MLP: Earth Outbreak

Chapters

Some notes for re-writers
Prologue: A normal day... or is it?
Prologue part 2: The Picnic
Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter 2: Meeting the group
Chapter 3: First mission
Chapter 4: 21
Chapter 5: Newbie
Chapter 6: The start of something (Romance chapter)

Some notes for re-writers

Author's Note

I might or might not continue with this story, but even if I do, re-writes are welcome and appreciated. You don't have to ask, just PM me that you are, and if it's not on this site, send a -working- link, if you can. Make sure, though, to give credit for the original idea to me. Person10179 on FIMfiction.net.

Also, yes, Firestar is based off of me. I tried to make him as much like myself as I could.
Midnight Blackbird is my ex's OC. Just like in the story, we're great friends, even after breaking up (though it certainly wasn't pleasant). Midnight isn't actually my ex's personality, though. her personality was (mostly) given to me by her, but I've expanded it and done what I chose to with it. The basic element is the same, though; Bit**y. (her word).
Michael Sanchez is also based off of one of my friends. However, for the most part, the personality is the same. I've exaggerated certain bits a little, but other than that I tried to keep it at least similar.

If I come up with any more notes, I'll put them here, so be sure to check every once in a while. If the new notes belong in an already-made section, I'll put them there, I won't separate them. So you might need to check carefully. I'll try (with my memory, though, I'll probably fail xd) to list how many times I've updated this list, but be sure to check every once in a while, even if I don't say, just in case.

Some notes for re-writers

If you don't plan on re-writing this, than these are only spoilers. I'll split the notes into multiple categories.

BTW, any characters that are listed here as only callsigns CAN be renamed. (AKA Wolf, Badger, Coyote, etc.).

Jacob Hector can also be renamed as Andrew Davis, but that's the only change that can be made to his name. As Jacob, he can also be called Jake. As Andrew, his "partner" (if he has one) can call him Andy in private.

Pairings:

Required;

Firestar(Or any OC, if you want to rename him) - Twilight Sparkle

Rainbow Dash - Michael Sanchez

Applejack - Jacob Hector OR Wolf (pick one. NOT BOTH, there are no love triangles in this story)

Secondary (not needed for any re-writes, this is only if you feel like putting it in);

Fluttershy - Big Macintosh

Tertiary (Basically same as secondary, but even less important)

Midnight Blackbird - Wolf OR Jacob Hector (Whichever DOESN'T get with Applejack)

Any other pairing

Notes:

Golden Sabre (Sabre is pronounced the same as saber, and is in reality also a type of sword) is one of two main squads of Task Force 152 (Yes, it is a play-off of TF141 from Call Of Duty, but it's not in the same universe)

The other squad is Silver Strike. Here are the rosters and specialties:

Golden Sabre:

Wolf (leader) - Marksman/Sniper

Badger (2nd in command) - Shotgunner

Cricket - Stealth/CQC expert (AKA hand-to-hand combat expert, along with being the best at generally sneaking around and such)

Panther - LMG

Snake - Medic (is also good with pistols, but, like the rest, he mainly uses his rifle.)

Tiger - Demolitions (Basically, explosives, explosive equipment, etc.. Include things like grenade launchers (under-barrel or not), incendiary ammo, etc..)

Silver Strike:

Coyote (leader) - Demolitions

Pigeon (2nd in command) - Medic

Squirrel - CQC/Stealth

Mouse - Sniper/Marksman

Rat - Shotgunner

Hamster - (LMG)

Silver Strike is dead by the time they are discovered, but they left a recording (with both video and audio) that shows that they discovered that the outbreak was started by an evil organization that wanted world domination and riches (duh, but I couldn't think of anything else). The organization discovered Equestria (an alternate universe from Earth, which is why no one on either Earth or Equestria had heard of the other), and decided to expand there, too. However, something went wrong with their unleashing the outbreak, and, instead of just converting some non-buried dead bodies into zeds in Equestria, they also transported the ponies in this story to Earth, unknowingly. Silver Strike's local scientist/mechanic guy (pick one of them) has crunched a lot of numbers and such, and has shown that, with the right components and amount of energy (the components will be hard to get), will create an inter-dimensional portal to Equestria, converting all humans that step through into ponies, and vice versa.

Earth Outbreak is both a survival story, and a story of trying to get back to Equestria. The required pairings all start in some part of Earth Outbreak, whether it be near the beginning, or next to the end. The sequel, Equestrian Terror, is setting up a new stronghold in Equestria to survive in, as well as furthering any romance pairings. This story can also be the start of some secondary/tertiary pairings, as well.

The sequel to that, Recovery, is basically most of the main characters of Earth Outbreak going around the outer reaches of Equestria and the other countries, gathering everyone into a large, safe, area (extending somewhere around 50-100 miles), which has been cleared of zombies, and has also had a wall constructed around it.

The total time period for those three stories is at least 23 years.

There CAN (but it's not necessary) be a sequel to Recovery (name it what you wish) where the team goes to Earth to stop the organization once and for all. This story can be anywhere from a few days to 5 years long.

In the beginning of Recovery/end of Equestrian Outbreak, Rainbow Dash becomes pregnant (she and Sanchez did it. She didn't get raped or anything). She stays behind in the safe area, as going with them would be both slower and more dangerous for them, for once (lol) recognizing that participating would make everyone worse off.

NONE of the primary pairs break up. Any pairs that are made besides those, also apply. All paired members live. Basically, any pairs made, stay together, and live together.

Characters that MUST survive all books:

Firestar

Twilight Sparkle

Applejack

Jacob Hector

Wolf

Badger

Midnight Blackbird

All MLP characters, at the start of Earth Outbreak, are in either their late teens or early 20's (maximum of 25) All are fit, and even at the end of Recovery, they are capable of anything that a 20-year-old would be. The latter goes to any soldiers, as well, though they can be as high as 30 years old.

Descriptions of certain characters:

Firestar: He's the main OC. You can name him whatever you like, but preferably keep the name. He's funny, but deceptively smart and bright. Excellent hand/eye coordination, good memory, and a great improviser. A bit socially awkward, as, when he was a foal, he didn't get out much, other than school. Almost never participated in anything, unless you include advanced classes. Musically talented, both with an instrument and with his voice. His humor is usually spur-of-the-moment, but he can sometimes think up pre-made jokes, or talk about funny memories.

Jacob Hector: The main leader of the 8-soldier group. He's almost always serious, but doesn't mind cracking a joke or two with a straight face... at least until everyone's laughing. Then he cracks up, too. NOTE: Is initially aggressive of Midnight, and doesn't trust her, but within a few months he warms up to her. Jacob's seen some action, and has had the traumatic experience of losing his entire squad. Didn't break, and is nowhere near breaking, either, but is afraid of it happening again. Therefore, he's protective of his squadmates, unwilling to put any one of them in unnecessary danger. Though he does recognize that they have extreme skill. Like most people who go through traumatic things, he doesn't like talking about it, but he can. If he's paired up with someone, he'll tell them about it, at some point. (doesn't have to tell them during Earth Outbreak).

Michael Sanchez: Can be reckless, especially when his emotions come into play. Cares about others, to the extent of running out in the open to them in the middle of a firefight, despite him not being the medic, and having nothing beyond the mandatory basic first-aid training. Can be semi-quick to anger/annoyance, but despite that, as stated earlier, he cares deeply for everyone he considers more than a neutral acquaintance.

Tiger: (The Snail part was something a friend wanted, and is not required in any re-writes) A jokester, and sometimes goes as far as slightly annoying his squadmates, but he knows when not to push it (usually). His friends like to joke that he's slightly crazy, and untrustworthy, but that's all they're doing; joking. They all know, and make it clear, that he actually is completely sane, and can be completely trusted.

