Racial Difficulties

Chapters

First Encounter
The past follows
Aftermath of an ambush
Neutral Territory attacked

First Encounter

/Author's Note: MAJOR REVISION! I decided to add a little romance to the story, I just couldnt resist. I really wanted to try my hand at romance, and it just popped into my head, I probably sucked at this attempt, but oh well.. Do comment, it really helps me fix the next chapters/

Middle East, 1600 hours

Ghostkiller is the commander of a team of infamous mercenaries known as Hunter Killers under the cooperative employment of cooperative effort English, American and Russian Armed forces in combating terrorism. Hunter Killers is team of 8 members, each member being ex spec-ops from their employers, they are known for serving as elite bodyguards, performing surgical strikes, executing sabotage, guerilla warfare, bounty hunting, and even insurgency. His team was en route towards a suspicious base for investigation and elimination of said base if necessary.

“All right, you guys know the drill, a plain sweep. But something is off about this base, intel is largely based on rumors, and you know how local rumors can be, some say that this base houses a very dangerous secret, others say that it’s a portal to paradise, like rainbows with pots of gold, it doesn’t matter, the only good, solid intel we have are satellite pictures of the area and by the looks of it, it seems deserted to me, but we can’t be too sure, keep your eyes sharp, and your guns loaded as well as your safeties off” Ghostkiller briefed his men with his very thick Scottish accent over the roar of the M113 as he loaded a fresh magazine into handgun and his rifle; a Beretta PX4, and a suppressed HK G3A3 outfitted with a holographic weapon sight. “Are we there yet?” he asked the driver, to which he replied that they were almost there and would arrive in five minutes. He instructed Skullface to man the machine gun and to keep a lookout for hostiles. “Remember the basic things, do not fire until fired upon, watch your buddies, check your corners and watch where you step. For now, shoot to incapacitate” he ran over the basic protocol once more, to which his mean groaned. Ghostkiller was like that, he made sure his men understood the orders and the mission, he was a methodical person, and he made sure that everything went to plan. He looked at his men, and studied them carefully: Skullface; heavy gunner for the team, Crosser; the team’s medic, Pirate; team’s sniper, Jolly; Pirate’s spotter, Jackknife; the team’s stealth specialist, Avril; the team’s demolitions man, Sigma; the team’s communications expert, and there’s himself, Ghostkiller; leader of the team. To the team, Ghostkiller was either Ghostface or Boss, whichever floats their boat.

“Alright, we’re here! Good luck mercs, stay safe! I’ll be waiting here when you guys are done” the driver told them as the team disembarked from the safety of the metal monster that they call an Armored Personnel Carrier. The team went to the supposed base and entered from the south side, checking the place for signs of life in a fruitless effort. The place wasn’t much of a base but more of a town, and it was unsually dank and dreary for the Middle Eastern climate, and a strange wind blew around the town. It sent chills down Ghostkiller’s neck, he didn’t like it one bit, as if they might have bitten off more than they can chew.

“Sir, something’s jamming our comms, I can’t get a signal for the home” Sigma looked worried as he tried to get the radios working. A cloud formation signaled that it was going to rain soon.

“ Damn it, forget the radios. Jackknife, take Sigma and scout for the north of this place, Pirate, you and Jolly search the east, Avril, take Crosser and go west, Skullface, you and I will take center. We meet at the town center in half an hour, anyone finds anything… well yell ‘Marco Polo’, shoot a flare, or something.” Ghostkiller instructed his men. They split up and went their own ways. Quietly talking about the mission and walking as they searched the whole place. Ghostkiller, was completely nervous about this op.

“Hey Skull, what do you think about this op? Think they’re trying to get us killed?” Ghostkiller asked his partner as they searched through the town

“What do you mean Boss?”

“You know, vague intel, bad weather, jammed comms, they hardly briefed us back at home base”

"I don’t really know sir, maybe they really had no intel on this place, its remote enough that we wouldn’t notice it right?” answered Skullface in a similarly nervous tone

“Perhaps, but at least they could’ve told us ‘hey we have no intel, sorry guys but you’re marching straight into unknown territory’ or some stuff like that, you know I don’t like being left out”

“Maybe it was to make sure we go here and… I don’t know, not chicken out or something, anyways, Boss, you’re not like this, keep it together, the team needs you” Skullface tried to reassure his leader who seemed to lighten up a bit. “ let’s get moving boss, we got a mission to do.”

Half an hour later when everyone was at the center, everyone except Crosser and Avril, they heard gunfire and a few minutes later, saw Crosser making a mad dash for town center, and Crosser came alone. Everyone looked worried.

“Where’s Avril?” everyone asked in unison

“Knocked out, I dragged him into some building at near the western wall, after we saw this… thing a couple streets away from the building. You guys are going to want to see this, follow me” Said Crosser as he reloaded his M16. The team followed their medic and readied their guns. A few minutes of walking led them to the building which Avril was in, he was lapsing back to consciousness. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as if he was blinded by a flashbang. Ghostkiller asked both of them what happened. they told them that they saw this glowing ball, as if it was made of pure energy and another ring of energy beside it as if it was some sort of portal. The ball seemed to notice them and fired a bolt of light at them, it missed Crosser but it hit Avril in the center of the face, knocking him out. Crosser emptied a magazine but the bullets went right through it, by then, Crosser dragged Avril’s limp form into the building and made sure he was hidden then went for the town center. Ghostkiller was surprised, he made a suggestion to approach calmly and with their weapons holstered and slung.

“Let’s see if it will respond more… civilly if we approached it unarmed. But remember, Keep. Your. Safeties. Off.” They holstered their handguns, and slung their rifles over their shoulders and went for this glowing ball of energy. They approached it slowly with their hands raised in the air, they had a white piece of cloth tied to an unloaded M14 with the bolt open as a makeshift flag. Ghostkiller slowly stepped forward and tried to talk.

“Hello? We just want to talk, we don’t want to fight” Ghostface tried to communicate

“So be it. Let us talk then”

“I am Ghostkiller, leader of this band of mercenaries this is Crosser, Avril, Skullface, Pirate, Jolly, Sigma, and Jackknife” Ghostkiller said as he pointed to his teammates while he introduced them

“Ghost-killer, I greet thee. I am known by many names, but I am best known by the personage of Keeper, I serve as this portal’s guardian and manipulator, now that the formalities are over, does any of you have any questions?”

“Portal? To where does this ‘portal’ go? And how does it work?” asked a curious Sigma

“To a land known as Equestria, ‘tis a peaceful place. As to how it works, I cannot tell you how it works, my superiors would disapprove of that” the Keeper replied. “any more inquiries?”

“None, we shall take our leave, for now. Farewell for now Keeper, but we shall return, we should like to see this… ‘Equestria’. Can we expect you to remain in the same place?” to which the keeper nodded and with this, bade them farewell. They went to the south end of the town and joined up with the driver, radioed home base Ghostkiller explained what happened to his employers

“And it goes to a place called Equestria, by his description I highly suggest that should we send an exploration team, we send in lightly armored troops”

“Alright, here’s the deal, you go to this Equestria and you give us recon of the area, you guys are the exploration team, do this and we’ll increase your pay. In Euros, not dollars” His employers told him.

“Very well, triple our usual rate, and this time, in euros. Are we on clear terms?”

“Crystal”

“Here’s the deal, we’re going to hit the motherload, triple our usual rate” Ghostkiller’s team cheered in response “But there’s a catch, we are going through that portal and we are going to do a recon of the area, we do not kill until we have to, remember. Safeties. Off.”

“Seems it’s worth the risk and we’ll be the first to step into uncharted territory, and we get bragging rights! Let’s do it!” Crosser replied. They dismissed the driver and went back into town

They went back to the Keeper and after simple conversation, they stepped into the portal and went out in Equestria. The keeper told them that it would stay there for all eternity should they want to go back and forth from their world

“It’s… nice enough. Perhaps a bit too colorful but I can adapt” Ghostkiller told himself. They walked around until they found an orchard of apples. They picked a few and went to search for the farmhouse, they found a clearing which lay the barn and the farmhouse and a few minutes later, they heard voices from the barn, and out of instinct, the men grouped together into two- man pairs and crept towards the barn, handguns drawn.

“What in the hay are those things? And what are they holding? Darn it I lost ‘em!” A female voice spoke up as she tried to look for the strange aliens on their farm. Ghostkiller and his men were on the sides of the barn and went towards the back. They opened to door enough for them to sneak in and they eavesdropped on them

"I think they’re aliens!” Another female spoke. The barn was dark, Ghostkiller sliently turned on his nightvision goggles and ordered his men to do the same. They snuck along the sides and watched as they tried to make out what were those things speaking.

They’re… ponies!? Two have horns, two have wings, two are just normal but how can they talk, ponies do not talk! Ghostkiller was shocked as the ponies were discussing about them were just as shocked as they are. Spotting his teammates on the other side of the barn, he quietly signaled them to holster their weapons and go outside.

“Is it me, or did we just step into a room full of talking ponies?”

“Glad I ain’t the only one, I was thinking the same thing!

“What the hell was that?”

“Let’s approach them calmly and try to find their political leaders”

From the inside, the ponies were frightened.

“What were those things anyway!? Are they going to eat us?” a timid voice spoke

“Hush Fluttershy! No one’s eating anyone! I think I see em out front!” a southern accented voice replied

The men were at the front, with the makeshift flag, and yelled that they wanted to talk.

“Hello? Is anyone here? We just want to talk, no violence, no guns, nothing, just plain conversation”

There was a scuffle inside the barn as the eight men stood there. There was yelling from inside, they heard six different voices, all female

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” the one with the southern accent spoke up

“Im not so sure about going outside” the one with the timid voice spoke

“I for one wish to see these extraterrestrials!” a refined tone spoke

“Whats a gun?” two voices spoke, a rough voice and a higher pitched energetic one.

“let’s just go outside girls” A purple pony was already outside when she spoke. “Hello there, I’m Twilight Sparkle, the white one is Rarity, the blue one’s Rainbow Dash, the orange one with that hat is Applejack, the shy, yellow one is Fluttershy, the pink one is Pinkie Pie… wait… where is pinkie pie anyways? And what are you? We haven’t seen your kind before”. Pinkie pie was already at Ghostkiller’s side and had her hoof at the Beretta, curiosity getting the better of her, “What’s this thing do? Is this what you things call a ‘gun’?” Ghostkiller noticed the pink pony fumbling around his holster; he drew the beretta to make sure that the pony didn’t find a way to pull the trigger

“ You wouldn’t wanna be looking down the muzzle of this thing when it goes off. We’re humans, soldiers if you will. But we prefer the term Mercenaries or, if you like the ancient version, Sellswords” Ghostkiller replied “We’re under the employment of our nation’s military and we discovered a portal that led to here and we were ordered to give recon of the place”

“What’s recon?” the one known as Rarity asked

“it’s a term we use to gather information about the place” Crosser replied. “by the way, would it be possible for us to see your political leaders?”

“You mean Princesses Celestia and Luna? I guess…” Twilight scratched her head. “This way then” she summoned a cloud and motioned for them to get on, the cloud transported them to Celestia’s castle “Im her apprentice so I have right to direct audience with
her without prior notification, in short, I can drop in on her any time we’ll be there any minute”

“Thank you” Crosser responded.

Celestia and Luna were at the throne room when Twilight and the men walked in on them.

