Forget About Freeman

Perspective of Henry Maverick

"Explain why a Russian soldier is laying on the floor, Twi." I growled. It kind of scared me that he had a bullet wound in his back.

"W-well, I thought it w-would be good to bring another human..." the princess stammered, staring at the ground. I breathed in deeply.

"Why?"

"W-well, it's just... I thought you were lonely..." she mumbled. I couldn't stay angry, but an action like this rubbed me the wrong way. Something about bringing another human through seemed like it would cause some issues.

"Well, that's awfully sweet of you." I mumbled, before kneeling down to inspect the wound, only to find that he had another on his arm. The combination of these two wounds would certainly prove to be fatal. I looked back to my collision with Rainbow Dash, and how it sent chips of my ribs into my lungs. I'm starting to piece this together...

"Hey Sparkle, would you mind leaving for a few minutes? Our guest is starting to wake up." I instructed. "Don't wanna freak 'em out. Alicorns aren't around where I come from." The mare nodded and left, and I turned my attention to the new guy. After a few moments, he let out a moan and shifted to the side a bit.

"больно..." he mumbled. I smirked. Definitely Russian.

"You gonna wake up, little man?" I asked sarcastically, not expecting him to respond.

"I'm awake." Well, I'll be damned.

"Then sit up, numbnut!" I snapped. Slowly but surely, the man shifted into a sitting position. I was surprised by how easily he managed to move, considering his wounds. The soldier's eyes widened when he looked at his surroundings.

"Где я?" he gasped.

"Welcome to Ponyville." I chuckled. I was only assuming what he had said. "What's your name?" I asked.

"G-Grusha..." the man stammered after a moment. "Your name?" Jesus, his thick accent was badass.

"Call me Dutch." I introduced, saluting. "Where'd you learn English?"

"My parents were American immigrants." he explained. I nodded. I had a lot of questions about life in Russia, but I'm sure he had even more about Equestria. I did, however, want to know about those bullet wounds. The one in Grusha's chest was way to well placed to be survived.

"How'd you survive those?" I asked, pointing at the wounds. He had to think for a moment, but I wasn't surprised. It took me a minute to get focused once I had shown up here.

"No idea." he shrugged. "One minute I am shot, and next, I am here."

"Shot by who?" I asked.

"Aliens. Not like Black Mesa event; these ones have guns." Grusha said. His broken English made it sound even more mysterious. "They take over US in seven hours, but take longer to invade China and Russia." So the US was invaded by aliens in seven hours? Jesus, we must have sucked! "I am last man in base, hiding behind barrel. Aliens find me, offer to be prisoner. I couldn't live like that, so I said no and get shot." Man, that's some dark shit! Wait, so he died, then he showed up here? I thought. Did I die too? Is this actually a weird afterlife?

"Must have been a real shit sucker." I said. We sat in silence for a few moments, before I remembered something kind of important. "Grusha, listen to me."

"You have my attention."

"What you're about to see is one of the weirdest things you'll see in your life." I said, giggling like a child.

"Weirder than live giraffe birth on TV?" he asked jokingly. I snickered.

"Yup. Come in, Twilight!" I called out. Surely enough, the large doors to the royal library opened and a familiar purple alicorn stepped into the room. I wasn't shocked in the slightest, but Grusha was definitely confused. He just sat there and stared blankly for a few moments, until uttering a single word.

"Fascinating." he chuckled. Maybe this was a bit too much for a man that just woke up in a place he had no clue existed, right after dying?

"I know, right?" I agreed.

"I've died and gone to heaven." Ok, maybe I don't agree anymore.

"Nope, you're very much alive." I corrected. He gave me a "yeah right" look.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked him, gazing at his wounds with surprise. He shook himself awake, and looked over at her. Grusha's expression told me he was terrified that she could talk.

"Grusha, how about you go lie down for a while?"

I sat on the steps of Fluttershy's front door. Inside, Twilight and her friends were discussing something they didn't let me in on. Meanwhile, Grusha was wandering the woods in hopes of finding something. He didn't say what. The door opened behind me, and I saw who I was told was the local tailor. Her eyes widened at the sight of me.

"Goodness dear, what are you doing in this cold weather?" she asked. Another brit.

"Just thinking about stuff." She was right. It seemed that Equestria was drifting into winter.

"Fluttershy would like you to come in." the mare explained. I reluctantly stood up and followed her back inside.

I hadn't really realized how cold it was outside. Upon stepping inside, a very pleasant wave of heat splashed over me, and I shivered with relief. For a house without any form of heating system, 'Shy's tree was very warm. The girl's were having a conversation, so I went upstairs to wait it out. On my way up, I was surprised to be stopped by that Rainbow scumbag.

"Where are ya' going?" she asked, a suspicious frown settling onto her face.

"Upstairs."

"Not so fast, mister!" she snapped, dragging me back down the stairs. Her strength surprised me. I was confused, but just let it happen. The pegasus sat me down at Fluttershy's table, and went over to the only other empty seat. Around me was Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, the tailor, Rainbow, and some random orange mare wearing a stetson.

