the pistol under the wolf's mouth. Five consecutive bangs echoed through the forest above the sounds of struggle. The beast fell limp, and he jumped off of it to help out Rainbow Dash, but found that she was more than capable of finishing off the timberwolf, demonstrating it with a swift stab to the head, through its brain. Eli stood there, panting. What had just happened? He looked around once, then twice, to assure that there were no more monsters in the shadows. He popped out the clip from his gun to inspect it. Only one round left. He slid the round out of the mag and stuck it in his pocket before slamming another mag into the pistol. “Excuse me? Human?” Eli stood there, frozen stiff. Was Rainbow Dash actually... talking to him? “Hey, you!” He spun around to face the cyan pegasus, who was looking at him with curious eyes. Her magenta eyes moved up and down as they examined his body, leaving him immobile for some odd reason, like her stare was pinning him down. Kinda like Fluttershy. “Who are you?” she asked, hoof on her sword's hilt. Best not to get on her bad side. “I'm Eli, USA Marine, Lieutenant, second in command.” Fortunately, it seemed like Rainbow knew what his rank meant. “Lieutenant, huh? Okay, so we share ranks.” She pointed a hoof at him. “Two questions. One, why the hell are you real?” Eli was a bit taken aback by this. “Uh... what? We've always been real, just on a different world.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “A different world? Okay, you're crazy. You can't travel from one world to another.” “Actually...” “Two! Why should I trust you? For all I know, you could be just as bad as the griffons!” “Wait...” “So I'll just have to escort you back to Ponyville under close supervision. You guys are supposed to be crazy.” Eli waited until he thought the mare was done. “Okay, first, I'm not crazy, I'm completely sane with no intentions of harming you.” Rainbow Dash stuck her face right in front of Eli's “How do I know that?” Eli backed up. For some reason, seeing Rainbow Dash with a sword was kinda scary. “Second, I have a question to ask you. What's going on here? I thought Equestria was peaceful!” Now it was Rainbow's turn to step back, or fly back. “What? How do you know anything about Equestria if you're not from here?” “Uh... it's a...” She flew behind him and pushed him forward. “No time, follow me. You'll explain back at base. The Everfree is a deadly place.” With that, they were off. Eli suddenly remembered. “Hey, uh... should we go back to my... base, to collect supplies? And my friends?” Rainbow Dash stopped and Eli almost ran into her, but then she resumed her pace. “Nah, my friends can deal with whatever is going on over there. They'll be escorted back to base.” Eli shook his head. The only other one on his team that even knew of Equestria was Ashly, and even then, she didn't know to much. The chances of the whole team going along with creatures they had never seen was highly unlikely. He didn’t voice his worry, instead uttering only a simple “Okay.” Rainbow Dash stopped yet again and turned around. “Okay, look.” Eli didn't like the sound of that. “I don't know who your are, nor why you exist, but all that matters is you are here. I saw how you killed that timberwolf without moving much. You could be a valuable asset to our cause. So I'll try and trust you. There something about you, my gut tells me you're alright, and I always go with my gut.” She pushed him a little bit with her hoof. “But don't expect to get treated special or nothing, got it?” He nodded his head. “Good.” She turned and flew away. “Nice to meet you.... Eli USA Marine, was it?” He followed her. “Uh, no, just Eli. The USA Marines are the army I'm a part of.” Rainbow looked back to face him while still flying forward. “An army? Your from an Army? That is so cool! This is even better than I thought!” Eli was left to wonder at what the hell was going on while they made their way through the forest. Then they stumbled across something that made Eli smile and Rainbow Dash gawk.
