"Hey, how's it going?" A Griffin asked as she joined a Ruby Changeling in her patrol route. The changeling looked at the griffin with suspicion before rolling her eyes and allowing the female Griffin to join her.

"Nothing much, but I hear that a small squad of Equestrian spec ops was captured and being transported." The Griffin nodded as she looked upon the mountains where several Griffin and changelings went to eliminate several snipers who were assumed to have stayed out of sight during the ambush.

"I heard. Apparently, one was a griffin and another was an Arctic Fox. The fox was weird though, speaking of creatures called humans, but I can't make any sense of it." The changeling's head shot towards her with amazement in her eyes as a smile graced her lips.

"They exist! That's amazing, I mean, they were previously thought to be a myth, but if this fox has seen one; I want to know." The griffin chuckled as she continued to look at the mountains and towards one that had her brother fighting a few small sniper squads.

"Ya, but he seemed angry at us for some reason. What I'm more curious about is how one made it all the way down here? They would have to traverse through the tallest mountains and an everlasting blizzard." The changeling winced from the unnatural storm that surrounded the entire north pole.

"Ya, I'd rather not go back into the Windigo's Eye." The Griffin looked at her patrolling companion for a second with a confused look on her face.

"The Windigo's Eye?" The changeling froze for a second before calling herself down. It was in the past and all races have agreed to stay away from it to not lose any more creatures to the storm.

"We had many bad experiences from the unnatural barrier surrounding the north pole is why the Ruby Queen feared the creatures within so much. Attempts to get in have proven futile and hard to navigate resulted in the death of many. Considering changelings don't adapt well as other species made it worse for them. It wasn't just us, but all other species have tried as well and failed miserably. All they know if that a species of fox live there; the Arctic Fox. Occasionally, one will wander out, but will soon retreat into the storm once again. Some say only that species of fox can navigate through the storm, but for some reason; they always have this collar around their necks and all seem to be female. I couldn't tell you why though." The gave a little nod towards a few others who were patrolling nearby which they returned with a salute. Her higher rank caught their attention easily since it was proudly displayed on her shoulder.

"Must be easy being a Lieutenant Colonel." The Griffin mumbled with jealousy as she looked away from the sight. Her rank of Corporal didn't seem as impressive compared to her friends, but she couldn't do much about that.

"Maybe I just got lucky when I joined." The Lieutenant Colonel said with a shit-eating grin as the griffin. "The Queen values my skills better than most others."

"Only because you work well as a tackle advisor." The Changeling rolled her eyes and continued on patrol until she saw something weird on the tree surround by another patrol group consisting of ten. "What's that?" She asked as the group as they turned and saluted to the superior officer.

They dropped there salutes as most of them went back to observing the object while two stayed looking at the two. "No clue. It sicks to the tree like it's glued there, but it seems to be more of a sticky substance. It can be removed fairly easy, but we'd rather not do anything if it's harmful." The First Sargent went back to observing the object as the Corporal spoke to continue.

"Should we leave it or take it with us?" She said, but before any of them could speak a soft click was heard followed by an explosion of the small object. The ten soldiers were caught in the explosion as bark shrapnel stabbed into their skin and some were sent straight through their bodies. None of those ten soldiers survived; dying either from the bark being sent through their bodies or bled to death on the ground. The griffin and the changeling were sent flying backward, their bodies just barely saved by their L85A2s.

The ringing in their ears was almost unbearable and she was heavily disoriented, but the ground shook for an unknown reason. The ringing in their ears finally subsided explosions went off around them. The griffin was unconscious as the changeling looked around as griffins and changelings charged in, but we're either cut down by machine gunfire or the explosions. The griffin was about to wake up and tried to sit up, but the changeling grabbed her kevlar and pulled her back to the ground. Her ears and mind were finally clear her head turned in all directions while looking for a safe place to take cover. It was only a matter of time before one of those explosions killed them. She ultimately settled in pulling her into the crater with no other options, much to the griffin's surprise.

It took a second for the two of them to realize that the forest was being destroyed as the explosions. They pulled out their sidearms as their ears cleared a little more to hear the faint sound of a whistle before the explosions. They came up for a second to fire off a few rounds at the opposing army. The range of their explosives hit their zenith of range as they reached five hundred meters behind them. The explosions didn't come close to them, but if they moved, they would be killed in seconds from the machine gunfire.

All they could do was sit and wait for reinforcements or the line to be pushed back in their favor, but considering the current situation; they'd have to wait for a while.

Celestia observed the remaining five soldiers that climbed down random trees after a large number of soldiers stormed past them. She couldn't help but be impressed by the teen's plan even after at sort of went up in flames after all snipers, but one was killed. He did expect casualties in the snipers if they were ever caught or sniped by an unseen enemy, but not so many at once. However, he was keeping a level head despite the odds against him and the back and forth between him and his team was... Not something she wanted to hear despite the fact that he practically already told them their world was a show in his.

She continued to supervise everything in Canterlot while keeping an eye on them if something ever went wrong and they needed a quick extraction. She almost laughed when the young Sargent fell out of the tree for practically no reason. She was glad that he jumped back up and continued to steadily make progress towards the location Luna was currently being held.

