Bottom of the Ghastly Gorge
0700 Military time

A large group of creatures was standing at the bottom of the gorge, the Ad Meliora towering over them. The volunteers of Equis had separated themselves into groups concerning their species/nation. The Dragons stood by themselves in a large group. Members of the Equestrian Royal Army were separated from the Crystal Empire’s Armed Forces. The Yaks stood by themselves, and next to them was a small group of Changeling volunteers.

Twilight and her friends stood in front of the Equestrian Army, ready to participate in any training the Humans offered them. Dragon Lord Ember stood with her dragons, and she was ready to fight for her friend’s homeland. Prince Pharynx was amongst the Changelings. He too was standing in full attention. A rather large Yak, with a larger helmet than all the other Yaks, stood with the other Yak warriors, pumped and ready for any action the humans had in store for them. Finally, much to Cadence’s dismay, Prince Shining Armor stood with his Crystal guards.

Marching up front to the group was Spartan Maverick. Upon making his appearance, every creature ceased their conversations. He was accompanied by a few ODSTs that were present to assist in training the creatures to become soldiers.

“TEN-HUT!” Maverick shouted, his voice echoing loudly as it bounced off the stone walls of the gorge. Soon, every creature scrambled to their positions. “I am Spartan Maverick-A776, Commander of Zeta team, and I want to be the first to welcome you all to your first day of training with the United Nations Space Command.”

With that out of the way, Spartan Maverick continued his intro. “Humans have been fighting wars for thousands of years, but you all will be taught how to fight like modern humans as we send you through our perfected training, known as boot camp, which has been around for over 600 years!”

Every creature looked nervous, even Princess Twilight and her friends. The Spartan commander noticed this and continued his speech.

“Now, I understand that many of you present find it a bit hard to take another’s life,” Maverick said calmly. “Peace has befallen this world for quite some time, and I know the concept of killing is a bit more… Uncommon. At this current moment, I want you all to look to your left.” All the creatures present do as they are told. “Now look to your right.” Once again, they all look to their right. “Do not get used to the person next to you because they are not guaranteed to be alive by the end of this week!”

That statement was met with mixed reactions. Some fear was shown on the faces of some ponies and changelings. The yaks and dragons only gritted their teeth and looked at the Spartan-III angrily.

“In this war, your own survival will not be guaranteed.” Maverick continued undeterred. “That is why we are here today. We are going to prepare you all for battle. You will all be trained in survival, combat, and discipline! You will work, and you all will be worn out. We will expect the absolute best out of every single one of you! Is that understood!?

“SIR, YES, SIR!!!” all creatures yelled in unison. The sound is almost deafening.

“Good,” Maverick said with a nod. “Now, many of you are creatures that we remain…unfamiliar with.” he glances towards the Dragons, Yaks, and Changelings. “Right now, I would like one of each to step forward and demonstrate what you are capable of.”

Clad in her golden armor, Princess Ember was the first to step forward. She stood tall, her wings slightly outstretched, giving her a bigger and more intimidating appearance. “I, Lord of all Dragons, will demonstrate what we dragons are capable of!” She spoke loudly and regally as her wings fully unfolded.

Ember flaps her giant wings, dust picking up from the sudden sharp wind. She is briefly lifted off the ground as she sucks in a large gulp of air. She leaned her head back and opened her maw wide. Her sharp teeth are visible to all see for a brief moment as she unleashes a mighty breath of bright, scorching fire. Her fellow dragons let out roars of approval at the mighty flame.

She looked down at Maverick with a smirk, only to find the Spartan-III shrug and say, “About as expected.” in an unimpressed tone.

Ember’s eyes widened before she quickly narrowed them at the Spartan. She then flew down, landing in front of him with a glare, her angry expression mirrored in his visor. The Dragon Lord was still a good foot and a half shorter than him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ember asked with her arms crossed, offended.

