Author's Note

All Greek is taken from Google Translate. Feel free to correct it.

Also, SIR means Sparkle's Iron Ranger.

Chapter I: Rest and Retaliation.

I awoke in a hospital bed. My vision was blurred. Crust covered my eyes. I moved to rub them, but I felt something digging into my arm.

Needles.

I hate needles.

I blinked hard, attempting to get rid of the crust. I succeeded after a few minutes. I looked around, seeing that I was in some sort of hospice.

A nurse took notice of my stirring and came over.

"Boreís na me akoúseis?," She asked.

"I-what?" I asked, not understanding what she said. "What was that?"

"Eísai xýpnios! O giatrós prépei na to xérei!" The nurse said before rushing out of the room.

I blinked as I looked around, attempting to ascertain my current state.

First I looked down at my legs. I was donned in a hospital gown, and my leg was bandaged just above the knee. Right where the arrow had punctured me.

I looked to my left, seeing four more beds, all empty. I looked to my right, seeing three other beds, also empty. Slowly, it donned on me as to why.

"I was the only one to survive....." I said quietly, unsure of how to take it. Those words bounced around my head as I processed what that meant. I was the only survivor of Arcadia. All my friends, my commander, even those pilots, and other planes didn't make it. Not even the city itself was spared.

I was the only one to survive. Gods, all those people! Dead! Yet I live!

My thoughts were broken as the Nurse came back in, along with the doctor.

The doctor was a kindly older man in his fifties. He was bald, yet had a full beard of Brunette hair and wore glasses over his blue eyes. He dressed in a lab coat and a simple green shirt tucked into blue jeans which were held up tightly by a brown leather belt, and brown shoes. The most interesting thing about him was the Cutie-Mark he had. It was located on his neck, right between his shoulder and lower jaw. It was a blue caduceus, with a heart monitor background.

(By the way, a caduceus is that little winged staff with the snakes wrapped around it. In Greek, its called a kerykeion. The more you know.)

"Ahh.... you're awake," the doctor smiled, speaking with an American accent, extending his hand to shake. "My name is Dr. White."

"I uh....." I blinked, still woozy from the morphine, before telling him my name and shaking his hand. I kept shaking it before my brain started working again, saying the first thing that popped in it. "Your American?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was brought here to help out. My family was visiting Greece when this all started, and well....." Dr. White trailed off. "Anyway, I assume you have a few questions."

"I....yes. Yes. First off, how long was I out?" I asked.

"Two days," Dr. White replied, much to my shock.

"Two days?! What's new on the front?" I asked, causing the doctor to sigh.

"The Gaians have broken through the front lines, and are making their way up north. The mountainous terrain is slowing them some, but their leader has an airship, so.....its anyone's guess," Dr. White admitted.

"An airship?" I mused. "Sparkle..... OK, next question. Are there any other survivors from Arcadia? Anyone else from the front?"

Dr. White sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose before answering.

"No. you are the only survivor we know of currently that fought in Arcadia before it fell," He answered. "Aside from that, there were a few others that managed to make it, only to get...Converted."

I sighed, falling back into my bed. A final question danced on my tongue.

"How long until I leave?"

"A week at most, so that your leg can recover," Dr. White said. "I'll leave you be for now. I assume you have a lot to think about."

I nodded, laying back onto the medical bed with a sigh.

"Gods above. Why has this happened to me?" I asked. "All of my friends, dead."

With these questions bouncing around my mind, I lied (laid?) back into the bed and closed my eyes, sleep taking me.

For the first time in a while, I dreamed.

You see, since the Gaians have a dream walker in the form of Princess Luna, most people were worried if she can infiltrate our dreams and give away tactics and lines and weaknesses and such. So the governments found a special technique used to make people stop dreaming. Or at least suppress it.

But, because of the drugs in my system and me not have been sleeping for a while, I dreamed. And I had a lot to dream about.

I stood in the field of Arcadia in the empty trenches. Only, they weren't empty. They were filled with the bodies of my comrades and commander.

"Oh, dear gods....." I gasped out, nearly falling to my knees. "Gods above."

I turned, and saw Arcadia, before suddenly being transported to its streets. All around me was the bustling metropolis of a fortress. Then a shadow grew overhead, and all the people in the city let out a scream and tried to dash away, an Equestrian Airship overtaking the horizon.