Introduction: Going Down!The Black Hawk flew through the sky over Afghanistan. Inside was a team of USA Marines. Team Bravo, as they were designated for this mission. They were actually the Screaming Eagles, based on the fact they entered most combat fields via air drop. They were also fierce. Lieutenant Silver, or Eli, gripped his seat to keep from swaying too much. The ride was smooth, but every now and then a small bump would happen along. Sitting next to the edge of the helo didn't help. He observed his team. While he wasn't in charge, he was, technically, second in command. Captain Dreg was the leader of this team. He took a glance at each teammate. Major Kelly Kremer, who favored being loud in battle, using mainly big guns and big explosives. To further fuel her passion for all WMD, she had her own personal UAV armed with trinity rockets overhead. Major Chris Little, who was a sniper and crack shot with almost any gun. He preferred stealth, giving overwatch from the Black Hawk. Major Ashly Silver, his own sister, who was close up, but more of in a contact combat style. She carried her assault rifle, sure, but when she was inside a structure, it rarely saw use. Officer Uriya Freeman, who shared Kremer's love of explosives, but in a more psychotic way. While he didn't have a UAV, he did carry loads of frag grenades. And he tended to exaggerate. Private Mark Marquez, who was also more of an up-close-and-personal kinda guy. He was loaded with knives and usually carried a shotgun and magnum. And lastly, Private Jone Madec, who was just the all around kinda guy, not specializing in anything, but not preferring anything either. Eli took a look at his own equipment. A sniper rifle and a crossbow. He just prayed he never had to get to close. He had a knife, and he knew Krav Maga, but he wasn't too good with it. He took a glance outside. They were flying in formation with five other Black Hawks, each one carrying a different Marine team: Pouncing Wolves, Silent Snakes, Heavy Metal, Nuclear, and Gliders. They all had a mission today. They would go in and investigate the strange flux that had recently popped up in an area about fifty miles from their nearest base. The reason they were sending five teams was they had already lost three after sending them in one, then two at a time. There was something dangerous there, and they needed to find it and kill it. The fear of the unknown never entered Eli's mind. He had that pounded out of him when he jumped feet first into the small town of Gristokka, or hell, as he called it. It wasn't on the map because it wasn't supposed to exist, and it was the longest three days of his life. The very thought of going there made him shiver. His comm spit out static before the voice of Dreg came through. “All Marine Teams, listen up, we are approaching the NR zone. Once inside, we will be on our own. We have no idea what we're going into, but remember, Semper Fi!” As one, all the marines shouted out, “Semper Fi! Ooh rah!” Eli peered intently into the darkness of night, trying to make out anything. He thought he saw something, and was craning to get a glimpse of it when the helo bucked and swerved, almost throwing him out. Dreg shouted, also trying to keep his balance. “Pilot! Status!” “The controls are fried, sir! We just lost all power!” Eli knew what hat meant. If they jumped now, they would probably die. So they had to wait and hope to survive the crash. He held on even tighter as the powerless helicopter spun down to the ground. He could barely make out the forms of the other helos falling as well. What the hell was going on? The pilot shouted amidst grunts and the sound of the other Marines through the comms. “Brace for impact!” Eli saw the ground come closer until they were seconds away from collision. He closed his eyes. Was this how it would end? Rainbow Dash flew through the city of Cloudsdale. She was looking for her commanding officer, who should be around here somewhere. She had been at the barrier with her fiends Applejack and Fluttershy when they had spotted a massive force of Griffons above the Sweet Apple Acres. She felt bad for AJ, having to leave her home because the barrier couldn't reach that far. Living outside the barrier would be suicide right now. Rainbow Dash sped off once she saw three scouting forces of Griffons leave their main force. While the Unicorns were definitely helpful, and the earth ponies contributed their fair share, the pegasi were the main fighting force of Celestia's army. They were faster and more maneuverable. She found her, Spitfire, at the academy, where now, instead of training Wonderbolts, they trained new soldiers. It had been five years since they had converted it into a military academy. “Commander!” Rainbow Dash landed next to Spitfire. “What is it?” Spitfire turned from the group she had been instructing to address her second in command. “Scouting parties have left the griffons main force. I believe they are preparing to attack. I request extra units for my battalion at the front lines.” Spitfire thought this over a minute. “Are you sure?” “My gut says so, and it has yet to be wrong.” “Alright.” Spitfire blew a whistle and a team of thirty young and armed pegasi landed next to her. “We can't take any chances. I was saving these ponies for reinforcements, but take them with you.” She turned to the force behind her. “Captain Rainbow Dash