“Princess Celestia, forgive the intrusion but, these… humans wanted to see you”

“That we do my lady, I am Ghostkiller and these are my companions; Crosser, Avril, Skullface, Pirate, Jolly, Sigma, and Jackknife. We are mercenaries, sellswords if you will. We’re under the employment of our nation’s military and we discovered a portal that led to here and we were ordered to give recon of the place” Ghostkiller spoke as he motioned for his men to bow “We wish to inquire about the land and if possible, establish relations to your race to ours, the humans, we thought it best to ask the political leaders of this area”

“ Ah, I can’t see why not , allow me to introduce myself first, I am Princess Celestia, an alicorn, I hold dominion over the sun, and I raise it and lower it at dawn and dusk respectively, and this, is my younger sister, Princess Luna, she holds dominion over the moon and raises it at dusk as I lower the sun and lowers it at dawn as I raise the sun, let’s begin, shall we? Luna, come, let us entertain our guests, they must be weary from travelling, have the maids prepare some food. Shall we walk around the castle grounds while the maids prepare food and drink?” Princess Celestia offered her hospitality, Ghostkiller accepted and followed her “Oh, and by the way, welcome to Equestria” the regal voice of the white one with the multicolored mane continued as they walked and discussed a brief history of Equestria, however, something put Ghostkiller off, he didn’t quite had his gun on the target but he didn’t like the diarchs open their arms to complete strangers. He motioned for Skullface to come over as he had something to tell him.

“Something bothering you, Boss? You seem quite distressed” Skullface pressed.

“I don’t like this one bit, Skull, rulers welcoming us with open arms? They didn’t ask us about our guns! We are armed to the teeth and they just let us in? they even let us waltz around with tantos and throwing knives as well as Jackknife’s katana! They knew we had some form of blades, Jack was practically brandishing the sword! Surely they would try to disarm us right? Isn’t that what happened to us when we tried to negotiate with that Al Qaeda Leader? Jackknife nearly took a slug to the head for refusing to part with his katana, and yet here we are, waltzing around, knives and guns in hand. This could be a trap skull, tell the other teammates to have their guns at the ready..” Ghostkiller whispered to his comrade as they lagged behind the group.

“And as of now, Canterlot houses the most prestigious academy of magic for only the most adept of unicorns, I personally teach a few students, Twilight being my most promising protégé, she has shown more raw power than any student I have seen, and she may very well be able to challenge my prowess. Ah here we are; the garden of the castle, most of the flora in Equestria can be found right here, I personally take care of some of them, and over there is a balcony that has a view from canterlot all the way to ponyville.” Celestia’s voice rang over their ears, Ghostkiller followed along, studying Celestia’s actions and tone. She must be establishing her authority, a show of power, like the alpha dog showing the fresh meat that he’s leader of the pack and that the alpha dog doesn’t take orders from anyone, seems to me she wants us to learn our place, from her point of view that is. The mercenary leader mused to himself. He spotted a bench near the balusters and He noticed the younger sister sitting on the bench, her head hung a little low, she seemed to be lonely as the other 7 ponies trotted happily with each other, too busy discussing the history and sharing stories with his men. He decided to spark a conversation with the younger diarch and ask a few things about her sister. However, an old injury prevented him from walking any farther. He began to limp as he cursed under his breath.

“Skull! You and the men go ahead, I’ll just take a breather, this heavy battle gear is killing my knee, remember Baghdad? Took one in the knee, in one end, out the other.” Ghostkiller told the group, feeling the pain creep up his left leg, Crosser handed him an auto injector of analgesic. He went for the bench the younger sister was in. what was her name again? I think it was Luna…. Ghostkiller thought. As he approached, the younger sister noticed him. ”Mind if I sit here, your highness?” Ghostkiller asked as he pointed to the vacant space beside Luna. “I guess so… why not?” The young mare responded in a shy voice as the strange warrior sat beside him. She noticed the sharp needle in his hand, it was connected to a tube that contained some form of liquid, the man stabbed his thigh with it and she yelped in shock at his strange behavior. Ghostkiller noticed and sighed.

“It’s okay; it’s an auto-injector, it contains some medicine which eases the pain.” Ghostkiller explained, Luna sighed in relief and wiped her forehead with her hoof. “By the way, is your sister always like that? You know, shows of power, establishing authority, things like that” Ghostkiller asked in a hushed voice to ensure no one but Luna heard his voice. Luna’s ears perked up and she looked at him with studious eyes.

“Yeah, she gets power hungry at times and she jumps the chance to show off her status as Political leader of Equestria, she doesn’t mean any harm though, she just probably wanted you humans to know that as long as she’s in the castle, nothing can hurt her. But she’s doing this more often, I don’t know why, my guess is she’s just bored” Luna explained, her voice livening up a little now that she was talking to someone.

“I see, so that’s why she let us waltz in armed to the teeth?”

“Mhmm, by the way, you said awhile ago you took one in the knee in a place called.. ‘Baghdad’, what happened?”

“I got shot in the knee, with a gun, you know, bullets, metal projectiles that go faster than the speed of sound, we use them as weapons to protect ourselves”

“Guns? Are those things of yours what you call ‘guns’? ” Luna asked as she pointed towards Ghostkiller’s rifle and handgun. Ghostkiller nodded explained what guns are, how guns work and how they used them as weapons. It took him about a full hour to discuss about guns in general, by that time, Celestia and the others were done and called their attention. Celestia noticed the two walking together and the human walking by her sister limped.

“What happened to your leg?” Celestia asked.

“A relapse of an old injury my lady, nothing more. Good thing my medic here had painkillers with him”

“I see... You should have told me, I could have called the medical staff here in the castle, it houses some of the finest medical teams in all of Equestria. We could have healed your injury completely and get rid of the relapses”

“Thank you, but no thank you, we wouldn’t want to be such trouble on you, your majes-“

“Tsk tsk! It is no trouble at all! A lady does what she can to help those around her, come, let us visit the medical facilities, no doubt my doctors will be delighted to see humans for the first time, Im sure our magic can help you all the same as it does on our folk” Celestia insisted, and Ghostkiller noticed that she was going to have her way, and that there was no way of declining. “If you insist your majesty, lead the way.” Ghostkiller replied.

“Off we go, May I request that your companions remain here with my protégé and her friends? Luna, come with us.” Celestia asked Ghostlkiller and his men, to which they obliged. They went to the medical facilities of the castle a few corridors from the throne room, she opened the doors and allowed Ghostkiller to walk inside before entering herself.

“Doctors! My guest here has an injury with his leg that hasn’t quite healed yet, assist him will you?” Celestia commanded, her voice ever regal and refined, and with those simple words, the doctors immediately studied Ghostkiller and his human anatomy, finding similarities with their own, and within half an hour, they already knew what to do and asked him to lie on the medical table, it was too small for his figure, is legs were dangling from the knee as well as his arms. Luna had to stifle a giggle at the sight.“Excuse us for our facilities but we never expected to be treating a human, let alone meet one” The doctor apologized. “Long as I don’t end up dead, it’s okay with me, and besides, this makes battlefield surgery a nightmare” Ghostkiller replied as he remembered what happened in Baghdad, he shivered from the memory. In one second, his leg began glowing and he felt the scar vanishing and whatever fragments of the bullet inside him being removed from existence, he felt the cracks in his knee being knit again. In a few minutes, he was completely healed, and was also rejuvenated.

“Thank you, doctors, and thank you my lady, that was completely astounding” Ghostkiller thanked his healers as any trace of the old injury was gone.

“See? It is of no trouble, and the doctors were delighted to see a new form of life enter through their doors, come, the others must be waiting, come Luna let us walk” Ghostkiller looked at them, taking note of how Celestia moved; polished, refined, she had an air of elegance around her and a scent of vanilla wafted in her wake, while Luna faintly smelled like a mix of blueberries and blackberries. Ghostkiller was met by his men in the dining room where they shared dinner with the rulers as well as the six ponies they had met, the dish comprised mostly of vegetables and some fish for the men. As they ate, they discussed multiple things about the humans as well as the ponies. Skullface however asked something that shocked everyone

“Alright Princess, why the show of power?” Skullface’s words silenced the hall. Everyone thought he struck a nerve, Ghostkiller’s men felt for their holsters, ready to draw should things go south.

“What?” Celestia asked in response

“Why the show of power? You let us waltz in, armed to the teeth, you tour us around the castle, show us your kingdom, and prepare a feast, seems like a textbook case of Alpha Dog syndrome”

“Can’t it be a show of generosity? I welcome you to my castle, let my guard down for you, tour you inside, and let you eat from my table? Is it not reason enough to implicate that I also wish to establish relationships with your kind?” Guards were going near the men; tension was beginning to run high in the room.

“Could be, or you wanted us to learn our place” Pirate replied. “From my days in the seas, captains often showed great generosity for the new ones only to be shown that they are top dogs, the other way they assume authority is when they beat the fact into their skulls” He made sure his boot knife was within arm’s reach

“Why I never stoop to such low an action, I am treating you as ambassadors of your race and you react this way?” Celestia still retained her regal tone, though now disturbed

“Sorry my lady but we humans are like that, we cannot be too trusting, multiple nations have been destroyed by corruption and terrorism simply because they trusted too much, I apologize for my men’s behavior, we’re mercenaries, not ambassadors, we aren’t the best in the… civilian world, we serve as bodyguards, soldiers, or even assassins, we’re damn good ones being assassins though. ” Ghostkiller regretted the saying word ‘assassin’, as three guards lunged at him swords and spears at his throat. His men jumped out of their chairs and the sound of metal charging handles being pulled filled the room. Four of his men held their guns towards the royalty, the other three aimed at the guns. Wrong move Ghostkiller, wrong move. Ghostkiller mentally slapped himself. You do not talk about your history as an assassin in front of a political leader inside a room of armed guards! Ghostkiller tried to patch up the faux pas he had done.

“Princess! Look into my eyes and believe me when I say we are not assassins, we are merely an exploration team under the employ of our nations; surely you can detect a lie can you? Now please order your men to stand down and I will order mine to do so or this will get bloody… the conflict in my home world has left my men on edge, I ask that you forgive them.” Ghostkiller explained as he had his arms raised. Celestia studied Ghostkiller very carefully and true enough, the man was not lying. “Very well… Royal Guard, stand down! These men mean no harm.” Celestia ordered

“Men, unload and holster your weapons, engage safeties. Now. Once more I do apologize, can we get back to dinner?” Ghostkiller asked, to which Celestia agreed. They all sat down and ate dinner, they asked for a place to sleep and Celestia offered the guest quarters to which the men accepted. Though the room fit all of them, the beds couldn’t. They either had to sleep with half their bodies dangling off the bed or sleep on the floor. Luna peeked in and it took all her willpower not to laugh at the men in ridiculous positions while trying to get a decent night’s sleep. She noticed that the one she sat with awhile ago couldn’t sleep. He stood up and crept towards the corridor so as not to disturb his men. Luna turned herself invisible so as not to be detected by him. Ghostkiller looked for a large window and sat on the windowsill. Luna slowly crept towards him; however the hard tile floor was making her job harder. She used her magic to try and muffle her hoof-steps, but in the end, Ghostkiller managed to detect her in her invisible form

“I know you’re there. No need to hide, Im unarmed” Ghostkiller spoke as he looked at the direction where Luna was. He was wearing a long sleeved olive drab shirt under a windbreaker, camouflage pants and his boots, he wasn’t wearing the goggles and helmet that covered his face save for his mouth, he had pale tan skin, a goatee, and his hair neatly done in a crew cut, icy blue eyes that seemed capable of melting anyone’s heart. Luna sighed and reappeared. “You couldn’t sleep?” the young mare asked.

“Not one bit, you forget I am a mercenary, I’m always looking over my shoulder to see if some sniper hasn’t shot me dead yet, or to see if some killer wants to see how I look like with a knife sticking out my back, or in this case, a princess whose curiosity got the better of her.” Luna blushed from his remark. “Why are you up this time of night? Oh right, princess of the night thing. I forget, humph” The man added. His voice was warmer than usual, more civil. Not the warmonger people think him to be.

“Can I ask you something? “ Luna asked.

“I guess, there’s nothing better to do right now, I can’t sleep a wink. So I might as well keep my mind busy”

“Why do you do what you do?” Luna asked once more, this time, she was trying to probe his mind.

“It’s the only way I feed, clothe, and shelter myself. When I got discharged from spec ops, I got fired three times and got jailed twice, got no one back home waiting for me though, I lead a solitary life, the few friends I had back home were murdered.” Ghostkiller said with a forlorn voice. “I lost everything there, but something kept me going, I worked as a mercenary, found my men, and here I am... One day I know I’ll drop dead in a fight but at least I tried to keep my head above water.”

