He came from Space

Chapters

1: Past
2: Present
3: Visitors from the stars
4: No parties for me
5: Royalty
6: Filling the voids
7: End of diplomacy
9: Clandestine actions
10: Back to work
11: Back to the start
12: Polaris
13: Hero of the Human Race
8: Old allies, old friends

1: Past

Hello! And welcome to Let's Play Resident Ev--wait, no, wrong page... Here we go! Hello! And welcome to He came from Space, an epic tale that follows a human on his journeys in Equestria. This story will NOT be replacing The Last of What's Up There and no, that story is not dead, I'm merely posting this to try and bump up my reader-base. All constructive criticism is welcome, being a complete moron and saying "bah, dis stry fukin suks balls an i hope u choke on cock and die" is not.

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He came from Space

Written by Codename: One

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Prologue

Past

December 30th, 2128

Unknown star system (unlisted)

Private Star Vessel Freedom

Hero of the Human Race Marcus James Calaway of humanity's Space Expeditionary Reconnaissance Military(SpERM.)

"This is mondo fucking dangerous" lamented Mark Calaway as he flied through an unlisted star system, keeping an eye on his instruments for any sign of hostiles.

All sorts of evil things can hide out in an unlisted star system; pirates, raiders.

Aliens.

That last prospect made Mark chuckle; no aliens had ever been discovered but Earth had been experiencing an increase of encrypted messages from outer space. Aliens were out there, but no one had found them yet.

"Hmph, maybe I'll be the first one" Mark said as he banked his star-ship around an asteroid, a rogue one as there were no asteroid belts or even any other space debris in the system.

Mark's mission was one assigned to him by his superiors, the main command of the human military's Space Expeditionary Reconnaissance Military.

The SpERM was formed in 2031 when the main governments of Earth allied to form the Council of Unified Man, and was designed to be a direct replacement of the U.S. Government's Spectrum agency, which handled primarily covert and Black operations. Deciding that Spectrum was obsolete the Council of Unified Man, otherwise known as CUM, instituted the new SpERM agency and Mark Calaway, an already legendary human warrior and one of the few recipients of the title Hero of the Human Race, had joined the program.

And now his mission is to chart unknown star systems.

Marcus could see that there was only one planet in this system, and it seemed to be Earth-sized. Though his scanners had deduced it was slightly smaller than Earth. The unknown planet had a single moon, and was close enough to the sun to provide life. Whether it had atmosphere or not was another thing.

Mark banked his craft toward the planet but stopped his ship, keeping the engines warm in case he needed to escape quickly. Calaway exited the control room and headed down to the hangar bay, checking his land vehicle.

"What would I do without you?" Marcus asked, looking over the vehicle. It was a Hummer HX; first introduced way back in 2008 Hummer produced the HX when public reaction reached favorable levels. The HX eventually replaced the M1026 Humvee as the SpERM's primary land vehicle; with the same designation.

Mounted on the roof was a GAU-19/A Gatling-type triple-barreled machine gun; firing a .50 caliber BMG round at around one thousand rounds per minute. While it was slower than the M61 Vulcan's six-thousand rounds per minute it was considerably more manageable.

As for personal weapons Marcus carried with him a black Fabrique Nationale Five-seveN. A lightweight polymer handgun designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in the country of Belgium, back on Earth. The Five-seveN is named such for its 5.7x28mm round.

Originally designed for FN's P90 sub-machine gun the 5.7 round was designed to penetrate advanced body armor suits being developed by other countries.

His primary was an FN SCAR-L

But all of his personal and land-vehicle-mounted weaponry were phooey compared to his ship's armaments. Due to the dangerous task of charting new star systems Mark had outfitted his ship with current state-of-the-art defensive and offensive systems.

While not as potent as a naval starship Mark's main weapon, a Mass Accelerating Gun, could launch a five-hundred ton projectile to half the speed of light. Naval ships fired at the very least a thousand-ton projectile at 9/10s the speed of light.

In both cases it could gut another starship from bow to stern. While the larger projectiles could pass through multiple ships even if they travelled the length of each ship every time.

In addition to the MAG Marcus's ship was outfitted with forty-two Avenger-class missile pods. Each pod held seven missiles and each missile carried a one-thousand pound payload.

However his Ace up the sleeve was a weapon that even he feared in its entirety and one he definitely feared to see used. Mounted in a direct launch cannon, attached to the top of his ship, was a moon-cracker; a 120-megaton nuclear warhead.

Enough power to turn Earth's moon into dust.

How Marcus had this was beyond anyone's knowledge, he simply added the massive weapon in case he came across a hostile alien ship with some kind of energy shield.

Mark was sure he wouldn't need the nuke to search a planet, however.

Calaway made his way back up to the control room of his ship and took another look at the planet set before him, wondering if he should just tag it or search it.

Before he could make up his mind, however, his scanners picked up that there was intelligent life on the surface. Furthermore the profiles did not match human signatures.

He couldn't just tag the planet and have a human military fleet come investigate; it could cause an intergalactic incident or worse: war.

With his mind made up Mark increased power flow to the engines and his ship dove for the surface of the unknown planet. Calaway was ready for anything.

Nothing would ever prepare him for what he would find.

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Should I make this story mature because of the acronyms? I have no idea.

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Legal note: Marcus James Calaway belongs to me. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

2: Present

Chapter Two

Present

December 30th, 2128

Unknown star system (unlisted)

Private Star Vessel Freedom

Hero of the Human Race Marcus(Mark) James Calaway of the Space Expeditionary Reconnaissance Military(SpERM.)

Mark had directed his ship towards the planet, entering its atmosphere and taking note that the planet was quite lush; everywhere there were forests, trees, and grass as far as the eye could see. It seemed that there was no industry or anything of the sort, at least not in the area he was in.

"Not bad, this would be quite suitable for human life. I just need to see if there's an atmosphere" Mark said, turning to strike some keys.

Unfortunately for him he failed to notice that he was coming up on a settlement, and wasn't made aware until the computer let off a proximity warning.

"What the hell?" Marcus wondered, looking up to see that his ship was careening toward a tree that had been adorned in metal spikes. "The fuck?!" Calaway exclaimed as he jerked the control sticks to the right, hoping to avoid hitting the object.

It failed, and he could hear a terrible shrieking sound as several of the spikes slashed along the hull of his ship, tearing several gouges in the two feet thick titanium armor plating.

The Freedom soared forward until it slowed to a stop several feet above the top of a forest. "What the fuck was that?" Mark asked as he adjusted the aft cameras to take another look at the tree with the spikes around it, it seemed that some sort of massive winged creature was coming out of the tree to investigate.

"Intriguing, perhaps this creature is intelligent" Mark said as the creature stared at his ship in wonder. Calaway turned the camera off and made his way through the ship to his quarters.

There he picked up an oxygen helmet, a large helmet that would allow him to breathe Earth-level oxygen. The helmet bore striking similarity to the helmets worn by 21st century astronauts.

Mark didn't want to drive the Hummer out nor did he want to disembark from the Freedom in a massive gunship so he opted instead to wear a simple strap-on jetpack, slinging it onto his back like a backpack.

Marcus stepped into an airlock and hit the cycle button, to no avail as the ship-borne computer piped up.

"Atmospheric cycling is not required as both the ship interior and exterior have matching atmospheric pressure" the computer declared.

"Very interesting" Mark said, he pulled the helmet off and unceremoniously dumped it on the floor. The airlock opened and Calaway stepped out, activating the jetpack and maneuvering toward the spike-covered tree. The winged creature watched him approach in a mixture of curiosity and fear, though it was hiding the latter very well.

Marcus slowed to a stop directly in front of the creature, folding his arms over his chest where they could be clearly seen.

The creature began to scrutinize Calaway very intently, trying to make out what he was and if he was native to the planet. It seemed the creature wasn't threatened by Mark but still had reservations about the man.

This being was obviously intelligent.

Mark took his time to investigate the creature as well; it was massive, taller than him by a full head and that was with it standing in all fours; it could easily double his height by standing on its hind legs.

In addition to the massive size it sported a pair of equally huge wings, easily capable of sustaining fast flight. The beast was primarily brown with a secondary white color; its hair had purple streaks at the tips of the locks and around the eyes were purple spots that resembled licks of flames.

The creature's front legs ended in Eagle-like talons that dug into the wood of the tree, sharp enough to slash right through Mark's body like a sword through air. Coming back to the head Calaway noticed the beast had orange eyes and, further resembling an Eagle, a beak. It seemed to be mix of half Eagle, half lion.

"What the hell are you?" the creature asked, surprising Marcus; he was not expecting communication, though it seemed the beast was thinking aloud rather than directly asking the human.

"I'm Marcus James Calaway, member of the human race" the man clearly replied, startling the creature; it seemed it wasn't expecting communication either.

"You…can talk?" the beast asked, staring at the human in suspicion.

"Yes" Mark answered, adjusting himself as he continued to hover in the air.

The creature resumed staring at the human, studying his body intently. Calaway waited patiently for it to finish.

"Right…what did you say your name was?" the beast inquired, forcing Marcus to place his focus back on it.

"Mark Calaway. Member of the human race" the man replied.

"Name's Gilda, I'm a Griffon" the creature said, still regarding the human with a careful eye.

"Griffon…half lion and half Eagle" Mark said, musing over the creature. His internal alarms went off instantly; Griffons do NOT exist, they are creatures of old legend, and yet here it was, talking to him.

He must be losing his mind.

"And all awesome!" the Griffon, Gilda, declared, sticking her chest out boastfully. Mark raised an eyebrow at the display.

"Right…anyway what's the deal with the spikes on your tree? They cut really fucking big scratches in my ship!" Calaway said, the damage was negligible but ugly.

"That's not a ship dimwit! Ships float in water, that thing is hovering in the air" Gilda protested, prompting Mark to slap his palm into his face.

"I can see your species is not as advanced as humanity. That is a space-ship, it flies through outer space" Calaway explained.

"That's not possible; Equestria hasn't developed space travel yet, they're too busy being dweebs, like you" Gilda said as if the human was an idiot.

Mark ignored the creature's insult and made a note to ask about Equestria later. "You may not have but humanity has" Calaway replied.

"Where are you from anyway?" the Griffon inquired, becoming irritated with the human. She didn't want to spend her day talking to some weirdo.

"Planet Earth" Marcus answered, Gilda perked up at this.

"Wait? You're from another planet? Are you…an alien?" Gilda asked, tensing herself up; if this alien was hostile she would need to attack fast.

"I guess I am" Calaway stated, he noticed that his jetpack was at half-charge; he would need to land soon and let it recharge.

"Yeah well…I got better things to do than talk to aliens. Beat it" Gilda exclaimed, dismissing the human.

"Wait! Where is the nearest town? I would like to make contact with others" Mark said, Gilda didn't even turn to direct him.

"It's that way" she replied, jerking her thumb to the left; Calaway could faintly see what looked to be a windmill but no other structures were visible.

"Yeah thanks" Marcus said, he maneuvered back to his ship and turned for the town.

"That guy has no idea what he's getting himself into" Gilda lamented with a devious smile on her face.

Once Mark returned to the Freedom he noticed that the sun was beginning to set, dipping below the horizon as night prepared to fall on this side of the planet. Calaway couldn't very well introduce himself to those in the town this late in the day; most of them would probably be getting ready for bed, unless Griffons prefer to stay up late.

Calaway directed the ship over a large forest that seemed darker than the rest of the land, eventually coming to a stop near the outer edges of the town. The Freedom was a relatively quiet ship so Mark doubted anyone had heard him, and they definitely wouldn't be able to see the ship's black hull against the blackness of the sky.

Confident that he wouldn't be detected until morning Mark settled into a small cot he had on the bridge and drifted off to sleep.

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Author's note: yes...Gilda is in this story, and she'll play a pretty big role. Please note that this story takes place after 'Griffon the Brush Off'.

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

Legal Note: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway and all related characters belong to me. Gilda the Griffon is copyright to Hasbro. My Little Pony is copyright to Hasbro.

3: Visitors from the stars

Foreword: Please note that this story is dedicated to my cat, Nudge. He was the greatest most amazing cat I could've ever asked for and I loved him with all my heart.

May he rest in peace. 12/9/11.

Onward.

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Chapter Three

Visitor from the Stars

December 31st, 2128

Equestrian star system

Town of Ponyville

Unicorn Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle awoke to the smell of pancakes, most likely being cooked by her assistant Spike. The Unicorn slowly dragged herself out of bed and made her way down to the main area of the library and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Spike. How's your voice?" Twilight asked, the baby dragon looked over at her and held up a card; printed on the card in very clear writing were the words 'it sucks.'

"Don't worry, it'll come back soon" the Unicorn assured him, Spike held up a card that said 'I'm sure' before turning back to the pancakes.

"Did you write answers for all the questions I would ask this morning?" Twilight inquired; somehow she already knew the answer.

The dragon held up another card. 'Yep.'

Smart-aleck Twilight mused, smiling to herself. "Let me know when the pancakes are done, OK?" Sparkle asked, the dragon held up another card. 'OK.'

Twilight stepped outside, breathing in the crisp morning air; it was only seven AM but both her and Spike enjoyed being awake early on most days.

Twilight closed her eyes and raised her head slightly, inhaling the fresh air; it felt really good but also slightly different, like it was warmer than usual.

That can't be, it's too early. The air should be quite cold Sparkle thought; keeping her head up Twilight opened her eyes and gasped at the thing held in her eyes.

It was massive, well over a thousand feet long, and looked to be made of metal; coming out of the prow of the thing was a huge tube with blue bands around it, shining a dark blue. On top of the monstrosity was another massive tube emanating from a housing. In addition to the two tubes there were numerous square holes near the top of the thing, arranged in a checkerboard-like fashion and stretching horizontally along the craft. Twilight counted; there were forty-two holes in total.

For a moment Twilight was rooted in place, struggling to figure out what this thing was. Her heart jumped when from the back of the thing came a much smaller craft; it descended into the Everfree forest for a few moments before ascending back up to the large metal thing.

Then, from the same place, a creature floated down into the Everfree forest; it was hard to tell from this distance but it seemed the beast was bipedal in nature.

Twilight immediately darted back inside the library and locked the door, closing the curtains over every single window on the structure.

Spike came out of the kitchen at the sound of Twilight's frantic movements, noticing she was absolute panicking.

"Get down, Spike!" Twilight said, she switched the lights off and snatched up the baby dragon, shoving him down against the floor while she peeked out the window.

"Shh, be quiet" Sparkle said, Spike wasn't sure what was going on but it seemed that Twilight forgot he was incapable of sound for the time being.

Twilight watched as a strange machine rolled into Ponyville; it looked similar to a carriage but there were no ponies pulling it. Furthermore it was travelling far faster than any earth-ponies could ever hope to.

The machine rolled to a stop directly in front of Ponyville's library and from the machine came a biped, looking around the town. Twilight had a gut feeling that this biped was the same one she saw earlier.

