///LOCATION - NLTT-512-3A/CRYSTAL EMPIRE/CAMP EBONY///TIME - 09:42 LMT///DATE - 20-05-2232///

When Jaakko Palander stepped out of the Dropship, he could see that the base was in disarray. People were wounded, buildings were damaged, and machines were in horrible shape. Those clones, or Changelings, had caused quite a lot of damage. Nonetheless, it seemed that, whilst Jaakko had been knocked out and dragged away, the other Marines had made short work of the Changelings. He still didn't like that he had been unable to help defend his comrades, but he reminded himself that he was unconscious at the time.

Along with Jaakko walked Dr. Märtha, who, unsurprisingly, caught a lot of attention from the Marines at the base. Most had heard the rumours that Dr. Märtha had once been human, but as much as these rumours had spread, so had the ones about her 'experiments'. They had seen the results first-hand. Not only had they seen them, they had shot them, and some had been shot by them. You could say that most people were not too happy with the results of the experiments, nor with Dr. Märtha in general, even with the large amount of intel she was able to provide.

Bad first-impressions aside, the information from Dr. Märtha did shed some light on the situation, aswell as providing a solution for it. From what she had learned, Eric, A.K.A. Nomad had probably been found by the Equestrian authorities, and he was most likely taken to their capital, the castle-city Canterlot. Exactly what they would do to him was something she didn't know, unfortunatly. It was possible that he had been excecuted as soon as they had found him. It was unlikely, though still a possibility.

With this is mind, a plan was made to extract Nomad as fast as possible. The basic principle was to get in and get out before the enemy even knew what hit them. With the overwhelming technological advantage of the UEN, they had a good chance of pulling this off without having to fire a shot, though the lack of knowledge about the exact whereabouts of Nomad reduced those chances significantly. Not only that, but the Equestrian Royal Guard had the tactical advantage, since defense is always easier than offense, espescially when positioned atop a mountain.

Nevertheless, Admiral Bishop agreed to the plan. Finding and retrieving Nomad was of the utmost importance. If this could not be achieved, the entirety of Operation Frozen Nebula would have been pointless, and the loss of life would have been pointless. It simply HAD to succeed, or it would all have been for nothing. The damage to equipment, the incredible costs, the planning-time, and most importantly, the lives of the fallen comrades.

///LOCATION - NLTT-512-3A/CRYSTAL EMPIRE/CAMP EBONY///TIME - 12:00 LMT///DATE - 20-05-2232///

It had begun. The assault on Canterlot was now in action. With the 1st and 2nd Assault Battalions embarked in the dropships, the EU-80D's loaded up with AVT-5 armored vehicles ready for dropping, the several Aristoteles-Class Destroyers loaded and aimed at the capital, and the Hornets ready spearhead the assault, it was time to commence. This assault would result in the retrieval of Nomad, no matter the costs.

The ROE was to only fire when being fired upon. The armour of the vehicles was too strong to be damaged by most of the enemy weapons, if the intel from Dr. Märtha was correct, but the same could not be said for the Marines, who, aside from the Espers, had very little protection. Also, since there was no way to know which ponies were Changelings, and which ones weren't, each Marine was given a few pictures of what the clones looked like before infection, which is what they could somehow transform back into. If any of these were to be found, they were to be shot on sight.

At first, Briggs didn't trust Dr. Märtha, espescially since she looked like one of those horses herself, but 2nd Lieutenant Jaakko Palander, now 1st Lieutenant, vouched for her. They had told Briggs and the Admiral everything they knew, which was enough to begin the operation, and to retrieve the target, 'Nomad'. Everyone hoped that the Equestrians would simply allow them access, but after hearing how they had been at war with the Changelings for quite a while, chances were high that they would fire at anything that didn't seem friendly. The same could be said for the Marines.

From Dr. Märtha's estimates, the Royal Equestrian Guard's Canterlot Defence consisted of roughly 2.500 ponies, with an additional 8.500 ponies in the reserves inside the city, or in close proximity to it. To put that in perspective, the 1st and 2nd Assault Battalions, together with the 3rd Battalion, had a combined manpower of 60.000 troops, a healthy mix of experienced and trained Marines, along with civilians with a week or two of training.

