//-------------------------------------------------------// Battlefield: Equestria (Part 2) The New Threats -by WhiteTone- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Two months later //-------------------------------------------------------// Two months later "Careful Reck. Watch it." Recker snapped out of his daydream of him and Pinkie and kept driving. He couldn't help it, he hadn't seen her in two months. Once they got the news that the Russians and the Changelings working together, Reck went to ponyvile to get his stuff and say his goodbyes. He was also given another night at his house to rest up. Pinkie came over that night and...well...lets just put it as this: They got on his bed and made out, and then the pants hit the ground and...you can fill in the blanks. So much for 'never going to screw a pony'. He looked at the road ahead. "You sure they are at the ruins of this place? They really destroyed the Crystal Empire." Pac looked over to Recker. "If intell is right...then they are in the castle." He stared thinking about Pinkie again. He began to veer off course. Irish put a hand on his shoulder. "Reck, whats going on man? Is it those ponies?" Recker never told them about him and Pinkie for obvious reasons. "Yeah, they are my friends, I haven't seen them in two months." Pac butted into the conversation. "Listen Reck, they are cool to be around, especially that Rainbow on-" "Rainbow Dash?" "Yeah, her. But still, I know they have a place in your heart, but you need to let it go for now. We will get the intell and get out without getting spotted. Then we will get to go back to base." Reckers eyes widened. The base they where in was at ponyvile, He would get to see them again. Recker stopped the car, got out, and looked in awe in what fell before him. "Holy shit." Irish stood right next to him. "You took the words right out of my mouth." It was a wall. Well...not a wall, but it acted like it, separating them from the snow storm and the warm spring day. "I guess this is why Shining told us to dress warm and bring the snow goggles." Recker said, still looking at the invisible wall. "Well Reck, we are awaiting your order." Irish and Pac said at the exact same time. "All right Tombstone, lets gear up!" They got their guns with suppressors and put their goggles on. They took a duffle bad out of the trunk for the any info they found. They stood just outside the storm. "Do ya think we can get through?" Pac said. Recker looked at him. "Only one way to find out." Reck took a deep breath, and walked into the storm. Even though they had layers, they where still cold as hell. The storm made it so they could only see two feet in front of their faces. "How do we even know where we are going?" Irish screamed against the storm, but the winds made it sound like a whisper. "Shining has done this before. He said just keep going straight and we will hit it." Reck screamed. "You trust those ponies WAY to much dude." Pac screamed. Eventually, they hit a spot where their was no storm, it was a dome like shape. And in it, was the Crystal Empire. Reck gave Pac an 'I told ya so' look. "Come on, lets get the Intel and get out." Reck moved ahead with Irish and Pac behind him. The town was at a state of ruin. Houses where collapsed and destroyed. Every corner had a guard stationed at it. The castle looked like the only thing that was untouched. Recker stopped at the entrance of the town and ducked behind a house. The place was crawling with Russians and Changelings. "Fuck me. There is too many of them." Pac sighed. "I guess we have to sneak our way into the castle." Irish agreed with him. "Yeah, that sounds really smart." Reck pulled out wolf tooth. "Okay, put have a knife ready incase someone, or something spots us." They all did the same. Tombstone squad made their way to the castle. They only had to take out one Russian who saw them. With a quick flick of the wrist, Recker imbedded his knife in his head. Irish and Pac hid the body and continued to follow Recker. Eventually, they made it to the castle. "Reck," Pac said. "What exactly are we looking for? A hard drive with info? Blueprints for something they are working on?" "Anything that looks useful," Recker said. "Blueprints, hard drives, notes, maps, anything the holds info." "Right on." Irish said. "Okay," Recker cleaned the blade of his knife. "Lets do this." Tombstone silently made their way into the castle. Surprisingly, it looked empty. Pac looked nervous. "I don't know man. This doesn't look fucking right." Reck agreed with him. "Yeah, maybe they are all having a meeting or something. I don't fucking know." Irish looked over to a door. "Shhh!" He started to whisper. "Reck, see that? There is a light coming from underneath that door." Recker looked at the door. He was right. Either something left a light on, or they are still in there. "Okay," Reck whispered. "On my lead." He made his way to the door. He slowly opened it. Inside there was a Russian and a Changeling, and they had their backs to them. Reck motioned for Irish to go in with him. Pac made sure nothing else was coming down the hallway. Reck motioned for Irish to take the Changeling. They got behind their targets and they stood up. Reck motioned for Irish to ready his knife. Reck then got ready. "Nighty night, bitch." He brought his knife to his throat and jabbed his knife into it, Irish did the same with the Changeling. Recker and Irish put a hand over their targets mouths to make sure they didn't made any noise. Recker moved his hand down to the Russians tags and pulled them off. He then removed his blade with the tags. He let the Russian go and he fell to his knees, gripping his throat, and fell to the ground. The Changeling did the same. "Holy shit Reck! We hit the jack pot!" Irish pointed in front of them. On the table were maps. "Hells yes." Reck said. "Grab everything. I want it all bagged and tagged." They took pictures of the set up and proceeded to carefully bag all of the maps. Each bag was labeled and was put safely away in the bag they took with them. Pac looked at Recker. "That it?" Recker gave Pac a look. "Fuck no. We need to keep looking. We may find something else." He motioned for the to move forward. They checked every room, bagging and tagging anything else they found. "This is the last room." Reck said walking over to a door. Pac opened the door. They walked in and saw a huge, metal machine. It looked like a sleeping pod of some sort. "Oh fuck!" Irish said, obviously impressed on what the thing was. Pac looked more impressed. "What do you suppose it is?" "I don't have a fucking clue Pac," Recker said. "Look for blueprints, maybe if we find them I-" They heard footsteps approaching the door. "Shit! Scatter!" Reck whispered. Irish dove behind a table, Pac squeezed behind some file cabinets, and Reck took to the shadows in a corner of the room partially hidden by boxes. It was a Changeling and two Russians. They Changeling looked a little nervous. One Russian looked over to it. "Changeling, do not worry. This Russian technology and Changeling magic. It no going to fail." The Changeling Stepped into it. The Russians strapped it down and closed the pod door. They flipped a switch and it started making noises. Then the Changeling started screaming in pain. The pod stopped buzzing and shaking and the Changelings screams stopped as well. When the pod opened back up, a huma- no. Not human, Changeling? What ever it was, it was one of the two. It had a human like body and Changeling like features. 