I can still remember that day that the first Zebras started to arrive in Equestria. March 30th, 2024. At first, I really didn't pay too much attention to the reports. I mean, they were landing in Southern Equestria, and seemed to simply remain there. They were refugees, although nopony seemed to know where from, and the Zebras themselves couldn't seem to keep their story straight either. First it was the Zebra Lands, then it was Zebafrica, then finally Zebrica. This should have been the first warning flag that something was wrong. Refugees who seem to have no idea where they came from, and tell conflicting stories? What's up with that?

When the first Zebras began to arrive in the Crystal Empire though, I was a bit surprised. Instead of seeing gaunt, skinny, possibly sickly and scared refugees, I saw healthy, well muscled males, and somewhat plump, curvaceous females, as well as healthy looking Zebra colts and fillies; not like refugees at all! Soon, I heard from others at some of the stations that we stopped at that the Zebras were spreading out all over Equestria, and more and more of them seemed to be arriving daily.

"Something's REALLY fishy about all of this is you ask me!" The station master at Ponyville told me. "These don't look like refugees to me; they're WAY too healthy!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean Phil. Something's not right here. I've seen what refugees look like, and they do NOT look like refugees! I'll talk to Shining when I get back to the Empire, maybe he'll have some answers for me."

"Sure, and if you get anything, be sure to pass it along!"

"Sure thing Phil!" I then climbed back into the cab, and once Rick blew his whistle, we started back for the Crystal Empire. (Also, there were typically only 3 of us on the train at any given time. An engineer, a fireman, and a brakeman for a freight run, or a conductor for a passenger run).

When we arrived back there, I went over to see Shining. We'd become pretty good friends since we arrived in Equestria about 2 years prior to that point, and we often hung out a lot.

"Hey Shining!"

"Oh, hey Bro! What's up?"

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you about something, is there somewhere private that we can go?" (There were a number of Zebras in the Crystal Empire at that point, and I really did NOT want to be overheard!)

He nodded. "Sure! We can go to the Game Room."

When we arrived there a few minutes later, I asked him my questions. "Hey Shining, where are all of these Zebras even coming from?"

"Oh, they're refugees from Zebrica."

"And where is that even? I couldn't find it on a map."

"And you won't. Zed, the leader of the Zebras, told me that it wasn't on Pony maps, as it was beyond the oceans that we've mapped so far."

I thought about that. It SEEMED like a reasonable enough answer, but I still had to know more. "Ok, and I know that there's a lot of them, but why do more and more seem to be arriving every day? I mean, if these ships keep going and bringing back more refugees, why hasn't who, or what they're fleeing from put a stop to it?"

Shining shrugged. "I don't know actually. All Zed said was that they bring over as many as they can."

"And that's my main point Shining, I'm getting worried here."

"Oh? And why's that?"

I looked at him like he was blind. "Have you SEEN some of these supposed 'refugees' Shining?! The males are strong, muscular, and healthy, while the females are plump, and curvaceous. NONE of them seem to have had to endure hardships, or ANYTHING even REMOTELY close to what REAL refugees have to endure! Plus, if they were fleeing from a war, or a famine, then WHY are there SO MANY more males than females?!"

Now it was Shining's turn to look at me like I was crazy. "Bro, that's REALLY racist! They're refugees! They HAVE to be! Zed said so!"

I was stunned. "Shining, have you lost your FAUST-DAMNED MIND?!?!?! Just because somepony SAYS IT, does NOT mean that it's true! This is playing out just like the 'refugee crisis' that happened in Europe about a decade ago......." I then explained to him all about that. "They were NOT refugees Shining, they were a practical INVASION ARMY!!!! Now, I'm getting a SEVERE case of deja-vu!"

That seemed to make Shining come to his senses. "Yeah.....I can see your point now Bro. At the end of this week, Cadence and I, as well as Celestia, Luna and Twilight, will be meeting with Zed, and the other Zebra elders to discuss some of these things. I'll be sure to bring up what you've told me!"

I nodded slowly. "Yes, and thank you Shining."

"You're welcome Bro."

I then left Shining to get back to our bunkhouse connected to the freight depot. I wish that I could say that that conversation with Shining, as well as the meeting that later followed ended the whole ordeal, but it didn't. In fact, our problems were about to get a HELL of a lot worse!

A few weeks later, the rest of the guys and I began to notice something even stranger. We noticed that some of the regular Ponies that we usually saw at our stops were missing. This MIGHT not have been too serious of an ordeal, but yet those who were missing were railway staff! In their place were Zebras.

"Hey, what happened to Phil?" I asked the Zebra that was apparently the new station master in Ponyville.

"Oh him? He went on an extended vacation to um........Las Pegasus. He'll......be back soon!"

I could tell that the Zebra was lying. I'd learned a thing or 2 about reading body language during my time as a Marine, and he seemed like he was trying to spin up a story on the spot. I also noticed that he was actually WEARING Phil's uniform! It even still had the name tag that said "Phil" on it!

I nodded. "Ok, well, I'll be glad to see him again, as he's one of my good friends. Tell him I said hi if you hear from him!"

"I'll be sure to."

Our train then left Ponyville, but on the way to our next stop, we had trouble. A train full of Zebras had broken down on the tracks ahead of us, and we had to haul them, as well as our regular passengers. This wouldn't have been too much of a big deal, if what happened in the passenger coaches hadn't happened.

"Hey! What the hell do you think your'e doing?!" Rick yelled. He'd just witnessed a Zebra dumping some kind of liquid into one of the tanks that held drinking water for those on the train.

The Zebra looked at him. "Nothing."

"I SAW what you did! What did you just dump into the water?!"

Rick snatched the bottle that the Zebra was holding from him. It was empty, but when he sniffed it, Rick almost gagged. "Sweet Celestia! What IS this stuff?!"

"Like I said, it's nothing, and you're going to FORGET that you ever saw this!" Rick then noticed 2 other Zebras standing behind him.

"Oh, so it's intimidation now, is it? You POISON our water, and just expect me to do nothing about it?!"

"Yes. If you value your life, as well as the lives of your Human friends, to say NOTHING of your marefriend, you'll forget what you saw here! This is OUR train now!"

Rick knew that he was outmatched. The only other crew on the train were myself and Jake, and we were up in the cab. The only ones on the rest of the train were him, a few stallions, some mares, and a LOT of Zebras! They had also just threatened the lives of Amethyst, and the rest of his friends as well.

Rick glared at them. "Fine. But don't forget, what goes around comes around!" Rick then left that car. Once he reached the nearest valve wheel, he opened it, and let all of the water from that car drain out onto the tracks. "NOPONY poisons water on my train!"

Once we got to the next stop, Rick lodged a formal complaint with the Zebra Embassy in Canterlot, and after that, the Zebras left us be. None of them rode our train anymore, and they kept their distance from all of us as well. Nevertheless, Amythyst, Lyra, Roseluck, Night Glider, Gilda, and Derpy were all kept close to us just in case.