“I see. It is a heavy weight on your mind, heart, and soul”

“Yep, the thought of coming back in a box is enough to unnerve me, but if no one’s going to visit my grave, better to die in an unmarked one in a battlefield.”

“But wouldn’t you settle for a more peaceful job?”

“I would, but frankly, no company wants someone who spent time behind bars. Looking back, it was stupid of me, and now, the only way I can make a living is by working as a mercenary. And to be honest, I’ve a lot of blood on my hands, Princess, you wouldn’t like it”

“I see, when did you last go home?”

“I… I can’t remember, I’m sorry. My home’s nothing more than an empty apartment with a bed in it. God knows the landlord’s probably sold it to someone else by now. The only home I could really consider now is base camp, and the only thing that’s really happy to see me get back is my dog, german shepherd named Dusty” Ghostkiller answered with a heavy heart. Luna looked up and saw the same man, although this time, she felt the burden on his shoulders, she felt the emptiness he dragged everywhere. She felt sorry for him, yet she admired his tenacity to keep on going.

“Would you like some coffee with cream?” Luna offered

“That would be much appreciated, I’ve been on a battlefield so long I forgot how normal coffee tastes, the simple luxuries I sacrifice... no? yet so life goes.” Ghostkiller replied. They went to the castle kitchen, Ghostkiller keeping the same pace with Luna. It was not even past nine in the evening and his men were already sleeping like logs, they were excited about having a night’s sleep without worrying about a bullet going through their skulls or a pound of explosives going off inside their room. They reached the kitchen without any remarkable incident. Luna started putting coffee in the coffee maker and rummaged through the fridge for some cream, she mixed some sugar with the coffee and added cream, poured the mixture into two cups, and gave one to Ghostkiller, they both went towards the balcony of the garden once more and felt the cool air wafting in their faces, Ghostkiller sat down by a bench near the balusters, Luna sat beside him, while the man was sipping his coffee and savoring it, he asked Luna a question.

“Tell me, Princess, what do you do during the night as its designated ruler?”

“Please, call me Luna, the whole ‘Princess’ thing unnerves me, Im not one for the political arena, I leave that to my sister, I watch over ponies, I can slip into their dreams and make nightmares better, I also manage the stars and the moon, I keep watch over Equestria during the night making sure nothing goes wrong. You know, like, a guardian of the night” Luna explained her job. She shivered a little from the cool night air, Ghostkiller offered his jacket and draped it over her figure. “Thanks, I was… getting cold, aren’t you feeling cold?” Luna stroked her mane with her hoof while she was blushing.

“Don’t worry, I’ve fought in temperatures that would freeze your saliva in seconds if you so much as spit on the ground, God, fighting in the snowcaps of the Ural Mountains makes this place feel like room temperature” The man boasted his war-torn past.

“Really? Is it that cold in your place? Can you tell me more of your past?” Luna’s ears as well as her curiosity perked up once more.

“I guess, I’ll tell you the tales of the adventures my men and I have shared and by the way, I’ll share you something first; my name, if my name was Ghostkiller all the way from the start well, that would’ve scared a few people. Anyway, it’s Johann, Johann Ironclad. Not much of a name but it’s mine” for the next few moments, Ghostkiller regaled the young Luna with all his past, as a boy troubled from studying from preschool to college while his parents divorced and his mom ran off with someone else while his dad became a lousy drunk who one day shot himself, Johann dropped out of college to join the military then, he told her how he got into the special forces, when and why he was discharged, the three times he got fired and the two times he got jailed as well as how he began mercenary work, which led to him telling her all about his adventures; tracking down a terror cell hiding in the Ural Mountains, raiding a compound of insurgents in war-torn Israel, protecting the Russian Prime Minister in a world summit from an assassination attempt, serving as a spearhead of the American war effort in taking Baghdad, where he got shot and a scar under his right eye from a knife-fight, Raiding an Abbu Sayyaf base in the southern part of the Philippines, he also told her about the places he had been to and how the locals acted, their cultures and traditions, he told Luna of all the fun he had despite the killing, all the scenery he’s seen, and many more of his travels around the world. Luna listened, eyes wide and mouth gaping from sheer awe as the storyteller was telling things even she could only dream of. The two didn’t notice Celestia was walking towards them with an impish smile on her face as she looked at the two beings sharing an evening together.

“My my, Little Luna, dating the sellsword are we?” Celestia teased her little sister who, upon hearing her, blushed profusely; she hid her face with her hooves.

“N-NO! I-I… I was just talking to him!” Luna stammered, she was mortified from her sister’s sudden appearance.

“Sure you are, Luna, glad to see you’ve got a crush” Celestia winked, her voice was honeyed this time, obviously teasing her little sister, who was turning redder and redder each second.

“Good evening your majesty, sorry to have woken you up, it seems that my story telling has gotten… a bit out of hand” Johann bowed.

“Nah it’s okay, I was just going for a sip of water when I overheard you two talking to each other, Luna’s face was priceless from your storytelling, I just couldn’t resist teasing her, you know; she can be so adorable at times” Celestia was like the mother who was embarrassing the child who was Luna, who was now redder than a tomato, desperately trying either to hide her face inside Johann’s windbreaker or burying it in her hooves. Her scent was permeating into the windbreaker.

“Your majesty, I apologize for the incident awhile ago, it was my fault as I should not have said that statement”

“It’s all right, really, there’s no need to make such a fuss about that. And besides… It seems that my little sister here has developed quite a crush on you. Wait a second, Luna? Is that… our friend’s jacket? Why Ghostkiller, how kind of you to look after my sister’s welfare, you know what cold air can do to some…” Celestia spoke in an even more honeyed voice as she nudged Luna who yelped a bit and realized that Johann’s jacket was still draped over her, she gave up trying to hide her face and just blushed in front of them like a filly, she made a noise that sounded like a ‘squee’ as she looked up and realized that Johann was sitting right beside her, she looked down again and blushed even harder. Keep it together Luna, you’re the princess of the night! Such things do not affect you! Luna scolded herself.

“Thanks, I guess, being a gentleman isn’t one of the things listed in my résumé” Johann scratched his head, still pausing to sip some of his coffee. “By the way, nice coffee, Luna, thanks” he added. Celestia shot another teasing look at Luna who didn’t care anymore about them seeing her blush.

“Anyway, I’ve embarrassed my sister enough tonight; I’ll leave you two alone now. Take care and have a pleasant evening, both of you” Celestia walked away into the castle, giggling loudly. Luna sighed from relief. There was a moment of silence between the two, Luna stroking her mane with both hooves while sitting beside Johann who seemed to be staring at the distance.

“The night’s pretty beautiful, you do a wonderful job managing the stars. You see that? Orion, the great hunter” Johann tried to break the ice as he pointed to the hourglass-shaped constellation. “I engraved it on one of my dogtags back in Baghdad and it’s been a lucky charm of sorts ever since” he took out his dogtags, showed it to Luna. The dog tags were cool and smooth to the touch, on one of them, his name, blood type and callsign was engraved, on the back of it was Orion, there was another dogtag but on it the words ”My calm hides a storm” “My passion comes from pain” were inscripted and on the back was “My past does not define me” and “ I shape my fate ”. She wondered what such adages meant to him.

“thanks, I try to keep things in order” Luna accepted his compliment

“Can I ask you something?” Luna added. “What do these sayings mean to you?”

“I’ll explain one for now, the others, well those are for another time, take your pick. Which among those four do you want me to explain?” Johann responded

“How about ‘Past does not define me’?”

“You know my past is a war-torn one as well as I had a difficult upbringing being the products of parents who always fought and berated me for everything I’ve done. I wanted out of that, I wanted to go away from it all and be my own person, most people would’ve thought I’d end up being a petty thief or some drunkard, but I used my pain from my childhood to become a mercenary, not truly loyal to any side and it gave me what I wanted at the time; someone to fight, it became my passion, back then I was a ruthless tactician, I helped in making my team infamous due to our daring and near suicidal endeavors, to the point where other mercenaries gave way to us, treating us like royalty. We became top-shelf killing machines, I relished in our destruction, I fueled my passion into our endeavors, and all that came from my pain during my past... if that makes any sense” Johann answered. Luna nodded in acknowledgement.

“Well, what do you plan to do with your life now?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea, Im trying to start over. I’ve already had more than my fair share of combat, Im looking for a place to settle down and get a decent job, though my criminal record seems to want the opposite, for once in my life, I’m unsure.” Johann admitted. He finished his coffee cradled his head with his hands, the backs of his hands were scarred from bullets and from one too many bar fights. Luna probed his mind, trying to send emotions of comfort and sympathy via her telepathic abilities.

“Well, you’ll find a way, who knows? Maybe you can start over here in Equestria, My sister and I could help you with that.”

“I guess, but I’d need to take care of this first” Johann stood up and pointed at his body. Luna giggled and imagined how he’d look like as a pony, he’d has enough mental faculties to be a unicorn and seems to be agile enough to be a Pegasus, she was thinking about him being an alicorn, only the royal sisters know the spell for transforming any life-form into an alicorn. She dismissed the thought as soon as it popped into her head, she’d go back to it some other time.

“I suppose we’d best be going back in now, before the cold air does a number on you” Johann suggested. Both of them walked towards the warmth inside the castle, Johann keeping pace with Luna while he was bringing his empty cup as Luna brought hers, they once more went to the kitchen, washed their cups, went towards the living area of the castle, sat by the fireplace and Johann started telling even more stories, this time using his body as a prop, he was keeping luna on the edge of her seat when Celestia barged in again, forcing luna to blush at the sight of her sister, the older alicorn simply sat on the couch.

“I couldn’t sleep as well, with you two up and dating each other, I might as well listen to your stories” Luna blushed when she heard the word ‘dating’ but paid no heed, she was too busy drowning in Johann’s story

“So there I was, knife and gun in hand” Johann narrated as he mimicked his stance on that day. His thick Scottish accent was filling the room. “When suddenly BANG!! A shot zipped right past my head and grazed my helmet! So what I do is I return fire, emptying a whole magazine into his direction” he pretended to fire a gun and imitated the ‘click’ sound as he dramatized him having no more bullets “… So I says ‘crap! This is bad!’ then by dumb luck, this guy lunges at me, this nasty looking machete at his hand and started swinging the blasted blade right at me” he swinged his arm in wide arcs, simulating a big blade. “.. so I dodge and tumble, avoiding the bugger’s blows bow and fighting back with my knife, it was like me bringing a toothpick to a swordfight! What happens then was BAM! Bugger slashed my face but luckily he grazed the top o’ me eye and the bottom.” He traced the scar that ran over his right eye. “But too bad for him, he got close enough for me to plunge the knife into his gullet, but had I not reacted a second quicker, I would be missing a head” he walked with his arms forward, flailing about “.. and going about yelling ‘where’s me head!? Where’s me bloody head!? Though how I would be able to yell is beyond me, I’d probably yell at my own body ‘Im right here you useless pile of meat! Now pick me up before something bad happens!’ ” The two sisters giggled at how this person turned such a brutal nightmare into a relatively humorous one. He bowed with an air of mock arrogance and pretended to be blinded from camera flashes “no autographs, please.” He continued his role until it was half past midnight, celestia yawned and decided to get some more sleep, leaving the two behind once more. Johann told another story, this time about the time he was fighting in the Urals, though he noticed, halfway into the story, Luna had fallen asleep, she was lying on the couch, snoring.

“… So the place was so cold, god forbid, if you even spat on the groun- Luna? You there? Sleepin’ on me are you? Even princesses need their beauty sleep” He noticed his jacket was on the floor now, he blanketed her with it, “Good night Luna, sleep tight” as he walked to the lounge chair and sat, soon, he himself was sleeping.

“ You too, good night , Johann” a meek voice replied.

Luna and Johann woke up to the scent of fried eggs, toast, and oatmeal being cooked, the mercs and the older princess were busy eating when they noticed the two walk in.

