Manehattan Vice

We had booked a red-eye on our private Jet to the Appleoosa Bison Reserve. Unfortunately, these reserves are starved badly for money, literally clinging to the casinos for dear life in some cases. As they obviously won’t have any kind of airport, Diamond was doing jumping jacks till 2 am in a bid to get us to do a HALO jump into Appleoosa. The girl’s certainly got spunk in her, I cannot lie.

"Remind me why exactly we couldn't just drive in an air-conditioned van?" Iron Loyalty asked in a half-awake groan.

"Because Iron," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Diamond is a crazy bitch, and she has more balls than most stallions". Diamond raised her fist, which I proceeded to bump for a maximum dramatic flair, I can just barely see the disbelieving look in his eyes behind his mask.

“You are all crazy,” said Iron, shaking his head and looking down. “I can’t believe I am parachuting into a Bison reserve with such an eclectic band of fighters like you and me.”

"Yeah, fate has a weird way of working out sometimes," I said. "I never thought I'd be with these guys either, in fact, I kinda got this job after rambling about my past in a way that should've gotten me fired."

Biggins simply hugged Iron Loyalty, and said "Don't worry about a thing, Iron, I and Buckshot will do everything and anything to make sure you come out of this alive."

"Hopefully that includes during the jump coming up soon," Diamond says as she got up, walking to the rear hatch as it began to open. Everyone got behind Diamond as the red lights came on. Diamond fearlessly walked to the edge, I was right behind her. It was surreal to see how high up 26,000 feet can be. Dawn was breaking over the horizon, giving a blinding glare. Despite it all, however, it was still apparently almost -50 degrees Celsius. "Alright ladies, follow me in 20 seconds." I checked everything on me one last time and got a bit nervous hyperventilation. "Keep breathing normally, Diamond, we don't want you to get decompression sickness when we jump in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" At that moment, Diamond charged forth and leaped out, and everyone in the squad followed suit, including me.

In a headfirst dive, I was disoriented. I tried to get a count on how many had jumped out. I saw Lance Corporal Diamond obviously, I spotted Corporal Talon who was having an easy time orientating himself thanks to being a hippogriff, and two struggling Earth Ponies trying to link up, meaning that had to be Sergeant Biggins and Staff Sergeant Buckshot, that could only mean one thing. "Iron? Damnit Iron, you chickened out again? You and Aurora deserve each other!"

At that moment, I was suddenly swamped with water, I tried my absolute hardest to get my bearings straight, as I saw I was in a pool, in a quiet home in Ponyville, this couldn't have been real, could it? I was just skydiving from stupidly high up mere moments ago. I climbed out of the pool to investigate. It was a quiet, suburban townhouse, the specific house was one I and Aurora discussed buying at some point, it was painful seeing all the memories that could've been, this whole world that could've been, where we'd have had a very loving son and daughter. But my world came breaking apart when I saw a note on the fridge, a scathing letter about how Aurora would never forgive me for what I did, I collapsed onto my knees as a blinding flash overtook my eyes and a rushing wind swept past me. The Balefire Division succeeded, I was doomed, I was ready to die, I deserved it.

Suddenly, however, my mind snapped out of it as I returned to normal, I was strapped to Iron loyalty, and my chute had deployed successfully. "I... I'm alive. I'm alive!" I exclaimed with ecstatic joy. I've had coke highs where I was certain my heart was seconds away from exploding, but when I woke up burnt out in the morning, I was all kinds of grateful to have this sinner's luck, in a sense. "What happened? why was I just hallucinating?" I asked.

"It's a symptom of hypoxia", explained Diamond. "When I told Iron, he came running out asap."

"And yet you always think I'm ready to betray you on a moment's notice," Iron said mournfully.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that, just..." I hung up on that last bit, I genuinely felt awful for those being my last words in a stressful situation.

"It's fine, I understand this situation with Aurora is eating you up," replied Iron in an understanding tone. "We'll do everything we can to make sure this goes over smoothly for both parties."

Taking a deep breath, I was grateful to have a breathable oxygen supply, before saying "okay, I can do that. Thank you, Iron. Really".

Diamond interrupted with "It's me you should be grateful for, Buckshot made me promise we'd all survive this jump without significant medical complications".

