Two days to invasion.

"Get on over! What, suddenly you can't preform the basic function of jumping Blue?" I shouted.

"Sir no sir!" She grunted, throwing her body weight directly into the wood for a third time, finally reaching over the pole.

Several comrades ran behind her, pushing her over and cheering her on.

'It's perfect. Well... Almost.'

Two days to invasion. Two days to prepare this band to effectively utilize weapons they've never touched in their lives. Weapons none of their kind ever has. Canterlot's engineers of all over were failing to produce the pony equivalent of even a basic musket. I provided as many documents and explanations as I possibly could, but to no avail. Or so I thought...

"Grayson! Hey Grayson!" Twilight grinned, sprinting across the courtyard at one-hundred meters before taking flight and sailing towards me, landing several feet away. At this time I realized how large the wingspan truly was, Much larger than the other ponies with wings, she was almost intimidating at full outstretch.

Almost.

"What is it?" I turned to face her entirely.

"We've done it! We produced the first Equestrian firearm! The blueprints you gave us yesterday were all we needed! It's complete!" She yelled like a giddy child.

I couldn't help but crack a grin. I was, however, curious.

"What cartridge? You know, the bullet?" I inquired.

"Oh that!" She rolled her eyes in thought. "12mm. It produces a lot of punch backwards, but it works. We were blasting bricks into pieces!"

"Outstanding, when will these be ready for my company?" I looked behind me at them, a formation appearing at the end of the old obstacle course.

"Tomorrow. Every one of them. As well as enough training ammunition to allow you for 50 shots a pony. We expect that many, that is. The rest of the ammunition will arrive on the day of invasion.

"That sounds fantastic. Thank you Twilight, sincerely. For everything. It's nice to be on your side." I smiled.

She grinned widely. "My pleasure!"

Something itched inside.

"Didn't you tell me you weren't just a princess? Back on the way from the forest? You have a title, I'm fairly sure."

"Me? Well, I don't- oh. You mean Friendship, right? Princess of Friendship? Or Element of Magic?" She turned her head.

"Friendship, right. Tell me, you're very eager to blast that island to pieces. Some of these veterans may become casualties. And many of the creatures of the enemy will. Why are you so keen on helping us attack them?" I held my smile, but looked into her eyes, focusing on as much as a twitch.

"Oh..." She averted her gaze. "These are not friends by any means. I've experienced what they can do. And I know that it is for the better safety of everypony for them to be put in check." She looked up at me, slowly. "Do you want to know something? The ships can't sail to Equestria from the East. They haven't been able to for months. Can you guess why?"

I thought, then shrugged.

"The changelings block the East?" I guessed.

"Exactly!" She pointed at me. "The changelings have been boarding or entirely seizing Griffon ships. They can no longer reach us unless they go through the frozen North. We can't afford foreign goods! And it's dropping our relationships with their empire!" She was speaking very loudly. "I count on you to set a lasting impression on them, so that they can't even sleep at night without fearing the very word 'Equestria'."

I grinned.

"Can do. I'll get these troops out on deck 7/B where you showed me at 0700 sharp. That alright with you?" I asked.

"Definitely. See you there!" She waved as she turned and took flight.

"I returned the wave, turning back to my company."

"Good news ladies & gents!"

0630 hours, company barracks.

"Good morning diamond dozen! Up and at'em!" I slammed on a locker with my palm, making as loud of a noise as I could. "Get up! You're half an hour behind, be dressed and lined up yesterday!" I waved my hands erratically towards the large, tin door that sealed the barracks.

Moving outside, the troops lined up one by one in full guard gear. A short march through Canterlot would bring them to the courtyard.

"Forward, march!" I shouted, the company shifted forward, moving into step towards the outer gates. The enormous, golden gates were swung open by the night guard, who stared daggers at me personally.

We marched through, straight into the civilian streets. Suddenly, lights began to illuminate the road. Candles, torches, and magic lit the way. Noises filled the air, cheers, shouts, excitement. I looked up.

Above us in many tall houses, lights were on. Ponies leaned out and cheered at the formation, slamming hooves on the walls. Several flowers or pieces of cloth rained from above, along with other stray objects.

The cheers continued as we travelled down the densely populated road, beating sunrise to the landing pad just outside of a tunnel in the city walls. We marched through the tunnel, and left the city behind. The cheers with it. As Twilight became larger at the end of the tunnel, I decided to give a few words of motivation.

"Those cheers are for you, comrades. Listen to them, and acknowledge that you are depended on. Think of the enemy not as sentient beings, but dirt, and you're the janitors. Clean up the mess that is the enemy, and do it better than anyone ever has. Kill the enemy before he has a chance to know your face. Canterlot pleads for it!" I shouted.