'What the fucking hell...?' Recker thought. The Russians stopped the Changeling like thing from falling and gave it some clothing and put it on him. The Russian then spoke. "There see? Changeling now anthro Changeling. You get used to walking on two feet. It really easy." They helped the Changeling out of the room and closed the door. "What the fuck was that?!" Irish said coming out of his cover. "Did you guys see that shit?!" Pac said. "Holy hell!" Reck said. They all looked at the pod. Irish lit up. "Reck! If we can change this up a little, and get the blueprints back to base, maybe we could build it and we can use it on the ponies and they could help fight!" Reck liked the idea. "Yeah. We could. I want the blueprints found, now." They looked around the room until they found them. They found some other blueprints as well. "Reck! Look at this!" Pac said and he showed them a scroll. "A spell that allows anything to walk on clouds!" Irish found some blueprints to something else. "Guys look!" He showed the blueprints to them. "This is a gun! This, is one hell of a gun!" It looked like a laser rifle. "Holy shit..." Reck looked at it in awe. "Bag it and tag it. Garrison will defiantly want to see this." After they finished raiding the room the headed to the exit. "Come on, lets get out of here and get back to base." They almost made it to the exit when a alarm sounded. "Fuck! It's never that easy with us huh?!" Irish said as they ran out of the castle and made their way back to the storm. Bullets flew by them and they took to cover. "Fuck! We are going to have to shoot out way past these fucks if we want to get out of here!" Reck said as he took his SCAR-H and began to shoot at them. Pac and Irish did the same. Reck grabbed the duffle bad and started to run up to the next cover. "FUCK! PROTECT THE INTEL!" Pac looked up. "SNIPER! GET YOUR FUCKING HEADS DOWN!" They hit the ground as a bullet flew past them. Recker looked at the hole it made in the building behind them. "DUDE! THATS A FUCKING .50! GET INSIDE THE BIULDINGS! WE CAN HOPEFULY AVOID THE SNIPER THAT WAY!" They broke cover and ran into the building. They kept their heads down as they made their way through the building. As soon as they got to the back door, they sprinted to the next building. The Russians in the building looked over to them and started shooting. Tombstone took to cover, each member spread out. Recker poked his head out enough to shoot two of them in the head. Irish wacked one of them with his gun and shot him in the head. Pac vaulted over his cover and pushed his knife into the side of a Russians neck, right where his juggler is. He pulled off his tag and pulled his knife forward, severing the artery. Blood sprayed out of the side of the Russians neck as he grabbed it and fell to the ground. Once the Russian were all taken out, the ran out the back door to the pathway out of the town and back to the storm. They passed the invisible wall and once the exited the storm. They ran back to the jeep and put the bag into the trunk and got in. "DRIVE! DRIVE! DRIVE!" Pac shouted at Recker. Recker turned the jeep around and floored it. Pac looked back. "They aren't following, why aren't they following?" "The storm Pac," Recker said. "That's why we left the jeep here. You can't drive or fly through it." Pac fell back into his seat and started laughing. "Haha! We did it!" He looked back at the storm and gave a one finger salute. "Suck it dirty fucks!" Recker and Irish started laughing. "God Pac, chill out!" Recker said. "You seem really happy." "Happy?" Pac said. "Dude! Did you see how I took that Russians tags?! It was fucking bad ass! And how we hid from the Russians and that one Changeling in that one room?! Man! That was so close! I'm not happy, I'm fucking insanely happy!" Irish and Recker laughed again. "I think you are giving yourself a little too much credit buddy," Irish said. "It wasn't that cool how you took his tags. What did you say Reck when we both took out that Changeling and that Russian?" ""Nighty night bitch!"" Both Reck and Irish said at the exact same time and then the all laughed again. "Man! That felt so good to be out there with you guys again!" Recker said. Pac rustled Reckers hair. "Same here buddy!" "Same to the both of you." Irish said. They drove off back to there base. Back to Ponyvile. //-------------------------------------------------------// Back to Ponyvile //-------------------------------------------------------// Back to Ponyvile As they drove, Recker grew excited. He was going to be able to see his girl-err marefriend? Yeah. He was going to be able to see his marefriend. Irish looked over to Recker. "You really are excited about going back to base huh?" Recker smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am." He lit up when he saw the Ponyvile Train Station. He pulled the jeep over and exited. He got the duffel bag and made his was to Garrison. Garrison had made the Ponyvile Town Hall, with the consent of Celestia and the Mayor and the ponies, the HQ. They entered the HQ with the bag and intel. They were shocked to see Celestia with him. Garrison looked over to them. "Tombstone, I see you are back. You better have some good intel." Irish spoke up. "Its better than good sir. Its fu-err..." He stopped himself from cussing in front of the princess. "Its mind blowing. Amazing. This could very well end the war in our favor." "I'm listening..." Garrison said. Recker stepped up. "Look at this," He dropped the duffel bag on a table. He opened it and took out the maps. "They are planning on taking out Los Pegasus in 5 years time. I'm guessing they are preparing. That gives use plenty of time to ready up. But that's not all." He took out the blueprint for the anthro pod thingy. "This is, and please excuse my language princess, but this is a fucking break through. Look, it changes any pony-like thing, I say pony-like because the Changelings used it, and changes them into some sort of thing." He pulled out the diagram of a anthro that they found. "This, is what they turn into." Garrison looked in awe. "Holy fuck." Recker looked over to the princess. "Listen, if we can build this, if the princess agrees, we could very well use this on the ponies and they could help fight! We will have more solders and we will win faster!" Celestia looked at the plans. "Hmm...I don't know. You said that the Changelings used it. What if it was only supposed to be used on them?" "Then we can change it and make it for ponies," Pac said. "That Russian said it was Russian technology and Changeling magic. We can easily copy the Russians' technology. Maybe if we use alicorn magic, it will be compatible for ponies." Celestia took that into consideration. "Hmmm...yes perhaps...I suppose we could try." Garrison agreed. "Yes. If I get more solders, I'm happy. Good work Tombstone. You deserve a break. I expect you back in action in... 5 years. In joy your break, you deserved it." All of their faces lit up. "Really?! Whoa! Thanks Garrison!" Irish said. "Man! Your the best!" Pac said. "Sir yes sir. Thank you." Recker said. He could hardly contain his excitement. 5 years! He got to hang out with Pinkie and all them for 5 years before he had to go back out! "Now, get out. Me and the princess need to discus this anthro thing." Tombstone left the Town Hall. Pac lost control. "5 whole fucking years! Holy shit!" "Hells yes!" He and Pac chest bumped. Irish joined in. "I can't believe this! This is too good to be true!" Recker put Pac into a head lock and pretend to strangle him. "Ha ha! I can't believe this!" Pac wiggled his way out of Reckers grasp. "Wow! This is amazing!" Pac said. Reck instantly thought of Pinkie. "Come on guys. Lets get a bit to eat. I'm starving!" Irish said. They made their way back to camp. Once they got there they grabbed some food. They were offered actual food instead of the REMs. 