The Onyx Guard

RICO'S POV

I ran through the forest as I followed the sounds of gunfire, expecting to see fellow Gears locked in a firefight against the Locust.

"But didn't the Locust die?" I thought you myself as I remembered back to what happened before, seeing the Locust drop like flies from some strange wave. And I remember... Dying. I did die, I know I did. But how the hell am I... Not dead? I shook my head, couldn't think of that right now as I ran. I started hearing shouting and took cover behind a fallen tree, looking over I saw a firefight, having been in plenty to know one when I see it, but the ones who were fighting were unlike anything I have seen. The place seemed to be a fallen castle of some sorts, it was in ruins yet there were sandbags placed for cover, and on some parts of the castle I saw there were some turrets and snipers. I looked and saw people wearing yellow, purple, and makeshift armor. Only they weren't people, at least not normal people, they had hands, legs, sure, but their faces looked more like a horse than a person. Not to mention that they were really colorful, it felt like a kid splashing paint in my eyes the more I looked at them. What's weirder is that some had these weird horn things on their heads, others had wings, but some had none. Their weapons looked really different than the guns I saw, but they still seem to shoot well enough.

I looked over to see what they were fighting and saw these black creatures firing at them. They wore black and dark purple armor, looked similar to the colored horse people, but were black in color and had both horns and wings, they looked more like... Like...

"Grubs." I hissed in anger as I then heard screaming, looking over I saw a kid, no older than maybe ten years old, being held by a man with yellow skin, orange hair, and was bleeding from his head. It seemed to be the father of the child as the father winced in pain while holding his child close to his chest behind some rubble. I've seen enough. These people needed help and these grubs needed to die! I checked my surroundings and saw that these black bugs were using the trees as cover and the darkness of the night to stay hidden, only the flash of gunfire could be seen. I carefully snuck my way behind the grubs and took out a frag grenade, throwing it at a small group of them huddled together and watched as they were blown to bits

"What the hay?!" One of the grubs shouted out before I riddled him with bullets, so these fuckers could talk, huh? Then I'll make sure they're all screaming! I fired my Lancer and swapped behind cover to make it seem that it was more than one person firing.

"What is that thing?!" One grub asked while firing blindly, only to be take out by the ones they were shooting at before. I smirked under my helmet as I saw one of the grubs moving ahead to try and find me, so I decided to rev up my chainsaw and saw that fucker in half. His blood was a green color instead of red, gross. I rolled over to another fallen tree as the grubs kept firing at me, the bullets grazed against my armor but I returned fire at the grubs, soon seeing some of them fly up high

"Okay, that's just bullshit now!" I shouted as I had to fuck behind cover as they fired down at me. I glanced up and saw a streak of... Rainbow? Fly up and saw the flying grubs start to fall with their throats slit. I got up from behind cover and moved up, gaining more ground as the grubs were getting hit from both sides and even in the air. One of the grubs flew at me and tried to bite me, but he broke his fangs against my armor

"Did you just fucking bite me? You bitch!" I headbutted the grub and revved up my chainsaw bayonet and sawed off his head . Kicking his headless corpse away as I turned back to see that they were all now dead. I stepped out from the trees only to get shot in the chest, luckily it didn't penetrate my armor "Hey hey! Check your fire, asshole!" I shouted, seeing all of them now with their guns drawn at me.

"Stop right there!" One of the horse people said, a female by the sounds of it. She had blonde hair tied in a ponytail, light orange skin, freckles on her face, and a cowboy hat on her head. She wore armor that seemed to be made out of leather with a iron breastplate and boots. I felt something poke against my head and glanced back to see a barrel of a gun aiming right at my head. The one holding it was a female with blue skin, rainbow hair and tail, and... Wings? She had wings, guess that explains what I saw killed those flying grubs.

"Is it a Changeling?" The blonde asked the blue one

"Don't think so, but if it is it's one I ain't ever seen before." The blue one said while eyeing me up and down

"Take a picture, it'll last longer. I ain't no grub, I'm a Gear." I told them but they just looked at me with a puzzling expression on their faces

"A what?"

