6:06PM
Western Canterlot
Dakota POV

“Hey, no fair! I gotta unlock my door!” I was now getting into a truck race with silver to a local sandwich joint called prime rye after a long day's work. I had finally gotten my engine started and had just barely caught her leaving the gates of her mansion. We were equally matched as she had the entire layout of Canterlot memorized while I could drive these big rigs like race cars. It would still be easy for both of us to see where the other was in the city because both of our trucks were painted a bright glossy red and because I could see the heat waves exiting the exhaust pipes. I was actually drifting the truck through the streets and it was both fun and dangerous. I could tell now that it was going to be a close draw all the way to the end. The only way I could tell I wasn’t going the wrong way, is because there was a large sign sticking up 90 feet in the air just like some fast food joints and gas stations did back home to advertise to people driving along the highways out in the middle of nowhere and let them know that place was there. I had rounded a corner and was approaching the restaurant Silver had recommended but it was going to be a close finish because just as I had rounded the corner, Silver had come off a side street and was now side by side with me and it was now a straightaway to the sandwich joint and now it was a matter of who could shift quicker and keep the throttle to the floor. Silver was ahead of me but I was quickly gaining on her. We had about 2 miles left before we would reach the restaurant and it was going to be very close.

"Come on silver, let's see if you can catch me!" I shouted into the CB radio and blasted the air horn. "Bring it! if I win, your paying for both of our meals!" She responded. We were neck and neck but silver passed me on the right side and I was now starting to get into the lower Triple digits. I Was raging and banging my hand on the steering wheel. There were ponies out and about still all just standing on the sidewalk and watching us blow past them at such high speed. Even though they were pretty much just a blur, I thought I could actually see some of them cheering us on, but I wasn't sure since we were going so fast.

It was the final home stretch, just one more mile. If I could pass her, silver would be paying for our meals. I had caught back up to her but it was meaningless now as we had just passed the restaurant and I had one. I was feeling very cocky and paid the price for it since silver voiced her victory on the CB.

“YEEEEEHAAAW! That’s what I’m talking about, This thing rocks!” She shouted. She had put on a bit of a southern accent there. She also seemed to like her new VNL as well.

“Yeah, yeah I get it. You won and I gotta pay for the food.” I responded in a pissed voice. I flipped on the jake brake and started to apply the brakes to slow down before I reached the end of the road. Silver got behind me and managed to turn around but there wasn’t enough room for us to do so. I would have to make a u turn and go all the way back down the road until we were right outside the restaurant and park up outside.

"That is what i'm talking about! No pony knows Canterlot like I do, woohoo!!" She shouted victoriously. “Oh shut up. If I hadn’t given you a truck that had a C15 with a big ass marine camshaft, I would’ve gapped you on the straight away." I said in a somewhat competitive tone. I wasn’t gonna be a sore loser about a race.

"Hey, maybe next time, I’ll show you around Canterlot and maybe you might memorise it’s layout. don't be mad that I caught you in the end, be happy that we got to have some fun together and maybe next time you’ll win." She said trying to keep my spirits up, which seemed to work. "Next time, ill be sure to get a faster truck then." I said. "Well then, Ill take more shortcuts." She responded cockily.

Silver proceeded to start taking off all of her armor before heading inside. She took off her hoof plates or whatever they're called then her helmet and finally her chest plate. I had never seen her without her armor on until now and I had gotten a full look at her cutie mark as well. It seemed to be a saber being unsheathed with a glint on the part of the blade that was exposed.

"Let's head on inside." Silver said. Following her inside, some of the ponies just gave us confused looks like every other pony I've seen in canterlot while others surprisingly clapped and cheered as they were more aware of what had just happened just minutes ago as Silver and I finished our race and some ponies were congratulating her on her narrow victory before a waitress walked over and greeted us.

"Hi, welcome to prime rye! how many today?" she cheerfully greeted us with a rather strong Brooklyn accent. "It's just the two of us." Silver said.

“Alright then, if you two would kindly follow me please.” She said. I couldn’t help but try to figure out who this mare was. I know I had seen her in the show before but I can’t quite remember from where. She was entirely purple with a grapevine cutie mark and purple eyes, a little too much of one color. She led us to a booth a few seconds later. She then took our orders for drinks before she walked off to the kitchen.

“So silver, I gotta ask you something. Do most ponies around here easily adjust to new things here on your world or am I just imagining things?” I said randomly. That question had been hugging me now for the past day and a half that I’ve been here.

“They do actually. We’re able to adjust so easily to new things because of how often weird and unusual things happen in Equestria that it’s almost become an everyday occurrence. If there’s a day without something strange happening, it either means that we were able to catch a break or something is going to happen soon and it’ll be big. Kind of like how you ended up here and put down part of an army.” She said.

My phone kept vibrating in my pocket for some reason but I wasn’t gonna check it out right now because I was always given shit about being on my phone in a public place by the boomers who act entitled to everything just cause their old and think society would be better off if we didn’t have phones and the internet. My phone was most likely going off because of some mobile games I had that were trying to get me to come back and play them because I hadn’t played them in a few days or they were telling me to hurry back because there was a special offer that would run out soon or something. The waitress came back a minute later with our drinks on her back and that's when I recognized her. Berry Punch, that's who she was. I knew she looked familiar but couldn't quite figure it out until now. She gave us our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Me and silver both gave her our orders before she walked back to the kitchen. I didn't notice until now just how modern this place seemed compared to places back on earth. There were some small flat-screen TVs above the bar but they were in black and white and the quality was kind of low but it seemed like they were on a news channel right now. There were also some weird looking carriages parked outside by our trucks that didn't seem to have the harnesses that would allow for another pony to pull it and seemed to look like it would use a small 4 cylinder engine or electric motor to turn a drive shaft connected to a gearbox. I was about to ask silver about it but she already answered before I even opened my mouth.

"Magic. Those carriages use magic to move without the need of another pony and are pretty pricey. Most of the nobles here in canterlot have one but they are available to the common pony, just without some luxury features like seatbelts and airbags." She said.

"Sounds just like when cars were still being developed back home but the seatbelts and airbags soon became mandatory to put in every car as they were relisted as safety devices." I replied.

Berry Punch came back with our food a few minutes later and we dug in. After a long day of work, I needed this food more than anything. My phone kept going off in my pocket and I was starting to get annoyed but it could wait until after we left this place.

20 minutes later

I was super full and ready to fall asleep now. That sandwich silver recommended really did a number on me but it was delicious. Silver paid for our food regardless as I had only been in Equestria for about a day and a half now and I had no money that they would accept.

"This place has amazing food silver, glad you recommended it. Once I can get a job and some money, I'm gonna start coming here every day for lunch." I said.

"Glad you liked it. Even though Prime rye is local to canterlot, it's loved by ponies around the world." She said.

Silver had already paid and we were about to leave but my phone started vibrating again before I finally decided to see why. I know for a fact Equestria had no cell towers but somehow I had a signal and I had almost 40 new unread text messages. It wouldn't say from who until I unlocked my phone but right before I swiped up to activate the face ID, my phone started ringing. Back home, my ringtone would have scared the absolute crap out of someone because of the fact my ringtone was the emergency alert system. I was shocked to see who was calling. I answered and brought the receiver to my ear.