'Thank god! Some actual food!' He attempted to savor his hamburger, but he had never had one in SO long, and he was starving! He hadn't eaten the whole day. Pac and Irish didn't judge when he scarfed the burger down, they did the same thing. After a hearty lunch, they headed back to there building. Each squad had a little building for them to stay in. Recker was going to stay at his house though. "Well I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna head home. I'm so fucking tired!" "We all are, and we all should." Irish said. "See ya Reck." Pac said. Recker said goodbye to his squad and made his way home. 'Sorry Pinkie, guess it will have to wait till tomorrow.' He thought. He opened his door and flipped the light on. He instantly was tackled as he heard "WELCOME BACK!" Pinkie attacked him with kisses. "Oh Reckie! I can't believe you are back!" She seemed a little heavier than he remembered. He dismissed it as stress eating, she was really worried when he left. "Heh, I told you I would be back Pinkie." He looked over to the other five ponies. "And it's great to see you all again." Pinkie got off him. He looked over to Twilight. "Princess." He said. The former unicorn giggled. "Please Reck, Twilight is just fine." She said. When Reck was gone, Twilight was made an alicorn and the princess of friendship. Rainbow Dash flew over to him. "What did you do? Where you completely awesome? Was it awesome? I bet it was." "Thank goodness you are okay," Fluttershy said. "It would have been horrible if something happened to you." "My! Look at your uniform!" Rarity said. "You ruined it!" He looked down. It was ripped and torn over the two months the was gone. "I will have to fix it right away! You can't be seen like that. Why didn't you fix it?" "Well...Canterlot didn't really have anything to do that." He said. Over the time he was gone, he and the rest of Tombstone camped out at Canterlot. "Well at lest ya are okay." Applejack said. "Yeah." Recker said. "Umm...Reckie?" Pinkie said. "There is something I need to ask you." "Shoot." "What would you think about being a father?" Reckers eyes shot open. "You really want to talk about doing that now?" "Just answer." "Well...Yeah I'd like that." "Good because you are going to be one in six months." "Pinkie, It takes nine months for that to happen." "Reckie, I'm two months with foal." //-------------------------------------------------------// To the checkpoint //-------------------------------------------------------// To the checkpoint "Reckie. We're home." Pinkie walked into the house with Artemis behind her. "Reckie?" She caught sight of the note on the table. "What's that mommy?" Artemis said. She looked at the note and read out loud. If you are reading this, it means I am gone. Me and Tombstone have left to Los Pegasus. I wish it could have been another way, but the Changelings and the Russians have already attacked. I'm sorry, but I have to break the promise I made of spending the week with you. Stop your crying, I know you are. It's okay. I'll be back before you know it. Please, tell our little Arty that I'm sorry. I wish I could still be with her. Please don't read this next part to her. Pinkie, my love, my life, If I don't come back and the rest of Tombstone does, then assume the worst. Pac and Irish would be more than happy to help you take care of Arty. Shining might help as well. They are good people, they won't let you down. You can continue reading to Arty now. I love you both so much. I will see you both before you can say cupcake. XOXO, Recker "Cupcake..." Pinkie said. Tears started streaming down her face. Artemis started crying, and Pinkie followed soon after. They held each other and cried. "B-But daddy said h-he would spend the week with u-us! He promised!" Arty sobbed harder. "I k-know!" They sat there and cried themselves to sleep. **************************************************************************************************************** Turn around Every now and then I get a little bit lonely And you're never coming round Turn around Every now and then I get a little bit tired Of listening to the sound of my tears... "Can you turn that shit off?" Shining screamed. "You're killing Recker!" Tears fell down Reckers eyes as he held the picture of his family. "Hey Reck, It's okay. We all promised. They will understand why you left. You didn't want to see them hurt, so you-" "I Pinkie promised." Recker interrupted. "YOU WHAT?!" Shining said. "How much?!" "The motions and everything." "How can you pinkie promise? Don't they have hooves?" Pac said. "No, not pinkie promise, Pinkie promise. As in Pinkie Pie promise. It's a promise that you can't go back on." Turn Around, bright eyes Every now and then I fall apart... "I said TURN THAT OFF!" Shining repeated. "Oops. Sorry." The driver turned it off. "Thank you!" Shining said. "I'm getting some shut eye." "Me too." Recker said. "And I" Pac said. "I guess we all are then. I'm tired as hell." Irish said. They all slept almost the whole ride there. When Recker awoke, they were almost at the checkpoint. He woke up the rest of Tombstone. "Hey, get up we're almost there." They awoke. Shining had a nervous look on his face. "Guess it's my turn to cheer you up." Recker said. "The field isn't that bad. You get used to the bullets flying past your head." "Thanks, I feel so much better now." Shining said sarcastically. "You're welcome." Recker said sarcastically back. "Alright Tombstone," The driver said. "This is as far as I go." They grabbed their guns and supplies and made their way to the checkpoint. Recker could still see the nervous look on Shinings' face. "So Shining," Pac said. "You ready to kick ass?" "Y-yeah...I guess." "Hold up. You guess? You don't guess, you know." Irish said. "S-sorry...just...nervous...that's all." "We all were our first times." Recker said. "And look at us now. We are ready to kick ass." "Squad!" Pac screamed jokingly. He got a chuckle from Shining. "Hey, you laughed! See, you are getting better. Just don't think about it." "Don't think about what?" Shining said. "Exactly!" Pac said. They laughed. "This is another reason we love having Pac around." Irish said. "He was the only person that could make Dunn laugh." "Well, it was a team effort with me and Recker." He said. "And god was it worth it!" "Best picture of my life." Recker said. "And remember that one time where he made Garrison laugh?" "Oh my god!" Irish said. "But Garrison seams like such a hard ass." Shining said. "He is," Pac said. "But I have my ways." "The funny part was that he was making fun of Garrison and he walked in on us as he watched for a little and then her started laughing." Irish said. "ALL RIGHT LISTEN UP!" Pac screamed. "I DON'T WANT NO BUBBLE BLOWING BABIES IN MY ARMY! SO GO KISS YOUR GRANDMOTHER, 'CUS SHE'S GONNA DIE ANYWAY FROM THE GIANT DICKS THAT ARE INVADING THE U.S.! THIS IS REAL WAR. NOT YOUR FANCY SMANCY VIDEO DO-HICKERS YOU MAGGOTS PLAY! SO-ARE YOU EYE BALLING ME PRIVET?! YOU BETTER STOP FUCKING EYE BALL FUCKING ING ME! OR I SWEAR TO GOD! I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OPEN, AND MAKE SWEET, SWEET LOVE, TO THE HOLE!" That set Tombstone off. They lost control and started laughing. Even Shining was laughing. "Celestia, I love ya Pac." Shining said. "No homo." Pac said jokingly. "HELLO!" Another set of laughs. "Thank you! I'll be here all week." "JELLO!" Recker said. Shining was feeling better now. "OH! Do that one thing! Ya know, with the story from middle school?" "Okay, okay." Pac said. "Oh you are in for a treat Shining." Irish said. Pac made his voice sound dramatic. "Okay. I am going to tell you my life story, starting, at middle school. This story, may make you cry. So get...a Kleenex. When I was 11 years old, and in the sixth grade, I had a tricycle, with pink tassels on the steering wheel. I was called bedazzle Pakowski. And that's the thing, I didn't have handle bars, I had a car steering wheel. It was a car steering wheel on a tricycle, and all my friends where like: 'Yo, Clayton. You can't have that steering wheel, You aren't old enough