is now in charge of you all. Do whatever she says.” “Yes ma'am!” Rainbow Dash flew back to the walls with her reinforcements in tow. While there wasn't as many as she had hoped for, she would have to make do. Once she got to the walls she ordered them to their stations and dropped by her friends. AJ was still by the walls, but Fluttershy had left for the infirmary and was replaced by Rarity. Rainbow Dash was impressed by the changes the war had brought upon her friend. Instead of the prissy, obsessed with fashion and all that shit, she had now become a warrior who had seen quite a few battles. She also supplied the army with clothes and organized several peaceful meetings with their enemies... all of which failed. “What's new, guys?” Applejack didn't take her eyes off the Everfree forest. “What the hell is that?” She pointed at the sky above the now desolate place. Rainbow Dash looked intently at the sky and saw that it seemed to be shimmering. “Not again.” She groaned. AJ turned to her friend. “What?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. AJ, nor any of her friends, had seen it the first time it happened. One oddly shaped object appeared and crashed in the Everfree forest. She reported it to command and they told her to keep quiet. Then it happened a second time. Two objects appeared out of thin air and crashed in the Everfree forest. This was the third time. She grabbed a pegasus named Glaze and one named True Shot and took off toward Twilight. “Twilight!” The purple unicorn turned to her friend with a frown. “What is it?” Normally, RD would be offended by that curt response, but the war had been hard on them all. “I'm leaving. I shouldn't be gone too long.” “Where?” “It happened again. I'm gonna check it out.” Twilight nodded and opened a small hole in the barrier. Once the three pegasi flew through, she asked one last question. “You did ask command to leave, right?” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Nope!” She flew off with Glaze and True Shot. They hugged the ground, trying to keep their profile low. If they were spotted and attacked out here, they were pretty much dead. They were almost to the Everfree forest when the sky above the forest lit up and this time five oddly shaped objects tumbled out of the sky, landing somewhere deep in the forest. Even though they were closer, Rainbow Dash didn't get a good look at them because of all the smoke they billowed. What were these things? Then she saw one of the griffon scout teams heading toward the forest. Rainbow flew faster, disregarding caution. The other two pegasi struggled to keep up. No way were those filthy griffons getting their claws on whatever it was that was in there. Author's Note Part one. Hopefully this story will be better than my other ones.
Contact!Eli clenched every muscle in his body, waiting for the impact, but instead, it suddenly grew brighter all around him. He opened his eyes to see it was suddenly daytime, and the ground was still farther below. He made out a forest, but was spinning to fast to really discern how big it was. He looked once more outside the falling helo and saw what he thought to be buildings. The forest surrounded him and all he could see were branches and leaves. With a sudden jerk, the Black Hawk stopped moving. Eli flew from his seat right into his sister, who had also been flung from her seat onto the ground below. He took a quick look around. He and his sister were lying on the ground under the Black Hawk, which was only few yards off the ground, wedged in between two of the biggest trees Eli had ever seen. He hopped up and reached for his gun, but didn't find it. He still did a quick sweep of the area, but he spotted no immediate threats. Ashly, stood up. “Watch where you fall next time, got it?” He ignored the tease and searched for his sniper rifle. He found it stuck in a tree several yards of the ground. The rest of the team hopped out of the broken bird, each one seeming to be okay, save the two pilots, and Eli saw why. The cockpit had hit the trees head first, smashing it in and crushing those inside. He looked once more to his gun in the tree. As he was contemplating how to get it out, Major Chris Little shot the branch holding the gun with his sniper rifle. He was, by far, the best shot here. The gun fell to the ground with a dull thud as it hit the dirt. Eli picked it up and dusted it off. “Thanks.” He mumbled. Dreg began to issue orders. “Alright ladies, no lollygaggin'.” He pointed at Mark, Uriya, and Jone. “Gather what you can from the Black Hawk, take a full inventory.” As they left to do their work, he turned and pointed at Eli and Chris. “You two, scout around. Establish some sort of perimeter.” Eli nodded