There were two ways the assault could go: The first was peacefully. If the Marines, with help from Dr. Märtha (who volunteered to go along in one of the armored vehicles), could convince the ponies that they don't mean to do any harm, they might be open to a discussion on the release of Nomad, who had been confirmed to be in the possession of the Equestrian Authorities by Automated Surveillance Drones.

The second outcome was the most unwanted, and the bloodiest. If the Marines were to be unable to convince the ponies of their peacefull intentions, the result would be devastating. All it would take was for one person or pony to fire at the other. If either side made the first move, things were sure to kick off, with no end in sight. 'Nomad' had to be recovered, alive, to boost the morale of UEE-Citizens around the galaxy.

The Marines were ready to defend their vehicles and their lives with everything they got. If the Equestrian Royal Guard decided to attack the UEN, they would sure as hell fight back. And the Marines knew all too well that if a full-on fight were to break out, they would kick the shit out of those colourfull equines.

The time had come. At exactly 12:00 LMT, the 3rd Defense Fleet went into action, flying to the Rendevouz-Point, an area between the capital, known as Canterlot, and a city marked as Cloudsdale on Dr. Märtha's maps. The plan was that, when all the transports had arrived, the Marines would mount up into the AVT-5s, and make their way towards the city, all the while being covered by the Hornets in the sky, and the Aristoteles' from space.

It would take the Fleet roughly 30 minutes to reach the RV-Point. In that time, they would be passing FOB Xerxes, a Forward Operation Base from the Equestrian Royal Guard. The Guards stationed there were usually tasked with patrolling the area around Crystal City, but with the increasing danger of an alien base in close proximity to the capital of the Crystal Empire, the majority of the Guards were at the Crystal City Palace at the time of the assault.

The few Guards that remained at the FOB, witnessed something they had never seen before. It began with a noise. A low and quiet humming, slowly becoming louder and deeper, until it was deafening and chest-piercingly loud, the thunderous noise shaking the organs inside the ponies on the ground. Seeing the large fleet of metal objects fly over in the direction of Canterlot, the Guards had no other choice, but to mount up on the Flak-Guns, and to engage the threats.

"Sir, we are picking up signs of increased activity at FOB Xerxes. It seems that they are preparing an AA-Emplacement. What are your orders?" The co-pilot of DS-053, codename Fox 1-1, looked back from the cockpit towards Admiral Bishop, sitting in the back of the H-250D.

"Tell all squadrons to increase power to shields, but stay moving. They will likely report our attack to their capital, so we have to get there before they realize what is going on!." the Admiral answered.

"Understood sir!"

With that, the fleet marched on, barely responding to the increasing number of shells being shot out towards them by the Flak-Position of FOB Xerxes. The shields absorbed most of the damage, though some of the ships reported that bits of shrapnel had entered some engines, but nothing too major. All of the vessels were still in working condition. After about five minutes, when the fleet was a few miles past the FOB, the base seized to fire. On the ground, one of the Guards ran over towards the Comms-Building, where he quickly contacted the Canterlot Headquarters.

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("Cmdr Wild Ace to Cantrl HQ, ident 52831. Engaged air contacts. Unable to destroy. Headed for Cantrl. Repeat, headed for Cantrl.")

In Canterlot, things were becoming increasingly chaotic. The Royal Guard had been scrambled into action, with all Flak-Guns being prepared for combat. The air-raid sirens blared troughout the city, and ponies rushed to get back into their homes. Nobody was certain what was happening. Some believed it was a changeling-attack. Others thought that the aliens were attacking the capital. Nobody knew for certain, but everyone was scared nonetheless.

Lightning Sky sat in his room, watching the latest broadcast of his favourite movie, when the sirens began. Completely taken off-guard, he ran outside to see what was going on. As he stood outside, he looked up at the sky, where he saw the giant metal objects, floating high above Canterlot, ready to strike. He quickly dove to the ground when a Flak-Gun, positioned on a plaza close to his house, opened fire on those metal objects, but it had no effect. They were simply way too high for anything to hit them. None of the rounds ever made it to their target, with most of them landing in a lake near a small town named Ponyville.

Looking back up, he saw a metal ship flying towards him at an incredible speed. Lightning was sure that he was about to die, but instead, the ship flew over his head, firing down on the Flak-Gun, completely destroying the weapon and the ponies firing it. He could hear the screams of pain, even over the deafening sound of the metal ship, which had dissapeared as soon as it had appeared. After making sure that the metal ship wasn't coming back, Lightning Sky ran towards the Flak-Gun in full trot. He knew the gunners were in need of help, and since he lived closeby, he decided to bring them into his house.