"Only because blowing my brains out with a shotgun like Hemingway seemed preferable to the bends, or becoming the secret ingredient in grandma's extra chunky red salsa", joked Buckshot, causing his brother to giggle. He knew how painful it can be to get nitrogen stuck where it isn't supposed to.

"You babies would never have survived Hell Week" boasted Talon. "Every single one of us has to train 5 days and 5 nights with only 4 hours of sleep." I whistled in awe, DEVGRU, and all the other special forces units know how to make soldiers with 'nads of steel. Or in Diamond's case, quite literally too.

We touched down uneventfully, repacked our parachutes, followed by Buckshot doing a quick medical checkup on me, and aside from the hypoxia and anxiety, I was doing pretty well physically, especially for someone in their 40s. After making sure everything went smoothly, Buckshot began to brief us. "Alrighty cowpokes, we're looking for a purple mare who's a half pony and half bison. She'll be willing to help us sabotage the Balefire hate camp here. Let's ask as many people in the camp as we can, and rally up on me. Oorah?"

Saluting Buckshot, I gave him a finger gun, Iron simply gave an acknowledging nod. Unfortunately, he and I didn't have any cool military saying to reply with. Biggins of course said Oorah too, Diamond responded with a hooah, and Talon with a hooyah. We all soon split up across the bison reserve to look for clues.

Fortunately, with all my years in the EBI, this was simply another routine day on the job for me. The first place I'd check out would be Aurora's old house that she talked about, where she was born. 362 Pegamegabow Ave. Hearing Winds of Change by The scorpions confirmed that ti was the right address in my mind. I was about to knock, but I froze at the very last possible second. Of course, she'd try and pretend she wasn't home if she could see me through the peephole. I decided to flap my wings and crawl through the window.

Taking a look around me. I could see her in it. She must've gotten her life back onto the straight and narrow without me. She was lying in her bed asleep, but there was not a single scrap of evidence of drug use in sight, not even so much as an Ambien bottle. The only thing that was of note was seeing two eagle feathers on her nightstand, she must've earned them for her high-school and college graduation. I set a hoof gingerly on the floor. I did not think this plan entirely through as I am now in a much weirder and harder to explain the position because a physically abusive ex who sneaked into his victim's house is now quite a few precinct homicide stories start. Hell, even the simple act of climbing out would seem a bit stalker-ish to me. I decided sneaking downstairs to have a peek at the fridge would be the least awkward thing I could do at this point, so I crawled low like a hunting panther. I opened the door delicately, slipped through, and shut it with equally careful precision.

A sigh of relief escaped as I headed downstairs. Her parents must've been out doing errands or at a neighbor's house. I opened the fridge to see what food items were available to eat. Of course, since this was a bison reserve I should've expected the fridge to be this empty, but there were some meat and veg I could cook up, so I did. I borrowed one of Aurora's cookbooks, she always had the best ones, and I got cracking. I made myself a very delicious but also rudimentary steak au poivre, Aurora always made that for me and I always appreciated it, I sat on the couch and I got to eat.

Of course, I should've known Aurora would come down at any moment, I just didn't expect it to be while I was trying to shove the veggies down my beak, which was taken awhile. She screamed bloody murder and brandished a sawed-off. Like the strike of a match, I threw my plate at her like a frisbee and took cover, but she simply fired a blast of shot that caused the plate to shatter into quite a few different pieces like a clay pigeon in a skeet shooting contest, one of which happened to land near me.

"Okay Aurora", I said as hesitation dripped through my voice. "I know this might look a teensy bit bad..."

"BAD!?" exclaimed Aurora, venom dripping from her tongue. "You broke into my house and ate my food like nothing ever happened between us. In that situation. In what possible, Celestia-damned mother-fucking possible situation, could this be anything construed as good?!"

"Well..." I say as I hear Aurora audibly switch the firing pin over to the second barrel. I lost my train of thought for a second and gulped. "Well, Iron Loyalty is working with me again, we're trying to take down the Balefire Division. We need your help, your connections, and if I knocked on your door, I'd have no idea if you would even answer the door."

"prove it", said Aurora. "Give me one single shred of evidence that I should believe you."