Now Spike understood what the commotion was, though he couldn't quite understand what Twilight was freaking out about. It was just some newcomer, what's the big deal?

The baby dragon wrote out on a card and shoved it up into Twilight's view. 'Why are you flipping out?' the card asked.

"Because this thing came down off some kind of ship-looking thingy, I think it might be an alien! What if it's hostile?" Twilight asked.

'What if it's just curious?' another card suggested, prompting Twilight to calm down and think rationally.

"You might be right, Spike. I should at least try to make contact with it before anypony else stumbles across it and freaks out" Twilight said, sighing in resignation.

Before she could act, however, an intense knocking came to her door, striking fear into her heart.

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"Well, there are structures here, but there doesn't seem to be any inhabitants" Marcus Calaway lamented as he drove the Hummer through the streets of the town, it seemed to be abandoned but the buildings were in excellent upkeep.

The Hummer rolled to a stop in front of a massive tree turned home, it appeared that the tree was hollowed out to create a house. "That's impossible; the tree wouldn't survive having its guts torn out, and yet…here it is, alive and well."

To say Mark was confused was an understatement.

"Maybe that Griffon lied to me" Calaway wondered, he knocked on the door to the tree house and waited patiently for it to open.

While he waited he looked around the town, if more Griffons did live here then they lived quite differently from Gilda; most of the homes here were actual houses.

Perhaps there are different aliens here. Griffons live in trees, which means I'm about to meet another Griffon, and other aliens live in houses. Curious Mark thought, he was pretty sure his theory was correct.

Finally the door opened and Marcus was greeted by…nothing. He looked into the home; the first thing he noticed was an abundance of books, they were literally everywhere. Either this place was a library or the being that inhabited it was really into reading.

"OK, so the door opened, where are the inhabitants?" Calaway wondered, he cautiously stepped forward and bumped into something. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you lying down there" Mark said, looking down at the being he bumped in to.

It was a Unicorn.

"Uhh, I was joking about the whole Unicorn thing I said earlier" Calaway said to himself calmly, internally he was quite alarmed.

"Oh it's just a human. Who are you?" the Unicorn asked, Marcus wasn't entirely sure if it had actually spoken.

"I'm Marcus Calaway" Calaway tentatively answered, looking back down into the Unicorn's purple eyes.

"Uhh, I have to go...reclaim my sanity" Mark said, beginning to back away from the creature. Griffons he could accept, talking mystical equines he couldn't.

The Unicorn, most likely sensing his apprehension, stepped forward. "Wait! You're not crazy, I really am standing here and I really am talking" she exclaimed.

Calaway extracted his Five-seveN and aimed it at the Unicorn. "What is that?" she asked, reaching a hoof up to touch it.

"Get back! Get back or I will fire!" Mark said, placing both hands on the gun. His finger was off the trigger to prevent accidental discharge.

The Unicorn was undeterred and kept advancing; Mark pointed his Five-seveN into the air and pulled the trigger, letting off a warning shot.

The Unicorn screamed in terror.

As if he wasn't insane enough more equines came out to investigate the loud noise, each of them staring at the human in fear. The finishing touch was when a few Pegasi and a baby dragon stepped out to see.

"NO! You're not real!" Marcus shouted, his bellowing voice striking more fear into the hallucinations.

"Unicorns…Pegasi…dragons…oh my…" Mark panted, sweeping his Five-seveN around to keep them at bay. The hallucinations had pushed him away from the Hummer, leaving him stranded.

There was a tap on his shoulder and he whipped around, leveling his gun. Mark came face to face with a light-blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail.

"Are you OK?" the Pegasus asked, reaching out a hoof toward the human. The blood pooled in his legs and Marcus Calaway's world went black.

And he collapsed to the ground.

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Marcus awoke to the sound of music, a moderate tone with a familiar drum-beat. As he slowly came to he recognized the song as Kill Hannah's song New York City Speed.

As he opened his eyes Mark's gaze fell on the baby dragon standing at the foot of the bed Calaway was lying in.

The dragon whistled, most likely to get the attention of the Unicorn hallucination to torture Calaway further, in his hands was some kind of black object.

As Mark's vision cleared he saw that the object was his Five-seveN; the dragon was turning it over and inspecting every side of it, trying to figure out what it was. Finally he turned it back over and placed one of his claws on the trigger, the weapon pointing directly at Mark.

"NO!" Calaway yelled, he snapped his foot up which sent the gun out of the dragon's hands and into the air. Marcus leapt up and snatched the gun out of the air, tucking and rolling before landing on the floor, his heavy frame slamming down on the wood; his boots dented the planks, turning the impact points into toothpicks.

"Whoa" the dragon exclaimed at the strength of the human.

Mark stood, slivers of wood falling off the bottom of his boots, and turned back to see the lavender Unicorn coming up the stairs and into the room.

"What happened? I heard a loud noise" the Unicorn inquired, looking around the room to see if anyone was injured.

"The human freaked out again, kicked my hands too" the dragon answered, the Unicorn shot a glare at Marcus.

"Is that true?" she asked, Calaway gave an indifferent shrug.

"He had my gun in his hand, almost pulled the trigger. Would've killed me" the human explained.

"Shoot! Spike I told you not to mess around with his stuff! And what is that infernal sound?" the Unicorn asked, referring to the music.

"It seems your dragon touched my Personal Music Player, my PMP" Calaway said, pronouncing the acronym as 'pimp'; the Unicorn glared again, this time at Spike.

"Right. I'm still not entirely convinced you're all actually real" Mark said, eager to change the subject and get some answers to his questions.

"What would it take to prove you that we're real?" Twilight asked, Marcus stepped forward and touched alongside the Unicorn's cheek, running his fingers through the fur. He felt the skin below warm as a blush came to the Unicorn's cheeks.

Mark directed his hand upward and felt along the Unicorn's horn, feeling the spirals. "OK, so you are real" Calaway said.

"I told you" Twilight replied, a smirk on her face.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my dragon assistant; Spike" the Unicorn suddenly explained.

"Marcus Calaway" the human replied, introducing himself again. "I have arrived here on an assignment to chart new planets and star systems."

"So you know about humanity?" Mark asked.

"Come with me, I'll explain everything. Oh a new human this is so EXCITING!" Twilight squealed in delight, rushing downstairs to gather her writing materials.

Marcus looked over at Spike who just smiled and shook his head.

What a strange pony Mark mused, a smile spread across his face.

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Author's note: Twilight knowing about humans will be explained in the next chapter, although quite briefly.

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

Legal Note: Marcus James Calaway and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. 'New York City Speed' belongs to Kill Hannah. Kill Hannah's labels belong to Atlantic, Original Signal, Universal Motown, and Roadrunner Records.

4: No parties for me

Foreword: sitting at my computer, le typing new shit for this story, when suddenly:

"Huh...I should probably send my beta-reader the next chapter of The Last of What's Up There so he can do his job and I can then post it."

"..."

"No."

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Chapter Four

No parties for me

January 1st, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

Mark sighed as he settled down in a chair in the library where the Unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, lived; Calaway raised a cup of coffee to his lips and took a sip.

This is nice. I could get used to a place like this Marcus mused as he took another sip of the coffee, which was absolutely exquisite thanks to Twilight's profound skills.

Calaway had been up most of the night answering Twilight's abundant questions, and even a few from her assistant Spike. It seemed that Equestria had been visited in the past by one other human, though Twilight was hesitant to talk about it.

Mark was still having trouble adjusting to the fact that this land was populated mostly by talking equines, however, and still wasn't sure if he should tag this planet's location for the rest of humanity to come colonize.

He supposed he would have to take it up with the rulers of Equestria.

It was then that Mark remembered he was supposed to meet with Twilight's friends today, having only met the human briefly when he first arrived.

Calaway remembered that one Pegasus, with the rainbow mane and tail. According to Twilight her name was Rainbow Dash.

Mark deduced she was the biggest lesbian in the world.

There were others as well, but none Marcus knew. Of course that was the point of today's agenda; to meet them.

Mark stood and refilled his cup, staring out a window into the streets of the town; Ponyville. There were several ponies milling about the town on their various activities.

Calaway decided to head outside and see if he could find Twilight's friends himself, he had only been here a day and most of that time had been inside the library. Most of those in the town only knew of him because their friends had told them, very few had actually seen the human. The only reason the library wasn't surrounded by curious spectators was because it was quite early in the morning; Seven if the clock was to be trusted.

Marcus stepped out, breathing in the cool morning air; only slightly warmed by the excess heat from his ship's engines. The human trekked through the town, earning many curious and fear-filled looks from the local ponies.

I wonder what Dick Malone would think of this place Calaway mused, thinking again about his life-long friend.

Perhaps when this is over I'll head back to Noire and see what Dick is up to. If he's even still alive, it's possible he lost the final fight against Codename: Evil. Though I doubt it considering Dick had trained all his life to fight that man Mark thought.

Marcus pushed the thoughts from his mind; he didn't want to dwell on them any further. The past is the past. No point in thinking about it.

Dick had spoken those words once before, during the hunt for Evil. Mark had always thought that Malone's willingness to so quickly forget the past is what caused it to repeat itself.

He never was the smartest of the Malone children Calaway mused, mentally chuckling.

Marcus found himself in Ponyville's market; several stands had been set up and were staffed by various ponies.

One in particular caught his attention, an orange mare sporting a Stetson cowboy hat was apparently the proprietor of an apple-selling stand; in addition to the red fruit there was an abundance of apple related products: apple fritters, apple pies, caramel apples, and other assorted foodstuffs.

"What in tarnation are you?" the mare asked, raising an eyebrow in scrutiny as she looked the human over.

"Yeah nice to meet you too" Mark sarcastically replied, folding his arms over his chest. "I am Marcus Calaway, I'm a human."

"Name's Applejack. Boy I ain't never seen nuthin' like ya" the mare declared, she had a typical Texan accent but it wasn't too over the top.

I hope this doesn't get too redundant; I would hate to have to introduce myself to every pony in town Calaway thought.

"Ya know you ain't too bad lookin' fer a alien" Applejack declared, a slight blush on her face.

"Yeah that's great" Mark brushed her off; he had better things to do today. "I'm looking for friends of Twilight Sparkle; can you help me find them?" Mark asked.

Angered by his dismissive actions Applejack began to scold him. "Now wait jus' a minute; I give y'all a complement and y'all just brush me off? Ain't you got any manners?" she raised her voice.

Marcus shot her a glare and she immediately cowered in fear; not even Fluttershy's stare could stand up to that the orange mare mused.

"Twilight's friends. Now!" the human growled, Applejack swallowed hard.

"Yer talking to one of 'em" the mare answered, Calaway sighed and his gaze softened before he turned away.

"I'm sorry. I have…well, let's just say that politeness isn't something I needed for my last job" Mark explained.

"What did you used to do?" Applejack asked, concerned that the human couldn't be hospitable.

"Maybe I'll tell you some other time" Calaway answered.

Over the course of an hour he was introduced to the rest of Twilight's friends; the Pegasus Rainbow Dash, a Unicorn named Rarity, and another Pegasus named Fluttershy.

The last pony was apparently an earth-pony similar to Applejack named Pinkie Pie, who lived in a bakery called Sugarcube Corner.

Marcus knocked on the door and almost instantly it opened to reveal a pink pony with a similarly colored mane and tail.

"Oh wowee what are you? I've never seen anything like you! Are you new? Nobody told me there was a new pony in Ponyville! Well I guess you're not really a pony are you? Do you have any friends? Are you lonely? 'Cause I totally know everypony and I mean everypony in Ponyville so you can have lots and lots of friends!" the pony rattled off like a machine gun before suddenly gasping loudly.

"IGETTOTHROWAPARTY!" she screamed before darting off in a seemingly impossible manner.

"And you bitched at me for manners" Calaway lamented to Applejack, who looked up at him in confusion.

"What in the hay does 'bitched' mean? It don't sound too nice" the mare asked, Mark shook his head.

"Don't ask. So is she always like that?" the human inquired, Applejack quickly nodded.

"Yup! That's our Pinkie, always happier than a dragon in a gem mine!" the earth-pony replied with a smile on her face.

"I don't like parties" Mark stated, Applejack looked at him as if he was a spider with a dragon's head wearing a Sombrero hat.

"How can ya not like parties?" Applejack asked, Marcus shook his head as he began to walk away.

"I just don't" Calaway declared as he returned to his ship, his only place of sanctuary in the madhouse that was Equestria.

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Gilda the Griffon stared out across the swamp that was Froggy Bottom Bog, the murky waters reflecting Gilda's image as she stared down at them, dozens of feet above the liquid.

The Griffon looked up and saw the massive gray hunk that was the supposed space ship of the human, Marcus Calaway.

The human had struck Gilda as kind of strange but she didn't consider him a dweeb. In fact there was a certain air around him that said he was a strong fighter that wasn't to be trifled with.

The Griffon was sure that she'd find out soon enough.

Gilda stepped back into her tree, flopping down onto a couch she'd stolen while in Ponyville when visiting Rainbow Dash.

She gritted her teeth, remembering Dash's betrayal; the speedy Pegasus had given up being cool and was hanging out with a bunch of lame-o's all the time.

There was a shining light in all of this, one that made Gilda pick at the blade of her favorite hunting knife in anticipation; Griffon-pony relations had grown tense as of late, and there was talk of open conflict between the two species.

Gilda had already sworn her oath to aid the Griffons against the ponies, who could never hope to stand a chance against the Griffons.

Of course the ponies were trying their best to resolve the matters with diplomacy and it seemed they were coming along nicely but the Griffon had a plan to spark pure hatred of the ponies throughout her people; they would have no choice but to attack the pony people.

Gilda had discovered a special weapon in one of her hunts in the Everfree forest, a weapon that had proved itself as a deadly instrument. If they were to use this weapon then the ponies would be defeated in months. The power of this weapon almost frightened Gilda; she had seen what it could do firsthand.

She smiled at the weapon, and it smiled back.

*-*-*

Author's note: What oh what is Gilda's special weapon? You'll find out in due time. For now, bask in your assuredly outlandish theories and conjectures.

SPOILER!: I promise that all this talk of Dick Malone is relevant to the story, not going to say how though.

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

Legal Note: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Gilda the Griffon, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

*-*-*

Like this story?

Then by all means, leave a comment! The words provided by the reader is what keeps this story going.

The box is right down there.

5: Royalty

A couple people have expressed dislike of the sexual acronyms for some of the organizations, and while I agree they're really dumb for a serious story I don't feel like changing them. They won't appear as much as the story goes on, I can tell you that.

Also this is the chapter that introduces a trend that will follow this story; severe language. If you're uncomfortable with 'cunt' and other select words then I suggest you do nothing, because you can't. You've been warned.

Onward!

*-*-*

Chapter Five

Royalty

January 4th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

Citizen Marcus(Mark) James Calaway

Mark had avoided the ponies for the past few days, eager to completely avoid any sort of parties. He couldn't stand parties for the sole reason they were happy and cheerful, tools to blind you from the harsh reality that life is dismal and depressing.

