The crackle of a fire could be heard for a short distance as flames rose into the air before slowly dissipating. Around the campfire were four ponies, dj, aqua, lorthalis and razor all clad in different apparel although there was two things that they all had in common. The dog tags hanging from their necks all with the same engraving NLR, and just how dirty and generally disgusting they all looked. Dj took a swig of the bottle of whiskey in his hand feeling the familiar sensation of burning against the back of his throat as he swallowed passing the bottle to his best friend lorthalis.
Lorthalis was a changeling his large muscular body covered in the familiar holes...as if the black skin and fangs weren't enough. He didn't feel like drinking however and past it off to aqua, she seemed like a relatively normal unicorn, if it wasn't for the dog tags it would be strange seeing her here. On her arm was a red arm band with a white cross on it signifying she was a medic. She took a swig of the whiskey...at this point the bottle had barely any alcohol left in it and she didn't want all of the alcohol to go to waste.
Instead of passing it to the earth pony known as Razor and their squad leader she put the bottle in a satchel so dj wouldn't try and get it back. Razor was a bit disappointed but hey they all had enough to drink for the night.
"You know the thing I hate about the everfree?" The earth pony asked "the fact that you can never tell what time it is without a watch...but even they seem to malfunction here" he said tapping the electronic watch on his wrist before taking if off
Dj sighed softly as he pulled his fingerless gloves off allowing the skin underneath to finally breath having been suffocated for hours
"well...I don't know about you guys but I'm going to crash" he told the group hearing a unanimous chatter of acknowledgement as he laid down on the cot he'd rolled out. He used the hoodie he was wearing as a makeshift blanket as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
That morning the group had awoken, some slept peacefully that night others not so much but shut eye was shut eye. Packing up the camp was easy all it required was snuffing out the last remaining burning embers and rolling up their cots
"Come on let's move it people we gotta move as soon as possible" Razor encouraged clapping his hands as a way to get them to move faster
"Maybe we'd hurry up if you helped jackass" lorthalis replied as he hoisted a large bag over his shoulder with some effort grunting, whatever was in the bag made a loud metallic scraping sound. But this was overshadowed as he picked an M249 light machine gun off the ground. Come to think of it all of them were carrying weapons from simple handguns and shotguns to smg's and high-powered rifles, it was clear these people weren't veterans on a camping trip in the everfree.
The team had been hiking through the everfree for quite awhile having woken up deep inside the confines of the forest, having fended off some of the many denizens that lived throughout he dark and foreboding forest on the outskirts of ponyville. It felt like hours had started to pass as they walked through the dark forest...it was all the same to them having gone through the forest multiple times in their lives. So when the small Ray's of light began to shine through they knew they were getting close to the edge of the forest and so they started going double time, picking up the pace so they could finally get their bearings and figure out their next move.
Stepping out of the forest they groaned as their eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light before finally adjusting. The first thing Dj saw as his eyes adjusted was the iconic image of Canterlot castle.
"Well that's... odd" Dj said as he tilted his head to the side resting a hand on his waist
"Yes it is...where's the shield guarding them from bombardment?" Razor asked
"Maybe they finally ran out of batteries?" Aqua said with a shrug
"No fucking way...maybe their just getting cocky, the bastards" Lorthalis scoffed
"Well whatever's going on I'll be sure to report it" Razor said, if only his radio wasn't crushed. Despite this the group moved on but they didn't feel quite right...like something was just ever so slightly off, everything seemed to bright and colorful not like how it usually was, did they all sustain bad head injuries? Despite these weird oddities the team pressed on determined to get to ponyville, it was a lot closer then turning right back around and going to the old ruins headquarters. It was a pretty sweet deal, they let ponyville keep going and sending supplies to the solar empire and the NLR occupied the town and stored supplies their all while hiding in plain sight. It was pretty brilliant especially when some officers would slip a nice surprise in the shipments.
As they moved towards the town they followed a small trail, it was an odd thing to just have out their but the thought had barely entered their minds when a pony yellow pony came into view infront of them and gasped in fear.
Fluttershy had just gotten done with her shopping trip, her bag was full of treats and food for her and her animal friends, so far just a normal day for her. She was on her way back to her cottage however when she was thrown a curve ball in the form of four people all carrying firearms....and a changeling. She wanted to run, to scream to do anything! But her body didn't move as eye contact was made with her.
