Author's Note

I've just been in a writing mood the past few days. I've really gotten into this story, heheh. Hopefully my skills aren't suffering too much for writing too much too fast.

Enjoy the latest chapter.
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Second Contact

"So tell me, what was it you and your team were doing in those woods surrounding that ship?" Shawn asked the small bat winged horse creature. He was met with more silence. This was the third question he had asked him that was met with resistance. It was some kind of soldier, he was sure of it. The resolve in its eyes, the resistance to answer questions that were most likely classified information.

"Well then, let's start out simple, shall we? What's your name? You must have a name if you can talk." the Major said, relaxing his back against the wall and folding his hands on one bent knee.

"L..." the horse began, the hesitance in its voice clearly evident. "Willow."

"So what was that you started to say, 'Willow.' I heard an L in there." Shawn said as he leaned in towards Willow.

Willow couldn't believe how the thirst and hunger were effecting his ability to rationalize his thoughts. He had almost given away his rank along with his name.

"You already asked your question, do I not get one in return?" Willow said as he shook his head slowly.

"I suppose it is only fair, but know this, just as from you to I, there are some things that I cannot tell you, these questions will just be met with the answer 'Classified'. You do know what classified means right?"

Willow nodded.

"Good, well then, when you are ready."

"What are you." he asked, wanting to hear if there was any difference in the answer the other creature had told him the other day.

"I suppose there's no harm in that. We are Humans."

"Where are you from?"

"Classified."

"What do you do?"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"What I mean is what is your job?"

"I am a soldier, that is all you need to know."

"If you are a soldier, are you invading our land?"

"No. We are somewhat stranded here."

"Stranded? What happ..." Willow started to ask but was suddenly cut off by Shawn raising his hand to stop him.

"Right." the human said, standing. "Let's move people, we are going to have company."

The hood was replaced over willows head, then he was hefted onto what he could only assume was another of the human's backs. He could hear running, and shouting, and heavy thumps of something massive stomping across the ground. Willow was set down inside of something, the floor was smooth and cold, and he leaned against another pony.

"Commander?" he asked.

"Shhhh. Don't give them our ranks." Starlight hissed back.

Suddenly a large group of something herded into the room they were in, and a high pitch whine was heard. A roar of more dragons flame erupted from what sounded like just outside the door, but then it was silenced when the doors snicked shut and the whole room began to move.
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"Everyone get on the dropship, we are making a hasty evacuation." Shawn directed as he ran towards his Titan. "Thanks for the heads up Sadie."

Sadie had picked up several thermal signatures approaching via the Titans FLIR systems. She had counted what looked like twenty to thirty creatures, similar to the ones they had held in the cave, clad in armor approaching through the skies above the trees.

The dropship lifted off whisking everyone away from the potential battlefield as Shawn set his titan to standby. All he had to do was buy them some time to get away, then he would ditch the battle and make his own escape toward their rally point at the castle that Leo had mentioned they spotted on the way down.
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Forty Solar Guard pegasi soared over the tops of the Everfree, their wing tips brushing the tops of the trees. Spitfire of the Wonderbolts lead this detachment. She wasn't clad in her signature blue flight suit today though. She wore the armor of every Solar Guard Officer.

Something small flew off into the distance. She gave order for her first wing to break off and pursue. Five pegasi tumbled from formation and rocketed after the metal object, but seeing as they couldn't keep up they returned.

"What the hay was that? It's so fast." one of the pegasi shouted.

"Forget that, what the hay is that!?" Another interrupted, pointing a hoof to where it had just left from.

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Shawn climbed into the top hatch of his Atlas when the ponies became visible to his own eyes. He still had no primary weapon but he had all of his core abilities that the experimental Multi Core Titan held, not to mention all of his tertiary weapons systems. Forty ponies touched down in the clearing next to the lake about a hundred yards away from the towering monster that was the Titan.

"How did they find us so quickly?" He asked.

"Maybe one of the prisoners you had taken has a tracking device." Sadie answered through the Titans' internal speakers.

"Guess I didn't think about that."

Suddenly the Yellow horse at the front of the group pointed at him and shouted something. Sadie amplified the sound picked up by the external microphones and he heard an order to assess the threat and engage if need be.

Ten ponies, yeah ponies suited their smaller size better, fanned out in a semicircle and approached him. He could easily just step on all of them but he didn't want to start a war unless he had a good reason. Then a wicked smile crept across his face.

