Operating is Magic

Connor stared into the cell where Chrysalis was being held. He found himself inexorably drawn to the still sleeping queen of the changelings. He wasn’t technically supposed to be here, but there seemed to be no one in Celestia's royal guard that could stop him. Focusing, he blended back into the shadows and calmly walked out of the dungeon. He had a briefing with Princess Luna.

With Chrysalis in her coma, there was no way for him to go home. Knowing his friends would likely just wake up with the magic equivalent of a hangover and go back to base helped ease his conscience. Wanting to use his skills to help the ponies, he found a surprisingly like-minded ally in the moon princess. She was disciplined, restrained, and she too felt out of place in the pony society that surrounded them, having been exiled for 1,000 years for her rebellion.

He stood at attention and saluted after approaching her in the small conference room. Luna smiled and made a small nod of approval. He knew she enjoyed these kinds of things.

“Please stand at ease, Connor. We have much to discuss.”

Connor relaxed and smiled back. Spread on the table was a surprisingly detailed diorama of Equestria. Princess Luna stood on the opposite side, floating pins magically levitating in front of her.

“There have been several abductions in this area here. We have sent out search parties but they came up empty. We now believe the perpetrators are subterranean in nature, focused here in the outer edge of the badlands. There may be up to a dozen ponies being held, no ransom demands have been received. We dare not tell our sister, but we fear they may have ended up as prey for some kind of carnivorous beast.”

Connor nodded. It seemed like nothing good ever came out of the desert except for tequila.

“I will search for them, Princess.”

“Please remember, there is no need for you to endanger yourself needlessly. Your mission is one of reconnaissance. If you can ascertain their location we can send a team of my royal guards to ferret the vermin out. They are at home in such dark places,” concern showing in her eyes.

“I will keep that in mind Princess.”

Connor saluted her and performed a sharp about face to leave.

“You know you do not need to do this for us?” she asked. “Your defense of the Element of Magic and her allies would be rewarded without you having to place yourself in further danger.”

The formal ritual completed, Connor turned back to her. He gave her a wan smile.

“It’s all I know Luna.”

No one disturbed him on the train to Ponyville. The colorful ponies gave him a wide berth, not sure what he was. His pack was beside him, his M14 leaned up against his leg. He chuckled to himself. No TSA here. Leaving the station, he shouldered his pack and turned east to head towards Rambling Rock Ridge.

After a few miles the terrain quickly turned barren and rocky. Other than the scattered large boulders and ridge lines, there was very little cover. Luckily, the pale browns and greens were a pretty good match for the multicam of his uniform. He decided to travel three quarters of the way up the ridge and follow it to prevent silhouetting himself against the horizon. As he neared the area where Luna briefed him, Connor set up a hide and waited for night fall.

The moon was bright and full. It wasn’t supposed to be, of course. Not at this time of the month. Luna must have been worried about him. He chuckled at the thought of best Princess moving the moon itself, disrupting the tides for him. Looking through his night vision goggles, he spotted something. It was a group of bipedal organisms. It slightly annoyed him how he couldn’t just say “group of people” anymore. He watched as they climbed into a hole in the ground, just like Luna said, though the entrance was actually disguised as a boulder. It extremely annoyed him that he had walked by it earlier without noticing. One of them carried something, maybe a bag. The bag kicked.

Taking out a special sheet of parchment, he quickly wrote down his findings, location, and intentions. Trying to cover the naked flame as best he could, he used his zippo to light the page on fire. As the flames licked it the page evaporated into a cloud of green sparks. His primary mission objective completed, he shouldered his rifle and headed down the ridge towards the boulder.

It moved easily. He tossed the hollowed out “boulder” aside and dropped a flare on the ground. Luna’s guards would easily be able to spot it from the air, even after it burned out. Their dark vision was very impressive. He descended into the ground.

Connor saw torches placed at regular intervals along the walls. He poked one. It gave off green sparks but no smoke. Magic torches, he corrected himself. He placed the night vision back into his pack as he studied the ground. Large canine footprints covered the floor. He quietly pulled his M&P9 from his holster and followed them in.

Connor eventually found himself in a large room filled with cells. He breathed out, focused, and melded with the dancing shadows. As he circled the room, he saw ponies. There were several in the cells sobbing, unaware of his presence. He also found bones. He passed through the room to a doorway where he finally caught up to his quarry. They were three dogs. Large grotesque bipedal dogs. They were circled around a young pony shouting obscenities. She had a white coat, a pinkish mane, and her striking green eyes were wide with fear.

It took him only a second to decide. Moving through the door, he fired. Normally he would have a team with him. Stack up. Move! Contact, contact, shoot to stop, left to right. It wasn’t an option here. He still moved left to right, but as his sights crossed the disgusting creatures he placed two rounds into them. 18-6, 12 he reminded himself. They crumpled to the ground, shocked at why they fell. He scooped the terrified filly up over his shoulder and made his way back to the cells. The ponies reared up in shock as they saw him enter. He sat down the sobbing filly, giving her a reassuring brush through her mane, then barricaded the door using benches and chairs, and turned back to the ponies.

“I was sent by Luna. It’s alright, the rest of her royal guard will be here soon. We’ll make sure you pony folk get home safe.”

He didn’t notice he had said we and subconsciously included himself with the Princess’s royal guard. He quickly unlocked all the cells and released them. He led them out into the night air. As they surfaced, he caught sight of a huge group of bat winged creatures. Smiling, he waved down the cavalry. There was a loud snort, the kind that most would associate with Satan’s horse. With terrifying control they flew directly into the hole like an inky darkness. Connor might have felt the slightest tinge of what could possibly be pity for whatever they found down there.

Connor stood before Luna in her conference room. She was beaming at him.

“You have made us very pleased this day. The little one you saved, we thought you would like to know that you are an acquaintance of her sister’s.”

Rarity stepped into the room, her little sister Sweetie Belle in tow. The little filly stuck close to her flanks, he noticed. Rarity looked at Connor and smiled.

“Oh thank you Mr. Connor, thank you! I was absolutely distraught when my parents called and told me my sister had been abducted by those awful diamond dogs!”

She nuzzled her sister. Sweetie Belle looked up at him.

“They were saying such awful things. How they would make me pay for the insult to their people.”

She quickly glanced at Rarity. It looked like she was omitting information for her sake.

“Thank you mister.”

Connor found it cute that she lisped every time she said an “s” word. He leaned forward and mussed up her mane. Rarity glared at the out of order hair with an intense stare, though Sweetie Belle seemed to enjoy it. Thanking him again, the two sisters left. Luna and Connor were alone in the room.

“We owe you a great debt for this, Connor. We hope you would let us repay it with our company,” the Princess smiled.

She levitated two wine glasses and a bottle in front of him temptingly.

“That would be nice Princess, I would enjoy that.”

Best Princess magically locked the door.