After this though, things went from strange and threatening, to bad and dangerous. More and more Zebras seemed to be holding high-ranking positions around Equestria, and while Zed became a close.....well......I don't what he CLAIMED to be....to Cadence and Shining Armor, Celestia, Luna and even Twilight seemed to have a LOT of Zebras close to them as well. Rumors also began to circulate about them having Zebra lovers.

One day though, I was going to see Shining, but I was stopped outside of the castle but 2 Zebras with weapons.

"I'm sorry, but NOBODY is allowed into the castle today!"

"On who's authority?" I'd never seen these 2 Zebras before.

"The authority of Princess Cadence! She has given STRICT orders that she and Zed are NOT to be disturbed!"

"I'm not here for THEM, I'm here for Shining Armor!"

"Don't care, now leave!"

I held my ground. "I'm not leaving until......"

"GET LOST!!!!!" One of them screamed at me!

I then feigned fear, and pretended to run away with my tail between my legs. In reality though, I was PISSED! Who did those bastards think that they were?!

The next day though, Jake was getting a glass of water, when he suddenly spit it out!

"OUGH!!! That's NASTY!!!!"

Frank looked over at him. "Huh? What's wrong Jake?"

"This water! It literally tastes like shit!"

I looked up from some paper work. "Maybe it's something wrong with the sink. Try another one."

He did so. "STILL tastes like shit!"

The rest of us then tried the rest of the sinks, and water faucets in both our freight depot, and the bunk house. ALL of them gave out water that although it looked and smelled ok, tasted like shit!

"Huh, must be something wrong with the plumbing. I'll go check with the public works." I then got up, and went to go see what was going on.

When I arrived there, I saw that there were only Zebras present. They offered to come and check our water, and for the sake of having even MORE reasons not to trust them, I let them come. (ALL of our marefriends were hiding though!)

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with your plumbing, are you sure that the water tasted bad?"

I nodded. "Positive. We tested all of the 6 sinks and water faucets on our premises here, and the water in ALL of them tasted horrible!"

"Hmm, well, we looked, and although we checked everything, we couldn't find anything wrong. Try the water now."

While Rick, Frank and Jon watched the Zebras closely, Jake, Evan and I went to test the water. After letting the sinks and faucets run for a bit, we tried the water again. This time, it SEEMED to be normal, but none of us trusted it.

"Tastes great!" I told the leader of the Zebras who came out. "Thanks for helping us out."

"You're welcome! Glad that we could be of service, my dear slu.....train crew!"

I froze. "Wait, WHAT were you about to call us?!"

"Um........I was about to call you 'slunders' but yet, I feared that you would take that the wrong way. It's just a simple Zebra word for worker, I assure you!"

I nodded. "Ok, well then, have a nice day, and we'll call you if we have any more problems."

Once the Zebras left, and we made SURE that they were gone, I turned to the others. "I SWEAR that he was about to call us sluts!"

Rick was equally outraged. "Yeah, and if they 'fixed' our water, then I'm the King of Siam! How much do you wanna bet that they jacked with it?"

"I'd bet you a small loan of a million dollars!" Frank agreed.

I then looked over my 5 comrades. "This is a dangerous world that we live in now guys. These Zebras are NOT our friends, nor are they refugees, assistants, or ANYTHING other than conquering bastards!"

"Here here!" The others agreed.

Cautiously, we humans drank the water, but yet we made SURE that we boiled it, filtered it, then boiled and filtered it again, before injecting it with iodine, and running it through MORE filters before we let our marefriends drink it.

So far, none of us were suffering from any ill effects. We were still healthy and sound, and our marefriends were grateful for us protecting them, even Gilda!

"Thanks for doing this for us Dweeb!" She hugged me.

I hugged her back. "You're welcome Gilda. We're just doing what we can to keep you all safe."

We all KNEW that the water was contaminated with something, and we tried to raise the alarm about it. Most just called us crazy or paranoid though.

"You guys are crazy! There's NOTHING wrong with the water!"

"Yeah! The Zebras tested it for us, and they said that it's as clean as a whistle! In fact, they even set up a plant in Cloudsdale to monitor it!"

"Did any Ponies check the water though?"

"No, the Zebras told us that there was no need to."

"And you didn't QUESTION that?"

"What are you, a racist or something?! What do you have against Zebras?!"

All of these conversations ended with us being accused of racism, xenophobia, sexism, and a lot of other TERRIBLE things! However, the more time passed, the more and more convinced that we became that we were somehow IMMUNE to the disease in the water!

Although we had no proof, we were actually right! Because our systems were mixture of Human and Wolf, they were able to filter out the toxins, and expel them as urine. We could safely drink contaminated water that other Ponies couldn't. We were immune to what the Zebras were doing, and in the long run, this would prove MORE than vital!

By the end of that Summer, those of us who ran the Daylight around Equestria dreaded it. Ponies were becoming more and more hostile towards us, and the Zebras seemed to be openly encouraging them. In fact, once they realized that we were on to them, the Zebras actually BOYCOTTED the Daylight Freight and Shipping Company, and encouraged others to do the same as well! Because of this, our trains got emptier and emptier, and our freight loads got lighter and lighter. Soon, we were barely taking out the train at ALL!

"This isn't good guys." I told the others as we ate dinner that night. "If we can't keep making money here, we may go out of business, and in times like THESE, that CANNOT be allowed to happen!"

Jon looked sad. "Yes, but what can we do to attract more business?"

I sighed. "Well, we COULD just beg the Zebras to lift the boycott, but I think that you all know what that would mean. The ONLY reason that we're still standing right now is because we're a private company. If we were part of the Equestrian Rail Service, we'd be LONG GONE by now! We will NOT capitulate like that!"

"I agree!" Rick added. "We built this company from the ground up, and even though our trains are light, we're now some of the last ones standing. We HAVE to make a difference!"

We all agreed to that, and later that day, Jake and I, with Jon as our conductor took the train out on a passenger run.

To our dismay, only 5 Ponies were on our train, all of them stallions. We also had a lot of garbage thrown at us, and Jake was even hit with a metal trash can that a Unicorn lobbed into the cab!

"OWWW!!!! HEY!!!!"

"Racist Xenophobes go home!!!!! We love Zebras!!!!" It also really unnerved us that all of those shouting at us were either mares, or Zebras!

We were forced to retreat, and we stayed at the freight depot for the next few days.

When we did venture out again though, an eerie sight greeted us. (Oftentimes, 1-3 of us would venture out, while the rest stayed behind to protect our mares. We'd already made a few nosy Zebras "disappear", and we knew how to hide the bodies!)

There was hardly a mare to be seen ANYWHERE in the Crystal Empire! All we saw were stallions, and Zebras.

"What's.......going on Frank?" I asked him.

Frank shrugged. "I don't know Scar. This is really eerie." We continued to look around.

