"AAAARRGHH!!!"
A Griffon diplomat in a fancy tuxedo slammed his fist into the conference desk after hearing equestrian diplomats’ answers to Griffon's demands. The room was filled with both equestrian diplomats, griffonian diplomats as well as minotaurian diplomats serving as a third neutral party, all of them with serious and solemn faces. The griffon who stood up from his paws in a small display of rage was an important diplomat of grand repute who had been tasked with negotiating reparations over a large skirmish with the equestrians.
The minotaur diplomats were located at the end of the hall in a semi-circular podium facing the oval-shaped conference table where on one side there were griffonian diplomats and on the other equestrian. The role of the minotaurs was to simply be mediators. The conference room was large and very old with a large circular dome in the center adorned with a grand painting depicting the goddess Faust in an open green field wearing a transparent tunic revealing the markings in her slim hourglass body figure which looked like cracks coursing through her body, she was also holding a scroll in her left hand along with holding a balance in her right hand. the whole building had a roman like architecture holding relics from by gone times some even before the existence of both celestia and luna. To say this large building was of enormous historical importance would be an understatement as it was said to have been built by the goddess Faust herself.
"This...IS UNACCEPTABLE!"
"Order! We will have order!" a minotaur from the area in the center banged the mallet on the podium.
All the diplomats’ banter and insults slowly died down to listen to the minotaur who raised from his seat to address the assembly.
"Equestrians, Griffonians and Minotaurians alike I announce the commencement of a 1 hour recess, it is my belief that with a full stomach we may be able to reach a solution to this crisis"
The diplomats of both Equestria and the Griffonian Empire stared each other down as they retired toward their designated eating spaces, as the conference hall emptied and the sound of hoofsteps died out the griffon that had the outburst of rage got up from his seat and walked closer to the minotaur overseer and signaled the minotaur to get closer. The minotaur nodded and lowered his head to the griffin’s beak and heard him say: "The sunflowers bloom in winter."
"but there is no sun to follow." The Minotaur said in a low and deep gravelly voice. His other companions looked to both the sides of the conference room to make sure they were alone with the griffon before speaking.
"Your reputation precedes you griffon, yet I still question your methods." said the towering minotaur.
"Please, call me by my name, Gunther." Gunther bowed his head to the minotaur and continued "Do not fret, that was nothing but a display of intimidation."
"One that may cost you gravely ambassador, remember, if you do not make the equestrians soften their stance in regards to the economic sanctions you will receive no help from Minotauria economic or otherwise."
"I can assure you that we will be benefiting from a mutual military alliance quite soon" he states matter of factly.
"What makes you so sure we would agree?" the minotaur scoffs.
Gunther looks to his eyes with a serious expression "The equestrians have been gaining too much power over the last decade with the addition of various territories, a new anointed princess and most important of all a thriving economy. I believe that Minotauria's main concern is the economic one isn't it Iron Hoof?
Iron Hoof harrumphed and looking annoyed clarified "That is Mr. Iron to you griffon don't you forget that and, yes, it is the economic aspect which we fear." after a small pause he continued "What has the Zebrican Government decided?" asked the minotaur in a soft voice.
"They have assured us they will join as long as the economic sanctions aren't too harsh and we promised the King a bride for his son as well as some land rich in vegetation once the conflict is over."
"A... bride?" Mr.Iron looked at the griffon with wide eyes along with a questioning gaze.
"Luna of course. The king was quite clear after all, he worries he won't be able to see his grandchildren before his deathbed." Gunther states with a deadpan expression while wiping away dust from the aged podium from his suit.
"humph...they were never the smartest bunch it's quite honestly astounding their nation has been able to survive this long."
"ha-ha, I agree with your statement, however they will serve their purpose in due time." as he smirks he looks at his watch "well what do you know, I’m a bit behind schedule! I only have at least 30 minutes before the recess is over." as the griffon turns around and to leave without looking back he asks "If we land an adequate deal with the equestrians will you agree in joining the alliance you and your country?"
"We have received the go ahead a week in advance ambassador Gunther but our terms still stand you MUST minimize economic sanctions before Minotauria can agree."
Gunther, bows his head to the minotaur and excuses himself out of the conference room.
As Gunther opens the door to a dining room filled with his compatriots drinking, eating and going through paperwork. He makes his way to the center of the room and upon getting there he attempts to get the attention of his peers by producing an eagle-like screech from his beak. Clearing his throat, he accommodated his tie and proceeded to say:
"My fellow comrades, the conflict we desire is still far away but today...TODAY WE TAKE.THE.FIRST.STEP!"
"Hear, hear!" his comrades chanted.
"If we make the equestrians soften their economic sanctions; which they will" the diplomats chuckle "we will be able to solidify a military alliance with Minotauria and Zebrica. With the Alliance we will be able to cut the equestrians to size and control equestria from the shadows."
"B-but the princesses!" someone mentioned among the small assembly of griffins.
"Worry not. They will serve us! Once everything is settled, they will be thrown into a cage to be tortured, ridiculed and to forever raise and lower the celestial bodies, after all, just because they are immortal does not meant they are exempt from pain and suffering just like the rest of us mortals!"
His comrades began to chant and cheer:
"Hear, hear!"
"Down with those royals"
"Forever our slaves!"
"Long live the king and its empire!"
"Revenge, revenge, revenge for the 153!"
"We will not forgive; we will not forget! Eternal peace for the fallen of Broadnest!"chanted Gunther raising his fist to his chest the rest of the griffons quieted down, followed his gesture and chanted along with Gunther.
"We will not forgive; we will not forget! Eternal peace for the fallen of Broadnest!"
"We will not forgive; we will not forget! Eternal peace for the fallen of Broadnest!"
"We will not forgive; we will not forget! Eternal peace for the fallen of Broadnest!"
Meanwhile in the equestrian dining room...
Among the ambassadors there was a latent worrisome aura to the room as ambassadors debated and went through their papers also among them a pony by the name of Solar Flare, a pony with red fur and a grey mane and beard he was a pony of old age who had overstayed his time as an ambassador was trying to convince the others that economic sanctions should be intensified despite the fears of further military action by the griffonians.
Equestria feared that another skirmish close to their borders could escalate to a formal war. They were confident they could win the war however they would not have the moral high ground in that situation thus they would look like the aggressors and that international image would cause their trade to suffer and the image of the princesses tarnished domestically and abroad.
This situation was the direct result of miscommunication between Equestrian infantry and Griffonian civilians. An Equestrian major and his company of 100 soldiers were lost during a patrol in the border after their compasses started to malfunction and ended up following a river in hopes it would take them back to civilization. Sometime later they ended up in a griffonian border village called Broadnest, this is where the story diverges, they were confronted by the locals who tried to expel the soldiers towards the woods after an equestrian tried to get intimate with a female griffon without her consent, the locals were furious and some of them gathered together to try and expulse the company from their village, griffonian reports show that equestrian forces lined up, took positions and charged at the crowd with swords and spears at hand slaughtering all 53 of the villagers who were present at the time and then proceeded to burn down and sack the small village rounding up the villagers and causing 100 more casualties.
Equestrias military, however, reported that after entering the village a soldier was trying to meet up with his griffon marefriend who he was dating for some time already so he could chat with her, make up for lost time and in the meantime wait for the signal to leave so he and his company could be escorted and sent back to the equestrian side of the border, the villagers unfortunately, misinterpreted their relationship and acted in a hostile manner which put the company in harm's way.
Solar Flare could simply rub his forehead from just remembering the two reports; no matter how someone looked at it, it looks as if equestria deliberately attacked the locals. There was simply no way to clear this up as the bodies of the couple in question were later found lying on the floor, dead.
"Gentlecolts, please, allow me to clarify first that I am of the same mindset that we should not escalate this any further." pausing for a second he then continues "HOWEVER we should put in place these temporary economic sanctions so that they may not think of us as 'willing to bend the knee'."
The other looked at him with a distasteful look and some with outright anger for suggesting such a thing. A pony by the name of Black Cloak in the back got up from his chair and walked towards Solar Flare, shoving him out of place and turning back to the crowd.
"It seems Solar Flare has a severe case of senilelism, who would be so kind as to escort him to the gentlecolts room so he may spout his bullshit there?" the rest chuckled for a brief moment except for Solar Flare who looked at him with anger "all of you as well as I know that angering the griffons will only escalate the situation!" everyone nodded in agreement and mumbled among themselves "So I'm going to propose to you my fellow ambassadors this: First, we help with reconstruction efforts of Broadnest, second, we offer a state apology to the Griffonian empire and finally hand over the major who was in charge to the griffonians so he may be judged in the courts there." an eerie silence emanated from the gathering of ponies they really didn't like that last proposition. Noticing this Black Cloak quickly tried to fix his slip up "W-well the last proposition we can review in just a bit and change it out with something a bit more adequate."
The rest of the ambassadors nodded in agreement however they made it clear that any punishment made to an equestrian soldier should be handed out by equestria and by no other. Soon it was time to reconvene at the main hall and all of the ambassadors proceeded to retake their seats. When Iron Hoof stepped out of the minotaur dining hall and into the main hall both the equestrian and grifonian ambassadors rose from their seats quietly as per tradition.
Iron Hoof takes the center podium, taking the ceremonial mallet, he bangs it against the table once and directs himself to the hall of ambassadors.
"At ease gentlecolts" the diplomats then took their seats awaiting the final speech. Iron hoof took both hands and laid them above his chest where his heart would be and opened instead with a prayer "O Faust we of mortal descent ask of thee that the situation at hand be guided by your infinite wisdom to a peaceful conclusion and conflict be avoided if there should be conflict please guide the souls of all to nirvana and for our warriors ascension, please, forgive our transgressions and guide us to redemption." after a minute of silence he finally concluded "Make it so, dear Faust"
After Iron Hoof had concluded the prayer the rest repeated the last portion "Make it so, dear Faust"
Iron Hoof then took his seat. "The meeting is now in session, have the equestrians come to a solution?"
Black Cloak stood up facing the griffon diplomats he unrolls a scroll and holding up high he clears his throat to speak "We have come to draft a new set of propositions" the griffons lean slightly towards the pony in expectancy of the new propositions "First, Equestria will help with reconstruction efforts of Broadnest. Second, Equestria will offer a state apology to the Griffonian empire. Finally we will exchange a total of 10,000,000 bits which will be paid off monthly for a period of 5 years at a fixed interest rate of 2.5% in exchange for the company. We will handle the judgement of the major and his company and a suitable punishment will be handed down upon them."