When did I become such a pessimist? I was always the optimistic one when I was hunting Codename: Evil with Dick Mark mused.

Calaway stood, exiting his ship via airlock and soaring back to Ponyville with his jetpack; maybe Pinker or whatever her name was forgot about the party.

What the fuck was her name? Pinkie, that's what it was.

Marcus swooped down and pulsed the thrusters to slow his descent, jarring him in the air before he dropped to the ground in front of Ponyville's library.

Calaway opened the door and nearly shot something when a bunch of ponies yelled 'surprise'; all of them were standing under a banner that read 'welcome to Ponyville mysterious human with big muscles.'

"What the fuck is this?" Mark asked as Pinkie Pie and her friends walked up to the human.

"Were you surprised? Huh? Were ya? Were ya?" Pinkie giddily inquired, her happy-go-lucky made Mark's anger skyrocket; it took him every fiber of his being not to yell at her for being so damned happy.

How can she be so happy? Does this place not have crime, war, disease? Is it really as peaceful and cheerful as it seems? Marcus wondered.

"Uh, look I don't really like parties. Is this really necessary?" the human asked, Pinkie nearly exploded at his shocking revelation.

"Don't like parties? How is that even possible?" the pink pony wondered, hopping in place.

"I just don't. Why are you always so goddamned happy?" Mark inquired; Pinkie was darting around like her entire essence was made of pure energy.

"Whatever. Alright, listen up; I am Marcus Calaway, the human visitor. I have much work to do so if you have any questions I'll be near the door" Mark announced, leaning back against the wall near the entrance.

"Alright let's get this party started!" Pinkie yelled, music started to play and all the ponies began to mill about.

It was at that point Rainbow Dash came up to Mark, and she was pissed. "Pinkie Pie went through all this trouble to set up a welcoming party for you and you didn't even want to come?" the Pegasus whispered.

"No, but I did come" Calaway answered.

"And then you just brush everypony off. If you weren't a member of a different species I would sock you right now" Dash exclaimed.

"Enough! I have arrived, that's what your friend wanted. Don't push me, otherwise I will leave" Marcus growled, Dash gave a 'hmph' and turned to walk away.

"One more thing, Ms. Dash; don't ever threaten me again or I will put you down" the human declared.

"I'd like to see you try" Rainbow replied as she floated away.

Arrogant little cunt Calaway mused, a few seconds later his air of indifference returned to him.

The party went on like normal and, like Mark suspected, no ponies approached him; they undoubtedly had questions but were obviously too afraid of the human to approach him.

Calaway was preparing to leave when from outside came a trumpet playing a valiant fanfare, every single pony in the library turned toward the door.

The door to the library opened and in stepped a massive pony that was a mix of a Pegasus and Unicorn; she was a white color with a rainbow-type mane and tail that flowed as she walked. The Alicorn sported multiple ornamental pieces made of gold; the main chest piece featured a large purple gem. Finally the mark on the Alicorn's flank was that of a sun.

All the ponies in the room bowed before her.

The Alicorn's gaze fell on the human standing next to her. "Ah, you must be the human my subjects told me about" she said, her voice was regal and silky but firm.

"Forgive me for not bowing. I am Marcus Calaway" the human introduced himself.

"Princess Celestia, the benevolent co-ruler of Equestria. My sister, Luna, is the other" the Alicorn explained.

"I assume you have many questions?" Celestia offered, taking another step toward the human.

"Only a few. I've already gotten used to the fact your subjects talk" Mark accepted, joining the Princess as she walked back outside.

"Ponies do not talk where you come from?" Celestia asked, she wondered just where the alien originates from.

"No, they don't. That would be fucked up" Calaway answered.

"Come with me" the Princess declared, earning an indifferent shrug from Mark.

The two walked to the edge of Ponyville, the Princess's heavily armored guards close behind. They were absolutely stoic and expressionless but Mark knew at the slightest sign of hostility they would kill him.

Or die trying.

Marcus shook his head; he wasn't here to start a war against the ponies. "Tell me about yourself, human" Celestia requested, they came to a stop and turned to face each other.

Calaway sighed, feeling like he was a broken record. "I have come here as part of my assignment to chart new planets for human colonization" he explained.

"I trust you wouldn't have told your people to come here without my consent?" Celestia asked, her tone suggested absolutely no nonsense.

"Of course, Celestia. I'm not even quite sure how my species would react to a planet of talking ponies" Mark replied.

The two talked for a while before one of the guards approached, whispering something into the Princess' ear. Despite his advanced hearing all Mark caught was 'Luna' and 'Griffon.'

Celestia sighed. "Excuse me I must return to Canterlot; Luna is having some difficulty negotiating with the Griffon leader" she explained.

"Negotiating? What's wrong?" Marcus inquired; he wondered if he should mention that he knew a Griffon personally.

"Tensions between us and the Griffons have grown tense, Luna and I are doing our best to try and cool the situation before tensions get too high and spark open conflict" the Princess explained.

"Good luck with that" Calaway stated, nodding at the Princess.

"Thank you, Marcus" Celestia replied, she returned to her chariot and her guards joined her; the Pegasi piloting the chariot quickly took to the skies and soared in the direction of Canterlot.

Leaving Marcus alone in the street as dusk began to fall on Equestria.

*-*-*

January 4th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Manehattan

Gilda the Griffon

Gilda sighed as she stepped through the streets of Manehattan, struggling not to take to the skies to avoid the filthy vermin ponies in the street. She needed to stay as inconspicuous as possible for a Griffon if her plan was to work.

The Griffon rounded a corner and her target came into view; a fancy hotel designed for Griffons only.

Right in the middle of a pony city.

Gilda checked her bags, making sure their contents were still contained within. Her plan was completely deplorable by most standards and would assuredly spark a war between the Griffons and ponies, but it had to be done.

She stepped into the hotel and made her way through the crowds of Griffons in the ballroom; there were easily a hundred of her people clustered as they mingled.

Gilda approached a table at the far side of the ballroom, waiting for her partner to arrive. While she waited she looked around at all the Griffons partying and having a good time.

Party while you can, all of you will play a very important role today Gilda thought.

Sometime later her partner arrived, he was a slightly older Griffon with a trio of scars across his cheek; one of the two trophies he obtained after defeating a dragon not much bigger than him in a fight.

"Did you bring it?" the Griffon asked, his name was Darkstar.

"Yes, it's right here" Gilda answered, handing him the bag; Darkstar checked the contents briefly before returning his attention to Gilda.

"Good. You'd do best to get out of here, all Griffons will play their part but you play one of the bigger roles" Darkstar explained.

"Thanks, Dark" Gilda said, she walked back through the ballroom and headed back into the streets of Manehattan.

She was about halfway down the street when the ground floor of the hotel detonated, the explosion reaching up as far as the second floor; hundreds of Griffons killed in the blast.

The pieces had been set, all the Griffons had to do was play them right.

There was no turning back now, but in the end it would all be worth it.

*-*-*

Author's Note: The bomb provided by Gilda is NOT the secret weapon mentioned in the last chapter. You won't know what the secret weapon is for a long time so just relax.

Yes, this story contains OC Griffons/Ponies. Bite me, not all OCs are shitty Mary Sue/Gary Stu superheroes capable of feats only seen in Metal Gear Solid games. My OCs will be as normal and down-to-earth as I can possibly make them. Besides, the OC Darkstar will barely play any kind of part in this story.

I fear Gilda may be out of character, but to be fair we don't know much about her except that she cares about being awesome.

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

Legal Note: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, Darkstar the Griffon, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Gilda the Griffon, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

6: Filling the voids

Foreword: my beta-reader once told me a story about how people drive tanks off cliffs in Battlefield and crush three people on the process, it was a fascinating tale.

And recently I've run around in Halo: Reach(which I fucking hate, by the way. God you have no idea how much I hate that game) with one of my friends and drive off cliffs when he's in the Warthog just to be a douche.

*-*-*

Chapter Six

Filling the Voids

January 5th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

Citizen Marcus(Mark) James Calaway

Mark Calaway awoke in the morning to find the baby dragon, Spike, hovering over him. It seemed that he had been watching the human sleep.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Marcus asked, the dragon stepped away with an embarrassed blush on his face.

"Ehh, sorry" Spike apologized. Mark stood from the couch and gathered his things, aiming to pay a visit to Gilda.

"Where are you going?" Twilight Sparkle asked when she saw the human heading for the door, Mark turned to look at her briefly.

"Out" Calaway answered, with that he exited the library.

"What's with him, anyway?" Spike asked. "He's so distant and dismissive." The dragon scratched his face.

"I don't know, I think he has a sketchy past. I still haven't figured out what that L-shaped device that makes a loud bang is used for" Twilight said, staring out the window in wonder as Marcus took to the skies with his jetpack.

Calaway reached the tree that was Gilda's home, landing in the entryway that was perched high above the murky waters of the swamp.

"Gilda, are you here?" Mark called out, there was no response. Intrigued, Marcus decided to have a bit of a look around, having never properly toured Gilda's home.

There wasn't much to see; a couch, a bed, several pictures of her and Rainbow Dash, and a couple hunting knives.

Wait…Gilda knows Dash? I wonder why neither one of them never mentioned that to me Calaway thought.

The human shook his head exited the home, heading back up to his ship which was still floating above the local forest.

It had been a while since he visited his ship; as a result he had much work to do regarding the ponies.

Marcus made his way to the bridge and logged what he knew about the ponies so far, which wasn't much unfortunately.

Sighing, Mark looked out the viewport up at the bright blue sky, wondering where Dick Malone was and what he was doing.

Did you ever find Codename: Evil? Did you even survive? I could really use your help right now, Dick Calaway thought.

Turning back to his console he prepared to type a message to The Great Crusader, inviting him to Equestria.

Dick,

I find myself in a quite implausible location, having found a planet populated entirely by intelligent talking ponies.

I fear I may be losing my mind. If you are not busy with Codename: Evil I request you come visit me on this planet, I'm sending coordinates with this message.

Please tell no other person about this message or where you're going if you decide to come.

-Mark Calaway.

He attached the coordinates and sent the message, hoping that his life-long friend would believe him.

With nothing left to do on the Freedom he exited the ship and returned to Ponyville.

While on the way he decided to pay a visit to Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus pony he knew the least about.

First impressions had been bad; Dash had struck the human as arrogant and cocky and she seemed to think of herself as the coolest thing on the planet.

She made the human want to throw her through a window, just to put her in her place.

His anger subsided and Mark continued on his way to the Pegasus's cloud home, shouting her name as he stood beneath it.

Sometime later the rainbow mane and cyan head poked out from the edge of the cloud layer, magenta eyes peering down at him as if she was deciding if he was worthy of her attention.

The Pegasus fluttered down to the ground, rubbing at her eyes; it seemed that Marcus had interrupted her sleeping.

He could only care less.

"What do you want?" Rainbow wearily asked, still shaking the effects of sleep off.

"Do you always sleep during the day?" Calaway inquired, he wasn't sure why if she did; as far as he had seen the Pegasus never did anything.

"I spend a lot of time practicing my flying tricks" Dash answered as she finally came around.

"Flying tricks? What do you need those for?" Mark asked. As if those had been the magic words Rainbow shot up into the air with a flap of her wings, Marcus braced himself for a barrage of irritating boasting.

"I need them for the Wonderbolts! They're the greatest most bravest fliers in all of Equestria and I'm gonna join them some day!" Dash exclaimed.

"OK" Calaway replied.

"What, that's it? OK?" Rainbow asked. "These are the Wonderbolts! And I'm going to BE one of them some day."

"I don't really care, nor do I know the Wonderbolts enough to say anything else" Mark responded.

"How can you not know the Wonderbolts? They're the greatest fliers in Equestria!" Dash declared.

At least she wasn't boasting about herself.

"I'm from a different planet, remember?" the human reminded the Pegasus.

"Well yeah, but…the last human that was here said that when he went back he'd spread the word about them and me" Rainbow said, her ego began to shatter.

"He said that?" Marcus laughed. "There's more to life than being cool and spreading word of your feats."

"Didn't you ever boast about your accomplishments?" Dash inquired, it seemed she couldn't imagine any other life than being 'awesome.'

"In my line of work boasting leads to overconfidence, overconfidence leads to death" Calaway answered.

"What was your last job?" the Pegasus pressed, earning a pained sigh from the human.

"Maybe I'll tell you some other time" Mark replied, turning to return to the library.

"Oooh, mysterious. What, are you scared? See something that made you cry? Wimp" the Pegasus mocked.

In a flash Calaway turned and snatched Rainbow Dash by the throat, shoving her against the wall of a nearby house.

"I've seen things that would break you instantly. Things that you'd never understand. Things that would make you sit in padded room wearing a straight-jacket rocking back and forth mumbling 'mommy.' So how 'bout you knock off that playing 'cool' shit and get real. Being 'cool' doesn't mean shit in the real world" the human growled, staring directly into Dash's eyes.

All the Pegasus could see was a burning hatred of her, and that last sentence made her ego crumble.

At that point she became utterly terrified of Marcus.

Calaway released Rainbow Dash who immediately floated up into the air to get away from the human.

"You think you're the hottest thing in the planet? You think you're the greatest creature that ever lived? You don't mean shit to anyone, anywhere, for any reason" Mark finished, activating his jetpack and soaring off to his ship.

Leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her shattered ego.

*-*-*

Satisfied that he had brought the Pegasus down to earth, figuratively, Marcus Calaway entered his ship and turned it towards Canterlot. He was eager to investigate a different town for a change and Canterlot was the only other settlement he knew of.

He hoped the ponies there weren't as arrogant as Ponyvillians were.

Mark directed his ship over the royal city and hovered down to the streets with his jetpack, landing amongst a crowd of ponies who had formed a crowd when the shadow fell over their city.

As the human landed with an audible thud the ponies began to back away, if they were afraid the only sign they gave was them backing away.

Paying them no mind Mark made his way through the city in search of Princess Celestia's castle, it wasn't hard to find as it towered over most of the city.

As he approached the front gate he was stopped the guards standing outside of it. "Halt! What is your business here?" one of the guards asked, his tone was forceful and stern.

"I am here to see the Princess" Mark answered.

"Which one?" the other guard inquired.

"Both."

Before any more questions could be asked a bright flash filled the human's vision that soon turned into Princess Celestia.

"Greetings, human. Welcome to Canterlot" Celestia declared. "I take it you're here to see me?" she said, more of a statement than a question.

Marcus nodded.

"Come with me" Celestia said, her horn started to glow and the two of them disappeared in a bright flash.

Mark Calaway reappeared in what appeared to be a bedroom, stumbling forward as he exited from the teleportation.

"You did better than most others who experience the teleportation for the first time, I've seen individuals fall over or start retching from the effects" Celestia lamented.

The two chatted idly for a while before they got down to business, discussing the introduction of humanity into the pony world and vice versa.

"The way I thought about it was to bring in 250 humans on a colony ship; all would be civilians and excellent contributors to society, and all would be friendly and unarmed" Mark said.