Midnight Blackbird: (She can be renamed, as well) Very aggressive, and extremely proud of her skills, up to the point of being a little reckless. Though, to be fair, her combat skills do make up for that recklessness. She can rival Cricket, who could already go toe-to-toe with most martial arts world champions. She might not win, or even last long, but she does have at least a decent chance of actually winning. Is initially Rude (almost to the point of disrespect) to anyone she doesn't know, but warms up to Twilight very quickly, as Midnight is a childhood friend of Firestar (also, his ex. But they've put that past them, and are still great friends). Unbeknownst by everyone, in Equestria Midnight was both a part and a repeated victim of a gang, and the experience has hardened her, therefore, her aggressiveness. She is slow to trust, and quick to anger, but has a deceptively bright, smart, and quick-thinking head on her shoulders.

Prologue: A normal day... or is it?

POV: Narrator

It was a normal day in Ponyville. Twilight was reading a book in her library, Rainbow Dash was flying around town and doing tricks, Pinkie Pie was hopping around and making cupcakes, Fluttershy was feeding her animals in her home, and Applejack was bucking apple trees. But, there was one other Pony, a new addition to the group, that was also doing something that, even if it wasn't all that common, was still normal: trying to get them all together to go to a picnic. He stopped at Twilight's house, first.

Knock, knock

"Come in!" the alicorn yelled as she magically opened her door. "Oh, Firestar!" she exclaimed in delight upon seeing her friend.

"Hey, Twi!" said Firestar, as he stepped into the library that was Twilight's home. He shut the door with his own magic. He went and sat down on one of the couches in the room. "I was wondering if you and our friends would like to go to a picnic today, in a couple hours. You want to?"

"Sure!" replied Twilight happily. They both grinned at each other, then Firestar got up and went to the door. "well, I better ask everypony else. see you at the picnic!" he said. "Alright, see you!" Twilight replied. Firestar opened the door, went out, and shut it, but not before turning around and giving the princess another smile, but one that confused her a little bit, because even though it was friendly, there was a hint of something else in it. She shrugged it off for now and went back to reading her book after setting a timer for an hour and a half.

POV: Firestar: Third-Person

Firestar walked over to Pinkie Pie's and went inside. As usual, it was very busy. Or, rather, it had a lot of customers. most everypony got served within half a minute from arriving, and the reason the place was crowded was because everypony sits down at a table to eat.

As per her usual greeting for her best friends, Pinkie Pie appeared from out of nowhere and tackled Firestar, startling him half to death.

"Firestar! I'msogladyourhere! andI'malsowonderingwhatyou'regonnaaskme! isitaboutthepicnicyou'replanning!?!?!BecauseI'mprettysureyou'replanningapicnicbecauseyouusuallydon'tcomehereforanotherhourorso!!!!!"

"Whoa, there Pinkie!" Said the alicorn, chuckling and disentangling himself from her forced hug. "And yes, it is about the picnic I'm planning, but how did you know? there could be loads of reasons why I'm here this early."

"Oh, just a hunch!" said the earth pony. Firestar chuckled and then suddenly found himself being startled half to death again by Rainbow Dash, who flew from behind him to just a couple inches from his face in less than a quarter-second.

"Woah!" said Firestar in surprise. He chuckled again. "You mares certainly know how to frighten somepony out of their wits! So, is it safe to assume you're both coming?"

"You bet!" said Rainbow Dash. Pinkie nodded and smiled, barely containing herself from exploding into another one of her famous outbursts.

Firestar smiled at them. "Well, I still have to ask Flutteshy, Rarity, and Applejack, so I'll see you mares at the picnic!"

"See ya later!" said Dash and Pinkie at the same time. The alicorn chuckled quietly to himself and walked out, heading to Rarity's boutique.

On his way to Rarity's, Firestar thought about some problems he'd been having lately. most of them are everyday problems, easily dealt with. but one particular problem had been nagging him for months, now. What does "Twilight think of me?" He thought. "Just as a friend, or could she think about me as... something more? Like I do of her?" He didn't know. He hoped she liked him back, but he wasn't sure.

"Well, I'll just have to see!" He decided. "I'll try to find a time during the picnic where I can ask her"

After a couple more minutes of walking he got to Rarity's boutique. He went through the door. As always, she was in the back, creating new designs.

"Hey, Rarity?" Firestar called.

"Oh!" exclaimed Rarity. "Firestar! What brings you here?" she asked. "You usually don't come until a couple hours from now!"

"I was just wondering if you and the rest would like to go on a picnic?" asked Firestar. "I've already asked Twilight, Pinkiepie, and Rainbow Dash"

"Of course I would!" exclaimed Rarity happily.

"Alright then! Well, I'd best be off to Fluttershy's!" said Firestar. They smiled, and Firestar turned to leave, but then he thought of something. "Hey, Rarity?" He asked, turning back around.

"Yes, dear?" said the unicorn absent mindedly, as if Firestar was a normal customer. But then she shook her head, and looked up from her work.

"You probably would know the most about this in general, and you'd probably be the one she'd talk to, so, um..." Firestar said, trailing off from embarrassment as well as being unsure how to word his question. "What do... What do you think my chances are? With..with Twilight?"

Rarity blinked in surprise at the amount of trust and courage that the sudden question would take, and at the question itself. "Well," she said after a second of thinking. "I personally think you'd have a good chance. but, what did you mean, about her talking to me? She's not one to tell just one pony her problems, and that's if she tells anypony."

"So, if she talked to anypony about her feelings, she'd talk to all of you?" Firestar asked.

"Yes. Me, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Even you!" Rarity replied. "Unless of course, it was one of us that she had the feelings for, in that case she wouldn't talk to them for a bit, about that specific matter, at least."

"And has she?" Firestar asked hopefully.

"No, at least, not that I remember. if she has, she probably hasn't reached me yet. If she talks to me about it while you're asking Fluttershy and Applejack, I'll tell her your feelings for her. That will most definitely help her get the courage to ask you" Rarity reassured Firestar.

Firestar smiled, feeling much better now that he'd told somepony about his feelings for Twilight. And especially better that Rarity'd tell Twilight his feelings for her, should she have any for him.

"I have an idea!" exclaimed Rarity suddenly.

"What?" Firestar asked.

"I could tell her at the picnic. quietly, so nopony else would hear, including you, really. Mostly to save both of you some embarrassment"

Firestar's eyes widened. "You'd do that?" he asked, disbelieving his ears.

"Of course I would! You're one of us! And besides, I love seeing couples form! And among my own friends! It'll be VERY interesting!" Rarity replied excitedly.

"Th-thanks, Rare!" exclaimed Firestar, stuttering, still not completely sure he was hearing her right.

"It's no problem at all! In fact, It'll be my pleasure!" replied Rarity.

Firestar smiled at Rarity, grateful. "Well, not that I want to, but I should go ask Applejack and Fluttershy. Besides, you have a new design you're making!" Firestar said.

"Alright then! See you at the picnic!" said Rarity, winking an eye mischeviously and smiling humorously.

Firestar chuckled, turned, and walked out the door. He turned onto the street whence he exited the boutique. After a bit of walking, he turned onto a path that wasn't often used by anypony but one. He was on his way to Fluttershy's.

Knock Knock Knock!

"Fluttershy, are you home?" yelled Firestar, trying to be heard through the thick wooden door. The door to Fluttershy's home opened.

"Firestar!" said the shy pegasus in a slightly louder than usual voice. "What brings you here?" She asked.

