Chapters Prologue
(author’s notes: This is my first fanfic, so please give some feedback for this story. I’m not exactly as good as other fanfic writers, but I’ll try my best.)
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 )
It all began with a sunny day in Ponyville. All the little fillies and colts were heading to school, just like any other day. As the students took their seats, the bell rang and Ms. Cherilee entered the classroom. "Alright, class: let’s get started. Today, we’re going to be writing an essay.”
“AWWW!”
The class, obviously not happy about this assignment, began to whine and complain in protest. Cherilee defensively responded, “Now, kids, before you throw a fit, let me at least tell you about the project.” The class became silent, giving Cherilee a chance to explain herself. “I feel this assignment is very important. Since we have a war going on right now, I believe we should do a pen-pal project to support our troops and give them our thanks.”
Ever since the Changelings' attack on Canterlot, there have been numerous ponies who were dissatisfied about the security and safety of Equestria. The fact that this invasion was the third attack on Equestria in less than 2 years didn’t look good for Princess Celestia. That, and the entire kingdom were to be protected by 6 mares who never even held a weapon before. Some ponies grew sick of the constant attacks on Equestria and the pathetic excuse for a military. As a result, they banned together and formed a rebel alliance which they dubbed the "Equestrian Alliance," or "E.A." Their main focus is to overthrow the Princesses and reshape Equestria how they see fit.
The kids turned and looked at each other, each giving their own two cents about the project. “This project is going to be so lame,” Diamond Tiara pouted.
“Totally,” Silver Spoon replied.
“This is gonna be easy, ah already write tuh my brother ever since he signed up tuh fight,” Apple Bloom boasted.
“Hey, that’s not fair," whined Scootaloo. "At least you know somepony in the military! I don’t know any of them!" While all the commotion was going on, there was one student who didn't say a word. Dinky Hooves just sat there, looking at the floor, her ears folded, a sad look residing upon her face.
Before the students could continue on about the project, CheeriIee got their attention back. “Now, if any of you know anypony in the military, then you can write to them. If you don’t, however, then when I call your name and give you a paper with the name of a soldier you can write to. Scootaloo, Featherweight, Snails…”
As names were being called, Dinky Hooves spaced out, continuing to look at the floor. Something was bothering her, but she didn’t want to tell anypony.
“Dinky…DINKY HOOVES!” She hears Cherilee calling her name. Cheerilee asked, "Are you alright, Dinky?"
“Oh…yeah, I’m fine.” Dinky got out of her seat and went to the front desk, collecting a name as she passed. As she returned to her desk, she read the name, which caused a disappointed look to appear on her face.
“Okay class, now that we got that out of the way, let’s get started…”
***
Hours passed. The school bell rang, and all the students slammed their papers on the front desk as they ran out. Dinky Hooves walked up to the desk and deposited her paper. Cherilee looked at the paper and, with a puzzled expression, looked back at Dinky.
“Um...dear, your paper is blank.”
“I know,” Dinky said. Cherilee gave her a weak smile. “Look, Dinky, if there’s anything wrong, you can tell me.” Dinky folded her ears and looked at the floor. Cherilee frowned as she realized what was wrong. “Oh, I get it now. I’m so sorry, Dinky; I didn’t mean to-”
Dinky cut her off. “It’s ok, Ms. Cherilee,” Dinky said, giving Cheerilee a sad look. "Okay, how about this: I’ll give you until tomorrow to write your paper, okay? Sounds good?”
Dinky managed to whisper, "Okay..." She took her paper and walked out of the classroom. She walked through Ponyville, looking at the ground the entire time. When she reached her home, she knocked on the door; the door opened and revealed a magenta unicorn who greeted, “Hey, sis!”
“Hey, Amethyst,” Dinky grimly responded. She walked inside, still looking down. “Something wrong, Dinky?” Amethyst Star inquired. Before Dinky could answer, she was suddenly hugged from behind by another pony.
“Hiya muffin! How was school today?”
Derpy Hooves nuzzled Dinky. Dinky turned around and returned the hug. Derpy could hear muffled sobbing and felt her coat getting wet. She looked down and saw her daughter crying at her chest. “Muffin, what’s wrong?” Derpy Hooves quickly acquired a worried expression.
“I miss daddy! When is he coming home?”
Amethyst Star entered and joined the hug. Derpy held Dinky tighter, rubbing her back. “I…I don’t know. He’s still out on patrol…”
“B-but he said he’d be back before my birthday! He’s been gone for 9 months now…I miss him so much, mommy.”
“We all do, muffin, we all do…”
Ditzy started to cry along with Dinky and Amethyst. After about five minutes, they finally started to calm down. Dinky went to her room and locked the door.
“Are you serious, mom!?” Amethyst angrily whispered. “Out on patrol!? Really?!” “Well, what do you want me to tell her??” Derpy replied, trying to maintain a whisper.
“Oh, I don’t know...maybe THE TRUTH!?”
“She’s not ready for the truth;she’s still too young!"
"This cover up about dad has been going on for too long. Look, either you tell her the truth or else she’s going to find out on her own; and trust me, it won’t end well if she finds out for herself.”
“I know…I just need more time, okay? I just don’t have the heart to tell her yet…”
They both hugged each other, still mourning over their loss. Meanwhile, Dinky was looking at a picture on her wall. The picture contained Derpy Hooves and Amethyst as well as herself and a stallion. The stallion appeared to be a white unicorn with brown eyes. The picture portrayed the family, each smiling, huddled together at the park.
After looking at the picture for a while, Dinky had an idea. “Wait…that’s it! That’s how I’ll get daddy to come home! Now I finally have something to turn in for my project!” Dinky grabbed the paper containing the soldier’s name and started writing the letter.
Dear Captain Scope…
Chapter 1: Enter Captain Scope
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.”
Chapter 2: Deploy Black Team
Chapter 2: Deploy Black Team
Written by Scope (me). Edited and illustrated by Mailbox of d00m )
Scope walked through the halls of the barracks. He turned in the hallway that connects the barracks to the social center. The more he kept walking in the hall the more he heard loud music being played.
“ Yep…they’re there alright.”
Scope walked into the room and found a bunch of different creatures doing different activates. He saw a zebra reading a book on the couch, a diamond dog taking a nap…on the pool table, and then there was a gryphon that was next to the radio listening to the loud music.
Scope walked over to the zebra first. He looked at him for a good minute or two before he knew something was off. Scope pokes the book a couple times, and then he heard snoring. He’s sleeping…. Scope picked the book of the zebra face and shook him.
“Wake up old man”
The zebra started to stretch and yawn from his disrupted sleep. “Hmm…oh morning sir…”
“Its 2 pm…”
The zebra looks at the clock and squinted his eyes at it. “Oh…”
“You’re getting to old for this Mocobra.”
“Ah shut up you I’m only 34…”
This is First Lt. Mocobra. Codename: Elder. He specializes in stealth, recon, and short to mid range combat and he favors the MP5 . Even though he’s only 34 he still acts like an old man. Not only is he the oldest on the team but he’s also the wises too. When the team, or anyone for that matter, needs advice they go straight to him first. “Suit up Mocobra and get to the Pave Low we’re out in 10 minutes.” Mocobra got off the couch and left for the barracks mumbling curses on the way out.
Next up was the diamond dog. He was snoring louder than Mocobra was. So loud it can gave that radios music a run for its money. Scope shook the diamond dog and called his name several time before he finally just got the pool stick and smacked the dog across the head. The diamond dog rolls off the table and onto the floor yelping in pain.
“OWWWWW WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?”
“I’m tired of seeing your lazy ass sleeping on everything.”
This is Sergeant Major Jericho. Codename: Echo. He specializes in explosives, explosives, and more explosives. He’s the newest member and also the ammo carrier for the team. He mostly deals with short range situations. He’s 20 years old and favors the USAS-12 (mostly because it’s a loud shotgun) but the team hides the frag rounds from him. Celestia knows what will happen if he gets his paws on them again. He had brown fur and green eyes. Just like any dog Jericho is always loyal to the end for his team. Even if it was the dumbest plan on earth he would be on board with it in a second. When his friends are in trouble he’ll be there in a flash, but due to all the energy he exerts daily he’s usually asleep (on surfaces he shouldn’t be on) when he’s off duty.
“Get off the floor and get prepped we’re out in 10.” Scope slammed the stick on the table.
“Fine fine I’m going shesh….” Jericho walked to the barracks rubbing the red spot on his head.
Last but not least the gryphon. Scope walked over to her. She had her eyes closed bobbing her head to the beat. Scope turned the radio off. She opened her eyes and looked at Scope. She reached out to radio and turned it back on and continued bobbing her head to the beat. “I don’t have time for this crap…” Scope pulled out his m1911 and unloaded his entire clip into the radio. The gryphon stood up and looked at Scope with rage in her eyes. “WHAT THE FUCK BRO!?”
“Sorry my hoof slipped.” He replied sarcastically.
“…You owe me a new radio…”
“Nah how about this, I can get you a new one that comes out of your paycheck, or you can stop bitching.”
This was Warrant Officer Hawkeye. Codename: Harpy. She is the team’s medic. She mostly deals with mid to long range engagements so her weapon of choice is the Mk. 14 . She’s 19 years old but she still acts like a 16 year old teenager who could care less about the rules. Her feathers are blue as the sea with matching colored eyes. Even though they may not be related, Scope and Hawkeye couldn’t be any closer to being brother and sister then it possibly could for them if it wasn’t for the fact they’re different species. They both looked up to Logan like a father and they’ve been together their whole lives. The only thing that can truly separate them is death it’s self.
“Let me guess new mission?” She asks. “Yep.” She sighed as she left for the barracks.
“Finally got that done with…time to head out then.”
This is Captain Scope. Codename: Boss. He’s 18 years old and the youngest on the team. He specializes in tech and engineering but he’s perfectly capable in doing any other job the other team members have and much more. Some call him a super soldier but he just tends to do the most. He is the leader of Black Team and also the team's sniper. He favors the M95 so he’s typically in long range engagements. Scope is a bit of a quiet pony but he talked and got loud when he need too but since he was sarcastic most of the time you couldn't really tell if he meant what he said. Scope is dedicated and loyal to his job, others tend to wonder if he even took his job seriously, then again everyone in B.O.W. wondered if anyone on Black Team took their jobs seriously.
10 minutes later.