"How would you ensure they're unarmed?" Celestia asked, sipping on a cup of tea.

"Humanity has excellent security measures; we would scan all colonists before they boarded the ship" Calaway answered. "A military vessel would accompany them, however. It's standard human policy to not let colony ships go un-escorted by at the very least a Malone-class cruiser."

"A 'Malone-class' cruiser? Tell me about it" Celestia requested.

"The design is named after my best friend; after he saved Earth from being glassed by our nemesis Codename: Evil human expansionism took off and humanity came up with the Malone-class cruiser, which is currently the largest warship class in existence at 28 miles long and the most heavily armed sporting four MAGs and well over a thousand missile pods" Marcus explained.

The two talked for a moment longer before Princess Luna barged into the room, a look of urgency on her face.

"Lulu, what's wrong?" Celestia inquired, standing to meet her sister half way.

Luna eyed the human for a moment before refocusing her attention on the older Princess Celestia.

"Something has happened, Celestia. A Griffon hotel in Manehattan was bombed. Pony radicals have been blamed" Princess Luna explained.

Celestia winced and began pacing in the room. "We were so close to easing the tension; why did this have to happen?" the sun Goddess wondered.

"I can't even believe my subjects would do something like this. Do they really hate the Griffons that much?" Celestia asked no one in particular.

"Tia you don't actually believe ponies did this, do you?" Luna inquired, the elder sister turned to face the younger.

"I don't want to but what else is there? It's not like Griffons go around bombing their own people!" Celestia exclaimed.

"Oh the Griffon leader is not going to like this! What if he declares war? We are a peaceful people; we're in no condition to fight a war" the sun Goddess stated.

While Celestia fretted over the possible consequences Luna eyed the human as he sat on the floor, an air of nonchalance waved around him.

"Princess, if it comes to war I would like you to know that I will help where I can" Marcus suddenly said, snapping Celestia out of her dilemma.

"No, if a human helps fight then the Griffons would become hostile with them. What if they declare war on your species?" the white-coated Princess asked.

"How would they fight us? The Griffons have no means to travel in space; therefore they couldn't come after us. And besides I'm the only human that knows of Equestria" Calaway explained, he had forgotten about the human Twilight mentioned a while ago.

"Actually there was one other before you. He disappeared mysteriously sometime after arriving" Celestia told him.

"Care to explain?" Mark said, the Princess was about to when the doors opened and in stepped two of her guards.

"Your majesty, we have received a message from the Griffon leader" one of the guards declared, handing over a rolled up parchment.

"Thank you" Celestia replied, she took the letter and the two guards retreated from her chambers, closing the door behind them.

Princess Celestia opened the letter and began to read aloud.

"Princess Celestia of Equestria,"

"It has come to my attention that a Griffon hotel in a pony city was bombed by ponies, an act of anti-Griffon prejudice. This action has displayed clear hostility toward the Griffons by the ponies and is being treated as an act of terrorism and will not go unpunished."

"Diplomatic relations have ended; for your sake I suggest you prepare your country for open warfare."

"Good day."

Celestia finished reading the message and lowered it onto a table, rubbing her head with a hoof. "Luna, alert the Equestrian military and the Elements of Harmony" Celestia commanded, Princess Luna turned and exited the bed chambers.

"You're gonna need my help" Mark stated, Princess Celestia shook her head.

"No, I don't want war to befall your species. Griffons are tenacious fighters" the sun Goddess protested.

"I have a spaceship" Calaway reminded her.

For a moment it seemed the Princess would consider his offer; the spaceship would be of great help but for the sake of humanity she just couldn't allow it.

"No, we will do this ourselves. I recommend you leave our planet immediately" Celestia stated.

"But—" Marcus began to protest but he was cut off by the sun Princess.

"Enough! Leave my planet immediately. We don't need your help" Celestia shouted, putting the full fury of the sun in her tone.

"That's the way you want to play it, fine. I'm going" the human stepped out onto the balcony outside the Princess's room and prepared to return to his ship.

"Goodbye, Princess Celestia of Equestria. And good luck" Marcus Calaway declared, he activated his jetpack and flew up to the Freedom, guiding the ship away from Canterlot before rocketing back up into the sky.

Celestia watched until the ship could be seen no more before reentering her bed chambers; she had a lot of work to do in the coming days.

For the first time in over a thousand years her country was about to go to war.

She could only pray to the spirit of her mother that they'd survive.

*-*-*

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

*-*-*

Legal Note: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

7: End of diplomacy

Chapter Seven

End of Diplomacy

January 7th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

Unicorn Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle paced back in forth in front of her friends, who stood in a row before the lavender Unicorn, waiting to see what she had to say.

A lot had changed in the past few days; Marcus had gone off to Canterlot and then he abruptly left the planet. Princess Celestia sent a letter to Twilight explaining that the Griffons have declared open war on the ponies and that she ordered Marcus to leave the planet.

Twilight had of course challenged this decision, stating that the help the human could provide with his spaceship would be invaluable.

Her protests were shut down immediately, however, as the Princess ordered her to assemble the other Elements for some kind of special mission.

It was necessary that the ponies make the first strike against the technologically superior Griffons, who had already mobilized their military and already had talons on Equestria soil, slowly encroaching on multiple cities.

The mission was incredibly risky, however; the six Elements of Harmony were to proceed through the Everfree forest to reach a Griffon encampment that was part of a strike force that had come through the Flamewood Forest. Equestrian military intelligence had reason to believe this strike force's mission was to invade Canterlot.

There was also one other detail; Princess Celestia would be providing a squad of Equestrian Special Forces to aid the Elements. Twilight had insisted that they didn't need an escort, to no avail.

"Alright girls, here's the deal; Princess Celestia has ordered the six of us on a special mission to sabotage a Griffon strike force currently staying in the province of Brindleton, which is between the Flamewood and Everfree forests. We will be travelling with a squad of Equestrian Special Forces which will escort us through the Everfree" Twilight started.

"Once we're through the Everfree forest Princess Celestia will send a message stating what we must do next" the lavender Unicorn stated.

"Any questions?" Sparkle asked, looking over her friends. Fluttershy raised her hoof.

"Do we have to do this?" the meek Pegasus inquired.

"Yes, I wish we didn't but the Princess seems to think we're the best choice for this special mission. I don't know what we're gonna do when we reach the encampment but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we reach it" Twilight answered.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Sparkle opened it, revealing seven soldiers, presumably the squad that was to escort the Elements of Harmony.

"Alright girls, let's go" Twilight said, she gathered up the Elemental pieces and stored them in her saddlebags, walking out of the library along with her friends.

The group made their way to the edge of the forest and stood before it, hesitating to enter. The squad leader suddenly appeared next to Twilight, she hadn't even heard him come up.

"We need to keep moving" the squad leader said, it was clear that he wasn't very comfortable around ponies equivalent to civilians.

"I know but…it's kinda scary" Sparkle finally replied, earning a huff from the squad leader. The group started their way into the forest.

"Listen up; we need to stay as quiet as possible, the more noise we make the higher the chance we'll be detected by wildlife and Griffon scouts" the squad leader announced.

The SF squad could move quickly with no noise but the Elements weren't that skilled, and were forced to move slower to keep the noise down. Twilight could sense the annoyance emanating from the soldiers.

As they made their way through the forest Twilight grew increasingly nervous; the Everfree forest was quite the dangerous place, filled to the brim with wild creatures and bloodthirsty monsters, just waiting for stray ponies to come along to make a meal out of them.

Of course the monsters would be discouraged by the fact there were thirteen ponies in the group, meaning they wouldn't be able to just jump in and start munching on one without the others attacking.

By the time the group was halfway through the forest night had fallen on Equestria, making navigation in the thick jungle even more difficult. They had to slow their pace even more just to avoid getting separated.

Twilight looked up at the moon as they reached the other end of the forest; based on its position Twilight guessed it was somewhere around 4am.

The group looked around and saw that to the right, about half a mile away, were several fires illuminating what appeared to be several structures.

The squad leader took a look through a pair of binoculars and nodded a moment later. "There's the Griffon encampment."

Just then there was a flash and a scroll appeared out of the air and dropped to the ground, Twilight picked it up with her magic and began to read aloud.

"Elemental strike team,"

"I see you have reached the other side of the Everfree, and I hope you all made it intact."

"The next part of the plan is quite risky; you are to infiltrate the Griffon base, at which point the SF team will plant several explosive charges at key points around the base while the Elements infiltrate the interior and collect vital intelligence."

"Good luck, my little ponies."

Twilight stored the message in her saddlebags and looked up, the Special Forces team motioned for the Elements to follow them.

It took the group close to an hour to reach the edge of the encampment, slowly sneaking along at the edges of the forest to avoid detection.

"Let's get in there" the squad leader said, the group made it over the fence with the help of Rainbow Dash and proceeded toward the main building which was a large structure featuring ventilation shafts that a pony could easy fit in.

"OK, you six get in there and find out whatever it is the Princess wants you to find. We meet back here at 0445 hours" the squad leader said, earning blank stares from the Element carriers.

"That means 4:45 am."

The Elements all bore a look of realization before they nodded and proceeded into the ventilation shaft.

"Ugh, there's dust everywhere. So dreadful" Rarity, a white Unicorn with purple mane and tail and bearer of the Element Generosity, complained.

"Quit your whining" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"That wasn't whining. Thiiiis is whiiiining" Rarity said in an overly emphasized voice, irritating the rainbow Pegasus.

"Quiet! Or the Griffons will hear us!" Twilight whispered forcefully, her friends fell silent.

They slowly made their way deeper into the building before coming across what appeared to be some kind of briefing room, standing in it was a Griffon that looked quite familiar.

"Is that Gilda?" Twilight whispered, she watched as the Griffon turned on some kind of device and another Griffon's face appeared on it; it was clearly a male and he sported three scars across his face.

What is that thing? Where did they get it? Twilight wondered, she craned her ear towards the room to listen to what the Griffons were saying.

"No, the ponies and the Griffon government don't expect anything, our plan is working perfectly. We'll be in position to move soon" Gilda said, picking the claws on one of her hands.

"Excellent. Now, there's been a change of plan. We're not going to move on Canterlot just yet, I have a 'special' shipment being prepped for delivery; it's currently being stored in the town of Whinniesport in the Province of Jenniata. Your strike force is to proceed to Appleloosa, wipe the town off the map" the male Griffon ordered.

"Of course, sir" Gilda finished, ending the discussion and switching the strange device off and leaving the room.

"What are they planning?" Twilight asked herself, she looked over at Rainbow Dash who was seething.

"Stupid friggin' Gilda, I never thought I'd see that jerk ever again, let alone see her part of some Griffon army" Dash quietly exclaimed.

"Come on, let's go" Sparkle said, the Elements made their way back through the ventilation and exited the same place they entered, the Special Forces team already waiting for them.

"You're early" the squad leader said.

"We found what we needed; the Griffon strike force at this base is gonna make their move on Appeloosa. There's also some kind of 'special' package waiting in the town of Whinniesport" Twilight explained.

The squad leader wrote this down and had Twilight send it to Princess Celestia, informing her of the coming situation.

"We'll stall the attack on Appleloosa by destroying this base. Let's get out of here" the squad leader declared.

The sun began to rise over the horizon as the group began to make their way back to the Everfree forest, they were almost out of the base when a squad of Griffon soldiers saw them and opened fire.

Twilight turned and saw that the Griffon soldiers were holding in their hands L-shaped devices similar to what Marcus Calaway had, though quite different in design. The weapons loudly cracked in the morning air.

The group took cover behind a wall but not before a whizzing noise was heard before being overshadowed by the gurgled pains of Applejack, who was holding her hooves up to her neck as blood flowed out.

"Shoot! Help her" Rainbow Dash yelled, Twilight and a medic from the SF team immediately got to work; Twilight removed the bullet with her magic while the Unicorn medic sealed the wound. They succeeded but Applejack had fallen unconscious from the blood loss.

"Is she OK?" Rainbow demanded, looking over her friend.

"She'll make it but we need to get out of here" the medic said, Dash slung Applejack across her back and they began to leave the base once again, constantly under fire from the Griffons.

They made it to the edge of the Everfree forest when Rainbow Dash got hit, the same whizzing noise was heard and the Pegasus collapsed, blood spilling out of one of her legs.

"Ah horseapples!" Rainbow cursed, tumbling down and holding her wounded leg. Twilight and the medic helped her after taking cover behind a fallen tree.

"How are we supposed to get out of this one?" one of the soldiers asked, a spear-launcher unfolded from his saddle-rig and he fired, the spear flying into a Griffon soldier.

"I'll call for extraction!" the squad leader yelled, he quickly scrabbled a message and sent it off to the nearest Pegasus team.

"Hold 'em back 'til evac arrives!" the squad leader ordered, he opened fire with his own spear launcher but was soon hit; the spear launchers were no match for the Griffon's weapons.

"Just keep them back!"

Twilight was about say something when she herself was hit, a hole opening up on her left flank, directly in the middle of her cutie mark.

"Ahhhhh!" the lavender Unicorn screamed, the wound wasn't severe, there was no blood spilling out in fact, but it still hurt none the less.

Twilight looked over the fallen tree and saw that hundreds of Griffons were gunning for them, steadily encroaching in the assuredly doomed ponies.

Celestia knows what the Griffons next move is…we helped…that's all we can ask for Twilight mused as she hunkered back down, the SF team still fruitlessly trying to hold the Griffons back.

Just when all hope seemed lost there were hundreds of tremendous explosions, the extremely high amount of decibels assaulting Twilight's ears. The lavender Unicorn looked over the tree and witnessed thousands of massive fireballs as they began to collapse; thousands of Griffons lay dead.

A second later there was a tremendous rumbling and a shadow fell over the land; looking up Twilight saw a massive gray hull of a spaceship soar overhead, tubular devices flying out of the square holes on the side, the tubes rocketed down to the ground before turning into the massive fireballs.

Painted in enormous white letters on the side of the ship were the words Evil in the name of Good.

The ship proceeded to completely level the Griffon encampment, leaving nothing behind but scorched earth and charred remains.

Right next to the other ship was another, smaller one. Painted on the sides of the other ship was the word Freedom.

The same name of Marcus Calaway's ship.

Unable to contain her joy Twilight stood up as much as she could and a massive smile spread across her face.

"He came back! HE'S BACK!" the Unicorn screamed triumphantly as the two ships loomed over the land, hovering over like epic symbols of heroism.

Twilight though they were the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

The first engagement of the war had been fought with the ponies coming out on top through the aid of the humans, now Celestia would have no choice but to let the humans help as they'd gotten involved of their own accord.

With humanity in on the fight the ponies would be supplied with weapons, transportation, and plenty more supplies.

And with the aid of the ships the ponies' victory was assuredly secured.

It was time to go to war.

*-*-*

Author's note: And so it begins...

I would like to thank Michael Blackburn for beta-reading this chapter.