Everywhere we went, the Zebras glared daggers at us, and we also noticed that some of the stallions appeared to be sickly. They were very pale, and their eyes were VERY bloodshot. We asked around, but were told that it was just the flu, and not to worry about it........by the Zebras who now ran the local urgent care clinic of course.

"It's just a bad strain of the flu, nothing to worry about my good Sirs!"

Frank looked around. "Um, I may not be an expert, but yet I WAS a medic in the military for nearly a decade, and I must say that this does NOT look like the flu to me! This looks more like a case of a junked up system!"

"Oh, well then, it's certainly a good thing that I'M a doctor then, is it not? You OBVIOUSLY don't know what you're looking at, as this is NOT a normal case of the flu, but rather a foreign strain! We're not quite sure where it comes from, but we're working on that. It also only seems to affect stallions, but I must ask you, do either of you feel sick?"

Both Frank and I knew that this could turn EXTREMELY ugly EXTREMELY fast! I'd already heard stories of stallions being taken away "for treatment", and were never seen or heard from again! However, if this Zebra wanted to take us ANYWHERE, his ass was gonna have another thing coming for it! We DID allow him to look at us, but we were also a split second away from making his death look like an accident!

"Hmm, well, surprisingly, both of you seem to be very healthy for.....eh, whatever you are.....such as yourselves. I dare say that you may be as healthy as we are!"

Frank and I looked at each other, before looking back at the Zebra "doctor". "Ok, well, thank you for the medical exam, however, we need to get going."

As we were walking out of the door, I turned back one last time. "Oh, and one more thing. What happened to all of the mares? I haven't seen a single mare in days now."

"Oh, well they went in batches to other facilities, just to make sure that they're healthy. They should be back before too long."

I nodded. "Ok, well, my marefriend, Dusty, went to one of those facilities, and I haven't heard from her since." (I was testing the Zebra. I pulled this "marefriend" out of my ass!)

"Well, outside contact is not allowed, as the staff do not wish to stress the patients under their care."

"Oh, I understand. Have a good day."

"You too Gentlemen!"

Once we were outside, I turned to Frank again. "I'm pretty sure that I know EXACTLY where 'Dusty' is right now, don't you Frank?"

"If you're referring to the large number of trains that we keep seeing heading towards the Zebra Embassy in Canterlot, then yes, I do!"

I knew what Frank meant. For several months now, we kept seeing all of these trains full of mares and Zebra males stop at Canterlot, and their passengers would head over to the Zebra Embassy. We'd all tried to get in there at some point to try and see what was going on, but we'd all failed. We kept trying for nearly a month straight. We even went so far as to try outrageous antics such as trying to mail ourselves, impersonating Zebras, and trying to feign fainting so that we could get inside. All of our attempts failed.

Failed that is, until later the same day that we left the clinic, we almost lost poor Jon! Jon was able to use his Magic to try to impersonate a mare. To his surprise, as well as the surprise of Jake, Frank and I who were with him at the time, the Zebras bought it! However, to our horror, we realized that it worked too well! Jon was dragged inside the embassy, and we then realized that we had no plan to get him out!

"SHIT!!!!"

Luckily for Jon though, he put his Marine skills to use, and made it back out to us. He was red in the face, and completely out of breath, but he was alive!

"What.....happened in there Jon?" Frank asked him on the train ride home.

"No.....no, no!" Jon was mumbling. "Horrors!" he finally yelled. "House of horrors! I was taken to some medical facility in there, where I was 'to be examined', as they told me. They then tried to make me drink some potion, and I freaked out and booked it! They tried to stop me, but I was able to evade them, and I was even able to steal some medical files!"

"You did what?!"

Jon pulled a few files out of his jacket. All of them were marked "CONFIDENTIAL". I grabbed one and opened it, but when I did, I REALLY wished that I hadn't.

"Oh jeez!" I tried to keep from vomiting.

"What?" Frank asked. I showed him what I was looking at. "OH....!!!!!!" He almost threw up too.

Each one of the 5 files was about a specific mare. Included were height, weight, eyecolor, mane color, fur color, and even things like sexual preferences. Full-nude pictures were also included as well as all of the information about the Zebras who were apparently their mates. A few of the files even said "Status: pregnant." Some of the pictures also included the mares with their Zebra mates.

I then looked up at Frank and Jon. "Guys, do you know what this means?"

"That the Zebras are sick and deranged, and need to die?"

"Well that too Jon, but look at these files! These are solid PROOF that they're up to no good!"

Frank looked alarmed. "They're trying to breed the Ponies out of existence!"

"Exactly Frank! We HAVE to get these back to the others NOW!!!!"

Jon then held onto the files as we raced back to the Crystal Empire.

Once we arrived back at the depot, we showed them to Rick, Jake, and Evan, as well as our marefriends, and Gilda, and all of THEM were about to wretch everywhere too!

"Oh God, that's DISGUSTING!!!!! Where did you guys even GET these?!?!" Night Glider asked.

Jon then explained about what happened at the Embassy.

Rick sighed deeply. Even though he was a conductor, and a former Marine like the rest of us, he was 40 years old, the oldest out of all of us. We also all looked up to him as a leader, even though I technically was the one in charge.

"What do we do Rick?" Jake asked him.

"Well, we HAVE to get these to the proper authorities, but yet therein lies the problem! Who do we tell who's not ALREADY corrupted by the Zebras?! The Princesses have all fallen, and so have most of the local authorities! If we leak it to the media, it'll be a DEATH SENTENCE for our 'racism' and 'xenophobia'!"

I was trying to think of a solution, but then, one hit me! "Of course! I'll take them to Shining! HE'LL know what to do!"

Frank looked at me like I was deranged. "Leopard, you're NUTS!!!! He and Princess Cadence were the ones who pulled the trigger on this whole ordeal!"

I looked at him. "Wait. Did you just call me 'Leopard' Frank?"

He stiffened a bit. "Whoops! Sorry Scar! I was thinking of somepony else!"

I cocked my head a bit, but I decided to let it go. I knew that Frank had a good point. Each week some new law, or decree would come from the Crystal Castle, seemingly giving Zebras even MORE "rights", and "privileges", while Ponies seemed to become more and more isolated.

I shook my head. "I really don't think that that was him though. Princess Cadence for sure, but yet I think that it was ZED who is the one with her behind this! Plus, Cadence and Zed are gone anyway. It's only Shining, and who knows when they'll be back!"

Jake looked at Rick. "Scar's right Rick. Each new day that passes brings the Zebras closer and closer, and who knows when Cadence or that Zed could be back! If we don't act now, we may NEVER get the chance to again!"

Rick then looked at me. "Go on Scar, do it!" He then handed me a what appeared to be a manila envelope. "Use this. It has a secret compartment in it for smuggling. In the rest of it is a cake recipe!"