Reaching under my shirt, I undid the metallic clasp around my neck, and tossed out my lucky dragon's breath shell. "I cling onto that thing for dear life," I explained. "You always taught me that I should always keep one around my neck for good luck because I never know when I might need a little extra luck, a little extra bravado to live to see tomorrow. Hopefully, you taught me well?"

Aurora simply grumbled and, based purely on the sound alone, broke her sawed-off open and loaded something in. "Alright then... I suppose I need to honor my wisdom is you of all people did. But you cock-up, or lay so much as a finger on me..." She said before she switched the firing pin into the safe position. "Hurt me or my family in any conceivable way, and your luck will burn up like an 8-ball of crack."

A terrifying, but surprisingly accurate simile. "Alright, that sounds reasonable," I said, adrenaline exhaling with my breath. "So should I tell my friends to rally up at your house?"

"Yeah, get them to rally here. I'll be in my room, waiting for you to clean up and then go get your friends," said Aurora, with a sadistic grin. She then holstered her shotgun before heading up. I simply got the broom and started cleaning as my survival depended on it because, with a mare like that, it probably does.

It took me 5 hours of straight, nonstop work to clean up the mess me and Aurora made, after an hour or so, Aurora made me wear a maid outfit, just for added humiliation. I decided to sit down for a moment and catch my breath, unfortunately, it escaped my lungs again as I heard a sharp knock against the door. I take a look through the peephole to see who it is, and to my surprise, it's Corporal Talon. I grumble as I open the door.

Talon's eyes go wide with surprise before he bows. "I'm so sorry madam, is Nessassio available?" asked Talon.

"It's me, you i-", I say, stopping myself. It's not fair to call him an idiot, he's on the spectrum. "It's me, Nessassio. Sorry if my outfit through you for a loop there."

"It's okay, I think it looks kinda cute on you," giggled Talon. I put my claw on my face to hide my blush, it is embarrassing how forwards Talon could be sometimes.

"How the hell did you even find me?" I asked with a hint of incredulity.

"Come on, I wouldn't be a SEAL if I didn't know how to follow griffon tracks," Talon said with a stretch as if trying to show off the knowledge he's very proud of in that particular moment. I rolled my eyes playfully at that particular moment of boastfulness.

"Alright, text Buckshot the address," I say as I proceed to close the door shut. "I'll go get changed real quick, afterward you can come in and tell me all about, uh, 'Hell Week', I think you called it." Talon clapped his claws together excitedly and agreed to wait outside for me to get changed.

Changing back into the clothes I was wearing before, I felt some kind of sinking feeling like I was getting back to work. I suppose cleaning is easier than shooting sometimes, but I never thought I'd miss it. I shut these thoughts off, thankfully Aurora didn't notice I had changed, thank Celestia, and I opened the door to let Talon in.

"So, about Hell Week," said Talon with all the passionate excitement of a young colt as he sat on the couch. "We don't get an announcement on when it starts. We get woken up with the coolest alarm system known to man, an artillery barrage! and that's when the exercise starts. We lock hands, get into icy cold waters for 15-minute intervals, and get pulled out every 5 minutes to make sure we aren't dying of hypothermia, but oh my gosh, it's amazing what someone can do when pushed to their limit! I was so sore for weeks, but the proudest hippogriff ever!"

Smiling quite happily, I was genuinely glad Talon has something that makes him so happy in life. I guess I could say the same thing for myself now, even If I'm not quite as excited as Talon, who has his face pressed up to mine the entire time he was gushing. I don't know many EBI agents who get this far, let alone ones with as checkered past like mine, but I was happy, and I gave Talon a brotherly hug.

"Thank you, that was interesting Talon," I said as I let go. of him "How about you go find the rest while I get Aurora down, the sooner we're discussing a way to raid the hate camp, the better." Talon nodded in understanding before getting up to leave. "And promise me you won't tell any other squad members what you saw." He gave me a thumbs up in acknowledgment. While most people wouldn't have registered that as anything meaningful, it highlighted a lot about Talon, how much excitement he's brimming with.