“Had a pleasant night, Luna?” Celestia, ever the embarrassing sister, teased her sibling.

“None of your business!” Luna barked, her face reddening

“Boss! Ever the ladies man, even non humans swoon for you!” His team cheered their boss. Johann scratched his head and smiled.

They all ate a hearty breakfast and readied their things. Within the hour, they were leaving, and when they were at the castle gates, Luna and Celestia waved goodbye at them, and gave them some bits(which seemed to be golden coins) to cover for food and transportation. Luna ran after them with celestia on her tail, Johann’s windbreaker was dangling from Luna’s mouth

“You… uh.. forgot this Johann, thanks for the jacket”

“Keep it, seems that you liked it, a little gift from me to you.” Johann told luna, he ruffled her hair with a gloved hand, Luna giggled.

“Till next time princess! “ Johann waved as he climbed aboard the train.

“Boss, you like her?” Crosser jokingly asked

"Shut up crosser” Johann leaned his head on the window and slept.

Several hours later, the mercs contacted their employers notified the UN which immediately took an interest in building new diplomatic relations with the new land and asked to build an embassy inside Equestria, they requested them to come back for further debriefing and for their payment. As they entered the portal, Johann stayed behind. The mercs asked him why

“been in the game for over a decade, I’ve seen more than my fair share of bloodlust, I think it’s about time I put the gun down and settled for a more tranquil life. You can all split my share guys, Im staying”

“But Boss…” Skullface retorted

“Skull, I told you years ago I wanted to settle down and start over from my past, this is my chance, Im not going to pass it up. They don’t care about my criminal record here. Take this, a memento for the times we shared as a team” he fished into his pack and gave them a silver plated 1911. “Given to me by the US president for saving his and his family’s lives during the time we escorted him from Baghdad, don’t lose it. And by the way, you’re the leader now, skull, I trust you.”

“Alright Boss, this is goodbye, for now.”

“Yeah Boss, so long, and… take care” his team replied as they waved and stepped into the portal.
He turned his back and faced the landscape before him, he was only a couple hundred yards from Ponyville. He breathed deep.

“Alright, a new start, what could possibly go wrong?” He boarded another train headed for Canterlot, buying some food at the station and made his way for the Castle. He knocked and asked for Luna, who was shocked by his return, but nevertheless, she welcomed him with a hug.

“This is going to be the start of something great” Johann told himself

The past follows

Several months had passed; An embassy for the humans was established two kilometers from the portal located in the outskirts of ponyville, Pony engineers and scientists were able to reverse engineer firearms and modify it to fit their physiology, discovered Kevlar, different tactics employed by the human military such as the use of paratroopers and raining explosives from above, and finally, Johann was granted the blessing and curse immortality(the first step in being turned to an alicorn, as the royal guard’s field marshal) andwas working as the Lunar Guard‘s Commander-in-Chief. Being a bodyguard was one the things he does best, and now he has 3 platoons under his command, a job, a place to sleep(he had his own quarters at the castle), and food to eat. He had some problems with his clothing here and there but once he straightened his needs with the tailors, he had everything settled and for once in his life, finally felt secure with his job. Though at times, he missed Dusty, he wondered if he’s still back at home base. During one of his shifts, he approached Luna, his charge and asked if he could take a leave and go look for Dusty, a long-missed friend, and fix a few things back at base camp in his homeworld.

“I won’t be more than two weeks; I just need to arrange a few final things back at my world” Johann asked

“I understand, its okay with me; you may go, but do hurry back, here, take my personal chariot, they’ll take you to ponyville, it’s much faster than the express” Luna responded. Johann, knowing luna can be stubborn at times, obliged. He grabbed a parachute and hopped onto the chariot and asked the pegasi to take him to Ponyville.

“Okay sir, hold on, we’re gonna take the shortcut” The chariot sped off into the night and within mere minutes, they were right above Human embassy near Ponyville. Johann motioned that he was going to get off now and asked them to slow down.

“Alright I’ll drop here and you’re free to go” Johann said as he dropped, immediately deploying his parachute. He steered his descent to make sure that he landed a kilometer from the Embassy. He folded up his parachute and left it in one of his caches scattered around ponyville and Canterlot. He was walking towards the embassy when he was flashed by spotlights; he stopped and raised his hands

“Halt! Embassy hours are from 0600 hours to 2200 hours! Identify yourself, take one more step and you will be shot!” a familiar voice blared into a megaphone

“Skullface! It’s me, Ghostkiller!” Johann yelled.

“B-boss? It IS you! Come inside! I’ll get the men, they won’t believe who I’ve found tonight!” Skullface’s voice was overjoyed as he ran towards his comrade and led him inside the warm building. When they got to the security office, all of Johann’s seven comrades were eating donuts and drinking coffee. Skullface and Johann barged in and everyone nearly dropped their mugs.

“Guys! Guess who I found wandering in the dark of night?” Skullface’s cheery voice filled the room

“Boss! Long time no see! Come, have a bite and a drink” the men greeted in unison as they shook the hands of their colleague, they gave him a donut and a mug of coffee. “I bet you have a good job by now huh?” Skullface chimed in

“Yep, I work as the Lunar Guard’s C.O.C, I get a place to sleep in the castle and I get free food as well as some extra cash to keep myself clothed, you wouldn’t believe how hard is it to get the tailors to take my measurements, that led to… awkward moments” Johann told the men, they all laughed heartily, which led to them sharing storied with each other and having a few more cups of coffee and donuts

“By the way, are you the permanent security force here?” Johann added. They all nodded.

“Yep, we got the enough manpower here to take Baghdad all over again!” Skullface boasted

“Im proud of you guys” Johann beamed at his men “Is there any chance that Dusty is still back at home base? I want to bring him here, I miss that wolf.”

“Dusty? Well… you’re in for a surprise Boss!” Skullface whistled loudly and yelled “Dusty! Guess who’s here!” A big, brown german shepherd barked and ran towards his old master, he got up on his hind legs and rested his fore legs against Johann, giving his face a slobbery kiss. Johann laughed heartily and hugged his dog when they both settled down; he rubbed the dog’s head and gave him some of his donut.

“When news reached that you stayed, the dog jumped on the M113 we were on when we decided to work as security for the embassy, he’s been waiting for you ever since. Like that dog… what was his name? uhhh... Hachiko, yeah that’s the one. Anyway, this wolf of yours is pretty damn loyal I’ll give him that, and a painful bite”

“Well Dusty, it’s been a while, do you wanna come with me?” the dog barked and jumped up and down

“Well then, let’s go, c’mere boy” Johann whistled as his dog ran circles around him as he walked towards the front door. The sun was beginning to rise. Did that reunion really take that long?

“I’ll see you soon guys, don’t be strangers! And by the way I hope you’ll notice me by the new color scheme I got, so I won’t have to risk getting shot by Pirate” he was wearing his dark colored clothes, resembling the night as was part of his uniform along with the royal guard.

Johann walked through ponyville and spotted sugarcube corner, he hoped it was open, he knocked and in an instant, Pinkie Pie bursted out the door and tackled Johann to the ground.

“Hi Ghost-guy! It’s been a while!” Pinkie’s short attention span clicked in as she noticed his dog “Ohh! Is that your dog? He’s so adorable! Whats his name?”

“It’s Dusty; by the way, do you have something to eat? I’m hungry for some breakfast” Johann asked. Pinkie dashed back into the house made of pastries and Johann followed, Pinkie had a tray of two sandwiches, glass of juice, and an orange.

“Here ya go!” Pinkie placed them on a table, but the chair was too small for Johann, He sat on the floor and ate, breaking bits of the sandwich and giving some to his dog. He finished his meal and paid Pinkie twenty bits for the food, thanked her, and went for the train station. After stopping to say hi to a few ponies along the way, he reached the train station without much incident. He bought another ticket for canterlot and boarded the train headed there. When he got down at the train station, he made his way towards the castle, though he seemed to take a longer route, going through a park, circling multiple blocks before walking up the road that led to the royal residence of the diarchs.

“You’re going to love it here, Dusty. Just wait and see” Johann cheered his dog, who barked happily while running around him in circles, for a dog of 3 years, Dusty is still as energetic as a puppy who began to learn the different scents and sounds of the world. Ten minutes later, he got to the castle, went introduced his dog to the two princesses, who seemed to simply love dusty wholeheartedly, and got the dog settled for his new home. He took a baseball from his pack and went to an open area in the castle garden. He whistled and the dog followed

“Let’s play dusty, relax a little” The dog barked enthusiastically

“See this ball, boy? Well… FETCH!” Johann tossed the ball and dusty ran after it, jumped and grabbed it with his mouth, wagging his tail and his eyes glinting with pure joy as master and dog were reunited once more. Johann whistled loudly with his fingers and Dusty ran towards him and gave Johann the ball, who in turn, tossed it again. Dusty caught it, and they repeated their game over and over again. Celestia and Luna happened upon them while strolling around the castle, they sat and watched the two play. Johann noticed them but he paid little heed, all that mattered to him now was enjoying his reunion with his dog. And he made sure that that was what he was doing.

“Want to play with us?” Johann invited them; he was getting a little sweaty from running around with his dog. “It’s fun and easy.” The two reluctantly joined, they used their magical powers to lift and throw the ball, and soon enough, they too were enjoying it. Johann drowned himself in the joy of the moment, the laughter of the princesses as they played and looked like little fillies enjoying themselves who didn’t care about the world around them. It was their own island of bliss inside a world full of problems. For once in his troubled life, Johann felt a true calm inside him. He didn’t want it to end.

Meanwhile, in some unknown location…

“We have to get rid of them! Celestia and Luna have failed in protecting the safety of our land! These pests will cause the downfall of our race! They will contaminate our purity! We Have to kill them all! Down with the humans! Hail Protectores Puritatis! “ A strange voice roared. This was followed by multitudes of voices in cheer, hooves with guns were in the air, forces were in motion to urge the society on the edge of inter-racial war.

“Those who join us shall be called heroes and protectors of our race! Join now, and serve in this turning point of our history as a race of ponies willing to protect everything they can!” the same voice roared “I promise you, our race shall not fall, we shall lead them to a brighter tomorrow! Our cause is just and it shall help us prevail over these unclean filth! Come brothers and sisters! Let us arm ourselves and let us fight for our purity!”

Several weeks passed and an unsettling amount of propaganda posters and leaflets were scattered in all the reaches of Equestria. Johann and the two princesses were eating breakfast when they saw on the daily newspaper that multiple acts of violence were being committed, crime was at an all time high, and even more shocking was that the most maximum security prison in all of Equestria suffered from a large scale breakout, all the guards were either massacred or corralled into the cells. Johann cringed at the news. The icing on the cake, was when a guard barged in with one of the propaganda leaflets in his hoof

“Commander, you’re going to want to see this” Johann read it and neatly spat out his food.

“This is not good” Johann crumpled the piece of paper, threw it into the garbage can and stormed out of the dining room, Luna and her sister picked it up and straightened out the flyer, they were shocked by it said:
“

TO THE TRUE STALLIONS AND MARES OF EQUESTRIA:
RISE UP! CELESTIA AND LUNA HAVE FAILED IN PROTECTING OUR PURITY AND PEACE! THE HUMAN FILTH HAS DISCOVERED OUR PURE AND SACRED WORLD AND THEY INTEND TO RID US OF THIS SACRED PURITY BY BRINGING THEIR FILTH AND CONTAMINATION!
PROTECT YOURSELVES! PROTECT YOUR FAMILES! YOUR LIVES! YOUR CHILDREN!
JOIN THE PROTECTORES PURITATIS NOW AND ERADICATE THE PRESENCE OF THE HUMAN FILTH TODAY!

”

Luna and Celestia, both of them being worried, followed. They heard a continuous clicking of metal against metal. They followed the sound to his room. They peeked in and they saw Johann, wearing his battle gear, sitting by the table, loading bullet after bullet into several magazines. After that, they saw him take apart his guns and began cleaning them. He knew that they were watching him, but he was too busy with his guns to pay any attention. He finished assembling them first before facing them. There was an eerie silence that hung in his room.