and followed Chris as they took to the right of the crash and began to form a circle. They saw nothing to important for a while. But this forest gave Eli a weird feeling. Like something was watching them. There was also an overpowering smell. The feeling got higher and soon, Eli couldn't ignore it. “Chris?” He nodded. “I feel it too.” Chris brought his sniper up and did a full sweep of the area. Eli peered into the bushes ahead of him, thinking he saw something. There was a big mass somewhere deep in foliage. He brought his scope up and looked closer. There was definitely something there. Then to glowing eyes opened up to reveal they were staring directly at Eli. He tapped Chris' shoulder. “Run... now...” Together they bolted back toward the crash sight. It didn't seem like the thing was following them. “What did you see?” Chris asked as they darted through the brush. “Don't know. Big. Glowing eyes.” Chris stopped. “That's it? You made us run for something you barely saw?” Eli got defensive. “Yeah, my gut told me to run, and I always go with my gut.” “Well, where is it?” Chris asked. “I don't see it chasing us.” As he said those words, something massive crashed through the trees above, landing right next to Eli. He turned and fired his rifle right into the beast. Then he saw his enemy. A massive wolf figure, glowing eyes and razor teeth. But the most disturbing thing was it seemed to be made of wood, thick, dense blocks of wood. He could tell it was the source of the smell. He jumped back as the beast shrugged off his shot and swung a claw at him. Chris fired a 50. cal round into the beast's head, but that only succeeded in leaving a hole in it's head. Chris grabbed Eli and jumped down a small rise. “Let's go!” Eli ran with Chris, this time for his life. He tried to glance back, but couldn't see anything. He could hear it, that was for sure, and smell it. Him and Chris slid behind a log and peaked back over. The beast crashed through the trees, knocking them over as it searched for its prey. It sniffed the air a bit and turned to face their direction. It crouched low, like it was ready to pounce. Before it could do anything, something crashed through the trees and slammed into it, full force. Eli was startled and relieved at the same time. What were these now? He tried to get a good look at the things in front of him. It had wings, that was for sure, but it also had a body like a... a... lion? It's face was that of an eagle or something. Griffons? Suddenly, it began to click in Eli's head. He knew what those wolf things were, and he knew that the other figure was a griffon. Were they... no... they couldn't be... could they? Another griffon joined the first in battle as they brought the beast down. Chris grabbed Eli and together they sneaked back to camp. It was hard to find their way back. They got turned around a bit and the trees blocked out a lot of the light, so it wasn't easy to find the small clues that pointed the way back. Eli was now on high alert, looking every direction and not once taking his hand off of his gun. Dreg was the first to meet them. He had a look of concern on his face. “We heard gun shots. What's going on?” Chris shook his head. “No idea. There are monsters here, ones I've never seen before.” “Explain yourself.” Dreg barked. “Wolves that looked to be made of wood, as well as...” he searched for the right words. “Griffons.” Eli finished. “And those other beasts were timberwolves.” Dreg narrowed his eyes. “How would you know?” Before he could answer, Uriya ran up to them. “What happened?” Dreg silenced Uriya with a wave of his hand. “How do you know?” “We're in Equestria, sir.” Rainbow Dash made to the forest without incident. Actually, that was the easy part. Making it through the forest would be the hard part. This place had been dangerous before the war, it was triple that now. After the griffons invaded for Celestia knows what reason, evil beasts had moved in, and those that had already been there got worse. She drew her sword, as did Glaze. True Shot drew his bow, stringing an arrow, ready to fire at a moments notice. With Rainbow leading, the trio carefully made their way through the forest. The way was dark and gloomy. The trees had been green before, despite the evil that resided here. Now they were black, each one dead and cold. She picked up a faint noise, something akin to howling, far enough way to not be a big concern, but still had her worried. If timberwolves got to what ever she was looking for, they might break it. She picked up the pace. Glaze was able to keep up, but True Shot called out, “Hold up guys!” Rainbow turned to see him staring into the brush. “What is it?” She flew over to him and looked the