When he got to the gunners of the Flak-Gun, he saw something he wished he had never seen. Dead ponies, eyes still opened, horror shown with their faces. Absolute fear radiated from those eyes, staring deep into Lightning's soul. As he walked, he felt that he had stepped into something weird. Something... squishy. He was afraid to look down, knowing in the back of his mind what he was walking on, but not wanting to acknowledge it. Ignoring the feeling of splattered meat underneath his hooves, he trotted onwards towards one of the gunners that seemed to still be alive. After looking for a pulse, and finding one, he knew that this one was still alive, even after that attack, but something was missing...

Lightning Sky looked down at the gunner's body, finding that he was missing one of his forelegs. Lightning almost threw up, being able to look directly into the flesh and bones of the severly wounded pony. Luckily for the gunner, Lightning had taken a First-Aid course last summer, the knowledge of which he used to bandage the wounded pony, sealing off the place where the foreleg used to be, and applying pressure to slow the bleeding down. With the gunner's condition now stabilized, Lightning dragged him back into his house, where he carefully placed him on his couch. He had no clue what to do next, but atleast he knew that he was doing all he could to help his nation.

Back at the Palace, the Royal Guard was preparing for a worst-case scenario, a full-scale invasion. The Flak-Guns were being prepared, whilst trucks were being mobilized to evacuate and alarm the civilians, and to gather the Reserves. In the midst of it all, Solar Streak was running around the Palace, checking on his Squad-Member's positions, if they had enough ammunition, and if they were ready to fight. If the intel from the LRS was correct, it was going to be one hell of a battle.

Many Guards were scared. Their first real battle being one against a far more superior force was, as expected, quite terrifying. Nonetheless, there were a bunch of Guards who had fought in another war which, at first, seemed decently similiar. A few decades ago, Equestria was under attack from the Dragons. They had invaded the Southern territories, raiding villages, and destroying infrastructure, effectively crippling the affected area. The Guards that were stationed there, had seen horrors that could only be described as nightmares, worse than anything Princess Luna could control.

But eventhough the Dragons were much larger, and a lot more dangerous than the Guards, Equestria had been able to defend their territory, and saved hundreds of lives from fires and pillaging. Ever since that attack, FOB Duff and FOB Orange had been reinforced, and permanently staffed, to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Unfortunatly, nothing could have prepared them from the fight that they were about to experience.

Sturdy Shield had his own task. He would protect the Princesses and the Ministers, no matter the cost. They had locked themselves in inside the Conference Room, where they were interrogating the alien, when they received information that the aliens were on their way. They had gathered the rest of the LRS inside the room, sealing the door after the last LRS-Soldier entered. Everyone took their position, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the alien army.

With nothing better to do than wait, Eric decided that it was as good of a time as ever to ask some of the questions he had come up with while answering the questions that were directed at him by the Princesses and the Ministers. "So, tell me:" he said in the quiet room, startling some of the Ministers. "Those stamps on your rear. What are they? Are they some sort of required tattoo? Or maybe a birth-mark? Something genetic, maybe?"

Princess Celestia looked at the human with a confused look. It took her a few seconds untill she figured out what he was reffering to. "You... You mean our cutie marks?"

"Cutie... Marks?" That was the weirdest name he had ever heard, and probably the most feminine aswell. "Okay, so that's what it's called, but what IS it?"

"It is a symbol that appears when a pony finds their purpose in life. That one thing that they are specialized at." She explained with confidence, trying to regain the upper hand, or hoof, in the conversation. Cutie marks were the symbol of Equestria, the thing that made a pony a pony.

"So... It just appears? Just... Poof?" he asked.

"Yes, that is correct."

"And just like that, you know your destiny."

"Exactly."

"That is the most ridicoulus thing I have ever heard."

Princess Celestia was quite taken back by this response. But she knew a way to show this human what cutie marks were all about. "Fine. If that is what you believe, I think it would be quite appropriate if you found out your true destiny. Here, let me help you with that..." Immediatly after finishing her sentence, Celestia's horn lit up, glowing a bright yellow, akin to the shine of a star. Eric could feel... something. He didn't understand what it was, but he began to feel a burning sensation in his hips. Looking down, he was surprised to see the sides of his hips glowing the same colour as the aura eminating from the horn.