The griffins were quite surprised to hear such advantageous terms; compared to the last ones these were a blessing. Gunther couldn't help but sneer internally, everything went better than expected and to make matters even sweeter the equestrians were practically handing over their countries money on a silver platter, money which will surely be used to finance the rapid industrialization planned by the military.
Gunther, as the head ambassador stood up from his seat to speak on behalf of the griffon ambassadors "We humbly accept these terms and take back our previous terms." Immediately everyone in the hall clapped as the crises had been averted.
Iron Hoof called for order, banging the mallet he receives the attention of everyone in the hall "Very well, a solution has been achieved so with the power that has been invested in me by your countries and Faust I hereby declare Solutio est effectum, pax et bellum, quae averso."
After formalising the pact the diplomats began making way to their respective countries all except for two. In the now dark hall a griffon stood face to face to a pony with black fur and long red mane that reached his neck.
It was Gunther and Dark Cloak who were holding the secret meeting "Dark Cloak, you did a swell job handling the situation on your part you can expect your payment to arrive shortly" said Gunther with cheer.
Dark Cloak Looked angry at the griffon, in his mind he was conjuring ways in which to kill him and hide the body but he needed to calm himself before things got out of hand so after taking a deep breath he addressed Gunther "Believe me Gunther I am absolutely Livid if I could I would strangle you right here." Dark Cloak made a motion with his hands to better emphasize what he would do the griffon.
Gunther simply scoffs with a smug smile he looks directly to his eyes and says "You know you can't do a damn thing to me, if you don't want that information leaking out to every equestrian newspaper, just imagine, from Appleloosa to New Manehattan the headline will be: Ambassador Black Cloak, Filly Fiddler caught red han-"
Black Cloak, in a surge of fury immediately raised his fist but stopped himself mid swing returning his hand to his side. "I swear, you will receive your due in time FUCKER." he remarks in a poisonous whisper.
Gunther simply smiles and gets close to Black Cloak and whispers to his ear "I own you for the time being, remember this when I ask for your services again, we are watching your every move and dont you dare talk about this to anypony."
Gunther then proceeds to exit the building leaving a scared yet furious pony behind. To Gunther all was going according to the plan.
Author's Note
Hi! Took me sometime to write this one. I've been having alot of college work being dropped on my shoulders so I think i'm gonna try updating this story a bit more often :v
Last chapter was sort of lack luster IMO (kinda felt depressing personally) so im thinking about rewriting it at some later date.
Just like on my previous AN this is my first fanfic so some criticism is welcomed and thank you very much for reading see you guys next chapter!
It was a beautiful morning, birds chirped and the rays of the sun began to shine from the horizon lighting it with a yellow-blue glow announcing the start of a new day. In a small cabin house located in the outskirts of Ponyville the rays of the sun began to filter through the curtains and hitting the eyes of Redheart. "Nooo, 5 more minutes," she protested. Redheart stirred in the bed trying to ignore the light, but in the end she gave in finally sitting up on the edge of her bed. She made her way to the bathroom to wash her face, so she could wake up, she didn't have to walk too far since the bathroom was exclusive to her room. Five minutes later she emerged from her bathroom refreshed and her hair tied into a bun.
With a cheery attitude she heads for her closet "Alright! Just gotta get dressed, breakfast and then head on to work!"
Redheart changes into her nurse uniform; the uniform was a one piece uniform that could open from buttons that ran on the left side of her body and ended where the skirt began, the skirt reached just a bit above her knees and finally to complete the uniform a small white nurse cap with a red cross in the center. Nurse Redheart posed in front of her full body mirror doing a pin up she had seen in a fashion magazine once. Giggling, she walks out of her room.
She proceeded to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She made a sunny-side-up egg breakfast sandwich complete with a sautéed tomato. She served the tasty breakfast on a platter and served herself a glass of orange juice, looking at her recent creation she bites in tasting the delicious, mouthwatering sandwich savoring every moment "Breakfast is the best," she sighs. She looks up from her plate and looks at the hanging clock: she was late for work.
"Oh crap, I'm late!" Redheart quickly downs the sandwich with the orange juice and gets up from her seat, runs out the cabin and starts jogging down the gravel road. After a few minutes she starts slowing down to a walking pace as she begins to admire the scenery; the blue sky, the white puffy clouds; the green hills, the strange creature lying down in said hill.
Redheart stops and from a distance narrows her eyes to try see what it is that she saw. With a bit of courage, she walks slowly towards the figure and quickly notices from the blood he's visibly hurt. She starts running up hill toward the creature and kneels at the creature's side. She notices he looked strange, he looked like a pony but his facial features were much flatter, he had no fur except for the top of his head, he didn't have hoofs at the end of his legs and his clothes were made of a strange fabric which seemed smoother and delicate.
Whatever this creature was, he seemed to be badly hurt; a thin line of blood was flowing out of his mouth and he seemed to be unconscious.
Redheart uses her hands to gently touch his chest and use the bit of magic earth ponies usually have and since her special talent was related somewhat to the field of medicine she would have a bit of an idea as to what she could do at the moment. 'A broken rib, a light concussion, and... Foreign objects in his brain, arteries and back of his ear?' the mare looked at the creature with a puzzled expression shortly after receiving the information she was able to gather from her magic. The broken rib would prove to be a serious problem, with a broken rib she couldn't just try to pick him up and carry him to the hospital it meant she would have to improvise. Looking around, she spots a branch close to the edge of the everfree forest, an idea quickly forming in her head. Running back to her house, she grabs the blanket she slept in the night before and quickly runs back to the wounded creature tying up the blanket to the branch she creates a makeshift stretcher.
She gently puts his upper body on the blanket making sure he doesn't accidentally hit his head on the gravel, she picks up the branch which in turn lifted his upper body a bit and start to move towards the hospital gently dragging the creature behind her. The creature grunts in pain and she, upon hearing him, tries to pick up the pace.
She looks back at him with sympathetic eyes, "I'll get you to a hospital, hang on for a bit".
Ponyville Hospital
5 minutes later
The hospital was relatively calm that morning the only ponies coming in were going to get a checkup or had a mild case of stomach ache from consuming too much of Pinkie Pie's muffins. The peace, however, was interrupted by nurse redheart who pushed open the doors to the entrance of the hospital as she steps in with the creature behind her. She looked as if she ran a marathon and her bun was close to breaking free.
"DOCTOR, WE NEED A DOCTOR HERE!"
The receptionist looks at the creature and runs off to get a doctor, but the doctor was already running down the hall towards the entrance. Quickly using his magic, he grabs an emergency stretcher trolly from the end of the room and pulls it close.
Redheart immediately tells him the details "Doc be careful, he has a broken rib, concussion and foreign objects in his body. I found him atop a small hill at the edge of the everfree."
The doctor nods "Is he even pony or is he a minotaur? Any sort of identification? What about a medical history?" The Doctor without hesitation picks the creature up with his magic and gently lays him on the stretcher trolley.
Redheart shakes her head "I'm afraid I don't have anymore information."
The doctor does a short nod "I'll see what we can do. Meanwhile, go clean up well talk later" the doctor speeds off towards the emergency room with the injured human beside him leaving redheart behind wondering what exactly did she just save.
Over an hour later she had already cleaned herself up having taken a spare uniform from her locker and retied her hair bun back into place. She was currently sitting outside the room of the creature waiting for the doctor to come out.
The head nurse, Nightingale, was lenient towards Redheart; having decided to assign her to care for the creature as a reward for her heroic action. Redheart was sitting at the entrance desk trying to distract herself from the boring routine but from the back of her mind she was still worried for the creature , it seemed to be in a bad state while it was unconscious. The Doctor emerged from the room and walked over to Redheart.
Redheart stands up facing the doctor "Is it ok doctor?" she asks.
The doctor puts on a smile "He will be fine Nurse Redheart, we were able to ID him through what looked like a presentation card he had in his pocket. It seems his name is Anon Reyes, male and according to his presentation card born September 1 2035." The doctor hands her Anons ID.
"That's not possible, that's a little over a millennium from now" Redheart replies with a puzzled look.
The doctor nods in agreement "That's not all, the country of origin named here isn't from anywhere I know."
"Strange" replies redheart.
"Right now what he needs is rest, I was able to treat his fractured rib and concussion only partially. As for the foreign objects, unfortunately, those will not be extracted until I get more information about them so make sure to talk to him about it if he wakes up ok?" as the doctor finishes speaking redheart nods in affirmation.
"Why were you not able to treat him completely?" Redheart's complexion seemed to fall a bit in worry.
"something is stopping me from treating him completely. I dunno what it is but until I can get more information I can only do this much unfortunately." the doctors expression sullens.
"I will go contact miss Sparkle, I'm sure she will be excited to talk to him once he wakes up" the doctor pats her on the shoulder and continues "You did good today nurse redheart, had you not noticed him he would probably have suffered more before expiring." the doctor then walks away.
Redheart enters the room and sees Anon asleep on a hospital bed. Taking a seat on the armchair beside anon she takes a closer look at him noticing his facial features. 'He's not bad looking I guess?' she looks him over, but stops when her conscious catches up to her. 'What am I thinking I don't even know this guy' she mentally scolds herself.
Autumn 2045
"Anon, hold onto our hands!" Maximiliano and Joy held the hands of their 10-year-old son while Alice, a 5-year-old girl, was carried by her mother. They had just left their house to head towards a public bomb shelter that was near. The neighborhood was in chaos many people ran in and out of their houses trying to gather their belongings, others sagely left behind their belongings and also made their way to the bomb shelter. Anon had an idea as to what was happening, but his sister could still not understand the magnitude of the problem they were in.
The world seemed to faze into darkness as they ran down the street eventually Anon saw only his younger self from a third person perspective and followed him as he ran into the darkness. Young Anon's clothes began to tatter and get dirtier and soon the world fazed in to reveal the walkway to the hiding spot in which they took refuge he and his sister: under a partially destroyed bridge. Young Anon carried in his hand a small can of canned corn, Anon knew exactly where young anon was headed and followed him. Young anon stopped in the middle of the bridge, facing where the bridge would start and pulled on a door that had its hinges partially destroyed the door made a loud creaking sound and revealed a small room originally designed for storing a few maintenance droids only now the home of two orphans. Anon was standing in the entrance watching everything unfold.