“I mean what I mean, your highness.” Maverick said with no sign of intimidation in his voice. “You’re a dragon; of course, you can breathe fire. Is there anything else you can do?”

Ember flares her nostrils at the Spartan Commander. She was about to blow up at him for insulting her pride, but she thought about it momentarily. She then gets an idea and looks back at her fellow dragons.

“Whitefang! Get over here!” Ember commanded. A dragon with black scales, a white underbelly, and pure white fangs flies and lands next to the Ember.

“Yes, my Dragon Lord!” The dragon named Whitefang clenches his fist and places it on his chest before bowing his head.

“Stand still for a moment,” Ember ordered as she backed up a bit. She takes in another deep breath before unleashing another blast of fire from her maw. The fire fully encases the other dragon, and many ponies and humans gasp at the display. But as the fire dies down, Whitefang looks completely unharmed.

Maverick looks back at Ember, more disappointed than ever. “What exactly was that supposed to prove? Nothing happened.”

“Exactly,” Ember stated proudly as Whitefang casually brushed some ash off his shoulder. “We Dragons are fireproof. Our scales can protect us from temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. We swim in lava, just for fun.”

Maverick actually nodded his head at that. “Now that is more like it. If what you say is true, you may be able to withstand some of the Covenant’s smaller plasma weapons. Now, who is next?”

As Ember and Whitefang return to the group, the large Yak steps forward, representing the might of the Yak warriors. He wore a harness that gave him padding and protected some of his most vulnerable parts.

“Aye, I be the great Yak warrior Yngol!” the armored Yak shouted. “My clan and I have brought honor to the name of Yakyakistan! Watch as yak smash!”

Yngol raises up on his hind legs, his full height barely reaching past the Spartan’s height of 7 feet. The Yak then brought his two front hooves down hard, crushing a decent-sized boulder before him, rendering it nothing more than a pile of pebbles. His fellow yaks let out battle cries at the strength displayed by their yak brother.

Maverick nods at Yngol, “Not bad, Yngol. Next.”

For the Changelings, Prince Pharynx stepped forward, face full of determination. Maverick noted the Prince’s appearance was identical to King Thorax, albeit shorter, with a dark cyan body, violet eyes, red wings, and a set of shorter red horns.

“I am Prince Pharynx of the Changeling Hive.” The dark cyan insectoid introduced himself. “I am here to prove to all that the Changelings can still hold their own in a fight!”

Commander Maverick nodded at his statement. He wasn’t really expecting much from these colorful bug creatures, as they didn’t look that threatening. In fact, their elytra reminded him of ladybugs.

“Now, to demonstrate what we are capable of, allow me to get a good look at you.” Pharynx approached the Spartan and eyed him closely, even stepping behind Maverick to look at his backside. The Spartan-III was pretty much confused as the next person was. How does eyeballing someone help prove your capabilities?

After a few minutes of eyeing him up, Pharynx was back in front of the Spartan. He lets out a small breath before his entire body soon glows a bright green.

When the light finally died down, standing where Pharynx once did, was a second Spartan dressed nearly identical to Maverick, with a few slight imperfections. A grenade would be missing from his side, his visor a darker green than what it was, and the shoulders just slightly too short. Other than that, a quick glance would have one completely fooled that the Prince was Spartan Maverick.

For the first time today, Maverick was almost startled by Pharynx’s magical abilities. He examined the Changeling prince for a brief moment before removing his helmet and revealing his face. Maverick had brown hair in a crew cut, his skin was pale, indicating he hardly removed his helmet, and he had sharp brown eyes. On the left side of his head was a massive scar. It appeared to be a long cut, with a rather large burn surrounding it. Whatever caused it, it had to have been really sharp and really hot.

“Shapeshifting?” Maverick spoke in awe. “I must say that’s impressive, but how good are you with facial details?” Pharynx’s head glows green for a moment before revealing Maverick’s face. Again, only slight imperfections, but the detail was there; the eye color, the scar, and the haircut.