"Sterling!?" I shouted. How was he calling me? Did he somehow get sent here to Equestria as well?

"Dakota!? Oh thank god! I tried to call and text everyone else but you're the only one my messages went through for!" He said. I can tell he was quite panicked.

"Just calm down man, where are you right now? Can you tell me what you were doing beforehand?" I said. I had a bit of a panicked tone as well laced in my voice along with a good bit of worry. Ponies inside the restaurant had for the most part, stopped what they were doing to look at me, obviously interested in what I was doing.

"Im in some sort of clearing in a forest right now. There's a small path close by but I can't get to it. I'm in a tanker truck right now that I had jumped onto that started rolling away from a gas station without its driver. I was in Arizona at the time attending a gun show and I couldn't stop the truck because the brakes weren't working and the throttle was stuck and I hit a pick up truck head-on and caused the tanker to explode. I'm still in the truck and I don't know what to do, Please, Help me!" He said. So apparently one of my best friends may have killed me back on earth and now we were both in Equestria since we both died.

"Ooohhh Sssshhhhhhiiiit alright! If that truck has a sleeper in the back, get in it and stay as low as possible. Lock the doors and do not start the engine. Just hold tight, I'm coming to get you." I said. I didn't even realize silver was right next to me before I put my phone back in my pocket and bolted out the door. I got in my truck and started it as fast as I could and started it before I took off in the direction of the castle. Silver took off behind me trying to catch up. I reached the gate and made my way towards that loading bay door that led down to where my stuff was at. I forgot that It had a keypad lock on it. I got out and tried to remember the number Celestia put in to unlock it before Silver came up next to me and got it for me before asking me what was wrong.

"Dakota, What's wrong? I know something's got you spooked judging by what you were saying and how fast you ran out of the restaurant. Just tell me what it is and I can help you. I can get some help from the rest of the guard and we can solve this issue together." She said. It was good to see that my only other friend in Equestria had my back and was willing to help me save the other one.

"One of my friends is here in Equestria and he's in a clearing in some sort of forest. I don't know exactly where though but I need to get him out of there as fast as possible as he may be in danger from whatever's in the forest he's stranded in. I need you to inform the princesses about him showing up and get search parties looking for him. I need to know now, are there any forests close to canterlot?" I said.

"The closest one is the everfree forest close to ponyville and that's at least 3 hours away by train as well as its huge and has many clearings in it. It could take up to a week to completely search the forest." She said.

"Do what you need to but I'm not gonna leave him to die there. I need this door opened now so I can get some stuff I need to get ready to go into the everfree." I said. Silver almost immediately entered the code for the door and told me the passcode before she ran back to the front of the castle to inform the princesses of the situation. I got back in my truck and drove all the way down to the warehouse turned garage and got out of the Freightliner I was driving. I knew the terrain in the forest was awful and I would need something big and powerful to traverse the forest without getting bogged down. The only two trucks that would be able to move through the forest and bring back the semi sterling was sheltering in were the Kenworth C500 and the MAZ 7310. The MAZ was an 8x8 while the kenworth was a 10x10. I ultimately decided on the MAZ as It would have no problem moving through mud and water and whatever else was in the way and would be able to pull the truck sterling was in out of the forest without any issues because I had somehow managed to cram a CAT C32 Acert engine into it even though part of it was sticking out of the top and back because its a marine engine. Don't ask how I made it fit, it was a lengthy process to say the least. It was an 8x8 monster with differential locking along with some of the biggest tires I had ever seen. I walked over to my topkick, grabbed my PKM as well as my Keltec KSG 25 before walking over to the giant Belarusian truck and got in. I stopped real quick though and thought about what else I may need to go into that forest. I knew the everfree was dangerous just from watching the show, but I didn’t know just how dangerous it really would be in real life until I actually went in there, I walked back over and reached back into my Topkick and pulled out my Milkor M32A1 MGl that I had bought for 7000 dollars during the big sandy shoot. If anything like a hydra or a manticore, or even an Ursa Minor decided to try and fuck with me in there, I was gonna blow its Ass to pieces, an ursa minor I might struggle with though unless every round hits it in the face.

I started walking back over to my MAZ and stuck the keys in and started cranking the engine. It started faster than the Freightliner did. Probably because it was much warmer down here than it was outside. I flipped on the all wheel drive and threw her into 1low. The new cat engine I put in added three extra tons of weight and so I had to beef up the suspension so it wouldn’t give out under the weight of the new engine. These upgrades included Titanium alloy shocks and leaf springs along with torsion bars made from hardened steel and the installation of hand made sway bars that I made with tungsten. These ponies parked my maz all the way in the back but I was able to just move forward since all of my vehicles were parked like they were in a parking lot. I proceeded to drive up and out of the warehouse.

I came up to the top of the ramp and saw silver waiting there for me with a lot of Pegasi, earth pony, and unicorn guards. I pulled up in front of them and killed the engine.

“I take it you’ve already told them what’s going on?” I asked silver.

“I did. They know what to look for and I’ve told them to signal every pony else nearby and to send runners/flyers to pass on the message that they found your friend and are to report his location to you first.” She said. “I told Princess Luna and she’s coming with to help with the search along with captain armor.” Silver added on. I saw the two other ponies she was talking about.

“I’ve already ordered my troops to not harm your friend if they see him. They are not to approach if they feel their lives are in danger. Even though I’ve assembled a whole battalion to search for your friend, I can’t lose anymore guards than I already did a few days ago. I already know things are going to be difficult for every pony involved as well since the everfree is much more dangerous at night.” Shining armor said.

“Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. I’ve known him for 3 years and he wouldn’t hurt any living being purposely for any reason.” I said. Shining armor was skeptical along with Luna. I pulled out my phone and dialed sterlings number and put the call on speaker.

“I’ll prove to you that he means no harm to any of the mares and stallions under your command captain.” I said.

“Hello?” Sterling answered quietly.

“Sterling it’s me. I’ve got a giant search party organized and we’re about to come look for you. However, the locals aren’t so sure that your harmless, probably cause of me and what I did a few days ago.” I said.

“Whoever you are, I swear I won’t hurt you. I don’t have any weapons and I’m hiding like Dakota probably told you that I was. Whoever you are, you need to hurry, I’ve been hearing a lot of things that Don’t sound good. It sounds like there may be wolves nearby.” He said. “Timberwolves. There’s Timberwolves close to your friend.” Luna interjected.

“Alright, like I said, keep the doors locked, stay low in the back, and do not start the engine. Turn off your ringer and try not to make any noise. We’ll be there soon. Stay safe and text me if anything else happens.” I said before I hung up the phone.

“You heard him. He’s surrounded by Timberwolves but they’re unaware of his presence right now. Let’s roll, silver your with me, I need you to help me operate the radio so we can narrow down his location.” I said. The unicorns teleported away with the earth ponies while the Pegasi took off with Luna flying towards the everfree. I told silver to hop in the seat behind me since that’s where the radio was at and to keep rotating the large dial I pointed to until the frequency number came to set on 154.325 megahertz. I fired up the engine again and flipped on the lights. Shining armor hopped in on the other side of the truck. I’m guessing he still didn’t trust me and wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure I wasn’t leading his guards into a trap.