*-*-*

Legal Note: Marcus(Mark)James Calaway, the Special Forces leader and team, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

9: Clandestine actions

Foreword: This chapter is kinda redundant towards the end as it's the same situation as Mark Calaway was in. You'll see what I mean when you get to that point.

Man! I haven't shaved in like five fucking days and as a result my face is hairier than fucking Chuck Norris's.

Onward!

*-*-*

Chapter Nine

Clandestine Actions

January 9th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Whinniesport

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

5:32AM

Mark Calaway maneuvered through the shipyards in the town of Whinniesport, ducking behind shipping crate after shipping crate to avoid detection.

From what he had seen the entire port was occupied mostly by Griffons, all of them most likely armed to eliminate any snoopers.

Of course the human avoided them with ease; it would be harder to steal candy from a child.

Mark proceeded through the shipyard, crouching into the shadows when necessary and slashing the throats of several Griffon warriors, hiding the bodies when he was done with each.

I thought Griffons were tougher than this Marcus mused; he continued through the shipyard and checked multiple warehouses for any sign of Griffons congregating around a suspicious looking package but kept coming up empty-handed.

Calaway was about to investigate the last warehouse when a human drop-ship soared overhead, heading directly for the final warehouse.

Two birds with one stone; stop the shipment from leaving and confront the human supplying the Griffons with weapons Mark thought; he checked his weapons and proceeded for the warehouse.

Mark pulled out his MP5A4, having selected it as it was more usable than his Five-seveN, which was still in his holster. He had replaced the standard flash-hider with a sound suppressor.

Calaway came up on the personnel doorway and racked the charging handle of his MP5A4, busting through the door when he was ready.

Several Griffons turned toward the noise and drew their weapons when they saw that a human was busting in. Marcus was faster, however, and killed all the Griffons in the room.

The human watched as a large door on the left side was slammed shut; sprinting over to the door Calaway kicked open the personnel door next to it, immediately coming under fire from Griffons in the courtyard outside.

Mark returned fire and easily eliminated the enemies, reloading once they were dead. By the time he got back outside, however, the drop-ship ascended the skies and flew away, heading in the direction of Canterlot.

Right before the drop-ship escape Mark saw the silhouette of a human through a window on the side.

There was a wooden crate in the middle of the courtyard, the lid was off but the interior was empty. "Dick, come in" Calaway said on the radio.

"Go for Malone" The Great Crusader replied.

"The package got away, it's on its way to its destination" Marcus explained, walking back into the warehouse.

"Do you know where it's going?" Dick inquired.

"Negative."

Mark noticed that one of the Griffons was still moving, severely wounded. "I'm gonna find out, however" Calaway said.

"Understood."

Marcus approached the Griffon who was attempting to stand, kicking him over and pulling out his Five-seveN.

"Where's that drop-ship going?" the human asked, the Griffon spat at him but missed.

"I'm not gonna ask nicely again; where is that drop-ship going?" Calaway insisted.

"I'm not telling you shit" the Griffon replied, Mark shot him in the leg with his handgun, the Griffon crying out in pain.

"Tell me!" the human demanded.

"I'm not telling you 'cause I don't know. Shit" the Griffon stated, earning a sigh from the human.

"Right, have fun being dead then" Marcus declared, taking aim and preparing to finish the Griffon.

"Wait! I do know something else though, if I tell you what I know will you let me go?" the Griffon asked.

"Sure."

"There's a human supplying us with human weapons" the Griffon said, a hopeful expression spreading across his features.

"I already knew that. What's his name?" Mark inquired.

"I don't know, he's using some kind of codename; Polaris" the Griffon responded, the human began to ponder.

"Polaris, interesting. Right then, this is for not knowing what the package is" Marcus said.

"But I do—" the Griffon started to say, but Calaway ended his life with a round to the head.

"Shit" Mark said, stepping back out of the warehouse and heading back to his ship. "Dick, come in, I didn't find out where the package is going, but I did find out who's supplying the Griffons with human weapons."

"Send it" Malone replied.

"Guy that calls himself Polaris; know anything about that?" Marcus asked.

"No, but I'll look into it."

"Copy that, I'm on my way back to Ponyville. Mark out" Calaway finished, activating his jetpack and beginning the long journey back to his ship.

*-*-*

Whooves' family vacation

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Day 1

Train route to Canterlot

January 9th, 2129. 6:23AM

Doctor Whooves sat in his chair on the train, his daughter Dinky and his wife Derpy sleeping next to him.

The trio was on their way to Canterlot for a vacation, eager to get away from the two humans and the shadow of their ships.

The Doctor looked out the window as Princess Celestia's sun finished coming over the horizon, casting the land in an orangish glow.

Doctor Whooves closed his eyes and relaxed, leaning back in his seat and listening to the steady rumble of the train as it thundered across the tracks.

Just then there was an intense rumbling that shook the train, waking Dinky and Derpy in the process. Chalking it up to an irregularity in the tracks the Doctor closed his eyes again.

Suddenly Doctor Whooves was jerked forward and a screeching sound was heard; the sound of the brakes slamming against the wheels. Whooves looked out the window and saw what looked to be a really small human ship soar overhead, accompanied by Griffon aerial warriors.

"Daddy what's that?" Dinky asked, referring to the small human ship.

The Doctor was never able to answer her question as a massive cylinder dropped from the side of the small ship and dropped directly for the train; it impacted just under the middle of the vehicle and knocked it right off the tracks as they went over a bridge. The rest of the train was dragged off by gravity and plummeted into the valley below.

Killing all aboard when it landed.

*-*-*

January 9th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

The Great Crusader Dick Malone

7:00AM

Dick Malone stepped out of the library and breathed in the morning air, it was much cleaner and crisper than Earth's.

The Great Crusader looked over and saw Mark Calaway as he approached, looking over something on a PDA.

"Find anything out about Polaris?" Malone asked when Marcus reached him; the other man shook his head.

"There's nothing, the only beings that know anything about Polaris are the Griffons, and they're not exactly in a talking mood right now" Mark explained, referring to the war.

"Don't worry, we'll find this guy. It'll probably be easier than hunting Codename: Evil" Malone stated.

"That reminds me did you ever kill Codename: Evil?" Mark inquired, he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"What kind of fucking question is that? Of course I did, I wouldn't be here in Equestria answering a Unicorn's questions if I hadn't" Dick answered.

"So how'd you spend your night?" Calaway asked, The Great Crusader tilted and groaned in exasperation.

"I spent it like fucking shit; most of the morning and evening I was spent answering questions, first from that Unicorn Twilight Sparkle, and then from some fucking fucky named Applebloom" Malone answered, replacing 'filly' with 'fucky.'

"Sounds like you had a great time" Mark joked.

"Don't ever make me answer questions from these ponies again, I may have to kill myself then" Dick stated.

The two walked through the town for a while before they heard a voice calling Malone's name.

An orange Pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail ran up to the two humans, skidding to a stop in front of Malone, she had to crane her head completely up to look the six-foot-three human in the eye.

"Dick, come on! I wanna show you the new trick I can do on my scooter" the Pegasus filly exclaimed, practically hopping with excitement.

"Fucking A' Scootaloo, I got other things to do today. Like finding out who Polaris is" Dick declared.

"Who's Polaris?" the Pegasus filly, Scootaloo, asked.

"Fucking A' I just said I have to find out who he is, I just said that" Malone exclaimed.

"You repeated yourself" Marcus pointed out.

Before anything else could be said a pink pony hopped up and started assaulting Dick with questions.

"Oh wowee another human! Are you friends with Marky? Do you have any other friends? Are you lonely? Are you looking for a good time? Sorry my friend Rainbow Dash taught me that one; she said it's a great way to pick up guys! I don't really know what she means though" the pink pony rattled.

Suddenly she gasped and yelled "I get to throw another party!" She almost bolted away but was stopped when Malone fired his Jericho into the air.

"STOP! Holy Fucking shit! Who the fuck are you?" The Great Crusader asked, the pink pony began hopping in place.

"I'm Pinkie Pie and I gotta throw you a party, you're totally invited of course I mean duh! What kind of party would it be if the guest of honor didn't show up?" Pinkie stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She was about to bolt off again when Dick fired another round into the air. "What is that thing anyway it makes such a loud noise like boom! And it's really scary looking but I'm not afraid 'cause my granny said I can just laugh my fears away" Pinkie ranted again.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The Great Crusader thundered, Pinkie immediately closed her mouth. "Why are you going to throw me a fucking party?"

"Well duh! Everypony gets a welcome party if they're new in town!" Pinkie Pie answered.

"I'm not going to no fucking party" Malone exclaimed.

"That's fine; we'll just bring the party to you!" Pinkie declared, and with that she sped away.

"What. The fuck. Was that?" Dick asked no one in particular.

"That's Pinkie Pie for ya, always throwing parties" Scootaloo said, Marcus was smiling at his friend's dismal prospect.

"Well now you gotta go to your welcome party" Calaway declared.

"I'm not going to any goddamn party, fuck that shit. Fuck it. Fuck it. Fuck it fuck it fuck it!" The Great Crusader rambled before storming off.

"Wanna show me that trick?" Marcus asked, he was a far friendlier person than Malone could ever hope to be.

"Sure!" Scootaloo replied.

*-*-*

Several hours later Dick Malone had finished touring the town and had seen most of its landmarks, including the town hall.

Rounding a corner Malone's eyes fell on a building that proudly proclaimed Sugarcube Corner on the side.

"A bakery, fan-fucking-tastic" The Great Crusader exclaimed, he hadn't eaten anything all day and while sugary treats weren't at the top of his list they were better than anything else he'd find in the shithole that was Ponyville.

He entered the bakery and suddenly there was a loud yell of "surprise!" followed by dozens of ponies appearing out of no where.

"What the fuck?"

Pinkie Pie came up to the human and immediately went off on one of her rants. "Were you surprised? Huh? Were ya? Were ya?"

"ENOUGH!" Malone thundered, every pony in the room fell silent. "What the fuck is with you? Is throwing parties all you fucking do?" The Great Crusader asked.

"Of course! Making ponies happy is my special talent! And throwing parties is the best way to make ponies happy!" Pinkie answered.

"Calm the fuck down! Aren't you ever calm you fucking psychotic bitch?" Malone inquired.

"Nopey-dopey! I'm always happy and energetic!" Pinkie answered.

"That's great, I don't give a fuck. I'm leaving" Dick said as he turned for the door, he was stopped by a rainbow-mane Pegasus.

"Hold on a minute buster, what is your problem?" the Pegasus demanded.

"Who the fuck are you?" The Great Crusader said, he was about push the pony aside to leave the building.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm the coolest pony in all of Ponyville" the Pegasus answered, Dick threw his head back and unleashed his laugh, a slightly villainous-sounding laugh.

"Yeah fucking right. Get the fuck out of my way you cunt-licking bitch" Malone demanded, further angering the Pegasus.

"That's it, come 'ere!" Dash yelled, flying closer to the human throwing one of her front hooves forward as a punch.

Dick grabbed the leg and slammed the Pegasus against a nearby wall; pinning her against it with his left hand Malone straightened his right hand out and swung it horizontally, smashing it into Dash's throat in a move similar to a karate chop.

The Great Crusader released the Pegasus who immediately dropped to the floor and began coughing and sputtering, spitting out enough blood to fill a tablespoon to the brim.

"Go to hell" Dick growled, his deep voice guttural and feral sounding. He exited the bakery and took to the skies with his jetpack to return to his ship, Evil in the name of Good.

Marcus watched as Dick's ship turned and rocketed away from Ponyville, heading over the Everfree forest and soon disappearing from view.

"I wonder what's gotten into him" Marcus said as Twilight Sparkle walked up next to him, they turned back to check on Rainbow Dash. Only one thing occupied Mark's mind that night, and that was the question 'why?'

*-*-*

Author's note: Man, Dick Malone's kind of a...well, dick. Don't be concerned about that though, he's not all bad.

So...Polaris. Who is he you might ask? Well that'll all be revealed later, don't you fret. For now you can just live with your assuredly outlandish theories and conjectures.

Please note that the bomb used to blow up the train tracks was indeed the package that was awaiting delivery in Whinniesport. If Marcus had been faster he would've saved the lives of countless ponies, including Derpy and her family. The package was NOT the secret weapon mentioned in an earlier chapter, the secret weapon will be revealed at a later time. More theories and conjectures abound in your brains.

Legal shit: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, Polaris, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

10: Back to work

I have this idea for a shipfic and I can't stop thinking about it and all day for the past few days it's been on my mind and I'm like "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Fuck.

*-*-*

Chapter Ten

Back to Work

January 10th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Royal City of Canterlot

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

10:00AM

"So he's gone? You have no idea where he went?" Princess Celestia asked Mark, who sat before her in a rather large chair.

"Correct, he just up and left" Marcus answered, neglecting to mention that Dick assaulted one of the Princess's subjects; the two humans were there to help the ponies, not beat them.

"This is not good, we need all the help we can get and now one of the humans has disappeared, taking the support of his ship with him" Celestia declared.

"Is something wrong?" Calaway inquired.

"You and the Elements stalled the Griffon advance to the north and temporarily stopped their assault on the town of Appleloosa by destroying their base but only for a limited time. The Griffons are still making their way to Appleloosa and have bypassed all our defenses by crossing the Stormy Sea, which separates Pony land and Griffon land" the Princess explained.

"The Stormy Sea is only 21 miles north of Appleloosa" Celestia finished.

"Well then what the fuck am I doing sitting here? I gotta get to Appleloosa and stop the invasion" Marcus exclaimed, standing from the chair.

"Wait! The ponies there don't know about humans or your presence here" Princess Celestia declared.

"So? If I show up there and stop the invasion they would learn of us and would learn that we're here to help, it's a win-win" Mark said.

"I still don't like it" the sun Goddess replied.

"You just worry about the Griffons, I'll handle the pony/human relations" Marcus stated, and with that he left the Princess's bedchambers and proceeded to the docking platforms where his ship waited.

He pulled the ship back and rocketed over the mountains, following his nav system to where it pointed to Appleloosa.

By the time Mark got to the western town the invasion had already begun, the Griffons slowly encroaching upon the town.

But there was something Calaway wasn't expecting to see; the Evil in the name of Good, Dick's ship. The vessel was hovering over the town, bombarding the Griffon forces, who had absolutely no means to engage The Great Crusader's ship.

Calaway watched as Dick completely destroyed the Griffon forces before accelerating away from the area, disappearing again.

Dumbfounded, Marcus approached the town to see if there were any stragglers he could pick off and to ask the locals about Dick and his arrival.

The human descended with the aid of his jetpack and landed amongst the local ponies, who stared at him in fear; they had seen what the ships could do and now they were face to face with the alien pilot of one.

Calaway surveyed the carnage; there was only one pony dead compared to the thousands of Griffons that had been massacred. The dead pony sported a brown vest and hat on the ground next to the remains of his head. He had a single red apple for a mark on his flank.

Mark looked the pony over again; remains indeed he mused, the head appeared to have been obliterated by a .50 caliber BMG round, fired from a sniper rifle.