Then, I saw...her.

Princess Twilight Sparkle.

She dressed in a pseudo-colonial jacket, but rather than the British red or French blue, it was purple. A horn protruded from her mane, and two wings poked from the jacket. She charged her horn, lavender magic bathing it.

She then whispered something, before firing a beam of magic into the air, arcing through the clouds overhead before slamming into Arcadia!

There was nothing at first, but then a ringing invaded my airs, Arcadians running desperately down the street past me. Then it happened. Purple smoke and flames rose from the area of impact, before violently expanding outward, destroying buildings and city blocks, like inevitable doom.

Then I was consumed by the smoke. All around me was ash and dust. I heard screams in the distance, before I saw more people getting consumed by the smoke and flames, only, as soon as they were touched by it, they turned to dust, not even leaving a shadow behind!

Then, the flames died down, and the purple smoke retracted in on itself, creating a mushroom around the center, before that too disappeared.

In the end, I stood in the ashes of Arcadia, Sparkle seeming content in her work before trailing after the escaping planes.

Wait. What?

I awoke in shock, a hand covering my mouth. Above me was another patient (going by his hospital robe he was wearing), and his face was covered with bandages, minus his mouth and eyes. He held a finger to his mouth, telling me to be silent.

He then removed his hand and finger before he spoke.

"Call me Jonathan. You are Abraham." He said simply, his voice a whisper.

Confused, I nodded in agreement before it clicked. Code names. All right, if there are code names, that means.....

"Are we under assault?" I asked.

Jonathan nodded. "Sparkle's Hoof has made their way here. They are killing or converting all people in the hospital. Tell me, are you the survivor of Arcadia?"

I nodded.

"Good. I need you with me. Command needs you alive." Jonathan said. "Get your stuff, and come with me."

He then slinked towards the door, poking his bandaged head out of the frame and looking around before gesturing for me to follow.

I obeyed to the best of my ability, getting up from the hospital bed with a grunt, before feeling pain spike in my leg where the wound was.

"Motherfucker that hurts!" I scream out, prompting a hush from Jonathan.

"Need I remind you that the enemy is here?" He asked with a harsh whisper.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." I said, grunting as I stood up fully, pain taking my leg again, but I soldiered on.

I looked around the room, finding no sign of my gear.

"Uh. Mr. Jonathan, where would my gear be?" I asked sheepishly.

"First floor, lobby, check-out area." He replied, still keeping watch.

"And which floor are we on?" I asked.

"The fourth." He said simply.

"Fuck," I muttered, removing the needles from my arm because they were starting to really dig into me, and I don't want to move through four floors infested with pony soldiers with an IV and morphine. Rubbing the areas where the needles were, I looked around the room for anything useful. Next to my bed on an end table was something familiar; a tanto dagger. It was short, only six inches long with a wood handle and scabbard. It had belonged to my father, who gave it to me when I went off to boot camp. I still remember his words that day.

"Know your enemy as well as I know you, my son. Nothing is black and white. This war is no exception. Be sure the side you end up fighting on is the right side."

Believe me, dad, I know which side is the good guy now. The ones not trying to turn every species that isn't them into horses.

I pocketed the tanto and went up to Jonathan, nodding in confirmation that I was ready to go.

He nodded back, and we exited the ward, rushing down a darkened hall.

It was night outside, and the lights in the hall were shut off, leaving us to use our own eyes in the darkness. We turned the hall once more, but we stopped short as we heard something approaching. It sounded metallic and heavy. A shadow danced on the wall, illuminated by the moonlight of nearby windows.

Jonathon and I rushed to find a hiding place, and we found a nearby broom closet, only a keyhole and small blinds allowing us to see outside.

What was there scared us.

It was an earth pony, donned in heavy metal armor painted lavender with pinkish streaks. Their entire body was covered by the armor, with even their tail being heavily armored. Their eyes were covered by a black visor. On their back was a specialized Battle Saddle, consisting of a Gattling Gun and Rocket Launcher, both powered by magic. Featured prominently on their flanks where their Cutie Mark would be, was the Star of Twilight Sparkle.