"There." said Celestia. "Now you can see your true destiny. Just take a look."

Eric was unsure what she exactly meant by that, but he was curious why his hips were glowing. Pulling one side of his suit's pants slightly down, he saw what he could only describe as a tattoo on his hip. He checked the other hip, and the image was the same. A burning wreckage, looking a lot like a meteor striking trough the sky. Was this his purpose, his destiny? To crash, and to die? To cause harm?

In her room aboard Atlas Beta, Michelle Yonderia looked out of her window towards the beautifull planet below. She wanted to be down there, no matter how violent it was going to be there for the coming hours. Having never visited a planet, she was extremely curious how it felt. To have solid ground beneath your feet. To not have to worry about suffocating. Not having to worry about radiation. Not having to worry about finding your own little space. That was what she wanted to experience the most. Not being around others. Being secluded, in your own enviroment. Your own little piece of tranquility.

Everyone in the galaxy had their eyes focused on NLTT-512-3A. Some had come to call the planet 'Equis', because of the mostly Equine inhabitants, while other preffered to call it by its official designation. It wasn't that 'Equis' was the weirdest name for a planet. Far from it, actually. There was a planet called 'Hobosis', a planet with an unemployment-problem, and 'Methania', the planet with an atmosphere that was scarily similiar to farts. In comparison to all of that, 'Equis' wasn't all that bad.

Adrianos and Cristina Castello, the two most important doctors in Oblivion, were watching GalNet-News, when they heard about the start of the assault. They weren't sure how to react, but both of them had always stood against violence. Nevertheless, they were not scared that this would result in a conflict. Why? Because both of them knew that the fleet was under command of Admiral Bishop, a friend of them. They knew, that if even remotely possible, the Admiral would avoid a violent confrontation. They knew, or atleast hoped, that this would be the same.

The forces had gathered around the RV-Point. The Marines had entered the AVT-5s, the EU-80Ds had returned to base, and the Hornets were still flying around. On the way to the RV-Point, they had encountered some flying ponies, known as Pegasi according to Dr. Märtha. These pegasi had tried to approach and blockade the oncoming fleet, but the ships were quick and agile enough to maneauvre around them. Pilots reported seeing a mix of terrified and impressed faces on the pegasi as they flew by, wondering what went trough their heads at that moment.

Every now and then though, one or two pegasi would fly up towards them, firing guns, which allowed to pilots to use their weapons to dispose of the threats, in accordance with the ROE. The salvos of 20MM rounds from the on-board cannons were powerfull enough to not leave a single part of the pegasi that were attacking. All that remained after one of those attacks, was a puff of red mist.

Continuing on their way towards Canterlot, the Marines and Tank-Crew were now finally able to see what their target looked like. A massive castle, built on the side of a mountain. Apparantly, it was actually constructed atop a plateau on the hillside, but this had been covered up with bricks and plaster, to make the city seem more impressive. Manipulation of the populace at its finest.

March on they did, plowing trough the muddy tracks. Paved roads were infrequent, even on this seemingly important route. The road that connected the capitals of two nations, was nothing more than a trail of dirt and puddles. Every now and then, the convoy of armoured vehicles encountered trucks from the Royal Equestrian Guard, soldiers included. These would most often move out the way and hide, though some chose to block the road with their trucks, and the ponies decided that the best coarse of action was to open fire with their rifles at the convoy.

Ofcourse, it had no effect. Rounds bounced off of the armour, barely scratching the plating. Marines would quickly aim their rifles trough the view-ports on the sides, and mow down any hostile that had decided to be dumb enough to fire at the convoy. When the Marines couldn't get a good shot on a hostile, the AVT-5's 20MM ForestKing Auto-Cannon would open up on the target, obliterating it in seconds with High-Explosive rounds.. Everytime the convoy was stopped and blocked by a truck or other obstacle, a Utility-Version of the AVT-5 would move up the convoy, and push the obstacle to the side of the road, often completely destroying the truck in the process, after which it would return to the convoy, so they could continue their advance towards the capital.

When they were about kilometer away from the first gate into the city, the shockwave of a loud explosion shook the convoy. Some thought they had hit a mine. Others believed that the enemy had begun firing rockets. One of the AVT's was totalled. The vehicle's Crew, aswell as the Marines had to dismount, and they would be transported in other vehicles. As they were walking to the rest of the convoy, one of the Marines heard a faint whistling sound, coming from above. As he listened, it became louder and louder, until he realized exactly what he was listening to.