Young anon walked up to a small dirty mattress that lay on the floor and on that mattress was his sister sick, cold and wrapped up in her jacket trying to make it through the cold. It was a cold December they had been surviving for a bit over a month, but winter proved to be harsh even in Los Cabos: they had global warming to thank for that.
"I brought food" Young Anon sat down cross legged in front of his sister trying to open the can with a knife he had taken from an abandoned house.
"You eat it" Alice says in between coughs.
Her brother shakes his head "No, you need it more than me" He hands her the opened can and helps her up to a seating position.
"Thanks Anon" She says as she starts to sniffle "I jus- I just wish mommy and daddy were still here!" she breaks into a sob.
Anon silently watched his younger self hug her and silently join her sadness. The world around Anon started to darken and an intense light shone through it which blinded him, slowly the light got closer until his whole world was consumed by the light.
1 day later
Anon stirred in the hospital bed starting to wake up, he feels a mild pain emanating from his chest. Instinctively he reaches with one of his hands towards where the pain came from, only to be stopped by a soft hand. Anon finally opens his eyes and sees Nurse Redheart.
"Please, don't move, you have a fractured rib" she says in a smooth voice that strangely calms him down if only for just a bit.
Anon stares at Redheart "Wh-what are you?" he looks up and down at the mare that stood before him, her fur was short and pure white, had pink hair tied up in a cute bun and those large blue eyes seemed to mesmerize him; her body had an hourglass figure, she was quite busty and a few other details he noticed was that she had no feet, but instead hooves she had what looked like a snout but more rounded and less pronounced and finally her ears seemed equine; to Anon she looked alien to him but breathtaking nonetheless.
"My name is Redheart, Im a pony, I'm also a nurse of this hospital and I was assigned to take care of you until you get better." she says calmly. She noticed now that when Anon spoke to her he has this sort of accent when speaking equish he seemed to roll out his r's a bit more.
Anon nods in silence still admiring her beauty before finally speaking "Nurse Redheart, may I ask how I got here?" he asks.
"Well, a day ago I found you wounded, I made a makeshift stretcher and dragged you to the hospital so the doctor could treat your wounds." Redheart explains with a serious expression.
Anon eyes went wide "I was out for a day?"
Redheart nods.
Anon thinks to himself, 'Well, damn I guess im pretty lucky to have been found.' Anon looks at her with a sweet smile and chuckles lightly before speaking "Mi salvador, My saviour," he says while maintaining eye contact with her.
Redheart didn't really know what that first part meant but, that voice, it was earcandy to her; she was slightly blushing when she heard that last part "Your welcome Mr. Reyes." she says trying to hide her blush by looking in another direction.
Deciding to return the conversation on track,she composes herself and looks back at Anon "A-anyway I have been told by the doctor he was not able to remove some foreign objects that seemed to be in your body so by any chance do you know anything about them that might help?".
"I'm sorry Redheart but those objects must stay inside, of course, I'm not saying I would die without them but they help out my body to perform better than what a normal human being would and no offence but by looking around the room I doubt you would have the right tech to extract them," He gives Redheart a warm smile and continues "Did I by chance have any belongings with me?"
"Why, yes if you excuse me I'll go fetch them." Redheart heads out the door.
Anon takes this opportunity to think things over, 'What the hell? A pony she says! Well, she does seem to have some characteristics but she looks almost human! and where the hell did that flirt come from? compose yourself dammit! You just met her. More importantly I was out for a day and got a broken rib! I need to take the pills for faster recovery'
Anon calms himself a bit and looks out the window his bed was close to looking at the town below he could see more of the same species as Redheart but he also saw others that looked like her but with different colors of coat and hair. What astonished him was seeing others with horns and some flying with wings of their own 'This world is definitely not earth or any of the other colonies how did I get here? How do I get back?' His thinking was interrupted when Redheart enters the room with his clothes neatly folded in her hands. Anon didn't notice at first but he was in a hospital gown.
"Ah, thank you, could you hand me my pants?" Anon reaches his hands out wincing a bit at the pain as he did so.
Redheart gives him the pair of pants "You can't leave yet ok? You need to completely heal first"
Anon nods with a warm smile "Now why would I leave if your here?" Anon mentally facepalms himself. That damn habit of being flirty around the opposite sex had caused trouble before.
Redheart was visibly embarrassed "I'll just...be outside, if you need anything just call out for me" flustered she leaves the room before Anon could say a word.
Not able to resist anymore, Anon facepalms himself only to wince at the pain from his chest caused from moving his arm. Anon sits up in his bed, toughing through the pain from his chest and dips his hand into the backpocket and feels what he was looking for. He pulls out a small aluminum case that still contained 10 green pills with a small printed red text on them saying 'TWIST BEFORE CONSUMING'. Anon takes one of the green pills and twists one of the ends causing a silent hiss to emanate from the pill he then immediately pops it in his mouth and swallows.
The pills were first aid nanobots capable of repairing and destroying harmful or damaged tissue in the body. Developed during WW3 these pills gave many soldiers a second chance to fight another day and after the war they were used to cure many types of injuries without the need of a surgery. The pills however were not cure-alls, they couldn't be used to treat illnesses due to how "messy" at their job nanobots were. Anon judged by the extent of his damage it would take at least 1 hour to heal his body.
Anon was sitting on the bed when he starts to feel the nanobots work their way through his body and finally congregate themselves in the affected areas. It felt as if there were hundreds of ants crawling on his chest and head area; It was mighty uncomfortable.
*Knock Knock*
Anon looks up towards the door as it opened to reveal another one of those ponies but this one was had a lavender coat with long hair that reached a bit past her shoulders and had a pink stripe running through it; another major difference he noticed were the wings and horn she seemed to possess, he hadn't seen that on any of the other ponies when looking out the window. She was also wearing a sort of librarian outfit that looked adorable on her.
"Oh, good afternoon!" the lavender pony steps into the room with a cheery smile. She proceeds to sit in the armchair beside his bed.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle what's yours?"
"Um, name Is Anon, Anon Reyes"
"Well Anon, I'm here to help you get back home do you remember anything before arriving here?" Twilight's horn iluminates with a dull purple glow and starts to float a notepad and pen to write down some notes when Anon looks amazed at it.
"WAIT! How are you doing that?!" Anon pointed at the levitating notepad in front of her. Anon was astonished at the scene as his mind tried to formulate a logical reason.
"Oh right, I forgot humans don't actually use magic" she says with a sheepish smile "Sorry to have surprised you like that."
Anon was caught off guard about what she said 'Magic? what the heck?' he open his mouth to speak "Wait, you know what I am? how?" he looks at her with a surprised face.
"Well I actually stayed in your world for some time after passing through the portal. I must say that you look quite different from your peers, your eyes are noticeably smaller."
"You've been to earth? When? and what do you mean my eyes are smaller?" Anon was amazed at the thought of humanity having established unknowingly with a different species but he found her last statement a bit odd.
"Well it was about 5 years ago, I was a student in Canterlot High for at least a week and the eyes of your peers were of a similar size as to mine," she states matter-a-factly while giving a nervous grin.
Anon, without saying a word, decides to speed up his brain functions. The world around him seemed to go at an excruciatingly slow pace, twilight's eyes were half-lidded because she was blinking and moved extremely slow; it was as if he stopped time. Anon starts searching information stored in the artificial third lobe of his brain for this high school she mentioned. After what seemed like hours no information came up about this "Canterlot High", no records, no register; nothing. Anon frigidly came with to a hypothesis: she is either lying, referring to an unknown location inhabited by humans or from what she mentioned about the eyes talking about a completely different place which would be an amazing discovery.
Still thinking to himself, he thought about this portal Twilight mentioned 'could it be a way out? maybe this is where she found those other humans.'
Decreasing his brain functions to reestablish normal perception of reality he immediately corrects her with a deadpan expression "I'm sorry but humans with similar eyes as yours? It doesn't seem to be the same place im from."
Twilight's eyes widen "Oh my gosh! Could it be your from a different world?" Twilight squeals as she starts scribbling notes blindingly fast.
Pointing to himself Anon speaks "Im from a country called the North American Union, which is located in the American Continent um...planet earth." Anon didn't know if he wanted to go into more specifics so he leaves it at that.
Twilights lean in on him, hands on the bed and a huge grin that would make the cheshire cat make a run for his money "NO WAY!" Twilight squeals with glee once more.
"um...yes way?" he tries to avoid eye-to-eye contact but fails and for a few seconds he's caught in the gaze of the purple mare and blushes slightly. Although not as "gifted" as Redheart he still struggled a bit from looking down. 'You're a soldier! get a hold of yourself dammit!' he mentally scolds himself.
Twilight sees him get flustered and realizes what she is doing, pulling back and returning to her seat; she looks to the side and lets out a nervous cough into her fist.
"Sorry about that, I got a little excited," she says with a nervous smile.
"It's fine Twilight, anyway, regarding your first question I actually don't know how I got here; I was walking behind a friend and then this sense of vertigo just made me collapse."
"Huh, well that certainly complicates things, without much information I won't be able to actually pinpoint where you come from." Twilight's face sours a bit after saying that information.
Anon looks towards the window with a solemn expression on his face. He spots a family walking in the streets of the city, the parents walked while holding the hands of their child who was floating an icecream cone in front of him, happily walking along the path. The silence was interrupted when Redheart entered the room with a tray of food in her hands.
Redheart's eyes widen in surprise as she does a small bow towards Twilight "Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle! It's an honor to see you here I didnt think you would come this late. Were about to end visiting hours."
Anon looked back at Twilight wide eyed at the sudden revelation "Princess?!"
"Please, I don't really like being called princess, Twilight is fine" she turns around to RedHeart "I wasn't aware, I'm truly sorry"
Redheart shakes her head "Not at all miss Twilight, however I think it would be better to leave Anon to rest."
Twilight nods and turns to Anon with a tender smile and puts a hand over his "I will see you tomorrow Anon, Ill send a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to ask for their advice, although knowing them, they just might come by and visit."