I then took the envelope, and after stuffing the files into the secret compartment, I stuffed the envelope down my overalls, and after leaving the depot, I went straight for the castle.

Since the doors were guarded by Zebras, I used my wings to fly through an open window. I then stood up, and looked around. There was hardly a soul to be seen anywhere. I only saw a few maids, plus a few female guards. Of course, when I say, "hardly a soul to be seen anywhere", I mean the Ponies, as there were PLENTY of Zebras roaming around!

Luckily for me though, none of them really seemed to pay me any mind, and I was able to make it up to see Shining. I found him in his office, and when he turned around to face me, I saw that he didn't look so good. He looked rather sickly, his eyes were all bloodshot, and he looked like he could throw up.

"Whoa, what happened to you Shining? You look horrible!"

"I don't know Bro. The Zebras said that it could be that flu strain going around. And you look good, why don't you have it?"

I shot him a worried look. "You say that like it's a bad thing Shining."

"No, not bad, just....unusual. Perhaps you guys have better immunity to certain things than us Ponies."

"Um, yeah......about that. Shining, we need to talk, and no, this CANNOT wait any longer!"

Shining saw the sense of urgency on my face. "What is it Bro? What's wrong?"

I then shut and locked his office door, before pulling out the files from the envelope. "THIS!!! THIS is what's wrong!" I tossed them onto the desk in from of him.

He picked them up, and began to look them over. He then looked back up at me. "What even ARE these?! And better yet, where did you GET them?!"

"They were leaked to me by a reliable source! According to them, they came DIRECTLY from the Zebra Embassy! And after reading them over, I'm inclined to agree!"

Shining just sighed. "Well, I'm going to have to hand these over to the Zebras. Since Zed is indisposed, I'll give them to his second in command, Zuka."

I looked at him like he was insane. "Shining, you CAN'T do that!!!!"

"I have to. Don't worry, I won't tell them that I got them from you, so you just forget about these files, and I'll take care of the rest."

I couldn't believe my ears! "But......But......Shining, this is WRONG!!!!!"

"Seriously Bro, what is WITH YOU?! You've been NOTHING but HOSTILE towards the Zebras since they got here!"

I decided that enough was enough. I then took off the gloves, and laid everything down just about as brutally as I possibly could.

"Shining, listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. Outside of my coworkers, you are my closest, and dearest friend. I have NEVER steered you wrong before. But please Shining, for the love of GOD, LOOK AROUND YOU!!!!! Equestria is DYING, and it's the Zebras who are KILLING IT!!!! Before they came, when did we EVER have wide-spread viruses like this?! When were mares EVER throwing garbage and rocks at railway workers?! When did Ponies just up and VANISH without a trace on such a large scale?!"

"I can at least answer that. They were found to be too sick to be near other Ponies, and the Zebras took them to a special clinic to heal them."

"No they DIDN'T you IDIOT!!!!! NO RECORDS of ANY such 'clinic' exist! The Zebras take them away, and they are NEVER seen or heard from again! Also, if the Zebras are supposedly 'immune' to this flu, and they have 'doctors', WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T THEY BEEN TRYING TO CURE IT?!?!?!"

"Because they CAN'T! Zed's told me that they've tried and keep trying, but yet only mares and Zebras are immune to it! And speaking of which, why are YOU immune?!"

"I don't know why! But what I DO know is that the source of the flu is in the WATER SUPPLY!!!!! The Zebras are trying to POISON our water! Our conductor, Rick, even CAUGHT one of them trying to poison the water on our train! Shining the Zebras are NOT our friends! They HAVE to be removed before it's too late!!!"

Shining looked to be at SERIOUS war with himself. On the one hand, he knew that I had NEVER steered him wrong on something like this before. Most likely, I KNEW what I was talking about, and had more proof! But yet on the other hand, Zed said that the Zebras were their allies, and only wanted what was best for the Ponies. Shining knew me MUCH longer than he knew Zed, and at least I wasn't sleeping with his wife like Zed was!

"Bro......I WANT to believe you.......but.......but....."

"But WHAT?! What is it Shining?!"

"But.......I just..........need more time to think about this! This is WAY too overwhelming for me right now! I know that you're probably right, but I feel like SHIT, and I need to feel better first!"

I didn't want Shining to flip out and tell the Zebras, so I did what he asked. "Ok, and we'll be in touch. You take care of yourself Shining."

"You too Bro."

Just after I closed his office door though, I heard the sounds of a paper shredder. I knew what Shining did with the files, but at least we'd made copies before I took the originals to Shining!

Little did I suspect though, that that would be the LAST meaningful conversation that I would ever have with Shining.......for a long, long time!

The guys were waiting for me when I got back. "What happened Scar?"

I sighed. "Well, I have good news, and I have bad news."

"Better get the bad news out first Scar." Rick told me.

I sighed again. "I'm just REALLY glad that we have copies of the files, as Shining shredded the original ones!"

The other guys were stunned. "HE WHAT?!??!?!"

"HOWEVER! He did that to protect me! My fingerprints were on those!"

"Well then what's the GOOD news?!"

"The good news is that I was able to at least get through to him. I was finally able to make him realize that something was wrong with the Zebras."

"And then what?" Jake asked.

I sighed. "He asked me to leave, and to give him a day or so to think about it. When I saw him, he looked kinda sickly."

"Was it that 'flu'?" Frank asked.

"I would assume so. And by this point, I'm REALLY glad that our systems make us immune to whatever that junk in the water that's causing all of this is!"

"Same here!"

"I can agree to that!"

"Got that right Scar!"

"No kidding!"

"Yep!"

That night, we did have to take some time to defuse, and let out our "wolf sides", which we were able to do WAY out in the Northern Wilderness surrounding the Crystal Empire, FAR AWAY from prying Zebra eyes! (Yes, we still have the ability to turn into werewolves. Why didn't I mention this before? Because we can ONLY do it during times of extreme stress, such as during combat, or what was soon going to happen next).

The next morning though, we suddenly got a surprise. A HUGE order had come into Manehattan for Apex Industries, and it needed to be shipped IMMEDIATELY to Las Pegasus. Surprisingly, we got the call.

I then faced my fellow coworkers. "Ok people, here's the deal! Apex's latest shipment of machine parts just came in, and they need us to get it to their facility in Las Pegasus, PRONTO!!!!"

I was met with surprise. "Wait, they want US to take it?"

"That's what I was told. And it DID come directly from Gill at the freight depot over there, so it has to be legit. Yeah, I know, I'm REALLY skeptical too guys, but we NEED the money!"

"So who'll be going?" Rick asked.