“How's this?” Pharynx replied, but to Maverick’s shock, he also perfectly replicated his own voice as well.

Maverick was, in fact, astonished by the display of Pharynx’s shapeshifting magic. “I don’t say this often, but I’m very impressed, Prince Pharynx. This kind of magic may just prove to be very useful to us.”

Maverick places his helmet back on his head as Pharynx reverts back to his original form. Despite the praise, he still wore a serious expression. Pharynx then returns to his fellow Changelings as Maverick turns his attention back to the group. “Impressive, all of you. Your abilities may… aid in your survival in war, but it won’t be enough. From this moment forward, we are your superiors as we train you to be hardened warriors. Am I clear!?”

“SIR, YES, SIR!” The creatures called out yet again. Maverick crosses his arms. He was satisfied by their response and commitment.

“Good! Now, let’s start with your first task.” The Spartan-III motioned to a collection of large rocks. “You will see we have four large rocks spread pretty far apart. These have been measured to where one lap around equals a quarter of a mile. Every single one of you will run four laps around these rocks.” A bunch of groaning came from the trainees, Shining Armor, Pharynx, Pinkie, and Applejack. Maverick scowls under his helmet; where he was satisfied earlier, he was now annoyed. He then yells out at all of them in a louder, more intimidating voice.

“And if any of you attempt to fly or use magic, the entire team will restart from scratch!” His voice boomed like thunder, startling even a few yaks. “Now move, move, move!” Maverick claps his hands for emphasis. The rather large group composed of Equis’ creatures began to run their laps.

As the running began, Maverick shook his head and gave a solemn thought to himself. ‘This is gonna be a long day.’

After the laps were run, Maverick separated the trainees into smaller groups that integrated all the species and ushered them to stations where the ODSTs were in charge of training subjects. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor stood in front of one of the groups that were separated. They were all standing in front of Tex, who had a few marines to help him at his station.

“Alright, listen up, everyone!” Tex began to lecture. “My name’s Master Sergeant Eric Torne, but you may call me Tex. Today, we are talking about hand-to-hand combat.”

Princess Twilight looked a bit worried; hoof-to-hoof combat was foreign to her. She never had to fight a pony before… but then memories of her encounter with Jykan flashed in her mind. She places a hoof to her neck as she gets the phantom feeling of his large hands around her throat. Twilight closes her eyes and choked back tears from the traumatic experiences she encountered that day, and lets out a long sigh. Perhaps learning how to fight would prevent any further moments like that from happening again.

“Even in modern warfare like ours, we still find ourselves facing each other in unarmed engagements. These two Privates, or Red and Blue, will demonstrate UNSC-approved hand-to-hand combat.”

The two marines, one wearing a red ribbon and the other wearing a blue one, faced off against each other. Blue lowered his body before Red threw a punch that Blue easily blocked, countering by striking Red in the chest. That caused him to step back a little. Blue stepped close and delivered a sharp kick to the side of Red’s thigh. Red dropped down, holding his leg as Blue used his other leg to kick Red across the chest, sending him on his back.

“Excellent! Now, can anyone tell me what Red did wrong?” Tex called out. Twilight eagerly raised her hoof, which he took note of.

“This is boot camp, Princess, not a classroom. Just spit it out.” Tex said sternly, causing Twilight to blush a bit before lowering her hoof. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“Red advanced in too quickly.” Twilight answered.

“Correct!” Tex exclaimed. “You must always take into consideration your enemy’s own combative capabilities. If you rush in without a plan, you’re going to get your ass kicked. Blue also kept his center of gravity low, allowing him to become immovable.”

“You two, again!” Tex signaled the two marines to get back into position.