Twilight gets up from her chair and makes her way through the door. Redheart lays the tray with Anons food on his bed and lays out a spork. The food was a salad with red fruits with a side dish of yogurt and a cup of water.
"Thank you Redheart you been of great help to me" Anon takes the spork and begins to eat.
The next day Anon woke up because of the sunlight filtering through the curtains, as he rose his hands to rub his eyes he noticed that the nanobots had done their job and he no longer felt any pain. Satisfied with the results he gets up from the bed to stretch and walks to the bathroom. After taking care of business he sits down on the bed.
*Knock Knock*
Anon turns to the door then speaks "Come on in, Im awake" Anon yawns. Suddenly he hears a tray drop to the floor.
Startled Anon looks at the direction of the door and sees two mares in royal regalia. One of them had a pearl white color of coat, was tall probably a bit taller than Anon, magenta eyes, multicolored mane that seemed to flow in an ethereal manner and possessed both wings and horns. The second one had green eyes, had a dark shade of blue for coat, her hair was also ethereal like her taller counterpart and of an almost equal dark shade of blue.
Celestia and Luna looked at Anon with a shocked expressions.Celestia was the first to move forward, she held a hand to her mouth as her eyes seem to well up. Anon was starting to get worried and wanted to say something but was cut off by Luna who got close to him and gave him a hug. Anon noticed she was sobbing silently as she pressed her face forward to his chest.
Luna tries to speak silently in between sobs "We missed you so much dad" the waterworks let loose as she held him harder, scared that Anon would disappear into thin air.
"H-how?" Celestia spoke up in between sniffles as she also got closer slowly. She hesitated before reaching out with one hand trying to make contact with his shoulder just to confirm if what she is seeing is real.
When her hand made contact with his shoulder she could feel the warmth from his shoulder confirming to her he was real. Almost immediately she also succumbed to tears as she tried to smile "D-dad, its really y-you, I, no, w-we have missed you so m-much" Celestia drops on her knees and grabs hold of his leg nuzzling against it as she breaks down to a sob.
As the two mares continued to break down, Anon looked towards the door to see a two shocked guards and Redheart holding her hands over her mouth as she witnessed her leaders crying like foals.
Finally Anon looks at the two and lays to each a hand on their shoulders and with a calm face speaks "Im sorry but I think you got the wrong person"
Author's Note
Hi! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. While writing the chapter I couldn't make up my mind If I should write Nurse Redheart or just Redheart. Is Nurse part of her name? or just a job title? meh. The benefit of using background characters is that there's much more room to work with in regards to their mannerisms and personality.
It feels good to finally write about Anon. I have however my doubts, you see there wasn't supposed be an Anon. It was going to be a unique character with his own name, personality and quirks but the only thing that really was transferred over to Anon was everything but name.
What's the problem? Anon characters are usually a self insert for the reader so adding too much character traits can make the reader not able to see himself in the character as this completely defeats the purpose of having an Anon. Even though Im using the Anon character just because I was bit lazy and choosing names are the bane of my existence I will continue to use the previous character's personality traits and quirks.
ANONS THEIR FATHER?! Patience all will be explained in due time.
Author's Note
Never doing another timeskip chapter after this.
Hi, I know im really late to upload this but real life got in the way and my inspiration was greatly diminished after a few recent events. In the future, Ill try to keep newer chapters in the 5k word range 
Like I mentioned to a commentor from one of the previous chapters, I will be working on a side story that will be more slice-of-life in nature and will go into more detail this chapters timeskip.
Happy new years to everyone! I hope everyone was able to achieve their goals on time and if you couldn't then dont worry theres always next year!
Chapter 5: Timeskip
"You're not?" asked Celestia.
"But you look just like him?" Luna said in disbelief.
Celestia and Luna were having a hard time accepting Anon was not their father despite his efforts to convince them. Luna showed a pendant which held a drawing of their father. The resemblance was uncanny. Whoever it was in the image, could easily pass off as an identical twin.
The equestrian princesses began to interview the human so they could determine if Anon posed a threat to their ponies. After Exchanging some basic information, they explained where he was and this world's inhabitants. Both Celestia and Luna were partially convinced Anon posed no threat.
With a regal composure Luna spoke "Where is thou from?" Luna asked.
Anon gave a brief explanation as to where he was from and about humanity. When Anon talked about humanity reaching the moon Luna was shocked to hear about it but was completely baffled when Anon told them about colonizing the moon and the recent efforts to terraform it. The mood darkened when Anon began retelling about the last three world wars and other proxy wars he participated in as a result of the state of the world. What really horrified both Celestia and Luna the most was the death toll.
"Surely that must not be true...right?" Celestia asked from behind her ethereal mane.
Anon grabs both of his hands and rubs them; a grim expression in his face as he looks downward. "It's all true. Greed, pride and anger were the culprits of my world’s most terrifying wars. Soldiers were sent to die in the millions and in the end the only thing that ended the conflict was not a peace treaty, but a stalemate." Anon looked up towards the princesses "My sister and I went through so much during the conflict, losing everyone we knew and loved."
"Then why become a soldier?" Celestia looked into his eyes with a deep questioning gaze.
Anon felt as if she was analyzing his soul. Steeling himself he answers with conviction "Aside from having no choice it was also because I wanted to stop anybody else from going through the same ever again and I will do so even if it has to be through force. I know it may seem paradoxical but it's the only way I know how."
For a moment silence befell the austere hospital room. Celestia was the first to break the silence "Anon" Celestia sighed "I believe I know a place in which you can stay for the time being while we look into how to send you back home." Celestia hoped that by changing subjects she could maybe divert the conversation.
"Really? That's great! I appreciate the help your highness's." Anon did a small bow from his seated position in the bed despite the uncomfortable sensation from his chest.
Celestia shook her head "Please, Celestia is fine, no need for titles." she continues "You will be staying with my student, Twilight Sparkle."
1 Month later After Anon’s Arrival
Griffonian Military Parade Mystery!
Two days ago the Griffonian Army celebrated the anniversary of the unification of the griffonian tribes creating the now known Griffonian Empire. In this parade however, instead of seeing lines of Griffonian soldiers parading and waving their swords up high into the air we witnessed the reveal of a peculiar new weapon.
The Griffonian army calls it a "rifle" and refused to release any more information regarding this new weapon. The weapon did not seem to have any sort of sharp edge and seemed to be more of a highly decorated long stick. Here at the Equestrian Daily have chosen to remain skeptical of this new "weapon" so we decided to ask the captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, for his opinion he had this to say: "The department of Research and Development is looking into what this rifle could be but for now we have other pressing issues to tend to."
Although the prince would not answer more questions the griffonian diplomat, Gunther was happy to state the following: "It is the product of our efforts to industrialize our nation. I have witnessed the power of the rifle for myself, rest assured it will change the way wars will be fought in the future."
Celestia laid the morning newspaper beside her desk. Standing up she walked toward the Prench doors which lead to the balcony that oversaw the city of Canterlot. She stopped in front of the doors simply admiring the view of the city through the clear glass. Her thoughts were on this new weapon the griffonians had recently deployed for their men. She could feel something was wrong, VERY wrong. The amount given to their soldiers was no joke they were essentially substituting swords and crossbows with this new weapon, worst of all, the griffonian soldiers were tight lipped as to what it could do. The situation only got worse when she heard rumors that the Minotarian Republic was preparing to announce a military alliance with the Griffonian Empire by next month.
Sunset Shimmer had reported to Celestia her findings in the murder case of Solar Flare. She was on Black Cloaks tail following him from the shadows. She had the suspicion he was somehow involved in the murder. The evidence gathered in the meeting hall was slowly stacking against him. All she had to do now was wait until he slipped. What really perplexed Sunset Shimmer however was the possibility of a third party somehow involved in the murder. This also worried Celestia. Considering where the murder took place, the time in which the diplomats left the building, the bloody fountain pen and the fact that nearby locals saw a griffonian carriage leave the town a bit late were bad omens when taking in consideration the current geopolitical situation. Luna was having difficulty trying to enter the dreams of the diplomats, especially a certain Griffon diplomat.
Her thoughts drifted from the griffonian situation to Anon. For the past month Twilight would send everyday a separate report to her in regards of what she learned about him. So far, everything seemed to be going well for Anon, he met with the bearers of harmony and was quick to make friends with them. From what she had read, Twilight found that Spike had taken a liking to Anon. Anon treated Spike like a little brother and if the reports were anything to go by it seemed a bond was beginning to take root ever since Anon had started teaching self-defense to the young dragon.
The world from which Anon came from seemed to be highly advanced. Celestia hoped to maybe receive help from Anon to further advance Equestria, maybe an outsider's perspective could help her ponies progress.
Celestia was disheartened when she heard about the information gathered by Luna from Anon’s dreams during his first few days in Equestria. Although she couldn't see much due to what she could only describe as some sort of interference by his subconscious she was able to recover some information. He was indeed not their father. Luna was unable to find any memories of them in his mind. Luna could not hold back her tears in front of Celestia, out of the two Luna was the most hopeful but she was struck down with grief when she learned the truth from Anon's memories.
When both their mother and father disappeared, Luna was the most affected, crying and refusing to believe they were simply gone. Soon after life became very difficult for the two. It's the reason why Celestia became a bit of a prankster in the first place. It was to bring a bit of happiness to Luna so she could overcome her grief. Even after many centuries they hoped they were out there somewhere.
Celestia remembers: The stars didn't shine the night they disappeared and a bone chilling darkness engulfed Equus.
2 Months AAA
Cerberus Pact Proclaimed!
This morning our correspondence in Minotauria confirmed that during the early hours of the morning the Cerberus Pact -a military alliance- was ratified between the Griffonian Empire, Minotaurian Republic and the Zebrican Kingdom. Diplomats from the three countries clarified that the alliance purpose is to maintain peace in the region amidst the recent threats from the Yakistan Confederacy towards the three other nations.
Celestia was first to respond, warning them this alliance is detrimental to the stability of the continent. Our reporters tried to interview prince Shining Armor but received no response from him, instead, we received an official letter from Equestrias Department of War stating: "We have no reason at the moment to intervene in the matter. Our priority is the safety of Equestria as well as its citizens and at the moment the Cerberus Pact poses no immediate threat to Equestria."