The team walked together to the Pave Low . It was already prepped to take off anytime. The team got in and took their seat as the helicopter took off. For their equipment they had on Black combat uniforms, helmets, their favorite weapons, frag and flash grenades, sunglasses, canteens, gas masks, knives, and digital cameras. After a few minutes of flying the team’s helmet radios came on with Colonel Vic speaking.
“Good day Black Team. Since the rebels are our enemies now we need intel on them to gain the advantage on them.”
“Didn’t those royal guard pansies give us intel on them since we agreed to work with them?” Jericho asked.
“They did, and basically we got this” the colonel cleared his throat. “They have a lot of guns and really big tanks.”
“…”
The team remains silent for few seconds. Scopes shakes his head while face hoofing. “So…basically they don’t got jack shit on the rebels?” Scope asks.
“Exactly, we need you to infiltrate their base and see if you can retrieve any info on them. Equipment, tech level, documents. Anything will do.”
“So what’s our mode of infiltration?”
“We’re dropping you off few miles away from the base, how you get in is up to you. We’re extracting you in three hours so don’t fuck around this time. If you miss your ride well then you got a long walk home. Also be sure you don’t get detected by the enemy, hopefully you figured that out by now.”
“What if we get caught?” Hawkeye asked.
“As usually Harpy since this is a black op if you get captured by enemy forces your name will be blacked out from existence and we will deny our involvement in the situation and you’re basically on your own, hence the name Black Team.”
“Are you sure it’s not because of our uniforms?” Echo replied.
“…Yes that too Echo. Is your team clear on the mission objectives Boss?” The team looks at Scope and gives him a nod of approval.
“Affirmative.” Scope replied.
“Then good luck Black Team. Colonel Vic over and out.”
1 hour later.
“Hey Mocobra.” Scope asks.
“Yes what is it?”
“I got some letter today from this little filly all the way from Ponyville.”
“That’s interesting.”
“You’re telling me; anyways in the letter she tells me about her father who’s in the Canterlot Royal Guard. She told me her father has been “missing” for the last nine months now. ”
“That’s quite sad to her.”
“The thing is though…I just feel guilty.”
“Why is that?”
“I already know her father is dead but I told her I tried to find him if I could. I don’t how I could actually feel good about myself knowing I lied to a filly with hopes.”
“Well sir, maybe you didn’t lie after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“If she thinks her father has been missing for nine months now, obviously somepony already lied to her. All you did was kept the lie going.”
“How is that suppose to make me feel better?”
“Who ever lied to her probably cares for her. They didn’t lie to her just to be mean; they probably lied to her to protect her. You mostly likely don’t know this, for understandable reasons, but young girls are probably the closest things to being fragile as glass, very easy to break you see.”
Scope looked at Hawkeye who wasn’t paying attention to their conversation. He had a worried feeling growing in his heart for some reason.
“Knowing the truth right now isn’t the best idea, when she’s older and understands the concept of death better she’ll understand. Don’t worry Scope, by not telling her the truth you probably did her and whoever is protecting her, a huge favor.”
Scope was still looking at Hawkeye. He gave her a weak smile even though she wasn’t looking.
“Thanks Mocobra, I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime sir.”
The Pave Low started to slowed down a bit and pilot looked behind him at the team.
“Alright we’re here. Good luck guys.” The Pave Low slowly made a smooth landing to the ground. The back of Pave Low opened up and the team got off the helicopter. They turned around and watch it fly off into the distance. “Alright then let’s get movin. Double time it.” Scope ordered. They began jogging off to the north in the scorching hot desert.
2 hours later.
“Are we there yet…” Hawkeye whined.
“No…” Scope said.
“Are we there yet?”
“No…” Mocaba moaned.
“Are we there yet?”
“No…” Jericho said with an annoyed tone.
“…Are we there yet?”
“JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!” The three of them shouted in unison
.
“Shhhh you gonna give us away!” Hawkeye whispered.
Mocobra and Jericho both drew their weapons ready to end the madness.
Scope lowers their weapons to avoid friendly fire. “Wait she’s right, we’re here.”
The team looked at the base in the distance. “Ok Boss what’s the plan.” Mocabra asked.
“Alright let’s split up. Elder see if you can infiltrate the base without being detected. You two stay by him until I give you new directions, I’ll get up in the clouds and keep over watch. Go.”
Scope quickly flew up into the closest cloud he could find. The others jogged the rest of the way to the base. The three stopped instantly and dropped prone on the ground. They saw a line of trucks driving into the rebel base. Scope kept watched over the group with his sniper scope.
“Elder, there seems to be a back way into the base where its unguarded, get in through there. Echo, where ever those trucks are going I want you to get there, Harpy go with him ” The three followed their commands. Jericho crawled to the back of the line of trucks and hid in the back of the last truck in line unnoticed. Hawkeye and Mocobra made their way around to the back of the base.
Before they entered a unicorn guard was at the back keeping watch. Mocobra took out a small digital camera out and snapped a shot of the guard. He slowly came behind the soldier, when the guard turned around she was tackled by Mocabra, he covered the unicorn’s mouth, took out his poisoned knife and stab her in her throat. She barely managed a scream before she had the look of death in her eyes. Mocabra pulled out the knife as some blood squirted from her neck. He wiped the blood of his knife and took cover behind a wall.
“Alright listen up we don’t got much time before the others find out she’s gone. I need you need two to split up. Elder keep taking pictures of the soldiers so we can get a look at their standard load-outs, Harpy there’s a small office building to the west, get inside and see what you can find. Echo I saw those trucks head into a depot, when you get in there i want you to standby and wait for further orders. Boss out.” Scope looked up and noticed a balloon floating right about the base. He was worried the others were about to get compromised but he notice the guard pony in the balloon was asleep. Scope kept his eyes on it.
Meanwhile Hawkeye managed to slip in to the building unoticed. Upon entering she notice the facility was load with scientist and guards. She ran to the first corner she saw and hid there. She got on her radio and contacted Mocobra.
“Elder I’m in a tight jam here and I haven’t even searched the whole building yet. They’re ponies everywhere and I don’t have any flash bangs. I can’t slip through all of them.”
After a few seconds he finally responds. “This is Elder. I can already tell these soldiers trust their eyes more than their instincts. Just by looking at them you can tell all they’ve been trained to do is point, aim and shoot. All you have to do is make sure they don’t know what they’re shooting, Elder out. ” The radio beeped off.
“Hey wait, shit…” Hawkeye looked around the corner. She noticed a power box at the end of the hallway. She took out her Mk. 14 and got a good aim at the box. She took the shot and all the lights went out.
Everypony in the building panicked.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?”
“IT’S AN INTRUDER!”
Suddenly one of the guards shot an unarmed pony thinking its Hawkeye. “SHIT THERE HE IS!” The soldier shot the soldier who shot the unarmed pony. Then mass chaos broke out and everypony who had a gun was shooting in every direction. Anypony that didn’t have a gun was easily mowed down. Hawkeye joined the gun fight and picked off anypony that was left standing.
After everypony was taken care of Hawkeye started searching every office gathering any papers she found. She heard the door open as more soldiers entered the building to investigate the sounds. She jumped out the closes window she saw and made her escape.
Meanwhile on the other side of the base Jericho made it to the depot. The truck he was in suddenly park and turned off. He heard two soldiers get out of the truck. They stood around the truck for a bit making some small talk. Jericho quietly exited the back of the truck. He slowly made his way behind one of the soldiers.
With swift movement he grabbed the soldier by the neck with one paw and took control of his rifle with the other. He shot the other soldier in the chest, right after he took the paw that was choking him by the neck and switched to his mouth, he took a big chomp out of the soldier’s neck. He could only let out a hard but muffled scream trying to get help, but the more he yelled in pain the harder Jericho bit down growling with excitment. He tore of a part of his neck with his teeth, he let go of the soldier as he tried to gasp for air while his neck turned in to a blood fountain, after a few moments of trying to breathe the solider dropped dead on the ground as the blood continued to create a puddle around the dead pony.
“Ok Boss I’m in.” He reported as he licked his lips snickering like a maniac.
“Echo I need you to take pictures of whatever is in there first.”
“Yes sir.”
He looked around the depot. He realized it was unguarded so he turned on the lights and saw rows of T-80's , Bradley's , and transport trucks. Echo pulled out his camera and started taking pictures of everything he saw.
“Ok Boss it’s done.”
“Echo, Harpy alerted the guards so we’re gonna need some cover for our escape.” Echo couldn’t be happier to hear this. He chuckled and responded back. “Oh Boss please tell me this means…”
Scope sighed. “Yes Echo, we’re going to plan B.” Echo was about to have a field day.
Scope was still looking at the balloon; the guard was starting to wake up. “Team this is Boss, we’re out of time. I’ve spotted an enemy balloon. He’ll sound the alarm once he sees the damage we did here. We need to get the fuck outta here now.”
"So what’s the plan Boss?” Mocobra asked.
Scope sighed. “…We’re going to plan B aren’t we?” Hawkeye asked nervously.
“Unfortunately, yeah we are.” Scope, Mocobra and Hawkeye sighed in unison.
“You two meet Echo at the depot, I going to call for evac. Get moving, Boss over and out. ” “Copy that. We’re moving. Harpy out.”
Mocobra, Hawkeye and Jericho waited for further orders at the depot.
Scope got on the radio and proceed to call the pilot that dropped them off “Lancer this is Black 0-1 we’re gonna need an evac over.”
“Sure thing Black. Evac will be there in 10 mikes, out.” The pilot replies back.
“Ok team let’s do this.” Mocobra says. The three enter the transport truck.
“I’m driving!” Hawkeye yells out.
“AWW HELL NO!” Jericho yells back. “THE DAY I LET A LADY DRIVE IS THE DAY I EAT PUPPY CHOW. GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY CAR!” Jericho pushed Hawkeye onto the other side and got in the truck. “Why you sexes son of-.”
Before she could finish her name calling Mocobra interrupts.
“Both of you knock it off now! This isn’t the time, Echo just drive, Hawkeye we’ll let you drive next time, but right now we need to go so just get in and shut up.”
“Yes grandpa…” She says sarcastically. She got into the truck slowly with a annoyed look. Jericho pointed and laughed at her defeat, he hot wired the trucked and started to drive out the depot. They drove up to the checkpoint, the guards started the move to the truck to investigate.
“Ok now Boss!” Jericho yelled.
Scope aimed his gun at the hot air balloon. He took the shot at the balloon, it fell straight down in a 90 degree angle. The pony in the balloon screamed for his life, the balloon crashes with exploding force. The entire depot explodes with flames branching out everywhere, the fuel line that goes across the base from the depot blows up turning the entire base into a blazing inferno. Ponies left and right screamed in agony as the base was turned into hell its self.