"Well, me and the others are all going to a picnic in a few hours, just the seven of us. That is, if you want to come?" Firestar said.

"Of-of course I would!" stuttered Fluttershy. She smiled, then said "Have you asked everypony else yet?" she asked.

"Everypony but Applejack." replied Firestar.

"Ok. I'll-I'll go! thanks, Firestar!" Fluttershy whispered, moving as if to close the door, but waiting to see if Firestar had anything else to say.

"Alright! see you at the picnic!" said Firestar. Fluttershy smiled and nodded. And then she closed the door. Firestar walked off, heading to AppleJack's farm.

After arriving at Applejack's farm, Sweet Apple Acres, Firestar looked around. Applejack was probably working in the fields with her brother, Big Macintosh. After a few minutes of walking, Firestar saw Big Macintosh bucking a tree. As he walked over, he saw Mac kick the tree hard, and all the apples in it fell out into buckets waiting at the bottom.

"Wow! Good kick!" Firestar said. Mac glanced over inquiringly at Firestar. Firestar explained "I'm looking for Applejack. I'm organizing a group picnic today, and I'm hoping she can come. I've already asked Twilight, Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy."

The earth pony perked up at the mention of Fluttershy. "eh, what time?" he asked. Firestar looked at him, and internally smiled. He knew of Big Macintosh's crush on Fluttershy. What Big Mac didn't know, though, was that Fluttershy liked him back. "In a couple hours." he replied. "Well," he amended "An hour and a half, now."

Big Mac nodded. "Alright. Applejack's over there. And Firestar? Do ya-"

Firestar held up a hoof to stop him from speaking. "I know what you're going to ask," he said, whence Big Mac saw it. "And yes, you can come too. In fact, I think you'd probably make Fluttershy's day, just by showing up!"

He saw Big Mac's confused look. "I know how you feel about her, Mac. And, trust me, she feels the same way about you." He smiled. When he saw Big Macintosh trying to comprehend this new information, he chuckled once softly.

"Um... well, uh, thanks, Fire." Big Mac said

Firestar smiled. "No problem. In fact, can I let you in on a secret?" He asked.

Big Mac looked at him. "What kind?" Mac asked cautiously.

"Personal. Like your feelings for Flutters." Firestar replied

"Okay..." Mac said, curious.

"I've got the same for Twilight" Firestar said quietly, moving closer to Macintosh so he could hear. Big Mac's ears went up, both in surprise and in trying to hear Firestar better.

"A bit unexpected huh?" Firestar asked. Macintosh nodded. "Well, I'll wish us both luck, then! I'll go invite Applejack. See you at the picnic!" Firestar walked off. Big Mac nodded and went back to working. "Eeyup!"

Firestar walked off in the direction Big Mac had pointed to. He found Applejack just finishing up a tree. "Hey, Applejack!" he yelled.

"Just a second Sugar!" Applejack yelled back. She looked one more time over her shoulder at the tree, and then kicked out. The tree shook violently, and apples tumbled down. A couple landed outside of the buckets below, but most of them landed inside in neatly.
Firestar trotted over and grabbed one of the apples that hadn't made it to a basket and plopped it inside the nearest one. He looked over to find Applejack had done the same.

"so! What brings ya 'round here, partner? We ain't selling yet." She asked.

"Well, Me, Twilight, and them are all going to a picnic. I was hoping you could come too. Could you?"

"Of course! I haven't gotten ta see 'em much lately! Ya just gave me an Apple opportunity!" Applejack replied happily.

Firestar chuckled. "An 'Apple' opportunity! That's new! I like it!" He smiled.

"Well, I'm almost done with the farm, and then I'll go help Mac finish. When's the picnic?"

"An hour and half from now, about."

"Alrighty then! I can definitely make it!"

"Great! See you then!"

"See ya, Fire!"

They both walked their own ways. Firestar, to his house in the middle of Ponyville, and Applejack, to the barn, with a cart full of apple barrels.

Whence Firestar got to him home, he immediately went to his bed, set a timer for half an hour, and went to sleep. When he woke up, it would be time to get ready for the picnic, which would then be only a half hour from starting.

Author's Note

Alright, I'm just gonna say this right here, so that I don't get pestered about it later on:

For this specific story, I'm not going to put much environmental detail in. I'll describe the basics, and leave the rest to your imagination.

Firestar is an alicorn, but he's not part of royalty. I guess you could say this is an alternate universe where there are a rare few natural-born alicorns with no royal bloodline.

Also, if I get something wrong that's showed in the TV show, please tell me. I've only seen the first 3 episodes, along with a few scattered ones all throughout the the 4 seasons currently out.

Prologue part 2: The Picnic

Author's Note

If the quality's bad right now, it'll probably get better when I'm at parts that I'm genuinely interested in. I'm doing this prologue for a little bit of background, not much more. Except for the part where they're on Earth.

I enjoy first person more. Although I might or might not be better at third-person. What do you guys think?

BTW, when I'm writing something like seconds, think of this: my version of seconds is counting: One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, etc.. So 5 or so seconds can actually mean quite a bit of time when it comes to things such as conversations and awkward moments.

You don't want to know how many times I somehow messed up Sanchez's name... lol

Prologue part 2: The Picnic

POV: Firestar, first person

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!

"Agh" I groaned softly. I tapped a button on my alarm clock and it stopped. I got out of bed, and walked over to the mirror. I look fine! I thought. I walked out of my room and into the kitchen. I glanced at the calendar, stopped, and looked back at it.
1 word on today's date stood out: PICNIC

"Oh no!" I exclaimed. I dashed back into my room and looked at the alarm clock, remembering as I did so, that I had set it for half an hour before the picnic.

I quickly gathered up a bunch of food, grabbed a couple large towels, and walked out the door.

POV: Twilight Sparkle, first person

I wonder when Firestar will get here? I thought. I couldn't wait. I hadn't been able to see any of my friends for a while, lately, and Firestar... well, Firestar was Firestar! I couldn't get tired of being around him. I'd finally admitted to myself, a little bit after he left, that yes, I DID have a crush on him. A big one.

I just wish I'd been able to ask him before he left my home, 2 hours ago. Oh well! you might be able to ask him here! I smiled at the thought. I might be able to do just that.

"Thinking of him, darling?" Rarity asked. I jumped, cheeks burning. "Rarity!" I said quietly. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh Twilight! Don't tell me you haven't been!" She said, chuckling.

"That's beside the point!" I whispered. I glanced around. Everypony else at the picnic was scattered all over the place, chatting.

"I don't think so!" Rarity said. "What do you think of him?" She asked. I looked at her.

"And what do you mean by that?" I asked, wondering if she meant what I thought she meant. She just laughed.

"I mean, do you like him or not?" I blushed even more. "I think that confirms it!" She exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. Yes, I like him. A lot. But please don't tell anypony else!" I admitted. She just smiled.

"Of course I won't! But, can I give you a little tip?" I tilted my head, confused.

"A tip?"

"Yes. Well, tip probably isn't the word. More like a snippet that could help you."

"Um... okay." I said, still confused, wondering what she was going to say.

"He likes you back" My mind practically froze. My mouth opened a little, and my eyes widened.

"Really!?!" I asked, disbelieving. Rarity laughed.

"Oh, you should see your face right now! But yes, darling, he does. In fact, just today, when he came over to invite me to this, he asked me for tips to ask you out!" I could feel myself smiling wide, uncontrollably.

"Thank you, Rare!" I exclaimed. She looked over my shoulder.

"You're quite welcome, dear, and you'd better turn around, now." I turned. And my stomach did flips of joy. Firestar was trotting over to us, smiling like usual.