"A Gear? A soldier of the COG?" I looked at them to see if they understood what I was saying but got the same confused look on their faces "Where am I?" The blue one and blonde one eyed each other before nodding, the blue chick lowered her gun and walked towards the others, motioning me to follow her. At least now I can get some answers, plus not getting shot at was a nice change of pace. I followed the blue and blonde chicks inside the castle and got a better look at it from the inside, inside there were crates and a couple of supplies such as medicine, food, and weapons. I saw many more of the horse people all running about, from what I could see there were a mix of actual Soldiers and civilians, I could tell them apart from their armor and how they held themselves up. All eyes were on me as I followed the two women deeper inside

"Ah'm Applejack, that there is Rainbow Dash." The blonde chick, now named Applejack, introduced. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh at their names

"Seriously? That's your names?" I asked, there was no way that was there real names, it had to be nicknames.

"Well what's yours, big guy?" Rainbow glared at me

"Sergeant Johnny Rico, Alpha Squad." I introduced myself, having a small sense of pride, only a bit.

"Sergeant? You were in the army?" The two stared at me as their expression became a bit lighter

"What branch were you in? Secret Service or something? I never seen armor like yours before, not to mention someone as huge as you other than the Princesses, and that's only in height." Rainbow Dash said as I saw her staring my muscular build.

"In a way, I was part of the Onyx Guard, an elite program of only the best of the best in the COG." I explained

"The COG?" The two stared at me with questioning looks

"The COG... Coalition of Ordered Governments?" Now I was getting confused, did they not know about the COG? Even on neutral islands people knew about the COG, hell, people still remembered the UIR!

"Follow us." Once more I followed them up some stairs and into what I believe to be the war room. There was a large circular table with a large map, some chairs around the table, and boards filled with what looks like battle plans and routes. Inside I saw a man with white skin, white as snow, two different shaded blue hair, and a horn. He wore purple armor with gold outlining his armor, he also had a scar on his chin

"Captain Shining Armor." The two chicks saluted to the man, guess he was the one in charge

"AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, boy am I glad you two were here to help push back those Changelings." Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief

"It wasn't entirely us, sir. We had some help, he's a soldier too. A skilled one at that." AppleJack looked over at me "He flanked the Changelings and was able to dispatch a good chunk of them while we boxed them in." She recapped the events from the battle. Shining Armor walked over to me and looked up at me, I was about a good six inches taller than him.

"You're not any solider I ever seen before."

"He says he part of the "Onyx Guard" whatever that is." Rainbow added

"Onyx Guard? We didn't have anything like that back in the army."

"Mind if I take a look at this map?" I asked, walking over to the large map I looked at it with a puzzled look on my face, the map was... It was fucking weird. There were names of some places but the names were unlike anything I've heard about "Manehatten, Appleloosa, Fillydelphia, Ponyville, where in Sera's name am I? Where's Anvil Gate?" I asked them but, once again, they looked at me like I was crazy

"We never heard of Anvil Gate." Shining said

"Where are you from?"

"Anvil Gate, but originally I'm from Jacinto."

"What?" I stared at them in shock as they didn't even know this! Then I decided to ask something that has been on my mind

"... What's the name of this country?"

"Equestria." Shining Armor said, I stared in disbelief as it finally dawned on me. I'm not home. Hell, I'm probably not even on Sera anymore! I took off my helmet and they all gasped as they saw my true face

"What the hay?" AppleJack stared at me as she stared at my face

"What's wrong with your face? Why's it flat?" Rainbow Dash clearly speaks before thinking

"The fuck happened to your face?" I shot back as I groaned "This may be hard to believe, but-"

"Sir!" A man with yellow and a bit of white skin, or maybe it was fur? He had a bit of a beard tied up neatly and wore glasses

"Sunburst, what happened?" Shining Armor asked

"The squad you sent to take out the crystal that's jamming out transmission, they're pinned down! They're getting hammered!"

"What?!"

"One of the members was able to get back, he told us what happened!" They all rushed out and I followed behind them as Shining Armor began gathering up his gear

"Where is he?"