The trio speeds off out of the base just in the nick of time. The three cheered with excitement watching the base being turned into a fireworks show. “Holy shit Jeri! Sometimes I love it when we go to plan B!” Hawkeye yelled over the loud explosion.
“The beauty of c4, I never leave home without it!” He shouted with pride. Scope was flying right above the truck. He flew into the back of the truck and knocked on the window separating them. He waved at his comrades and smiled. “Job well done guys, let’s go home.”
15 minutes later.
The team was on the helicopter taking a much deserved rest they needed. Jericho was sleeping on the floor. Mocobra laid down on the seats. Scope was sitting up on the seat with Hawkeye taking a spot on his shoulder. Hawkeye was mumbling in her sleep and kept shaking.
3 years ago
Scope was running faster than he ever did in his life. His right wing was broken and was wrapped in bandages. His head was bleeding with bandages wrapped around it also. Behind him was Hawkeye and Logan. Both we’re running for their life as well. Behind them we’re soldiers chasing after them with guns blazing. A black hawk flew above their head, it made a quick landing a couple yards away.
“COME ON COME LETS GO!” Scope yelled behind trying to hurry the two behind him.
Scope made it to the chopper and jumped in. “WAIT FOR US!” Hawkeye yelled out. Her sides we’re a bloody mess and needed immediate medical aid. Logan had a bandages wrapped around his left eye. Due to his age he couldn’t as keep up much with them.
Hawkeye made it to the helicopter, Scope reached his hoof out and Hawkeye grabbed it. She climbed into the chopper gasping for air. “Where’s…Logan…” She ask trying to catch her breath.
Scope looked out the helicopter. “He…HOLY SHIT RPG!” he shouted. The pilot pulled up the helicopter as he dodged the rpg. Logan finally got to the black hawk, as he reached out to Scope. For some reason he put his hoof back down. Instead he took out his sunglasses and ripped his dog tags off his neck. He tossed them up to the helicopter; Scope barely caught both of them.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING LOGAN!?” Scope yelled out to him.
“Go Scope just go! Hawkeye take care of your brother for me!” Logan yelled out. “WHAT!? LOGAN NO!” Scope yelled out. The pilot started to pull the helicopter up and fly away. “WHAT ARE DOING GO BACK!” Scope yelled at the pilot.
“You wanna die!? Hell no!” Scope and Hawkeye looked out the helicopter and saw Logan getting beat down by multiple soldiers. Hawkeye tried to jump out the helicopter to go rescue him, but Scope immediately held her back. She started to cry hysterically reaching out the helicopter.
“LOGAN! LOGAN!!”
Hawkeye wakes up in the helicopter with Scope shaking her. Hawkeye’s pupils widen as he was trying to figure out where he was at, her eyes were a bloodshot red with streams of tears going down her face like a waterfall. She saw the team look at her with a worried looks. Scope walks up to her and pulls her into a tight embrace. She began crying again as she give Scope a hug in return.
“We let him down Scope! We just left him there to die! What were we thinking!?”
She cried even harder onto Scope’s shoulder. He patted her on the back trying to comfort her. “We didn’t let him down, we did exactly what he told us to do and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He be proud of us sis.” She continued to cry as Scope held her. Mocobra and Jericho just sat and watch. Jericho thought about saying something but decided it wasn’t the right time.
After about 45 minutes of flying the Pave Low landed on the helipad back at the base. The colonel was waiting there for the team to arrive. As they got out of the helicopter the colonel approached them with a stern look on his face. The team saluted the colonel holding their heads high.
“Sir, mission accomplished sir!” The team proudly said simultaneously.
The colonel slowly walked up to Scope practically face to face with him. “Mission accomplished…MORE LIKE MISSION FUCKING FAILURE!” The team jumped out of surprised.
“B-but sir, didn’t we complete the objective?” Scope said nervously as he held out the documents and photo’s. The colonel slammed them out of his hooves.
“RIGHT NOW I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE OBJECTIVE! WHY DO YOU THINK I SENT YOU IDIOTS IN TO GET THEM AND NOT A DAMN STRIKE FORCE!?” Scope couldn’t figure out what he did wrong. Colonel Vic took a deep breath. “Look… I know I didn’t tell you this but I didn’t know you four would pull a stunt like that despite your teams history…I was hoping you wouldn’t do something like you did before.”
The colonel took another deep breath and spoke again. “We didn’t send the ultimatum to the rebels yet…we we’re hoping to get at least a good amount of intelligence on them to strike them quick and hard and end this war before the end of the year.”
“But sir wont they think Equestria did it?” Jericho asked.
“Of course Echo, but do you think Equestria is going to take the blame for us?”
Wow I fucked up big time… Scope thought to himself.
“Son…met me in my office.” The colonel walked away, the team sighed in relief.
“Well buddy, your fucked. See ya!”
Jericho patted Scope on the back and walked away. “Good luck sir.” Mocobra said as he walked away.
Scope looked at the ground with a disappointed look. Hawkeye put her claw on Scope’s back. “You ok bro?” She asked.
“Yeah don’t worry about me.” He said back. He looked up and gave her a reassuring smile. Scope went back inside into the main building to face the music.
A little later Scope walked into Colonel Vic office, from the looks of it the colonel was packing bags. “Um sir…what’s going on? Scope asked.
“Son, I got some good news and some bad news.” The colonel replied. “The bad news is that thanks to your little stunt I’m being transferred.”
Guilt immediately struck Scope. Colonel Vic was another role model for Scope. Vic was Logan’s best friend and was Black Team’s commander for countless years. The thought of losing the last person he looked up to is devastating. To make things worse he let him down because of Scope’s dumb decision. Scope had his ears folded back and looked down.
“Vic I…I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…I’m sorry …..”
“I haven’t got to the good news yey Scope.”
Scope instantly looked back up. “You’re coming with me.”
“W-what?”
“That’s right. While high command is still pissed about you prolonging the war, they we highly impressed by your teams skill in taking out an entire enemy base by yourselves. We’re getting transferred to HQ. They said they have better uses for us then just going out to collect some papers. Get your team and tell them to pack their bags because we’re going to Baltimare.”
Scope had the biggest smile on his face he has ever had. “Sir yes sir!”
They saluted each other and went about their own way.
Things are starting to look up for us, let’s hope it stays like that. He thought to himself.
Chapter 3: Just a reply
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 )
One week after their latest mission, Black Team was transferred to another base near Baltimare. 3:00 pm, Scope was starting to wake up in his bed from his deep sleep after being on a 10 hours shift in the sniper nests. He gradually yawned as he literally rolled onto the floor. After about 10 minutes of just staring at the ceiling he slowly got back on his hooves, he went into his bathroom to take a hot steaming shower.
When he exited the shower he proceeded to dry himself off he heard knock at his door. Scope walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole; no one was on the other side. He unlocks the door and slowly opens making sure his team wasn’t trying to prank him again. He sees two letters in his mailbox, he quickly grabs runs back inside for life. After locking all 5 locks on his door he looked at the envelope to see who they’re from. One was from Colonel Vic, the other one was from Ponyville. “Crap if we keep intercepting these letters Vic is gonna get on my ass about it.” “He opened the one was from the colonel first.
“Let’s see what he wants.”
Captain Scope
Report to the briefing room at 4:00 pm. You will be assigned on another mission and we will discuss the intel you recovered from your previous mission.
Colonel Vic
Scope always liked Vic’s letters, not because of what they said but because he kept short and sweet. “Simple enough, I’m guessing the other one is Dinky’s letter.” Scope didn’t hesitate to open the letter immediately. Scope took out the paper in the envelope but a photo fell out of it as he did a photo fell on to the floor. He picked up the photo and examined it.
It was the family photo from Dinky’s room. Scope looked at the little filly in the picture, he knew it was Dinky. He liked how she looked, she reminded him of Logan, their coat was the same color but Logan’s mane was gray (due to his age). Scope chuckled a bit to himself. “Damn, they look like they might as well be related. She’ll be a pretty mare when she grows, if we win the war that is.”
Then he looked at Derpy. “Well that explains where Dinky gets her look from.” He was puzzled by the way her eyes looked though, but Scope had no position to judge anypony for their eyes. “Well…I have to admit she’s not that bad looking despite her eyes.” Scope looked into the mirror to the side of him. He wondered if she was ever made fun of for her eyes as well. The other kids made fun of Scope for his multicolored eyes when he was colt.
But that changed when he joined B.O.W. There wasn’t any prejudice between the soldiers. Not because of a rule (even though there wasn’t a rule about it) but out of simple respect. Nobody cared who was a colt cuddler or filly fooler. Prejudice between species didn’t exist either. If you’re willing to lay your life down to save and protect your brother in arms then there was no reason for hate, every soldier had the highest respect for each other. Now if you weren’t a soldier that maybe a different story.
Then Scope looked at Scope looked at Sparkler. He had a “WTF” face on when he saw her. She looks nothing like the rest of her family. It was probably for the best to not look deep into it. Thing he wants is to find out something he’ll regret.
Then finally he looked at Duncy. Something wasn’t right when he saw him. It wasn’t his physical appearance, he looked perfectly fine. It was just something about him Scope didn’t like about him. He finally decided open the letter and read it.
Dear Scope,
Thank you so much! I can’t wait for daddy to come home when you find him! He’ll finally make things better again. He can help mommy stop crying, play with us, help me with my homework, and go on picnics with us. It’ll be so great and things can go back to the way they were! Hey, when daddy comes home and the war is over do you want to come home with us on a pick picnic? I’m sure you’re great pony and fun to be around. i know the rest of the family would like you too.
Love,
Dinky Hooves
P.S. I gave you a picture of us that has daddy in it so it’ll be easier to find him.
Scope felt like shooting himself right there. “Aw hell what have I done!? Not only did I Just give a little filly’s hopes up I practically destroyed her dreams too!” Scope was in trouble, he started to pace back and forth in the room. Then he remembered what he told himself last week. “Ok, ok maybe it’s not all bad. Better to give her false hope than no hope.” He told himself trying to calm down.
Scope put the letter down and went over to his desk. He opened the draw and got a pen and paper and began writing.