All was silent as he made his commands via hand gestures as he made a fist for them to stop. His hand uncurled and he made a chopping motion with his hand. Alex was the first to react as she walked behind him and looked around for any other soldiers they were lagging behind. The next two followed her example and made a perfect line. They were now in a single file formation. He made another signal and they began to walk before his open hand lowered to the ground. They all went into a squat like walk to reduce visibility and keep at a swift pace. They had about half an hour left until Luna's shield falls and a massacre would occur.

Just then, something came through the portal and it seemed like a large slab of metal and glass. She was confused until it began to mage a really loud noise that could only be compared to a siren. It had a picture of Captain Meier in his naval Class B uniform and in brackets under the name said, Official. Wanting to do something to stop the siren-like noise, she hit the green button that was shaking and pulsing on the object, the noise stopped it's near defining, the photo zoomed out and darkened before a real-time image of the captain appeared in the top right corner of the object.

"Hello Celestia, I'm sorry to force this type of technology into your hands unprepared, but you need to shut down the portal for now." He said which surprised her since she never thought that he'd ever say that. Not only was it the only connection between there worlds, but it was also Hunter's and Zoe's only way home.

"What of your young Sargent?" She asked as anger began to well up inside of her before a somewhat distant sound made itself know. The sound of gunfire and flack exploding in midair as windows of the command deck had black clouds and small objects in the sky.

"He's safer there than here." He responded before an explosion hit the deck causing him to fall forward and the view to shit towards the ceiling. A portion of the sky could be seen and the sound of gunfire became much louder before stoping.

All was quiet like those in the room with her could hear the battle raging on the other end, but none of it was close. Eventually, the view began to move and a somewhat bloodied Meier could be seen.

"The Griffins and some bug-like creatures began an aggressive attack against all defenders, it seems to be a little reckless, but we're losing soldiers quickly." Celestia knew what they meant and it wasn't good and something would soon have to be in effect.

"Hold out as long as you can. If my suspicions are correct, they should stop after an hour after the beginning of the attack." This confused the Captain as he looked at her quizzically as if she would get his answer immediately. "Heat will begin soon and that's the only time we have a ceasefire. We'll have to close the portal until after, but they're trying to get only last attack in before it begins."

"Heat?"

"I'll tell you after, but it's for your own safety that you agree to the ceasefire because that can converge on the attackers and deal with them quickly. And considering the state of your military, casualties will be unnecessary. Just agree to it and we'll open the portal after Heat's finished." Just then, a scroll appeared in front of her as an identical one appears in front of Meier. She read it and signed the agreement before sending it with her magic.

Meier was unsure if he should, they were vulnerable and it would take time for the decommissioned battleships to be repaired in working order. If it was true, then they would have a week with hardly any enemy presents and it might be enough time to get them in working order. Air defenses could be put up and the war industry could be set up at that time. They may have to agree to it just for that small amount of time unless they want to lead a sneak attack against them, but the risk was worth the reward.

He had to consult the president, House of Representatives, and the Senate if he wanted to go ahead and sign the temporary ceasefire. He saw a small time limit on the letter and he swiftly wrote a response to this development saying that he can't speak for the leaders, but he could send it to his nation's leaders.

The letter was sent and immediate response was returned giving them at least two days to respond about the matter. Meier sighed knowing that he may get chewed out for his decision about helping the Equestrians without consulting any of the higher-ups.

"I'm trusting you, Celestia. Please take care of Hunter, he's already lost plenty of his family and I don't want him falling deeper into depression." With that, the call ended and Celestia put the device down and looked at one of the computer monitors before sighing.

"You allow children to fight your war, but I just hope they can continue being who they were before," Celestia said before looking around and beaconing a runner to her. The stallion stood proudly at attention with his class B uniform practically perfect. "Go tell the engineers to shut down the portal and close it off with nullstone and began evacuation for heat season." His eyes widened as he nodded before leaving immediately to inform the engineers of what was currently happening.

"Maybe, we can hit them back before the ceasefire in effect." Celestia began to think while managing defenses around the castle. They needed the building to be secured enough to defend against anything, including artillery. "May Faust help us all."

(Hunter's POV)

We were almost at the objective location with minimal casualties compared to the full fighting force. Honestly, a part of me anticipated the snipers would be the first to go, but I refused to acknowledge it even if it was the truth. The plan could've been thought out better, but I did make the right decision on briefing all the teams separately instead of all together.

Despite the snipers' teams being almost annihilated, we finally reached the objective location. I'm surprised they actually took the bait of the frontal assault. I checked my watch and saw we had about ten minutes left, but we needed to scope out the field for any unmentioned variables. We couldn't risk anything with how close we are to completing this mission.

We spread out but still in sight of at least two, but what I saw made me panic. I looked at Alex and Spitfire before balling my fist and shaking it side to side frantically. They looked at me confused but relayed the motion to Dash before I mouthed tank and Alex immediately came to my location, a Javelin in her hands. I switched places with her which gave me a great position of Alice.