"He's in the medical wing, he was shot while running back here." Sunburst said, we walked down the halls as I could see the true state these people were in, there were perhaps at least a hundred or so people here, many of which were children, they were all malnourished, beaten, and on their last leg. It reminded me of back home. We made it to the medical wing and I saw this young... Is that a fucking dragon?! It was a Dragon with purple scales, green spikes along his head and back, and he was bleeding profusely from his side.

"Spike!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack rushed over to the injured dragon as Shining Armor stepped forward

"What happened out there? What happened to the others? Are they safe?" Shining Armor kept asking question after question, there must've been someone he cared for out there

"W-We... We were heading towards the town hall... Wanting to plant some explosives to take down the crystal jamming out communication, B-But... We got ambushed, W-We retreated back to the A-Apple's homestead to hold out. T-Twilight... Told me to run back and get reinforcements... B-But I got hit while running... I-I'm sorry." Spike coughed weakly as groaned loudly in pain from having bullets taken out of his wound

"Damnit! We need to send help." Shining Armor said

"B-But sir! They found our location, what if they send another armed force here? We barely have enough ponies here able to fight, let alone barely enough munitions and supplies to hold out ever since our supply line was cut off." Sunburst told him as Shining Armor tighten his fists

"I'll go." I stepped up as all eyes were on me

"You? Alone? Are you crazy?" Applejack asked while looking at me with a raised eyebrow

"I don't know much of what's going on, but I do know enough that you all need help. I have plenty of combat experience so I ain't over my head, plus I need to look for my team, if I'm here then so are they." I said, my team had to be here too if I'm here, and I wasn't about to leave them behind in this place. Shining Armor was in deep thought after hearing my offer to help and he finally agreed

"Fine, Applejack, go with him to lead him to your old homestead. But be careful, I can't afford to loose anymore ponies." Shining Armor said, a somber look on his face. Applejack nodded and saluted him before turning towards me

"Follow me, partner." Applejack loaded up her rifle and led me out of the medical wing, I followed after her and soon we started running through the forest. As we ran I figured it was not a good time to ask some questions about what is going on

"What the hell happened here?" I asked her as she looked at me confused

"Where in Celestia's name have you been this whole time? Living under a rock?"

"For conversation sake, let's say yes."

"... It was seven years ago, me and mah friends were in Canterlot when suddenly Queen Chrysalis, matriarch of the Changelings, teamed up with King Sombra and the Storm King. They came out of nowhere and hit harder than a train, they attacked every major city in Equestria, Manehatten, Appleloosa, Fillydelphia, even... Even Ponyville. We fought back as much as we could, but we were in a time of peace and the Princesses didn't really see much need for a major military force, so when the war started we lost countless lives. Canterlot and a few camps are all that's left, we ain't heard much from the the others such as the dragons or Griffons, but since we haven't seen them here our best bet is that they are still able to fight back against them." Applejack explained, so this place is also in a major war. Great, out of the raging flame into the even bigger raging flame. I need to find my team fast, there's no telling what kind of threats awaits us here and it's better to face them together. We reached the edge of the forest and I followed Applejack as she left us down a path, from the small prints and dirt I assumed that this was a secret path they had made in order to get around undiscovered.

We walked for a little bit and eventually I saw a large acre of land of destroyed trees as well as the decaying remains of bodies. We rushed over behind some fallen trees and over in the distance I saw a small battalion of changelings firing at a house while muzzle flashes could be seen coming from inside the house.

"Ah hay, they're pinned down and we're too outgunned." Applejack cursed under her breath as she saw the situation. I looked around and saw that the Changelings were only stationed at the front of the house, I then looked over and saw a barn and started to form a plan

"There anything in that barn we could use?" I asked Applejack

"Ah don't think so, maybe a tractor and an old truck, but ah'm not sure-"

"Here's what we do. We sneak inside that barn, if even one of those vehicles you mentioned are in there we fire it up and plant some explosives on it, I have some grenades that might work, we then drive that into the enemy's line of fire and have it detonate. I'll gain their attention on me while you sneak around the back of the house and get everyone out of here." I explained

"Are you mad? You can't take on that many on your own!" She quietly shouted at me

"Trust me, what matters now is getting those soldiers out of there." I told her, I needed to find my team but I knew that if any of my team were in my shoes they would do the same. Applejack seemed to finally agree as we snuck out way around and made it to the barn, inside there were some blood stains on the ground and walls and a couple of bullet holes. There was also an old red pick up truck that has clearly seen better days. I walked over to it and popped open the hood, the engine was rusty but somewhat intact, the coolant and water was damn near empty though.