Once the ponies grew near enough to warrant action, Shawn keyed his external speakers and shouted "BOOO!" through them.
Three of the ponies jumped a bit and the rest took a few reflexive steps back. This was the confusion and distraction he needed.
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Spitfire watched nervously as their squad approached the towering Monster. Hopefully this thing didn't eat ponies.

"BOOOO!"

Everypony behind her reflexively jumped a bit. What happened next though terrified them. The beast leaned back and slid across the ground away from them at incredible speed for something so large. It then turned and ran into the forest with thunderous footsteps.

"After it!" she commanded, as the pegasi took to the sky and readied their hoof blades that made pegasi so effective at air combat.

It wasn't hard to follow the towering thing through the trees, it was almost as tall as them. Yet amazingly it still moved with practiced grace and agility, weaving between the trunks at high speeds. Spitfire and her team were keeping up with relative ease but it still moved extremely fast. Suddenly everything went quiet and they had lost sight of the beast.

"How!?" She shouted. "Find it!"
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Shawn was running his Titan full tilt through the woods with the small army right behind him pursuing by air. He had to shake them somehow. That's when an opportunity presented itself, a deep ravine cut through the woods in front of him, just large enough for a titan to fit in. He rocketed forward with his thrusters and dropped below the canopy of trees and into the gap.

Once settled into the short valley he slowly moved down its length, thanking the makers of the Titans to have built them not only for power but for stealth as well, as the pistons and engines hissed as quietly as they could while moving several tons of metal.

He needed something to draw them away from him, so he grasped a rock from the ravine, and hefted it through the woods, toppling several trees a couple hundred yards from his current location. Nearly all of the pegasi rushed to that location while he stealthily made his escape.

Once he was far enough away he pushed his reactor core back to moderate power and moved with a bit more abandon, headed in a straight shot for the castle they had tagged.
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Dillan climbed off the dropship and marveled at the castle that stood before them. It was falling apart but it still radiated power and grace from its stone walls. Once everyone was off the pilots lifted off and settled the ship in a more discreet location in between some crumbled walls where it was mostly hidden from sight.

Once everyone was together they approached the front doors, large enough for the group to walk through it together. Once inside the doors were shut and barred and flashlights clicked on, illuminating the grand entryway in an eerie crisscross of beams.

Kale and Stacy carried the two ponies down some hallways, looking for a room that they could block them into, so they didn't have to remain tied up. Dillan and his friends took to exploring the ruins of the castle while he told them about the pony he had talked to in the cave.

Dillan and Josh's parents set out to clearing a spot among the debris for them to set up a small area near the entrance for their gear, while Leo Sonny and Davis took the remaining group to secure the compound.

The four friends ambled down a hallway, illuminated by four sweeping beams of light, quietly chatting about where they were and what they thought was going to happen when they came across a large spiral staircase. It most likely lead to one of the towers, so they decided to venture up and get a good view of where they were.

As they approached the door at the top of the winding stairs their lights flickered and died out, leaving them in absolute darkness.

"The hell?" Dennis said smacking his flashlight. "What cheap shit did those militia guys give us anyway."

Tod felt across the door and grasped the handle and pushed the door in. It swung on rusty hinges, noisily squeaking in protest. Oddly enough, this room was just as dark, but there was a small crack of light filtering in from the left wall, where it looked like a window was being blocked by something. Dillan and Tod approached it and when they moved the offending piece of furniture, light flooded the room.

"SURPRISE!" someone shouted from within the room as confetti flew from every nook and cranny as Rebecca screamed in shock and Dennis readied to fight whatever were to jump out at them.
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The two humans hefted the ponies down yet another corridor until they were set down. Their bindings were removed, followed by their hoods to reveal a jail cell, and then they chained the doors shut and left.

"Sir." Willow rasped in a weak voice. "Where are we? What happened?"

Starlight looked at the edge of the wall that separated their cells. "It appears to be some form of jail, but I doubt these humans made it, it must be one of ours. Judging by the structure of this building I'd say we're in the old castle in the Everfree. As to what happened, I can only imagine that the Princesses used our magical signatures to track us down and sent help. I only pray that they survived."
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Shawn followed the shore of the creek until he was almost to his nav point. Even from a kilometer away he could see the tops of the towers protruding over the horizon. The sun was beginning to set just behind the castle, giving it a serene look, as if to say everything would be ok for the night. He exhaled and began the trek that in his titan should only take a few minutes.
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Spitfire couldn't believe they had lost such a big creature. They were scouring the woods near where the trees had fallen but there was no evidence to go on from there. She groaned frustrated toward the reddening sky.