The members of the Cerberus pact have made it clear in an official statement they would not attack Equestria, however they made it clear if they were provoked it would result in "swift destruction".
Twilight had just finished writing her friendship report and was now starting to write down her report in regards to what she had learned from Anon. Twilight paused taking a second to look at the couch in the middle of the library. There, lying on the couch, was Spike sleeping after a tiring day of training with Anon. His purple and green scales covered by a blue blanket sleeping peacefully, it was a shame she would have to wake him up later. 'If only I had a camera' she thought.
She focused her attention to the report she was going to write down trying to think back of all she had learned about Anon, she thinks back to all the good he had done for her friends, Spike and her; the more she thought about him the more she smiled. Shortly after arriving at the castle he would be insistent in helping in her research, Twilight was little apprehensive at first but after proving his worth with an extensive exam she accepted his help. Twilight's once lonesome experiments were now even more exciting with Anon around. She was fascinated with every piece of information he had to give; he was like an open book and she loved that.
She also enjoyed teaching Anon about magic. It was like teaching unicorn foals for the first time. At the time she couldn't help but smile thinking 'Is this what Cheerilee feels when teaching the foals at her school?'. Every question Anon had about magic she would try to answer to the best of her ability. She had to admit, Anon made some very interesting questions in regards to the functionality of magic that would lead her to think magic in a different way.
Anon was a mystery to Twilight, he mostly avoided talking about his past and would only give little bits of information when it was necessary. It hurt her a little to know that Anon still couldn't confide in her or her friends, but deep within her she knew that in time he would come around.
A few days later
Anon was sleeping on a chair in Ponyville's hospital when a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
A voice softly spoke to him "Anon?"
Anon opened his eyes seeing Redheart with clipboard in hand. Anon groggily speaks "How is Scootaloo doing?"
"Thanks to the pill you gave her she is stable at the moment, thank Celestia." Redheart assures him.
Anon's face smiles smugly "See? Told you it would work."
Redheart smiles and playfully punches Anon on the shoulder "You did an amazing deed you know that? What you did was heroic."
Anon scratches the back of his head embarrassed a bit by the comment "It was nothing really."
Redheart bends a bit and hugs Anon surprising him. She whispered in his ear "Don't underestimate what you did; you could have run away when that manticore attacked her but instead you risked your life to save her." Redheart looked Anon in the eye and continued "It was kind of you to do that ...and sorry for slapping you when you gave her the pill."
Anon chuckles a bit and sighs. Standing up Anon breaks the hug and speaks "Is Scootaloo awake?"
"No, she's still asleep. We will be monitoring her for the time being just to be sure"
Anon nods "Is it ok if I stay?" Anon asks
"Of course. Family members are the only ones allowed in a patient's room, but you know more about the pill you gave her so I believe it would be wise for you to observe her for the time being in case anything happens."
"Thanks. Hey, how come you never told me you were studying to be a doctor?"
"You didn’t ask. Besides I wanted to keep that a secret from Pinkie you know how she is."
Oh yeah Anon could imagine Pinkie would be throwing a massive 'congratulations on being a doctor party'.
"That’s good news! Don’t worry my lips are sealed." Anon makes a gesture to indicate he zipped his mouth.
Redheart chuckles "What I would like to know is who told you I was going to be a Doctor?"
"Um if I don’t tell you what would happen?"
"I would find out by myself and punish you with extra work next time you come and volunteer."
"It was Spike."
"Why that little- Oh how could I get mad at him. Those cute little ears are naturally more sensitive to sound than a ponies ears."
"Don’t worry ill chat with Spike over his slip-up later"
"Please do"
4 months AAA
Yakistan Confederacy declares war on the Griffonian Empire!
This morning the Yakistan Confederacy has announced a state of war now exists towards the Griffonian Empire and her allies the reason being due to a recent border skirmish in which many Yakistan warriors lost their lives.
The nation of Yakistan claims that griffonian soldiers were crossing into Yakistan territory and when asked by the Yakistan army to turn around they refused and kept marching forward. The Yakistan soldiers regarded this action as a provocation and attacked the battalion of three hundred soldiers but the Yakistan regiment of one thousand men was completely wiped out from the rifles the griffonian army had unveiled just a few months back.
It is clear now that the destructive power of these weapons is beyond what was expected, it far surpasses the sword, shield and bow. It is even more alarming when the EDW (Equestrian Department of War) admits that they have no strategy as of yet to counter such weapons. The only assurance the EDW has given to the ponies of our nation is a guarantee that their battlemages are ready to face any new adversities.
As of the moment not only are the Yakistan going to fight griffonians, but also minotaurs and zebricans as both have already responded to the declaration with their own. This means that the Yakistan Confederacy will have to fight Cerberus Pact member nations putting them at a huge disadvantage.
The situation seems to be dire at the moment for the Yakistan Confederacy. We at the Equestrian Daily would like to express our solidarity to our Yakistan neighbors. May Faust and the Father guide them.
What Anon wanted more than anything was to take this chance to live a peaceful life, away from the hell earth had become. He was just coming to terms that he probably wouldn't be able to go back after being told by Luna it would be long process to create a working portal to his world, centuries to be exact. That didn’t mean Anon would give up, instead, it gave him a new purpose: to somehow find a way home. When Anon questioned about the portal that connected Equestria to Canterlot high he was told by Luna the portal had already existed long before both Celestia and Luna were born.
On a happier note, Anon found himself adapting to his new environment quite easily. Getting used to the terminology used by the locals took a bit of time but eventually he got the hang of it. With time, he quickly made friends throughout the small town of Ponyville especially with Twilight and Redheart.
He held Redheart as a friend, she was kind and stern when needed, a great listener and her patience towards everypony made her a great role model for the young ones; she was also very optimistic. He loved helping her with her thesis on preventable diseases, she would pay close attention and try her best to understand him. Anon, however, noticed how close she was slowly becoming for him; feeling as if they could be more than just friends.
Twilight, however, was somepony he held close to his heart; she was endearing, "adorkable" and he liked how she would pay him close attention whenever he spoke of the history of mankind, he liked the clumsiness she would display by accident when she was behind schedule, her humbleness towards everypony was a quality he loved and her smile when she saw Anon create something new was simply priceless. Anon found himself falling for the mare.
Anon had been living in one of the castles rooms. The floors and walls were entirely made out of a purple crystal, his bed was beside a window with a view of Ponyville and his desk was in the opposite end of the window. Anon was just about to head to bed for the night when a few frantic knocks were heard from his door.
"You can come in." Anon said from his desk.
Twilight bursts in the room dressed in her yellow pajamas with letter in hand. She was obviously nervous and seemed looked to be in a hurry.
Handing him the scroll she says "It's for you. It seems to be urgent"
Grabbing the scroll, he asks before opening it "How do you know its urgent?"
With a huff she says "Celestia never sends letters this late to anypony unless it’s an emergency."
Anon looks at her a bit confused. He opens the scroll reading what was written. All of a sudden, immediately after reading, a white flash engulfs the room and Celestia appears before Twilight and Anon.
Without bothering to say hello she goes up to Anon and speaks steadfast "We require your help Anon."
To Anon she looked worried "How can I serve you?" Anon asked.
Celestia explains to Anon briefly what her military observers witnessed in the one-sided carnage. The observers were convinced they were going to be outmatched by this simple griffonian invention. New strategy would have to be planned and drawn out; it completely flipped the tables and they were witnessing it before their eyes. Equestria was ill-prepared to face this new way of warfare thus why Celestia seeks the help of Anon. Anons world was no stranger to conflict so Celestia thought it would make sense to recruit Anon into the army as a military officer.
"Please Anon, help us... guide us, Equestria needs your help." Celestia says those words with a tone that reminded Anon of a worried mother’s tone. "I fear the worst is upon us."
Anon, glancing over to Twilight sitting cross-legged on his bed with her hands covering her mouth in shock over the information made Anon think carefully before giving his answer to Celestia "I'm at your service" Celestia smiled and was about to speak but Anon continues "On one condition"
Celestia didn't care. She needed his help "As long as its within reason I'll accept."
"I want a certain degree of autonomy, other terms we can discuss later. I promise my terms won’t include anything too crazy." Anon states matter-of-factly.
Celestia nods "I promise it will be done. Thank you Anon." she turns to leave a shocked Twilight and determined Anon behind but before leaving she turns back looking at Anon "The train leaving towards training will be here early next Monday morning."
Anon simply nods "Yes, Celestia."
Celestia leaves after saying her farewells as an uneasy silence engulfs the room. Anon seated in his desk chair looks over to Twilight sitting cross legged on top of his bed with a tearful expression looking like she was on the verge of tears.
"Don't go... please." It was a soft muttering almost inaudible. Tears started to trickle from her cheeks to the bed bellow.
"I have to g-"
"NO, YOU DON'T" Twilight was now truly starting to cry, sobbing on her hands and trying to wipe away tears using her arms to no avail.
It hurt Anon to see her crying. He tried to comfort her but she swats his hand away.
After a few moments of nothing but the sound of Twilight sobbing he questions softly "Why not? Give me a good reason as to why I should stay." Her behavior reminded him of that time he saved Scootaloo from the manticore.
Twilight was trying hard to let her words out "I-I need y-you here...I want you here." She knew that wasn't the only reason but she didn't want to tell him like this, not yet. But if she didn't tell him she would never forgive herself.
Anon was quick to counter "This is bigger than you or I. The country needs me, Celestia said so herself. I could help training them for the challenges ahead, you know I can!"
Twilight knew he was right but she didn't want to lose him. The information given by Celestia worried her deeply "What about Spike? huh!? What about the girls?" Twilight clutches her hands "What about me? Did you even consider how I felt? You simply said yes like it’s nothing!" Twilight shouted, she rarely raised her voice and that surprised Anon.
"I'm doing this for you, the girls, ponyville, Spike; Everyone! Its so I can keep you guys safe!" Anon's hand was pulled by Twilight closing some distance between him and the mare.
Silence reigned over the room; tension still palpable. Twilight tried hard to wipe her tears and force out the words she's been trying to say for the last month, to convey her feelings, the thoughts she had for him but when she opens her mouth nothing comes out.