“What’s going to happen now?” Celestia worryingly asked. Johann’s face was severely grim even under the goggles and helmet, they noticed his grim and foreboding mood. Something very bad must have happened under his nose for him to react in such a manner.

“Riots. Not just two or three, but in the tens, possibly even twenty plus. Im talking about full scale riots, casualties are inevitable, civilians might join this insurrection, and Im not just talking about a handful. I mean civilians in the hundreds, possibly in the thousands, all these events reported by the news were things that no small time crime gang could muster, they’re too unorganized about that. This Protectores Puritatis is no doubt an insurrection, and by the looks of it, we’re looking at not only a full scale civil war, we’re looking at an interracial one. I need to get to the embassy as quickly as possible. The last thing I want is for us humans to send nuclear weapons into this place. I will not allow a nuclear attack so long as I am breathing” Johann quickly explained.

“ You have to trust me, I’m trained to organize revolutions as well as kill anything that breathes with extreme prejudice, and by the looks of it, the latter is bound to happen very soon” Johann boarded a chariot and rode as quickly as he can to the Embassy, but by the time he got there, a crowd of the insurrectionists were gathered at the embassy, a rally was taking place. Guards with ballistic shields barricaded the entrance. Johann dropped in, asked for the chariot to stay hidden, and then fought his way towards the barricade. He was pushed, shoved, spat on, kicked, everything short of being stabbed and shot, he noticed a lot of them had concealed guns. He decided against throwing a flashbang, in this state, any wrong move could spark a bloody conflict. He made it through the barricade once he got there, Pirate let him through. Johann rushed towards the main office and barged in, a conference was going on, diplomats, bureaucrats, consuls, and politicians were arguing in a mayhem of voices. His whole team was also there.

“What in the name of Jesus, Mary, Mother of God is going on!?” Johann yelled. No one paid heed. Johann raised his unsuppressed pistol and emptied a magazine. The loud noise reverberated throughout the soundproofed office. They all shut up.

“I. Said. What the fuck is going on!?” Johann demanded as he reloaded his pistol. A petulant and arrogant politician approached him and berated him. “Just who do you think you are? Barging in and asking us questions as if you own the place? ”He slapped Johann across the face. Hunter-Killer‘s faces went icy. Johann’s , in particular was icier than the rest.

“I am someone you do not need to know, now answer my question; what the hell is going on with you limp-dicked politicians, acting like irrational bitches on their period?” Johann’s voice was grim and very dark. The politician retaliated, “you think that you can come here and shove us around? Huh!? You are wrong! I am the ambassador of America! You are nothing more than an insolent bastard who does not know his place!” He tried to slap Johann again but Johann caught his wrist. He tightened the grip to a point where it crushed the ambassador’s wrist. The ambassador yelled in pain. Johann dragged him closer and brandished his tanto. Avril had a gun trained on Johann

“Boss, sorry about this but you can’t kill him, you do so, you’re fair game for us. Much as we don’t want to kill you, you don’t want to face off against the seven of us and the whole security force alone, please, put the tanto back” Avril warned his former boss

“Fine. I am Johann Ironclad, known as Ghostkiller, former leader of Hunter Killers, current field marshal of the Royal Guard, I am the personal bodyguard of the Royal Princesses Luna and Celestia and at the same time their ambassador. You, will shut up and answer my question before I change my mind and prove to you why I’m called Ghostkiller” The ambassador whimpered in agreement and Johann let him go.

“We’re looking at the edge of a full scale interracial war, we don’t know what to d. These rallies have been going on for the past weeks and everyone’s unnerved. We can’t get a detachment to go home without getting them marauded in their tracks.” The ambassador explained in a jittery voice.

“shit, they’re going to target the places of political power. I knew it” Johann grabbed his radio and called his second in command.

“You heard me Moonshine, triple the guards at every point of entry at the castle gates, raise a magic shield around the castle, double the princesses’ personal guard, and make sure nobody gets in our out without my say-so, I’ll be there in a few minutes” He switched off the radio. His old friend, Skullface asked for advice.

“First off, they’ll try to divide the house, its easier to pick them off one by one when they cannot stand alone, so I want the Embassy to be heavily guarded, divide the whole security force into only two shifts, day and night. Double up the guards at every entrance point, I want every window barricaded, every door reinforced, and every guard has a rifle. Do whatever you can to turn the embassy into an impregnable fortress. Make sure provisions last, if not, radio me, and I’ll pull whatever strings I can to airdrop supplies. Keep your airspace clear, and have a specific pass-phrase for the airspace, the pass-phrase for now is ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’, make sure that every politician that goes out of the building has at least six guards, and make sure no one gets in or out without your say-so, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go” Johann went out the door into the mayhem and fought his way to the chariot. He went back to the castle and got into the throne room.

“Princesses, there is a panic room in the southern part of the castle, should things go bad, I want you two and a detachment of ten elite guards to be there and wait for me. However, should that happen, I must request the complete military might of Equestria be mustered at to the castle grounds at a moment’s notice. Please have your commanders here before the day ends, I need to brief them about the situation, and please have one of our runners try to contact the leaders of this insurrection in order to schedule a summit in an effort to avoid a bloody war” Johann explained. The Princesses obliged, trusting Johann completely, he had more experience in insurrections than both of the two combined. Johann stroked his goatee as he circled around the throne room. It was eerily quiet inside it. Too quiet for Johann. By instinct, he turned to the top of the thrones and noticed something bad.

“PRINCESSES GET AWAY FROM THE THRONES!” Johann pulled them away from the thrones as they blew up, Johann’s mind was racing, the two diarchs were on the floor, breathing, Johann checked to see if they had been injured by shrapnel, or by the explosion itself. They were fine. He yelled for a medic and for several guards to get inside and keep the princesses stable. He ran towards the alarm and smashed the glass pane with his fist and sounded the klaxon. He grabbed the portable PA mic and yelled
“CASTLE HAS BEEN BREECHED, I REPEAT, CASTLE IS BREECHED, ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS! I REPEAT, BATTLESTATIONS! PROTECT THE PRINCESSES AT ALL COSTS!” Johann’s voice blared all throughout the castle grounds. Johann went to the balcony and watched as troops scrambled and began patrolling the castle grounds, the shield was still up, so someone must have discovered a way to teleport past the shield and it’s redundant magical barriers. He heard gunshots coming from the general direction of the throne room. He made a mad dash for the princesses, the throne room was a mess, all the ten guards were dead, there were seven attackers, all of them dead, the medic and both of the rulers were in bad shape, the rulers’ immortality didn’t help sustaining multiple gunshots, luckily, both of them weren’t hit in any vital areas, the medic didn’t have long though, he died within minutes of seeing Johann. Johann cursed himself for neglecting them. He switched his radio frequency to the one of his personal elite corps; the reapers

“Alpha reapers, come in alphas”

“Loud and clear”

“Shots fired from the throne room, I repeat, shots fired in the throne room, both rulers badly injured, sustained multiple gunshots, I need them to be in the panic room now, I repeat, I need armed escort now”

“Roger that, ETA Seven minutes”

“This is going to be a long Seven minutes” Johann heard hooves shuffling towards his direction, guns were being loaded, he hid the princesses in a safe place behind cover and watched the doorway, rifle in hand. Seconds later, Figures stepped into the doorway and started firing at him. Johann fired back, his instincts kicking in, fighting ferociously. He was holding out but they outnumbered and outgunned him. Johann was getting desperate, and the current situation started to place the odds against him, it wasn’t even three minutes.

“Fire In the Hole!” a pony yelled. A sound grenade landed in front of Johann.

“oh shi-“

Everything went blurry for Johann, multiple ponies stepped into the room, He heard doors being bashed open, two familiar voices screaming. He noticed that he was on the floor, his gun a few inches away from his hands. He saw a rebel officer who was most likely the leader of the incursion taking place at the castle. He instinctively reached for his gun, but it was kicked away from him and he felt a gun butt hit the side of his helmet hard.

Everything went black.

At the moment of the gunfight, Luna and Celestia were in a dark storeroom; they stayed still and remained as quietly as they possibly could. Gunshots rang from the nearby throne room; they could only imagine what was happening to Johann. An explosion was heard from the doorway, light filled the dark room. The two diarchs thanked the heavens that the lighting system in the storeroom was still non functional.

“I want every nook and cranny of this room searched! Find those two, I want them alive!” an angry voice yelled. This was followed by hoof steps. Luna whimpered, celestia cooed her sister. She motioned for her sister to vanish and to stay strong

“Luna, stay invisible, stay hidden, you have the advantage of darkness here, I do not. No matter what happens to me, I want you to lead our people with Johann at your side, if… he is still alive. But no matter what, make sure that you fight to stop this insurrection. Make sure to fight to ensure that you will end this infernal uprising” Celestia ordered her sister, who was tearing up. Luna vanished into invisibility while celestia readied herself. A bright beam of light struck her in the face. She began running as fast as she could. The rebels were on her tail, shooting their guns. One shot her in the hip and she fell to the ground, they dragged her away, she was screaming for help.

“Help! Help! Royal guards! To me! Help me! Anybody! Please help me! NO!!” Celestia screamed as someone injected a sedative on her neck, her form quickly went limp. Luna was still inside the storeroom, hiding from the rebels when they were called off by their captain.

“the younger one doesn’t matter, we’ll get the older one to talk, let’s move now before any reinforcements arrive” A stallion told all the others inside the storeroom. Once she was sure that she was completely alone in the storeroom, she reappeared and sat in one secluded corner, stacked boxes and crates to shield herself.

She began to cry uncontrollably in muffled sobs. Tears flowed like waterfalls.

Author's Note

I dont know about this, but better published than never published!

Aftermath of an ambush

It was already evening when Johann woke up to a dreadful scene, all the royal guard inside the castle was dead, the others were outside, still reeling from the surprise assault launched from the very heart of the castle. The rebels hit them so hard and so fast none of them knew that it was coming. In fact, none of them knew what was going on in the castle. Johann groaned as he struggled to get up, his vision swirled and he staggered as the aftermath of taking on a sound grenade full blast. Had he not been wearing his noise reducing comms headset, his eardrums would be completely shattered. He grabbed his rifle and pistol and started wandering the corridors, looking for the storeroom where the two sisters had hid. The castle was perfectly sound from the outside (save for the throne room), but it was nothing short of a warzone from the inside. There were corpses everywhere, guards, rebels, even those of the maids. The attack was surgical, it was extremely savage yet it was precise. If the princesses weren’t the targets, Johann would have praised the assault instead of loathing it for being on its receiving end. Johann feared the worst for the princesses. Finding the storeroom, he called out their names

“Celestia? Luna? Where are you? Luna? Celestia? Anybody!?” Johann yelled. He struggled to get up, but throbbing head had refused to cooperate, taking the sound grenade full blast sent shockwaves throughout his entire system, he completely lost his coordination, and gained a severe concussion. He tried to walk but his weakened state only made him trip and fall.

“Jesus H. Christ” Johann struggled to stand once more, fighting his severely damaged coordination, forcing every muscle to listen and heed his will. Forcing him to walk, he limped to the castle corridor only to discover an even more dreadful scene, corpses of maids, guards, rebels, fallen suits of armor, the banner that was held above the throne room was tattered and singed, the castle interior was completely razed. The only thing the human could do was to limp, and search hopelessly for Luna while his head was pounding from the pain.

“Think he’ll find her?” A hidden voice whispered.

“Definitely, he’s bound to. After he finds her, we’ll spring the trap and bag both of them, then we’ll execute them in front of the public.” another voice answered

“What about Celes-“ a third asked.

“Fuck her! If she doesn’t cooperate and make the humans leave; then it’ll be her head that’ll face the firing squad after those two! Now let’s get a move on!” the second pony snapped. Johann remembered that he had hid them in a nearby storeroom and limped his way towards it. With each step, it shot pain throughout his body but he was gaining more and more control of his senses. By the time he reached the storeroom, he had full control of his faculties although he was still limping from the pain. His mercenary’s paranoia was working overtime, his natural senses heightened to the point of near superhuman abilities. He gently opened the storeroom door and searched it’s darkness, using his nightvision goggles to navigate.