Dear Dinky,
It’s nice to hear from you again. I’m glad to see you’re about your dad coming home when this is all over. I can’t wait to meet him when I find him. I’m sure he’s a pretty cool guy. I’d like to take you up on that offer to go on a picnic with you guys. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been on vacation, mostly because I’ve never taken a vacation before. Ha I probably built up at least three years of off time by now. I like the photo you sent me, seems like you got a nice family there. It’ll definitely help me find Duncy. Anyways how’ve you been lately? Doing good in school (I’m assuming you go to school.)? Tell me about yourself. Anyways I got to get back to work now. Talk to you next time.
Sincerely,
Scope
P.S. This is the guy who’s going to find your dad.
Scope folded the letter and stuffed it in the envelope. He opens the draw and pulls out a camera. He set the timer and walked away from the desk. He saluted the camera with a cocky grin on his face. The flash goes off and takes the picture. The photo comes out the camera. He took the photo and puts it in the envelope and seals it. After about five minutes of putting his uniform he leaves the room and locks the door behind him. He puts the letter in the mailbox and heads for the briefing room.
Chapter 5: Joint Ops
Chapter 5: Joint Ops
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 )
Black Team
Scope and his team drive down the dirt road in line with other humvees to Fillydelphia with Scope at the wheel, Jericho in the passenger seat, and Hawkeye and Mocrobra in the back. Scope keeps his hooves on the wheels on eyes on the road while listening to the radio chatter just in case something comes up. The others try to keep themselves busy during the two hour road trip. Mocobra scans the road to watch out for enemies and IED'S . Jericho, as usual, is asleep. While Hawkeye repeatedly kicks the back of Scope's seat.
Scope sighs in annoyance. "What do ya want?"
"Turn on the music."
"I can't I gotta listen out on the comms."
"Who cares its not like they say anything important anyways. All I ever hear is BLAH BLAH BLAH BRAVO ALPHA TANGO BLAH BLAH BLAH."
"I doesn't matter we still gotta listen out just in case."
"Mocobra said I get to drive next time, whatever happen to that?"
"Well last time I check Mocobra wasn't the leader of this team."
"You guys never let me drive..."
"I'm sorry sis, its not that we don't trust you at the wheel because you're a girl, its just that we don't trust you at the wheel because you're girl."
Hawkeye kicks the back of the seat as hard as she could causing Scope's face to fly into the wheel. Jericho chuckled in in sleep most likely hearing the little joke Scope just cracked. Scope brings his head back up and tries to focus his sight.
"Are you trying to get us killed?" Mocobra calmly asks.
"You pigs are all the same..." Hawkeye mumbles to herself.
After the two hour drive the line of Humvee stop at the sight of a few brides in sight, they pulls off they main road and park their vehicles. The soldiers get out and grabs all of their equipment and head out while some of the other Humvee move up the road. On the way to the bridge Scope spots Shining Armor and a few other soldiers standing around a table with a map on it. Black Team approaches them with a hesitant manner. Shining Armor sees them coming towards him as he turns around to greet them.
"Good looks like your here, maybe now we can actually get things started." Shining Armor says.
"What do you mean get started? You mean you haven't even gotten your guys over the bridge yet?" Scope asks
"No, the enemy blew up the bridge from where we are to the west and I cant get our air force across with out them getting shot down. Take a look at this." Shining Armor gestures Scope over to the table. "From what we seen the rebels have air to surface missiles place here and here." Shining Armor points out there positions on the map.
They're probably get shot down cuz they're still using those painfully slow zeppelins...
"They have soldiers lined up all across the other two bridges armed with sniper rifles and rocket launchers."
Scope just puts his head down on the map with the others looking at him strangely. "This is going to be a long...long...long war." Scope whispers to himself. He picks his head back up and takes off his shades, the other are a little taken back at their first sight of his eye. "Alright lets see...did you evacuate the civilians?"
"Yeah we already got that done." Shining Armor replies
"Ok then, listen we'll send in our armored units first, get your guys behind us so we can cover you. Do have any tank support?"
Shining Armor hesitates a little to answer the question. "Yeah...sorta." He says while rubbing the back of his neck.
Scope cocks an eye brow up at him. "What do you mean sorta?"
"We do have tanks on the line but...they're the old T-34'S ..."
Scope almost dropped dead from just hearing this. "Please tell me your pulling my leg!?"
Shining Armor looks down. "I'm afraid not..."
"WHAT!? YOUR FUCKING KIDDING ME! YOUR REALLY TELLING ME YOUR HAVEN'T UPGRADED YOUR TANKS IS OVER 30 YEARS! NO WONDER YOUR LOSING THIS WAR!"
"The princess wanted to keep Equestria a peaceful, non-aggressive country, so we just stopped producing weapons all together, we barely kept maintenance on them after all these years, you have to understand, none of us saw this uprising coming."
We're all gonna die... Scope thought to himself. He took a glace at the other soldiers at the table, Shining armor wasn't joking. none of them even have sidearms to go along with them. "Ok, we can make this work, I want your unicorns up the tanks when we're moving up, they'll put up shield barriers up in front to provide extra cover and hopefully the rebels don't have the bridges rigged to blow."
"Ok but what about the anti air?"
"You let me worry about that."
"Alright then."
"Alright I'll be back in a sec." Scope turns around and puts his shades back and walks back over to his team and explains the situation to them.
"So what do we now?" Hawkeye asks.
"Well I was gonna call in CAS but that wouldn't be a good idea since they have SAM sites up. Do we have any artillery to call for a fire mission?"
"Fortunately we do, they got here before we did and they're set up to the southeast of us ready for any request. They're call sign is Charlie Battery."
"Good cuz we're gonna need it. I just hope that Celestia won't miss a couple of buildings. Call them and tell them to get rid of those AA's."
"Roger." Hawkeye takes out a map of the city and contacts the artillery team.
"Well that's one problem solved today." Just before Scope turns around he sees the other soldiers getting back in their humvees. Scope panics and flies towards one of the vehicles in a flash and stops the driver. "Wait wait wait where are you guys going!?"
"Sorry Scope but we just got reassigned to another mission. If you got a problem with that then talk to the colonel. Looks like you're on your own, but don't worry though im sure they could help you out." The driver points to the royal guardsmen as the other soldiers in the back snicker and laugh. The humvees speed off leaving Scope in the dust.
"Just my luck, the only backup we had just took off..." Scope walks back over to the table and looks over the map to see any other way into the city. "Alright we should have those AA systems down in just a minute captain, hopefully you won't need me to hold your hoof for the rest of this?"
"No need to worry Scope we'll have the rest under control. Now im guessing you still want some assistance?"
"Huh?"
"We all just saw what happened there."
"Damn...fine I guess we could use some help."
"Alright just a second. Sergeant Lightning." Shining Armor calls out. A pegasus at the table walks over to him.
"Yes sir?"
"I want your team to go with them to assist them on their mission."
"Understood captain."
"Don't worry your in good hooves, I've heard they're some of the best they have."
Lightning looks over his shoulder and gets a glance at Black Team. He sees Hawkeye chancing a butterfly, Mocobra whistling, and Jericho standing there picking his nose. He keeps the straight look on his face while in the back of his mind he prays to Celestia that he and his men will be able to make it through this day.
"Oh, by the way." Scope cuts in. "I called in a little fireworks show, it should be starting in a couple of seconds." He points at the the buildings in the city as everypony turns to see what he's talking about. After about a few seconds of staring at nothing they could all hear the sound of something heavy falling from the sky at a high speed, then repeated explosions could be seen from where they were standing, by the time the explosions are over each of the buildings have taken catastrophic damage looking noting how they original did . The soldiers from B.O.W. start to cheer at the explosions while the royal guard just stand there with their mouths a gaped in amazement to what have just witnessed. If there was one thing Scope was going to enjoy about this war it was going to be the faces he was going to see on rookie's faces when stuff like this happens.
After the fire mission has been completed Scope steps away from the table and contact the colonel. Time for me and that featherbrain to have a chat. He's got some nerve to screw me over like this... "Ironhawk this is Black Actual, do read me?"
"Black Actual this Ironhawk I read you, whats the situation down there?"
Scope explains the parts about the bridges and the anti air to the colonel. "Also we're sorta bringing along one of their teams as backup during the mission sir, since you took the liberty of getting rid of my backup...over."
"Understood, I'm sending a couple of Hinds your way to pick you up and get you to your LZ. Whatever you do don't let them compromise the mission, over."
"Roger."
"And don't worry about the captain, we'll work with him to take back the city, just worry about your own mission."
"Hey."
"What is it?"
"Look, sir I know they're our allies and everything but I don't think they're cut out for this."
"...That's because they're not."
Scope eye begins to twitch a little bit. "I'm sorry come again?"
"The Royal Guard is the only branch left in the Equestrian military, and their job is to protect and serve the princess, not front line war."
"So what happened to other branches!?"
"Equestria did have the Equestrian Royal Marines, but they we're disbanded 30 years ago. Apparently Celestia saw no need for them anymore, that and her anti-war views influence that decision as well."
"Yet she decided to go to war anyways!?"
"She didn't have much of a choice ever since the rebellion began and started attack cities. The Royal Guard was completely inexperienced with guns and advance equipment until the war started nine months ago. All the weapons and equipment you see them carry are pretty much hand me downs from the marines. But anyways if you're done complaining like a baby then I suggest you get to work."
Scope stomps the ground in frustration as he swears under his breath. I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH TO PUT UP THIS CRAP! "...Copy that...Black Actual over and out." After his little temper tantrum he takes a deep breath and looks over to Lightning, Scope gestures him to come over. "How many guys do you got sarge?"
"8 counting myself." Lightning answers.
8 rookies huh? Better than nothing I guess. "Alright buddy listen up our main objective isn't to take back the city."
"Its not?"
"We have a different objective. We're going in to capture and interrogate the enemy commander, we just need you guys back us up. When we're done then you can go back to doing whatever it is you guys do. We got a couple of choppers on the way to pick us up and get us to where we need to go. Did'cha get all that?"
"Yeah I got it. But we're you serious about the helicopter part?"
"Yeah why?"
"Well you see we don't really have those back in Equestria so I was just wondering."
"Look just show me your team so I can see what they're capable of."
Lightning brings him over to the group of soldiers sitting around waiting for new orders. "Alright, listen up, this stallion next to me is Captain Scope who is with B.O.W. We've been assigned to him and his team to assist them on their mission. So get up so I can introduce you properly and show him the quality of our troops."
They all do as they're told and line up in a fashionable order. Lightning introduces each of them to Scope as the walk down the line but all Scope can see in his eyes are a bunch of rookie canon fodder ready to get shot. That was until he saw the last soldier he was introduce to.