"This Polaris guy is supplying really good weapons to these Griffon fucks" Calaway said to himself, the ponies around backed away in fear when he spoke.

Believing he would receive no useful information Marcus returned to the Freedom and began the short flight to Canterlot.

When he arrived he explained to Princess Celestia what had happened, she was pleased to hear that the Griffons had been stopped but was puzzled by Dick's actions.

"It seems to me that Mr. Malone is a lone wolf, others just slow him down" Celestia declared.

"Apparently" Marcus replied.

"Now, as enigmatic as Malone is there are other things I need to be concerned with right now. The Griffons have destroyed the rail line that leads here to Canterlot, rendering flight the only way into the city. I've received intel that the Griffons are doing something in the Great Crater south of here, I want you and two Elements of Harmony to investigate" Celestia explained.

"Which two?" Mark asked.

"Magic and Loyalty. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, respectively" the sun Goddess answered.

"Investigate the area and stop whatever they're doing" Celestia commanded, earning a nod from the human.

"Understood."

*-*-*

January 10th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Skies above Equestria

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

12:14AM.

Mark directed the drop-ship downwards slightly as they approached the mountains surrounding the Great Crater, eager to get behind cover before the Griffons spotted him.

Behind him, in the cargo bay, were the two Elements of Harmony Loyalty and Magic, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. They were to aid the human in investigating the Griffon presence in the Great Crater.

Calaway tapped the thrusters to slow his descent as he lowered the drop-ship into a clearing in the mountains, activating the landing struts which propped the ship up.

The human opened the rear hatch and grabbed the SCAR-L by the opening before dropping out, there was a deployable ramp but the ship only rested a foot off the ground, making the ramp unnecessary in this situation.

Mark looked over the SCAR-L; the iron sights had been flipped down to allow a clear sight picture for his Trijicon 4x magnification ACOG scope, and Calaway had installed a standard vertical grip on the gun for increased stability.

In addition to all this he had removed the flash hider and threaded on a sound suppressor to maintain noise discipline.

"Let's go, and keep quiet" Mark ordered, Dash groaned lightly but otherwise provided no additional protest.

The trio navigated through the sparse footpaths that snaked through the mountains, making their way to the Great Crater.

They arrived at the edge of the crater and saw a plus-shaped metal grid-work connecting to the edges of the crater; suspended from the lattice-work was an enormous metal pod, about half as big as Mark's ship.

The pod was of obvious human design, most likely constructed by the Griffons with the aid of Polaris. The pod was usually used by military colonists as no ground life would be able to reach it without some kind of aircraft.

"OK, we can't just up and destroy this thing, we gotta find out who Polaris is first and we gotta find out what the Griffon's next move is" Marcus explained.

"So what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We'll climb up the cliff-face to the left and get up on the lattice-work and follow it to the pod, we will then drop down onto the pod and open up one of the roof hatches and drop in. At that point we will proceed through the pod until we find Polaris, confront him and find out what the Griffon's plans are before killing him" Calaway explained.

"Is it really necessary to kill him?" Twilight Sparkle asked, Mark looked at her incredulously.

"What kind of fucking question is that? Yes, it is necessary to kill him. That way we can end the Griffon's supply of human weapons and make this war a hell of a lot easier" Calaway answered.

"We'll wait until it's night before moving in; let's head back to the drop-ship and rest up, you'll both need to be plenty rested before we head in there, we'll be severely outnumbered and outgunned. If we get spotted then we'll be totally fucked" the human said.

"Are we gonna need anything? Any kind of tools?" Twilight inquired.

"Do you even know how to use a gun? 'Cause that's the tool you're gonna need" Mark replied.

"Uh, well…I…no, I don't know how to use a gun. I don't even think I'd be able to shoot another living creature" the lavender Unicorn explained.

"Exactly."

The trio edged back from the cliff and went back the way they came, returning to the drop-ship as it rested out of view in a copse of trees.

"Dick, come in" Calaway said on the radio, there was silence for several seconds before Mark heard the static crackle as Malone came on.

"Go for Malone" The Great Crusader responded.

"Me and two of the Elements of Harmony are going to be infiltrating a Griffon command pod in the Great Crater, south of Canterlot. Me and the two Elements are currently resting a quarter of a mile southwest from the Great Crater; I'll mark our position with a digital marker so you can find it. If the shit hits the fan then I'm gonna need you to blast the pod when I give you the word, we may also need a drop-ship for quick extraction" Marcus explained.

"I'll be there when you need me" Dick promised.

"Copy that. Thanks Dick. Mark out" Calaway said, switching the radio off.

"You said your name was Marcus" Dash declared accusingly, the human sat down on the edge of the cargo bay of the drop-ship.

"It is; my full name anyway. Most people call me Mark. It doesn't really matter" Calaway explained.

The human pulled his legs into the craft and rested his back against the wall, propping his SCAR-L up against the wall next to him.

"Wake me up when it's ten" Mark ordered, climbing into the cockpit and taking place in the pilot's seat, which was arguably more comfortable than the steel floor.

He activated the shutters which came down over the view-port, darkening the cockpit and allowing Calaway to doze off into the realm of dreams.

*-*-*

Author's note: I'm just going to go ahead and say it now; the next chapter will be fluff related to Dick Malone, explaining how he found Appleloosa and also explores what he's doing after he struck Rainbow Dash. So that'll be nice.

Legal fucking shit that nobody will ever read but I have to include it otherwise I'll get fucking sued by the fucking Federation of Fetuses: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, Polaris, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

Review this chapter or Sergeant Ass Flakes and the Rectum Warriors will come to your house and grape you in the ass.

11: Back to the start

Chapter Eleven

Back to the Start

January 6th, 2129

Sohcnum system

Planet Noire, Capital City of Rackar

The Hero of the Human Race Dick Malone

Dick Malone sighed in anger as he stepped up the loading ramp into the cargo-bay of his private ship, the Evil in the name of Good; a Marathon-class Voyager equivalent in size to a UN Naval carrier, with armament and armor to match.

He wasn't angry any more than usual today, in fact he should be happy; just a few days ago he had finally killed the one man he'd been hunting all his life, Codename: Evil.

Evil had proven himself time and time again that he'd always survive whatever Dick threw at him, many times before when Malone thought Evil was finally dead he'd turn up about a year later.

The rogue government agent was dead now, however, Dick was sure of that.

The Hero slapped the switch to close the loading ramp as he made his way up and through his ship to the bridge.

His bridge wasn't laid out in a conventional fashion with the viewport in the normal spot; Malone's bridge was laid out so that the viewport ran along the bottom of the hull at a 30 degree angle, and it was great for looking down at planets and reduced the possibility of a Mass Accelerating Gun's round punching through.

Dick activated his ship's engines and prepped it to pull out of the docking station, turning away from the station and accelerating into space once he was cleared by the control tower.

Once he was up in space Malone checked to see if he had any messages, brewing up some coffee while he was waiting.

His main computer finished booting up and there was only one message in his inbox, opening it up The Hero saw that it was from his old friend, Mark Calaway.

Dick began reminiscing; Mark had been friends with The Hero long before he was a hero, long before Codename: Evil, and long before they began ending lives to save people.

Dick took a sip of the hot coffee once it was ready and opened the message to read it.

Dick,

I find myself in a quite implausible location, having found a planet populated entirely by intelligent talking ponies.

I fear I may be losing my mind. If you are not busy with Codename: Evil I request you come visit me on this planet, I'm sending coordinates with this message.

Please tell no other person about this message or where you're going if you decide to come.

-Mark Calaway.

Malone nearly spit out his coffee when he read the message. "Talking ponies? Does he mean Equestria?" The Hero wondered aloud.

Of course Dick had visited the Planet of Talking Equines, as it was called in his logs; he had been the first human to discover the planet, in fact.

"Interesting…I wonder how Twilight and the others are doing. Of course they won't remember me, I'm not sure they won't even recognize me or remember anything that happened when I was there" Malone said to himself.

The Hero decided that he should join Calaway on Equestria and assure him that he still has his sanity, that and it'd be interesting to see what Twilight and her friends were up to.

His decision made Dick punched in the coordinates, they were already saved in his navigation system, and activated his faster-than-light drives.

It was time to see some old friends.

*-*-*

January 10th, 2129

Equestrian star system

Skies above Equestria

Hero of the Human Race Dick Malone

9:45AM

Dick rocketed across the skies above Equestria, eager to get as far away from Ponyville and its asinine residents as possible.

His anger was ignited when he was reminded of that cunt Rainbow Dash; the lesbian-labia-licker had thoroughly provoked the human and had certainly paid the price.

That stupid fucking cunt, I had forgotten how much of a fucking bitch she can be Malone mused, his anger soon subsided as quickly as it had come.

The Great Crusader rubbed at his temples, wondering where all this anger had come from. He supposed it came once he finally killed Codename: Evil and realized that he had nothing left to fight for.

But all that's changed now; now there's another war, another enemy, and another chance to do what he loves best: killing.

A smile spread across Dick's face, lifting him out of the red pit of fury; there were enemies to kill, beings to murder, and another chance at happiness.

Malone wondered if he would ever retire; it was quite unlikely, he was born for warfare, and there was always evil out there that will need killing.

Well let's see what needs killing today The Great Crusader thought, looking down upon the surface of Equestria.

There wasn't much to see except for trees, rolling hills, and the occasional mountain. Equestria was the exact opposite of Earth or Noire, both of those planets technological and industrial.

Places like Equestria made Malone feel sick with all the green going on.

Eventually the green turned to peach as the land transitioned from alpine to desert; the desert didn't have the same luster of steel and neon lights that The Great Crusader appreciated but at least it was better than green.

No...I'm not like that anymore, I've changed. Green is good, steel and cloudy darkness is bad Malone thought, shaking his head.

As Dick continued on the desert began sprouting into the sky; flat ground turned to cliffs and hills which soon morphed into mountains.

There was a tremendous explosion as Dick's ship performed a Sonic Boom as it soared over the peak of a mountain, a town in the valley below coming into view.

Malone pulled back on the control sticks and the Evil in the name of Good leveled out, soaring over the town and the ponies below.

On his first pass The Great Crusader noticed that the ponies were in fortified positions, the reason for this revealing itself as the Griffons assaulting the town.

Dick stopped his ship and turned it back around, targeting the Griffon positions with his Avenger-class missiles, launching them out and completely destroying the invading Griffons.

He continued blasting the Griffons just as the PSV Freedom arrived on scene; Malone hurried to finish off the rest and quickly departed from the area, eager to get as far away from his friend as possible.

The Great Crusader pushed his engines to the breaking point as he accelerated, travelling over half the land in around seven minutes.

Satisfied that he'd escaped from Mark, whose ship was no where near as fast, Dick relaxed and looked on his navigation system to see where he was at.

"I wonder what other life is out here on this fucking crazy planet" Malone said, looking down through his viewport.

It seemed that The Great Crusader had stumbled across another city, the shadow of his ship prompting the inhabitants to come out of their homes and investigate. Dick couldn't be sure from his current altitude but the inhabitants looked to be large bipedal beings based on dogs.

The navigation system claimed that the city was Barklin.

"Great, German-based anthropomorphic dogs. Man, those sick furry bastards I see on the internet would fucking love this place" Malone lamented.

Deciding that this was an excellent place to stay for the moment Dick left his ship hovering above the city and leaned back in his command chair, popping the backrest down so he could lie horizontally.

And permit him to sleep.

*-*-*

Dick Malone awoke a few hours later to a beeping sound, fearing it may be a missile lock on his ship The Great Crusader's combat instincts kicked in and he immediately bolted up, bringing his ship to life and arming the Mass Accelerating Gun.

All of this was for naught however as the beeping was revealed to be his communications system. Dick switched it on and Mark Calaway's voice came on.

"Dick, come in."

Malone debated for a few seconds whether or not he should actually answer when he realized that Calaway may have found new intel on Polaris, or may be engaging the Griffons and would be requesting air support.

"Go for Malone" The Great Crusader replied.

"Me and two of the Elements of Harmony are going to be infiltrating a Griffon command pod in the Great Crater, south of Canterlot. We are currently resting a quarter of a mile southwest from the Great Crater; I'll mark our position with a digital marker so you can find it. If the shit hits the fan then I'm gonna need you to blast the pod when I give you the word, we may also need a drop-ship for quick extraction" Marcus explained.

Dick briefly wondered which of the two Elements he was taking but decided not to ask; details were details, all Malone was concerned about was that there were things to blow up, and beings to kill.

"I'll be there when you need me" The Great Crusader stated.

"Copy that. Thanks Dick. Mark out."

Dick had lied; he wouldn't be there when they needed him, not when they needed him most anyway.

There was something that Mark didn't know, that none of the ponies knew, a great secret that threatened the very safety of both him and Mark. A terrible secret that was beheld in the heart of The Great Crusader, a secret that was known only to him and a few select others.

A secret that would destroy Mark if revealed, and it was a secret Malone planned to reveal.

This secret would turn the tide of the war, and it could also cost Dick Malone his life.

He was ready.

*-*-*

Author's note: OH MY GOD! Dick knows a terrible secret and is planning to reveal it! Will this help or hinder the ponies? Does he know what the secret weapon is? Does he know who Polaris is? Or is it something far more sinister?

Only two of these questions will be answered in the next chapter.

The suspense will build, and then it'll all come crashing down and in the process I will blow your minds.

Does anybody even read this fucking legal notice?: Dick Malone, Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Polaris, and all related characters belong to me. The Elements of Harmony and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman says "review this chapter motherfucker or I will unscrew your head and shit down your fucking neck!"

He'd do it too, he's fucking crazy.

12: Polaris

Well, here it is; Polaris. Read carefully, this one is a doozy.

*-*-*

Chapter Twelve

Polaris

January 10th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

A quarter mile southwest of the Great Crater

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

10:07PM

"Marcus? Mark it's time to get up. Wake up" Twilight gently commanded, shaking the human as he lied in the chair.

Calaway slowly came around and got his stuff together, gathering up his weapons and any other gear he'd need for the mission.

Once he was fully awake Mark stepped out of the drop-ship and chambered his SCAR-L, motioning for Rainbow Dash and Twilight to follow him.

The trio made their way back through the footpaths until they reached the edge of the Great Crater, ascending the side of a cliff to reach the lattice-work the Griffon pod was suspended from.

Just as they were about to begin their trek across the steel lattice-work there was an intense humming which reached crescendo when a human drop-ship rocketed directly over them, racing for the pod.

"Polaris…come on girls, we gotta get in that pod" Calaway said, they began to steadily move across the beams; thousands of feet above the ground.

"Be careful, any strong winds up here will knock us right off this thing" Marcus declared, making sure to mind his step. Rainbow Dash would be fine, she has wings, but Twilight and the human had to take it slow.

Close to an hour later they reached the point where the steel beams all connected, directly above the pod.

The trio dropped down onto the roof of the massive pod and Marcus looked over the edge, noticing that the Griffons seemed to be increasing their security.