POV: Firestar, first person

I trotted over to Twilight, who was talking to Rarity. I glanced at Rare, and she nodded and winked at me. I looked back at Twilight.

"I'm guessing I'm the last one here?" I said.

"Yeah, but you're still on time." she replied.

"Hey, Fire?" said Rarity. I turned to her. "If you want, I'll set everything up. You two probably have some catching up to do."

"Thanks, Rarity!" I smiled and handed her the baskets I was carrying. She walked off, levitating them over to a spot on the ground, and started setting it up.

I turned back to Twilight, who quickly looked away from me.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked, after she didn't look at me for 5 seconds straight.

"Yeah, I just..." She sighed. "Trying to get something out of my head."

"And into words?" I asked. She looked at me and nodded, and I realized she was blushing. I smiled even more at her.

"I think I know what you're going to ask." I said. She tilted her head, confused.

"You do?"

"Maybe. Were you gong to ask me-" I stopped. She was looking around, confused by something. "What?" I asked.

"You don't hear it?" She asked, and suddenly I did. A strange noise, almost like a musical note. Deep and quiet. I noticed the others were all looking around too.

"What's that noise?" I asked.

"I don't-" Twilight started to reply, but then her eyes widened. I looked over to where she was staring and saw a weird... Portal-like field shimmering in the air. Only it was huge. Bigger than the trees of the Everfree Forest. And it was moving.

"I don't like the look of that!" I said, starting to worry.

"I don't either." Twilight replied. "Let's go-"

"Ugh..." I groaned. What happened? I thought. I opened my eyes, slowly, and saw that I was in a corn field. About noon. I was about to look around, but then I realized that I could feel the ground beneath me, and... something... didn't feel right.

I brought my head up. And got REALLY confused. Am I in some kind of never-before-seen animal's body somehow? Then I heard a groan next to me. I looked at where it came from, and saw that there were a bunch of others with similar bodies all around me. I looked at the one next to me that was moving, and something in my mind clicked.

"Twilight?" I said, hesitantly and slightly disbelieving. The... thing next to me looked in my direction.

"Firestar?" She said, confused. I nodded.

"What happened?" I asked. "One second we were at the picnic and the next we're... wherever here is. With these weird bodies." I saw her look around.

"Okay, so obviously we're both from the same world..." She said, trailing off.

"Yeah, we're both ponies" I said. "Or, were." I corrected myself. She nodded.

"Okay, this is a lot like my time in the mirror world" She said. I nodded thoughtfully. She'd told me about the mirror world, where everyone was a "human" A couple months after we met.

"So," I said "These... things where our fore hooves used to be are, 'hands', and these are... 'feet'?" I asked, uncertain. She nodded.

"Stand on your back legs. Your front legs are called 'arms'. If you stand on all fours, you're considered crawling on your knees." She explained, getting up as she did so to show me how to stand.

I stood up, uncertainly, and almost toppled over. My legs were STRONG! Twilight caught me before I could fall on my face, though. I nodded to her. "Thanks" I said. She smiled.

"Anytime, for you." She replied, blushing. I laughed.

"I guess that's a clue as to what you were gonna ask me!" I said, still chuckling. She blushed and nodded. I smiled. Then looked down to make sure I was steady. I looked at my shoulder, realizing her hand was still on it. I looked back her and smiled. I could almost feel the heat on my face.

"Ugh..." Someone groaned. We looked over and realized that Rainbow Dash was sitting up, rubbing her head. "I think I have an idea of where we are. That mirror place" She said, still sounding only half-conscious. Twilight went over and helped her up, and they walked over to me.

"I'm not too sure about that." I replied, looking around. "There's no school anywhere that I can see. There's something over there," I pointed at a collection of buildings in the distance. "But none of them look that big."

"You'd be right about that." Said a voice. I gasped and spun around, hearing Twilight and Dash do the same. There was a man standing there, holding something big and black. He was pointing it at us. He was wearing some weird kind of clothing. It had a lot of pockets, most of them almost bulging. And there was something sticking out from a belt at his waist, at his side.

"Who are you?" I asked hesitantly. The man looked at me.

"I believe I'll do the asking here, mister." He said gruffly. "But, considering the circumstances, I'll answer this. Once. My name is Sanchez. First Lieutenant Michael Sanchez, United Sates Army Rangers. Don't even think of trying anything!" He snapped. I stepped back. I glanced over and saw Twilight and Dash looking just as confused as I was.

"And you three are?" He asked, sounding very impatient.

"I'm Firestar," I replied, a bit thrown off by his rudeness, causing me to stutter a little. "And this is Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash." I gestured to them. He just looked at me with an annoyed face.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Now seriously, your names." He said in the same tone of voice that he'd used the entire time.

"I am serious, those are our names." I said, confused and still stuttering just a bit.

"He certainly looks like he's telling the truth." A voice said. I looked around, confused, then started when another man rose up from the corn fields behind Sanchez.

"Look," said Twilight, stepping forward. Both men pointed the... whatever they were holding.... At Twilight. "It's a bit of a long story, so do you think we could find somewhere we could talk that isn't in the middle of nowhere?" She asked, using a polite tone. Sanchez stepped back towards the other guy, and said something that I couldn't make out. The man nodded, and Sanchez turned around and walked a few feet away, put his hand to his ear, and started saying things that I couldn't hear. I looked back at the other guy.

"What's your name?" I asked. The man looked at me, and said "I'm Captain Jacob Hector, same division as Sanchez." He replied, in a kinder tone than Sanchez did.

I looked around one more time. This day is getting crazier by the minute.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2: Meeting the group

POV: Brigadier Sergeant Joseph "Badger" Garrance, 1st person.

I looked up as the door opened, already reaching for my rifle. But I relaxed when I saw Jake and Mike. I did stand up, however, when 8 other people came in after them.

Jake gestured for me to come over to him, so I did.

"Badger, allow me to introduce you to some very strange people, with an even stranger story to match." I raised an eyebrow. This'll be good.

"This here is Applejack," I snorted, looked at Jake, smiled, tilted my head meaningfully, and internally wondered whether he was just playing a joke or if he'd cracked somehow.

"I'm being serious. That is her name. And that's one of the less weird ones." I tilted my head the other way, curious. He just nodded.
I chuckled softly for a second, then looked at the next girl that stepped up. "Rainbow Dash" She said, smiling at me. I smiled back Friendly, I like her.

"And then," said Jake, "We have Twilight Sparkle, Firestar, Rarity, Big Macintosh, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. I have no clue what the he** is up with the names, so don't ask." I took a look at all of them.

They all looked like nice people, for the most part I liked them. They looked trustworthy, too.

"Let me get the team." I said. I walked over to the makeshift barracks we had, opened the door, and yelled "Hey! We got some new people, come meet 'em!"

I heard everyone getting up inside, so I went back to the newcomers.

Everyone introduced themselves, ranks and callsigns only.

I knew their names, though. We'd all been a group for almost 2 years, now.

Sergeant Ethan "Cricket" Harper

Sergeant Robbert "Panther" Kidd

Sergeant Bruce "Snake" Woods

Sergeant Major Johnson "Snail" "Tiger" Parrot.

"One thing I wonder, is why John still won't say how he managed to get two callsigns." I said quietly to Ethan after he introduced himself. He nodded, agreeing with me. It wasn't like we hadn't asked. Even his squad didn't know. And he wasn't saying. He just shrugged it off.

"As long as they know the dangers of the world, they could be trusted with anything I'd trust John with. Although sometimes," I said jokingly to Snake, "That's not very much" Snake snorted and laughed. I smiled. We all liked picking on each other. What can we say? We're squadmates. And friends. What else do you do?