"Last but not least this is Private First Class Big Macintosh."
Wow. Finally a soldier that looks well trained and ready for action. Wait I remember him, wasn't he one of the ponies that was with Shining Armor in the briefing room?
"Macintosh, are you ready to show these guys what your capable of?" Lightning asks him.
"Eeyup." Is all he really has to on the matter.
Oh no, REDNECK ALERT!!! "Nice to meet you private I look forward to working with you and your team." The two of them shake hooves and continue about their business. Scope turns back to the sergeant.
"Hey, whats the story on him?"
"Big Mac? Well hes a farm pony, hes actually part of the apple family you see."
Oh, well that explains why hes more fit than the others, he could probably carry triple the wight.
"Best darn apples you'll ever get from Ponyville I tell you."
...Ponyville huh... So what's he doing out here if hes a farmer?"
"To tell you the truth I think hes only here for revenge."
"Revenge? For what?"
"He told us that one night the rebels broke into his home and tried to ponynap his little sister, very next day he signed up, he vowed that he'll make sure whoever was behind it gets what coming to them."
Scope looks over at Big Mac again and tries to examine him. He didn't look all that serious, in fact he looked like he was bored. Interesting...seems me and him share the same goal, I'll have to get to know him better later. "I see. Well thanks for filling me in sarge, you should get your men ready, our rides will be here any minute now."
"Right, well I'll see you on the battlefield then."
"Right." The two go back their separate ways and return to their respective teams. Scope pulls his sister close to him to be in whispering range.
"Hey."
"What is it?"
"You see that red pony there?"
"Yeah what about him?"
"Keep an eye on him for me."
"But why hes ju-"
"Just do it." Scope says in a serious manner. Hawkeye knew when he got like this he wasn't kidding, so she did what she was told. They all waited about ten minutes before two hinds arrived. Each team got into their own helicopter and loaded their equipment in them. As Jericho approaches the helicopter he stops and turns around.
"Scope I forgot RPG's, I'll be right ba-"
"Just get in I'll get it." Jericho follows his orders and gets in the helicopter as Scope puts his weapon down and flies over to Jericho RPG's. "Got it." He picks up the rocket launcher with haste and heads back to the chopper, as he flies back Scope's clumsy grip gets the better of him, he accidentally squeezes the trigger and fires the loaded rocket at the helicopter. The rest of team scream and duck in fear, the rocket flies straight through middle them as it speeds past their faces. The team watches as the rocket flies off into the distance never to be seen again, each of them look back at Scope giving him a death glare, including the pilots. "...My bad."
After Scope enters the helicopter to face the stares of shame they take off and proceed to the west heading deep into the city, and the heart of the enemy. As they flew above the city they see friendly force making progress. Tank units advance through the city blowing away the enemy forces. Crossfire can be seen throughout the entire city, some of the buildings were on fire while others took collateral damage. Scope felt that this was the perfect time to brag. He gets on his radio and switch to the other teams channel.
"Hey sarge."
"What is it?"
"Let me show you what a real tank looks like. Look down there to your left." The team in the other helicopter looks out to the left of the helicopter. "You see that tan looking tank down there?"
"Yeah what about it?" .
"That's our pride and joy. We like to call it the M1 Abrams ."
The Abrams they were looking at however was engaged with an enemy T-80. The t-80 takes a shot at the other tank making a direct hit. However a pony from the Abrams gets out of the tank with a spay bottle and wash cloth, he goes to the side of the tank that was hit and cleans off the smudge that was made by the T-80. Once satisfied with the clean sparkles on the tank he hops back in. The Abrams barrel slowly turns and points at the other tank. The Abrams fire's a shell and obliterates the T-80. The tank continues it's advance through the city as it rolls over what use to be a T-80.
Sargent Lightning and his men are yet again stunned by what these soldiers capable of. Some of them are more relieved than stunned to the fact that they're on their side and not the rebels. The helicopters make a slow descend upon the streets of Fillydelphia, rpg's are fired at the hinds but miss their intended target. The hinds retaliate with their own fire power, rockets are fired at the at the rebels send some of them flying in bits and parts, the gunner fire the machine guns taking any stragglers that were still alive. Once clearing the LZ helicopters hover above the street, the soldiers drops ropes from the helicopters and use them to climb down to the surface. With everyone accounted for on the ground the helicopters make there exit. Scope gathers everyone and gives them the battle plan.
"Alright here's the deal, we're about 2 kilometers from our target building where we suspect our target to be, royal guard your job is simple, all you have to is help us get to where we need to go, once were inside we'll handle the rest, we just need you to guard the entrance to make no pony gets in or out got it?"
"Yes sir." Everyone else says in unison.
"Lets do this."
The soldiers start to jog down the abandoned streets until they're meet with enemy resistance. Black Team and the Royal Guard take cover behind carriages and carts that were left on the street attempting to take cover from the rebels fire. Black Team returns fire back at them with their AR-15's . The rebels don't let up though as they continue to put fire on them. Scope looks to the right and notice that half of Lightning's men aren't even firing back as they hide behind the carriages.
"What the fuck are doing!?" Scope yells out at them. "Shoot them dammit!"
"We're trying not to get shot here!" One of them yells back.
Scope continues to fire at the rebels while trying to convince the soldier to stop hiding. "Well you aren't going to get shot if you shoot them first! For Celestia's sake who trained you!?" Scope takes down 3 more rebels before ducking back down to reload. Then he hears a pony with a southern accent run past the other royal guard.
"Move outta the way!" The voice yells out. Scope looks up to see which soldier actually grew a pair and started shooting back, it was Big Macintosh with a M60 machine mowing down rebel troops like a blade cutting through grass. His fellow soldiers saw this as an opportunity to help him out and fire back. With rebels force quickly defeated and pushed pack Scope and the other soldiers moving up and get closer to their objective.
After 30 minutes of pushing through enemy ambushes and pushing them back they make it to the target building. Outside the building is a flagpole, the flag that flies high on the pole is red with the words Equestrian Alliance written in a shining black text. The building is guard by 30 red uniformed soldiers with a few mounted machine guns around the perimeter, Scope's troops hide in a building across the street from it. Scope takes a few minutes to figure out how to get in without getting their flanks kicked.
"Well they sure do love the front door. Getting inside will be quiet the choir...!" Mocobra immediately covers his mouth with both his hooves as a red crimson covers his face. NO! I thought I grew out of that by now! Maybe she rubbed more off on me than I thought.
"Um, what?" Scope asked.
"NOTHING FORGET I SAID ANYTHING!"
"Whatever you say, weirdo." None the less he still right, that entrance is jam packed with guards. After taking Mocobra's rhyme into thought he hatched a plan.
"Yo Jeri, still got some RPG's left?"
"Sure why?"
"Give it to these guys."
With a growl of displeasure Jericho rolls the RPG over to Sergeant Lightning.
"Alright sarge you see those machine guns they that got?"
"I see them."
"When I give the signal i want you to fire it at one of them. My team is going to find another way in, you guys keep them occupied, well stay in touch over the radio got it?"
"Yeah I understand, just get going and we'll get it done." He was truly determined to show Scope they were more than mere cannon fodder. With that Black Team exits the building while the other team setup for the assault. Black Team slowly approaches the building from the side without being detected. They sit and wait until Scope decides the next move. Scope looks at Mocobra and points at one of the machine gunner, he crosses neck and puts his hoof to his mouth symbolizing to stay quiet. Mocobra understands the gestures Scope is giving him and reaches into his saddle bag. He pulls out a suppressor from the bag and twists it on the barrel of his gun. The zebra takes aim at the gunner and waits for his captain's signal.
"Wait for it...kill em."
Mocobra takes the shot at him, the pony drops dead onto the ground. With the random death of their comrade the rebels soldiers become startled and raises the alert. Lightning recognizes this as Scope signal and fires the rocket at the rebels. The rocket speeds past most of the rebels and manages to hit it's target. The machine gun explodes into unfixable pieces more or less like the gunner who was on it and those near him. The rebels immediately return fire at the building. Lightning and his team holds out while Black Team finds a different entrance into the building.
Black Team enters the building from the side facing immediate resistance. Most them take cover behind tables and corners while Black Team does the same as they return fire. The body count for the rebels however slowly rise as the fight drags on. Jericho pulls out one of his frag grenades from his belt and pulls the pin. "SUCK ON THIS!" He lobs the grenade across the room and lands behind the table where an unfortunate rebel sits behind, he takes one quick look at the grenade and then prays to Celestia. Before he can finish the grenade cuts him shot and explodes sending his bloody body through the table. Finishing of the rest of the hostile Black Team searches the every room they come across but with no luck in finding the commander. The advance up stares to meet more hostile forces. Hawkeye shots a soldier that was standing directly in font of a door at the end of the hall.
"There! That must be where he is!" She yells out.
"Got it! Let take these fuckers out!" Scope shouts.
Scope gets kill after kill sending the rebels to the after life and quickly ends the fight.
"Talk about kill steal captain." Jericho complains.
"Shut up and guard the door. That bastard is mine."
The team secures the door and keep watches out for any more enemies. Scope bucks down the door open and sees a dark blue pony with a red uniform and a red beret staring out the window with his back facing towards the door.
"Game over, your coming with me." Scope tells him.
The pony slowly turn around and reveals his face and puts his hooves in the air signaling his surrender. But Scope notices he has a sly but evil smile on his face as if he was making fun of him. Scope stares at him for a little while and has an odd feeling as if he seen this pony some where before. He mentally investigates him more and notices that he wasn't much older than himself, probably a year or two older than him. The other pony does the same to Scope, investigating him and sees what he's armed with. After taking a long enough look at Scope the blue pony begins to laugh, not a regular laugh but one those kinds of laughs the high class rich ponies in Canterlot would make. Scope becomes confused as to what hes laughing at, the blue pony finally begins to speak.
"I can't believe YOU actually survived all this time, so how long had it been Scope, 7-8 almost 9 years now?"
Who the buck is this dude? He even knows my na-. Almost 9 years? He said that like he knew me from... "Wait a sec, blue pony, red uniform, knows my name, something about me surviving. WAIT A SECOND I REMEMBER YOU NOW! DON'T TELL ME YOUR-"
"Ah I see the great yellow leader finally recognizes his old mortal enemy now."
"Yeah, I remember it clear as day now. You're..."
Enter cliche cliffhanger here.