I stepped on the gas and we bolted out of the castle and made way to the everfree. Once we were out of the city and safely off the mountain, I floored the accelerator and kept shifting up until i was finally in the final gear and my speed was capping out around 178MPH. I knew I was probably scaring the crap out of both silver and shining armor by driving this fast but I didn’t care. I pulled out my phone and asked sterling if he had anything useful at the moment. He said he had the two-way radio I bought for him as a birthday gift which was good. I had taught him a bit of Morse code and told him to continuously send out the SOS signal so I could find him.

1 hour and 10 minutes later

I was now passing by Ponyville and I could see the edge of the everfree now. I saw a trail leading in and I saw a whole lot of unicorns and earth ponies waiting there for us. I set the parking brake and got out along with silver and shining armor.

“Alright, as your boss already told you, one of my friends is somewhere in this forest surrounded by Timberwolves. From what he told me, he said he’s in a clearing close to a trail that he can’t get to. If you find something that looks to be important, report it ASAP. Earth ponies and unicorns, split up into search parties of anywhere between 15 to 40 ponies per group and walk the trails. Pegassi, you guys are to fly over the said forest and look for any clearings and fly down and inspect them. If you see a large vehicle similar to what I just showed up in, report it immediately to either me, your captain, or the princess and watch the area around it for any signs of Timberwolves. Any questions?” I said. I could see shining armor glaring daggers at me out of my peripheral vision, to which I kindly responded to by glaring broadswords at him. I didn’t care if he was pissed that I was calling the shots. My best friend is in that forest and I’m not gonna let anyone stop me from trying to save him.

No pony said anything so we got the search and rescue operation underway. I told silver how to adjust the power to the antenna on the truck so we could see how close sterling was. It was at maximum power right now which meant that I had a receiving range of 110 miles right now and the signal was rather weak. We’ve got a long way to go.

1 hour and 45 minutes later

I had been driving through the everfree forest and I had silver bring the power down to just 5 percent. Sterling was close, he was very close. From where my MAZ was right now, he was at least 3 miles away in any direction. A unicorn and earth pony scout team had found him recently at least 45 minutes ago and runners had reported his location to me and we’re leading me towards him but they haven’t made contact yet. I pulled out my phone and called him again.

“Sterling, one of my search parties has found you. You can’t see them right now and I’m less than 5 miles away. They’re going to attempt to make contact with you. Regardless of what you see, DON’T panic, Ok? I’m going to stay on the phone with you until you do meet them. What you’re going to see will seem like a bad dream, but trust me this is reality.” I said.

I rolled down my window to tell the runner to pass the word on to try and make contact with him. She simply nodded before teleporting away, probably to her group to approach sterling.

“Alright sterling, get ready to meet the locals, and like I said before, don’t panic. You can get up to look in the side view mirrors of the truck. What you’re going to see will look fake as fuck and seem like you’re in a dream, but I guarantee that it’s real, Ok? Don’t hang up alright?” I said.

“Dude, please tell me you are actually fucking with me right now. Tell me this isn’t real.” He said. “Why are there miniature white horses with wings and horns in golden armor holding swords and spears walking up to the truck right now?” He said, sounding even more distressed than ever.

“They’re the locals I was talking about, and no, I’m not fucking with you on any of this, everything you see is real. I was in the same situation a few days ago, And they're ponies, not horses. We’re not in America anymore, let alone even on earth anymore or even in the same solar system.” I said.

“They’re knocking on the door, what do I do?” He asked.

“Roll down the window a little bit and answer any questions they have for you. I should be there in 5 minutes.” I said. I hung up my phone again and continued driving. My high beams were illuminating more than just the path in front of me. I could see part of the beams shining almost directly upward into the night sky as they illuminated treetops and everything in front of me.

I came up to a group of guards a minute later that pointed to something off to the right and it would seem that I found my best bud, and like he said, there was no way to get to him directly. I saw a gap in between the trees that I could use to get my maz through as there were only saplings in the way and I would be able to go over them no problem. I backed up and started driving over the saplings towards sterling. My hunch about him being the one that killed me back on earth would appear to be right because the truck matched the same color as the one that hit me and had a fuel tanker hooked to the back of it that was blown apart burnt to shit and I had even caught a brief glimpse of the license plate before I died on earth and it matched. I could see sterling standing up in the cab now as I pulled up in front of him and got out. Sterling almost immediately got out and rushed over to me as we gave each other a bro hug.

"I was wondering when you'd get here. These ponies kept trying to speak to me but I wasn't sure what to say because they had weapons and I didn't want them to stab me if I said something wrong." He said. I can understand where he was coming from because talking ponies with swords is not something you see every day.

"Trust me, if they did hurt you, I'd Almost immediately start kicking ass and taking names until either I ran out of ass to kick, or was finally stopped. Remember that I'll always put myself in the line of fire to keep You and the rest my friends safe." I responded.

"Come on. Let's get this truck hooked up and get out of this forest before something comes and tries to kill us. I can tell now that these ponies are going to have a field day when they find out that you're here as well because some of them are already distrustful of me because of what happened a few days ago." He said. I told sterling that it's safe now to start the engine in the truck he was in because there were guards here now keeping an eye out for trouble as well as I was here and my engine was probably generating enough noise as it was. I walked back to the MAZ and got out a set of 3 towing ropes from a utility chest behind the Fifth wheel trailer hitch I installed a few weeks ago and lined up the MAZ with the truck that sterling was hiding in. Apparently he jumped onto a western star, specifically a 5700XE . These trucks very rarely had major issues so the fact that the brakes failed meant that something had gone majorly wrong. Either there was a leak in one of the lines, or in the tanks themselves. I got down on my hands and knees and started looking at them and It looks like the brakes had locked up and wore the pads and discs down so quickly that they no longer had contact between each other because the heat generated from the friction also caused the discs to warp and cause little peices of the pads to fly off so not enough air was out of the question completely. The heat generated must have been really intense because the discs were completely black and smelled similar to burnt oil.

“Jesus Christ. This thing was bound to crash and kill something either way. The brakes are completely fucked so I’m gonna have to try and replace them regardless if this thing is ever gonna move again safely. The heat, warping, wearing, and stripping has rendered them almost entirely useless. I think the only way you could possibly stop is by using the trailer brake. As for the throttle, I’m not even sure where to start.” I said to no one in particular. "I won't be able to fix it either for a long time because this place lacks the proper equipment I need such as a 4 post hydraulic lift, pneumatic tools, specialty brake tools, spare parts, and metric and standard size Ratchets and wrenches." I said.

"So that thing is just a battering ram waiting to happen, again." Sterling said.

"Yep. pretty much. We already found that out first hand and I sure as hell don't want to again." I said. I still got headaches from the impacts every couple of hours but they usually only lasted about 10 minutes or so.

I hooked up one of the towing ropes and hooked it up to a hook on the MAZ first. I got it hooked to one of the hooks on the western star and made sure that they wouldn’t fall off while I’m pulling the disabled truck back to Canterlot. I was finishing up with the final towing rope when a loud earth-shaking rumble happened.