After everyone had introduced themselves, Jake grabbed Firestar and brought him to the storehouse.

POV: Firestar, 1st person

"Alright, you look like a guy who can hear a lot without losing it, so I'll tell you this:" Stated Hector. I nodded, and listened. "None of you can be freeloaders, you all have to earn your stay here. We were low before you all got here, and now that we have about 8 more people, supplies will be getting a whole lot lower, a whole lot faster." I nodded.

"It's not like we were planning on just sitting around while you all work yourselves asleep." I replied. "We'll work. And work hard. Applejack and Big Macintosh are farmers, and they're pretty strong. Dash is pretty acrobatic, and about as strong as Applejack is, too. Twilight's got a lot of stuff in her head, and so do I. If there's a puzzle, Twilight'll usually be able to figure it out pretty quickly."

Hector nodded slowly, liking what he heard. "And what about the others? Rarity, Flutters, and the Pinkster?" I chuckled at the nicknames.

"Well, Flutters' pretty quiet, so she can usually hear things a bit before we do... Pinks is really energetic, so she can run pretty fast. Then again, so can Dash. But Pinks is more used to being on the ground than Dash is. Anyways, Rarity... Well... I guess she could make things look good?" Hector laughed.

"Well, good looking stuff is good for morale, so I guess that's useful." He said, still chuckling. I smiled, glad that Rarity had a useful skill that she was good at. "So," I looked back at Hector. "You said you and Twilight were smart, right?" I nodded, curious of where this was going. "How smart? Um... let me give you a good puzzle. And you and her try to solve it. Deal?" I nodded. He walked over to Twilight and explained it to her, and she came over.

"Alright... Let me think for a second... how about this: You're trapped together in a room. There's one window about 15 feet up. No door. You have each other, a broken ladder, and pile of wood. How do you get out?"

"Hmmm..." I thought about it. "How is the ladder broken? and how strong is the wood?" I asked.

"Strong enough for one piece to support you without nothing below it, just the two ends anchored somewhere. And the ladder's broken because all the rungs are gone. Even the slots that the rungs are normally in are empty of anything."
I thought some more. After about half a minute... "Grab the wood, form most of it into rungs, put the rungs in at an angle, so they'll go in, then use the ladder to get to the window." I said. But then Twilight shook her head. "We don't know how big the window is, or if it's closed in some way, or how high up the window is from the ground, and we'd need another ladder to get outside."

"No problem. We'll just make a second ladder out of the remaining wood. Or maybe We'd flip the ladder and tip it through the window whence we've gotten to it. Hector? how big is the window?"

"About one-and-a-half your size tall, and twice that for width. It's got a normal flip-down shutter on it. All you have to do is push it."

"Then the problem is solved!"

Hector nodded approvingly. "That was pretty quick. Alright, you can improvise pretty well." He complimented us. "Oh, and by the way, just call me Jake. Or Jacob, if you prefer."

"Sir!" Badger walked up to Jake. "We really need to get a lot of supplies fast if we want to have them all here for more than a couple days without running out of food."

Jake turned back to me.

"Feel like going on a scavenging run?"

Author's Note

Snake's callsign is not a reference to Metal Gear, but if you want to, you can think of it as one.

Chapter 3: First mission

POV: Major Andrew "Wolf" Davis, 1st person

"Alright," I said. I was attempting to show the new people how to use rifles. "Look down this right here, make sure that what you're trying to hit is in the middle of it, then pull this." I indicated the trigger. "That's how you shoot. To get yourself able to shoot, you to push this to the other side" I indicated the safety. It was currently on. "Every gun is the same in this regard: If the safety is on the side it's currently on, then you can't shoot. Now, let's go over loading the gun."

1 hour later

"Alright, you're catching on quick!" I said, impressed with how fast they were learning everything. So far most of them didn't need more than 1 or 2 reminders. "I think you're set for the run!" They all smiled, glad they did well, and happy to finally be useful.

In 2 minutes, Hector had everyone ready to be given their assignments.

"Alright. Teams of 4." He said. "Snake, Tiger, Panther, and Cricket will stay here to defend the place." He indicated positions on the map of the building where they'd be. Then he moved the rest of us to a map of the city while they went to their positions.

"Hey, Jakester?" I asked.

"Yeah, Wolf?" Hector replied.

"I really hope you aren't planning on having a team of just newbies."

"No need to worry." Hector said.

"Okay. I want Sparky, Fire Guy, Dashster, and Sanchez to go to the diner we passed through on the way back here." He indicated where it was on the map, though we didn't need it.

"Then I want Jackery, Macaroo, Mage, and Pinks at the warehouse over here." He pointed to a warehouse about 3 blocks from here. I started studying the area around it.

"Huh?" said Applejack.

"You, your bro, Wolf, and Pinkie, go to the warehouse," he replied "and Twilight, Firestar, Rainbow, and Sanchez go to the diner."

POV: Captain Jacob Hector, 1st person

"And finally," I said, "I want Flutters, Rare, and Briggy with me at the route to Stronghold 21." I heard Badger suck in some air.

"Sir?" He asked. "Are you-"

"Yes I'm sure" I interrupted. "I know the way's crawling with those things, but it's gotta be full of supplies. 19 was the least loaded, and the only one not locked. Only we know the codes, and those doors won't budge under anything less than a fu**ing Jackhammer. We're running out of supplies, and even if we can't grab everything, we can grab a bunch of whatever we need, get out, and lock it behind us."

I gave him a look that I hoped said "We're doing this, and you can either help us, or grumble about it and help anyways." It must've worked, because he nodded.

I looked at the ragtag group that was us, And smiled. We could do this. Even with only an hour of training, the new people were showing promise. He**, the new people alone could probably take all of the route to 21 just themselves.

I did a quick check to make sure we were ready.

"Okay! Let's move out!"

POV: Firestar, 1st person

"So, what are we looking for?" I asked.

"Anything we can take with us," Sanchez replied, "But especially food, medicine and ammo. I want you three covering my back while i gather stuff up. I know what to look out for. Just tell me if you see one of those things, and if it gets close enough, try to take it out yourself. If there's more than 3 zeds, get me over to you." I nodded.

We went in to the diner, and he pointed at 3 spots all around.

"Get to those spots, and keep looking around. This'll take a few minutes" I nodded, and went to one of the spots he indicated. I looked around, but didn't see anything moving. I prepared for a boring wait.

A loud boom sounded behind me. I whipped around and brought my gun up, just in time to see guts fly away from a zombie's head.
I went white. My stomach rumbled. I felt horrible. I shook my head to get rid of the nausea, and turned back to the outside.

POV: Sanchez, 1st person

"Whew" I sighed with relief. I didn't expect a zombie to be inside a locked storage room. I wonder how long he's been in there?
I turned around to see Twilight staring at the zombie's decapitated body, looking disgusted. Dash was looking at me, checking to see if I was OK. Firestar was already looking back outside -good man- and ready. I gave Dash a thumbs up, and she turned back around.
Even at first glance I could tell Firestar was still fighting nausea. But that's to be expected. Only a few hours ago he was in a world where apparently violence alone was practically nonexistent. Now he gets to see a head blown open.

I turned back to the storage room and walked in carefully. If there's one, there's likely to be more.

Okay, no zeds. Let's search the place... Aha! Food! And... What's an SMG doing here? I picked up the SMG and examined it.
MP5, Holographic laser dot sight, extended 45 round magazine, fire mode set to fully automatic... And it feels almost empty. Of course.

"What do we have here?" I heard a smug tone say. I whipped around, but didn't see anyone.