Chapter 4: Born on Earth, Raised in Hell
Chapter 4: Born on Earth, Raised in Hell
Written by Scope (me). Illustrated by Mailbox of d00m
Scope gets to the communications room in no time flat. He pushes through the double door and enters the room. There were computers monitors in every inch of the room, papers all over the floor and ponies yelling across the room trying to relay messages to each other. Scope stumbles through the mass chaos in the room as he tries to reach the door on the other side of the room. He barely manages to grab hold of the door knob; he opens the door with haste as he rushes inside.
Upon entering the room he notices several other ponies in the room giving him a weird look. Scope coughs as an attempt to shake off the looks as he fixes his beret and walks to the table they’re all gathered at. While approaching the table he notices some of the ponies were wearing gold armor. Aw come on why are these douche bags here…
The colonel, who’s at the other of the table, stands up and greets him.
“There you are, you know you’re an hour early right?”
“Well the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can end this war.” Scope replies.
“I like that attitude. Keep it up and you’ll be in my seat in no time.” The colonel compliments.
“Scope, you probably already noticed the Canterlot Royal guard is here with us.”
Scope looks back at them again but pays much closer attention this time. He saw that some of them stood out. One of them was a bit bigger than the others; he was a stallion that had a red coat. The other was a stallion who was as big as the red one with what appears to be better armor than the rest and had a shining white coat with a blue mane. The last one that stood out was a purple mare that had no armor on but carried a saddle bag on her.
The shining white stallion walked up to Scope and extends his hoof out to him. “So you must be Captain Scope, I’m Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.” Scope reluctantly shakes his hoof.
“It’s nice to meet a fellow captain.” You fucking jerk I hope you choke on a prick. Scope thought to himself. Scope still had a hard time accepting the fact that his company has to work with ponies who belittle and degrade them.
The purple unicorn approaches Scope this time giving him the same friendly gesture. “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle, head of the Royal Intelligence Agency. Although I’m only temporarily working this position until this war is over. Even though I’m not much of soldier like the rest of you I want to help my big brother here the best I can.” She spoke with a friendly tone.
Great the captain of the Royal Guard has a little sister. I bet she’s a sl-wait head of intelligence?
The colonel decides to cut the formalities as he steps in. “Since we’re working with them now you can except to see them more often so get used to it.”
Fuck my life.
“Before I assign you your next mission let’s get business. Ms. Sparkle you take it from here.” Shining Armor gives the other soldiers a notion to leave the room and guard the door.
“Thank you colonel, first things first I need to ask you something if you don't mind Captain Scope.”
“Like what?” Scope asks.
“Have you been receiving letters from Ponyville recently?”
Oh great here we go… “What's it to you?”
“Well you see a teacher at the school there assigned her students a pen pal essay to write to the soldiers to give them a little bit of a moral boost. The students we’re given names of some of the soldiers to write to.”
“Wait so how did I end up on that list? I don’t work for you.” Shining Armor and Twilight gave each other a quick glance before they looked back at Scope.
“Well, here’s the thing Scope. You actually do.”
“Yes I know I we technically work for you since you hired us but that doesn’t me-”
“No, I mean you WORK for us.”
“I don’t get it.”
Twilight reached in to her saddle bag and grabbed a folder out it and passed it to Scope. He opened it with hesitation and looked through it, after a moment or two Scope’s mouth hit the table.
“What the hell is this!?” he asked Twilight with fury in his eyes. Twilight jumped back a bit in her chair
“Scope, for some time now you’ve been enlisted in the Royal Guard, the folder your looking into right now is your profile.”
“She’s not kidding sir.” Shining Armor spoke out.
Wait did he just say sir to me? “ Uh, why did you call me sir?” Scope asks.
“Keep reading the profile sir.”
With an annoyed look Scope keeps reading the folder. Within a minute Scope flies back in his chair and hit the floor.
“BRIGADIER GENERAL SCOPE!? WHAT!?”
“We recently dug up that profile Scope. Apparently you’ve been jumping up the ranks pretty quickly, you were just a captain until a few days ago until somepony gave you a promotion but we don’t know who gave it to you. We were going to give a reward for being the youngest brigadier general, until now.”
“…Twilight?”
“What is it?”
“How could I have been enlisted?"
“That’s another thing that came up while looking through your profile. Apparently you’ve been in service for twelve years.”
“Since when did we let six year old kids join the military?” Shining armor noted.
Twelve years!? …no wait… but that was when Hawkeye and I got…
“Mr. Sparkle” The colonel interrupted. “That's enough about that we’ll get to that later, let’s move on if we may.” The colonel looked at Scope and gave him a nod. Scope gave him a nod in return.
“Oh um, ok, anyways Scope that was only the tip of the iceberg of what you and your team found on your last mission a week ago.”
What was my profile doing in a rebel base anyways?
"The colonel and I have been analyzing the rest of the documents for an entire week and we’ve found some…interesting information.”
“Go on.”
“For one we’ve obtained all the files of all the soldiers of the base you took out. The soldiers that were there weren’t exactly normal soldiers.
“What are they some kind of alien mutant zombies?”
“Uh, no.” She gave Scope a stern basically telling him to get serious.
“We looked over all their records and none of them match any citizens in Equestria.”
Scope just sat there with a confused look on his face.
“That doesn’t make any sense Twilight, how is this considered a civil war if none of them are actually from Equestria?”
“That’s the question we’re trying to figure out as well. We checked to see if they were mercenaries from different countries, but we’ve confirmed that’s not the case either. So in the end, somehow all of these ponies came from nowhere.”
From nowhere... Scope sat there as he rubs his chin. Flash backs went through his head as Twilight spoke. All he could hear in his head were screams, gunfire, the crackles of burning flames and the crying of young children everywhere. After a few minutes of ignoring Twilight Scope interrupts her and speaks up.
“Colonel…you don’t think tha-”
“No.” Getting cut off by Vic. “That would be impossible, you were there, I was there, Logan was there, we were all there, we all saw what happened. There’s no way-”
“But colonel,” Scope cuts him off this time. “what if there were more? What if you didn’t get them all?” He said with a shaky voice.
“What are you two talking about?” Shining Armor asks.
Scope looks at him then looks back at the colonel as if he was asking permission.
“Scope…you know this is classified information.”
“Colonel, if they’re still alive then this is our chance.”
The colonel turned and face the monitor. He was in deep thought for about minute. Then he turned around and looked at Scope. “I won’t force you to tell them. You can keep it to yourself if you want.”
Twilight and Shining Armor both looked at Scope as if he was about to tell a ghost story. “I-I don’t like to talk about this part of my life, especially to strangers like you, but if it helps clears things up then I’ll tell you. It was about twelve years ago you see…”
12 years ago
Inside a dark warehouse at night six year old Scope was tied to a chair blind folded. Two other ponies were standing by him keeping guard.
“M-mister?” Young Scope asked. “It’s really cold in here and I can’t see.”
“Kid just shut up and this will all be over.” The guard said to him.
A few minutes later a door could be heard opening with a loud rusty screech. All scope could hear were two ponies yelling and screaming to let go. The blind fold quickly came of Scope eyes reveling his two yellow orbs. He had the look of terror on his face when he say the two tied up on the ground below him.
"Mommy? Dad?"
“Scope!” His parents said simultaneously. “Thank Celestia your ok.” His mother said as tears came into her eyes.
“Are you alright? They didn’t hurt you did they?” His father asked him.
“Not yet.” A mysterious said from the shadows. “If he doesn’t make the right choice then I’m afraid we’ll have to throw him out with the rest of the trash.”
“Show yourself you coward!” Scope’s father yelled out to the air.
The pony stepped out from the shadows being reveled as a old faded red unicorn with a grey mane and purple eyes.
“You see, your son shows promise so I’m giving him a chance to live, if he makes the right choice.” The red stallion says to them.
“What choice will that be?” Scope’s father says with anger in his voice.
“As you know I’m afraid we can’t allow you to leave. So your son has two choices to make.” The red pony lowers himself to their ears and whispers “Either he kills you or I’ll kill all three of you.”
The parents are overcome by shock and horror by what they just heard. “P-please no! Don’t make him do this! He only a foal!” His mother screams with more tears gushing from her eyes.
The red pony walks over to Scope and unties him. He tries to run towards his parents but is held back by one of the guards. The red stallion puts a Mauser in the hoof that Scope was reaching out with.
“W-what’s this?” Scope asks.
“Scope I need your help with something.” The red pony says with a grin. “I need you to put your mommy and daddy to sleep.”
“But why?”
“You see, your parents asked me to put them to sleep because they are very tired.” He talks a bit slow to Scope so he could understand. “But I want you to put them to sleep, but I understand if you don’t want to do this, I can put them to sleep for you but that mean you have to go to sleep as well and you won’t wake up for a very long time.” The red pony lets out a bit of a evil chuckle as he amuses himself.
Scope looks at him mother seeing her shake her head furiously trying to tell him not to do it.
“Come Scope let’s get to it” The red stallion tells him as he pushes Scope over to his parents
.
“Scope please no, we’re your parents! Don’t do this to-”
“Stop.” His father says to her. “Let him do it.”
“WHAT!?” she screams at him.
“Listen, do you really think its ok to know your son was killed by a bunch of murderers?”
“WELL THAT’S BETTER THAN HIM BECOMING ONE OF THEM! AT LEAST HE’LL COME WITH U-.”
“No. I know my boy. He went end up like these goons. He’s too good for that. He’s only six for Celestia’s sake, he hasn’t even begun to experience life to the fullest yet. Are you really ok with knowing your son died without having a chance to live? Do you really think that’s ok?”
She cries even harder trying her best to give him an answer. “N-no…”
Scope’s father looks at his son right in the eye’s with a straight face.
“Scope, I know you’ll never be like these clowns so I want you to do something for your old man. When you’re finally ready, I want you to escape this place, just run, run and live free. I want you to grow up to be a fine young stallion. I want you to be who you want to be. Not what these jerks force you to be. Scope, we want you to live. So do it. I want you to put your hoof on that trigger and put mommy and daddy to sleep ok?”
In Scope’s mind he couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but in his heart he know exactly what was going on. He didn’t know why he was beginning to cry but he did anyways.
“So what’s it going to be Scope?” The red pony asks.
“Hurray up boy.” His father demands. “Always remember Scope, we’ll always love you.”
Scope slowly pointed the gun at his father head. His father closed his eyes awaits his fate. With hesitations Scope pulls the trigger.
*BANG*
Blood spills onto the ground as so does his father’s body. Scope yells in fear as to what he just done.
“Scope.” His mother calls. “Don’t worry, he’s asleep now. Please just let me sleep too.”