"What the hell was that?" Was all I said before another tremor like rumble came. They kept coming and didn't stop until I saw the source of the shaking. I looked up past the western star and came face to face with an ursa major. I just stood there in a somewhat terrified state, mainly cause I didn't want to piss it off.

"Silver, Shining armor, both of you get in the truck nice and slowly. Sterling, you get back in the truck you were hiding in and steer it. I don't know what that thing is or what it’s capable of and I don't want to find out first hand. We gotta get out of here." I said just barely above a whisper. “That’s an Ursa Major. Biggest animal in all of equestria and they’re extremely dangerous.” Shining armor whispered to me. They did as I said and slowly walked back and got into the MAZ. That ursa was looking straight at me and I didn't like it one bit. I put the truck in gear and started to move slowly out of the clearing and onto the path. The guards that were with us, had scattered and fled back in the direction of ponyville. The fact that the ursa was now following us was all the more nerve-racking. I kept looking in the mirror as I went in but the ursa didn’t seem the slightest bit angry or anything, of anything, it looked more concerned and worried than anything else which was really odd. I came up to a turn on the path but the ursa put one of its paws down in front of me blocking the main path, like it wants me to go down the side path for some reason. Doing what it wanted to avoid getting killed, again, I hung a right and kept going all the way down the path with that ursa following us until I saw something up ahead that left me shocked.

Lying in front of me were 2 dead hydras and a wounded Ursa Minor with numerous downed trees pinning it to the ground, making it impossible for the minor to move and what looked like bloody ripped out claws laying on the ground next to one of the hydras. I looked back at the ursa majors paws and it seem that the claws belonged to the major because she was missing most of them and her front paws were covered in blood. Now I see what the Ursa major wanted from us. It's young was attacked and It needed our help to get it free because the mother lost a good portion of her claws making her unable to move the trees. Her cub was unconscious and wouldnt be able to move the trees itself because they were the size of the redwood's back home on earth in california. Although not as tall as real redwoods, they were still just as thick as real redwoods. I was going to need the C500 to help move the trees because the MAZ wouldn't be able to do it alone. Sure this truck was a former mobile ICBM launcher but there was no way it was going to move these trees by themselves. I got out and unhooked the towing ropes from the western star and turned the truck around backed up next to one of the trees. Along with the three towing rope points, I also had installed 3 winches on the back of the truck that could each pull 22,000 pounds. I had decked it out to be prepared for anything and everything. I hooked them up to the tree one at a time while silver brought them back in. I told shining armor that the other truck I would need was still back at canterlot and I would need it if we wanted to get that ursa free. He was reluctant to anything but eventually teleported the both of us back to canterlot and into the warehouse where the truck was at.

I walked over to the C500 and looked through my key ring to find its key. I really needed to create grouped key rings so I can Not have this clusterfuck. I found its key and unlocked the doors and got in. Before I could start the engine though, Shining armor had encased the truck in a purple aura while his horn was glowing brightly. He had teleported us back into the forest and not far from the site where we found the ursa minor and I could see the ursa major from where we were right now. Shining armor had collapsed onto the ground and I had gotten out to help him.

"I'll be fine. long-range teleportation spells involving large and heavy objects is an exhausting spell, even for the most experienced unicorn sorcerers." He said. I helped him up into the truck and got back in and proceeded over to where the Ursa was and got the Kenworth lined up next to the MAZ and like the MAZ, the Kenworth had the same 3 winches installed on the back, each one rated for 22,000 pounds. I got out and started hooking up each winch to a part of the tree that the MAZ was already connected to. I had shining armor bring the lines back in and we were ready to move the first tree off the ursa minor. I told silver to get in the MAZ and to get ready to move the tree.

"Alright silver. On the count of three, we're both gonna floor the accelerator and get that tree off that ursa cub." I said into my CB. I gave the count and we pulled forward. like the C32 powering the MAZ, the C15 in the C500 was beefed up to be as torquey as possible. Twin turbos, full force fuel injectors, cold air intake, everything. We were slowly but surely moving the downed tree off of the ursa cub even though the tires were digging into the ground a little bit and kicking up mud. We got the first log off and pulled it off to the side. That was one down and it looked like 9 more to go. I got out and started unhooking the winches from the tree while silver did the same.

I backed the monstrous 10x10 up until I was in a good position to hook up to the next tree. Silver was still unhooking her winches and was having a bit of trouble with it so I was on my own for this one. I repeated the process of tying the cables around the trunk and clipping them together before bringing the winches back in. I moved forward slowly until the winches stopped me. I slowly pressed the accelerator and felt the tires digging in again but I was slowly moving forward and bringing the downed tree with me. I got it off the ursa cub and brought it over to where we had brought the last tree. Silver had finally gotten the winches she has having trouble with unhooked and backed up towards the third tree right as I finished up with the second tree. We repeated the process of backing up, hooking up, and pulling off trees as the Ursa Major watched us carefully.

25 minutes later

We were all but done but we had run into a pretty big issue. The last tree we would have to pull off the ursa cub was so much bigger than the other trees. It looked like it was at least three times thicker than the other trees we pulled but not as long thankfully.

“What’s the hold up?” I heard shining armor call from behind me.

“This last tree is too big for us to move. The trucks wouldn’t be able to even make it budge without sinking the tires into the ground and being buried up to their chassis’ in mud and dirt. Even if we brought all of the vehicles from Canterlot, they wouldn’t be enough either because they may have power, but I don’t have enough towing ropes and winches to safely and securely move the tree. And I also don’t want to teach 50 more of your guards how to drive for this one time event. Teaching sergeant silver over there was already long and taxing enough as it is.” I said

“Is there anything at all you know of that could do the job of moving that last tree so we can get out of here?” He said back to me.

“We would need a mobile hydraulic crane capable of lifting and moving roughly 1200 tons.” I said

“Well do you know of any other way to move that tree then?” He said.

“No. The only way to move that tree is to get the aforementioned mobile crane from my world and bring it to equestria, and even then, it still requires special training and entire teams of spotters and engineers to operate properly. I only know how to use small truck mounted lumber loading cranes as well as some other types of machinery such as excavators and loaders and not to mention the fact that I’m self taught. Since I worked full time doing manual labor when I wasn’t trying to run a garage with my friends, I did have access to some training manuals so I could work properly, but they didn’t tell me everything I needed to know.” I said.

“Well regardless of whether you know how to use it or not, that’s our only shot of freeing this ursa cub and returning to civilization.” Shining armor replied.

“I’m going back to Canterlot to inform princess Luna about the situation and see what she can do. I already know she’ll be there and waiting but she won’t expecting for just one of us to return. We’ll return soon. Just wait here.” He said before teleporting away.

“Not like we can anywhere or anything even if we wanted to, Fuckin Jackass.” I said to myself.

“Hey, captain armor would never intentionally leave any pony behind to save himself. He might still be on edge from the invasion a few days ago, but he means well.”

I heard silver call out from behind me. We had only known each other for about 2 days now but she had already learned what the profanity we use means so it was easy for her to tell what I meant when I called her CO a jackass, probably cause I swear so damn much.