"I'm going, and I'm taking Jake and Jon with me. This should be an overnight trip at most! We'll be in CONSTANT contact by radio. If we suddenly go silent, assume the worst, and get ready to go with the contingency plan." (We'd already drawn up a plan if something REALLY bad should happen. Underneath the freight depot and engine storage shed was a sort of a bunker. Inside this bunker were our old Marine uniforms, as well as a HUGE stockpile of weapons, and enough supplies to ride out the apocalypse! If the contingency plan would be activated, the survivors would open the bunker, set the freight depot on fire, and then get down there to safety. The building would them burn down on top of the bunker, hiding it from view. Then, they would simply ride out the apocalypse, until such as time as they would be able to leave the bunker. It was NOT the most thought out plan, but it was the best that we could come up with for the time being!)

Jake and Jon looked at me. I could tell that they were just as nervous as I was. "What route are we going to take?" Jake asked.

I pointed it out on a map. "We're taking this track from here, through Ponyville, until we pass Rainbow Falls, and get to Manehattan. Then, from Manehattan, we reverse course, head back to Ponyville, head on through it, go over the.....no. we BYPASS the Ghastly Gorge Bridge, and take this route here all of the way to Las Pegasus!"

The other guys knew why I said that. A bridge, over a huge gorge, on a train, with the way things were then? It was a death trap, and we were going to AVOID it!

"When do we need to leave?" Jon asked.

I looked at my watch. "In about an hour." We all then went to get our train ready.

Sure enough, 1 hour later, Jake, Jon and I were on our way with our set of freight cars to Manehattan. For the most part, our trip went fairly well. We were on high alert at all times, but yet nothing happened. We arrived there on time, and pulled into the freight depot.

Sure enough, when we pulled in, there were Zebras ready to load up the crates. However, Gill, the manager at the freight depot, let us inspect everything before it was loaded onto the train.

"Oh, and I'll just need you to sign right here Scar." I then looked over to the clipboard that he was holding. However, instead of a freight order to sign, there was a message. "Your lives are in GRAVE danger! The Zebras know that you are immune to their filth. Prepare for the 'Night of Fear'!"

"Ok." I pretended to sign. Instead, I wrote, "What's the 'Night of Fear'?"

Gill wrote one final thing. "The end of EVERYTHING as we know it! You will be the last ones standing. Make it count!" He then took the page, and using his Magic, disintegrated it.

I nodded slowly, and after the train was ready, we all climbed back onto it, and left Manehattan behind us. Sadly, that would be the last time that I ever saw Gill alive. The next time I saw him, his picture was in the paper. Apparently, he'd been murdered at the depot later that same night. The case was still unsolved, but we knew that Gill knew too much, so the Zebras had to get rid of him. A tragic loss indeed, but without Gill's warning, none of us would still be around today!

The trip to Las Pegasus also passed pretty uneventfully, and when we reached the freight depot there, our train was unloaded, and our check from Apex was waiting for us as well. We then made a fast turnaround, and were on our way back to the Crystal Empire. However, THIS was where things fell apart.

We'd managed to reach the Smoky Mountains, but then the tracks were blocked by snow! I tried to stop the train, but we ran into a huge snowdrift, and ended up getting stuck!

"Dammit!" I cursed. I tried to back up the train, but the engine was stuck fast in the snow.

"Great, NOW how are we gonna get out of here?!"

I then flew up to see how far the snow drifts went. "Shoot! If only we could have made it another 50 feet! The snow drift gets smaller and smaller, and then vanishes altogether!"

"Yeah, and how much you willing to bet that this is the ZEBRAS' doing?"

"I'll take a small loan of a million dollars!" John laughed.

"Same here. This'll take us all night to dig through, but it MUST be done!"

We were NOT going to be freezing to death in the snow, so we all grabbed shovels, and got to digging! Our first priority was getting the snow away from the train itself, which we completed by the time that the sun went down. We radioed back to Rick that we were stuck, and we continued to send back radio messages all through the night.

By Dawn the next day, we were FINALLY out of there! Using the engine herself, we pushed through the last few feet of snow, and were FINALLY on our way again!

"We're on our way back now Rick! We're FINALLY free of the snow!"

"Yeah, that's great Scar. Just hurry on back though, I'm REALLY starting to get almost paranoid. Did you hear about Gill?"

I nodded sadly. "Yeah, we heard about it on the train's regular radio. Obviously he knew too much, or they wouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, and now with Gill gone, I hope that that's our LAST trip to Manehattan for a long, LONG time!"

I agreed with Rick, as did Jake and Jon. We all then continued on our way. Once we made it back to the freight depot, we all collapsed into our respective bunks, and fell asleep. We'd been up all night shoveling snow, and we were utterly EXHAUSTED!

The next few days passed peacefully enough, but then came the night that Gill had warned us about. That night is still etched into my memory even to this day. August 27th, 2024. The night that EVERYTHING as we knew it changed forever.

The day started normally enough. As per the usual, there were no shipments of freight that needed moving, and we were still not back onto the official circuit for carrying passengers. We did the usual cleaning of the depot, the engine maintenance, and the sanitizing of the water so that it would be safe for our marefriends and Gilda to drink.

In the afternoon though, Frank suddenly spotted a number of Zebras racing about for seemingly no apparent reason. They were carrying what looked like empty laundry bags, and they were just running with them.

"What's going on out there Frank?" Evan asked him.

"I don't know. Either the Zebras are exercising, or they're fixing to rob a clothing store, or even the local dry cleaners! They're running around with laundry bags!"

"What?" Evan looked, and sure enough, Frank was right.

As suddenly as it began though, the weird display was done. All of the laundry bags disappeared, and the Zebras went about their daily duties.

"Well, THAT was really weird!"

"Yeah, no kidding Frank! What were they even doing?"

"I don't know Evan, but I get the feeling that we're going to find out soon." And find out soon we would indeed!

After the sun went down, I went out for some air. I told Rick that I was going to try and talk to Shining again, and he told me to be careful.

"The Zebras have gotten strangely quiet all of a sudden. Be careful Scar."

I nodded. "I will Rick." I then set off for the Crystal Castle.

When I arrived there a few minutes later, I was met with a strange sight. For once, there were no Zebra guards outside.

"Huh, that's really weird." After venturing inside, I didn't see anypony anywhere, not even a Zebra!

Now KNOWING that something was wrong, I retraced my steps a bit, and back out in the hallway, I found a box on the wall with a glass cover. Inside the box was a wooden-handled fire ax with a red blade. A sign on the front said, "In case of fire, break glass!" Deciding that there WAS a fire, I used the little tool provided, and broke the glass. I then grabbed the ax from the hooks inside, and held it with both hands.

"Well, I'm armed now at any rate", I muttered. I then headed off to find somepony.

Higher up in the castle, I saw a few maids, but no guards. I was just about to give up all hope, when I heard what sounded like somepony coughing violently.

"Huh? What's that?" I followed the noises to a large set of double doors. Finding them to be unlocked, I pushed them open, and stuck my head in.

I then realized that the room I'd found was Cadence and Shining's bedroom! It smelled like bleach, and then I noticed the figure sitting on the edge of the bed. It was Shining. His face was buried in his hands, his clothes were dirty, as was his mane, and he was violently coughing.