It was an Iron Ranger, one of Sparkle's it seems, going by the Star of Sparkle on their flank. These guys are the elites of their species in the war. Every Earth Pony in the Equestrian Army one day aspires to be an Iron Ranger. The process of becoming one is quite...disturbing. The Earth Pony subject goes through severe bodily enhancements, both magical and cybernetic, and the armor is built around them and bonded to their nervous system, making them a sort of Cyborg. The pony they once were underneath the helmet is gone forever, now they are an Iron Ranger.

"I'll give the horses this, they're just as good at war as we are," I said, my voice a whisper.

The Iron Ranger stopped patrolling, and brought its heavily armored hoof to its ear.

"SIR-9949 to command. Staircase and hallway of fourth floor secure. Now heading to the medical ward to dispatch of objectives," It said, its voice distorted heavily by the mask.

It then turned down the hall and continued on, its heavy armored hooves making booming clopping sounds.

Once we were sure of its distance, Jonathan and I exited the broom closet and continued down the hall.

We eventually came to a staircase. It was dark and oddly damp.

"Well, geronimo chap," Jonathan said, putting on a British accent before trekking down the stairs, myself following shortly after.

We went further down than I anticipated, yet we only got off on the second floor, told to me as such by a nearby bronze plaque on the wall.

Δεύτερος όροφος
Το 9ο Στρατιωτικό Νοσοκομείο του Ελληνικού Μετώπου

Third Floor
Ninth Military Hospital of the Greek Front

How tall is this hospital?!

With a sigh and a grumble, Jonathan and I went down a nearby hallway, quieter than mice. We came to a hall of windows near the outside of the building, no doubt, and our eyes were assaulted by searchlights, Jonathan pulling me under the windows as the lights slowly illuminated parts of the hallway, before moving on.

"What was that?" I asked curiously.

"Pegasi search squadron. They must be looking for survivors," Jonathan deducted.

"Why?" I asked, perplexed. "To convert them?"

"No. The horses got strict kill-on-sight orders," Jonathan said, before he began crawling forward underneath the window sills, getting the idea, I followed suit.

"Kill-on-sight? If that's true, shouldn't others be escorted out? Not just me?" I asked.

"Uh.....Command said to rescue only those good enough to walk. The other patients in this hospital were.....less fortunate than you." Jonathan said. Oddly enough, it made sense. While I couldn't condone innocent people to the brutalities of the enemy, some people just can't be saved. If I was the only one who could......at least these people won't live out their lives as Janies. As in Janisaries, but rather than serving a sultan, they would serve the enemy.

We eventually got to the next hallway, each door wide open and leading to one of the many medical wards.

A liquid coated the floor, feeling odd to my bare feet. It was thick, and, wet. And it soaked my feet. Bleh. I hate the feeling of wet feet. Though, oddly enough, it reminded me of my teenage years, of when I would walk my dog. He was beautiful Black Lab, with white whisps on his paws and the edge of his tail, and his entire belly was white, along with the underside of his neck. We named him after the dwarf, Gimli.

I shook my head, clearing myself of the nostalgia. Further down the hall, we heard someone speaking in Greek, and he sounded desperate.

"Sas parakaloúme! Egó écho mia oikogéneia! Enas gios! Mia kóri! Parakaló, akómi kai tha boroúsate na to katalávete!"

Then there was a loud bang, and light flashed from a medical ward.

"Yeah, we understand. We just don't care," a gruff female voice replied tauntingly. "This is UT-1414. All patients in this area have been killed. Moving on to find the survivor."

I looked at Jonathan, asking him what to do. He then opened his mouth and began to tell me his plan.

I distract her, while you go in from behind, and slit her throat. Then we loot her body. He mouthed.

Isn't that.....' bit brut'l? I asked. I'm not really good at mouthing.

They started this war! It's them or us. He replied curtly.

I sighed but nodded before looking around. I turned around and pushed lightly on a door behind me, finding it unlocked. I stepped in, that odd liquid seemed to have been partially coming from the room. Now that I think about it, the liquid came from the other wards as well.

Probably just a few leaks.

I closed the door ever so slowly and quietly, but let it open enough for me to see. My left hand gripped the scabbard, and my right wrapped around the handle.