Author's Note
Hello authors notes here, sorry if the story is a little disjointed or their are any typos I'm on mobile at the moment but I'm doing my best to mitigate issues ^^ hope you enjoy. If you want this to continue let me know and I'll happily keep it going
The sounds of gunfire rippled through the air as the kick of a rifle slammed into Dj's arm. A large burst of gunfire left three solar guards dead in a cluster infront of their makeshift barricade but the fight was still going, they were getting rushed from all sides.
"Lorthalis I need covering fire in the right flank I'm out!" Razor yelled as he hit the dirt behind the sandbag, bullets whizzed over him as the changeling machine gunner ran over firing his M249 as he did so. Some of the guards firing hit the dirt wounded or dead while others scattered for cover as Razor reloaded thanks to lorthalis' help. The gunfight was raging on as more and more solar guards showed up overwhelming them but that wasn't what killed them. Dj gasped as he looked up
"MORTAR STRIKE!" he yelled as the mortar shell landed right in the center of their fortifications. Dj was tossed over the sandbag wall and landed on the harsh cobblestone ground sinking through it as his back hit the hard stone wall of a dungeon. He groaned as a dripping sound alerted him...along with a pounding headache. Looking around groggily he noticed a small pool of crimson liquid infront of him resting on the stone floor. A drop of liquid fell from his chin hitting the floor before the rattling of chains was heard...he could barely move his arms. As his vision cleared he was alerted to the fact he was in a dungeon like cell, his wrists were in shackles attached to the wall with metal bars infront of him.
"We didn't think you would wake up for awhile after a bit like that" a female voice said. Looking up a Pegasus in a police uniform was standing their "you and your friends are in quite a bit of trouble you know illegal possession of firearms AND pretending to be royal guards...those are two big felonies my friend" the woman said
"The fuck are you talking about lady?" He asked
"We checked your tags mister..." The mare pulled a pair of dog tags out of her pocket "dj-chemicalz....interesting name alias maybe?" She questioned
"My parents were drug addicts" dj responded sarcastically
The mare snickered "that's a good one...haven't heard of drug addiction for awhile" she said
"Sure...look why am I here lady? And where are my squad mates?" He asked now a bit more serious
"Well like I said you illegally possessed firearms and as if that wasn't enough you made threatening gestures towards Fluttershy" she said "rainbow dash took ya down hit you pretty hard from what flutters told us" she stated "and your 'squad mates' are in different cells...the changeling is being prepped for exile" she said to which dj responded
"What!?" He exclaimed as he suddenly tried to rush towards the bars before being yanked back by the metal shackles
"What did you expect changelings aren't allowed in Equestria" she told him
"Is this about leaching emotions? He's had the conversion surgery you bitch!" Dj said a scowl having crossed his face
"Hey!" The mare smacked her baton against the barns "no one's called me that in a long time and I'm certainly not gonna be called it by you punk!" She said in an angry tone of voice "and what are you talking about conversion surgery?" She asked in a demanding tone of voice
"Well maybe if you weren't kissing Celestia's ass and actually took a look around the world maybe you'd know!" He yelled
The mare was dumbstruck by this comment...maybe this wasn't such a cut and dry case after all. The mare sighed softly "I'll be back inmate" she told the stallion and turned her back all the while enduring a flurry of insults.
About an hour had passed as dj sat their waiting in his cell to a date he certainly deserved but didn't want. Hearing the sounds of a door opening and multiple pairs of footsteps certainly caught the colts attention and he waited in silent anticipation.
Twilight had to say it was an odd case, a group of strangers armed to the teeth claiming to be military with the insignia of Luna's royal guard on their tags with a changeling...and threatening poor Fluttershy. But with some of the details from officer iron hoof regarding the ones known as dj, lorthalis, razor and aqua this could be one heck of a story. As twilight stepped into dj's line of sight she saw the formerly hostile prisoner shudder and pull back almost like he was trying to get away.
"You must be dj" twilight said in a warm friendly voice after all being hostile wouldn't get the girls anywhere.
"You look very different sparkle" dj said "all of you do I have to admit" he said with a nervous chuckle
"Whaddya mean by that bonehead?" Rainbow asked inquisitively to the person she'd only just a few hours ago floored.
"Well for starters....your wings aren't bladed" dj said...there was a lot to be talked about
Author's Note
(And that's chapter two finished! And yes I know there's been a lot of introducing and stuff but trust me the next chapter is going to be where things get interesting ^^ please have a fantastic day)