to drive!' And I was all like: 'I do what I want, because I'm bedazzle Pakowski." They all started laughing. Pac got his dramatic voice back. "But I will never forget...My math teacher, gave me homework," He pretended to cry. "But I didn't finish it! She gave me one more day, BUT I JUST COULDN'T DO IT! I COULDN'T!" More laughing. "You are amazing Pac." Shining said. "Awe, Thanks man- I mean stallion." Pac put him in a head lock and rustled his mane. Tombstone talked and laughed all the way to the checkpoint. //-------------------------------------------------------// Melee class. //-------------------------------------------------------// Melee class. Tombstone had arrived at the checkpoint. They grabbed some REMs and got settled in at camp. They would leave for the field the next day. Pac did a good job at stopping Shining from being nervous. You could barely even tell he had been nervous. When sleep finally came, they got settled in their beds. "All right Tombstone," Recker said. "We have a big day ahead of us. Get some shut eye. We get up at 0400 hours, and leave at 0500 hours." "Why so early?" Shining said. "More like why so late." Pac said. "What ever bedazzle Pakowski." Shining said. That got a small laugh from everyone. "Tombstone. Sleep, we are going to need it." They all slept through the night. Shinings' sleep was riddled with nightmares. He had a hard time falling asleep. Even though Pac had cheered him up somewhat, He was still terrified. "Can't sleep?" Pac whispered. Shining jumped. He looked over to the bed next to him. Pac was looking over to him. "Yeah...a little..." He whispered back. "Yeah, I never fall asleep easily, that's why I sit in the back of the HMMWV and sleep. You should try it if ya can't sleep." "I'll take that into consideration." "Trust, it isn't that bad. You get used to it. Once you grab your first tags, you feel amazing." "Grab tags?" "Knife someone and take their dog tags." "Ah." "I'm gonna try to sleep, you should to." "Okay. Oh, and Pac." "Yeah?" "Thanks for helping me with this." "We all had someone to help us with our first time, so I thought I would help you." "Thanks." "No problem." **************************************************************************************************************** "Hey Shining, come on, it's go time." Recker said. "Hmmm? What?" He slowly opened his eyes. Shining looked at the watch he was given. Sure enough, It was 4:00. They had an hour to get ready. Recker freshened up. He went out side to practice melee with Shining. He was good, for a newbie. He caught on fast. He learned the moves and what and what not to do. "You are catching on pretty fast." Recker said. "Really?" Shining said. "Yeah. Now come here, try and knife me." He tossed Shining a dull, wooden knife. "Ya sure?" "I'm trying to teach you something." Shining charged at him and raised his knife to stab Recker. Recker grabbed his arm and countered the attack and jabbed the knife into his stomach. "Gahh!" He let out a little yelp when the dull blade hit his stomach. "That," Recker said. "Is called a counter. It will happen to you if you attack someone from the front in the field. If you have to charge at them, it's going to fail." He steeped in front of Shining to the point where they were almost nose to muzzle. "This is the only distance where you have a chance." He backed up. I'm going to charge you. If you are too slow, I will 'counter the counter'. I will show you that later." He charged. Shining got ready he grabbed Reckers arm and countered. Recker steeped back. "Good one. Now for the 'counter counter.' He got back to the position where they where nose to muzzle. I'm going to knife you, and I want you to counter." He went to knife Shining. He grabbed Reckers' arm, but before he could counter, Recker punched him in the face and lightly jabbed the knife into the front throat and ripped his tags off and pushed him the the ground. "Gahhh!" Another yelp. Recker threw Shining back his tags. "That is what we call the 'magic punch'. That, or the panic knife, what ever one you prefer. Now you try." His first time he slipped up and Recker was able to step back and counter. His second time, he almost had it, but he was too slow and Recker countered. His third time, he got it. He threw Recker back his tags. "I think I got it now." Shining said. "Teaching him the magic punch are ya Recker?" Irish walked over to them. "He needs to know how to melee, counter, and use the magic punch before he can go out there, just like we all did." "So Shining, how does it feel to be able to knife properly?" Pac said. "Good." "You learned all 12 moves?" Irish said. "Yep." "Whats your favorite?" Pac said. "The standing left." "Yum. That one's a good one." Pac said. He mimicked crouching down a little and jabbing an invisible knife into an invisible persons' throat and pulling back after a second. "0456 hours boys. Lets get ready." Tombstone geared up. Shining looked a little less nervous. They got in the HMMWV. Pac got in the back and leaned back and closed his eyes. Shining did the same. Recker and Irish sat and looked out of the little slit of a window. "Do you think he is going to be okay?" Recker said. "Hmmm?" Irish said. "Shining? Yeah. He'll be fine." They drove off to Los Pegasus, where they would begin the battle. The closer they got, the closer they where growing worried. The HMMWV in front of them was moving a little faster then they where suppose to. "The hell they moving so fast?" Pac said. "I don't know, they need to watch out for M15 mines. One false move and-" Recker was cut off by the sound of the HMMWV in front of them blowing up. "SHIT!" Gun fire surrounded them. "AMBUSH!" Pac screamed. "GET OUT! GET OUT!" They threw the door open and took to cover behind the HMMWV. "This isn't a good idea!" Irish said. "Why-" Shining was cut off by Recker. "RPG! RPG! GET DOWN!" They took off away from the HMMWV and ran to some boulders. The HMMWV blew up and debris went everywhere. Recker started shooting at the Russians and Changelings. They where pinned down, and they had no other option but to fight. //-------------------------------------------------------// The battle begins //-------------------------------------------------------// The battle begins "WE'RE FUCKING PINNED DOWN!" Recker screamed. "WHAT DO WE FUCKING DO?! THIS IS A FUCKING AMBUSH UNLIKE ANY FUCKING OTHER! WE CAN'T ESCAPE WITHOUT BEING FUCKING KILLED!" Irish screamed. "OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE MAN! GETTING SHOT HURTS LIKE A MOTHER FUCK!" "REALLY?!" Recker said. "I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED!" He poked his out long enough to drop one of the Russians, only for another to take his place. Recker looked around the area. "SHINING, CAN YOU STILL USE YOUR HORN?!" "NO! THEY ALREADY HAVE THE COUNTER UP!" The counter stopped anything from using magic. "OKAY! OKAY! PAC, ON MY MARK, POP A SMOKE AND WE WILL RUN FOR THAT HILL OVER THERE!" "OKAY!" "3. 2. 