Brothers of War

Chapter 1: Enter Captain Scope

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any and all characters of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic

( Written by Scope (me). Edited and illustrated by Mailbox of d00m)

Somewhere out in the middle of the desert was a military base. It wasn’t huge, but it had what it needed. The base contained a depot, at which the vehicles and tanks were fueled and stored. There was also a hangar for aircraft, a large barracks, a mess hall, an armory, a radio tower, and a small social center for the soldiers not currently deployed.

Inside the armory was a green pegasus. His mane was brown; his eyes were multicolored. His left eye was gray as Luna’s moon, his right eye as orange as Celestia’s sun. His cutie mark appeared to be a set of crosshairs. He donned a red military beret which in turn bore the symbol of a Captain. He also wore a pair of sunglasses. He didn’t wear them to look cool (okay, he did kind of think they made hi, look cool); rather, they held a kind of sentimental value to him. That, and they were standard issue.

Deafening gunshots could be heard from the armory. The pegasus was at the time training with an M95 in the shooting gallery. Each shot he made was a perfect headshot on every mobile target. As he was reloading, an earth pony entered the armory. He walked up to the pegasus and saluted him.

“Captain!” he shouts, trying to yell over the gunshots. He eventually managed to capture the pegasus' attention; the pegasus promptly replied with a simple “What?” and an annoyed look.

“Got some mail for you sir.” The earth pony gave him a letter.

“New orders?” the pegasus asked.

“Nope, the address is from Ponyville.”

Ponyville? The pegasus was slightly bewildered. Why would I get mail from there? In fact, why would I get mail from a civilian in the first place?

“Must be some sort of mix up,” the pegasus declared.

“It has your name on it,” the earth pony replied. With a sigh, the pegasus opened the letter and began to read it. He noticed that at the bottom of the letter, there appeared to be dried tears.

Dear Captain Scope,

Hi, my name is Dinky Hooves. I’m 10 years old and I live in Ponyville with my sister Sparkler and my mommy Derpy Hooves. Thank you for defending Equestria and keeping us safe from the mean rebels. It must be really hard doing what you do. My daddy is part of the Canterlot Royal Guard too. My daddy is the best daddy in the world. His name is Daniel Hooves, but everypony calls him Duncy Hooves. Do you know him? If you do, can you tell me where he is? We really miss him. I try to send him letters but he never sends any back. He missed my birthday and he didn’t even send a birthday card or anything back. My mommy keeps telling me that he’s out on patrol but he’s been gone for 9 months now, but if you find him please tell him to come home so me, Sparkler, and mommy can give him a big hug when he comes back. Anyways I want to be your pen pal so we can write to each other. I hope you’re doing well and fighting hard. Please be safe.

Sincerely,

Dinky Hooves

“What the hay is this?”

Scope wasn't really much of an emotional pony - with the kind of job he had, one has to stay, or at least act, tough. But he had to admit, it is a pretty sad letter, especially since after just reading it he knew for a fact her father was long dead.

“I don’t know,” The earth pony replied. “It was supposed to go to the Canterlot Royal Guard. We intercepted the letter because it had your name on it. What we’re trying to figure out is why a letter written to you was being sent to the Royal Guard in the first place. You wouldn’t try to sell us out, would you sir?”

Before Scope could form a defense, the intercom projected a female voice. “All inactive soldiers: report to the flag pole immediately.” The intercom clicked off.

Scope in resopnse said, “Guess it’s important. Let’s get going.” With a nod in agreement, the two soldiers headed out to the flag pole.

Upon arrival, Scope looked up and noticed the masterfully-crafted Company flag. The flag bore the Company's logo: a golden knife bathed in blue fire upon a black void. Engraved in the knife were the letters "B.O.W." - the abbreviation of "Brothers of War," the name given to Scope's Private Militare Company (better known as a mercenary group).

A large group of soldiers were standing around the flag, conversing amongst themselves. A gryphon pushed and shoved through the crowd of soldiers, barely managing to reach the flag. He cleared his throat and puffed out his chest.

“Attention!” he shouted, proving his authority at the same time. Every soldier at the flag pole stood stiff as a board and saluted the Colonel.

“At ease soldiers.”

The soldiers relaxed, but because of the Colonel's intimidating presence, they continued to stand and pay attention. “Listen up,” he said, his voice taking on a gruff tone. “I just got news from HQ; looks like we’re going to war.”

This caused a bit of a mixed commotion in the crowd. Some wore cocky grins; others looked confused. “I guess joining a war sounds a lot more like it to some of you idiots who can’t get your heads out of your darned Playcolt magazines.” One could hear guilty whistling throughout the crowd. “There’s a civil war going on in Equestria right now. Based on the info I’ve received we’re joining sides with Equestria's Royal Guard.”