Silently, I pushed the button on the radio and began to whisper into it. "Two heavily armored bad guys facing away from you Quick Silver. Alex will destroy the tank and that's your signal to kill them." I wasn't joking about the heavily armored soldiers. They were juggernauts, but they didn't have any neck protection; just body protection. I didn't trust my shooting to kill them and I would have my hands full with the two guarding Alice.

I stole a glance at the tank as it swept the area for anyone like use. It looked like a British Challenger 2, but that could just be how they made things. My eyes shifted towards Alex as I balled my hand and made a punching motion or the military equivalent of strike.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as my hand immediately retracted to my grip as the sound of an FGM-148 Javelin echoed through the practically silent clearing before the tank exploded in a giant orange fireball. Immediately after that, one of the juggernauts fell before another fell with it and then I moved. I gunned down one before rushing to Alice and gunning the other down with a spray of bullets before she tried to shoot me with her L85A2, but I was too close. Two shots impacted my shielding before I tackled her to the ground, I flipped her on her stomach and straddled her while keeping an arm pinned behind her and pushing her face into the dirt's. Eventually, all that could be heard was distant gunfire and mortar explosions. The enemy didn't have the chance to even fire a single round between their confusion and our quick action.

I brought my face close to her ear, my fox-like muzzle lightly brushing against her feathers, and I spoke slowly so she could understand. "Now that we have you, tell your buddies to surrender or I'll blow your fuckin brains across the grass." She chuckled as Alex brought over a gray crystal from one of the dead creatures in the clearing.

"As if you have the-" A gunshot echoed through the nearly silent clearing as she shifted her head to look up at me and the cold, dark look I head. The fear in her eyes was almost enjoyable to see if I had any more time to spend.

"Call. Them. Off." Much to her horror, my gun was barely a millimeter from her head as she just stared down the barrel of the gun. She knew I wasn't messing around once the barrel was pushed against her temple hard to the point she wasn't fighting to get her head unpinned.

Alex pulled the crystal down to her level as she began to speak."A-all troops... Stand down. I have been captured." I got off her as a Changeling in a dark green carapace took her and bounded her with rope.

"Take her armor. If she moves, kill her." I walked away before getting on the radio while watching our first prisoner. She was being gagged and pulled to her feet roughly by who I can easily assume is Luna. "Zoe, if you will switch me to the others comms." The sound chatter flooded my sense of hearing as I did the only thing to get them to stop. "SILENCE!!!" Everything stopped, including the distant gunfire which was replaced by nothing as many gave a few grunts of protest from the sudden loud noise. "Quit firing assault and stealth teams, gather the remaining soldiers and capture them. If any try to fight back don't hesitate to kill them. I don't want any trouble makers." A chorus of 'Sir, yes Sir,' sounded like music to my ears as I walked back to the group.

As I finally made my way back to my friends and forced squadmates, the Blackhawk flew overhead before landing. Zoe stepped out and walked to us, her pony features had the expression of worry as she came closer.

"The mission isn't finished! Canterlot is under fire from multiple battalions of Griffins! We were recalled to help aid in defense! Load up we got ten minutes!" I nodded as I walked to Luna, the wind from the rotors blowing what seemed to be my hair into my face, but it never reached my vision.

"Alright, round up any who come this way, box them in. Take them prisoner and for the sake of any god, don't kill them! I ran over to Alex and tapped her shoulder and telling her the same thing I was told. I repeated the process two more times with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash as we rushed to the chopper. "I leave this in your hands, Princess!" I gave a quick salute before she did the same.

"I leave Canterlot to you, Sir Fox!" With that, we flew off in the direction of Canterlot. But at least Luna is most definitely safe now.

I moved to the M134 and mounted it was Alex moved to my side with her M249 at the ready. "I'd say Operation Lunar Eclipse is a success!" I yelled over the comms, now switched to our little squad link.

"I agree!" Quick said as I saw her waving us down with a flare. We landed to allow her to hop in and mount the other Minigun.

"Well don't rest now, we got a castle to defend!" Staff Sargent Hawkins said as we flew quickly towards the castle is speeds only achievable by Wonderbolts.

"Operation Lunar Eclipse is complete! New objective: Defend Canterlot Castle!" That's when it finally hit me, a question about something I never really thought about until now.

"What about the teams that wiped out our snipers?!" Everyone, including Zoe, stiffened except for Quick Silver who seemed completely relaxed.

"Stealth teams got them while waiting for the signal! No doubt they're board out of there minds!" I couldn't help a chuckle escaping my lips, but it was short-lived as flack exploded near my field of vision.

"There it is the hell of war," Zoe said as I stared at the burning castle and the city next to it. Griffins at mass were flying towards the giant beacon of Equestrian Warfare Command. Underneath was a large field filled with soldiers of both sides fighting over dominance to turn the tides of war. On the Equestrian side was one of the last cities left under Equestrian control: Ponyville. Our mission was simple...

Survive and defend.

Author's Note

If you can guess what happened to the Foxes, then you get a virtual cookie. For those who don't know... Good.

Operation Lunar Eclipse has ended, finally and now we can get to this. I hope you like it and criticism is always welcome. See y'all next chapter.