"It may still be able to run." I said as I took out the rest of my grenades and planted them on the back of the truck. I looked over at Applejack and saw her kneeling down while brushing her hand against the dry bloodstains on the wall, this place must've had some bad memories for her. I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder

"Those soldiers need us. We gotta move, soldier." I told her, I knew she was hurting, but we had to focus on the mission. She can grieve another time. Applejack walked over and opened the car door, opening the glove compartment she pulled out the keys and tried turning on the car

"Come on, come one." Applejack turned the keys one more time and the engine roared. I opened the barn doors just a bit and saw that the grubs were slowly closing in on the house

"We gotta move fast, they're closing in!" I said as we got in the truck, Applejack then slammed on the gas and burst through the barn doors. The Changelings saw us and turned to fire at us.

"Jump!" Applejack shouted as we both then jumped out of the truck, it kept rolling towards them and then exploded. Taking out a good chunk of them but there were still a lot more still alive. I took cover behind a tree and fired back at them

"Get inside the house and get them out of here! Sneak out through the back!" I ordered Applejack

"Ah ain't leaving you!" Applejack said as he poked out behind a fallen tree ad shit a Changeling in the head

"That's an order, soldier! Get those men out of there and back to the base!"

"But-"

"Don't you see? They're gonna need you!" I moved behind cover and shot down two more changelings "I'll be fine, besides." A Changeling charged at me with a bayonet but I quickly knocked his rifle out of his hands and sawed him in half "I'm kinda enjoying myself!" Applejack looked at me and cursed as she ran back inside the house. I watched as she ran inside and I groaned as bullets flew pass my head, I fired back and then had to reload. Loading my Lancer again I kept firing, still fighting as I saw them slowly closing in on me. So this is it, huh? Died once and about to die again not long after coming back. I just hope my team are ok

"I'm going to take all you motherfuckers down with me!" I let out a war cry as I poked behind cover and started shooting. Then I saw a Changeling get his head blown off, then another, and another.

"Hope you fuckers are hungry! All you can eat bullet buffet is open!" An explosion rang out as a Changeling screamed out in pain from missing his legs only to be then have a new hole in his head.

"It... It can't be..." I gasped as I looked over and saw.... Them. My team... My team!

"Sorry for the wait, Sarge!" I saw James run up beside me, Lancer locked and loaded as he fired at a group of Changelings "Something was jamming our comms so we had to switch to short-range radio."

"I know, listen, there's some people here who may be able to help. I know where they are, but we gotta take out these grubs first! Everyone, retreat back into the house, we'll make a stand there and take these fuckers down!" I ordered, switching to short-range comms

"Castillo, you continue laying down covering fire!"

"Yes, sir. Fate has brought us together again." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as me, James, and George all rushed back into the house and took a stand. Seeing the Changelings try to rush us only to quickly get gunned down. George moved upstairs and used his Boomshot to blow these fuckers to hell while me and James stayed down and fired out the windows, Joseph did quick work of those that tried to flank us or take off in the air.

"Retreat! Retre-" Joseph picked off the last of the now retreating changelings, but with his deadeye accuracy Joseph made sure none of them escaped.

"Good work, boys, but we gotta move. We made a lot of noise and I don't wanna stick around and find out what else these grubs got up their sleeves. Follow me, double time!" I ordered as we ran out the house, meeting up with Joseph

"George, catch." I tossed him his COG tags and smiled "Good to see you boys again."

"Good to be back, sir." George said while putting on his COG tags

"You can't get rid of us that easily." James joked as Joseph chuckled

"It seems that God couldn't tear us apart." I nodded at him and started leading my squad back to the base, remembering the route I took with Applejack as we covered our tracks to prevent any of the grubs from following us. These fuckers want a fight, Alpha Squad will give them a war.