"Company... Halt!" Sixty-some hooves slammed to a halt together, standing at attention.

"Hey Grayson!" Twilight chirped, the two guards beside her snapped to attention in front of the large crates behind her.

"Hey Twilight! It's all there?" I asked, looking to the crates.

"They're all there. You'll have them fire at the mountainside, just over there." She pointed a hoof to my left, at the mountainside. A large grassy plain was growing up the indicated area.

"Absolutely. Company, fall out! Form a line, prepare to receive your weapons!" I ordered, as they turned about and began to shuffle into a line, filling it with conversation amongst themselves.

"What should we name it?" One asked.

"The Mueler!" Another replied.

"Where in Tartarus did you get Mueler?" A new voice chimed in.

"Grayson." Twilight approached from behind.

"Yeah?" I turned around.

"We have the head of Canterlot Engineering, Pearl Flow, here to teach them how to use these. I suggest you listen. She had to fly out to grab some documents, she'll be here any- oh! There she is." Hooves clopped down behind me.

I spun about to see a pearly-colored Pegasus female, magenta eyes seemingly glowing in the moonlight.

"Zdrasvuytye!" She spoke in a thick accent, or perhaps a lisp. She held out a hoof.

I reached out and grabbed it, shaking the appendage.

"She's from the North, but she speaks Equestrian fluently." Twilight chirped.

"Interesting." I murmured to myself, turning back to Twilight. "So are we ready to get the banana bus moving?"

"We're ready to start supplying, now. Have them get into a formation with the weapons, then the ammunition will be evenly distributed, then there will be instruction from the Head Engineering, then we will practice drills." She explained.

"And the civilians? Won't it be somewhere around 07-my ass-hundred by the time the powder starts booming?" I asked, looking back towards the town, only several hundred meters away.

"They'll have to live with it. We can't afford to be less prepared than the enemy. They know their island well, and they're experienced in guerilla tactics." She looked uncertain, only for a moment, then it was gone.

"Well, I suppose if I have your permission." I agreed.

Twilight turned towards her guards. "Sentries, start issuing weapons." She ordered.

They silently saluted and reached back into the boxes. I looked closely at the sentries, one female and one male. Each the same coat color, eye color, and hair color. White, blue, blue.

'This place has a lot of girls. I wonder if men had to fight for rights here. That'd be funny. And, very sad.'

As the firearms were handed out, the sky suddenly bloomed a purple, then red, orange, then finally blue. The sun was now high in the sky.

"Celestia raised the sun!" Twilight smiled at the sky.

I cast her a sideways glance, than looked back toward the mountainside.

Each rifle had a somewhat large hole, attached to a strut structure that held it onto their backs. They had to be fastened into the suit, which then offered the gun on the right, and levers with a system of gears and mechanical devices over the back, and controls on the left. Revealing this to be a bolt-action, magazine-fed weapon. All done to the left.

"-this, is the bolt. Pull it like this, da?" She opened the chamber and slid in an empty magazine. "It reveals the chamber for loading. Like so..." She continued to demonstrate. This was a very, very long instructional series. Suddenly, something touched my back. Goosebumps covered me, and I whirled my head around.

"Hey, sorry! I just thought you should know, those magazines of yours I confiscated, I had the engineering department take them in, and replicate them. It's the least I could do. It should work, I hope so, anyway. I should trust them more." She looked at my back, refusing eye contact.

"Is that a fact?" I turned my head.

She nodded.

Whatever got into me, I was not sure. But for a moment, I felt affection for this one. Not in a strange sense, but, the same you feel for a long-owned pet. The sense of happiness they bring you. So I scratched her head.

Apparently not an orthodox greeting.

Only the sentries noticed it, several feet behind her against the crates. They had been quiet and mostly motionless in the rear, as if someone turned them off. Both of their heads bolted straight in my direction, wide eyed and, honestly, rather fiercely.

Twilight, however, smiled and brushed my hand away.

"Thank you for that. I feel that you've just turned the tide of battle significantly." I nodded confidently at her.

She nodded back and turned to walk away. The sentries' eyes remained on me. I turned around, once again, focusing on this 'Pearl Flow', she sounded sweet and sincere, very thorough in her explanation of the new, and freshly named 'M1A1 Elliot'. half-listened, as I contemplated more pressing matters.

'Aaahhh.............. Russian, that's what that accent sounds like.'

Author's Note

HOLY SHIT I DID IT AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA GOD DAMN IT YES I DID A THING! As always, I LOVE comments and feedback. FEED MEEEEE

Wrote nearly this entire thing near midnight in like an hour @-@