direction he was. Her mouth dropped open. What the hell? “What the hell are you talking about, Lieutenant?” “Sir, I know this place, and those monsters. We are in Equestria from MLP.” “MLP?” The commander scrunched his face up. Eli sighed. “My Little Pony.” Dreg shook his head. “Oh, that shit.” He turned toward Uriya. “You have the list of inventory?” Uriya nodded and handed him a piece of paper. He read the list out loud. “Let's see here. We got three ARs, five 1911s, two Barrett 50 cals., a crossbow, and three SPAS shotguns. Plus about ten combat knives. Ammo wise, we still got about three hundred rounds for the AR, fifty rounds for the Barretts, ten bolts for the crossbow, about a hundred shells for the shotguns... oh! And about two hundred rounds for the pistols.” He turned the page. “We have three med kits, about two rations per person, and six canteens of water.” He crumpled up the paper. “Alright, Ashly!” The Marine walked over to her commander. “Yes sir!” He handed her the ball of paper. “Distribute as evenly as possible and ration the food.” She took the paper, nodded her head, and took off to the crashed bird. Eli watched her for a second before Dreg slapped him. “I don't know how you know what you do, but until you prove otherwise, you're in charge of most everything here unless I say otherwise, go it?” Eli was taken aback. He gathered his senses and nodded his head. “Yes sir!” Dreg walked away, leaving Chris and Eli alone. “Well,” Chris said. “Got any orders, sir?” Eli tried to push Chris. “Cut it out.” He decided to check in on the rest of the team. “Actually, Chris, finish the sweep, but stay closer to the crash site, got it?” Chris laughed and jogged away. Eli walked up to the collected pile of various military equipment. He immediately picked up his crossbow and bolts. They were his, a special gift from his parents, and he didn't want anyone else to have them. He saw Kelly slumped against a tree, holding a device that looked like a thick iPad in her hands. “Hey Kelly?” She lifted her head. “Yeah?” He sat down next to her. “You okay?” She nodded. “Yeah... I guess. I don't have any air support here, wherever we are.” Eli smiled. “Just find another way to make things explode. You'll be fine.” He slapped her on the shoulder and walked back over to the equipment pile. Ashly was sorting it all out. When she saw him, she pointed to a pile to her right. “That's your stuff. Be careful with it.” He examined the pile. A medkit, probably because he was the third most skilled medic on the team. There was a knife, but he forgo it since he still had his own. Two rations, a water canteen, and some ammo for his sniper rifle. He pocketed his stash. Not much, but they'd have to do. He made mental note to try and find that town he thought he had seen. If they were actually in Equestria, this was probably the Everfree forest, and that would mean the town was Ponyville. If they survived, they'd go there. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her eyes. Were those... were those... humans? But... those were just a myth! They shouldn't be real! She did a double take. Yep. They were dressed a little strangely, but they were there, and they were human. She recognized them from her ancient mythology class back in the third and forth grade. She took a look around. They were about fifty meters away. She saw the object that fell out of the sky, or at least, one of them. It was wedged between two trees. The humans had a pile of stuff that one of them was going through. One of them had a stick in his mouth and there was smoke coming out of it. Two others appeared to be talking to each other. One was slumped against a tree. Another was standing just off from the group, apparently trying to keep watch. The last she saw kept raising and lowering a long... thing he held in his hand. It was black, and curved in a few places. What was it? Suddenly, her ears perked up. She heard the faint rustle before the griffons exploded from the trees and dived toward the humans. Rainbow Dash instantly reared up and charged into the clearing. But before she could make it, a griffon had already hit her from above, knocking the sword out of her hoof. She grappled with the beast, trying her best to keep the deadly claws from her face. Glaze and True Shot had been attacked as well, leaving her on her own. She punched the griffon's face, causing it to pull back slightly. That was all she needed as she bucked and kicked the attacker away. She rolled to her feet and grabbed her sword, spinning around in time to ran her blade through the pouncing griffon's heart. The griffon screamed, then flailed about. Rainbow Dash pulled the blade out and gave it a quick slash, cutting the