1. MARK!" Pac popped a smoke and they used it as cover to run to the hill. Luckily, none of them got hit. They had a slight advantage. Recker was a good shot and he could drop them easily from a distance. Shining was a good shot as well, so they both took out the majority of them. The shooting stopped. "Are they done? Did we kill them all?" Pac said. "I don't think so." Irish said. "It's too quite. Lets not assume things." Recker looked over the hill to see if any more were still alive. "I'm not seeing any." "Should we check for survivors?" Pac said. "Pac, that was a fucking M15 anti-vehicle mine. I doubt anyone would survive that." Irish said. "Shit..." Shining said. "So...are we alone till we reach the checkpoint?" "Yeah...we are. We need to keep low, and quite. We don't want to alert anything else that we are here." Recker said. "Okay, on your mark Reck." Pac said. "Okay Tombstone, Lets move, silently." They got low to the ground and moved as quickly and as quietly as they could. They mad it half way to the checkpoint when a group of Changelings spotted them. They started shooting at Tombstone, but something was different about the guns. Laser energy was fired like bullets at them. "SHIT! GET TO COVER!" They took to the large rocks surrounding them. "What the fuck are those?!" Pac said. "I think it's that gun, ya know, the one in the blueprints?" Irish said. "The AE4?" Recker said. "Bingo." Irish said. "Was his name-o." Pac said. "Not now Pac!" Recker said. He shot at one of them and hit it in the arm, but it scuttled back into cover. Shining got a nice headshot on another. Pac tossed a 'nade and killed two of them. "Just the wounded one," Recker said. "Shining, how would you like to get some tags?" "Hell yeah." Shining said as he drew his knife. Just like Recker taught him, he quickly and quietly made his way over to the Changeling behind cover. He got behind the Changeling and readied his blade. "Sup?" The changeling turned to look at him, but was stopped short when a knife was jammed into its throat. Shining pulled off the Changelings tags, removed his blade, and pushed it to the ground. He made his way back to Tombstone. "He's down." "Good one Shining." Pac said. "Thanks." "Okay, we are almost at there. Just a little further and we will get there and we will get info on where we will be holding out." Recker said. Tombstone began to move, not before checking out the AE4 assault rifles that the Changelings dropped. "Looks like a battery pack for ammo," Pac said. "This is hella high tech." "No shit Sherlock." Irish said. "It's a fucking laser assault rifle. It's going to be hella high tech." "Okay. Okay. God, who crapped in your cornflakes?" Pac said. "I was just saying matter-in-factly." He turned to Shining. "So, how do ya feel?" "Bucking awesome." He said. "Still using those pony cuss words I see." Recker said. "I'm just use to them so I still use them every now and then." Shining said. "Okay. Tombstone, lets get a move on." Recker said. They moved out Los Pegasus. When they arrived , the place was already in a state of ruins. Anthro pegasi and Changelings where in the air shooting each other down. T-90 s filled the streets. They saw a building collapse. It looked like a normal city, subtracting all the damage that is. "Holy shit..." "Whoa..." Shining said. "I agree..." Pac said. "God..." Irish said. "Okay Tombstone," Recker said. "Lets get a move on." They got the the checkpoint just out side the city. "Tombstone?" A Pegasus said. "Colt, We thought you bucking died! Thank Celestia you are okay." He looked over to Shining. " Sir." He saluted. "Flash," He said. "I'm not the captain any more, let alone a guard, you either. No need to salute. And just call me Shining." Flash looked stunned. "Yes Sir-err, Shining." "So Flash," Recker said. "Where to?" "Well Tombstone," Flash said. "We are getting shit on every where. But we really need help towards mid-city." "On it," Recker said. "Oh and Flash," He tossed him a AE4. "Get this back to Garrison and Celestia, they will want to see this." "Yes Sir." Flash said. "Weapons and ammo are over there." He pointed to the left. "Launchers and explosives over there." To the right. "Thanks." Recker said. "All right Tombstone, Gear up and get ready. We are most-likely heading into a shit storm." They got their stuff. Recker with three RGO impact grenades, a SCAR-H carbine rifle, Wolf Tooth, and the REX that he was given as squad leader. For anti-tank and vehicle, He had a RPG-7V2, and C4 plastic explosives. Shining with three M67 grenades, a M1614 assault rifle, a P226 pistol, and a M9 bayonet combat knife. For anti-tank and vehicle, He had a SMAW and 3 M15 mines. Pac with a MP7, 3 RGO impact grenades, M9 bayonet combat knife, and SMAW. Irish with a TYPE-99 LMG, M1911 pistol, a M9 bayonet, and 3 smoke grenades. "Alright Tombstone," Recker said. "Lets go kick some ass." //-------------------------------------------------------// Fight for Los Pegasus //-------------------------------------------------------// Fight for Los Pegasus Tombstone moved out of the checkpoint boundaries and into the battle. "Mid-city is where Flash said." Recker said. They made their way to mid-city, killing any Russian and Changelings they saw on their way there. They saw Misfit squad pinned down. "Tombstone," Blackburn said. "What are you doing here?" Recker took cover next to him. "We were sent to help ya." "More like sent to die, They have us pinned down. They have two T-90 s, we are getting fucked up the ass." "Shit...Irish," Recker said. "You have a JAVELIN correct?" "Yeah." Irish said. "See if you can take those T-90 s out." "Sure thing." Irish took the JAVELIN out. He look aim and they heard the lock on beeping. Once it was locked on, Irish fired and reloaded. There was a loud boom. "That's one motherfucker down!" He repeated the process and destroyed the other. "Two motherfuckers down." "Nice one Tombstone-1!" Blackburn said. "Okay, me and the rest of Misfit are moving up. Feel free to tag along if ya want." Black vaulted over his cover and made his way down the ally way. Recker followed by the rest of Tombstone headed down with Misfit. "Who are these guys?" Shining asked Recker. "Misfit squad," Recker said. "Only Black was left after the incident with Solomon. So this is the new Misfit." They followed until they started getting shot at. "SHIT! GET TO COVER!" Misfit and Tombstone got to cover. "How many do you think Actual?" Black said. "I don't know...50, 60? And just call me Recker or Reck, Black." "Okay." They started returning fire. Recker got a head shot on a Changeling. Black filled another with holes. "Reck, I'm going to try and flank them, come with me." "Sure thing." Recker followed Blackburn. They took to the shadows to avoid being seen. By the time they got behind them, there was two left. Recker and Blackburn drew their knifes and threw the last two Changelings to the ground. In unison, Blackburn and Recker yelled. "SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKA!" jumped onto them and ripped of their tags and jabbed their knifes into their throats. They both twisted their blades and pulled them out. Their green blood gushed out if their necks and they went limp. They cleaned their blades and got off the Changelings. "Good one Black." "Same to you Reck." Misfit and Tombstone made their way over to them. "Dude! Fucking bad ass!" Pac said. "You two sure do make a good team." Irish said. "That was amazing!" Shining said. Recker got a good look at the new Misfit. One earth pony, a pegasus, and a human. Recker looked over to the earth pony. "Mr. Cake?" "Recker." He said. "I never knew you enlisted." "Didn't I tell ya?" "Nope." Recker looked over to the pegasus. He had a gray coat, blue eyes, and black mane. "And you are?" "Blitz." Recker looked at the human. He was white, brown hair, green eyes, and a scar going across his left eye. "And you?" Recker asked. "Johnathan. You can just call me John." He said. "Okay." They moved to mid-city. A group of pegasi caught Reckers' eye. "Yo! Soarin, Spitfire!" They turned their attention over to him. "Recker!" Soarin said. "Get over here, and bring a medic!" "Blitz," Blackburn said. "Go over with Recker and see what the Wonderbolts need." Blitz followed Recker over to them. "What's the problem?" Recker said. "This is bad," Spitfire said. "I've never seen a wound like this." Recker looked over at the pegasus on the ground. He was blue with a green mane. He was moaning and screaming in pain. "Shit," Recker said. "That looks like a gut hook. ACB-90 if ya ask me. Your buddy was stabbed with one." Blitz looked over to him. "How did ya know?" Blitz said. "Because the way the wound is shaped. A