“WHAT?!”

The soldiers began to protest. One of the soldiers cried out, “This is bullshit!”

“Hey!” the colonel shouts back at them with a demanding tone. The soldiers grew silent over time.

They hated the fact they had to work with the Royal Guard. Not only did they think their training is to easy, most of them, if any at all, haven't seen a day of action. That and Equestria looked down upon mercenaries, for they think they're nothing but a bunch of blood thirsty barbarians. Ironically, that was mostly the reason why they hired them in the first place.

“Now let me get to the good news. Their ruler, the 'famed' Princess Celestia, is hiring us (for a hell of a lot of money) to get them out of the shit they got themselves into, so all of you can expect a rise in your pay checks from now on.” The soldiers began to cheer, throwing their helmets and berets into the air.

“But remember this: this isn’t about how much money we make; this is about aiding those who need our help the most and making the world a much more...safe place. This is about protecting the innocent and doing what’s right. Now I don’t know about most of you, but for me, I'd rather work here for free and do what’s right then get a pocket bursting paycheck just to kill innocent people. Remember why you're here - did you come for fame and glory? Did you come because you needed the money or because you wanted more money? Did you come here to fight for what’s right? Every soldier needs a purpose to fight for; otherwise, you’re no better than a common killer. But whatever reason you’re here doesn’t matter, for it doesn’t change the fact that we are all brothers that will fight by each other’s side until the end. Now let’s win this war. That’s all, soldiers. Brothers till the end, dismissed.”

The soldiers began to disperse and return to their respective business. Most of the soldiers recognized that speech. It was the same speech they received when they first joined.

As Scope was picking up his beret and dusting it off, he heard his name being called.

“Captain Scope!”

Scope turned his head and saw the colonel walk towards him.

”Colonel Vic, sir,” Scope replied as he quickly returned his beret to his head and saluted Colonel Vic.

“Gear up and gather Black team; I’m sending you in. I’ll brief you on the way.”

“Sir yes sir!”

As he turned around, Vic laid his claw on his shoulder. “Scope…”

“Yeah?”

“...Make him proud.”

Scope shrugged the claw off of him and put his sunglasses over his eyes. “You can keep your pity, Colonel.” Scope gave him a cold glare and walked off towards the barracks.

Scope climbed to the second floor and entered his room. He closed the door behind him and rested his back against the wall. “Finally, some peace and quiet." He thought about what the Colonel said to him. Make him proud...yeah, right. What does he know? Scope reached towards his chest and grabbed a pair of dog tags.

I’ve already failed him…

He had two pairs of dog tags: one was his; the other belonged, or used to belong, to a Captain Logan Baxter...

He couldn’t get that name out his head. The last memories of that stallion kept flashing through Scope's head like a nightmare from which he couldn’t wake up. Logan was Scope’s superior a few years back. When Scope first joined B.O.W., he was clueless and scared. That changed when he was assigned to Logan’s team. Logan showed him the ropes and practically raised Scope into the stallion he was today. He might as well have been Scope’s father, for Scope thought of him as one. But one day, on a search and destroy mission that went terribly wrong, Scope was force to leave his father-figure behind. All contact with Logan was soon lost; Logan was later assumed K.I.A.

I guess Dinky and I have something in common after all...speaking of Dinky...

He moved over to his desk and sat down. He placed Dinky's letter on the desk and read it again. “Hmm...she doesn’t seem to know I’m not in the Canterlot Royal Guard. Should I tell her? Should I even write back at all?” He sat there for a couple minutes, pondering what he should do. After coming to a decision, he grabbed a blank piece of paper and began writing.

Dear Dinky Hooves,

Hello, Dinky Hooves As you already know, I’m Captain Scope, but you don't have to address me by my title. You can just call me Scope. I’m 18 years old and I’m stationed near Las Pegasus. I don’t really have a family myself, but I do have one friend named Hawkeye who’s like a sister to me, so I guess that counts. Oh, and thanks for the words of encouragement. It’s nice to know that ponies like you back home are giving me and my friends support. I’m sorry to hear about your father. Don’t worry, though; I’ll ask around and see if I can find him for you. I’ll try my best to keep Equestria safe from the Resistance. My fellow soldiers and I will continue to be the best we can be so you can sleep at night knowing you're safe. Thanks for being my pen-pal; hope you write back.

Sincerely,

Captain Scope

Scope collected an envelope, in which he promptly inserted the letter and sealed it.

Better to give her false hope than no hope I guess…

Scope left his desk and went over to his closet. He pulled out his combat uniform, helmet, watch, boots, and an M1911 handgun. Upon suiting up, he grabbed the letter and left the room, locking the door behind him. He put the letter in the mailbox on his door and started walking deeper into the barracks.

“Alright, time to assemble the team.”