"As you know, we are going to war." Twilight announced to the table. Fluttershy seemed surprised by this news, and her eyes widened. "Dutch, you'll be leading the Ponyville royal guard brigade." the princess said, turning to me. Wait, she's telling a corporal to lead a brigade? Hah! "The war is currently at a stalemate, but it won't be for long. Once we get our hooves on enough equipment, then we will lead the main offensive on their borders. Any questions?" Not a hoof -nor hand- was raised. "Good. Meeting dismissed." Twilight said, before getting up out of her seat. This was very serious, but somehow seemed funny. It seemed like a big deal, but the meeting was comically short.

"Hey Twi, may I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, while everyone else was dismissing themselves from the table.

"Of course." she replied, seemingly unaware she was still set to "falsely formal behavior".

"Approximately how long until we set this off?" I asked, raising a brow.

"As soon as you get us more weapons." she said hesitantly. I took the message, albeit with a bit of spite. Twi didn't waste time!

"I'm open tomorrow." I said.

"Deal." In two days, I would be in charge of the 1st motorized rifle brigade.

Somehow (Don't ask me how, I'm not sure myself), I managed to get Grusha to join me on another raid. He knew what the world had become, and he didn't want to go back, so he figured one last look would be enough. I was surprised to find that we were, yet again, in an oddly cold war-esc era. Perhaps the teleportation between worlds was messing with time? It would make sense, after the shit that had happened lately.

Me and Grusha overlooked what looked like a US base from the top of a hill.

"Think this'll start World War Three?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sounds like it makes sense." he muttered. "Alright, listen up; there is hostile APCs. Two, I think. M113s. Immobile, unarmed, shouldn't be problem. All men are currently off their guard, by look of things. I see total of ten men, minus vehicle crew. You ready?" He asked, turning to me. I nodded. "Then let us get this show on road."

The two of us were going to communicate via radios, so he didn't have to charge head on with a goddamn SVD. Instead, I could engage the guys below and keep them busy while he picked them off with the sniper.

I quickly but stealthily crawled to the bottom of the hill, frantically hiding behind rocks and bushes. A single wrong move could get me in some trouble. Then again, I was American! I could just walk in like I won the place! I radioed Grusha.

"I'm gonna use my uniform as an advantage. Follow my lead." I whispered. The radio clicked twice in reply, so I moved in. It looked like they were using early 90s era equipment, meaning my uniform wasn't out of date. I wouldn't stick out too much.

I casually walked into the base, rifle ready but aimed at the ground in a non-threatening manner.

"Who are you?" a man asked. He had a stout complexion, and a raspy voice.

"Call me Henry." I said.

"You sure you're at the right base? This is marines, not HECU." Dammit!

"I was instructed to check supplies, to make sure you guys were doin' well." It would work for the next two seconds. That would be enough time.

The soldier was about to question my response, when I clicked down the radio's transmit button and said "Hit it!". Almost immediately, a gunshot echoed off and the soldier's head split apart. I instantly twisted him around and used him as a shield. The rest of the soldiers in the base were taken by surprise when I fired rapidly into everyone I could, killing three men. Almost instinctively, I dove behind the nearest piece of cover, aware that the soldier's body would barely hold up.

Bullets zipped over me, but they were abruptly cut off at the sound of Grusha's sniper firing off rounds. I'm a fan of your work, Grusha. The radio clicked on.

"Scratch four. Reloading." Only a few left! I crawled around to the other side of the Humvee I was hiding behind, and peeked around the corner. I raised my rifle, and fired off two rounds into the only man in sight. He fell to the ground. Once I was sure the area was cleared, I transmitted.

"Area clear. Come on down and help me clear these vehicles." I instructed. I looked over to his hill, and sure enough, he was jogging down with his rifle.

"Which one first?" he asked. I waved for him to follow me, and quietly crept up to the nearest one. I threw open the doors, to find three crewman.

"Get your asses out here! Right now!" I shouted, waving my gun around. The terrified men quickly complied, and scrambled out before lining up in front of me. The idea to bring them to fight for Equestria flashed across my mind, but I couldn't do that to them. These men had families and friends. "Go grab us an assload of guns, and throw them in the APCs. Then, run before we pull the trigger." I snapped. The boys quickly followed orders. "Grusha, go clear the other vehicle." I instructed. The man did as he was told. I need to be less of an asshole, I realized.

I inspected the boys coming back with weapons, and an idea crossed my mind, so I stopped the trio.

"You," I pointed to the one closest to me. "Go grab a training manual for M113 drivers." I instructed. He gave me a confused glance, but still went to retrieve it. "You, grab some mags." I told the next one. "And you, you're good for now. Start running." I chuckled, before pointing my gun at him. The soldier ran, and I felt bad. I liked scaring the shit outta people, but not this much. Grusha came back.

"What are we gonna do with rest?" he asked, pointing to the last of the crew.

"Let 'em run." I said. At this, they too ran down the road leading away from the base.

It didn't take long for the two remaining crew men to return with the mags and handbook, so I threw those into the APC too before dismissing them.

"That was too easy." Grusha said. I nodded.

"Don't ask why, but hop in that APC so we can go home." I ordered. Grusha followed suite.

"Wait, how are we gonna get back to pony town or whatever?" he asked.

"Just trust me on this, bro."