"S-Shining? I asked, stepping into the room, "A-are you ok?"

He then looked up, and saw me. When our eyes met, I almost wretched into a nearby trashcan! He looked HORRIBLE! His face was a sickly green color, his eyes looked like he'd been smoking meth for days on end, and he looked ready to throw up!

I dropped my ax onto the floor next to me. "SHINING!!!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!?!"

"NO! Stay back! Don't come near me!"

"Wasn't planning on it! But when did this happen?!"

I....d-don't know! But you guys HAVE to leave here, NOW! Equestria is NOT safe anymore!"

"Gee, ya think Dum-Dum?"

"No, LISTEN TO ME!!!! You were right! All along you were right, and I didn't want to listen! But they're coming!"

"Wait, who's coming?"

"Our Mares, and the ZEBRAS!!!! They're coming back!"

I was getting confused. "And, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"BAD!!!! Our mares CANNOT be exposed to this!" He gestured to himself. "It's that Faust-damned Flu! The Zebras brought it with them, and now it's spiraling out of control!!"

I was trying to come up with a plan. "We HAVE to call a doctor!"

"WE CAN'T!!!!! The males have all come down with......." Suddenly, we both heard voices out in the hall, and they were coming towards the door! It was Zed and Cadence!

"Oh jeezums!"

"SHIT!!! They CANNOT see you! Quick, HIDE!!!!"

Without even thinking twice, I dove under the bed! Moments later, Shining grabbed my ax with his Magic, and tossed it under there with me as well. "Take this!"

"Thanks!"

Just then, the door opened, and Cadence walked into the room.

"Shining? Oh Shining Honey? I'm back! How did you do while I was............SWEET CELESTIA!!!!!" I couldn't tell from where I was, but I knew that she must have seen Shining!

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU SHINING?!?!?!"

Instead of answering, Shining ran to the bathroom, and began to violently throw up!

I then heard the sounds of footsteps. "ZED!!!! ZED!!!! Where are you?!"

"Right here! What's wrong My Dear?"

"It's my husband! We HAVE to call the doctor!"

"We can't!" I heard Zed say. "This Flu strain is MUCH WORSE than we originally thought! It's spread to almost EVERY Pony stallion in Equestria!"

"WHAT?!?!?! WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?!"

"Now now, calm down, my Dearest Cadence, we have a plan! Thanks to us Zebras being immune, we will handle this! All that must be done is for us to take the stallions to our special isolation clinics, so that we can take care of them. They WILL get better, trust me! Also, there must be a FULL decontamination/disposal of ANYTHING that could have been contaminated!"

Suddenly, from outside in the city, I heard what sounded like air raid sirens going off. I also heard a LOT of running about everywhere, not to mention the sounds of a lot of wagons and carts moving about. Then Cadence and Zed left the room for some reason. Once they were gone, I quickly crawled back out, and ran over to the balcony to my right. What I saw going on down in the streets below me was like Dante's Inferno, Orwell's 1984, the Black Death, and the Holocaust, all rolled into one!

There were mares and fillies running around screaming, as well as Zebras in masks, gloves and what looked like lab coats going into various buildings, and dragging out sick Pony stallions, before placing them onto the carts.

My worst nightmare was unfolding right before my very eyes. The "Night of Fear" that Gill had warned us about was happening!

Suddenly though, I heard more voices coming closer!

"SHIT!!!" I once again dove under the bed. This time, I saw 2 Zebra stallions enter the room, before heading for the bathroom. Moments later, I saw them drag Shining between them! Suddenly though, one of them dropped him!

"Ough!" Shining muttered as he hit the floor.

"Augh, clumsy bastard!" The other Zebra yelled.

"Sorry!" The one who dropped Shining rolled his eyes.

In that brief moment that he was on the floor, Shining's eyes met mine. Just before he was picked up again, Shining mouthed the words "RUN, NOW!!!!" And then, he was gone.

Once the room was empty, I came out from under the bed again. This time, I was about to make a break for it, but just before I did, I heard something that made my heart stop.

"Ok, now that he's gone, as well as the rest, we've GOT to go through this place TOP TO BOTTOM!!! We HAVE to get rid of clothing, sheets, blankets, other bed coverings, curtains, drapes, towels, shower curtains, ALL OF IT!!!" Zed was saying.

"Yes Sir!" Another voice said.

"This was TOO EASY!!!" Zed laughed. "These little Ponies fell for the whole shebang; hook, line and SINKER!!!"

I was SEETHING in anger!

"Start with this bedroom! Search EVERYWHERE!!! Oh, and when you find the other intruder, bring him to me!"

Zed probably meant me! Worse still, they were coming back, AND they were coming to search the entire room! Thinking on my paws, I was able grab my ax, and hide inside a nearby ventilation duct, before pulling the vent cover back in front of myself. Moments later, Zebras entered the room, and began to strip the bed, while others grabbed clothes, drapes, and anything else that seemed to be made out of fabric, before stuffing them into the laundry bags that Frank had seen earlier.

"Ok, now that's this room! Now let's move on!" They then left.

Once they were gone, I tried to take a moment to collect myself. However, when I thought of Gilda, one thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. "I..............I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE AND GET BACK TO THE FREIGHT DEPOT!!!!"

I then set about trying to do just that.

As fast as I could, I pushed away the vent cover in front of me, grabbed my ax, and made it to my paws again. Once I was out of Shining's room, I ran through the halls of the castle. All around me, rooms were being searched, and more and more laundry bags were being dragged away. Nobody seemed to notice me, and I kept running, still with my ax in hand.

Unfortunately, when I reached the stairs, I ran into a problem. There was a HUGE traffic jam! Zebras were trying to get down the stairs with full bags, while Zebras with empties were trying to get upstairs. It was a fire marshal's worst nightmare!

"Nope! Not going that way!" I then ran to the elevators. The freight one was being used for sickly stallions, so I had no choice but to try the main one. I knew that it was an insane risk, but I had no other choice. The stairs were all clogged up, and the freight elevator was crawling with Zebras. I wanted to fly, but if I got spotted, then I was as good as the other stallions that I'd seen try that. They got shot down with arrows, and then fell down to the crystal pavement below! Basically, I was as good as dead!

I reached the elevator, and once it arrived, I saw that it was empty. I then got inside, pushed the button for "G", and once the doors closed, the elevator started downwards. To my surprise, the elevator never stopped once on its trip down. Once I reached the ground floor, I saw that I was less than 100 feet from a main set of exit doors!

"Yes! Made it!" I then began to run towards the doors. Unfortunately, I spoke too soon. As I was running, I suddenly tripped over a dropped shoe, and went sprawling! My ax flew out of my grip, and skidded across the floor, before getting stuck under a cabinet.

"Oh Pony-feathers!" I quickly got up, and went over to retrieve my ax. Unfortunately though, I never made it there.