"Maybe they know we're here?" Twilight said, she too noticed the increase in Griffon fliers patrolling the exterior of the pod.

"Unlikely, they're probably just increasing security because Polaris is here" Calaway replied.

Mark opened a hatch on the roof and dropped into a maintenance room, looking around to make sure the area was clear. The two ponies followed soon after.

"Dick, come in" Marcus whispered over the radio.

"Go for Malone" The Great Crusader replied as usual.

"We are inside the pod. Repeat, we are inside the pod" Calaway said, he moved forward and the two Elements followed.

"Understood."

"Please be ready to support us when I give the word" Mark stated.

"Copy that, Dick Malone going on station. Out" The Great Crusader responded, Calaway's group continued on their way into the pod.

"Here's the plan; we find the Griffons plans, find Polaris, confront and kill him, and then get the fuck out of here" Mark explained.

"I got an idea; if we have to kill this Polaris guy then why don't we just blow up the pod after we find the info we need?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"A good plan, with several flaws; one, we need to make sure that Polaris is dead. Two, he may have the only actionable intel on Griffon movements. Three, I need to find out who this guy is" Mark said.

"Come on, we're wasting time."

The trio continued deeper into the pod, Marcus eliminating Griffon patrols as they went, checking in rooms to see if there was any intel.

Calaway opened a door and was surprised when the cool night air gusted into the hall, stepping out Mark saw that they were dead-center in the middle of the pod, which sported an open shaft that stretched from the bottom to the top.

"Interesting…" Twilight commented.

They resumed their progress and soon came upon what looked to be a briefing room, multiple documents and other interesting bits scattered around.

There was also a Griffon warrior, who Mark killed.

"Spread out, look for anything that might be of use" Calaway ordered, slinging his SCAR-L across his back as he began sifting through the papers on the main table.

"Battle plans...details about the package that was in Whinniesport...apparently the target was the rail line leading to Canterlot. Interesting..." Mark said.

Suddenly there was a loud clang from the door, prompting the trio to look up in surprise and watch as the door sealed shut and locked. Before they could do anything to attempt an escape sleeping gas began to fill the room.

"Oh, that's not good" Marcus casually exclaimed before the gas overtook all three of them, turning their worlds black.

*-*-*

When Marcus came to he and the two Elements were strapped upright to torture tables; the room was brightly lit and directly in front of them was some kind of observation room positioned up high, overlooking the entire room.

Mark looked around and struggled to get out of his binds, to no avail as they were secured inhumanely tight.

The human looked up at the observation room as the silhouette of a Griffon appeared, looking down at him and the two Elements.

"Wake up you jerks!" the Griffon ordered, Calaway immediately recognized the voice as Gilda's.

Twilight and Dash came around, surprised to hear that Gilda was alive. "Wait, you were at that Griffon base Mark and Dick blew up a while ago. How are you still alive?" Dash demanded.

"Isn't it obvious, dipshit? I escaped that lame-ass place as the human ships arrived" Gilda explained.

A second silhouette appeared, that of a human's. "Polaris" Marcus growled, the human's features were indistinguishable as the lights behind him were too bright.

"I see you're familiarized with the human that will guide us to victory. Polaris is quite the badass, and thanks to him the Griffons' victory is assuredly secured" Gilda explained.

"Maybe it's time we introduce you to Polaris" the Griffon said, looking over at the human next to her.

Polaris stepped from the observation room soon followed by Gilda, Marcus waited for several minutes but the two never arrived in the torture room.

Just then a door on the left side of the room opened and in stepped Dick Malone, aiming his Jericho 941R around the room to make sure it was clear.

"Dick? Thank God you're here, get us the fuck out of here" Calaway declared, Malone walked over to them and stopped directly in front of Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry, you'll all be out of here soon enough. Let's get the Elements first" Dick said.

Suddenly a door on the right side opened and in stepped Gilda, The Great Crusader raised his Jericho and pointed it at the Griffon but didn't fire.

"What are you doing, Dick? Shoot her!" Rainbow Dash demanded, Dick looked at her and then back at Gilda.

"Nah, I'll think I'll shoot you instead" The Great Crusader replied, before any more words could be spoken he turned and jammed his Jericho in Dash's mouth, pulling the trigger causing the back of the Pegasus's head to explode; blood, brains, and bits of skull sprayed the wall behind her.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Marcus bellowed, Malone pulled his Jericho from Rainbow's mouth and wiped her saliva off it.

"What in the fucking hell have you done, Dick?" Calaway yelled, The Great Crusader looked over at him.

"Haven't you fucking figured it out yet, Mark? I'M Polaris, the shining star that will guide the Griffons to everlasting victory and the secret weapon of the Griffon Empire" Dick explained.

Calaway was appalled; his best friend, his greatest ally, the man that had promised his complete loyalty to Mark and agreed to help the ponies win the war had just betrayed them.

Dick moved over to Twilight Sparkle and pressed his Jericho against her head; the Unicorn was crying and begging Malone not to kill her.

Just before Polaris pulled the trigger the ceiling collapsed inwards and a dark figure dropped in, the figure kicked Gilda out of the room and engaged Dick Malone in hand-to-hand combat. Despite Malone's excellent skills the mysterious human overpowered Polaris and tossed him through the door, slamming it closed and smashing the locking mechanism.

The man released Marcus and Twilight, handing a standard H&K USP over to the latter; the USP had been modified with an under-barrel flashlight.

"Get out of here, I'll handle Polaris and the Griffons" the man said, his voice muffled by the helmet that covered his entire head. His face was hidden by a large blue circular visor and on the right side of his helmet was a flashlight. In addition to the helmet his entire body was covered by a powered armor suit similar to what Codename: Evil used to wear.

"Wait, who are you?" Mark asked, the figure looked over his shoulder at them and his visor flashed bright for a second before returning to its original dull color.

"The Archangel" the man replied before he leaped back up into a ventilation shaft above the torture room.

Calaway and Twilight rushed out of the room and made their way back through the pod, the human killing Griffons as he went.

They reached the hollow center of the pod and Marcus activated a jetpack he had stolen, snatching Twilight up in one arm, carrying her like a football.

"Ready?" Mark asked, Twilight shook her head and the human activated the jetpack, rocketing up the shaft and up into the night sky. The duo landed on the steel lattice work and made their way back across it, racing for the drop-ship still parked in the copse of trees.

They both leaped up into the drop-ship and Calaway jumped into the cockpit, bringing the craft to life and ascending the sky.

The human turned and activated the forward thrusters, steadily accelerating the craft forward.

"Let's drop this fucking thing like the shit it is" Mark growled, he flipped the safety cover for the missiles off and launched them, directing the warheads into the titanium brackets that the pod was clamped to.

Two of the brackets snapped and part of the pod dropped, swing back and forth like a pendulum. Calaway blasted the other two brackets and the pod dropped five-hundred-feet to the bottom of the Great Crater, tipping over onto its side. The fusion reactor powering the pod went critical and detonated, setting off a chain reaction that completely obliterated the rest of the pod.

Calaway banked the drop-ship toward Canterlot, rocketing across the Equestrian sky as fast as possible to reach the Royal City.

"We have to alert the Princess's, have them inform all military forces to keep an eye out for Dick Malone" Marcus explained.

Twilight understood the urgency of the situation but was still distraught over Rainbow's death; there was too much to do right now but she was not looking forward to breaking the news to the rest of her friends, it was taking all of her will not to break down and start crying again.

With Dick working fully for the Griffons Twilight wasn't entirely sure the ponies could win, even with Mark's help. Dick's ship was a hundred times faster and deadlier than Calaway's and he seemed to be a far more tenacious fighter than the Ponies' human friend.

Sparkle steeled herself for the coming months, they were going to be long and bloody but she, Mark, and the others had to do their parts.

The fate of Equestria rested in their hooves…and hands.

*-*-*

Author's note: Shocking twist!!

Legal stuff: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, Polaris, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Gilda the Griffon, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

13: Hero of the Human Race

Chapter Thirteen

Hero of the Human Race. Hero of the Pony Race

January 11th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Skies above the Great Crater

Hero of the Human Race Dick Malone A.K.A. Polaris

3:43 PM

Dick Malone stood on the bridge of his ship, the Griffon Combat Ship Evil in the name of Good, and looked down at the remains of the command pod resting at the bottom of the Great Crater.

In all honesty Dick was glad that Mark had escaped, the last thing he wanted was to kill his best friend. Of course the Griffon leader, Darkstar, would order the human to hunt down the other.

The war wasn't going too well for the Griffons; in each engagement they'd fought they'd lost, owing each of their defeats to Dick Malone and Marcus Calaway.

Of course that was all a cover, in reality Malone had been allied with the Griffons since before the war even began, he merely pretended to be helping the ponies to learn vital intelligence.

The plan hit a snag when Dick learned that the man he'd been friends with his entire life was allied with the ponies, but Malone had pledged utter loyalty to the Griffons; The Great Crusader never betrayed those he was loyal to the most.

Dick watched as Griffon fliers began searching the wreckage for any survivors, though he knew they would find none; it was very unlikely that any one had survived the pod's drop to the surface.

The door to the bridge opened and in stepped Gilda the Griffon and Darkstar, both were leaders of the Griffon Special Tasks Division, otherwise known as the STD. The Special Tasks Division was a Special Forces group that had been assigned to aid Polaris and his campaign against the ponies.

"What's the situation?" Dick asked, technically Darkstar was the leader of the Griffon STD but most Griffons listened to Malone more than the Griffon leader; Malone suspected that it was out of fear that they listened to him more.

"No survivors found so far, as we suspected. We have also not found the bodies of Marcus and the Unicorn accompanying him" Darkstar answered.

"And you wont, Mr. Marcus is the one who destroyed the pod. The thing I'm more concerned about is the mysterious man who assaulted me and stopped me from killing Marcus and Twilight" Dick Malone said.

"That guy was a fucking asshole" Gilda lamented, she was clearly pissed at the man that attacked the two of them.

"Relax, you should always respect your adversaries" Dick lectured the Griffon, who huffed but otherwise did not protest.

The Great Crusader turned back to look down at the Great Crater, contemplating his next move. "Darkstar, we need to go on the offensive; I will move to Ponyville and kill Mr. Marcus. I recommend you mobilize an invasion force to take Canterlot" Dick said.

"What about Appleloosa? We still haven't taken that town, thanks to you" Darkstar growled.

"Let me deal with Appleloosa; do you want it occupied or destroyed?" Malone asked.

"Do whatever you see fit" Darkstar ordered, turning and walking from the bridge. Gilda remained.

"Do you need something?" Dick asked, staring down at Equestria, the Griffon shook her head and quickly left.

"Well then, let us begin" the human remarked, sitting down in his command chair and preparing to move his ship to Canterlot.

*-*-*

January 11th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Town of Ponyville

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

4:00PM

Mark stepped out of Ponyville's library to get away from the heart-wrenching sobs of Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they cried over Rainbow Dash's death.

Part of Calaway understood their pain; the human had shared his sorrow with Dick Malone when The Great Crusader's wife died.

Another part of Calaway wanted to tell them to suck it up, that the man responsible for this was still out there, and it was up to them to stop him and crying wouldn't help. But it wouldn't do any good for him to say that so he opted to say nothing at all.

Looking out at Canterlot in the distance Marcus began to wonder why Malone did what he did, why he betrayed him and the ponies, though it seemed The Great Crusader had been working with the Griffons long before Mark arrived.

Calaway wasn't sure what pissed him off more; the fact that Dick tried to kill him or the fact that Dick had been spying on the ponies for the Griffons.

I'll find out when I confront him Marcus thought, scratching his left side through the fabric of his blue T-shirt.

Why Dick...you stood for ultimate loyalty, you were supposed to stick by my side to the day we died. Why did you betray me for the Griffons? Calaway mused; he didn't know the answers to any of those questions, though he knew he'd find out when he confronted Malone.

"You're out there somewhere, Polaris, and I'm gonna find you" Marcus said quietly, he was startled when a familiar voice behind him said "still thinking about that Polaris guy?"

Mark turned and looked down, seeing Scootaloo staring up at him; the human crouched down to better look the filly in the eye.

"Scoots, I have something very important to tell you, it is absolutely vital that you listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. OK?" Calaway said, the Pegasus filly nodded.

"Dick Malone, the guy you met the other day, the one in the red shirt, he's Polaris. He betrayed me and all of the ponies for the Griffons" Mark explained.

"He's a bad guy now?" Scootaloo asked, Calaway nodded.

"Oh man, I bet Rainbow Dash could kick his butt into next year!" Scootaloo excitedly declared, Marcus hung his head in sorrow.

"Scootaloo…Dash is…gone" Mark said, the filly's smile disappeared.

"What?" the young Pegasus inquired, dumbstruck by what the human had said. It pained Calaway to continue; somehow the ponies knew how to bring back emotions long dead.

"She's gone, Scootaloo. She's not coming back" Calaway replied, Scootaloo began to feel tears coming on despite hating all that emotional stuff.

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo" was all the human had to say as Scootaloo collapsed and began sobbing.

Marcus Calaway comforted the Pegasus until she stopped crying, the human's shirt soaked from Scootaloo's tears.

She pulled away from Mark and looked up at him. "What happens now?" Scootaloo asked, Calaway backed away and stood.

"I find him, and I kill him" Marcus answered, shocking the Pegasus.

"But…isn't he your best friend?"

"Not anymore."

The filly didn't understand, but she knew that Malone was a bad guy now, which made her really angry when she though about what he had done.

Betrayed Marcus, betrayed all of the ponies for those smelly Griffons, and took Rainbow Dash away from me…us. What a…a…jerk! Scootaloo mused.

Calaway offered the Pegasus to come with him to the library but she declined, instead opting to return home to her parents.

Mark returned to the library where Twilight and her friends had finally stopped crying, though they were still wiping the tears from their eyes. Pinkie Pie's hair hung down flat and she still looked to be on the verge of crying.

"Mark, where did you go?" Twilight asked, her voice quavered.

"I went outside to think, I did bump into Scootaloo though, she was so upset about…well" Calaway said, he didn't need to finish his sentence for the ponies to know what he was talking about.

"So…what happens now?" Sparkle inquired.

"I'm going back out to look for Polaris, and when I find him I will kill him" Mark answered.

"But…you can't kill your best friend, can you?" Twilight asked, the human shook his head.

"You still don't get it; Dick is not my friend anymore, he's not the friend of anybody except the Griffons, AKA the enemy. Malone, Polaris, is now our enemy, and therefore I must kill him" Marcus explained.

"But he was your friend; can you really just forget everything you two did together that easily? Can you really kill him, just like that?" Twilight said.

"I admit this isn't easy, and it saddens me that I have to do this, but what other choice do I have? If I don't kill him then he'll kill me and the rest of the pony species, this must be done" the human responded, there were no further words from the ponies.

"Goodbye, girls. If I survive then I'll be back when Polaris is dead" Mark stated, stepping from the library once more and returning to the PSV Freedom.