"Who are you?" I heard Firestar ask. I took cover at the doorway to the storage room, holding a rifle in each hand. Da** it! I thought the back door was sealed shut!

"Moi? I'm just somebody who's trying to get by. And something tells me that it'd help me if I took what you have on ya."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He means," I stepped out of the storage room and locked my M16 onto the closest newcomer. "That he wants us to take him down the hard way, if he doesn't fu** off." I glared at him. He just chuckled.

"Oh, I don't think that's what I mean. What I mean, is that if you don't take off your gear and give us all of your supplies right now, my guys over there will blast a hole in your skull." He indicated to a spot where 4 guys with pistols and shotguns had us in their sights.

I quickly sized up the situation.

I had a fully automatic SMG, that may or may not contain enough bullets to take down the 4 guys.

I have my rifle trained on the 5th guy, who's by himself.

The 4 guys are aiming at all of us.

I decided not to risk it.

"What do-why would- we're not zombies!" Dash exclaimed, confused and frightened.

"What are you, an idiotic bit**?" The man turned on her. I took a step forward.

"Don't you DARE call her that!" I yelled. He looked back at me.

"What, did I offend your girlfriend?" I blinked. Girlfriend? really? There is no way I would think of her like that!

"You will tell your buddies over there to stand down, or go**ammit I will blast your head open before I go down! GET THE FU** OUT OF HERE!" I was about to think of something else to say, but then I remembered something...

half an hour ago

I grabbed my gun and headed for the door. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned.

"Hey," said Cricket "If you need a hand, just send up a flare. I'll be on the roof with a sniper rifle."

I smiled. "Thanks, man. Hopefully I won't need it, though.

Present

I aimed my gun at the ceiling and fired off a delayed flare round.

"And what purpose did that serve, other than wasting your ammunition and alerting every zed within half a mile?" He asked.

"Well, for one thing, it lets my buddies know that they need to kick you a**es!" I smiled smugly.

The man looked around, but, seeing no one, started to turn back around.

Suddenly, her jerked. I whipped towards the 4 other guys and used both guns to take them down.

After taking care of business in that direction, I looked back at my would-be thug. Well, he has a new air-hole for his brain.

"Well, that was interesting, but now I should gather what I can, and we should get the he** out of here. All these gunshots will have attracted every zombie within half a mile from here." I went back into the storage room and left the others to figure out what just happened and process it.

Author's Note

Just saying, for anyone that doesn't know how strong a Jackhammer is, think about this: Ever heard the phrase "Hot knife through butter?" Well, the cement of, say, a driveway, is your already warm butter, and the Jackhammer is your molten knife. That's how powerful a Jackhammer is.

Chapter 4: 21

POV: Captain Jacob Hector, 1st person

"Alright," I said "Let's go. I want to get back to 19 before dark, and we only have about half the day left."

I looked at the people with me, one by one. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Badger. They all looked confident.

We set off. Slowly creeping our way up the highway. I was concerned by the fact that we didn't see any zombies less than half a mile from us. It meant that either something happened, or the zeds were hiding.

The cement of the highway ground against my gear. It was uncomfortable, but not extremely so. Hey, at least there aren't bugs flying into your nostrils I smiled a little at the thought.

One thing you usually don't think about, is why the cars all look burned up and destroyed, but what's a little amusing, is that it was one maniac who burned and blew them all up. I thought back to what we'd seen at the beginning...

2 years ago

Why is he carrying a lit torch in broad daylight? I watched from a nearby rooftop through my sniper scope. I was doing recon on the area with Sanchez. We both watched, me through a scope, and him through binoculars, as he walked up to a car and put the lit end of his torch onto it, and stood there.

"No fu**ing way..." Sanchez mumbled.

"Yeah, what is he, an anti-industrialism club member?" I said rhetorically. Sanchez gave a single chuckle.

"Your getting all smart on me, Jake" He replied. I laughed.

"Good for you, maybe it'll rub off." I smiled.

"Yeah, as if! So are we gonna keep watching this guy, or-"

BOOM

"What the fu... He's blowing up the cars!?!" I yelled in disbelief

"Alright, how did he get explos... how the he** did that a**hole get C4!?!" Sanchez yelled, staring at the guy through his binoculars.

Present

We watched him for another half hour, until he had destroyed every car on the highway for about a mile. Then we packed up and left, I mentally chuckled. I still don't know why we didn't just shoot the guy. I reached a car and crouched next to it, aiming into the window to make sure the interior was clear.

"Alright, I don't see any zeds, so you can stand up," I said, "but keep your eyes open. They might just be hiding behind the cars. Or inside of them."

1 1/2 miles later

"Alright," I said, looking around, "We've only got about half a mile left, So keep your eyes even more open than they were! This section of the city got infested first, and has always been the most infested, since!"

I could actually see the two newbies stiffen. Badger, of course, just clenched his rifle tighter for a second, making sure he was ready.

"Remember, stay calm, if you see one, use the radio, and be as quiet as possible! I'd rather sneak past these things than blast them all. Let's go!" We set off at a relaxed standard pace.

1/2 mile later

"Alright, keep a lookout, and don't make a sound, if you can help it." I ordered. We looked around, and started stealthily moving off the highway, onto a road, and down to the end of the road.

"Okay," I said softly over the radio,"Stronghold 21 should be at the other end of the street around this corner." I motioned for Badger to move up.

"I've got at least 15 zeds on this road, go prone!" He whispered a few seconds after disappearing from view. I went prone, and watched the newbies do the same. We crawled up slowly and turned the corner.

How the fu** is the other street completely clear, and this one has at least 20 zeds? I did a head count. At least 30 zombies, on one street. Shi*, I didn't realize it was this bad! I crawled forward until I reached Badger.

"Alright, single-file, follow my lead!" I whispered through the radio. I crawled ahead of Badger, found a clear route on the side of the street, and went for it.

I really hope these zeds don't care about things crawling around... I stopped to let one walk out of my way, before I got within a couple feet of it. It walked off. I started crawling again.

5 minutes later

"Regroup on me, and crouch. I'm entering the code!" I waited until they'd all gotten to me, and were hiding behind something, before I sneaked over to the keypad. I stood up slowly, careful not to make any noise or fast movement. I entered the combination, and pressed unlock. The keypad flashed green, and I heard a soft click as the door's multiple locks, bolts, and entrance alarms automatically disengaged. I crouched again and sneaked over to the door, motioning for them to come over to me. "Badger, you and Fluttershy make sure it's clear! Rarity, you go in after they radio in the clear!"

Badger and Fluttershy moved to the door, and Rarity positioned herself next to Fluttershy. Badger opened the door slowly and silently, gun raised in case the room was occupied by hostiles. As soon as Badger was out of the doorway, Fluttershy raised her gun and went in.

"Clear" Rarity went in. I backed in after her, and shut the door.

"Okay, let's check out what's for sale!" Badger said.

I went to the door leading to the main section of the warehouse. I peeked in, and my breath caught.

“Whoa!” I breathed. The room was literally filled halfway to the ceiling with all sorts of things; Ammo, imperishable foods, various medicines, tools for construction, repair, and maintenance, and even books. The list went on and on.

“Yeah, I think we won’t need to go scavenging anytime soon…” I said in awe.

Author's Note

Standard pace meaning, they take 60 steps a minute, usually of the same size. In marching, the steps would be synchronized as well, and - at least if you're in my marching band - Each step is 1/8 of a yard (not sure what that'd be in meters). Relaxed meaning the only requirement is that you get the distance you need to get in the amount of time you need to get it: 38.75 yards per minute is the only requirement. Steps and such aren't needed. I'm in a marching band, and I'm interested military stuff. What can I say?