Scope was shivering out of pure fear. “B-but mommy-”
“No buts just do it.”
Scope was beginning to cry harder as he started to understand what was going on.
“Goodnight sweetie, I love you.”
Scope slowly pulls the trigger again and quickly closes his eyes.
*BANG*
Her body drops like a rock and hits the ground with a hard thud. She still had smile on her face knowing her son will be ok. Scope drops the gun and stares at her for a while. He stops crying and just stands there with a shock expression. The only thing Scope could think about was when his parents were going to wake up. He turns to the red pony and speaks with in a quiet voice,
“When will they wake up?”
“In due time, but in the mean time let’s get you ready.”
“Ready for what?”
The red pony laughs with evil intent and looks at Scope again. “Oh don’t worry, it won’t hurt…much.”
Sometime later
Scope sits in a pure white room with blood and cuts all over his body with a bullet wound in his back left leg. He sits quietly as he his best not make a sound besides a an occasionally cough of blood every now and then. Scope looks up into the lights above him not minding the blinding light. He wonders if his parents will wake up anytime soon so they can take him away from this horrible place. His daydream is cut short by the sound of a door opening and the red unicorn stepping inside.
“You’re doing well Scope, you’ve passed the survival tests. Now you only have one last test to go.”
Before Scope can speak he hacks up more blood and tries to get a hold of himself. “W-when can I go home?”
“After this you and your parents can go home.”
That’s all Scope needed to hear, he slowly overcame the pain that was in his hooves and stood up and followed the red pony out of the room. As the two walked down the dimly lit hallway Scope saw two ponies carrying what seems to be a dead filly down the hall, but since Scope didn’t really understand the concept of death yet so he thought she was asleep just like his parents.
After a few seconds of walking Scope can hear the screams of a little colt as they walk past a window. The red pony stops and looks through the window, Scope hops up and down trying to get a peek but the window is too high for him. Through the window was a colt being held down shackles on a test table, unicorn with lab coat and a mask levitates a syringe with purple fluid in it and sticks it in the colt’s leg. After a few moments of observation the colt lets out blood curdling scream again and tries to wiggle his way out of the shackles. As his screams of pain continue his chest starts to expand the scientist right down the results on their check boards.
During the scientist’s little show with the colt his chest expands to a dangerous level. The scientist backup a bit fearing what might happen, the colt’s chest explodes with massive amounts of blood and destroyed organs splattered across the walls and ceiling. The red pony burst out in hysterical laughter after witnessing what he just saw. Scope thankfully only saw a small amount of blood splat on the bottom of the window.
They continued to walk down the hall, out of curiosity Scope speaks to the red pony
“Hey what’s your name?”
“Oh well…my name is…Dux. Yeah Dux that’s what it is. No more questions we’re here.”
They entered a room just like the one the colt was in. Two ponies walked up to Scope and picked him up. He tried to rustle his way out but he was no match for two grown ponies, they slam him on the test table and put shackles on his hooves and underbelly. They turn the table up vertically and blind Scope with the surgery lamp. A group of scientist approaches Scope with rags soaked in alcohol and wash his entire body with it. Scope grunts in pain feeling the stings of the alcohol in all of his cuts. After drying him of a Unicorn levitates a syringe with black fluid in it and ejects it Scope with it, after a few minutes of waiting for results the scientist declare that it’s a dud and retries another one.
Before they eject Scope however he starts to feel painful burning in his eyes as they become watery. Scope desperately tries to rub his eyes but is force to endure the pain due to being held back by the shackles. Scope’s attempts of furious wiggles and shakes end in futile, he starts to cry but he notices something is wrong. Instead of crying tears he’s crying blood, his eyes get puffier with each moment. Scope yells at the top of lungs each second that he feels the pains in his eyes but when in a few minutes he passes out.
“Is he dead?” Dux asks.
“We’re not sure sir, he may be unstable at best from the looks of it.” A scientist replies.
“I don’t care, if he wakes up then I want him on the plane and shipped off with the other successes.”
4 years later
Out in the middle of a grassy field on a unknown island the sounds of gun fire and explosions can be heard with the smells of fire and death. Deep burned holes caused by mortar fire and dead body we’re seen everywhere. These weren’t the bodies of soldiers however; they were the bodies of children. Most of them we’re around the ages of 5-12. A group of children with blue arm bans armed with ak-47's charged through the battlefield with a squeaky war cry. Most of them manage to make it to cover behind a bunch of rocks while others were shot dead. The ones pinning them under fire were kids that had yellow arm bans armed with the same weapons. They sat upon a hill top gaining the advantage; some of the yellow banned children brought out RPG-2's and fired at the rocks.
The blues were dealing with heavy losses with 10-20 kids getting killed per minute. “Throw some grenades up there!” A young pony commanded. He tosses a frag grenade as far as he could up the hill with it landing next to a small earth pony.
“NO GRENADE!” But the explodes the second she spoke, she get sent flying back about a couple feet away lying dead with shrapnel all over her body.
A young gryphon drags her dead body to cover and examines the damage on her body. “Damn, there's nothing I can do…” A unicorn rushes to her side and grabs her by the shoulders and looks her dead in the eyes.
“Hawkeye we got more wounded to the west, we need you!”
“Alright I’m on my way.”
She runs with the unicorn next to her who provides cover for her as they run across the hill top. Another grenade reaches the top of the hill top near the unicorn and explodes the second it touches the ground. The unicorn’s bloody corpse rolls down the hill as Hawkeye runs towards the edge of the hill top and watches the unicorn rolls to his grave. She looks up a bit and sees a blue banned Pegasus takes aim at her; she froze in fear and cringes as she awaits her death.
*BANG*
Hawkeye stands in her frozen position for a few moments and slowly opens her eyes. She see the pegasus that was about to end her life lie dead next to the unicorn. She looks around to see how her savoir is but fails at her search. She continues to runs towards the wounded children that needed her help.
The blues begin to gain ground on the yellows; motors began to rain upon the yellows eliminating about 20 of them. They fall back deep out of the field trying avoid the raining hell. One motor hit a diamond dog pup sending him across the battlefield in the direction they were falling back in. He makes a hard landing in the dirt with both of his legs and left paw replaced with bloody stubs, he reaches out as if anyone was going to help him but dies quickly after getting bombed by another motor.
The blues cheer with pride as they climb up the hill, but their cheers of victory were short lived as a shot was heard from the distance. They all stop and look around for the source of the gun fire, but all they see is a dead zebra rolling done the hill with a huge bullet wound in his head. As they continue to look around another shot was heard with this time an earth pony rolling down the hill. The blues scatter in panic, some keep moving up the hill to catch up with the yellows while some raced back down the hill to take cover the rocks again.
It didn’t matter where they went though; one by one another mysterious shots fell upon one of the children. Some of the yellows take notice of the blues disarray and turns back around to finish the job. “Hey look, it’s him, he’s here!” one of the kids shouted. Every yellow ban makes a 180 turn back into the fight. They charged at the disabled blues and sweep the field for the stragglers that were left by the sniper. One after another a blue was killed in action getting mowed down by the yellow bans.
As a last ditch attempt the last blue jumps out of cover and sprays down a few yellows. He hears a clicking sound and looks at his gun realizing he’s out of ammo. The pony throws his gun down and retreats back down the hill. None of the yellows follow him for they knew his fate.
The blue runs through the rocks from where the blues came, as he runs for his miserable life he looks back and sees that none one is chancing him. He laughs with joy until runs into an object and falls to the ground. He rubs his head and gets up to examine the object that blocked his way. With a terrible realization after examining it he knew it wasn’t an object but a pony, a pegasus in fact. The pegasus stared at the other pony with his multi-colored orange and gray eyes with killer intent.
The Pegasus stuffed the barrel of his m25 right into the other pony’s mouth. The pony instantly started to cry as he tried to muffle out his last words.
“Please, No Scope!”
“As you wish.”
Scope pulls the trigger without hesitation. The pony’s brains splatter onto the ground leaving a gaping hole in the back of his head. He takes the barrel out of his mouth and lets his limp body fall to the ground. Scope walks up the hill and meets the gazes of hundreds of other kids. He walks towards them and stops when he passes by Hawkeye. He turns and looks at her in the eyes, after their awkward moment of silent staring Hawkeye breaks the silence. “Um, were you the one who saved me?” Scope continues to stare in her eyes but doesn’t respond to her question. “Uh, thanks.” She put her claw out towards him as a gesture to shake, but he ignores the gesture and turns around and walks back into the direction he was going with everyone else following behind.
3 hours later
The children stood in order in rows of 20 in some sort of auditorium. They stood patiently waiting for something to happen. Then the red pony that goes by the name of Dux walks on to the stage in front of the children. He gets onto the podium and fixes the microphone on it and begins to speak. “Well done my little soldiers. Once again you have proven yourselves combat worthy. This marks the 796th undefeated victory. You will be the shining stars of the next generation of soldiers; it will be up to all of you lead your lesser counter parts to victory. I expect more out of all of you in the future. As your reward for today’s outstanding performance there will be no battle for you to fight tomorrow. Your all dismissed.”
They approach a large field that is divided into 7 colors; there was orange, blue, yellow, red, white, purple, and green. Each section was filled with thousands upon thousands of children. The yellow ban children enter their sections as the gate closed behind them. They enter their tents with each being shared with 4 kids. Most of the tents were filled with holes due to surprise attacks from other groups.
Scope walks through the camp trying find his own way back to his tent. He walked by several injured children, some had huge cuts, others we're missing entire limbs, and some died in their sleep. He felt a tug on his tail, she saw a young pegasus filly that was about Scope's age who could barely hold her gun, gazing at him with sad but innocent yellow eyes. She barely spoke up in a low tone voice.
"Um, hey do you have any food? I was to afraid to go fight today so Dux didn't give me food, can I have some of yours please?"
"Get your own."
"Please! I really need some! It's not for me but for..somepony else..."
"...How long have you been here?"
"Two years. Why?"
"Listen, we all have to fight to survive, either you grow up and fight with us or just sit here and die and trust me, dieing is the last thing you want. You have to look for friends if you want to survive this. I'll be that friend if you want."
"Y-you will?"
"As your leader I must help my soldiers survive this conflict but there are somethings that gotta face head on out there on your own, but since your my friend I'll help ya every step of the way."
The filly instantly tackle hugs Scope with tears of joy in her eye's. "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"
"Ah hey remember who your touching here!"