“I’ve only known him for a day and he’s still distrustful of me. As it is with me, I don’t trust him much either and he just seems like a huge asshole. If it wasn’t for the fact that you informed Princess Luna of the situation, he would most likely just say I’m on my own to go and find sterling and we probably would have both died.” I said.

“Even though it’s not my place to say, he did seem kind of like a giant dick and just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.” Sterling interjected.

I was about to say something when I was interrupted by 2 bright and intense flashes of blue and white light suddenly forming out of nowhere to my left, leaving my stunned for a few seconds as I was hunched over and rubbing my eyes as I felt them watering up and trying to get my vision back.

I looked over to see what the cause was and it was shining armor and princess Luna. They had caused me to go temporarily blind and deaf.

“Well, at least you weren’t kidding when you said be back soon. Good to know that you wouldn’t leave us here.” My eyesight was now coming back fully and my eyes had stopped watering now so that was good.

“Shining armor has already told us about the situation. Whatever you need to help this ursa and her cub, name it and I’ll see what I can do.” Luna got straight to the point so I decided to as well and pulled out my phone and searched for the picture of the crane we would need.

“In order to move that last tree, we need a mobile hydraulic crane strong enough to lift roughly 1000 tons. It would require a whole team of spotters and engineers to operate safely but just the 5 of us can make it work. This is what we need.” I showed her the picture of the crane and almost immediately, luna lit her horn and started to channel a lot of magic into it. Her body slowly started to lift up off the ground as the crane slowly started to appear in the clearing with us, and it was massive. Luna stopped channeling as we now had the final thing we needed.

Now sitting Before us all was the biggest mobile crane earth had to offer. The monstrous Liebherr LTM 11200 was our best bet at moving this final tree. The entire thing was here and already fully assembled.

“If this thing can’t move that tree, nothing can.” I will be damned if this thing can’t lift it. These things were used in the construction and deconstruction of wind turbines and buildings.

“Alright, first things first, get this thing started. Sterling, you start the truck engine while I start the cranes engine. Silver, captain shining, I’m gonna need you spotting me to make sure the hook and chains are lined up properly, your highness, I’m gonna need you to help me and sterling hook up the chains and secure them in place.” I began barking orders as we all got to work.

Sterling got the truck started no problem as I climbed in to see if the cranes engine could be remote started. Thankfully, it could be started just like the trucks engine. Just turn a key and hold a button.“Alright, step one complete, now for step two.” I made my way over to the rear of the truck and climbed into the cranes control cabin. I thought the layout of the control cabin would be extremely complex and it was to a certain extent but it was still much more simple than an older lever operated crane.

“Ok, now for step two. Gotta swing the anchors out and deploy them to keep the crane from tilting and falling over during operation.” I was looking at the controls on the seat, monitors, and switch boards in the control cabin, trying to figure out where the anchor controls are.

I found a set of buttons next to the right control stick that had pictures of objects that seemed like the anchors that could control them. I pressed one that had a picture of 4 posts swinging outward and felt the truck jerk a bit. I pressed and held it this time and watched as the anchors started to move outwards. I kept the button held in as the anchors moved out all the way until they stopped. Now I needed to extend and lower them. Looking at the set of buttons again, I found the one that extends the anchors outwards and followed the same process of holding it until they came to a stop. I finally proceeded to lower the anchors and watched as they slowly came into contact with the ground and although unevenly at first, slowly lift the entire truck up off the ground.

“Alright, next thing to do now is find out which joystick does what”

I started with the left one first but that didn’t do anything accept cause a console to beep angrily at me and flash a message saying “boom must be raised first” that means the right one does what I’m gonna need it to do. I ever so slightly pulled back on that one and heard the the cranes engine start to rev up as the boom now started to slowly raise up. The boom slowly cleared the truck and was now extendable. I tried the other joystick again and this one made the boom extend and retract while twisting it left and right also made it raise and lower the hook. I started swinging the crane to the left but jerked the crane a little bit since I wasn’t used to something this responsive and in the process, knocked something over behind my seat.

I looked over to find something useful and convenient at the same time. There were ten Motorola APX7000 two way radios sitting in charging docks. There was also a Motorola PM400 mounted next to a switchboard next to the seat which I had failed to notice until now. I quickly leaned out of the control can and whistled as loud as I can, getting everyone’s attention. They came back over real quick and handed out the radios and told the ponies how to use them so we could communicate better.

All the radios were set to the same frequency and we soon got to work lifting the tree. There was just barely enough room for the crane to be operated and this was getting a bit sketchy.

“Alright your in a good position, start bringing the cables down.” Sterling gave the order and I twisted the left knob to start lowering the cables. I watched as the hook slowly came down and everyone started attaching the ropes and chains they had when luna came and knocked on the window.

"We don't have much time left. That ursa major is getting rather impatient with us and might act on her own if we don't hurry up."

She said. I wanna know though, how did she figure that out?

"How can you tell its getting impatient with us?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Many ursa's posses telepathic abilities that allow them to communicate with many creatures through a neural link to the brain of the creature they want to communicate with. Its a rather easy spell to learn for beginners." She explained. The show never mentioned anything about telepathic ursas. But then again, This probably isn't the same equestria as I saw back home on TV.

"Alright well, The hook just got lowered down and they're hooking every rope and chain up right now. It could probably go a bit faster if you went and helped them." I said. She nodded and flew back over to the tree. It took almost ten minutes before the final connections were made and the chains were hooked up to the crane. I climbed back into the control cabin and got ready to lift.

"Alright, everyone get behind the trucks. if the cables snap or something goes wrong. I refuse to be held responsible if something does goes wrong and any one of you gets hurt." I said into the radio. I waited until everyone got behind something and then, lifted.

"Going up, Watch your heads." For some reason, they all got underneath the cranes ballasts. I wasn't gonna question why though. I slowly pulled back on the stick and heard the engine rev up as the fallen tree now ever so slowly started to raise up into the air. I could hear the cables creaking and groaning from the stress they were under but I tried not to think about it too much. The tree was now fully up and off the ursa cub and I could see how badly hurt it was. Many branches where snapped off from other trees and were stuck in the cub's torso and legs. Scratches and Scrapes were up to 4 inches deep in some places if I had to guess, and It seemed to be missing some teeth as well.

"Alright, swinging left, watch yourselves."

The way those Hydras fucked them both up was brutal. Some serious fire power would be needed if a hydra found its way out of the everfree and decided to attack a small town. My thought process was interrupted by the sound of an extremely loud snap rang out. I looked up and saw the tree start to sag, and see a chain link coming straight at me. I acted so swiftly and began swinging the crane to the left all the way until it was over the trees. The rest of the chains started to snapping and shit went south very fast. I grabbed my hand piece and shouted pretty loudly.

"Watch out, Watch out, Watch out!! The chains are snapping and the trees coming down!!!!"

I shouted. I reached around and slammed the control cabin door shut so fast that im sure if I had slammed it any harder, I would've broken the glass. The tree came down and kicked up a bunch of dust and rocks as it hit the ground. A piece of wood hit the left side glass pane and caused a sizable crack right next to my head. Once stuff was done flying past us, I got out and could barely see jack shit. I looked up and I could barely make out the form of the ursa major moving towards its cub.

