Author's Note

Hello Strangers, and Welcome Back!

To start things off this chapter, I would like to clarify some things that I had forgotten to mention.

A. Yes, this story does indeed contain Anthro. I'll put clarification for this in the description as soon as this goes up.

B. A MASSIVE thank you to all of those who noticed things that I missed ( spelling errors, etc.) I am literally a one man team and I'm trying my hardest to create the best story that I can.

Speaking of which, if you have any suggestions or ideas that could better flesh out the characters and their world, do not be afraid to voice your opinion. Just remember that I may ignore it from time to time.

Now, without further adieu, let's return to where we left off.

Chapter Two: Those In Need

In 200 A.D, Lucian of Samosata wrote the first written mention of aliens in his novel Vera Historia. One could say that he wrote what everyone had on their mind. Since the dawn of civilization, humanity had always looked towards the stars and wondered if we were truly alone in this universe. Children were told stories of different beings that came from the stars and revealed things to humanity.

But never in his life, did John ever think that he would actually meet an alien, no less be one.

The two beings stared at each other, the air becoming tense. Both parties gripped their weapons tightly, John's hand gripping his pistol, while Iron Will grasped his spear tightly. The stress was slowly building, both of their hands were trembling on their weapons. John racked his brain, searching for every possible outcome of this event. John then looked into the pony's eyes. While they looked determined, John could practically smell the fear coming off of him. At that moment, John realized that this was not just a confrontation. It was a test of wills.

John slowly lowered his hand from his gun, seizing his trembling and dawning the best poker face that he could muster. “ I’m a human. Now, what are you?” The pony seemed to lock up even tighter, fear slowly breaking down his poker face. Iron Will simply stared at the creature. Not only had this creature heard him, but it had responded. The sheer voice from it sounded commanding, powerful, and dangerous. Whatever a "human" is, Iron Will thought, as he lessened the grip on the spear, it sounds powerful. Hell, he even killed a changeling with that stick of his. Whatever this thing is, I should probably establish a relationship with him.

After the intense stare-down, Iron Will finally responded, “ I’m a pony. Now, are you a friend or a foe?” As he asked this, the other ponies gripped their swords and spears a tad bit harder, prepared to engage with the human. Watching as the blades pointed at him, John wondered if this was what the Europeans felt when they first encountered the Native Americans. However, seeing a chance to diffuse the situation, John slowly began to smile as he calmly responded, “ If I was not your ally, then why would I have helped you?” After he said that, a brief moment of silence washed over the, resulting with both parties lowering their weapons, breathing a huge sigh of relief in the process.

Iron Will then extended his hand to the human and said, “ I am First Lieutenant Iron Will, commander of the 1st Platoon of the Tenth Division of the Lunar Guard. What is your name?” As he said this, John looked at his hand, almost hesitating to grab it.

Gripping Iron Will’s hand, John responded, “ I am John Lee, Captain of Alpha Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, United States Army. Is it alright if I call you Will?”

“Sure,” Will responded as he smiled back at John, chuckling during the process, “ my name can be quite the hooful.” John looked at him with confusion as he muttered to himself, “Hooful?” Suddenly, more green bolts surged above them, striking a tower in the distance. Will instantly let go of John’s hand and shouted, “EVERYPONY, RETREAT TO THE CASTLE!” Suddenly, the ponies that seemed so calm not a moment ago began to panic and start running down a road towards the castle. John gripped his rifle as he charged after them, running side by side with them.

As they approached the castle, the frequent battles began to dissipate in numbers, with only a few one on ones could be seen. However, as they passed by an alleyway, John skidded to a stop as he witnessed one of these mentioned battles. A changeling slammed his fist into a shadowy figure, while the latter screamed in pain, as it gripped something on its left leg/ John, seeing that this pony was in danger, raised his rifle once more, and pulled the trigger.

The changeling stood no chance as the bullet zoomed towards him, slamming itself into the changeling’s brain. It’s body fell limp, crumpling to the ground, dragging down the wounded pony with him. John charged into the alley, shouldering his rifle in the process. He grabbed onto the pony just in time to prevent it from falling to the ground. John dragged the wounded pony out of the dark, dirty alleyway into the light, where he managed to get a good look at it.

John could tell that this was a female, due to the fact that she obviously had breasts. Her entire body was covered in a blue armor that held yellow lightning bolts on the side of them. Her wings, which indicated that she was some kind of Pegasus, were also covered in the armor, but unlike her chest, it held signs of damage which allowed John to see her blue feathers. Her hair was very interesting to John, looking almost identical to a rainbow, the exception being that it was... hair. What shocked John the most was her left leg. It appeared as if the changeling that was fighting her had managed to stab her, explaining the blood gushing out of the wound.