"Do you even know what your job will consist of?" She sniffles "Being an adviser means that not only will you have to give advice to the military but it also means you will have to prove your tactics are effective in the battlefield." Anon looks confused but Twilight continues "It’s called Trial by fire for a reason."
Anon connects two and two together "Wait, I thought I would only be giving them some advice maybe a few training lessons not actively participating in battle." Anon sounded genuinely nervous.
Twilight start beating him in the chest "You dummy, y-you idiot, y-you dimwit!" her sobs started up again.
Anon grabs her hands while Twilight keeps trying to hit him. Letting go of her he embraces Twilight in a hug carefully trying to avoid her horn. Twilight's bout slowly lost force and she returns his hug while crying in Anon's embrace. The sound of her crying was heartbreaking, it tore away Anon's heart bit by bit. The urge to comfort her only magnified by every hitch in her breathing and the tightness of her embrace. Anon raises a hand and pets her mane for a while which made her crying to slowly grind to a halt leaving only sniffles and a damp spot on his shirt.
During the few seconds of silence Anon thinks about what he was told by Twilight. If what he was told was true, he would have to have a long talk with Celestia about being told partial truths.
Anon speaks softly to the mare "Twilight"
Twilight stirs in his embrace and finally lifts her face upwards revealing her puffy red eyes. Anon flashes a reassuring smile at her, lifting her head with one hand. Twilight's cheeks turn a rosy red.
Anon looks into her purple eyes "Now you listen to me good Twilight. I am no stranger to the dangers of warfare; you can rest assured I am not scared." Twilight eyes well up and tries to protest but is stopped by Anon' words "Now I want you to promise me something mi amiga querida," Twilight understanding him a bit and slowly nods “No more tears. Stay strong. The only tears I want to see from you are of happiness when I come back ¿entendido?"
Twilight nods and in a quiet voice speaks to him "Can I stay with you tonight?"
Anon thinks about it for a moment and gives his answer "Um, sure. You can stay" He breaks the hug.
Twilight gets under the covers and shifts to her side facing away from Anon. Afterwards, Anon turns off the lights and also got under the covers and shifts to his side facing away from Twilight. An awkward silence permeates in the room, no words are spoken for a few minutes which in turn felt like hours. Finally, Twilight speaks up softly "C-could you hold onto me? P-please?"
Anon's thoughts raced for a few seconds before calmly responding "Sure."
Anon shifts his body again to face twilight who was still in her original position and slowly -a bit awkwardly- drapes an arm over her abdomen trying to avoid touching her breasts. Twilight responds curling up and pressing against his body. She takes a hold of his hand and closes her eyes, his body heat keeping her warm and his rough hands intertwined with hers which to her felt strangely pleasant and reassuring.
Anon was so far enjoying the moment. At first, he was surprised, a bit nervous, but he decided to give her this moment and simply try to sleep. The feeling of her warmth and the smell of lavender emanating from her mane had a calming effect on him eventually causing him to drift into slumber. Only a week is left until Anon leaves and he intends to enjoy it as much as he can.
1 Week later
5 a.m.
The sun wasn’t even out yet and the train platform was full of young colts and mares who were saying goodbye to their families. Fathers tried giving advice to their sons and daughters while mothers tried to convince them to stay. The guards located there were keeping an eye on everyone as the fresh recruits boarded the train.
Twilight, the rest of the girls, Spike and Redheart were there to say farewell to him and wish him good luck. Rarity had made two special uniforms for Anon following Anon's design. The one he was currently wearing was based off a ceremonial uniform from back on earth. It was completely black with red fabric covering his chest and neck area in a v shape, gold buttons and gold stripes embroidered onto his raincoat, pants were completely black accompanied by shining black jackboots; His ceremonial hat was completely black with a red stripe running horizontally and located on the center it carried his countries emblem in a gold color embroidery. Finally, his white gloves, Anon loved the gloves, unlike the synthetic white ones he used to have back on earth these were made with natural silk. Although not standard in the military he was grateful to Rarity over the small detail. Rarity made sure to make the uniform with the best material she could get her hands on and it was noticeable. The fabric was soft and the colors were vibrant; the shoes were made with sturdy material yet it was relatively comfortable to walk around with.
The train's horn signals the last call before departure and Twilight is visibly fidgeting in place while the others are exchanging their final farewells. As Anon picks up Spike and hugs him Twilight's mind begins tormenting her. This could be the very last time she talks to him. As she watches him put Spike down her mind began racing: What could she say? Will she see him again?
Before Anon could step foot on the train she shouts "Stop!"
Anon looks back and sees Twilight run up to him. Standing in front of him she stands on the tip of her hooves, grabs him by the collar of his uniform and pulls him down to her giving him a kiss on the lips.
For a moment gasps could be heard from not only Twilight's friends and Spike but also from Redheart and some of the ponies who witnessed their princess kiss that stranger from another world.
Separating herself from him she speaks "You come back safe or I’ll never forgive you! understand?" As she realizes what she just did her face turns beet red. She didn’t think she had it in her to confess much less in this brazen manner. She cant even face away as she was petrified by her embarrassment.
Anon looks into her purple eyes for a moment still stunned at what happened. Twilight is about to turn around and walk away from the embarrassment but Anon grabs a hold of her hand and pulls her in for a kiss. She stiffens up for a second but slowly lets herself be taken by bliss as Anon takes her into his arms.
Separating himself from Twilight, Anon looks into her half-lidded eyes, cupping her face with a hand and speaks softly with a smile "I'll be back, safe and sound mi amor. I promise."
The girls and the rest watch surprised at what had just occurred.
Applejack is grinning and was the first to speak up "Well I’ll be"
Pinkie speaks up while moving in place "I didn’t expect that! Did you expect that!? Oooo I’m so jealous!"
Rarity wasn’t surprised but she was very happy for the two as evident by her smile "Please darling, it was too obvious! He’s such a gentlecolt after all; it was only natural this would happen."
Fluttershy simply hid behind her mane in embarrassment at what she had just seen. "O-oh."
Redheart looked a bit saddened while she abstained from saying anything and opted to give a small, bittersweet clap.
When Anon finally boards the train, he leaves his luggage in his designated seat and quickly heads to the final cart to wave goodbye along with the other soldiers as the train pulls away from the station.
6 months later AAA
Victory for the Cerberus Pact!
After 2 months of gruesome, bloody fighting a swift victory finally graces the continent! although at what cost? The usage of the Peck Mk 1 (griffonian rifle used by all member nations of the Cerberus pact) proved to be the key tool to this relatively quick victory but it left a young generation of yak youth to their early deaths leaving many female yaks widowed and mothers without sons or daughters.
Before the griffon army laid siege to the Yakistan capital they were met with one of the bloodiest battles of the war: the battle for Hoof Plains. The young Yakistan general, Hamel, developed a new doctrine of warfare called "trench warfare" in an effort to curb the deaths caused by the usage of rifles. Aided by a few unicorn ponies and half pony/half yak volunteers originating from Equestria which provided magical offense. They managed to push back the griffons from advancing into the city, buying time for the residents of the capital to flee the city. However, after hours of fighting, the yaks were eventually driven back. Defeated they marched towards the city and shortly after communicated their surrender to the Cerberus Pact.
The terms of the treaty of the Crystal palace established the partitioning of the Yakistan lands between the Griffonian empire and Minotauria. Observers of the treaty called it completely outrageous due to one of the clauses including the indiscriminate drafting of yak citizens into forced labor by the Zebrican Kingdom.
It is no secret that in the homelands of the Griffonian Empire and the Zebrican Kingdom, slavery is still legal and widely used for construction and other manual labor. The Zebrican Kingdom, however, is notorious for their savage treatment of slaves.
Celestia and Luna made a public announcement within Equestrias Parliament their plan to cease paying reparations to the Griffonian Empire effective immediately and economic sanctions were to be imposed onto the member nations of the Cerberus pact. Their announcement was met with applause by most members for the exception of a coalition of the dove faction led by Black Cloak.
Upon arrival Anon notices two ponies beside Celestia, one unicorn pony had a gray coat with black mane accompanied by a no-nonsense stoic expression and the other had a dual tone blue mane and white coat.
The pony with the white coat walks up to Anon "Ah! You must be Anon Reyes!" Shining extends his hand out to greet Anon as he gets off the platform "The names Shining Armor, Twilight told me all about you and Celestia-"
"ahem!" The gray unicorn coughs into her hand "Captain please, time is of the essence"
The gray unicorn salutes Anon to which Anon responds with his own "I am General Wisp; I will be accompanying the princess today."
Wisp was small in comparison to the other mares Anon had met so far, heck, for a second he thought he was talking to a teenager. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here a sentiment Anon sympathized with.
Shining sheepishly smiles "Welcome to Star Swirl training grounds! From what I understand you will be staying with us for the next 2 months?"
"You would be correct Shining. Now we shouldn’t wait any longer, I want to observe the training process firsthand. Could you please take me to watch the new recruits?"
"Right this way please." Before leaving Wisp calls over a few guards to take Anon’s luggage to the officers’ quarters.
The group makes their way together towards the entrance of the fort. The design of the interior was inferior to what Anon had been accustomed to back on earth; it reminded him of those wooden forts he would see in old western movies.
The fort was filled with soldiers some were training with swords, spears, practicing archery, practicing hand-to-hand combat and others were practicing magic. Around the fort there were tents, weapon racks and even various blacksmiths pummeling a hammer against hot iron. Shouts of commands could be heard: 'parry, slash, stab and pull!' Anon attracted the attention of various soldiers who were previously occupied. Some looked at him with curiosity, others with suspicion.
Celestia snuck a few looks towards Anon to see what his reaction was but all she saw was an unimpressed expression. It started to worry her that he was disappointed in what he was seeing but on the other hand that is why he is here, to help them improve.
Eventually they walk towards another set of gates, these ones took them outside the fort and into a large field where there were siege weapons such as catapults and trebuchets. Anon could see out in the field there was a large group of ponies some of which he recognized coming from Ponyville. What really caught his attention however was the presence of what looked like griffons among the recruits.
Anon decides to ask Shining Armor about them "Um, Shining are those griffons over there?" he asks pointing at the small group of griffon-looking ponies talking amongst themselves.