Weird thing: Apparently, snuck is slang, and isn't recognized by Microsoft Word. The correct word is sneaked. -shrugs- Who knew?

As I said in the comments right before I started on this chapter, I'm writing this for my friends and anybody else who likes this story. If you don't like it, it's not my problem. I mean no offense at all to anyone. I'm just saying that if you criticize, I'll read it, and if I find anything that I think is worth changing, I'll change it, but other than that, I'm going to ignore that comment.
If I change anything that you criticized I might reply saying what I changed, but other than that, don't expect a reply.
Again, no offense meant.
If this story for some reason gets taken off, there are other websites I can write on. And I have this story in a Microsoft Word Document, so I won't lose it.
If it does get taken off, I'll post on my profile what website I'll use.

Chapter 5: Newbie

6 months later

POV: Midnight Blackbird, first person

"Aargh!" I grunted. Stupid leg! Why didn't I see it coming? I barred my teeth, and kept going. I really hope I don't have to deal with any more idiots who think I'm easy prey. Cuz I'm not so easy! Even with a big, stupid, leg, with a stab-wound in it!

I continued limping down the street. I knew I was being followed. If they think I'll go easy, they're in for a BIG surprise!

POV: Sergeant Ethan "Cricket" Harper, 1st person

Lookout duty. So boring when there's nothing to see. Oh well, at least there IS nothing to see, instead of watching some nut-job try to break in. I sighed. It was going to be a long day...

"What the..." I spotted something moving in the distance. I grabbed my military-tech binoculars and zoomed in. A white woman with short, black hair, was limping down the road, clutching her right leg. Why do I have the feeling that some of the newbies need to see this? I asked myself even as I quickly walked to the door, opened it up, and yelled, "Hey! Cap! You and a couple newbies come on out here! You'll wanna see this!"

Ten seconds later, Jake, Firestar, and Twilight walk through the door. I hand Jake the binocs, and point the person out to him.

"And look to the right, too. Looks like she'll have some unfriendly company." Jake said.

I looked over with another pair.

Sure enough, a group of 5 guys were waiting in an alleyway. One was holding some basic civilian binoculars, and was aiming them right at the girl.

"Hey, Fire. Take a look." Jake handed him the binoculars. Firestar took them, looked in, and gasped.

"Midnight!" He whispered, and his face went white. Suddenly, he took off, dropping the binocs on a chair as he went.

"Fire!" Twilight ran after him. "Fire, where are you going!?!"

I ran after them, and grabbed a couple pistols from the armory on my way. I had a feeling we'd need them.

By the time we got to her, it was almost too late.

Two guys were on the ground, lying in puddles of blood. Stab wounds. The other three were up. One was trying to knife the girl, but she had a blade of her own.

She didn't look too well. Her leg was just about ready to collapse. But she was holding. She was in some kind of stance. I'd never studied martial arts, outside of what was mandatory for the group, so I didn't recognize it. Frankly, I didn't even know if it was an official stance.

"Twilight!" I yelled. She turned. I tossed her one of the pistols. She caught it and turned back around, cocking it as she went.

"Midnight!" Firestar yelled. The girl turned, startled.

Bad move. One of the guys tried going at her.

She must've heard him, or had really good instincts. She whipped back around, dodged his swipe, and planted the blade in his stomach. Unfortunately, her reaction didn't take her leg into account. She fell, letting go of the blade as she did.

The guy stumbled back, clutching the hilt of her knife. He pulled it out, and collapsed, blood coming out of the wound rapidly.

A shot rang out. Twilight was holding her gun up, aiming it at one of the other two guys, one of whom had just collapsed, with a new breathing hole in his head.

I was surprised she didn't seem shocked. But then I saw it. He had a gun. And, judging by where his arm was before he collapsed, he was aiming it at Firestar, who was still running at them.

Ah. I thought.

The third man, disoriented, decided to attack Midnight. She looked up just in time. She rolled out of the way.

She made another mistake, though. She kicked at the man's leg. It worked, but it was her injured leg. She screamed and clutched it.

Firestar finally got there, and went immediately over to her.

POV: Twilight Sparkle, 1st person

I ran over to Firestar.

"Are you okay?" We both asked. Me to him, and him to the girl.

"I'm fine!" The girl snapped, looking at me and Ethan. He and the others had told us their real names a couple of weeks ago.

"Midnight," Firestar replied "these are friends, you don't need to-"

"I said I'm fine!" she pushed him away and got him.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Firestar said, starting to walk after her.

"Somewhere better than here!" she yelled back.

"We have a safe place! Come on!" she stopped.

"Come ON, Midnight." Firestar pleaded. I looked at him.

"Firestar, who is she?" I asked quietly.

The girl turned around and started to come back.

"Midnight Blackbird. An old friend." Firestar replied, walking towards her.

Ethan came up behind him. He walked over to Midnight and tried to help her.

"I said I'm FINE!" She yelled. She pushed him away. Hard. He stumbled.

"No you're not." I said. Midnight glared at me. "Look at yourself! You're hurt, limping, and you can barely walk. Let him help you."

"I don't need any help." She said between her teeth.

I turned to Firestar. "You're saying somepony from Equestria's like this?" I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "She wasn't super nice, like you and the others, but she was nice enough. It might be something about her past, though I've only asked a couple of times."

"...And?" I asked, after getting no further explanation.

"Well, the second time, if looks could cause heat, I'd be a small pile of ash before I even came to Ponyville" he replied.

I raised an eyebrow, then looked back at Ethan. He'd managed to convince her that she could use the help, and was currently supporting her on her injured side.

When we finally got back to Stronghold 21, where we'd ended up moving everything, Wolf came out.

"Cricket, what the fu** was that?" He asked, displeased at the lookout for running off.

"We've got another one, sir." Ethan replied.

Wolf looked at Midnight. "What's your name?"

"Midnight. That's all I'm saying-aagh!" She winced as her injured leg decided to give up. She collapsed to the ground.

Firestar ran over, and Cricket and Wolf bent down to help her back up.

"I'm fine!" She said angrily, pushing their hands away and getting up herself.

I noticed Hector leaning against the door as we went in. He grabbed Cricket's arm as he walked by. "We'll talk about this later." He said.

Cricket nodded "Yes, sir." he said quietly.

I shook my head and walked off. Hector needs to learn that other people have feelings, too.

POV: Firestar, 1st person

"So," Midnight said, as we were walking to the makeshift infirmary we'd set up, "How've you been, since, you know..."

I shrugged. "Okay. Recently, pretty good."

She raised an eyebrow, and looked around. "You call this 'pretty good'?"

I shrugged again. "At least until this all happened. By the way, how'd you get here?"

"I was actually going to visit you, but you weren't home. I turn around, and black out."

I opened my mouth, but then...

"Oh! Who's this?" Said Snake.

"An old friend, Midnight Blackbird."

"Another one from...Equestria?"

I nodded.

Midnight walked forward, towards a bed we'd set up. "Let's just get this over with." She clambered onto it.

"So," Snake said, "anything besides your leg?"

"No." She said, with no emotion whatsoever in her voice.

Snake paused, glanced at me, and continued setting up his equipment.

"So who's that one girl you were with?" Midnight asked me. "I feel like I know her from somewhere."

I could feel my face heat up a little. "Twilight Sparkle."

"No way, the princess?"

I nodded.

"What's she like?" My foalhood friend asked.

"Nice, caring, rational, and one of the smartest ponies you'd ever meet." I said. I caught myself going into a daydream, and shook my head to get out of it.

"Judging by what you're looking like right now, I'd say you've found someone to finally replace me."