“Luna? Luna are you there?” Johann called out. There were sobs, familiar sobs coming from the right. Johann quickened his pace and found a stack of crates and pallets. He put aside some of the crates in order to reach luna, who’s eyes was red and watery from crying. And as if on instinct, Johann dropped to his knees and dropped his rifle, arms opened wide. He embraced Luna and stroked her mane, cooing in order to calm her down.

“Shh, shh… it’s okay, it’s okay, Im here. Hurt. But Im here.” Luna, still crying, hugged him tight but she began to calm down bit by bit. They stayed in that pose for several minutes until Luna had managed to regain her bearings. Johann stood up and picked up his rifle. They needed to get somewhere safe, and they needed to get out of the castle fast.

“Luna, Im going to get us out of this castle, Im taking you to place that’s considerably safer than this one now, alright?” Johann instructed the princess. Luna, on the other hand nodded. “Do you still remember how to aim, reload, and fire a gun?” Johann asked as he tried to refresh luna of the basic firearms training he had given both the princesses, Luna nodded once more. Johann fished out his PX4 and gave it to Luna along with seven magazines, eighth one loaded into the gun.

“ten shots each magazine, total of eighty shots. Not much in this situation, Princess. Make it count, Im going to scout ahead, stay here.” Luna nodded as Johann warned her. By the time he reached the storeroom door, a sizeable amount of rebels greeted them, they stayed behind to ensure that Luna would be captured.

“Look, filthy human, if you give us Luna, we might just let you walk away. Hand her over or else.” The rebel leader spoke with a disgusted voice. Johann simply emptied a magazine in their direction. The ponies fired back blindly while ducked for cover as he used the mayhem to drive himself back into the storeroom where they could defend themselves more easily. He reloaded and kept the entrance to the dark storeroom within his sight. Taking potshots at any rebel who tried to enter. Johann reloaded and felt his shin was warm and wet. Johann immediately felt the area of his shin he felt one hole in his pants where the bullet went in and another where it went out. I’ve been shot. This can’t be good . He grabbed his radio and desperately tried to contact the reapers

“Reapers! Where’s my armed escort!?”

“Sir! This is Reaper 6! We’re on our way, there’s heavy fighting out on the castle grounds, I just lost two pegasi!, we’ll be in the throne room in one minute!” Reaper 6’s voice was muffled by gunshots

“We are not in the throne room, repeat, we are not in the throne room. We have taken cover inside the storeroom two doors to the left from the throne room, we are holding out but cannot last longer.”

“Aye aye, sir, we’ll be there in two minutes” Johann loaded another magazine and charged the rifle, taking careful aim, he took potshots and took down several rebels. However, he was running out of bullets. He only had two extra thirty-round magazines and fifteen left in the current one loaded in his gun. The rebels were getting bolder, sending in more and more grunts to flush him out. Johann was getting desperate. He was chewing through seventy five bullets pretty quickly.

“Luna! Gimme the handgun and four mags!” Luna obliged. Tossing him the gun and the magazines, Johann, took more potshots with his rifle until he had depleted all of his ammunition. He took the handgun in his right hand and knife in his left. Prepared to fight and die, he sat and closed his eyes and mentioned a short poem

“
I am not the bringer of victory,
Nor the cause of defeat,
I am the angel of slaughter
And the slaughter is my passion.

If I die now, let me die fighting
Taking down as many as I can.
For if I die fighting, I can say
I have died fighting for a cause.

Let me fight with savagery and ferocity
Let my enemy fear me.
Let them know the taste of mortality,
Let them taste their own.

By gun and by knife,
I shall lay down my life
For in times of strife,
Death shall be rife.
“

With that, Johann stood up, fighting ferociously. Shooting bullet after bullet into the heads of his foes, and plunging his knife down throats and through heads, blood sprayed everywhere like it was rain. He even went so far as to use the rebels as a meat shield to provide a barrier against him and their submachine guns. Stopping to reload, he heard voices that were music to his ears.

“Alright reapers, sweep and clear! Go go go! We have a code omega on our hands, I repeat, code omega!” the reapers quickly and precisely eliminated the rebels and helped Johann and Luna get to the chariots. They got aboard and went to a safehouse inside the everfree forest, located two kilometers south-by –southwest of the old ruins of the castle. There, a medic cleaned and bandaged Johann’s wound and the rest of the reapers took watch. When it was evening, Luna wanted to talk to Johann. She went to his place and nuzzled at his side. She felt a strange comfort whenever she was around him. Noe more than ever since there was a civil war going on

“What now Johann?” Luna worryingly asked

“Now? We hold out. They’re going to send hunting parties for us. We’ll be wanted criminals; posters, bounties, the works. If they don’t find us within two weeks, they’ll probably call off the hunting parties. After that, we’ll only deal with the bounty hunters. By then, we should make a break for the embassy. From there, we should try and gather whatever forces we have and try to formulate a plan with humans and the other sympathizers for our cause for a joint operation against the insurrection”

“Sounds reasonable, but… we can’t just wait here and do nothing, I know it’s for my safety but what about whatever guards that are left at the castle? What about our outposts and agents in canterlot, ponyville, manehattan, appleloosa, cloudsdale, and the others? We can’t just let them get overrun!”

“Princess, as of now, we are Public Enemy number one in the eyes of the insurrection, and judging by the audacity of the attack, they are very large, very dangerous, and extremely angered. We need to wait out the hunting parties, doing anything now will just lead us getting ki- Sshh! Do you hear that?” Johann heard a lot of heavy hoofsteps breaking twigs and making crackling noises against the gravel in the old ruins. He motioned Luna to stay down and keep quiet while him and two reapers check out who they were.

“Are you sure that this is the place?” A rebel voice asked

“Of course Im sure! Intel has it that this is one of their fifteen emergency safehouses scattered in equestira, this info came directly from a defecting member of the royal guard.” Another replied in a snappy manner. “Anyway, the five of you better get your flanks moving before anyone realizes we’re here!”

Johann was shocked. A defecting guard, his problems increased tenfold. Who was the guard? Could there be more defectors? How much information have they given out? And the guard must be an officer with high clearance to know the locations of the safehouses and the caches. This is not going very well. First a savage ambush, now my own men are betraying me? Johann cringed. He ordered his reapers to go back to Luna quietly and explain to her everything. Johann watched them a bit longer and waited until they left before he went back to Luna. The alicorn had a very worried look on her face when he got back.

“What now?”

“We have a defector who has access to very sensitive in our ranks. Simple as that. Someone who knows the location of the safehouses and the caches. To even know one cache requires gamma level clearance. In short; We’re compromised. We stay the night and first thing in the morning is we take to the embassy. We’ve got to go through the everfree forest to minimize detection, however, if what I think has happened did happen... its no point choosing between going in the open and going through the forest, but if you ask me, I’d gamble with the forest. We’d have more cover. After that, I’ll find a way to deal with the defector, probably send an assassin to put a bullet through his head.” Johann explained in a calm and apathetic tone. “You’d best get some rest, We’ll take watch.” Johann advised. Luna reluctantly tried to get some sleep as he and the reapers guarded the place.

“alright, they know the safehouses. They know where they are, and how they’re built inside and out. In want you four to guard Luna. Don’t let her out of your sight. make sure she survives at all costs, I sense that this will be a very long night.” Johann ordered his ponies to take positions along the corridor and the windows. He wished for hunter killers to be by his side but this will have to do.

“The fifteen of you! Check that hall!” A rough voice roared. Johann motioned his men to stay hidden. Let them get closer. Johann mouthed. The rebels began searching every room. Others satyed by the hall and moved forward. Six doors from Luna’s. Johann had to act fast. He quietly loaded his weapons and motioned for his men to do the same. Four left. Johann aimed at the rebels, readied a grenade, and ordered those guarding Luna to exit via the teritiary hidden path and go the embassy immediately and tell them that they were sent by Ghostkiller.

“OPEN FIRE!!!” Johann ordered. His troops began firing. Rebels fought back in a deadly exchange of gunfire and curses.

“Gods damn you to tartarus you filthy human!!!”

“Fuck you and your whole pitiful insurrection you godforsaken peon!”

Curses , insults, and bullets were exchanged. Rebels fell down, so did reapers.

“Requesting backup! We found Luna! Repeat! We found luna and her filthy pet!”

“I am not a fucking pet!” Johann retaliated as he threw a grenade towards their direction “Fire in the hole!” The grenade went off and sprayed shrapnel towards rebels hidden behind cover, shredding their armor and innards. More rebels came through. Johann needed to get out. He motioned for his men to get out through the tunnels and to destroy their tracks.

“Pop smoke and banger!”

“popping smoke now!” A reaper threw a smoke grenade and a flashbang in an effort to disorient the rebels that were overwhelming the, Johann and the reapers went for the emergency tunnel and as soon as every reaper had gone through he blew up the entrance with C4. The tertiary exit was a tunnel only Johann and the reapers knew about, a contingency should someone divulge every known safehouse and its details. He never fully trusted anypony and always wanted to keep bits of information known only to himself. The tunnel led deep into the forest. Any trackers would have been lost. He allowed him and his men to make camp there and stay the night. Johann however, didn’t sleep. He took watch all night and all the way to sunrise. Luna and reapers who were asleep woke up to see Johann cleaning his guns once more.

“Luna, what Im about to tell you is bad. Hopefully Im wrong but I cant rule it out. I have a shortlist of all the suspected defectors here” Luna was handed a list and it containednames that were both familiar and unfamiliar to her. Names like Moonshine, Kroavia, Calder, Myers, Freepony, and other officers in the royal guard as well as their personal agents. But the last name in the list shocked Luna the most; Celestia. She looked at Johann with her mouth wide open.

“w-“

“before you ask. Those are the only ponies I know of who has at least gamma level clearance. and as of now, those ponies are ponies who I may not trust completely, seeing as one of them defected and gave the rebellion very sensitive information, they know our safehouses. And given that they might know how the safehouses are designed, they might even have omega level clearance. and those who have that are You, I, Celestia, and Moonshine, my right hand-err…. Hoof pony”

“then what do you plan to do?”

“I don’t know. They are our closest and most trusted group of ponies. We need to find a way to contact celestia. Because as much as I hate the taste it leaves in my mouth… worst case scenario is that we have to put her down… for good.” The thought of killing her kin made Luna’s tears water. “Not now Luna, we need to get to the embassy, and judging from where we are, we’ll be there in two days journey.” Johann pressed on. With an unfeeling face, it was times like these Luna wondered if Johann could even feel any emotion, how he could even soldier on after facing such facts. Thanks to Johann’s personal stash of information, he had secret routes that led to the embassy from every safe house in equestria. Because of this, they had made it to the embassy without much effort. Upon arriving, they noticed that everything within a 200 meter radius of the embassy was a desolate warzone. The building itself wasn’t in good shape either, Johann, whose team was running low on ammo from defending the princess during the safehouse exfiltration were worried once they saw the embassy. Johann told the reapers to stay behind in a safe area and to cover him, as he would try to get in touch with his former team.

“Alright, Reaper 7, you stay here and man the 240-bravo, make your shots count, we only have two –one hundred and fifty round belts left , Reaper 6 and 10, you’re with me, 5, you stay here and give us sniper cover, 8,9,2 and 1, you protect Luna at all costs. We clear?” The ponies nodded. Johann gave Luna his PX4 once more, however, he had no more magazines to spare

“You still got a few magazines Luna?”

“Yes, only three left”

“Not much at all, make it count”

Johann and the two reapers walked towards the embassy, his frame was weary and tired. Rifle in hand, one magazine loaded, three in reserve. He got nearer the building and he began yelling

“Skullface!? Pirate!? Avril!? Jolly!? Crosser!? Sigma!? Jackknife!? Anyone there!?”