"Hey, you!" I heard a voice behind me yell. I turned, and there stood a group of 4 Zebras.

"Me?"

"Yes you! What are you doing in those clothes?!"

I looked down at myself. I was wearing the typical blue shirt, denim overalls, brown shoes, and cap that most train engineers wear. "Um, heading back to my train, why?"

"Check him for contaminants!"

"Yes Sir!"

Before I knew what hit me, I was grabbed by 2 of the Zebras, who held me in place while another scanned me with some sort of device.

"Anything?" The leader of the group asked.

"Negative Sir, he's clean! However, his clothes WILL have to be removed for disposal!"

"Wait, WHAT?!?!?!" Before I knew what hit me, ALL of my clothes had been removed, and tossed into a bag! "HEY! GIMME THOSE BACK!!!!"

"We can't take that risk Son! Your clothes HAVE to go! But count yourself VERY lucky! You're immune to the flu!" Then, to my shock, they let me go, and went about their business elsewhere.

I still had my watch, however, without my clothes, I was FREEZING!!! Luckily, because I was a werewolf, and could switch back and forth during times of VERY high-stress, I simply grew out my fur. I left my head the way that it normally was, but then I went over, and grabbed my ax. Once I had it, I took a deep breath, and walked out of those doors, and down into the streets of the Crystal Empire, buck naked aside from my fur.

I continued to walk in a straight line, trying DESPERATELY to ignore the chaos all around me. Luckily, no buildings were on fire, but there were still Zebras taking away sick stallions, as well as dragging away laundry bags.

"Where are they even taking those anyway? To the dry cleaners?" I went to go see. To my horror, they placed them out in the snow surrounding the empire, before setting them on fire! "ARE YOU F@#KING KIDDING ME?!?!?!"

I also noticed that once a cart was full of sick stallions, it was taken away. I asked where, but nobody gave me the same answer. Some said a hospital, others said a Zebra clinic, while still others said a quarantine facility.

"It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with, my fine, fluffy friend! Everything is entirely under control!"

I just stared blankly at him. "Is it? Is it REALLY?! Because it seems to me like the whole world is on fire, and we're all burning with it!"

"Eh, it all depends on your point of view. But I can certainly tell you that SOMETHING'S burning tonight!" He then pointed to the burning piles of laundry bags, before laughing at his own bad pun.

I glanced down at my watch. The time read 12:47am. "Damn, this is gonna be a long night!"

Just then, I heard a Zebra ask for orders. "Sir, we've almost cleared out the entire Crystal Empire of both sick stallions, and contaminated items! Are there any places left to look?"

"Excellent! The rest of Equestria is following suit, although check that freight depot over there. We haven't searched there yet!"

"Yes Sir!" In horror, I realized that he meant the Daylight Freight and Shipping Company! The Zebras were heading right for it!

"No! NO, NO, NO!!!! This CANNOT be happening!!!!" I tried to run after them, but I kept almost running into those who were pulling away laundry bags, and carts full of sickly stallions.

I kept trying to make it there, but it was REALLY slow going! Unfortunately, I was unable to make it there in time.

On the end for those inside the freight Depot, about an hour passed between my departure, and the beginning of the "Night of Fear". At first, they heard the air raid sirens, but because they didn't hear any followup, they assumed that it was just a test.

Jake and Evan were out working on the Daylight in the engine shed, Frank was in the bathroom taking a shit, Jon, Rick, Lyra, Amethyst and Night Glider were playing a round of cards, Gilda was on her bed listening to her Walkman, and Derpy was eating a muffin.

Suddenly though, there came a LOT of shouting, and running.

"Huh? What's going on out there?" Rick wondered.

"I don't know Hun", Amethyst answered.

"Maybe it's those crazy Zebras again."

Derpy looked up at her. "You might be right Lyra. Maybe they're running around with laundry bags again!"

Before anyone could say anything else though, the door of the freight depot got kicked in, and a number of Zebras came pouring inside!

"AEEEHH!!!!"

"F@#K!!!!!"

"SHIT!!!!!"

The rest just screamed.

"Search this entire building! Check EVERYONE in here for contaminants, and get all contaminated items out of here!"

"Yes Sir!"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?!?!" Rick demanded.

"I'm sorry Sir, but the flu strain has gotten WAY too far out of control! Almost all stallions are infected, and we HAVE to make absolutely certain that the survivors are ok!" Then, while some grabbed those inside the freight depot and began to scan them, others began to look around the depot.

"All clean so far Sir! No signs of any contaminants!"

"Good. Now then, just to be safe, strip the beds, grab the clothes, strip these good people, and then let's move on!"

"Wait, what?!" Before they all could react though, all of those present were grabbed and stripped, before being dropped rudely back onto the floor!

When 2 of them kicked open the bathroom door where Frank was, he panicked! "HOLY SHIT!!!!" He was then grabbed right off the toilet, scanned, declared clean, then forcibly stripped, had all of his clothes stuffed into a bag, before being dumped back onto the toilet naked! "HOLY SHIT!!!!" Frank muttered, before passing out!

Since they were out in the engine house next to the depot, Jake and Evan were the last ones to get jumped. When they were though, they were searched, found to be clean of the flu, then stripped, and left behind.

Once they both made it back to the main depot, it looked like a tornado hit. Various chairs and tables were knocked this way and that, other items were knocked over, and the beds were missing everything on them except for the mattresses. As they all looked at each other, the full gravity of what had just happened hit them like a sack of bricks. They had just been jumped, grabbed, forcibly searched, and then stripped buck naked! However, even more strange was the fact that they were all still there. None of my guys were taken away that night.

Suddenly though, Rick realized that somepony was missing. "Wait, where's Scar?!"

Then they all remembered that I'd been up at the Crystal Castle, and still hadn't come back. All of them then raced out onto the streets, trying to find me.

Suddenly, Frank spotted me. "Hey! He's over there!"

"Where?!"

"There! Wandering around!"

Rick and the others looked, and sure enough, there I was in the middle of the street, seemingly wandering dazedly around. I was holding a fire ax in my right hand, and just like the rest of them, aside from my grown out fur, I was nude as well.

"Scar!" Gilda came running over to me. "Scar, are you ok?!"

"Fine. Just f@#king peachy Gilda! Where's everyone else?"

She pointed, and I saw all of them standing outside of the depot. Everyone was present, and they were also nude!

"Ok, great. Now then, let's try and put this nightmare behind us, and go to bed!" Gilda could see that I was at the mental breaking point.

"Yeah, let's do. Only, they stripped our beds, and f@#king BURNED everything!"

I sighed. "I know."

Once we reached the group again, we all hugged each other, and then we held our marefriends close. Rick held Amethyst, Jake held Roseluck, Jon held Derpy, Frank held Lyra, Evan held Night Glider, and I held Gilda. All of us were too stunned to move, or even say anything.

One Zebra did spot us though. "All of you, head back inside, take a shower, and then try and get some sleep. It's been a long night, and we have everything covered out here!"