Shining looks over to where Anon is pointing "Ah! Those are actually Hippogriffs. They are half pony half griffon. We do receive griffons from around Equestria from time to time" Shining glances over to Anon for a second a bit worried "Is there a problem with that?"
Anon lowers his hand and shakes his head "None at all. It’s my first time seeing one is all." Anon was having trouble trying to understand how inter-species breeding could even be possible but if there was something, he learned during his first few weeks in Equestria it was that everything here defied logic and science.
Shining relaxes a bit and lets out a breath of relief "That’s good. It’s a relief to know that even in other worlds there are ponies as open minded as you."
Anon looked confused. He didn’t encounter much prejudice while living in Ponyville so hearing those words was a surprise to him.
"There is discrimination in Equestria?" Anon asks.
Celestia answers for Shining "Unfortunately, yes. Although it is more noticeable among the nobles and politicians than within the general populace."
Time went by until finally an instructor appeared before the recruits. The instructor introduced himself to the recruits and started laying out the laws of the land and every time he asked for confirmation from the recruits, he would receive a resounding 'yes sir!'
The day went on and as he observed the recruits, he began to see the faults in the way they were training. 'They’re training for close quarters combat,' Anon thought 'Is this the only training they’re taking?.
Anon turns to face his companions "Celestia, Shining, why are they still training for hand to hand combat?"
Shining and Celestia turn to him. Shining speaks first "They are training for when they fight up close to the enemy, others train to operate the siege equipment and the unicorns train in offensive and defensive magic."
Anon simply shakes his head before responding "Although it’s not bad to train in hand to hand combat, the war of the future will no longer depend on strength alone, no, it will be a war of industry. It’ll be a war of distance." The other three looked at Anon with confusion.
Anon sighs "Is there a place we could go to speak in privately? Preferably dark, I think it would be better to show you what I mean."
Shining thought for a second where they could go until he remembered a relatively quiet room inside the fort.
Shining finally speaks "Well there is the logistics office, its where we handle everything in regards to the daily necessities of the fort. It should be quiet in there, the only ponies in there are other officers and a few guards"
Anon nods "is the room large?"
"Yes"
"Please take us Shining" says Anon.
Upon arriving to the office Anon attracted the attention of a few guards who with one look at his uniform pointed spears at his chest.
"Halt! State your name and pu-" The guards stopped what they were going to say when they saw Celestia, Wisp and Shining behind Anon.
Shining spoke to the guards "Back to your post guards, he's with us." Wisp simply nodded to the guards who looked at his direction.
The guards complied and went back to their original positions beside the doors.
As they enter the room Anon notices personnel writing and passing papers around unaware of their surroundings. The room was silent with only the sound of quills scratching the surface of the paper. There were at least six ponies working on a huge pile of papers on each wooden desk and at the end of the room was a stone chimney with the portraits of the Alicorn sisters and in one of the walls was a map of all Equus with a few pins stuck to a few locations.
"Is it possible for them to leave the room?" asks Anon to Shining in a low voice.
When one of the officers noticed their presence he frantically stands up from his seat to salute. His other companions look towards his direction and reacted in a similar manner when they saw who was in the room.
"I’m afraid it won’t be possible. The ponies working here have all been working since yesterday to make a financial report for the upcoming parliament hearing." Wisp says while cleaning her monocle. "They haven’t slept or ate anything in all that time."
After hearing this Anon notices the bags that were forming from under their eyes and the strain it was causing to their alertness.
Anon turns to look at Shining "Fine, but I have another question."
"What would that be?"
"Can they keep a secret?"
Shining nods and turns his attention towards the ponies hard at work. "Stop what you are doing for the moment. Anything you see or hear from this moment onward is to be kept confidential until told otherwise by officials understood?"
"Yes Captain!" All of the officers confirm in unison.
Anon looks around "Tell them to clear out a table and move it to the center of the room."
"You heard him. Look alive on the double!"
The ponies did what they were told and cleared a table of its pile of papers, ink bottle and quill. Once the table was at the center Anon walked towards it and pulled out a small disk like device and cable from his pocket. Everyone in the room stared at the device and cable with curiosity. Anon looks at both Celestia and Shining and motions them to come closer.
Anon points at the device in the table "See this device here? Made it myself a few months ago with the help of the girls. I was planning on showing Twilight some entertainment from Earth but I guess that will have to wait for a bit."
"Entertainment?" Celestia asks.
"I won’t get into that right now."
Anon connects the cable from the device to a small socket concealed on the back of his ear. The ponies in the room gasp and murmur from one to another. Celestia looked genuinely surprised, Shining's eyes went wide and Wisp’s face contorted to one of disgust.
"That doesn’t hurt does it?" Celestia asks.
"No, not at all." Anon sits on a chair, closing his eyes as he tries to concentrate "What you are about to see are historic events from earth, nothing comes from my imagination or has been altered in any way, shape or form." Having established a connection to the device he speaks before starting "Please do not move from your places, keep in mind nothing you see will hurt you in any way." Before anyone could say anything Anon slumps into the chair.
The small device whirrs to life and opens from the top half. The top half of the device starts to ascend and once reaching the ceiling it starts to project a hologram of Anon. Celestia looks to the Anon slouching on the chair then looks to the hologram and then back.
"Wh- I- What is this?!"
The hologram of Anon answers her "Please stay calm, I’m just projecting myself so I can interact easier with you guys." Anon's hologram turns around and opens his arms. Once opening his arms the room is plunged into darkens and a blue sphere comes into view. The sphere was located in the center of the room, in front of Wisp, Shining and Celestia. The room around them looked as if it had disappeared leaving only the officers who were looking around in awe and talking among themselves. There was no sign of a single corner of the room or desks which could be seen, it was just a dark void and in front of them the only source of light was the blue hue emanating from a blue sphere.
Laying down his arms Anon speaks "This is earth. Its where I originate from. What I want to show you now is what you will probably be facing in the near future."
The sphere fades and an open field of grass takes its place. They were somewhere in the middle of a green field dotted with trees when shouts and the sound of drums and flutes could be heard in the distance.
Anon speaks "Belgium, June 18,1815."
Lines upon Lines of British and Prussian soldiers made their way on one side of the field and on the other side French Soldiers marched to meet up. Once at a certain distance A heavy barrage of artillery rained around Anon and the rest leaving small craters behind. The area around them was quickly covered in smoke as the two armies fired upon each other and the roar of the canons could be heard from afar. The officer ponies got up from their seats, some tripping over the invisible tables and chairs trying to frantically find the exit as they panicked over the barrage of artillery that was falling around them.
Anon turned his attention towards the ponies that were frantically trying to find the exit "It’s not real! Stay where you are!"
A cannonball hits dead center where the group of ponies were and explodes. Many of the ponies froze up in expectancy of the aftermath but slowly, cautiously, calmed down when they saw they were still intact.
Anon smirks "If that had been real, you would all be dead." He looks towards Shining who was slowly emerging out from under an invisible table and composing himself. Wisp was frozen in her original spot and was noticeably shaken breathing in and out at a fast pace. Anon feels something grabbing tightly his legs and looks down toward the Anon on the chair. Celestia was holding on to his legs frightened.
"Could you let go please?"
Celestia looks up. Embarrassed she quickly gets up and brushes off the dust from her dress, Anon continues.
All around them the sound of marching gets louder as more lines of soldiers on both sides get in range. The leaders of the formations order to fire and both sides fire upon one another leaving only the dead on the grass besides their fellow soldier. Every volley of gunfire whizzed by them leaving everyone in the room ducking down and a few others awestruck.
As the battle waged on around them Anon starts to speak "This battle is known as the battle of Waterloo. This battle alone caused in total around sixty-five thousand dead."
The room begins to darken again and the sounds of shouts, gunfire, the beating of drums and the galloping of horses faded along with it. The Earth then came into view, this time the nightlights from major cities could be seen dotting the various landmasses.
"We human beings have been at war for most of our existence. We fought for resources, land, money, women and we’ve also fought for even the most mundane of reasons. Our history is bloody and cruel a crucial difference I have found when reading the history of Equestria which seems to be quite tame."
The room darkens once more as the earth disappears and another field takes its place but this one was muddy with a dark landscape. It was filled with large craters, burnt trees and dead bodies littered the wasteland. Marching could be heard as well as voices. Shining looks down behind him and sees a trench filled with soldiers of a nation he couldn’t recognize and all of them had a similar form as Anon. They’re faces had a macabre expression on them the light of their eyes snuffed out as they await orders. Some of them were on their knees, shaking and praying to a god Shining had never heard of while others with the same macabre expression were standing in place smoking a cigarette and staring downwards into nothingness. Shining could only identify one thing and it was the weapon they were carrying around.
Shining turns around looking towards Anon to ask a question but Anon beats him to it "Battle of Verdun, 1916."
"When weapons began to be even more dangerous nations began adapting the tactic of digging out trenches and manning them with soldiers to fight wave after wave of enemy soldiers as their main tactic."
A soldier who was dressed in a different manner marched up to the trench and began giving orders to his men. The soldiers who were lost in thought were now starting to affix bayonets to their rifles and lining up on the side of the trenches. The soldier who Shining now deduced to being some sort of officer, blew on a whistle, some soldiers were hesitant but the majority of other soldiers climbed the ladders set in front of them. Shining unconsciously moved out of the way but when a soldier had just gotten out of the trench the sound of machine gun fire could be heard in the distance and the soldier who had just gotten out dropped lifeless. Shining was shocked in place as soldier after soldier poured out from the trench and began running into the wasteland some not even making five steps until they dropped dead slamming their faces into the mud lifeless.
Wisp looked horrified to what she was witnessing but was even more horrified when she saw a soldier explode and disappear into nothing but a red mist and a bits of flesh. The whizzing of artillery falling around them rendering any unfortunate soul brave enough to keep running into a quivering mess as they dropped towards the craters left behind by the artillery in a fruitless effort to seek refuge.
Anon speaks up from the sound of the battlefield "37 million, that is including both civilian and military deaths as well as soldiers who were never found and deaths caused by sickness."
Gasps and murmurs could be heard among the small audience.
Shining looks at Anon "That can’t be right! That’s too many casualties! Where in the world do you get that many ponies?"
"Industrialization. When uncommon products become cheaply available there's bound to be surplus and with more products becoming even more readily available, that in turn allows the populace to have even more children." silence filled the room "Of course, there are other factors but industrialization would be the main reason."