friend of mine was taken by one and I never forgot what the wound looked like." "Ah." "So is he gone?" Spit asked. "If ya can't treat it soon, yes." Blitz said. "As long as it didn't take out anything important." He knelt down next to them. "I have some supplies, but not all of them." "Get what you can done," Soarin said. "If any Russians or Changelings come, we can cover ya." "Right." Blitz said. He got his medic bag out. "Hey buddy, I'm here to help." He took out a syringe. "Okay, this is going to sting a little." He jammed it into the young stallions chest and pushed down the stopper. He screamed in pain. "A LITTLE?!" He said. "Sorry." Blitz smiled sheepishly. "It's just an adrenaline shot, to keep ya awake. Don't need ya sleepin' on us." He looked through his medic bag. "Shit... Reck," He turned to Recker. "Go search in that store and see if ya can't find any disinfectant." "On it." He attempted to open the door, but it was stuck so he kicked it in. He searched the shelves and found some. He returned to Blitz with some cotton balls as well. "Got it." He tossed them to Blitz. "Thanks." He poured the disinfectant on a cotton ball and put it on the wound. The stallion let out another scream of pain. "That bucking stings!" He said with his teeth clenched. "It's gonna," Blitz said. He fumbled around in the bag for a little. "Luna damn-" He handed Recker some Defibrillators. "Hold these, they keep gettin' in the way." Recker held onto them. He fumbled around some more. "Found ya, ya bucking piece of shit." He got out some gauze. He held the cotton ball down and wrapped the gauze around the stallion. They had to elevate him a little so Blitz could wrap it around him. "This is as much as I can do," Blitz said. "Get him to the checkpoint and they can patch him up better." "Right thanks-" Spit was interrupted but the sound of a bullet flying by and the sound of a skull cracking. The stallion next to her straightened up like a board and fell backwards. "SHIT! SNIPER GET DOWN!" Recker screamed. They took the store Recker went in as another flew past them. "Reck," Soarin said. "You're good at this shit, what caliber and sniper is it?" "Ummm..." Recker looked at the hole the last bullet made. "Guys, That's a fucking .50! My guess, a Barret, M98B." "That bucker's going to blow us to hell and back!" Spit said. The rest of Misfit and Tombstone joined them in the building. "Buck!" Shining said. "So Reck, gun and cal?" "Barret M98B." "So a .50?" Blackburn said. "Yeah." Recker said. "Luna damn," Mr. Cake said. "That bucker's got us pinned down." "I've done this before," Black said. "We need to bate him out. Then we need a SMAW to blow him to fucking hell." "Shining," Recker said. "Get your SMAW ready." Recker looked over to Black. "Anything else?" "Yeah," Black said. "We need some humans slash ponies who got balls to suppress. I suppress, Reck?" "Same." "Cake?" "Got it." "I will as well." Spitfire said. "Okay," Blackburn said. "On my mark, we poke out and shoot at the building, once we find out where he is." Black stepped out side. He started running around. He got shot at, but it missed. He ran back in. "You crazy son of a bitch." Recker said. "Hotel," Black said. "Top floors. Sixth from bottom, I think. You guys ready?" They all said yes. "Okay. One. Two. Three. SUPPRESSING!" The volunteers ran out and started shooting at the building. Shining got behind them. The muzzle flash from their guns hid him well. He took a knee and shot a rocket at the floor Black said. The sniper got off one shot before the floor he was on was destroyed. The bullet didn't hit anybody. Floor six and three others above and below it where destroyed. "I think that killed him." Shining said. //-------------------------------------------------------// The battle continues //-------------------------------------------------------// The battle continues "Spit, how's the young stallion doing?" Recker asked. "He's good," Spitfire said."He's a little bucked up, but he should be good once we get him back to the checkpoint." "Good to hear." Shining said. Spits eyes widened. She had just now noticed that prince Shining Armor was in her company. "Prince Shining Armor!" She got a a knee. Shining chuckled. "None of that Spit," Shining said. "I'm just another soldier here." "Okay," She stood up. "So, we should be off. We need to get Sound Wing back to the checkpoint." "Okay Wingcolt," Recker said. "We shall see you soon." Wingcolt was there calling card, Spitfire being Wingcolt Actual and the squad leader. "Later Tombstone. We will see you soon as well. You too Misfit." Spit said. Soarin put Sound Wing over his shoulder and slowly took to the sky, as to not hurt the stallion. Spit took to the front of the group and soared off to the checkpoint with the rest of Wingcolt behind her. "Okay Tombstone," Recker said. "We still have work to do." "Same with you guys Misfit." Blackburn said. "We need to-" "BUCK! T-90!" Blackburn was interrupted by Mr. Cake. They looked in the direction that he was pointing and sure enough, there it was. "GET TO FUCKING COVER!" Recker screamed. They ran down the ally way. The T-90 followed around them to flank them. They ran for the building in front of them. As the last soldier made it in, the T-90 shot and made the door collapse, Recker blacked out. "Is every one okay?" Black asked. "I-I'm good," Mr. Cake said. "I bucked up me leg, but I'm good." "I'm good." Pac said. "And I." Irish said. "I'm good." Shining said. "I'm doing okay." Blitz said. "John?" Black said. He looked over to him, his skull crushed in from the weight of the debris. "Fuck...Reck, Reck!" Reckers eyes shot open. Black helped him to his feet, his vision still a little blurry. "Am I okay?" Recker said. "Fuck dude! That was a T-90 and I'm still breathing! I'm better than okay, I'm fucking awesome!" "We should get out," Blitz said. "A hit like that to a building like this isn't good. It might come down on us." "Then lets get moving." Black said. "To the back door then." Pac said. Tombstone and Misfit made their was to the back door. They checked for the T-90 and went outside, back to the field. "Tombstone, I repeat Tombstone, what's your status? Over." Recker reached down to his radio "This is Tombstone-Actual. We are a little fucked up, but we are good. Over." "Sniper team is down or not responding. We did a scan and didn't find anything. We need you to check for them. Report back when you get the info. Over." "Roger that. What was their last position? Over." "Sniper team was last seen ummmm, over three clicks south of your position. Over." "Okay Section. We will check it out. Over" "What was that?" Black said. "Sniper team's down." "Shit." Black said. "Section wants us to check it out." He looked at his compass. They were facing south already. "Okay," Black said. We can cover you until you get to the building." Misfit followed Tombstone until they got to the Hotel building. "Okay Misfit," Recker said. "See ya 'round" "See ya," Black said. Tombstone went into the building. "Watch it," Recker said. "There might still be people or Changelings in here." They ascended up the stairs. It was a big Hotel, bout 40 to 50 stories tall. They saw a door was open on floor 24. "Shhhh," Recker heard something move from the floor. "Did ya hear that?" A door slammed shut. "C'mon," Recker said. "Follow me. We will take them by surprise." They moved to the door the thought was the one that slammed shut. Recker put his ear to the door. "Don't hear anything," Reck whispered. "Shining, What 'bout you?" Shining but his ear to the door. "Yeah," He whispered. "Something's moving in there." "Okay," Recker whispered. "On my mark. 3. 2. 