griffon's head clean off. The headless body flailed a bit, then fell to the ground, lifeless. She turned to see Glaze had defeated her griffon and was helping True Shot. Rainbow dashed into the clearing this time, making a beeline for the closest griffon. Fluttershy was tending the wounded in the infirmary when she got the message. Spitfire wanted to see her. She finished with the patient she was working with before she headed out to Cloudsdale. The trip was almost peaceful, a lie in the world they now lived in. While Fluttershy hadn't become a cruel mare, she was still a lot less shy than she was before the attacks. She didn't hesitate to kill if need be, but was always gentle with her friends and patients. She was with her animals, until... until the griffons had killed them all... even... even Angel Bunny. She sniffed back the tears. That was four years ago. This was now. She arrived at the Pegasi Training Center, or the Wonderbolts Academy, as it had been previously known, and easily found Spitfire. “Yes?” The timidness was all but gone from her voice. She wasn't harsh, but it didn't sound like she whispered any more. “Ah, good. My top medic.” She waved away the group she had been training. “I need you to go to the front lines and assist the pegasi fighting there.” Fluttershy nodded without hesitation. “No problem.” “Also, keep an eye out for Rainbow Dash, would you? Apparently she tricked Twilight into letting her leave without permission.” Fluttershy nodded her head. That sounded like RD. “Got it.” She left for the barrier and didn't stop for anything. This was her second time on the front lines, and she was ready to fight and help her friends. AJ was still there from when she last left. That poor mare would die of exhaustion if she kept this up: barely sleeping or eating, always on duty. “Hello Applejack.” Fluttershy landed next to her friend. “Oh. Hi Flutters.” Fluttershy didn't really like that nickname, but she didn't care to much. “I'm here to help. You are still in charge, aren't you?” AJ nodded. “Yeah, I am. Alright, you can go n' help them pegasi over there.” She pointed at a group just off to her right. They seemed to be struggling with a few tasks. Fluttershy got to work, all while keeping an eye on the sky. She hoped Rainbow Dash hadn't gone into the Everfree forest. Few made it out of there alive.
Nice to Meet YouEli didn't know what to do. He had been standing there, waiting for Chris. Everyone else was either finishing their tasks or recuperating. They hadn't exactly expected an attack, least of all from griffons. They had been stealthy getting here, but then they had exploded from the trees, screeching and diving for whoever was closest. He watched for a second as Kelly grabbed her shotgun and fired at a griffon diving for her. He saw Jone get tackled and pinned to the ground. He heard the commander shouting as he wielded dual pistols. He snapped out of his trance and fired his weapon at a griffon attacking Ashly. It was just instinct, to protect his sister. He fired twice, each round piercing the beast's neck. It tried to scream but instead blood spurted out of its mouth and neck. It collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony before Ashly finished it off with a knife to the brain. He turned around to see if Chris was nearby, but instead saw a griffon who had, apparently, been trying to sneak up on him. He brought his gun up, but the beast smacked it away and tackled him. Eli flailed around as he crashed to ground, the griffon above him, eyes gleaming with blood lust. Eli grabbed his knife and tried to bring his hand up, but the griffon pinned his hand down. He brought his arm up and pushed on its neck as it shoved its head down in an attempt to bite his head. Eli pushed with all his might, knowing he would die otherwise. But the griffon was too strong. It wasn't long before the griffon had its beak on his forehead, mouth open and teeth bared. The griffon's head exploded as its body was flung to the side. Eli looked around and saw Kelly right there, pumping the empty shell out of her gun. She gave him a hand up then ran back into the fray. But Eli stopped dead in his tracks before he could take three steps. A light blue blob flew out of the trees and toward the nearest griffon. It stopped for a minute to ram a blade through the beasts head before continuing into the fight. Eli's mouth dropped. “Wha-wh-wha... what? Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow Dash attacked the griffon that was still somehow on top of Jone, stabbing through its neck. The beast roared in pain as it clutched at it's throat. With a final scream, it collapsed on top of Jone as Rainbow withdrew her sword. Eli charged into the fray, training and survival instincts kicking in. He dropped his gun by a tree and unsheathed his knife. He jumped onto the back of a griffon that was attempting to take flight. He stabbed the blade into its shoulder as it took off, eliciting a bellow as it tried to shake free its attacker. Eli held on for dear life, as he was now at least forty meters in the air, and a fall now would probably kill him. The griffon dropped towards the trees. Eli took this moment of free falling to remove his knife so he could plant it in the griffon's neck. The griffon opened its mouth to scream but only sprayed blood. It tried to open its wings but its body wouldn't respond; the pain was just too much. Eli held on tight and braced himself as they crashed into the trees. The first impact threw him from the dying enemies body and into another tree, which, fortunately, had bigger branches. He was able to stop his descent by grabbing a small branch, which snapped and dropped him onto a larger branch. But he couldn't breathe! His chest tried to fill with air, but his lungs refused to cooperate. He grabbed a nearby branch as he swayed back and forth, trying to get in a single breath. Just as he felt he was going to pass out, a tiny puff of air made it into his lungs, followed by more until he could take a full breath. He gasped and spit out some blood that came from somewhere in his body. He didn't think about that too much now, He just focused on getting his breathing under control. He looked down at the ground to find he was still pretty high up. He saw the body of the enemy lying almost directly underneath him, its head, legs, and wings all bent at the wrong angles. No doubt it was dead. He took a minute to regain his senses. What had just happened? He attacked a griffon, yes. It flew into the air with him on its back. He... stabbed it in the... neck? Yeah, the neck. They both fell and then crashed here... right? Of course, how else would he be here? He knew he had to get back down, so he tried to climb down from branch to branch. Unfortunately, not all the branches could hold his weight. The third one he stepped on snapped under his weight, letting him fall the few meters he had left to the earth. He landed on top of the griffon with a thud, once again having the breath knocked out of him. Shit. He rolled off the griffon and caught his breath. It wasn't as bad as normal, but he still took a minute. He looked back to his fallen foe and retrieved the knife from its throat, letting more blood fall to the earth. He wiped the blood off his blade before sheathing it. He checked to make sure he still had his pistol, which he did. Now, where was he? They must have flown farther than he thought. He remained completely still, trying to hear any clue as to where he should head. He heard gunfire way off in the distance, so he decided that way was his best bet. He had only taken one step when his nose was assaulted by an unsavory stench. Shit. Rainbow Dash pulled her blade out of the neck of a fallen enemy. She turned to see that the scouting party was larger than she had anticipated. Many griffons were still diving out of the sky to replace their fallen. They were determined to kill the... humans, that had arrived, for whatever reason. No matter, she knew what she had to do. Glaze came out of the bushes with her sword drawn, attacking one of the beasts that was currently trying to surprise the human with a stick in his mouth. The human turned with a look of shock on his face before continuing on his little cussing spree. She saw one of the humans jump onto the back of a griffon as it took off. She followed, knowing that no one could ride a griffon. She would probably have to catch him when he fell. At least, he assumed it was a he. To her surprise, he didn't fall through all of the crazy aerial maneuvers, and was even more surprised to see the griffon drop into the forest with the human still on its back. She tried to follow, but was attacked by another griffon, who had followed her. She swung her sword and blocked the blows from his own. It was a deadly dance. This griffon was more deadly than the others. He knew his stuff. She saw an opening in his defense and thrust her sword through the gap. It pierced his wing, nearly cutting it off, causing him to scream as he plummeted, no longer able to fly. She watched as he fell into the trees only to be caught by a thick branch. Oh, right! The human! She searched for him but couldn't see him through the trees. She flew below the canopy, searching again. Then she saw him. And she also saw the timberwolf, slowly creeping up behind him. She uttered a battle cry and dove for the timber wolf as it jumped out toward the human below. Eli turned