"ARTILLERY!"

Another explosion shook the ground. Some soldiers toppled over as the shockwave hit them, while others were holding their hands up to their heads in an effort to get rid of the ringing in their ears. Another massive artillery-shell had just next to the convoy. Without any hestitation, the Crew-Members inside the AVTs quickly activated the IonFist Active-Denial-Systems. As soon as the systems were booted up, another projectile was detected.

The Ion-Fist on top of the leading AVT immediatly turned towards the target, firing a concentrated ray of energy at it as soon as it had a lock. The incoming artillery-shell heated up, reaching a critical temperature hot enough to detonate the gunpowder inside of it. Triggering the shell, a rain of white-hot metal shards shot down towards the vehicles and Marines. The ground was perforated with fragments, but most of the Marines were in good condition. Not everyone had as much luck as them, though.

A fair number of Marines who had been standing outside their wrecked AVT had been hit with fragments. Nobody was killed, but a good chunck of the Marines and Crew-Members had been hit by atleast a few shards of hot metal. The injured servicemen were quickly pulled into the safety of the armoured vehicles, which closed their doors just in time to block out the fragments from the next shell that exploded above them.

"It's not doing anything! They are still coming! Why in Tartarus are the shells exploding in mid-air?!" the pegasus FAO (Forward Artillery Observer) from 3rd Airborne Battalion, who was tasked with directing the artillery-strikes on the advancing enemies, looked at the convoy below. To say that she was confused would be a severe understatement. She did see that some of the aliens appeared to be hurt, but she didn't quite see how badly. Seeing that the artillery-strikes didn't seem to be effective in destruction, but still good for slowing them down, she sent an order to the Canterlot Artillery Brigade to keep firing on the road.

The vibrations of exploding munitions and the rattling of shards hitting the hull of the AVT-5 scared Dr. Märtha, but less than she had expected. She had never been in a military vehicle, let alone whilst it was taking fire. It was surely an experience she would never forget. Whilst the air outside the vehicle was burning and exploding, she tried to remember exactly what she was going to say to the ponies of Canterlot.

The rudamentary loudspeakers on the roof of the AVT had been installed in a matter of minutes, to allow Dr. Märtha to speak to the ponies without being in too much danger. Going outside before peace had been established was not allowed, and would surely have been a death-sentance. As she was thinking, another shell exploded above the vehicle, shaking the entirety of the hull and the occupants.

Ten minutes later, the convoy had reached the first gate. The Artillery-Strikes had seized, most likely due to the civilian presence around the area, combined with the inaccuracy of the Equestrian Artillery. Even with that, the convoy wasn't clear yet. In front of them stood a massive wooden and copper door, the only way trough the gigantic wall surrounding the capital. There was only one way for the UEN to enter trough that gate.

"Bring up the Breacher!"

A large vehicle rolled up from the back of the convoy. It was a M3A2-B Combat Breacher Tank, a modified version of the M3A2 Main Battle Tank, specifically designed to breach walls and fortifications. When it had made it to the front of the convoy, it parked to the side of the leading vehicle, aiming the barrel of the giant gun towards the massive wooden and copper gate. With an incredibly loud bang and a bright flash, the M3A2-B fired its special munition, a breaching round, designed to explode inside of a wall to create a hole just big enough to let the AVTs and MBTs trough. Atleast, that was what it was designed to do.

With an incredible noise, the remains of the gate came crashing down. It had completely shattered, most likely due to the old age of the gate, and the state of the wood that it was made of. It didn't stand a chance against the powerfull round piercing it, ripping it open from the inside. With the remainder of the great gate now just barely hanging on its hinges, the convoy continued past the Breacher.

And so, the city of Canterlot, capital of the mighty Equestrian nation, had been entered.

Author's Note

I hope that this version is more liked than the previous one. If there is anything I could improve, please let me know! Also, this is NOT the ending anymore. More chapters are on the way!
Lastly, please let me know what you thought of this story using the poll below.
PLEASE VOTE HERE

Credits for Eric's question, the one about cutie marks, was inspired by stealthysaphiro.

Featured Characters:
Lightning Sky - Oskar
Sturdy Shield - Wild Balance