Both of us soon heard trotting, and from the ward came a unicorn warrior. She had a pearl white mane and blue fur. She dressed in the standard armor for the equestrian military, a sort of fusion of earthen military uniforms and the Equestrian Royal Guard uniform. They even had a kevlar body glove the armor went over. But, rather than the solar gold, or lunar blue, she was painted the same purple as the Iron Ranger, with the same stripes, and the same insignia over her flank. However, she also had a crystal castle imprinted inside the star. A horn protruded proudly from her main, and a Battle Saddle of magically charged rifles was donned on her back, and her horn illuminated the hallway, revealing the liquid on the floor to be a deep, thick red.

"Oh? Another human," she smirked as she saw Jonathan.

"Hmm. And you're an equestrian unicorn trooper. And, judging by the crystal castle, a veteran of the Ponyville Massacre. Your one of those murders, eh?" Jonathan asked tauntingly.

"Is that what you humans call it?" She asked. "The proper name is the Equestrian Rebuttle against you humans incurring on our lands!"

"Encroaching," Jonathan corrected. "And, it was a massacre of good men and women."

"Humans," the mare corrected, spitting the word like bile. "Retched monkeys. Pests. You're no different from the cockroaches you so hate."

"I'll take that as a compliment. After all, cockroaches are quite hardy and can survive almost anything. And if we are as alike to them as you claim, we will survive this war." Jonathan said calmly.

"You won't." She said, charging the guns on her battle saddle. Quickly, I opened the door in her face, knocking her back a few inches, and, before she could fire off a shot, I unsheathed my tanto and stabbed it between her eyes. I felt her skull give, and her brain cells move around my knife as I severed crucial synapses. Then, I watched as the lights went out in her eyes.
I couldn't contain my horror as I saw the blood pour from her head as her body slid off my dagger, the crimson liquid joining the same on the floor, and staining my tanto.

"Well done, kid," Jonathan said, putting his hand on my shoulder. He saw the paleness in my face and the green of my cheeks. With concern in his voice, he asked: "That your first real kill?"

I nodded weakly.

"Its always the hardest. Your first time. I wish I didn't have to say this, but you get used to it." Jonathan said. "Now, come on. We gotta get the hell outta dodge. Once they don't hear back from her, they'll investigate. And most likely, they'll send the Iron Ranger a few floors up."

"Let's see what she has first. She could have some intel," I said, Jonathan raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm...maybe," He mused before bending down, his hands scanning the body. He then took out a combat knife in its sheath, a radio from her ear, as well as a keycard of sorts from one of the doctors. Furthermore, he took out a small file and cut off the horn of the unicorn.

Yuck. I've heard about soldiers like him, who like their "souvenirs". The hoof of an earth pony, horn of a unicorn, or wings of a pegasus. Some soldiers will just....take them. Either as trophies or proof of a kill. I even heard that one soldier castrated the body of an earth pony stallion. I think they were court-martialed, I forget.

"Here," he said, tossing me the horn. "Keep it. As proof that you did what you needed to do, and that you did it well. Hopefully, we might get Sparkle's horn soon enough"

I stared at the horn in my hand as he went further down the hall with the collected items, before sheathing my tanto, and gripping the horn tighter, following suit.

We made our way to the second-floor staircase with relative ease, with Jonathan listening to the chatter of the troops as we went, advising us as to when we could walk right into a patrol.

The second floor was an entirely different beast.

The Horses were everywhere. At least ten patrols and two Iron Rangers roamed the halls, which were occasionally filled with gunfire as soldiers cleared out entire wards, filling the halls with crimson liquid.

Yet, somehow, we got to the first-floor staircase without anyone seeing us.

We landed in the front entrance, with two pairs of twin doors acting as the entrance. On the ground of the large and spacious room was a kerykoin painted onto the floor, with a reception/check out area near the twin doors. Lamps lined parts of the walls, with overhead lights illuminating the room.

Even worse, the entire room was filled with a battalion. Iron Rangers guarded the front doors, and regular troopers stood at attention, and a unicorn was going through the reception and check out the area.

In the middle of the room was Dr. White being escorted by a Ranger to meet someone. The doors opened, a handful of unicorns brandishing spears lined with mana and purple plumes to their helmets came out to meet the good doctor, before lining up to the side.

A new set of hooves clopped along, before Twilight Sparkle walked up to Dr. White, her nose turned upward as she scanned the room critically.

"Hmm....so this is what passes for a hospital with humans. It's.....competent, at least," the Alicorn said.

"Look, Ms..." Dr. White began.

"Princess."She interrupted. "You are to refer to me as Princess Sparkle. Or sir. Or General. Understood?"