"Silver!?, Sterling!?, Princess!?, Captain!?"

I called out, Hoping that they were alright.

"We're over here! I'm alright"

I heard sterling call back to me. At least I knew he was alright. I did not wanna have to bury my best friend today.

"I can't see anything! What about everyone else!?" I called back, feeling my way over to the back.

"I'm fine!" Shining called out.

"I'm good!" Silver yelled back.

"I'm alright! What happened!?" Luna shouted.

I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that everyone's alright. The dust was settling as well so the visibility was improving as well.

"The chains snapped under the weight! I thought they would've been enough!" It might have not have been the best option I had, but it was really my only option. We all looked up to see the Ursa minor starting to get up and the Major nursing its young one. Before long, They walked off into the forest.

"Well, now that thats over, what do we do now?" Sterling asked.

"I saw we get out of here and get some rest." Silver said as I was about to say something.

"Might not be as easy as Sergeant sable says it is. What do you plan to do with this, Crane, as you call it?" Shining armor said, Still being really suspicious of me. He did have a good point. I took a few moments to think about what I wanted to do.

"Leave it."

"What!?" Both luna and shining partially shouted together at the same time.

"Yeah. We leave it here over night, And me, Silver and sterling Can come back for it in the morning. Besides, not like anyone else knows how to drive something." I said.

"How can I be sure you're not just saying that and you're planning to hurt a bunch of ponies?" Alright. I've had enough of his shit. Time to put this shit bag in his place. I got up in shining armors face and just layed into him

"You know what? I've had it up to HERE!, with your shit, you prejudiced fuck! ever since I got here 3 days ago, I've heard nothing, but questions and distrust from you. You're the equivalent of some racist white supremacist race groups back where sterling and I come from. I had to grow up around a lot of racism, when my father wasn't in a drunken rage and beating me for no reason. I saw that fucking smirk on your face when your little lynch mob came after me after I killed those changelings, I saw that look of wanting to kill another creature in your eyes, and I ain't having it anymore. If you have a problem with me, tell me to my face and we can settle this like men right here and right now, and you can catch these fuckin fists. OR, you can shut the fuck up, and we can end this now and I won't mercilessly kick your ass. Besides, If I actually wanted to cause harm to any ponies I saw, I would have done it by now. Fuckin asshole." I finished by shoving him backwards. I turned around and walked away towards the trucks when I heard someone walking up behind me.

"You alright? I've never seen any being lose their temper like that or talk to captain armor like that before." Silver said, probably trying to calm me down.

"I'm fine. Just couldn't handle him constantly treating me like im just a threat to your kind." I said

"I see. Well, if you don't mind me asking, what did you mean by all of that? The thing about your father and these groups you mentioned." She asked. I knew she would ask about that as soon as I mentioned that. So, I figured I might as well tell her.

"Well, I had a lot of trust issues with my dad growing up when he was serving in the army and after he came back. After he came home from being deployed for over a year, He turned to drinking to try and cope with everything he saw while stationed in this country named Iraq. Whenever he was drunk and or just angry, he would always take it out on me. My parents had divorced over it and my mom had moved away to another part of the country and unfortunately couldn't afford to take me and my younger sister with her since she didn't have very much money so we were forced to live with him. He had gotten married again but I had a feeling this was just so he could have a place to live in that he didn't pay for. I was tired of how he treated me and at the age of 14, I joined a gang for protection against him in exchange that I would do some lifting and deliveries for the gang I joined. Needles to say, When I spoke directly to the leaders of the gang I joined, they were pissed to find out that I had gotten both verbally and physically abused for over 7 years and they gave me a burner phone to use in case of emergency and my dad was even more pissed about the fact that I was getting involved with these guys, but they did a better job of looking after me than that shitbag ever did. The bosses had put me up with a little apartment of my own on them, it wasn't much, but it was better than living in that house with him. Sterling here eventually came to me for some similar reasons and he eventually joined up with us as well and moved in with me. Both of our fathers decided to show up to our main hangout one day while armed and decided it would be a good idea to try and kidnap us to hurt us even more. Little did they know that everyone of us was packing heat and as soon as they showed up to our spot while holding shotguns, more than 10 of us had pulled out submachine guns and pistols and it was an intense stand off. I had disowned my dad right in front of everyone that I had even come to recognize as my new family. Over time, I had moved all of my stuff out of his house that I had to leave behind because I left. Dumb bastard forgot to change his deadbolt and I was able to get in Since I still had a key to his house and we loaded whatever I had Into some vehicles and took it back to our apartment. My stepmom understood why I was doing all this stuff and helped out when she could. I still feel bad for her since he used her. A couple years later when I was 16, I decided I wanted to leave virginia and asked my bosses if they could hook me up down south in florida and they came through for both of us. They put me in contact with their groups down there and said I was free to join down there. After that, Me, sterling, and my sister all packed our stuff up into two moving trucks and said farewell to virginia and began the long drive to florida. We were given fake drivers licenses just in case we ran into any trouble with law enforcement and we got intiated with the clique down south. We made new friends, got some more money, and opened up a garage near the everglades while our home that we were now living in was located in the everglades itself. Shortly after that, We both ended up here after crashing into each other by sheer coincidence. We worked on everything we could big and small. What ever kind of vehicle you brought us, we could fix it or mod it to your hearts content. I had left my sister with instructions on what to do in case we go missing and where all my cash was kept so she could provide for herself and who to call"

After that lengthy explanation I gave her, she seemed to understand where I was coming from. Having a childhood and teenage years like mine would be hard for anyone but somehow I pulled through. That was an achievement within itself.

"Well if you don't mind me asking, You mentioned something about some groups earlier as well. What did you mean by them?" She asked. That would be a long and complicated explanation. I just told her that I would tell her once we got everything situated and taken care of.

"I say for now we get out of this forest and get some rest." I said

"I could really use some after everything thats happened." Sterling said.

"Same here. can't Function without proper sleep." Silver added

"You two can go back to canterlot if you want. The three of us are just gonna sleep on the edge of the forest until morning." I said.

luna and shining armor reluctantly agreed and left. I quickly shutdown the crane's engines and then the three of us climbed back into the trucks and started up the engines. Silver drove the MAZ while I took the C500 and towed the western star while sterling steered it as well. We drove around the dead hydras and went back the way we came. I told sterling to turn the key just enough to turn on the trucks electronics so we could communicate through the CB's.

"Soooooo, Where exactly are we?" Sterling asked.

"I ain't got no fuckin idea. I'm just as in the dark about this place as you are." I said. Knowing damn well we were in the everfree forest and in some random ass part deep in the forest.

"We're in the Everfree forest. Biggest forest in all of Equestria. Home to many dangerous creatures in Equestria. Very few ponies have ever journeyed this far into the forest considering that its very dangerous to journey into the forest alone, especially at night. Very few ponies actually even enter the forest at any time because of how dangerous it is." Silver added.

"Alright then, Good to know." Sterling said.