This time, Blue was the one to throw the first punch. Red used Blue’s own momentum against him as he sidestepped him. Red then delivered a hard punch to Blue’s side, which caused him to wince and step away. Blue held his side and quickly faced Red again. Red threw another punch, but it was easily blocked, but Blue exposed his side again as he did. Red quickly delivered a fast punch to the same side, and Blue let out a loud groan. He backed away again, but Red kept him close. Blue, trying to get some distance, threw a punch at Red, but he dodged and kicked as hard as he could on Blue’s hurt side. This caused Blue to drop to his knee as he held his side. He then held up his hands to Red in a sign of surrender.

“Very good.” Tex said before once again asking the group, “Any observations there?”

“Blue let his opponent know he had a weak spot.” Shining Armor spoke, his voice radiating the military experience he has. “Because of that, Red kept attacking that weak spot to wear down his opponent faster.”

“Correct!” Tex congratulated the Unicorn Prince. “Red also never let Blue out of arm’s length and kept up the fight, not allowing his opponent to lick his wound.”

The red-ribboned Marine turned to his blue-ribboned opponent and quipped, “Yeah. Suck it, Blue.”

Tex then turned to the cocky Red marine before then stepping in front of him. “Well then, Private Grif. If you’re proud of yourself, then take me on why don’t ya.”

Tex got down low and in a fighting position. The Marine, still cocky from his win, got into position. He waited for the perfect moment before swinging. Tex easily dodged and punched Grif right in the chest. He gasped for air as he took a few steps back. Tex chuckled as he stepped into pursuit. Red then began to shift side to side, fearful of Tex’s next blow.

“Heh… yeah, just move back & forth like those ducks at the carnival.” Tex joked as he calculated his opponent’s movement.

Grif threw another punch, but Tex dropped down and ducked below the punch, giving Tex a clear opening. With one single shot, Tex punches Red right between the legs. Audible cringing was heard from the stallions in the group as Red quickly dropped to his knees, cupping himself between the legs. The Blue marine began to laugh at the private.

Tex stood up straight and crossed his arms. He looks down at Red, who rolls onto his side, now looking up at Tex.

“Wh-why? Every time we spar… you punch me in the balls!” The private choked out through the pain.

“You should’ve learned by now to keep your most vulnerable spot protected, Private.” Tex jested with a smirk before looking back at the group. “Now, I want you all to partner up and practice. No punches need to be thrown yet, but take what you have learned and try to knock each other over from a stable stance. As you noticed from Blue, when he was low, Red’s attack did not stagger him.”

The group looked amongst themselves, finding the perfect partner. Twilight paired with Rainbow Dash, and they stood on opposite sides of each other. Rainbow lowered her body like she saw the human do. She had her chest close to the ground, and Twilight tried her hardest to push her over. Twilight dug at the dirt, trying to push her over, and Rainbow fought like hell to keep herself on her hooves. Finally, Twilight gave up, panting hard.

“Hey, I did feel a lot more stable like that! That was pretty cool!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Twilight stood up straight as she finally caught her breath.

“Alright. My turn.” Twilight said as she lowered herself like Rainbow Dash but was nowhere near as low as Rainbow was.

Because of this, after a bit of struggling, Rainbow Dash was able to lift Twilight off her hooves and knocks her over onto the ground. Twilight lets out a loud ‘OOF!’ as she falls to the ground. That caught the attention of Maverick, who was pacing around their group, observing them closely.

“Get your ass off the dirt and back into position, Princess!” Maverick yelled, startling the Alicorn as she scrambled to her hooves.

“Y-Yes, sir!” Twilight got back in front of Rainbow Dash and lowered herself back down.

Rainbow Dash went at Twilight again, using the same strategy as last time, and once again knocked her to the ground after a bit of struggling. The rainbow-maned Pegasus smiled to herself. She was able to find an unstable spot for Twilight and was able to knock her over twice. She mentally noted it was her ‘weak spot’ as Tex pointed out earlier.