“Boss!! That you!?” Pirate yelled back

“Its me! I’ve brought my elite corps as well as The Princess. We seek refuge in the embassy now! We’ve got a lot to tell you”

“Alright. Get everybody by the gate and we’ll open it up, you need to hurry though! There may be hostile snipers in the area!”

“Roger that! Cover us will you?”

“Affirmative, Men! Man the machine guns! Prep the gate to open we got evacuees inbound!”

Johann motioned for his men to come to him at the gate, The reapers walked quickly, Luna in the center of them.

“There she is! Take the shot now!” A rebel hidden among the trees on the far side of the opening told his partner.
BANG!

Luna was hit in the lower stomach, Reapers closed in on her and one carried her while the others formed a meat shield around her.

“Shit! Fire again!” The rebel spotter yelled and this time Luna was hit in the knee. Luna was tearing up and screaming in pain

“Protect her at all costs! I want that snipe- aarrggh!” Reaper 9 was shot in the neck

“Reaper 9 is down! I repeat! 9 is down! Supressing fire!” Reaper 2 yelled shortly before he was shot. Johann began emptying his automatic rifle into the bush while reaper 8, who was carrying luna dashed for the side of the building where she was relatively safe. Luna was losing blood fast. The Embassy MGs were blazing into the bush. Counter snipers were being deployed. However, two rebel squads ran out of the forest and into the clearing. The embassy security force kept them down.

“Wheres the gate Pirate!? OPEN IT NOW!”

“We’re opening the damn thing! This thing weighs a ton! You try pushing it open when the power’s been cut for five days!”

“Stay with me Princess!! Look at me! LOOK AT ME!! Everything will be fine!” Reaper 8 tried to keep Luna conscious. “We need a medic down here!! MEDIC!!!” 8 yelled frantically as 1 came by and tried to stabilize Luna. He was patting Luna’s cheek when another two shots were heard. This time, Johann yelled in pain

“GOD DAMN IT!” Johann fell as he was shot in his thigh and shoulder. He staggered up and paid it no heed. He reloaded his rifle and kept shooting

“Pirate! Any fucking time now!”

“Get away from the gate boss! We’re sending out a humvee!”

The beastly roar of the humvees engine soothed Johann’s ears as it practically flied out of the gate, guns blazing. The top gunner was busy firing at the rebels

“Get in sir! Lets pick up the princess!” Johann entered as the Humvee roared and dashed for the side where Luna was being treated. They picked her up and quickly got back into the fortress before any more damage was done. Inside, Johann and luna were taken to the medical ward, Johann’s injuries were lucky, he wasn’t hit anywhere vital, no blood vessels were severely ruptured, all they had to do was to inject him with painkillers and scrub him clean.

“Sorry bud, we only got morphine, you know addictive that stuff can be” Johann didn’t care as the opiate was injected into him. He got off the table and went to Luna

“1, how is she doing?”

“Sir… She’s… She… well. In short, she’s currently all kinds of fucked up. Concussion, broken leg, bleeding out, we need type O negative blood. Aren’t you Type O negative?”

“I am, and as far as I know, two of mymen are type O. Jolly and Sigma. I’ll give whatever blood I can” Johann said as he felt the needle plunge into his arm. “Go get crosser. Two medics are better than one”. Pirate obliged and sent for Crosser, who arrived three minutes later.

“Boss… How’s It going?”

“I’ve seen better, go check on the princess. She needs more help now.” Crosser moved on to the princess.
Crosser went to Luna and studied her wounds. He sent for a book on Pony anatomy he had asked for a few weeks before the rebellion. He had taken xrays and ensured she was stable. He ran a full physical exam on the conscious pony who cooperated to the best of her effort. He was waiting for the results to come in and and was drinking some coffee when it came in.

“Crosser, here’s the analysis”

“Oh dear god. She’s a mess, get my surgical team now.”

Author's Note

Sorry Luna! I really am! It hurt writing this but hey, fuel for the fire of the continuity of the story!
Comments are greatly appreciated so that I know if Im doing good or bad!

Neutral Territory attacked

Several nerve wracking hours have passed. Johann was pacing the corridor frantically, Crosser and his team of surgeons was busy with Luna, operating of her table, when he tried to peek inside the door windows, all he could see was Luna’s head, her muzzle covered by a mask that kept a steady flow of oxygen and anesthetic. At sight, he knew Luna was breathing. That gave him some comfort, but he could not see farther than that. The room had to be sealed off to provide a sterile environment.

“Alright, we have marked her body, there’s xrays to guide you throughout the operation. Are we ready?”

“ready, run the final checklist” Answered another

“Breathing rate?” Crosser began

“Stable, check” a nurse answered, Crosser began ticking items off the list

“Consciousness?”

“Anesthetized. She’ll be out cold for the operation. She wont feel a thing, team 2 is ready to bring her back when needed”

“Okay, Pulse rate?”

“Stable according to the book of Pony anatomy.”

“Blood Pressure?”

“Stable according to the book”

“Body Temperature?”

“Stable. We’re ready to go.”

“Alright, we open on my mark” Crosser looked at the window and saw Johann’s worried face, he gave him a thumbs up and made the sign of the cross. Lord, don’t make me screw up. Crosser mouthed. “alright, 3, 2, 1, make incision!” as the scalpel traced along the lines that ran along luna’s inner flank. Revealing red flesh and bullets where they had lodged.

“Dear god, that’s a lot of lead… remember, take them out, and scrub the area clean” Crosser began as he drew the surgical forceps into one particular wound that lay dangerously close to Luna’s intestines. After that, he dabbed the area of which the bullet had lodged itself to further clean the channel wound. They repeated the process for the next three hours, the surgeons took shifts, as two of them worked, the others rested. The operating room was filled with the repeated sound of metal clacking as the bullets were extracted and dropped to metal collection trays. By the time they were done, they had collected at least thirty-five bullets. Dear god, How did she survive the hydrostatic shock of at least thirty gunshots? No one… nothing’s ever done that… Crosser told himself as he marveled at the resilience of the young diarch. They had cleaned the incision made and were now suturing it shut. Crosser personally handled the suturing, his needlework was exceptional, some of the finest in the world. When he was done, the incision was barely noticeable. Crosser didn’t even bother scrubbing himself in when he went out and looked at Johann with a smile and a bloody scrubsuit. Johann felt a huge wave of relief wash over him at that instant.

“Dear god, thank you so much crosser, I mean it. I really fucking mean it, you have no idea how much this is worth to me” Johann said as he hugged crosser, not paying attention to the blood that stained his shirt.

“No worries Boss, we’re on the same side, it’s the least I could do.”

“Whatever you say man, Im buying you a case of the best damn whisky I can buy when this is all over, How long til she wakes?”

“I’d give her two to five hours, but She has to have bedrest for 3 days.” Crosser said as he got back inside “If you’ll excuse me, I have to clean up”

“Alright, where you keeping her?”

“the Presidential quarters, the most secure room we have, she’ll be there, trust me, and she’ll be guarded.”

Meanwhile...

“Alright, I’ll put them down.” Celestia said with a heavy sigh “but, how?”

“I have got an idea… you guys might not like it..” one from the back of the room, all eyes turned to him. It was Moonshine.

“Whats your idea, boot licker?” a captain questioned him

“I told you to stop calling me that! Here’s what we’re going to do. We get the changelings to work with us, that is, if they haven’t tried to contact them first, and if I am right, they are at the filthy building they call an embassy”

“Where are you going with this moonshine?” The captain’s voice became worried

“As far as I know, the changelings feed on the pony they’re posing, so they have to be alive, so that they can feel their energy pattern and unique aura so that they can better replicate their body they also absorb their life force to add authenticity to the gimmick, let’s make them pose as some of their members and wreak havoc.”

“Alright, we’ll send runners. What about those who join them? What about them?”

“Wartime belligerents, fair game.”

“And the embassy?”

“Once we capture Luna and Ghostkiller, you can go bomb the place to tartarus.”

“Alright, it is set. You send the runners now. So it begins. The Solarian Empire, Luna, don’t make me kill you” Celestia said with a heavy heart.

Elsewhere…

Luna woke up and sat on the bed she was lying down on. Her mind was groggy from the anesthetic. She tried to scan her surroundings, she was in a room, there are humans around her, one of them being Johann, another was crosser, then there were the surviving reapers, reapers 7, 8, and 1. She tried to speak but all that came from her mouth was a prolonged moan

“Luna! Thank the heavens you’re alright!” Johann hugged Luna, at the gesture, Luna was taken aback. Her past came flooding in, memories of being nightmare moon, of being deprived from attention, in her vulnerable state, her past tended to haunt her. She began to sniffle. Johann looked worried.

“Why? What’s the matter?”

“Y-you care for me?” Luna asked with a broken voice

“Luna, I’ve sworn an oath to protect you two, to take care of you two, and if it means walking through tartarus blindfolded, Im going to do it.”

“Are you saying that because it’s your job, or because you really care about me?”

“Im saying that I’ve promised to myself not to lose anyone, anymore, so long as I am standing, I’ve told you that.” Johann pulled Luna in for a hug, who was now tearing up. Johann smiled “I care for you, come hell and high water, I’ll do what I can to keep our necks above it”
“thanks Johann”

“No problem, lets get you some rest. You’ll need all the strength you can get if you’re going to lead a republic

“l-lead? a r-rep-public?” Luna stuttered

“Yep, you and I are in charge of putting this insurrection down, no matter what cost, The New Lunar Republic, a fitting name, is it not?”

“It is.. but who will join us? If what we fear has happened, then sister must have contacted the changelings and other races. What now?”

“ Well, I’ve no idea. I’ve sent runners to the Griffons, and the changelings as well, and we might need Sombra, I’ve sent a distress call to the Crystal Empire, and we might need to bring back discord. For now, let me worry about that, you need rest. I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”

Luna rested for the next 4 days, which passed uneventfully for her yet Johann was working overtime ensuring that he had friends at the side of the New Lunar Republic, pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies who sympathized with their cause came to the embassy to lend whatever form of aid they can.

“ The New Lunar Republic needs your aid in putting down this insurrection, join us, join the cause that is just, Luna and the Lunar Corps need you!” Johann read a flyer out loud as he ordered the pegasi to scatter them all over equestria while he ordered runners to contact the other races in efforts to join them; the dragons, the changelings. And other settlements and kingdoms to ask them to swear fealty to their Princess Luna; the Crystal empire, appleloosa, manehattan, cloudsdale, and the others.

“Here comes war, Seven Heavens and Nine Hells, Celestia please be innocent, and be safe, I do not want to kill you.” Johann pleaded to the sky. Johann was reviewing the daily reports when the klaxon blared throughout the halls

“Enemy Forces inbound! Battlestations battlestations!” The PA system’s voice filled the halls. Johann quickly went to luna, ordered the surviving reapers to protect her and lead her to the safest room possible. He went to the armory and loaded up alongside with Hunter Killers and went outside. Prepared to take what would be their final stand. The republic must not fall Johann told himself. He was at the top of the embassy with the Hunter Killers once more when he saw at least a battalion of ponies outside the fences. But what shocked him was that Celestia, was wearing battle armor and her look was stern.

“Johann and Luna, get out now with your weapons down and with your hooves where I can see them and nothing bad will happen”
Celestia’s voice spoke in the royal canterlot tone

“Commander, follow the princess!” Moonshine spoke into a megaphone

“Boss, nice to be with you, think we can take em?” Crosser asked

“I don’t know, get me a megaphone will you?” Crosser went inside and a few minutes later, he got back with a megaphone in hand.

Johann grabbed the megaphone and yelled “Why should we Celestia? You betrayed me, your sister, and Equestria! everything was going lazily until this pitiful insurrection came along! Why destroy the peace huh!?”

“Because I’ve always hated you and your kind… Commander” Moonshine spoke. Johann turned off the megaphone and walked over to Pirate.

“Pirate, you see that pony over there? His name’s moonshine. Hide yourself, and put the fucker down for good” Johann ordered as he pointed over to moonshine. Pirate rushed to the ladder and got down to the ground and climbed the camouflaged sniper tower.