We had kept going for a while and enountered some difficult terrain like I predicted. Deep mud, Uneven paths, and running water all posed a small challenge but it was nothing that we couldn't handle. AWD and locking differentials meant that traversing the land easy as opening a door. The only difficult part we came across was when we had to go through a narrow pass and seeing as how the trucks were rather large it was a bit of a difficult to squeeze through, especially when pulling a truck that has no power and very little steering. After getting past that little gap though, It was smooth sailing from there on out. The whole thing was relatively uneventful say for whenever an animal would run across the path in front of us and silver would have to slam on the brakes and cause us to hit them as well. We had actually come back to a part of the trail where it was wide enough that we could drive side by side. I overtook sterling got next to silver partially until we eventually saw the edge of the forest. Thats when I thought of something to pass the time.

"Hey, guys, Why don't you two head back to canterlot and spend the night there? I'll stay here for the night. You two drop off the broken truck and find a way to come back in the morning. This is so we don't have to make multiple trips." I said.

"You know what? That actually sounds like a good idea. I can find a way to get us back here in the morning, So long as your friend isn't afraid of heights or he doesn't get air sick." Silver said.

"Wait, what do you mean by afraid of heights?" Sterling asked.

"I can get a pegasi carriage for us in the morning and they'll get us back here in just 20 minutes since the canterlot taxi company employs some pretty fast pegasi. They'll drop us off wherever I tell them to and I'll pay for it entirely." Silver said

"Alright. I'll go with her to this canterlot place and stay there for the night and we'll come back in the morning." Sterling agreed to go with silver back to canterlot for the night and they would come back in the morning. I swapped the towing ropes up so sterling would be pulled by silver and they took off and I pulled off to the side of the trail and set the parking brake and shut the engine down. The sleeper in the back was kind of small but it was just fine for me. It was nice and cool out tonight so I quickly turned the electronics back on and cracked one of the windows. I climbed into the back and layed down, slowly drifting off to sleep. The familiar feeling of what felt like I was falling was always un-nerving but I learned that means that I've entered my dreams. I soon felt something beneath my feet. I opened my eyes to see that I was standing on something, but nothing at the same time. Looking around, the landscape was a familiar mix of blue, purple, white, and green blobs that mixed with each other. I knew I was in that dream realm again from last night. I walked around seeing if there was anything around but there was nothing. The sound of my boots hitting the ground was all that could be heard until I heard what sounded like two pairs of footsteps coming up from behind me. I turned around to see both Princess luna and surprisingly shining armor walking up to me.

"Oh, its you two. What brings you here?" I said

"Well, first off, I wanted to apologize for the way I've acted lately. I didn't know what you had to go through growing up until you had lashed out and said everything. I was only trying to protect the citizens of equestria from more invaders. It was supposed to be my wedding day, and it got ruined by that...Whore and she used me to gain power and hurt more ponies." Shining said, sounding sincere about his apology and even a bit sad towards the end.

"Its not your fault. I don't blame you for acting the way you did. You were just trying to do your job and keep others safe, like a soldier should. I hope I didn't complicate things further for you." I said. At least I know now he probably wouldn't be a huge prick anymore.

"That's not the only reason we're here though. There's something much more important that we need to discuss." He added on.

"We have reason to believe that another attack on canterlot is very likely within the next few days and we need your help." Luna said.

"Me? What am I supposed to?" I asked.

"You have those very advanced weapons that were able to kill changelings from a distance. They could be very beneficial to the defense of canterlot. You would be compensated for your actions and be given full citizenship in equestria." Luna said. I can see why they would come to me with something like this. A guy with access to automatic weaponry that has bottomless magazines would seem like a good candidate to assist in the defense of a city that is essentially in the very early Victorian era except they didn't have stuff like we did during that time period.

"Alright, I'll help. But there's no way I can do this alone. I'll need help defending and I want two things aside from citizenship for when this is over." I said.

"What is it that you want?" Luna asked

"I want a job that has good pay and hours, And I want sterling to have to have the same thing as me." I said.

"It's a deal. If you enlist with the royal guard, I'll personally over see your training. It's only a month long and the starting pay is usually 52000 bits per year and that number increases by 7500 bits per year with every promotion. I'll put you under staff sergeant sables command since you two are already well acquainted. I'll give your friend the same thing if he chooses to join. If not, there are some open positions in the castle staff since some of our staff was changeling spies." Shining armor said.

"Alright. But like I said, gonna need help. I'll need some ponies that are willing to volunteer to learn how to use firearms in order to defend against a possible attack. I have an idea on how to keep the castle safe at the very least." I said. Shining armor had volunteered right away to learn how to use a gun surprisingly. I figured since we were in a dream, It would be easy to change things up a good bit. Luna had told me how to make things appear and change the scenery so I changed it up to what would've been my land back home in the everglades and had a large open area ready for us to use. There were three folding tables next to each other with different guns on them. Pistols, smgs, and rifles.

"Alright. I'm gonna start you off with some basic firearm safety rules. First off, never point a gun at something or somepony you don't intend to fire at. Make sure that you eject the magazine, eject the round thats already in the chamber, put the safety on, and keep the barrel pointed towards the ground." I said. I gave him the full break down on how to be effective at many different ranges, How to properly handle and maintain a gun, how to clear a jam, how to load and reload, the difference between different ammo types, and how to compensate for recoil, bullet drop, wind speed, and wind direction. Shining armor had gotten pretty good with a long range rifle, unusually good as well. I had an idea for if and when this potential next attack starts.

"Times up, Not bad." It's surprising how good he was for using a gun of modern origin for the first time. I heard learned form shining armor that equestria had a limited supply of old flintlock muskets and pistols and he had a decent amount of experience using them. Despite having small amounts of modern technology, guns from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries weren't a thing. Most of the guards that were given these flintlock weapons had preferred to stick to using swords, lances, halbreds, or crossbows, or so i was told since he also said that they weren't very accurate past a certain point.

"Well, The suns going to be raised soon and you both will wake up soon. You two will need to come up with a plan for if an attack is likely. Whenever you return to canterlot, my sister shall fetch for both of you to discus this matter further." Luna said. I had kind of forgotten she was with us but then again, this was the dream realm so she could've been anywhere. We wrapped things up and everything started to go dark, indicative that I was starting to wake up.

"I'll see you back in canterlot!" Shining armor called out before the dream ended. I was awoken to the feeling of very cold air even beneath the blanket and I was shivering like crazy.

"Note to self. Don't leave the window down when its close to winter." It had to have at least been in the upper 20s throughout the night. I put my coat back on and rolled the window up.

Sterling had texted me 5 minutes ago and told me that him and silver were in ponyville at the moment and walking towards the forest. I could barely see them on the edge of town and sure enough, they were slowly walking towards me. I tried to start the truck but forgot that diesel engines and cold weather don't go together very well. The engine was spluttering a bit so that was a good sign that it was getting some fuel and it was combusting and the fuel wasn't gelled up. It was still early in the morning so it wasn't quite light out yet. The sky was still a very dark blue and the sun had to peak over the horizon.

"Come on, you're a CAT! You're supposed to be the pinnacle for on and off-highway truck engines! You have no problems starting in this weather, You have brand new glow plugs. Come on!" I was getting a bit frustrated again by the engine not starting, but nowhere near as frustrated as I was with my Detroit. After finishing that sentence, the big brute started, and right as silver and sterling approached me.

"Morning guys. Fancy seeing you already here this early." I said.