“If you love the dirt so goddamn much, how about you drop and give me 15 push-ups while you're down there, Princess!” Maverick’s voice hollered out once again.

“…yes, sir!” Twilight yelled out, feeling a bit embarrassed as she was called out.

Twilight positioned herself in a push-up position and began to count. By the time Twilight got to 15th, her legs began to shake, and she was worn out. Tex finally approaches her and Rainbow with his arms crossed.

“What’s going on here, Sparkle?” Tex pretty much demanded as he placed his hands on his hips.

“I can’t stop her from knocking me down,” Twilight replied through her deep breaths.

“Why the hell not?” Tex’s question sounds a bit stern. “You’re bigger than her.”

“I… I don’t know.” She admitted, looking towards the ground in defeat.

“Show me your stance,” Tex ordered her. Twilight sighed before getting back into the same position she had been putting herself into.

“No wonder you keep getting knocked on your ass.” Tex remarked, “You’re too high, and your hooves are too close together.” He used his hands to help her position herself more, spreading her hooves apart and lowering her closer to the ground. Twilight fought back blushes as she felt him grab her hind legs and spread them apart a bit farther. “Now, try again.”

Rainbow Dash was quick to try pushing her over again. Twilight fought like hell to keep herself on her hooves, sweat pouring from her forehead. Rainbow’s hooves were burying themselves into the ground as she was straining herself to push her over. After a long hard battle, the Pegasus finally relented, and Twilight was still on her hooves. A rather large smile began to grow on her face as she then looked up at Tex for praise. However, none came.

“‘Bout damn time, Sparkle.” He scolded the lavender Alicorn. “Keep off the fucking ground.” As Tex moved on, Twilight’s smile quickly fades, morphing into a frown.

“Sheesh. That was a bit harsh.” Rainbow said aloud, looking at her friend. Twilight lets out a sigh; she felt pretty pathetic at that moment.

“They gotta be.” Shining Armor said as he stepped towards the both of them. “They are turning us into fighters and can’t coddle us.”

Twilight looked at her brother, feeling like she was on the verge of tears. But her brother gave her a hopeful look, one that showed he had faith in her.

“Keep your chin up, Twiley. Don’t let them get you down. It’s all about mental toughness, just keeping working hard, and all of this will start to get easier.” Shining promised, giving his sister a gentle nudge in the side. Twilight’s smile soon returned as her brother returned back to his partner.

“Ready for another round, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight’s smile grew bigger when the rainbow-maned Pegasus smirks back at her.

“Of course I am!”

At Station 2 was another group, including Spike, Applejack, and Princess Ember. Currently, the trainees were standing in front of a large shooting range, waiting for Carlito and Marcus to arrive.

While the trainees were conversing, Princess Ember was rather quiet. She still felt insulted by the Commander’s brief judgment of her people. Of course, she hoped the practice of using these human arm-fires… or firearms, will distract her.

“Alright, every creature!” Carlito exclaims as he steps forward. “The name’s Carlito Torres and this is Marcus Holms. Today, we will be teaching each and every one of you how to use our weapons.” The Lance Corporal motions behind him to various weapon crates, each lined with different guns.

“Now,” Marcus started with an acknowledging tone, “We understand that many of your armies have spears, swords, and crossbows, which might feel pretty damn redundant. Unfortunately, such ancient weapons won’t do much damage to an army with advanced technology. Your special abilities, maybe. Magic, fire breathing, and shape-shifting. That shit will definitely come in handy, but it won’t be enough. That’s why we are here to show you how to kick ass, UNSC style!”

Every creature began to look at themselves. Many looked at the unicorns’ horns, the yaks’ muscles, the pegasi’s wings, and the dragons’ larger wings. Carlito then motions to the side, where three ballistic gel dummies stand near the back of the gorge. They were shaped like humans, with a torso, head, and no arms or legs.

“Over here are a few… Hehe… ‘Volunteers’.” Carlito gestured. “They will aid in your education of our weapons.”