"What?" I said, confused. Then I laughed "You know you can't be replaced. But, yeah, I like her. A lot."

"Well, if you're here, I guess I can stay, too." She said.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "What, no teasing me about falling for a princess?"

"Oh, trust me; I'll tease you a lot! But right now, I want to get my leg fixed, and get comfy."

Uh oh. Well, I guess I was inviting the teasing, since I was the one who fell for Twi.

"I'll get the bunking list" I walked over to a desk on the other side of the room, opened it, grabbed the notebook that was in it, and walked back.

Midnight grabbed it, looked through the list, and laughed. "Of course you'd bunk with her! Don't tell me; have you... you know what, yet?"

I could feel my face heat up. A lot. "...No."

Midnight looked at me approvingly. "At least you're not in it for the bod."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said, mocking offense.

"...Nothing." She replied.

I recognized the signs of her not wanting to talk about it. Must be a part of her past. I left it alone. If she didn't want to talk about it, then I couldn't do much to help.

Eventually she decided to bunk with Panther.

I took the notebook, wrote down her name in the spot she chose, and walked back. I decided to refresh my memory, and took a quick glance at the bunking arrangements. A few of them made me laugh, as I knew that a couple of them, like mine, were because of personal attraction.

Jacob Hector

Micheal Sanchez, Rainbow Dash

"Wolf", Applejack

"Badger", Pinkie Pie

"Cricket", Rarity

"Panther", Midnight Blackbird

"Snake", "Tiger"/"Snail"

Fluttershy, Big Macintosh

Twilight Sparkle, Firestar

"Fire!" I heard a familiar voice call out as I put the notebook away.

I walked over to Twilight.

"I found some old documents. Why would they be keeping things about themselves here?" She asked, already going back to staring at the papers she was holding.

I cocked my head. "What?"

"Here, look."

I looked. Part of a name was blacked out on both papers, as if someone took a pen to them, but otherwise they was fine.

Sergeant Major Michael Sanchez, Psychological evaluation, as of 2008

Evaluator: Adam lllllllllll, Silver Strike adviser, "Hawk"

Michael Sanchez is a trusting, loyal, and well-trained soldier, but his years of field experience has made him very cautious when placing said trust. It is not recommended that he be in any situation where diplomacy is needed, as he is irritable, quick to anger, and, whence he loses his temper, he can be forgetful of the situation. Despite these drawbacks, his incredible skill and stable-under-pressure mindset make him ideal for special operations. Considering his past of volunteering for extremely difficult missions, up to and including ones thought to be suicidal, I recommend he be placed in a special operations group. He has some skill in leadership, but doesn't agree with certain leadership requirements. Therefore, if he is placed in a group, he is not to lead it, if possible.

Skill-wise, Sanchez has shown incredible ability, for receiving only standard Ranger training. His mindset is also good, as he is not too bothered by the prospect of killing to not hesitate, when needed. Like most soldiers, he does not enjoy killing, but he is less bothered by it than most. In combat, he has a clear head, and can think quick and rationally. His skill with weapons is on par with a new Silver Strike member. His specialty seems to be shotguns, but at this time it is not that obvious. He is fast, and knows how to maximize his running speed while roadie running.

The other paper, just as surprising, was one of Hector.

2nd Lieutenant Jacob Hector, Psychological evaluation, as of 2002

Evaluator: Johnson lllllllllll, Golden Sabre adviser, "Eagle"

Golden Sabre, at this time, is an experimental-stage military project

Jacob Hector is a scarred man, though he doesn't show it. Just over 2 years ago, on a routine mission, he lost his entire squad. He was the only survivor, and was badly injured. He miraculously recovered within a few months from his injuries, and, incredibly, was left almost completely fine by the encounter. He doesn't even hold a grudge against those that killed his squadmates. He says, and I quote, "If I hadn't been completely helpless, and I was instead out there, and armed, than only a few, if any, of my friends would have died." He doesn't think of the incident as failing to save them. His logical mindset has, rightfully so, told him that he wasn't responsible for letting them die. He had been previously injured, and was unable to reach a weapon until near the end of the skirmish.

His combat skill is extraordinary, beyond that of even most special forces. As the recruiter of Golden Sabre, and its eventual adviser, I recommend him for the project. Not only do his fighting skills more than match the requirements, he's calm, level-headed, quick-thinking, and very good at leadership. And he hasn't even taken officer training. If I may put in my own personal comment, I don't believe he needs to. It'd only be a formality. He already does what officer school teaches you to do, without knowing it. He also knows the signs of a liar, and knows how to look for them.

Whether he knows it or not, he also sees potential in others very well. When he had to encourage a few soldiers, he did it well. Two of them, in particular, were told by him "I see a lot of potential in you. You just have to unlock it." Those two soldiers went on to become some of the best we had, at their time. His instincts and observation skills are excellent. In simulation training, he avoided 3 ambushes, two of which he never knew about. a fourth ambush found him, but he and his 5-man team took it down with only one simulated injury, and no casualties to his side. His teammates followed his orders without question, even when he didn't provide any explanation. They trusted him completely. I mention this because, at the start of training, they not only hated him, but actively antagonized him. That simulation training was only a month in.

Jacob Hector is a man to be reckoned with. As an enemy, he'd be your worst nightmare. As a friend, you could blindly trust and follow him, and he'd deliver. As a squadmate, he'll see the reasoning behind almost every command. He's not afraid to speak out against it, though he rarely does. But he always backs up his decisions, whether he ever voices those reasons or not. Whether he even realizes he does or not. As a leader, he'll deliver the primary objective, and usually the secondaries, as well.

I know I sound like I'm sugarcoating this, and I might be. But not a large extent. This man is a prodigy, whether he or anyone else knows it or not. He's the perfect candidate for Golden Sabre. And I don't just mean any operative. He could be the leader of the squad. He certainly has the required skill-set for it. In fact, his skill-set is actually much higher than required.

"Why would they have papers like these about themselves?" I thought out loud.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, "but I don't know if we should be reading them."

"They were just sitting there, where anyone could find them. Unless they forgot about them, then they don't care."

"But that's what I'm worried about, that they just forgot about them, and that they'll be mad we read them!"

I grabbed her shoulders to steady her before her already half-present panic attack could fully set in. I looked her in the eyes, and made sure she was looking back. "Twilight, even IF they forgot about them, it'll be fine. Hector, at least, will see that they were just laying around, and he won't be mad. You and I both know he appreciates curiosity."

And it was true. Early on, when Applejack had been shy about wanting to ask something, he saw through it, and said "if you need to ask something, ask it. Knowledge is a whole lot better than ignorance."

She calmed down. She breathed deeply, helping herself get back to normal. "Okay, okay, okay." After a few seconds, she looked at me and nodded. "Thanks."

I let go of her, and nodded. I flashed a smile to show that everything was alright.

Author's Note

I probably won't introduce any more pony characters. But, in the two-or-so sequels to this, I might take requests for adding in some OC's. Though they probably won't be anything but minor characters with a few scenes, as I'm bad at getting multiple different personalities in one go.

The psych evaluations and such were written down off the top of my head. They were spur of the moment things that I decided would be an interesting addition to the story. Making it a document was an idea inspired by the story "Stardust," which is an XCOM/MLP crossover. It's really good, so if you like that kind of thing, check it out!

Roadie running may or may not be the actual term. It's basically bending over so that you're at waist height, and running. Useful for being a smaller target, while still going fast. Gears of War is a video game series that has roadie running in it, if you want to check out what it looks like irl.

NOT FINISHED

Chapter 6: The start of something (Romance chapter)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.