1. Mark." He quickly kicked in the door. "Check your corners, boy-" He was attacked by something. He felt it wrap its hooves around his neck. Pac Threw it off him and pointed his gun at it. It was a pony, a stallion pegasus. His Cream coat and green mane were a mess. His blue eyes were filled with hate. "Go on you buckers!" It spat out. "Kill me!" "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Recker said. "Pac, get off him." "But Reck, he attac-" "I said get off him!" Reck screamed. "DADDY!" A little filly screamed. They turned and saw her. She was also a pegasus. She had a light blue coat and a dark blue mane. Her blue eyes wide in horror. A Pegasus mare pulled her back and into her front legs. She was purple with a dark blue mane, and blue eyes. "Shit," Pac said. "There's a whole family here!" "What are you still doing here?" Recker asked the stallion. "Didn't e-vac come?" "Even if it did," The stallion said. "I wouldn't go with you MURDERERS!" "Whoa calm yo flank down!" Irish said. "We kill to protect! We're the good guys!" "It's true," Shining said. "We don't want to hurt you." "P-prince Shining?" The stallion said. "In the flesh." He said. "Okay," He said. "Now I'm a little more convinced." "Name?" Recker asked as he helped the stallion up. "Bold Hoof," He said. "And this is my family, my daughter Blue Jay, and my wife Am-" "Amy," She cut him off. "You...can call me Amy." "Well it's nice to meet you," Recker said. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why didn't extraction come?" "I don't know." Bold Hoof said. "I was out in the hall when I saw the Changelings and some humans. So I ran back here and we have been hiding here." "But why did you return to the halls, before we found you?" Pac asked. "Looking for food and stuff." Bold said. "Fuck this isn't good." Recker took out his radio. "This is Tombstone-Actual. We found some civics in the hotel on our way to retrieve sniper team. Over." "Come *static* Did you s- *static* civics *static* Hotel? *static*" "What?" Recker said. "I can't hear you Section, you're breaking up." "We *long static* -nk yo- *long static*" "Sec...Section, I can't hear you, I repeat, I can't hear you. Over." "*Long static*" "Fuck." He put his radio away. "We lost com with Section." "Well isn't this bucking peachy?" Shining said. "We need to go to our primary objective," Recker said. "We need to locate sniper team." "Y-you can't just leave us here!" Amy said. "You are more likely to get killed out there than in here." Recker said. "Reck," Irish said. "Maybe we should take them with us." "And what gives ya that dumb as fuck idea?" Recker said. "It's not fucking stupid." Irish said. "What if the Changelings and the Russian find them?" Recker thought for a little. "Oh my fucking god...fine," Recker said. "As long as they don't fuck with or up anything, They can stay with us. Once we get come back we will tell Section about them and get them to extraction." "Yes sir." Shining said. "Alright Tombstone," Recker said. "And...civics...let's move out." They slowly made their way back to the stair well. Tombstone and the family of three made their way up to the roof. They stopped at the door to the roof. "Right," Recker said. "On my mark. 1. 2. 3. Mark!" He kicked the door open and did a combat roll to cover. The rest of Tombstone did the same. Recker looked over his cover and saw four dead bodies. "Shit, Sniper team is down." He stood up and walked to them. "Get the civic-" He was tackled by a Changeling. It took a curved blade and jabbed at Recker. He grabbed its arm to hold it back. He quickly put one hand on top if its and used its force and pushed down and towards it. He looked into its eyes and smirked as the blade sunk into its flesh. It looked at him and whimpered a little. Pain filled its eyes. Recker grabbed its tags and rolled on top of it. He ripped the blade out of it and repeatedly stabbed it in the chest, finishing it off by slicing open its juggler. It let out a yelp and stopped moving. He got off it and spat on it. He threw the knife back down into it, embedding the blade into its chest. "Well," Recker said "Now that that fun is over, lets search Sniper team and finish their job." //-------------------------------------------------------// Rooftop rumble //-------------------------------------------------------// Rooftop rumble "Sniper team was really blown to hell huh?" Recker said as he looked at the bodies of sniper team. "I'll say," Irish said. "Looks like they were sniped." Recker looked at one of them, a huge chunk of his head missing, and he was surrounded by a huge pool of blood. "308 winchester caliber bullet" Recker said. "A JNG-90 if ya ask me." "How do ya know that?" Shining asked. "Look," He pointed a bullet hole in the wall. "The size of that hole, that is the size of a 308 winchester caliber bullet." Pac walked to Recker. "If ya ask me Reck, we better get the civilians out of here. For all we know the sniper could still be-" "LENS GLARE!" Irish shouted. Blood shot out from Pac's left  shoulder as he screamed in pain and fell to the ground. "PAC!" Recker screamed. "SNIPER! GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES AND FLANKS DOWN!" Another bullet clipped Reckers left arm. As he dropped. He crawled over to Pac. "Pac? Pac?!" "Aggh! F...Fuck! This fuckin hurts!" Pac said, holding onto his busted shoulder. "I know Pac, I kno-" Bold let out a yelp as a bullet went through the tip of his ear and hit the wall behind him. "He has us!" Reck shouted. "He knows the bullet drop and everything now!" Another shot was fired and it flew over Reckers head. He crawled over to sniper team and grabbed a M98B and looked for the sniper. "I see him!" "Reck," Irish said. "If you have the shot, take it!" He set up the bi-pod and lined up, estimating bullet drop and everything. He squeezed the trigger and fired off a shot. He watched as he saw green blood shoot out of the sniper's head. "Tango down." Reck said. "He was a Changeling as well." He got up. "Everyone and pony okay?" "No..." Bold said. Recker looked at the hole in the tip of his ear. "That's nothing...calm down." He walked over to Pac. "Pac, you okay?" "What....Gahh! Do you think...?" Recker looked over the sides and saw Russians and Changelings. "Shit...they found us...!" "I can fight with a busted shoulder dude!" Pac said. "What about the civics? They can't fight. We are on own." Irish said. "And we lost all com with section, so we can't ask for back up...shit you're right...we are fucked..." Recker said. They looked around. "What if the civics carry us down?" Pac asked. "Too dangerous," Irish said. "They could get shot. We have to find another way down." "The fire escap-" Recker was cut off by the door being kicked in. "GET BEHIND US! GET TO COVER!" Bold and his family run behind Tombstone as they took to cover. Bullets flew past their heads. "FUCK THERE'S TOO MANY OF EM!" Pac screamed while getting dragged to cover by Recker. He laid Pac down behind cover and returned fire back at the enemy. Shining got a couple shots off on them, but they kept coming. Irish, Recker, and Shining weren't enough, they were closing in. Recker looked at the fire escape. They had to run...but they could get killed. He got fully behind cover. Blue Jay was cuddled next to Amy crying her eyes out. "I...I Don't want to die mommy!" Recker stood up and emptied a clip at the enemy and got back behind cover. he killed a ten of them. "WE HAVE TO RUN FOR THE FIRE ESCAPE!" Recker yelled. "SHIT RECK, ARE YOU CRAZY?! WE ARE GETTING LIT THE FUCK UP! WE WILL DIE!" "DON'T YA HAVE SMOKE?!" Irish took one out and used it to cover them and their way. A Changeling charged and jabbed its knife at Shining. He went to counter, but he was too slow and it punched him in the face. Recker quickly shot the Changeling in the head, green blood and brain tissue was sent all over Shining. "Reck, I buckin owe ya..." They used the cover smoke as cover and let the civics go first. Reck and Shining helped Pac up and helped him to the fire escape. They descended the stairs and made it to ground level. "Tombstone, what the hell is happening?!" "Sniper team is down," Recker said. "We were attacked by the enemy, Tombstone-3 was shot and hurt badly, he needs a medic now." "Got it. What about back in the building? Something about civics?" "Three of them. We are heading to the check point now." "Roger that Tombstone, See you when ya get back." "Okay, see you as well Section." They got ready and walked to the check point. Blue had stopped her crying. "M-my ears h-hurt.." She said. "I want to g-go h-home..." Amy tried to calm her down. "Gahh!" Pac yelped as Recker and Irish helped him. "This fuckin hurts!" "I know Pac," Recker said. "I know.  