Heading up to Aurora's room, with a bit of hesitation, I knock on the door. "Hey, Aurora. I finished cleaning, and Talon tailed me home, everyone else will be here soon. I'm sorry I snuck in through the window. I hope you'll feel safe at the meeting soon." I sigh, trying to search deep inside for anything I had to say. "And, I just want to say thank you, really, for giving me a second chance. I never thought I'd deserve one, I never thought I should even have gotten off scot-free, but thank you. Really." I walked back downstairs and exited through the backdoor. I lit up my cigar and puffed away at it, it was the only way I knew how to pass the time responsibly, but fortunately, it would at least kill a half-hour, maybe an hour if I'm lucky.

When I heard familiar voices chatting up inside, I knew it was my squad. "Glad you all could make it." I directed that in particular to Buckshot, who gives me a salute as a thank you. "Should I go get the guest of honor?"

"Make it so, specialist," Buckshot said, directing a bit of gravitas towards me. It felt nice to feel like I was welcome as part of the military for all I've done for these guys.

"No need, Buckshot," said Aurora, making her dramatic entrance. "I was told I would be needed?"

"Damn right you'll be needed missus," Buckshot said with an elegant swagger. "Nessie said you'd have intel on the Balefire Hate Camp nearby?"

Aurora laughed at Buckshot as she made her way down the stairs. "You can't seriously be considering a raid against them are you?"

"Even if they weren't responsible for an Empty Quiver, why would you even THINk about holding back against those fuckers!" snarled Diamond. Biggins patted Diamond on the shoulder as a reminder to calm down, so she took a deep breath and did so.

"I care about protecting the people of Appleoosa," retorted Aurora, as she got a map off the shelf and unfolded it. "The Balefire Division has approximately 50 initiates trying to prove themselves. And see those 5 black markers? Those are fully committed cell members, rumoured to be ex-delta force operators."

"I've seen those initiates too", added Iron. "Even though they aren't proper cell members, they are not to be taken lightly, they are all ex-military, at least."

Aurora chuckled, "That's not even the worst of it. They even have mortar teams."

Buckshots eyes go wide in response, while Biggins escorts him to the sofa.

"Why would that be a big deal?" I asked.

Diamond shook her head in response. "White Phosphorus. it's the bane of every modern soldier on the field. It's pyrophoric, burns on exposure to oxygen, meaning it will burn you right down to the bone. Not to mention the smoke is toxic and choking, burns your lungs like mustard gas." Diamond's description rattled both me and Iron, we sat on opposite ends of our Raider duo. Seems there's even a limit to the famous USMC Esprit du Corps.

"We do have an avenue for help though, as dangerous as it might seem," said Biggins in an optimistic tone. "We could get Daddy to help us out."

"That could work", nodded Talon. "Buck's dad commands a Ranger Battalion, and each Battalion is deployable within 18 hours. we'd be able to send enough soldiers at them to both cut them off and minimize serious casualties.

Buck soon snapped out of his fearful trance. "you're right. That actually could work. I suppose, even though it'll be quite awkward to work with my dad again, it could work. Plus, we could track this nuke down faster. We'd have a full battalion's worth of soldiers trained in site exploitation, you're a miracle worker Talon". Everyone crowded around Talon to give him a great big team spirit hug, before promptly backing off.

"If we'll be fighting alongside the 75th, you can count the Appleoosa Warriors in, we'll protect the townsfolk should Balefire get any ideas," added Aurora.

"Then it's official," Buckshot declared in an authoritative tone. "I'll call in a favor with my dad, and we'll show these racist pricks the meaning of fear. you have 18 hours to prepare. Dismissed."

Buckshot stared intensely at his watch. It's a classy, stainless steel digital watch, the kind of watch your grandpa would wear. seventeen and a half hours pass since we put out that alert.

"Hopefully they can live up to their motto," quipped Iron in a snark voice. "I'd hate to think we came out here for nothing."

"If I know daddy, he's going to stretch it out to the very last second". Biggins smiled endearingly towards Buckshot, still fixated on his watch.

"Did it with everything in life," added Buckshot. "Even back when he was a lieutenant serving in Afghaneighstan. he'd stretch out every hour of home leave he had. And every single hour fighting tooth and nail."

"Sounds like he'll be a valuable asset," I said as I smiled in an optimistic tone. "We really could use someone that punctual with our current state of affairs.