For once, we all actually did what we were told to do by a Zebra.

Once we were back inside of the freight Depot, Rick locked the place up tight from the inside, before we all showered, and after finding some old mattress protectors, as well as a few plastic tarps, we placed those on our beds, before climbing into them, and snuggling with our marefriends for warmth. We all had our fur, and the heat was on, but even still, we were still somewhat cold, and we were all still in shock over what had just transpired.

"I still CANNOT believe this Gilda! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

She shrugged. "I........don't know Dweeb. I'm just glad that we're all still here! I mean, we're naked sure, but yet, we're all still here."

I held my beautiful Griffon girlfriend close to me, and wrapped my wings around her. "Yeah. We're still together, our building is still standing, we still have our train, but most importantly, I still have you!" I snuggled as close to Gilda as I possibly could.

For once, she didn't tell me to stop cuddling with her. "And if you wanted to, you could slip your wolfy dick inside of me to keep it warm; I don't mind!"

I looked at her. "Wait, really Gilda?"

She nodded. "Yes. Like I said, I don't care."

I then kissed her. "Thanks Gilda, you're the best!" (How does a Human kiss a Griffon? VERY carefully! Gilda opens her beak, I move my mouth over it, she closes her beak gently onto the sides of my mouth, and we mix out tongues together. It's kinda weird, but yet kinda hot at the same time.)

She then raised one of her back legs, giving me access to her slit. "Don't mention it."

By this point, I was out of my sheath, and once I was hard, I slipped my dick into her gooey love tunnel. Gilda and I took each other's virginity nearly a year and a half ago, and for a while, Gilda even quietly began to drop hints about us getting married, and maybe even one day having a family!

"Ngh, you're still SO good at this Dweeb!"

"Just as you're my sexy lion-bird!"

Some of the other guys were having sex with their marefriends too, but eventually, we all finished up.

As we lay there on my bed, Gilda was snuggling close to me. Suddenly though, she noticed that I had tattoos. "Huh?" She then looked up at me. "Hey Scar?"

I looked at her, glad for a little pillow-talk. "Yeah Babe?"

"I just realized that I forgot that you had all of these tattoos. Can you remind me of what they all mean?"

I nodded. "Sure Babe. One quick kiss first?"

Gilda rolled her eyes, before pushing her beak into my mouth for a kiss. She then broke it a few moments later. "There, happy now Dweeb?"

I nodded. "Yep! And now on to the tattoos. I then pointed to my left shoulder. "This black wolf's head here I got in honor of the Marine battalion that I served in; Wolf-Pack Battalion." (Wolf-Pack meant nothing to the Equestrians, so I was able to at least talk about the basics with them). "A lot of us got tattoos like this, and I've always been fond of wolves, so I got this one! And the numbers below it, '04014', are my military serial number. We all had our numbers tattooed onto us."

"And what about this big American Flag on your chest? With the words 'Never Forgotten' underneath?"

"I got this in honor of my grandfather, Major Thomas "Tommy" Anderson. He was an officer in WW2, and he was one of the few who survived the D-day Landings in Normandy! He landed on Omaha Beach!" I then explained a bit more about that to Gilda. "He finished the war as a major, and then retired. I loved my Grandpa Tommy growing up, and he LOVED to tell me his stories."

Gilda was impressed. "Wow, that's so cool Scar! Is your grandpa still alive?"

I shook my head sadly. "No, he isn't Gilda. He died back in 2017 at age 99. I was so sad when he died, and the day after his funeral, I got this tattoo, so that his exploits in WW2 wouldn't be forgotten."

"Well, that was nice of you. Now he'll always be with you." She then looked at my lower back. There was a tattoo there of a red heart with devil horns and a devil tail that said "Lion-Bird Lover" in black letters. She smirked. "Heh, still got your tramp-stamp back here I see!"

I shot her a look. "Hey, I ONLY got that because you said that you wanted me to Gilda! And don't forget, YOU have your own tramp-stamp! It looks IDENTICAL to mine, except that it says 'Howlin' Good Time!'"

Gilda knew that I was right. We got couple's tattoos once we were in a committed relationship, and they were in a position to be called a tramp-stamp. She wasn't ashamed of it though. "I got it for you too Dweeb!" She then noticed a tattoo on my left arm. "Hey, what's this one for?"

I looked, and when I did, I felt extremely sad. The tattoo in question was a golden heart with a pair of white angel wings. Below the heart were the words “In loving memory. I miss you Mom.”

I was almost crying. "I.....I got this when I was a teenager to remember my Mom, Maggie. She.......she died in a car accident when I was 7. My Grandpa Thomas had to pick me up from school, and my dad, Air Force Colonel Stan Anderson, had to race home from his air force base. All 3 of us were DEVASTATED at what happened. It was after this that my Grandpa Thomas moved in with Dad and I, so as to be close to us. My dad has a tattoo just like this, though his says, 'In loving memory, I miss you Maggie'. My dad never remarried after this, and left the air force to raise me."

When Gilda heard that, she was shocked. She NEVER knew that my mom had been killed until right then, and she was sad. "That's.....that's so sad Babe. And I know what that's like. As I might have told you, I lost my mom too."

I nodded slowly, wiping a few tears away. I knew that Gilda had been an orphan, and that she and her little sister Gabby had been raised by their grandpa, Grandpa Gruff. She was so sad when she lost her mom and dad, so she knew what I was feeling.

Gilda then pointed to her own shoulder. "I also have these tattoos to remember them by. One for my dad Gavin, and one for my mom Mary." I looked, and I saw that she had two heart tattoos, and both had their own set of wings. One had black Griffon wings and the other had brown Griffon wings.

I nodded. "Oh, well it's nice that you did that for them Gilda. If they could see you right now, I KNOW that they would be so proud of you!"

"So would your mom and grandpa if they could see you today Scar."

We talked about our families for a little while longer, and then all of us of the Daylight Freight and Shipping Company fell asleep in the warm embrace of our Beloveds in our beds inside the freight depot, while outside, a brand new world was just beginning.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 1. Longest thing that I ever wrote, but it's done now! Now, the Zebras are in power, and are feeling pretty invincible. It would be a real SHAME if a group of somebodies were to rain on their parade, wouldn't it? Like say, a group of 6 former US Marines, their marefriends, a Griffon girlfriend, and a train? These Zebras need to watch out, because we're coming for them now!

Starting in Chapter 2, the REAL action starts! No, unlike the original story that I'm writing this anti-fic from, the nobody will be leaving Equestria at all! They're all going to be staying right where they are, except the Zebra population might start taking a decline, and more and more Ponies may fight back, and cures might even be found for these illnesses!

No more will these Marines sit idly by while Equestria dies. Now, they will fight, and when they do, Zebras WILL die! Hang on, because crap, is about to get real!

As always, Comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 2!

ScarFox out for now!