around, pistol drawn, knowing what was coming. He aimed at were he figured the beast would come from. Sure enough, it pounced out of the trees, and Eli popped off two rounds before having to dive out of the way. The next three minutes were a blur. He hit the ground and came up rolling only to be knocked to the side by the timberwolf. His gun left his hand as he sprawled on the ground. He looked up to see the same blue blob, which he figured was Rainbow Dash, fly out of the sky and hit the wolf, causing them to tumble and roll down a hill. Eli grabbed his pistol but was tackled by another timberwolf as they both fell down the hill as well. He landed on top and pushed the pistol under the wolf's mouth. Five consecutive bangs echoed through the forest above the sounds of struggle. The beast fell limp, and he jumped off of it to help out Rainbow Dash, but found that she was more than capable of finishing off the timberwolf, demonstrating it with a swift stab to the head, through its brain. Eli stood there, panting. What had just happened? He looked around once, then twice, to assure that there were no more monsters in the shadows. He popped out the clip from his gun to inspect it. Only one round left. He slid the round out of the mag and stuck it in his pocket before slamming another mag into the pistol. “Excuse me? Human?” Eli stood there, frozen stiff. Was Rainbow Dash actually... talking to him? “Hey, you!” He spun around to face the cyan pegasus, who was looking at him with curious eyes. Her magenta eyes moved up and down as they examined his body, leaving him immobile for some odd reason, like her stare was pinning him down. Kinda like Fluttershy. “Who are you?” she asked, hoof on her sword's hilt. Best not to get on her bad side. “I'm Eli, USA Marine, Lieutenant, second in command.” Fortunately, it seemed like Rainbow knew what his rank meant. “Lieutenant, huh? Okay, so we share ranks.” She pointed a hoof at him. “Two questions. One, why the hell are you real?” Eli was a bit taken aback by this. “Uh... what? We've always been real, just on a different world.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “A different world? Okay, you're crazy. You can't travel from one world to another.” “Actually...” “Two! Why should I trust you? For all I know, you could be just as bad as the griffons!” “Wait...” “So I'll just have to escort you back to Ponyville under close supervision. You guys are supposed to be crazy.” Eli waited until he thought the mare was done. “Okay, first, I'm not crazy, I'm completely sane with no intentions of harming you.” Rainbow Dash stuck her face right in front of Eli's “How do I know that?” Eli backed up. For some reason, seeing Rainbow Dash with a sword was kinda scary. “Second, I have a question to ask you. What's going on here? I thought Equestria was peaceful!” Now it was Rainbow's turn to step back, or fly back. “What? How do you know anything about Equestria if you're not from here?” “Uh... it's a...” She flew behind him and pushed him forward. “No time, follow me. You'll explain back at base. The Everfree is a deadly place.” With that, they were off. Eli suddenly remembered. “Hey, uh... should we go back to my... base, to collect supplies? And my friends?” Rainbow Dash stopped and Eli almost ran into her, but then she resumed her pace. “Nah, my friends can deal with whatever is going on over there. They'll be escorted back to base.” Eli shook his head. The only other one on his team that even knew of Equestria was Ashly, and even then, she didn't know to much. The chances of the whole team going along with creatures they had never seen was highly unlikely. He didn’t voice his worry, instead uttering only a simple “Okay.” Rainbow Dash stopped yet again and turned around. “Okay, look.” Eli didn't like the sound of that. “I don't know who your are, nor why you exist, but all that matters is you are here. I saw how you killed that timberwolf without moving much. You could be a valuable asset to our cause. So I'll try and trust you. There something about you, my gut tells me you're alright, and I always go with my gut.” She pushed him a little bit with her hoof. “But don't expect to get treated special or nothing, got it?” He nodded his head. “Good.” She turned and flew away. “Nice to meet you.... Eli USA Marine, was it?” He followed her. “Uh, no, just Eli. The USA Marines are the army I'm a part of.” Rainbow looked back to face him while still flying forward. “An army? Your from an Army? That is so cool! This is even better than I thought!” Eli was left to wonder at what the hell was going on while they made their way through the forest. Then they stumbled across something that made Eli smile and Rainbow Dash gawk.
