Author's Note

This story is an ongoing collaborative effort between myself and fellow author and friend of mine on this site Akula966. Most of the story is inspired by the events of Call of Duty Black Ops, mostly the idea of a captured hero and a former enemy turned unlikely ally fighting against someone who wronged them both.

Some events in this story will parralel events in the game, but we have learned from a previous mistake and intend on keeping the story unique while capturing the ideas taken from the source.

Enjoy, Akula and I have been working on a collaborative story for the better part of a year and both of us are excited to start this.

Heart Of War

"Wake up Miss Velocity."

The pony in question grogily responded to the call, only to be alerted by the fact that she was strapped down.

"No need to be afriad.

"Why am I here?! Who are you?!"

"Who I am is not important miss, what is important is what I'm asking you..."

"You have no right to ask me anything prick! I don't answer to whoever you are. Now let me go."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, as you have been suspected of working with enemies to Equestria. As such, we need... "

"You talking about Akula?! Is this what this bullshit is about? If he was an enemy he would have already..." Viral's rant was cut short by a sharp pain that eveloped her entire system. Her shriek echoed throughout the massive room.

"Yes, Miss Velocity, this is about your...acquaintance. The temporary pinch you just received is a little motivator to get you to cooperate with our efforts. As you're already familiar with, the changeling's are currently Equestria's greatest threat. After looking into your history and finding several key events where you were within close proximity to Akula we have deemed you a threat to the kingdom. However, we can cooperate...surrender the location of your accomplice and we shall let you go, clearing your name in the process. If you don't, we will slowly increase the pain of your experience."

Viral let out a chuckle through the pain.

"Me, enemy of the kingdom? You must not know who I am."

"On the contrary, we have a detailed record of your time in the military. This includes a state in which you were M.I.A for several months."

"That shit show? You don't even want to know what happened."

"We will find out, even if we have to use more...invasive methods. Boot up the infiltrator, we're gonna dive into her."

3rd Day of the 7th Moon, Year 1032
Viral Velocity deployed alongside team 2 to retrieve report from forward scouts 5 kilometers from the Changeling/Equestria Border that broke contact with command.

"V, you should see scared Griffin's get when they hear one of these things go off. Makes me laugh every time." Came a snarky remark from one of the veterans in the squadron, brandishing the rifle he was outfitted with.

"Easy for you to say when you're not the one fresh out of boot camp." She responded to the veteran in her battalion. Indeed she was only in her early twenties.

"Seems like the more places we go the more things stay the same V." The voice of another responded to her words. "Eventually you'll get the routine. Everything we come across fights hard or runs scared."

While originally not intending to join the armed forces, the crimson Pegasus was inclined to fight as war began with the Changelings. Once an ally that helped quell enemy forces was slowly turning into Equestria's biggest threat.

The former queen had been overthrown long before and the Changelings became a new ally for them under Thorax. All was peaceful until a small uprising brought upon a new age of conflict. Thorax had been replaced by a new more threatening leader known only to the Equestrian's as "Drago". While his identity was mostly unknown, he was certainly a threat none had seen before. Arming them with weapons some could only dream of, or in this case have nightmares.

Viral was among the youngest in her group, as most of the soldiers in her squadron were in their late 20's to early thirties. Most of them had some experience at least, though none were prepared for what was coming.

They were being sent in as reinforcements after a call from a scout squadron 5 clicks up the road. They were nearing the border of what was considered enemy territory, and the scouts had failed to report back at any time over the last few hours.

The team was 20 strong, most armed with automatic rifles or submachine guns with a few MG's for support. They weren't expecting a long firefight. For Viral, she was a designated submachine gunner, being an agile Pegasus.

The squadron leader, a green earth pony stallion and the oldest of the team signaled for the team to halt. Up ahead, the tent that had belonged to the Scout team lay, though the ponies that were occupying it seemed to not be present.

"We're close," He said. "Eyes up, and watch for movement."

Just as he finished speaking, a rustle in the bushes was heard. Those who we're closest to it aimed their weapons, but most relaxed when it turned out to be one of the Scouts. It was their own leader, who seemed to be in ok condition. She seemed to be surprised by the presence of the squadron.

"Oh, my mistake. We weren't expecting any backup."

The squadron leader was quick to respond.

"You failed to report back to base Lt. Flash, so we were sent to pack you folks up."

"Yeah..we ran into radio trouble. Alloy should be inside working on it."

Convinced that the problem could be resolved by fixing a simple radio issue, he went to enter the tent with a couple soldiers. Viral leaned back on a nearby tree facing away from most of the team. Little did she realize how close she would have come to perishing.

As the group of ponies opened the tent flap there was a noticeable click that brought every pony to attention. Suddenly, the tent exploded from planted explosives. Those who survived outside the blast zone raised their guns, but We're soon put under fire from all sides including the disguised Changeling who had set the trap.

Viral immediately was brought to attention herself, standing cover behind the tree she laid upon. Suddenly in front of her she was charged by one of the enemies surrounding the squad. She met the blue bug face to face locking her hooves with the other as it hissed in her face with razor fangs. It glowed as it did under Thorax, but it was well known by many that Thorax was no longer in command of these bugs.

She held off the blade it attempted to stab her with, turning the bug against the tree and forcing its presence off her before firing a burst of 9mm into its upper torso and dropping it. She went to look at regrouping to support her squad but soon realized with dread the situation she was in.

19 bodies lay in front of her eyes, most of which were coated in burns from the explosion and the rest riddled with bullet wounds. Her entire team was wiped out by a perfect ambush….and now she was staring into dozens of guns pointed in her direction. With no hope of surviving if she fired, she did the most logical thing and set the gun down slowly as two of them approached with AK-74s drawn.

She was disarmed and tossed over onto her face, but she was thankful to not be forced to see her own dead as she was escorted away. For the mare, a long journey was on its way, as she was now a POW in what would soon become all-out war.