"I'm coming for you, Dick" Marcus said menacingly, he brought his ship to life and accelerated away from Ponyville, slowly rocketing across the blue skies as he searched Equestria for Polaris's ship.

Calaway came over several mountains and saw the Evil in the name of Good rocket away from Appleloosa, fires raged in the western town having been caused by rockets.

"Dick!" Mark yelled, he activated his communications system and established a connection with Malone's ship.

"Dick, stop!" Calaway demanded, Polaris's face appeared on the main screen.

"Mr. Marcus, have I not told you that my name is Polaris? Because I'm pretty fucking sure that I did!" the villain exclaimed.

"Stop this, Dick, please!" Mark exclaimed, earning a huff from the former hero.

"I am doing what is right, Marcus. I am loyal to the Griffons, I will fight for them, and I will die for them!" Malone stated.

"You betrayed everything you've ever stood for! You've betrayed the ponies; you've betrayed those who loved you most. You betrayed ME!" Mark shouted. "What would Tiffany think?" he asked, referring to Malone's wife.

Polaris slammed his hand against his control board, "fuck you!" he shouted. "Tiffany would support me to the very end."

"Funny, I thought the exact same thing of you" Mark declared, Dick's eyes flashed red and he pressed multiple buttons on his board.

"Die Marcus!" Polaris screamed, his Mass Accelerating Gun thundered and a thousand-ton projectile flashed out at the speed of light, striking the Freedom amidships on the aft-side.

"Motherfucker!" Calaway yelled, arming his M.A.G. and firing at the Evil in the name of Good, the round struck dead center on the vessel but shattered on the refractive coating.

"Fuck!"

Dick's ship turned away and accelerated away, racing away from Marcus and the ruins of Appleloosa.

For a while Calaway sat there, face in his hands; he felt like screaming in pure anger over Dick's betrayal.

"WHY!"

Mark activated his comms system and reestablished link with Malone. "Why are you doing this?" Calaway demanded.

"God fucking damn it, Mark, we've been over this. I pledged loyalty to the Griffons, I never betray those I'm loyal to!" Dick replied.

"You betrayed ME! You were loyal to ME! You say you never betray those you're loyal to, but you lie, because you betrayed ME" Mark exclaimed.

The Hero of the Human Race hesitated for a bit while this information sank in, struggling to find a counter-argument to what Marcus had said.

"When you killed Codename: Evil, you became him!" Calaway finally shouted, setting off the bomb that was Polaris.

"ENOUGH!" Dick thundered, the volume leaving a ringing in Mark's ears afterward. "I AM loyal, I am the epitome of loyalty! Nothing you ever say will change that!" Malone screamed.

"You're a traitor! A coward! You…have failed, Dick" Calaway finished, Dick's eyes went red again and his red shirt dropped a few shades darker until it became black.

"What the fuck?" Mark said, watching Malone's slight transformation.

"I told you, I'm not Dick Malone. I AM POLARIS, the shining star that will guide the Griffons to everlasting victory!" Polaris bellowed, his voice guttural and feral sounding.

"Goodbye, Marcus Calaway. We'll meet again, soon. For now…I have work to do" Polaris declared, the screen was filled with static as Polaris deactivated his comm device.

Mark pushed his ship forward, in a hurry to find Dick Malone and stop whatever it was that he was planning.

*-*-*

Author's note: I bet you're wondering what the deal is with the red eyes and color changing shirt; don't worry about all that, that will be explained in the future.

Legal nonsense: Marcus(Mark)James Calaway, Dick Malone, Polaris, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Scootaloo, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

You and Captain Price walk up to a computer, on the screen is this chapter. Price scrolls down to the bottom of the page and turns to you, he points at the 'add comment' button and says "Do it."

8: Old allies, old friends

Chapter Eight

Old friends, new friends

January 8th, 2129

Equestrian star system (unlisted)

Royal City of Canterlot

Citizen Marcus James Calaway

Mark Calaway stood before Princess Celestia, an uncaring expression on his face. He had long tuned out what the Princess was saying as she was merely lecturing him about returning to her planet.

"Are you listening to me?" the sun Goddess asked.

"No. I don't need to. You're wrong, you DO need our help, and we're gonna provide it whether you like it or not" Mark declared.

"No! I'm trying to protect humanity from Griffon attack! You can not fight this war with us" Celestia stated.

"The Griffons will walk over you like a carpet. Your Elements of Harmony were almost killed in the very first battle of this war! And furthermore the Griffons have been supplied with human weapons from an unknown source; humanity is already in on this war. We're helping" Calaway said matter-of-factly.

"No, you can not help us!" Celestia raised her voice.

"ENOUGH!" another voice thundered, stepping into the room next to Marcus was the captain of the ship Evil in the name of Good, Dick Malone.

One of the other Heroes of the Human race, and life-long friend of Marcus Calaway.

"Humanity doesn't need protection, if the Griffons declare war on our species I'll report it to the UN council and they'll be more than happy to come to your planet, nuke the Griffons into extinction, and then the plague that is humanity will infect your planet. Mark and I are the only two that know of Equestria aside from the man supplying the Griffons with weapons, so why don't you knock off the 'protection' gig, pull your head from your ass, and listen to what we're fucking saying" Dick demanded.

Celestia was floored by the human's language and how blunt he had been, and furthermore offended by his disrespect.

"And don't even think about shitting me with that 'respect' fuckery, I don't give a fuck" Malone finished before casually walking from the room.

Marcus stood. "Word of advice; NEVER piss off Dick Malone. Listen to what we say, and we just might win this war" he finished the conversation before moving out to join Dick.

"Good work in there, Malone" Calaway said, congratulating his friend.

"Yeah, well…that stupid bitch needed to see logic one way or another, and your reasons weren't enough" Dick explained.

"You always were the best negotiator" Mark complimented.

"Because there was always a 50/50 chance of me either handling a situation diplomatically with my excellent negotiation skills or killing everyone I saw. Anyway, what's next?" Malone inquired, coming to a stop next to a door that led outside.

"Well we gotta go back to Ponyville, Twilight will be more than happy to see me again, and I gotta introduce you to her and her friends" Marcus answered.

"I meant what happens next with the Griffons…you know better than this Mark, now is not the time to be concerned with trivial acts. We need to stay on the offensive" Dick said.

"When we leveled that Griffon base we saved Twilight and her friends from certain death, they went into that base for some reconnaissance work, which means they may know where we should go next" Calaway explained.

Sighing in resignation Dick opened the doors and stepped out onto a docking platform; normally used for Equestrian air-ships two of the docking stations were being used for the human vessels.

The two boarded their respective ships and pulled out of the docks, turning and gently rocketing for the town of Ponyville.

Upon arrival they left their ships to hover above the town and disembarked, dropping to the surface with the aid of their jetpacks, landing outside the Ponyville Library.

Dick opened the door to find a lavender Unicorn messing about with several books, rearranging and reorganizing them.

"Twilight, we're here" Marcus announced, the Unicorn turned and a smile spread across her face.

"I'm so glad you're back, I don't think Equestria can win without your help. Thanks for saving us" Twilight said.

"Don't give me all the credit" Mark replied, nodding to Dick Malone.

"Yes I've been meaning to ask about you; who are you?" Twilight asked, taking a step toward the other human, who didn't seem to be that surprised to be in a world of talking ponies.

"Dick Malone, also known as The Great Crusader. Recipient of the title Hero of the Human race" the man explained.

"Most humans think of me as the man they owe everything to" Dick explained.

"What do you think of yourself as, Mr. Malone?" Twilight inquired.

"A man who does what he needs to."

A silence befell the room for a moment before Malone spoke up again. "Let's cut to the chase; Mark here told me that you had actionable intel on what the Griffons were doing next" Dick said.

"Ah yes, the assault on Appleloosa has been stalled for the time but we've also got word that the Griffons have some kind of shipment awaiting delivery in the town of Whinniesport. Don't know what it is exactly, though" Twilight explained.

"Alright, thanks for the info. Let's go, Mark" Dick said, he turned for the door but was stopped when the Unicorn spoke up again.

"Wait! Don't you want to stick around? Meet my friends? You don't even know my name" Twilight said.

Dick turned back to face her. "Look, I'm here to fight a war, not make friends" Malone said, he looked over at Mark and said "you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll go. Can't send you in on your own" Calaway answered, he accompanied Dick outside but not before saying goodbye to Twilight.

"Wait, we can't both go, one of us has to stay here and guard the town" Malone said, stopping in his tracks.

"You're right" Mark replied, a smile on his face.

"God damn it Mark, this is not going to be fun" Dick stated, he stepped back and watched Mark as he ascended the skies and returned to the Freedom, leaving Dick alone with the ponies.

"Motherfucker" Dick exclaimed as he turned back to reenter the Library.

*-*-*

Marcus Calaway followed the coordinates on his ship's navigation system to the town of Whinniesport, which was several miles to the southwest of Canterlot.

Mark stopped his ship behind a mountain near the town and travelled down to his ship's armory, looking to see what kind of equipment he'd need.

He decided that he'd be very high profile if he were to travel in the day in the middle of the city, so he decided that he'd head into the town when night fell.

Marcus disassembled his Five-seven and swapped the standard barrel for a threaded one, screwing on a sound suppressor afterwards.

In addition to his Five-seveN he decided to take with him a Mk14 MOD 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle, a modernized version of the M14 battle rifle with an adjustable stock and synthetic furniture. Mark replaced the standard flash-hider with a sound suppressor, just in case he needed to use it.

Calaway checked his silver Rolex; the time displayed was just a little after noon.

Figuring that he had some time Marcus began to peruse the rest of the weapons in his armory, looking to see if there were any other weapons that would be better suited for his coming task.

*-*-*

Dick Malone sat on a couch in a room of the Ponyville, answering Twilight Sparkle's constant barrage of questions with an air around him that screamed 'I don't care.'

The Great Crusader knew almost nothing about Twilight and didn't mind that at all, like he told Mark earlier he was there to fight a war, not make friends.

All Dick knew about the Unicorn was that her name was Twilight Sparkle, and she had a baby dragon for an assistant named Spike.

Malone looked down longingly at the Jericho 941R sitting in his holster, calling for him to press it to his head and pull the trigger, just to end the horrible misery of answering questions from a talking Unicorn.

Dick wasn't all that bothered by a planet filled with talking ponies, when Mark had told him about the planet all Malone had to say about the subject was "OK."

Malone had long trained himself not to be surprised by outlandish and implausible things, and as a result has become jaded to things most would find shocking or disturbing.

Like death.

The last thought reminded Dick of the reason he was here in Equestria; there was a war going on, which means that soon he'd be in the place he called home.

The battlefield.

Malone refocused his attention on Twilight, who was finally done writing down whatever it was she was writing.

"OK, that's it. We're done" Sparkle said, organizing all of her notes.

"Great, I'm going" Dick said, he stood from the couch and went for the front door; he couldn't leave the Library fast enough.

Taking a deep breath of the afternoon air Dick decided he would go do some target shooting, eager to keep his shooting skills up to par.

Malone set off for a secluded part of the area and in his search he came across a moderately sized copse of trees behind some kind of farm.

Dick pulled his deployable target device out of his pocket and set it up, unfolding the device and propping up the three targets.

While he was setting up he failed to notice three fillies watching from a nearby treehouse, curiosity matched only by their fear as they debated who would be the one to approach the mysterious human.

The Great Crusader drew the Jericho from his holster and performed a brass check, ensuring that around was already chambered. He took aim at the first target and pulled the trigger; the gun produced a loud crack as the .45 caliber round left the barrel and flew straight and true into the first target.

Dick heard a scream and turned around, leveling his Jericho as he searched for the threat. There was nothing there except trees and bushes, and what appeared to be some kind of treehouse twenty feet away.

Suddenly Malone saw yellow in his peripheral, and snapped his eyes to it.

Malone took aim with the gun and the sights fell on a small female pony, a filly, as she stared up at him in fear. She was yellow with a bright-red mane and tail; her mane sported a huge pink bow.

"Jesus fucking A' you almost got shot. Who the fuck are you? What are you doing out here?" Dick asked, it seemed him speaking struck more fear into the filly.

"For fuck's sake I'm not gonna hurt you" Malone promised, crouching to look the filly in the eye better. It didn't work that well, however, as was well over six feet tall.

"What's your name?" the human asked, earning a sigh of relief from the filly.

Finally I can understand what he's sayin' the filly thought, she hadn't understood all the words coming from the creature's mouth up until this point.

"Ah'm Applebloom. What's yer name?" the yellow filly inquired, it seemed her fear was starting to subside.

"I'm Dick Malone" The Great Crusader answered, returning his Jericho to its holster.

"Di…Dic…Dick Ma…lone?" Applebloom said, struggling to pronounce the name to no avail.

"Don't hurt yourself" the human sarcastically told her, unable to believe that she was having this much trouble pronouncing a name.

The filly looked at him with contempt but said nothing further on the subject. "So anyway, what are you? I ain't never seen nuthin' like you" Applebloom declared, her southern accent wasn't as annoying as Malone previously believed it would be.

"I'm a human being, from Earth" Dick answered, he was getting an odd feeling of Déjà vu.*

"So yer an alien" Applebloom stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, whatever" The Great Crusader replied, at this point he lost interest and was starting not to care what the filly had to say.

"Hey, why don't you come on back to ma' clubhouse, maybe ya'll could help me and ma' friends get our cutie marks" Applebloom suggested, alarming the human.

"Your WHAT?" Dick asked, standing and taking a step away from the filly. He was pretty sure that a cutie mark was local slang for some kind of sexual act and he wasn't interested at all in having sex with a pony, unlike a certain Marine he once knew.**

"Ma' cutie mark, everypony else already has theirs except for me and ma' friends" Applebloom explained.

"You're gonna have to tell me what a cutie mark is 'cause I don't have a fucking clue" Malone said.

"Ah'd love to! Come on, follow me back to my clubhouse" Applebloom tried tugging on the human's pant leg but couldn't get Malone to budge, he was as solid as a brick wall.

Figuring he had no other choice The Great Crusader decided he was relegated to being The Great Question Answerer for the day, a fact that made him mentally groan.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

*-*-*

*This is a reference to earlier parts of this story when Marcus Calaway had to introduce himself to multiple ponies at different times, feeling like he was a broken record as a result.

**This is a reference to Michael Blackburn's first Halo/MLP 'Fight For Equestria' story; in which a UNSC Marine, named Mendez, kidnaps Applebloom to use as a bargaining chip, though the rest of the Marines thought he was going to fuck the poor filly. Why? Because Mendez apparently fucked a normal horse in his old days.

Doesn't make him any less awesome though.

I get the oddest feeling you're all not gonna like Dick Malone.

This chapter was kind of short and a little dull in my opinion but it's meant to provide fluff, so the entire story isn't focused on combat. It does set up the premise for the next chapter, however.

*-*-*

Legal shit nobody reads: Marcus(Mark) James Calaway, Dick Malone, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

"Review me!" says the chapter.