"This war was called the great war for a reason," Anon pauses before continuing "This conflict involved over more than one hundred countries." Nobody spoke, not a single sound came from their mouths. "But later on, it would be called the first world war or world war 1."
The room stays in silence and the landscape around them darkens once more and again the earth comes into view once more this time with a bit more nightlights than last time.
"After the conclusion of the Great War there would be yet another conflict on a global scale World War 2. I won’t bore you with the details but let’s just say it was even deadlier than the first one."
"Were there any more wars like these two?" Shining speaks with uncertainty if he wanted the answer
Anon gives his answer "Yes. It would be known as the Third World War, nicknamed the 'Dreaded war'." Anon averts his gaze to the side "I refuse to unveil the details now but I will send a more detailed report on it at a later date."
Wisp finally speaks up from the silence with a scowl "Is there anything that would make your kind redeemable? All I’ve seen is nothing but destruction and death." She looked truly saddened "Please tell me this is not the norm; please tell me this is not what our future holds."
Anon doesn’t speak. Instead, his hologram disappears and the room goes back to normal. Anon wakes up disconnecting the wire and standing up he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before giving his answer.
"Yes, it is true, we have been at war against each other for centuries." Anon turns to the audience "But, we also have families, friends, lovers and a sense of brotherhood rivaled only by the inhabitants of this world. Nobody on earth or in its off-planet colonies want war, on the contrary, we strive for peace even in times of war." Anon looks towards Wisp "I have lost my family because of war; I would give anything I had to get them back." Anon tries to hold back his tears and continues "It is not in our nature to hurt others, rather, it is to help others. We can’t stand to see others suffer that is why I became a soldier in the first place."
"Then why not become a doctor or anything else?" asks Wisp now with a calmer expression.
"During the Dreaded war my sister and I became orphans. After the war we didn’t have anywhere to go and no other family member was alive so we had to provide for ourselves. I was the oldest so I had to help my sister move on in life at whatever the cost and that cost was my education."
Wisp cringed a bit knowing where this was going "You joined your countries army to provide for your sister?"
"Yes. As soon as I turned 18, I volunteered for the army and simply followed wherever the pay was higher so that led me to the orbital soldiers, a relatively new branch which operated anywhere in the solar system."
The day continued with Anon, Wisp, Shining and Celestia talking a bit more in detail in a private barrack reserved for nobility. They discussed the terms for Anons help which involved the creation of a company under Anons name to kick-start Equestrias industrialization which will become key towards the countries protection and prosperity, bits in exchange for Anon's guidance in training the army and the rights to any research done within the aforementioned company would belong to Anon exclusively.
Anon was especially stubborn on keeping whatever technology he created a secret from the country. He knew that the level of technology he was going to try to create was something their society was simply unprepared for.
"What will it be called?" Wisp asks.
Anon looks at the faces present and thinks what to name the company. Anon remembered the name of a fierce beast described in mythology which he thought would be adequate.
"Leviathan."
The room stays in silence for a few seconds with the confused faces of everyone present.
Shining speaks "What’s a Leviathan?"
one month of training later
"Attention!"
Out in an open field lines of soldiers who were just a moment ago chatting among themselves were now standing up at attention when they heard Anon. It was strange at first when they were told they would be receiving special training from a military observer but after some time they accepted it anyway.
The training was Tartarus on Equus, it was the toughest implemented yet or so they were told by their small audience of observers consisting of other soldiers and a few officers. Anon was to most pony’s opinion a hard-ass, the unending running and ever heavier weight lifting caused some to simply quit and go home. Anon inspired fear among the recruits but there were those who took it more as a challenge and continued to prevail despite the proverbial verbal abuse and relentless physical tasks given as punishment.
The trainees notice Anon carrying a large wooden crate with the word "Leviathan Industries" across it and the face of a serpent like creature behind the text.
A trainee from the front steps up and after giving a stiff salute speaks "Sir, may I ask a question?"
After putting the crate down Anon turns to the recruit "Yes you may recruit"
Pointing at the box he asks "What is that?"
Anon simply opens the crate "Your new weapons recruit. Fresh from the factory."
The recruit looks inside the crate and sees what looked like a club made almost entirely of metal. He also notices a small rectangular metal box with the words "Ammo box" on the top.
Anon takes one of the rifles and gives it to him. The pony, confused grabs the rifle from the barrel like a baseball bat as if he was about to hit the ball but Anon stops him by pulling the rifle away from him.
"On second thought I think it would be better if I show you how it works." Anon says.
Anon takes the rifle and holds it out with his two hands "This, mares and gentlecolts, is the future of warfare. Watch and observe, keep all of your questions until after the demonstration."
Anon takes the ammo box out and pulls out a few bullets and places one of them into the rifle’s intake located on the top, afterwards he pulls back on the lever letting out a somewhat familiar mechanical clanking sound.
They were located in an open field with nothing but trees surrounding them so he commands a recruit to take a rolled-up target practice decal used for archery and set it up on a tree. The recruit does so and returns back to his place.
"This weapon is a rifle, maybe you heard of it maybe you haven't. Its Equestrias response to the new armament the griffons have been rolling out as of recently. It’s called Leviathan 1 and from now on this weapon will be your primary weapon of choice. It will be your wife, husband, marefriend, coltfriend, sister, brother and family. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir!"
"I'm sorry, you ponies don't sound so convinced! should I PT all of you from here till kingdom come?!
"NO SIR!"
"Good. You see that target over there?"
"YES SIR!"
"Keep your eyes on it."
Anon takes position and sets the butt plate against his shoulder. Looking down the iron sights he takes a deep breath and speeds up his brain functions causing the world around him to seem to go slower bit by bit and as his sights settled on the center of the target he slowly squeezes the trigger.
"KA-BLAM!"
All of the recruits jumped in place and covered their ears from the noise. The recruits could feel the vibration caused by the rifle shuffle softly through them. To some it seemed exciting, others saw their future manifested in that single shot.
Two months later
The day for the trial by fire was closing. Anon had gone through hell during the parliaments hearing with the politicians in Canterlot. He was questioned about his loyalty, species, technology and relationship with the princesses. The politicians were a pain in the ass, they heckled him on almost every turn and was passively insulted by almost everyone in the building. The politicians were more in favor of Hamel's trench warfare doctrine than with Anon's mobile warfare proposal stating "The best offense is the best defense."
A certain pony by the name of Black Cloak, from the Dove Faction, spearheaded the efforts to shutdown Leviathan Industries ever since Anon received the finance from Celestia and Luna's personal treasury. Anon HATED this guy, to him Black Cloak was nothing more than an idiot hiding behind the facade of trying to preserve the peace while behind closed doors he was promoting segregation of anypony who wasn't of either of the three races of ponies or ponies who's cutie mark was -according to him and his cronies- of no use.
Anon was able to meet with the young Yakistan general, Hamel, during the chastising the politicians were giving him. Hamel was to Anons surprise really humble, trying to calm down the politicians and give some time for Anon to explain himself. During a lunch break Hamel showed interest in meeting with Anon since he was really curious of his species and the military tactic he was proposing. Anon and Hamel were joined later by Shining Armor and among the three they shared stories and generally had a pleasant conversation.
With the tension lifted they headed back into the dreaded battlefield of words that was the parliament . With a new wind Anon pushed back against Black Cloak's words choosing to instead show them with actions what he was proposing would work. After observing what he had showed Celestia, Shining and Wisp Parliament agreed and set a date for the trial by fire all was left to choose was the location. Anon was given three options: the blistering cold of the tundra landscape of the Crystal Empire, the dense jungles of Equestrias tropical southern jungles or the dry wastelands of the badlands.
All of them were shitty locations.
The cold of the Crystal Empire could kill his men through hypothermia and even if they could solve this by simply using appropriate clothing and magic they still had to deal with the remnants of Sombra's followers who were accustomed to the cold and have domesticated beasts infamous for their brutality.
The jungles to the south is just as bad, large swabs of the jungle were not controlled by the weather team, swamps were abundant and the existence of deadly pathogens combined by the dangerous wildlife within the dense jungle made it a suicide mission. Their objective would be to hunt down wild hydras who had the jungle under lock-down.
Finally there was the Badlands. The Badlands seemed the simpler alternative since the objective itself was simple: Destroy a diamond dog slaver base. The catch however was the lack of communications and the closed space of the diamond dogs tunnels. Many others had already gone in but none had come out.
The only silver lining to all this was that all other attempts to solve these problems was done using primitive tech. Anons section consisting of 7 soldiers were going in with new weaponry and if he has enough time, new equipment as well.
In the end Anon accepts the third option. His reasoning being that his section would be properly equipped and had already gone trough close quarters training using the new rifles his company provided so this meant they probably had a better chance. Having made the decision, he was told to report to the selected battlefield in three days.
After the summoning, Anon was able to finally able to get some quiet time in one of the castles rooms, away from the politicians and from anypony else.
He walks over to a guitar he had purchased that morning during his jog around Canterlot. Picking it up he opens the door to the balcony overlooking the city. Taking a chair he sits down and starts tuning the instrument.
*Knock Knock*
Without looking up from his guitar he speaks to whoever was bothering him at the moment.
"You may come in."
It was Shining Armor.
"Hello, Anon. Can we talk?"
"Sure! Whats up?"
"Well, I just recieved a letter from Twilight telling me about, well, your new relationship with her."
Anon puts down his guitar "Oh. Listen, I have no bad intentions if thats what you were gonna ask."
"No Anon, I didnt come here to ask what your intentions are with her although I have to admit I'm still worried." Shining sighs "Twilight is old enough to decide who to love. Shes a grown mare and I guess im scared my little sister is growing"
"If its of any consolation, I know how you feel. I was suspicous of my brother-in-law, paranoid even." Anon chuckles from the memory "Could you blame me? She was my only family. Its not wrong for you to be worried in fact I would say youre doing a good job. Just keep in mind: she will always be your sister coltfriend or not."
"Anon what worries me is the mission your heading into. If something happens to you my sister would be devastated and I hate seeing my family saddened."
Smiling, Anon puts a hand to his shoulder and pats him "Were not that different. Were fools with good intentions."
"In a way I guess you’re right."