"They sure as hell are," replied Buckshot. "Like the EDFMC, they are soldiers first and foremost."

"And we're always deployable anywhere in the world within 18 hours!" Announced a grizzled voice from behind us. He was a stallion, in his mid-40s, looked about as jacked as Biggins. "After all, Rangers lead the way."

"Lieutenant Colonel Slugshot!" Buckshot sprang into a salute as quickly as those words hurriedly left his mouth. Biggins however simply ran up and hugged his old man.

"At ease, Staff Sergeant." Slug says, glancing at Buckshot. "As much as I oughta throttle you getting biggins wrapped up in your dumb mistake of breaking family tradition, JSOC gave my battalion the notification, so Celestia bless your soul with all her heart." Buckshot's eyes simply twitched in irritation, as he just got cursed out like a southern gentlecolt by his dad.

"What's the problem with being a marine?" Iron asks, innocently enough.

"According to my pa, the only ponies who join the Marine corp are stallions with small peckers, and mares who hate peckers." Buckshot shot a glare at Iron.

"Where does that leave mares with large peckers?" I ask, giving a knowing glance to Diamond.

"82nd Wonderbolt Division." Diamond and I hoof bumped for our set up and punchline.

"Don't break an arm jerking yourself off there Bucky-boy. Your branch has only been around for 14 years." Slug gave his son a smug smirk.

"That's cause for the past 14 years, there were no 'special marines'", Buck said, giving air quotes with his retort, and folding his hooves in response, proud of his come back.

"Settle down boys," said Biggins in a genuinely worried tone. "I'm sure we can both agree that we should work together to stop the Balefire Division."

"The Balefire Division?" Slug asks with genuine laughter. "Shit son, if JSOC is throwing us up against them, then we're gonna have us a fun time, and we'll get to show you how a real military unit gets things done." Slug confidently led us all inside, he reviewed the map that Aurora had laid out for us, circling some notes here and there. "Alright, since we're going to need all the ammo we can use, as our plan is going to rely heavily on attrition, we are going to lay down 3 days of suppressing rifle fire, and the 3 platoons are going to provide fire support from the South, North East, and West North West. On day 3, it'll be up to clean up what's left while a fire support platoon provides cover for you, another provides cover for the town, while a third trains the appleoosa warriors in fire support doctrine. If they're gonna fight, they'll need to know safety procedures and such."

"Well thank you kindly," said Aurora, with an exaggerated version of slug's posh southern accent. "Can't wait to put the hurt on these fuckers and take our land back."

"I'll be with you every step of the way, honey." Iron Loyalty wrapped an arm around Aurora's shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. I simply looked over and shook my head in frustration that they had to do this within earshot of me. Diamond simply placed a hoof on my own shoulder, and I could feel my frustrations slip away from me for a good moment.

"The good thing about this plan," Buckshot began to say, looking over to me. "Is that while my Dad sets up the logistics, we can help you come to terms with this. This is a very dangerous direct action mission, so we want to make sure you'll be psychologically ready, and that means making sure your head stays clear for this. Can't have you be distracted when the bullets start flying.'

"Sounds like a good idea then, sir." I gave a salute to buckshot for offering his sage veteran wisdom.

"Wisdom will only get you so far, son," Slugshot interjected. "The other half of the battle is actually being able to shoot straight."

"Believe me, I can shoot straight." There was hint of bravado in my voice. Maybe I am slightly exaggerating, but there is no way he could know right?

"Ness, you'd do best not to question the recommendations of your superior officer," Slugshot replied, unamused. "You're supposed to lead by example and follow orders respectfully, you're not in some SWAT team anymore, you're in the big league. You will act like the soldier you're expected to be, as this mission only calls for the best."

"Right sir, sorry." I looked down and kicked the ground apologetically.

"Good, we'll get started on suppressing the camp for you," Slugshot resumed in his usual authoritative tone. "After you secure anything relevant to your mission at hand, we'll do our own SSE. Find out ways we can put the hurt on Balefire and take some of the heat off of you."

"Very good, sir," Buckshot replied. "You heard him, do whatever it takes ot make sure you'll be ready for this mission."