John looked into the mare's wine colored eyes, which were dilated in pain. Fresh tears streamed down from her face as she looked into John’s silver eyes. She attempted to say something, but she winced in pain as she tried to open her mouth, preventing her from talking. John looked at this fearful mare and felt something that he had not felt in a long, long time; compassion. Before he could change his mind, he wrapped his arms around the wounded mare, causing her to tense up and hesitate to recuperate the action. John then slowly began to hush her, as her body began to loosen up, whispering, "Shh... it's ok. I'm here. You're going to be safe now." She then gripped onto John as tight as she could, lock him into a bear hug. She buried her head into his shoulder, her dirty hair meeting his dirty, green uniform.

The two stayed like that for some time, bolts of magic flying through the air around them. Slowly, John released her from the hug and looked into her eyes. “ Can you walk?” John asked her as she looked back at him. She then began to attempt to move her left leg, only to wince in pain, fresh tears streaming down her face. Seeing this, John quickly came to the conclusion that he has to move here. Although he had not seen a changeling in some time, he knew that more would come and potentially harm this mare. John then looked into her eyes again and told her, “ Listen, I’m going to move you. You are not safe here. This may hurt a bit, but you have to trust me, ok?” She sat there in silence for a second until she looked up at him and nodded, giving him the best smile that she could muster.

Gathering his remaining strength, John grabbed the mare and hoisted her into his arms. She grunted and cried, watching as more blood began to seep out of the wound. Seeing this, John began the mad dash back to the castle. He prayed that he could find help there. As he looked down into his arms, he began to see the mare fighting to stay awake. Seeing this, John kicked into overdrive, rushing past rubble and scrambling to the illuminated lights of the castle.

Iron Will collapsed against a pillar, letting out a long sigh as he slid down to a sitting position. It had been a very long day for everypony in that room, due to the dwindling battle outside. Reports were coming in that the changelings were finally dwindling in numbers, and that they could potentially surrender soon.

He looked across the room and saw all of the mares and stallions on cots, bloodied bandages covering their bodies. Although they were pushing the enemy back, it had come at a great cost. Fellow soldiers were reporting that they had lost about 1,000 good soldiers in this battle alone. How many more would have to die?

Will’s mind eventually wandered back to John, the human that he had met earlier. If any signs appeared in that fight that they had together, it was that this ‘human’ was much more equipped for war. He could wield technologies that they couldn’t even begin to fathom. Will began to wonder if that stick was the only deadly weapon that he had brought with him.

Will sat back up, allowing his helmet to fall off his body, letting his red hair blow through the wind. I might as well catch up with my fellow soldiers. Walking to a set of large doors, Will entered a grand hallway, filled to the brim with refugees. When the attack first started, the Changeling army went on a rampage through Canterlot, killing hundreds of innocent civilians. When the princesses had heard of this after the first day of fighting, they immediately opened the castle to all refugees. He still remembered that day when he and his fellow soldiers stood in front of the royal sisters and the legendary elements of harmony, bringing a smirk back to his face.

As he passed by civilians, he noticed a particularly large group surrounding one of his fellow soldiers. He approached the group, curious to what had them so interested. “... I honestly didn't think that we would even make it out. We were surrounded on all sides with no hope of getting out. I was about to give up, but then something strange happened. This being approached us, wielding a weapon that could kill a changeling with ease, firing magical bolts with a smokey effect. He helped us defeat the Changeling army today and is now among us, watching from afar."

As he heard this story be told, Iron Will began to wonder where John even was. While they were running back to the castle, John had disappeared, going off somewhere. Iron Will presumed that he would be ok, due to him hearing the sound from his mysterious stick shortly after he disappeared. However, some part of him was still worried about him. In fact, he was so worried that he did not hear another pony approach behind him.

“Is everything alright Lieutenant?” a voice asked him as he lay in thought. “ Kind of,” he responded, “ I was just wondering where a friend of mine went.” He heard the woman chuckle and responded, “ Perhaps if thou tells me his name, I could find him?” He tensed up the moment when the women said ‘thou’. Looking slowly to his right, he was stunned to find one of the royal alicorn sisters, the alicorn of the night to be precise; Princess Luna.

Her starry hair flowed against the non-existent wind, gracefully sparkling with beauty. Her armor was a dark blue with her cutie mark embedded in it’s chest, centered directly above her bust. Her fur was dirty and bloody, but still held that graceful charm to it. Her eyes radiated a feeling of wonder and charm. One could only imagine what things they have seen.

“P-Princess!” Iron Will stuttered, as he immediately fell on one knee and bowed. Luna laughed at the display, “At ease soldier, we are equals on the battlefield. The bowing is not necessary,” she assured him. Iron Will let out a sigh of relief, standing back up and stuttered again, “ S-Sorry.” She brought a hand up to his cheek and said, “ It’s alright. These are trying times, so we will accept your apology. Now tell me; who are you looking for?” Iron Will looked down and wondered how she would accept the knowledge of an alien helping them out

Suddenly, the doors on the opposite end of the halfway, the one leading to the throne room, were thrown open, revealing the human holding one of the element barriers in his arms. They collapsed to the ground together, the human taking off his helmet as he laid the mare down. He then looked down the hallway, tears beginning to stream down his eyes, and shouted, “MEDIC!”