"Yeah. I would've slept a bit later until the sun was fully out, but she woke me up saying we needed to go now in order to get here before the cab company got busy." Sterling said.

"Hmm. Well I just got the truck started so its gonna be a few minutes before we can go anywhere because I gotta let the engine warm up." I said. I didn't even notice that the two of them had coffee until silver floated a cup over to me.

"I can't start any day without this. I figured you'd might want one as well. I got you the same thing I got. Vinti Pumpkin spice latte with whole milk and three shots of espresso." Silver said.

"Thanks, I can barely function without coffee either. Here, lets get inside the truck. Might be a bit warmer in there." I said. They agreed and We all climbed into the truck. Me and sterling sat in the seats in the front while silver sat down on the bed in the back. I looked at the gauges and the engine temperature had slowly raised a bit. Figured I'd give it a few more minutes before we went back into the forest. I decided I might as well tell them what Luna and shining armor told me in my sleep last night since they would likely back me up in the upcoming attack.

"Alright, guys. I've got something important I need to tell you both about and I cannot stress this enough that numerous lives are at risk here. Silver I don't know if you were informed about this or not but I'm gonna tell you anyways just to be sure. Last night, Princess Luna and shining armor came to me in my dreams and warned me of a second attack on canterlot being very likely within the next few days and they need my help with its defense. I need to know now if you two will help me defend it if and when this attack happens." I said.

"Of course I'm gonna help, that's my job as a royal guard. To keep the capital safe is to keep the whole country safe." Silver said.

"You know what? count me in to. I'll stick by your side to the end bro." Sterling added. It was nice to know that both of them had my back now for whenever the next blood bath takes place.

"Thanks. I don't think I would've been able to hold off a whole army on my own. I struggled just to keep them away from us when I saved silver a few days go." I said.

"Wait, you saved her? How?" Sterling asked.

"When I first arrived here, an attack like the one thats likely going to happen was already taking place. I found her getting brutally beaten. I ran over her attackers and gunned down the rest that survived. Afterwards, I picked her up and tried to get her someplace safe. We ended up holing up in some random house while she was still unconscious and I was putting down a lot of these attackers." I said.

"Its true. I still have the bruises to prove it." Silver added. I quickly looked back at her and she still did. Most of them were completely gone but she still had a few on her face but they were barely noticeable, mainly being a rather faint blue with a reddish outline, but almost completely gone. I took a sip of the coffee silver had gotten me and it was definitely better than the pumpkin spice coffee's from back home, that was for sure. The actual pumpkin part was a bit sweeter than I prefered but not unbearably sweet. The spice created a nice smell that made the whole truck cab smell very nice and it was at the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold.

"Alright. I've let it sit for about 15 minutes now. I think we should be able to get going now." I said. I put the truck in gear and quickly pulled us out of the forest and turned around so we could head back in. It still looked like it was night in the forest so I put the high beams on and kept going. I only had a glock on me for defense so if something big tried to attack us, chances are we would probably be fucked.

1 hour and 45 minutes later

"Alright, I think this is it." I said as we approached the clearing where we found that ursa cub last night and sure enough, The crane and the dead hydra's were still here.

"Alright. Silver, you'll drive the C500 back while me and sterling drive the crane truck. I want you to lead the way alright?" I said. She agreed and we got to work packing up the crane. We quickly started its engines back up and I climbed into the control cabin. I retracted the hook, brought the boom back in, lowered the boom down, raised the anchors, and brought them back in towards the truck. I did a quick once over to make sure everything was in the right place and we were good to go. I shut the cranes engine off and got in the actual truck part of the crane. It reeked of sweat and cigarettes but it was bareable. I just rolled down the drivers side window and we got on our way. The truck sat low to the ground but we still were able to make it through whatever got in our way. It felt weird to drive because it had all wheel steering but then again, something of this size would have that in order to maneuver through small spaces a bit easier.

1 hour and 30 minutes later

We were now approaching the gates to canterlot and I never noticed until now just how truly huge the city was. From here, the castle was like a giant block compared to the rest of the city. It sat higher up on the mountain with walls that had to have been at least 50 feet tall. You could barely see towards the other end of the city without having to squint your eyes to see what was over there. Many billboards and signs advertised shops, restaurants, and services. Me and sterling had just been chatting it up and listening to music when I checked my phone to see what time it was and saw what song was next up in my playlist. Me and Sterling loved this song so much that we had both memorized the lyrics and could sing it in our sleep.

"Hey, let me ask you something. Do you know what life is?" I asked, trying to get him to join with me for when the song started.

"Uhh, no? What do you mean?"

"No, I mean Do you know, what life IS?" I had to put some emphasis on the is part but he immediately got it.

"Wait, Ooohhhhhh, Yeah I do!" He said excitedly right as the drums and guitar of our favorite tom cochrane song started

"Life is a highway!" We said together as the song started. I cranked the volume all the way up and rolled the windows down all the way. I had also put the song on repeat because when I say that we would sometimes sing this song for hours, I meant that we would sing it, for hours. We were in the city now and were going uphill. I'm guessing we were on the main road because it had gotten pretty wide but there were already lots of ponies out and about that had stopped to look at us, probably more at the crane than us while we were singing along to tom cochrane.

"I can hear that music from up here. What is that?" I barely heard silver say over the radio.

"This is our favorite song that we grew up listening to. This is Life is a highway by tom cochrane. It was also produced by the band rascal flatts but we like the Tom chocrane version better. It's real good, you should listen to it." I said before turning the music back up. We were coming up to the castle again and this time when we crossed the bridge and the massive gates were opened, Princess celestia was waiting for us. I turned off the music and pulled inside as we parked up next to the wall on the inside.

"Who's the tall one?" Sterling asked me.

"That's this country's leader. I already talked with her face to face." I said. Sterlings facial expression immediately changed as soon as I said that.

"Wait, She's the leader!? What's she doing here!?" He asked.

"Would you calm down!? She was waiting for us because when I asked you if you would back me up in the event of an attack. She needs our help because I have guns with bottomless magazines and a heavy artillery piece. She'll tell us more when we go inside." I said. Despite everything we've gone through together, he was still a bit slow in the head but he eventually understand's everything. I shut down the engine and we both got out and walked over to her.

"It's nice to see that your all ok, especially after what I heard last night. The everfree's extremely dangerous, especially during the night." Celestia said.

"Well It's nothing we weren't able to handle. We humans are pretty resiliant, but we're still just as fragile as any other species." I said.

"I'll keep that in mind but for now, Please come with me. There is some important things we must discuss regarding the safety of canterlot in the upcoming days." She said.

We followed her inside and something told me that if an attack on canterlot was imminent within the next few days, this upcoming battle would be bloodier than the last and much more intense, but for now, all we could do is plan out what we were going to do and how to handle it.

Author's Note

Sweet, Fucking, Christ. I thought I would never finish this. Seeing that the last chapter was posted back in january really puts into perspective how things have changed since the whole covid bullshit started. I promise this story isn't going to turn into something like pile up where equestria modernizes and theres 12 humans instead of just 1. I'm strictly keeping it to 2 but some elements from there will carry over to here. Stay safe, wear your masks, and stick around for more updates.