Just hold on. We are almost at the check point." They finaly made it to the check point. The civics were given shelter until next e-vac came. Pac was helped as well. He had lost a great amount of blood. "You will be okay Pac...trust me." Recker said. "I hope so..." Pac said. "How do you think everypony in Ponyvile is doing?" "I dunno Pac...I dunno..." //-------------------------------------------------------// Ups and downs //-------------------------------------------------------// Ups and downs Her words hit Recker like a body blow from Mike Tyson. He was going to be a father in six months. He impregnated Pinkie. He impregnated a pony. "I-I-I..." He was tongue tied. What could he say? He wasn't ready to be a father. To start a family. The only reason he said yes was to get the question over with. "Reckie?" Pinkie looked worried. He couldn't stop thinking. But he like the thought of being able to hold and love both part of him and Pinkie. Raising a little filly or stallion with her. A smile made its way on his face. "I'm so happy right now I don't even know how to explain it." Pinkie lit up and hugged him. "Oh Reckie!" They proceeded to have the best day ever. Him and the six ponies told stories and laughed and had a good time. They left to go home once it got dark. All except Pinkie of course. They got in bed, kissed a little, Then she fell asleep in his arms. The next six months where near impossible. Pinkie kept having her mood swings. She ate almost everything. She was vomiting almost once a day. Recker had to tell Tombstone about him and Pinkie. They didn't care that he and Pinkie were together, as long as it didn't interfere with the war, meaning his leading ability and stuff like that. The day came that Pinkie gave birth to a filly. Artemis is what they agreed on. Her black mane, blue coat, green eyes were beautiful. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. With one good thing came another. The Anthro Pod was built and it worked. Soon, Stallions were lining up to join. Even some of Celestias' Guards joined. Hell, Shining Armor himself joined. Recker checked up on the newbie every now and then. Shining was strong, fast, and a good shot. He was soon offered to join Tombstone because they had been down a member. Recker gladly accepted Shining into Tombstone. He was given the call sign of Tombstone 4. Things were looking up. Artemis grew fast. Years went by like days. Eventually the time had almost come. He was going back out for who knows how long in a week. The news was hard to break to his daughter. "Arty," Recker got down on a knee to be more to her level. "Daddy has to go in a week." "Where are you going daddy?" Arty said. He didn't know what to say. "Away, for a long time. A couple years at the least." The look his daughter gave him almost made his break down into tears. "D-daddy...I...I don't want you to go! I want you here!" Tears started forming in her eyes. He almost started to as well. "I know, I know. But I have to for work." "Why can't you work here!" She started to cry. He held her. "Shhhhhh. It-it's okay Arty. It's okay." "I d-don't w-want you to-to go daddy! I d-don't want you to!" He started to tear up. "And I don't want to, but I-" "Then d-don't!" She started to sob harder. "I love you daddy! Please don't go!" Tears started streaming down his face. "I love you too Arty, but I have to. I-I'm s-sorry." He held her tighter. "We are going to have the best week ever okay? We are going to have fun this last week. Just you, me, and mommy. Okay?" "O-*sniff* okay." He wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I promise. We will have the best week ever." He could hear Pinkie in the other room crying. "Honey...come here, please." She walked in the room. Artemis had only seen her cry once, and she hated it. Pinkie was the most happy pony ever. When she cried, something really bad and or sad was going to, or did happen. "Y-yes R-Reckie?" "I already told Arty. We are going to have a good, fun week before I go. Just the three of us." "O-okay...that s-sounds good." Recker looked over at the clock. "Arty, it's well past time for school." "C-can you take me there daddy?" "Yes. Yes I can." He got his combat boots on to match his ghostex clothing. He had to wear it for Artys' school. It was her turn to bring in her parent to tell the class what they did. Arty wanted Recker to present to the class. He walked her out the door and towards the school. He got the the school and stopped outside the door. "No more crying Arty, okay?" "Yes daddy." He opened the door. "Okay class n-" Cheerilee looked over to them. "Oh Arty you are late." "Sorry..." She slowly made her way to her seat and sat down. Recker keeled down to get to her level. "We had to tell her that I'm leaving in a week. We didn't tell her why, I just said it was for work, but I'm fighting the battles over by Los Pegasus." He whispered to her so Arty and the rest of the class couldn't hear. "Oh...Okay." She looked to the class. "Okay class, This is Recker, Artys' dad. She has brought him in so he can tell you what he does." He was attacked with questions. He didn't answer any questions about shooting and killing. Not that any of them asked him, but he didn't tell them. Instead, he told them that he protected them from any dangers that threatened them. After 30 minuets, the bell rang for them to go out for lunch. Cheerilee told them to say goodbye to Recker. As they left out the door, each of them said goodbye. Artemis was the last to leave. She gave him a hug and he kissed her on the top of her head. "I will see you after school. Okay?" "Okay daddy." She left out the door. "I can't believe they are making you go." Cheerilee said. "They need me," Recker said. "I have to go, as much as it hurts me, I have to." "Well I wish you the best of luck out there Reck." "Thanks." He left the school. He made his way home. Pinkie was working at SCC so he would be alone. He opened the door to his house, and saw Tombstone sitting on the couch and chairs.        "Reck," Pac said. "This is bad. This is really fucking bad." "What is it?" Reck said. Shining stood up. "The Changelings attacked, today." "What?" "Garrison said we need to leave, now." Pac said. Recker felt like he got stabbed again. "No. No! NO! I'm staying right FUCKING HERE! FUCK GARRISON! I'M STAYING WITH MY FAMILY FOR ONE MORE WEEK! I PROMISED ARTEMIS THAT WE WOULD SPEND THIS WEEK TOGETHER, AND I PLAN ON KEEPING THAT PROMISE!" "We all did Recker!" Shining stood up. "We all did. We all promised our families that we would spend this last week together, and we had to break it. I know it's hard, but-" "I COULD FUCKING CARE LESS!" "Recker! Come on man!" Irish said. "We need to go. None of our family knows we are going. We wrote notes and left. It's hard, I know. But we all did it. Write a note and lets go." Tears filled Reckers eyes. He had to leave his family, with out saying goodbye. "F-fine." He left Tombstone and wrote his letter and left it on the kitchen table. "L-lets go Tombstone." They walked out the door, made way to camp, and got in the HMMWV, and made off to Los Pegasus.