The filly's face turn a slight red before she realizes what shes doing and hopes off Scope. "Oops, heh heh sorry."
"Yeah yeah yeah whatever, look just come get you food."
She nods with understatement and follows Scope. He leads her to a rock that is out of sight from the other kids and guards.
"You want to give me a rock for my o- I mean friend to eat?"
Scope couldn't help but face hoof himself for the stupid question she just asked. "Yes I want them to munch on rock, no you dummy it's what's under the rock." Scope push the rock aside that reveals a hole that was under it. He sticks his head in there and takes out basket with the contents of it being covered with a white sheet. He takes the sheet off and shows the batch of muffin's that is hidden under the sheet.
"Muffins?" She asks.
"Yep, I love these things, can't get enough of them." He takes one and takes a bite out it.
"Where do you get these from? Dux doesn't give out muffins."
"Better than the slop he gives us. I sneak into the cafeteria kitchen every week and sneak out with a fresh batch just for me, but I'll give you the whole thing since you need them more than I do. I hope you friend enjo-." Scope stops his sentence with shock on his face followed by a light blush. The filly pulled him into a tight hug that she refuses to release Scope from. Scope just stands there with a dope expression, it's been a full four years since he's ever been shown any kind of affection, the only affection being from his parents that is, but this was different. Scope was ignorant about stuff like this, four years of killing and hatred quickly erased things like this from his mind . Scope doesn't respond this action physically of vocally. The filly frees Scope from the embrace.
"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me."
"Uh, yeah, sure no problem."
The filly smiles and winks at Scope. "Well, I'll see you later I guess."
"Sure."
She walks away with the basket of muffins in her mouth while Scope just stands there and stares at the ground. After trying to figure out what just happened to him. He looks up and sees that the filly is long gone but then realizes the mistake he just made.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO I GAVE HER MY LAST BATCH OF BANANA MUFFINS!"
Scope had his own private tent since he was the best out of all the yellows. He got into his tent laid down on the hard dirt as he tried to fall asleep and forget about the terrible mistake he made. He heard unfamiliar steps into his tent. He quickly sat up with his gun ready; he lowered it when he noticed it was Hawkeye who entered his tent. “The other kids told me your name is Scope. So I just wanted to ask something.” Scope rolled his eyes at her as he was willing to hear her question. “Why me? I never seen anypony just get randomly saved by a sniper until this morning. So why did you it?” Scope lays back down and closes his eyes not really caring at this point.
"Cuz I felt like it." He replies.
Hawkeye sighed with annoyance and walked closer to him. “By the way, the names Hawkeye. I got kicked out of my tent by a bunch of bullies, can I stay here tonight?”
"Whatever..."
She lays down next him and slowly shut her eyes. Before she slipped into her subconscious state she heard a Scope speak to her.
“Nice to meet ya.”
An hour later.
Scope could feel shaking while he was asleep. As he did he best to wake up he faintly heard his name being called.
“Scope! Scope wake up!”
Once he was fully awake he felt Hawkeye’s claw on his shoulders trying to shake him awake. He saw the look of distress on her face and heard the air raid sirens . Hawkeye runs out the tent first with Scope not far behind. When Scope looks up he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Planes and helicopters flew over head with hundreds of paratroopers floating down from the sky. The night time sky was filled with smoke with the normal blue background turning a deep red. Artillery fire can been seen coming from the naval ship firing at the guards barracks and armory
“Holy crap! Hawkeye do you know what this means?”
“No.”
“This could only mean two things, either this the real deal or-”
“Or this is our ticket out of this hell hole!”
“Exactly, come on let’s go!”
The two grab their weapons and ran towards the gates. They see the other children fighting the guards realizing their opportunity to escape as well. Most of the kids were getting killed by the second for they were no match for truly trained soldiers. As escape seemed to impossible the guards were being flanked from behind by the soldiers that we’re invading the island. Scope and Hawkeye manage to run through the crossfire and make it to the soldiers. They both turn around and start adding fire to the soldier shooting at the guards. Once all the guards were eliminated the soldiers start guide the children back to the ships. Two soldiers run up to Hawkeye and Scope.
“Are you ok? Are you hurt?” One of the soldiers asks who was a unicorn.
“We’re fine let’s just get the hell out of here.” Scope says.
The four of them towards the naval ships dodging the fire they were receiving from the rest of the guards.
“Hey what’s your names!?” Hawkeye shouts over the explosions and gunfire.
“I’m Sergeant Major Logan Baxter! Guy next to us running is Captain Vic!”
“Can’t the introductions wait till we get ON the boat!?” Vic yells at Logan. He was never really one for introductions in the first place. The four continue running for their lives, Scope looks back to see most of his fellow comrades we’re getting cut down short by machine guns. “There’s our ride!” Vic points out.
They approach a small boat as they proceeded to jump in it. Logan turns the motor on and the speeds off, before getting far however a guard on shore with an rpg fires at the boat.
“Shit we’re gonna get hit!” Logan shouts.
Scope grabs his sniper and in one quick motion aims and takes his shot. The bullet flies out the barrel spinning in perfect motion. The rocket, still flying straight for the boat, was now about to make head on contact with the bullet. The bullet connects with the tip of rpg causing it to explode. The four sigh in relief of not having to worry about being blown up.
Logan pats Scope and back. “Congrats kid”
“Thanks, I really thought I was going to miss for a sec.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“What do you mean then?”
“I mean that.” Logan points down to Scope’s flank.
Scope had a huge grin on his face to what he was witnessing. Thanks to the shot he took he finally earned his cutie mark.
After they get onto the battleship they sail away a few miles out from the island from with the rest of the survives. Scope and Hawkeye sit on the deck of the ship and watch the island disappear in the distance. Logan come to the deck and sits next them.
"Don't worry. We'll make sure they never do what they did to you to other kids."
"How?" Scope asks.
Logan just looks up to the sky as if he was look at a shooting star, but it wasn't a shooting star, it was a rocket.
"What's that?" Hawkeye asks.
"That my friend is what we call an atom bomb. Just sit and watch"
And so they did. After there three minute wait they sat and watched the impact of the explosion . The atom bomb made the night time sky looked as if dawn was on the way. The bigger the mushroom cloud got the bigger Scope and Hawkeye's smiles got. They can finally rest easy at night know they'll never subjected to the horror of what that island brought them.
Present day
Twilight had her hooves over her mouth nearly about to break down in tears to what she had just heard. Shining Armor couldn’t even respond to that story due to his mouth being left on the floor. The colonel had his eyes closed and arms crossed the entire time as he listen to the story for the 3rd time now.
“Oh my goodness Scope, how are mentally stable after everything you’ve been put through?”
“I guess my mind was able to handle it. Hawkeye and I were lucky though. Every other child they brought back either committed suicide, died due to late effects of the experiments, or lost their mind and tried to kill anything that moved and had to be put down.”
Twilight didn’t know how much more she could take as she started to break down and cry. Shining Armor held her and let her cry on his shoulder for a while. After she claimed down she down and wipe her eyes. Even though this was a terrifying story she still wanted to know the rest.
“S-so how come your still here? Why didn’t you go home?”
“Home? HA that’s a good one. My parents were dead and I couldn’t remember where I came from, I still don’t know where I'm from. I and the other kids refused to go to adoption homes. The only thing we knew how to do is kill, besides who wants to adopt a kid who got tested on by mad scientist and were basically raised to kill?”
“I guess that's understandable, but what about your education? You’re all grown up now so must know other things.”
“I may not have some fancy collage education like you do but when I arrived here they thought me all I could and what I needed to know, but unlike the others I decided to take the extra mile.”
“What effects of the experiments did you experience?”
Scope pointed at his eyes. “They use to be yellow.”
“Do they still hurt?”
“Quite the opposite, with my orange eye I can see through the brightest of lights. I can even stare at the sun for as long as I want. With my gray eye I can see through the darkest of darkness, sort of like night vision but better.”
“What about Hawkeye?”
“Somehow she was given the ability to heal herself at an extreme rate. Mind you she can’t regenerate limbs or entire organs.”
“That’s actually impressive, besides the fact of how you acquired you abilities.”
“They're not exactly super powers or magic but at least it’s something. The experiments they conducted on us was part of some kind of super soldier project. The effects of the experiments changes and enhances our natural abilities or transforms a part of us. He was using those camps to capture young kids and raise them to be soldiers while training them to use their enhance abilities. They also capture the parents and force their own kids to kill them, to "prove" their loyalty to Dux. The survivors who last till adulthood will become part of his army. What he was going to do with us for, I don't know.”
“I’m sorry about what you two went through, I didn’t mean to-”
“You can keep your pity Twilight I understand.”
“Let’s get back to business before any of this gets anymore personal.”
“Agreed.”
“So you’re saying this madpony named Dux, or at least that’s what he calls himself, kidnaps young children and their parents and force the kids into training so they can become part of his private army and disguises them to be rebels?”
“I’m not claiming it to be correct but that’s what I’m thinking.”
“We’ll try to dig anything we can on him.”
“Fine by me, sooner I find that bastard the better.”
The colonel finally steps in. “Now that we have that out the way Scope we got a new mission for you; The Equestrian Alliance attacked Fillydelphia yesterday. The Royal Guard has been dispatched to there but it won’t be enough since they’re spread out thin across Equestria. We’ve sent in about 5,000 of our troops there to assist the liberation. But taking the city back isn't your job.”
“So where do we come in?”
“I’m sending your team with to capture the enemy's commander and bring him back ALIVE. We don't know his identity but we do know where he's located, and if your theory is right Scope, and I hope it's not, you should be able to recognize. him. Remember we need him ALIVE!”
“Alright alright I get it.”
“Good. We’re giving you anything you need to get this done Scope so just tell me what you need and we’ll get it, good luck.”
“Thank you sir.”
“And Scope…”
“Yeah?"
“No more stunts…”
“Got it sir.”
The four of them rise from the table and proceed to the door. Before Twilight could get to the door Scope put his hoof on her shoulder.
“Hey Twilight I need a favor.”
“Yeah what is it?”
“I need a profile of a certain soldier of yours.”
“Scope I don’t think-“
“Please Twilight this very important.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine, who do you want?”
“I need Daniel Hooves' profile.”
“Duncy…oh yeah I knew him. He was the mailmare’s husband in Ponyville. Poor Derpy, she must miss him a lot.”
“I could sympathies with you but I’m in a bit of a hurray.”
“Alright then, when you get back I’ll have his profile ready for you to look at.”
“Thanks Twilight I owe you one.”