"OK. Princess. I don't know what you want, but please, spare my patients. They're in my care. If you do that, I'll give you whatever it is you want," Dr. White said.

"What I want?" She asked mockingly. "I want the extermination of your entire race! I want your chaos and evil to end completely!"

"I....why? What did we ever do to you?" Dr. White asked. "Is it about your brother? If so, I'm sorry about it. But, humans didn't kill Shining Armor!"

Sparkle sneered before charging her magic, a beam of purple energy shooting from her horn and burning a hole in Dr. White's head, killing him instantly, the body crumpling to the found.

"You don't get to speak his name, Primate!" She said angrily before addressing the Iron Ranger. "Clean that up. And the rest of you! Raze this pathetic box to the ground! And bring me the survivor of Arcadia!"

"Why does she want me so badly?" I asked Jonathan.

"I got no idea, Abraham," he sighed. "Come on. Let's get your stuff and get the hell out."

"She's right there......." I mused, staring at the princess. Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic. Princess of Friendship. Head of Sparkle's Hoof. Enforcer and Student of Celestia. And the bitch who killed my family!

About 20-30 soldiers in total...........10ish yards between me and her. No armor. I got my tanto, which I only then realized I was unsheathing.

Was I really gonna do this?

Hell to the yes!

"Abraham," Jonathan said, seeing how I held my tanto. "Don't."

I didn't answer. Instead, I put one foot out, then another, then another. Soon I broke into a run. I jumped up, rearing back my tanto, about to strike.

"SPAAAAAAAAARKLE!!!!!!!!!" I cried, getting her attention just as I was about to pierce her head. Yet, inches from her eyes, a purple aura consumed my body, freezing me in the air.

She regarded me for a moment, before chuckling. "Hm....survivor of Arcadia. Much younger than I expected. No matter, life as a Janie will suit you well."

"I, Janie?" I asked as she straightened my body, removing the tanto and scabbard from my hand, as well as the horn, all of which she regarded critically.

"Yes. Janie. You are special. You're gonna affect this war heavily in the future," She explained, only adding to my confusion before she chuckled. "Well, you were. Now you're going to die. Well, the "you" that you are now. You will be killed and reborn as a pony. A member of our society. The transformation is painful, but when is death not? I'd tell you to brace yourself, but....well. Hehe, you can't."

Her horn then shone brighter, and the field around my body, the mana seeping under my skin and searing into my soul.

Then I saw it. My biology was changing. My hand and fingers condensed into a hoof, and I felt fur poke through my skin. But it also affected my mind. I saw it as my memories were replaced. My first love, my home, my upbringing, everything. It was either cut out or ponified.

But then I saw as my parents shifted, from their human forms to equine mockeries. But then, I curled my hand that was still a hand into a fist, and I fought. I fought harder than ever to keep them human. To keep them as they were. The kindness of my mother, the guidance of my father, how they affected me. My tastes. My politics. I held on to that. I fought the spell, my body writhed in pain, but I fought!

"Oh, you poor human. You can't resist." Twilight mocked, increasing her mana output. "No one can."

"No!" I screamed. "I am......human! I am Ameican! I am Aurelius Elliott! YOU WILL NOT TAKE THAT FROM ME!"

Twilight must've poured in more mana because I felt it practically running through my veins, and searing pain on my neck made itself known, and heat enveloped my body.

Then it all stopped. I felt my feet back on the ground.

I opened my eyes, and I saw that my hands were still hands and that the fur was gone! I was out of Twilight's field of magic, and gold and black flames lit the room, and unarmored soldiers were ablaze, some alive, some dead.

"What the fuck did this?" I asked aloud. Loud, wet coughing making itself known in front of me. I turned to see Twilight Sparkle with parts of her fur burned, and she coughed up drops of blood as she got up from the floor, shaking her head before her eyes locked with mine, and she adopted a combative stance.

"Impossible! That-that's impossible! That sort of power! It's impossible!" She said in utter shock.

The fuck? A minute ago she was going all "oh your pathetic and your gonna lose everything you love! Mwahahaha!" Now she's looking at me like a cat would've looked at Gimli!

"YES! I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Jonathan cheered statically, looking at me.

"THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" I asked, more than confused.

"You have a Cutie-Mark!" They said in unsion.