“Boss, I can’t get a clear shot, he’s too twitchy, talk to him” Pirate radioed Johann

“Alright moonshine! What do you want?” Johann asked into the megaphone

“First off, I want you humans gone! I want you to leave all your munitions behind, I don’t want your kind coming back, and I want the pleasure of killing you myself!

“You’re going to pay for that moonshine” Johann growled as he turned off the megaphone

“Yeah yeah just get on with it you asshole!” Moonshine insulted his former commander. Johann radioed pirate

“Pirate, got a clear shot?”

“yep, permission to take it”

“Send the bastard to hell.” With that, a loud shot was heard and penetrated moonshine’s skull. He died within seconds. Celestia ducked for cover and her entourage opened fire.

“Skullface! We are taking this clearing and we are securing it! Mobilize the entire security force now!”

Alarms sounded all over the base.

“All troops to battlestations, All Troops to battlestations, capture and secure the Immediate vicinity of the Embasy.” The thundering sound of boots against concrete, Doors being slammed shut, Humvee engines being turned on, and guns being charged filled the air. Within five minutes, the heavy gate was being opened.

“Skullface, have two humvees ready.” Johann asked his comrade, Skullface.

“Sir, This is Black Spear of Spear Humvee Group. Requesting Permission to begin attack” Skullface’s radio chimed in.

“Granted. Let’s rock.”

“CHARGE!” The beastly roar of the humvees filled the air as well as the footsteps of the security force, shots were exchanged bullets flew and crashed into face of Ponies and humans. Luna and the Reapers were at the wall of the embassy, in one of the sniper towers. The reapers were picking off rebels. However Luna was shocked at Celestia’s decision to lead the insurrection.

Sister, why do you do such things? You of all ponies I have looked up to, Why? Luna asked herself.

“Keep those guns blazing!” A humvee driver yelled as he drove around, running over ponies while those inside kept firing. The battle was bloody and loud. Johann and his former team got into two humvees and drove out, doing the same as the others did. A rebel sniper spotted the driver that was in the humvee and took out the driver following Johann’s humvee.

“Driver down, I repeat Driver down! We have a sniper!”

Johann got down from the group as well as hunter killers, joining the mayhem of the bloodbath, fighting, killing, maiming, mutilating, Johann and his team made short work of their enemies, their skill showing through savagery and precision. Counter Snipers were deployed once more, trying to flush out enemy snipers, while everyone else did their best to reclaim the vicinity of the embassy. Johann and Skullface pushed further, increasing their bodycount and distracting them all

“We’ll divert their attention, you try to outflank them!” Johann called out to the other hunter killers, the others obliged while Johann and Skullface began to draw attention to themselves

“Jesus, Now would be a really good time for an airstrike!” Johann cursed out

“Yeah boss! We weren’t able to request for aircraft or extra forces to make an airfield!” Skullface replied

“When we’re done, get that bloody idea working!”

“yes boss!” Ponies were nearing them with them guns drawn, both men had empty rifles, they only had their handguns and knives
Johann and Skullface were now back to back.

“what now boss?”

“Stay low, take down as much as you can. Save a grenade for yourself.“ with that, Johann charged at the nearest pony, thrusting his knife at the rebel’s neck and yanking the rifle from his hoof, from there, he used the pony as a meat shield as he fired the rifle at the other rebels. Skullface did the same, they repeated the process until…

BANG!

“FUCK DAMNIT!!!” Skullface was shot in the stomach, he fell down.

“SKULLFACE!!”Johann grabbed a nearby machinegun from a pony and charged towards his friend. “Gods damn it all!” Johann grabbed skullface and dragged him behind cover.

“Stay with me, stay with me, Look at me skullface, Look at me!” Johann repeatedly slapped Skullface, the Hunter killers began flanking them, they covered Johann and Skullface .

“Skull, Im going to get us out of here, I’ll carry you to safety alright? “ Skullface could only nod. With that, Johann picked up skullface and carried him in a firemans carry while firing a machine gun with one hand, he sprinted towards the embassy. When the machinegun ran out, he dropped it and radioed for help.

“Pirate! Skull’s been shot! Im taking him back to base!”

“Alryght sir, we’ll cover you! Men! To the Boss!” The team followed in Johann’s wake, keeping the rebels at bay. The firepower of the humans made it clear that the rebels were clearly losing, but Skullface’s situation decided to say otherwise. The gate was still open as he ran inside, through heavy breaths he screamed

“Medic! We need a Medic! ” Reaper 1 rushed to his side, so did crosser and few other medical staff, Skull was rushed to the medical room for immediate treatment, He was stabilized within the next few hours and had the bullet removed.

“Lucky bastard, it grazed his stomach but he’ll live, other than that, the bullet missed anything vital.”

“Thank god, lets go back out and assess the damage… the medics will stay here. Get the princess” Johann mused to his other men, they obliged. They all circled the battlefield. It was now at last 1 square kilometer. By the time they were done, they had managed to send a team back to the human universe requesting to set up a fully fledged military camp, complete with runway and to completely furbish it with defenses and equipment.

“this is going to take at least three months if we’re lucky”

“Just do it, if we lose this, they’ll send troops through this portal and you know the rest..” the messenger told the commissariat for military resources

“Alright, I can’t promise anything but, at most, we can get you tanks and a few attack choppers as well as food, munitions, water, some fencing material, and medical supplies for now.”

“yes, sir, thank you sir.” The messenger responded. He went back to equestria and notified Johann and he ordered that the clearing be patrolled at all times. And that they needed a hidden location to train the recruits of the Republic’s troopers, as they were pouring in by the dozen. Johann walked with Luna and headed for Ponyville along with four guards, before and during the war, Ponyville had affirmed itself as neutral territory. Armed with a strong militia, it ensured that there would be peace in the town for it had nothing to gain on the war and simply wanted peace.

They passed by their troops as they saluted both of them and cheered

“For the Princess Luna and The New Lunar Republic! Hail!” a captain yelled

“HAIL!” Came the answer of a multitude of Ponies

“You see Luna? These ponies, they’ll die for you. Charge blindly into tartarus for you if it will lead them to victory, that’s how loyal we are” Johann told Luna who was simply walking along.

“Luna? Is there… something wrong?”

“OF COURSE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THINE PRINCESS! THY PRINCESS HATH LOST HER ONLY KIN TO THIS UNHOLY, DISGUSTING, AND DISRESPECTING INSSURECTION! AND HATH COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT ONLY ONE OF US MAY LIVE!” Luna boomed in the royal canterlot voice “I.. Im sorry, I should not have lost my temper, it’s just that… she’s still my sister..” Luna sobbed as she sat on the grass. They were in a field now, Johann sat beside her. The dark alicorn hung her head low and sighed.

“ Luna, We’ll pull through. I promise. I’ve always told my men that.I don’t know why, but when all seemed lost, they always looked at me, their eyes kept saying ‘what do we do now?’ I told them the same thing, I was always the one who kept pushing them, I was always that crazy maniac who would get out of a trench and blindly charge an enemy machine gun nest to coax the others into doing so when they were shitting themselves, I was always the bastard who was laughing his arse off when all hope was lost and I kept telling them that we would always pull through. I don’t know why, but we always did. Every single time, we always did. Perhaps it was just blind luck. Or balls. Probably both. Now, we won’t win this war by defending ourselves, we have to do whatever is needed, Luna, and that is to take the fight to them. Trust me, I’ll get us out of here, is there anything, anything at all, I can do to help you now?” Johann tried to cheer Luna up

“I want my sister back, that’s all. I want her back” Luna said in a forlorn voice.

“Aye, that’s going to be hard, but I’ll do my best Luna, I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try not to have her killed unless the future and safety of equestria demands it.”

“o-okay”

“good. Let’s go, get something to eat that isn’t military rations. Stuff begins to taste unpalatable the thirtieth time around” Johann cringed as his stomach grumbled. “Ponyville’s neutral ground, for reasons unknown but thank the nine hells it’s neutral” They got into ponyville without much incident, they just walked through the town center, looking for some decent food to eat. They decided for sugarcube corner and went to the house of pastries. Pinkie pie wasn’t there, only Mr and Mrs cake.

“What it’ll be, princess?” the husband asked.

“Four sandwiches and two glasses of orange juice, that will be all, thank you” Luna answered as she paid for the food and took them into the corner table where there were only few sitting. She divided the sandwiches among her and Johann and began to eat.

“you know, I never thought flowers would taste so good here” Johann shamefully admitted. As he gobbled down a rose

“really? Well, you have been missing out! They are a delicacy in this land, as they are for gifts to pleasing sweethearts, to the most mouthwatering dishes, the flowers here have myriads of uses!” Luna explained with a more energetic voice as she ate. They continued chatting until they finished their food and began to walk around the town. From sweet apple acres to carousel boutique they walked, admiring the peace in the midst of a storm. It was sunset when they began to walk back to the embassy. It was there they knew that peace didn’t last long.

“There they are, jam the airwaves and open fire!” A multitude of guns went blazing as they were almost clear of the everfree forest. Johann and Luna dashed for the ruins once more and used the building as cover.

“Aw fuck me, not this again…” Johann groaned as he fought back. “give me your radio!” one bodyguard obliged and he turned it on.

“Ghostkiller to embassy, come in embassy”

Static.

“I repeat, Ghostkiller to embassy, come in embassy!”

Still static

“If anyone on this channel can read me, I am at the castle ruins with Luna, we are being ambushed by the rebels, we need immediate evac now, I repeat, I am at the castle ruins with Luna, we need evac now!” Johann gave the radio to Luna “Luna, try to contact the embassy, we’ll hold out as long as we can” Johann told his men to regroup and stay close to each other. “Shit this is not good, outgunned and outnumbered.” Johann mused as he kept on firing his rifle, as each minute passed and as each magazine was emptied, the rebels were beating them down. They were running out of options and time.

“We got them! Keep pushing!” the rebels yelled. Luna was worried, Johann and the ponies with them cant die now. A million things were running through her mind, Johann snapped her back to the reality they were facing.

“We have to get out of here Princess, we can’t hold out much longer.” Johann briefed Luna amongst the four guards. “The quickest way is to dive into the woods and make our way to the embassy from there, about two kilometers from here but…”

“But what?” Luna snapped. The guards carefully studied the plan and came to the cold realization

“We need a diversion, and I suppose that diversion’s us four” A guard spoke up, his face becoming pale.

“yes, Im afraid so. I must ask of you this ultimate favor, You don-“

“Can it, sir. We are the Lunar guard, we protect the princess at all costs. We’ll hold them off, hopefully long enough for you and the princess to get out.”

“ Thank you, brave members of the guard” Luna replied “W-we must go, Johann”. Luna began trotting and beckoned for Johann, she felt sad for the sacrifice these ponies were to give, she wished for some other way.

“I’ll make sure to keep her safe, you have my word” Johann promised to the four.

“yes, Commander, We shall see you in the flip side, you’d best be off” the leader of the guard went to see Johann and Luna to the forest. And went back to the fighting

“Sir? We’re going to die are we?” a guard asked. The leader didn’t bother to reply.

“Ponies! We make our final stand here! For the princess, for Equestria! “ The leader encouraged his troopers, who began charging the rebels. “Open fire!”

Johann and Luna were in the forest. Johann had the radio in his hand and tried it once more

“If anyone in the embassy can hear me, I am at the forest southeast by the Everfree forest, en route to the Embassy. Repeart, I am en route to the embassy with the princessI estimate that we will arrive in two to three hours.. Out” Johann said as he tried to make contact. From afar he could hear the voices of ponies being killed, four of them were familiar ones.

“Jesus H Christ on a trike. An ambush, two kilometers from ponyville, TWO KILOMETERS FROM NEUTRAL TERRITORY! GODS DAMN IT ALL! ”Johann burst out. He was furious.

Author's Note

Well, better late than never... Felt like overboard to me...
oh well..
Comments are greatly appreciated!