My New Republic

Princess Celestia read over the letter that had been sent to her carefully. Some unidentified source was causing a large amount of smoke to rise from the Everfree forest, and she did not like it one bit. From past experiences, she knew that when something abnormal happened in the forest, it usually meant bad news. To avoid any form of risks, she decided to call upon the Equestrian Guard to scout the area the smoke came from, and report their findings to her. Celestia sighed, it seemed problems were a dime a dozen recently in her lands.

"Oh... fuck... Should of had less rum and more whiskey..." Tanno said, slowly rising from his impact-implied slumber. But something was off. He knew he hadn't been with any form of prostitute last night, seeing as it felt like he was laying on grass, and a smell he knew all too well. An explosion of some sort had occurred nearby, and it wasn't a small one. Forcing his eyes open, he immediately shut them due to the blinding light that was now flooding his irises. Eventually, he managed to open his eyes, and instead of being blinded by a cheap motel light, he stared up at a sun. Several things popped into Tanno's mind at that, most of them being, "Why in the hell am I outside?". Upon taking a bold move and climbing to his feet, he finally took notice of his surroundings.

"Alright.... Burning ship in the corner... In the middle of a forest clearing... and Boss, Aric, and Elara are knocked out. Typical fuckin' morning, of course..." Tanno said sarcastically. Suddenly, the memories came back from the previous night. Tanno almost felt saddened by the Yunn's death, even if he was nothing more than a Gand. Didn't give much of a damn about the M1-4X though, Tanno preferred it when droids went boom, not caused the booms. Tanno then took it upon himself to wake the rest of his crew, starting with the Boss. Upon shaking Boss, he jolted up, commando-like reflexes showing even in his half-awakened state. Upon seeing it was Tanno, he calmed down, and took in his surroundings. Nathaniel wasn't one to "Freak" much, but even his mind faltered slightly as he took in the surroundings he found himself in.

"Tanno, have you found the others?"

"Nope Boss, just woke you up after I got up myself."

"Search the area, try and find our gear and the rest of the team."

"Sure, Boss, whatever ya say." At this, the two set out. Within a few minutes of searching, Nathaniel had found his prized devastator cannon. Praising whatever deity had blessed him this day, he grabbed his cannon and continued his search. Before long, Tanno found Aric, but not just Aric. He seemed to be fighting with something of legend, as Tanno had seen and heard about dozens of species, but had never seen a lion-scorpion. Grabbing the assault rifle that was thankfully still hooked on his back. Firing and putting several rounds into the beast, it dropped, and Aric fell breathing heavily.

"Hey, Aric, havin' some fun with the natives?" Tanno said as he grabbed Aric's assault cannon that had been carelessly tossed to the side, presumably in the fight.

"Yeah, tons of fun, you should try it out sometime Tanno." Aric said, still panting heavy, but otherwise unscathed besides scratches on his armor. "Let's head back to the ship, I was heading there myself before that... thing... pounced me."

"Fine, but let's hope Boss found his little spouse, we I don't wanna be within a mile of em if he can't find her." They both nodded their heads in agreement, and walked over to the crash site. Upon arrival, they knew something was up, as Nathaniel was pushing down fiercely on Dorne's chest, and what looked like blood was slowly forming beneath her. At this, Tanno and Aric sprinted towards Nathaniel, who immediately asked for any health kits they might have on them. Aric tossed over the ones he always kept handy, and Nathaniel began to apply it to the injured area.

"Goddamnit Dorne stay with me! That's a fucking order!" Nathaniel wailed, applying copious amounts of the first aid needles to her injured tissues. Dorne began to cough, but it was obvious she didn't have the strength to talk, and shortly blacked out. Nathaniel sighed heavily, and walked over to his squadmates.

"Tanno, you stay here and watch Dorne. Aric, you're with me, we're off to find some food." They both saluted, Tanno's being more of a mock one at best, and headed back over to the ship. Nathaniel grabbed his devastator cannon, Aric taking his cannon as well.

"Sir, we killed some form of native creature, and the meat looks suitable. We can probably haul it over here and get a fire going long enough to cook it."

"Understood, let's get a move on Jorgan."

As the two headed off, Tanno laid back on the grass. He didn't have much to worry about, so he closed his eyes, and dozed back off within a few minutes. What he didn't realize, however, was that something was closing in on them, and quickly.

"I still don't see why Celestia wouldn't let us come ourselves, like seriously, we ARE the elements of harmony, we can totally handle whatever the world throws at us!" Rainbow Dash spoke out, causing Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, but not Pinkie Pie to preform a facehoof.

"I just hope whatever it is isn't... scary..." Fluttershy said, immediately looking smaller than she probably should have.

"Don't worry sugarcube, we'll have this done in a jiffy." Applejack said, taking her friend by the hoof and pushing her along forward.

"Oh this dirt is simply DREADFUL, look, it's getting all over my hooves!" Rarity Shrieked, voicing her displeasure to the ponies around her, including the Royal Guard who had been sent accompany them.

"Don't worry Ma'am, we'll have the problem solved in no time, that's what we're here for." Voiced one of the guards.

"Yeah Rarity, and think, maybe it's something new! I could take notes on it!" Twilight exclaimed, clopping her hooves together, showing her excitement. Most of the others simply rolled their eyes, at least until they hit the clearing in front of them. All of their mouths lowered in shock, and noticed a form that seemed to be injured lying in the grass. It looked like a form of Ape, but it seemed as if it was covered in a kind of material that glimmered in the sun. One of the guards moved forward to examine it, but the second it put a hoof on the creature's chest it wailed in pain, apparently injured in that area.

"Oh no! It's hurt! Don't worry, we'll get you all nice and bette..." Fluttershy's voice was cut off as a combat knife dug itself inches away into the ground by the guard pony. Looking over, they saw the most intimidating figure probably in Equestrian history besides Dragons themselves. Another one of the ape-creatures, standing at almost eight feet tall and holding a form of device pointed right at them.

"Don't. Fucking. Touch her."

The ponies mouths hung open at this, not only were the creatures dangerous looking, but it could talk?

"This is going to be one long letter to Celestia..." Said Twilight, clearly intimidated by the creature in front of her.