Princess Ember quirked an eyebrow at the Human’s light chuckle while Spike just gave him a concerned look. Remembering their time at Manehattan, Carlito seemed a bit too happy to find targets to kill while sniping from the rooftops. What could possibly be the reason for his weird demeanor?

“Before showcasing our weapons, I must go over some important safety rules.” the ODST sniper stated while raising his hand. “Every single gun comes with a safety mode. This prevents the trigger from being pulled and makes the firearm unable to fire. Once you click it off, be very careful. These ain’t no toys. These are instruments of death, made to kill.”

Most Trainees looked at each other nervously while Spike and Applejack nodded. Unlike the rest of the Group, they have seen UNSC weapons in action, so the orange earth pony and baby dragon understand the damage such devices can cause.

“That being said…” Marcus added before exclaiming, “Never ever look down the barrel of a gun! Unless your eyes and skulls are bulletproof, of course.”

“Now that we’ve covered the safety rules,” Carlito chimed in, “let’s move on to the pride of Misriah Armory.”

Carlito pulls out his unloaded Magnum and shows it to the trainees. Applejack and Spike recognize it, as almost every single human had it on their hips.

“Right here in my hands is a standard issue M6D Magnum.” Carlito says. “Most commonly used as a sidearm among the infantry of the UNSC. It fires 12.7×40mm rounds semi-automatically.”

Carlito pulls out a magazine filled with 12.7×40mm bullets. “A single magazine, like this one, holds a maximum of 12 rounds, giving you plenty of ammo to take down a squad of the little fuckers or just enough to drain the shields of the big ones, giving you an easy headshot.”

“If any of you are scared to get that close, no worries. This weapon also comes with a KFA-2 smart-linked scope, so you can eliminate your target at a safe distance. Just ensure you hold the grip with both hands… Err… or hooves. This thing kicks hard each time it fires.”

Carlito then turns around to face the shooting range, feeds the magazine into the gun, and pulls the drum back. After clicking the Magnum’s safety off, Carlito aims at one of the dummies and opens fire. The sound from the gun startled many of the creatures present as the bullets ripped through the air and penetrated the ballistic gel. Said gel ripples and tears apart and causes fake blood to ooze from the dummy. Carlito empties the whole mag before clicking safety on and returns to the group.

“As you can see, the damage from this little firearm is…extensive.” Carlito held his hand out toward the dummy. Many of the ponies and Changelings shuddered at the remains of the dummy. Never had they thought something so small could do so much damage.

“Now, my gun is empty, meaning there are no more bullets in it. That means it’s time to reload.” Carlito demonstrated as he popped out the spent mag, reloaded the gun with a fresh one, and pulled back the slider.

“Now, my handheld pateador de culo (Ass kicker) is ready to fire once again. But now, it’s time to move on to the next gun.” Carlito holsters the magnum to his hip and pulls out a rifle from off his back.

“Here we have the MA5B Assault Rifle.” Carlito gestured to his rifle. “You will find this rifle as our most common weapon. It has a high ammo capacity of 60 7.62×5mm armor-piercing rounds per magazine. It’s effective up to 500 meters, plus it’s automatic, meaning if you hold the trigger down, the rifle keeps firing. That also means its recoil is like no tomorrow. Make sure you hold the front grip of the rifle to keep your aim steady.”

Carlito clicked off the safety once again and unloaded his entire mag into one of the targets. Many creatures were left dumbfounded at the gun’s firing speed as it tore through the previous dummy with ease as part of it began to fall apart. Carlito stopped, clicked the safety back on, and then reloaded once again.

“Beautiful, ain’t it?” Carlito asked. “This gun is designed to cut down enemy infantry in a blink of an eye. You come across a small squad of Grunts and Jackals, you’ll tear them all to shreds.”

Carlito places the gun down, and then began to chuckle before pulling out a gun with a long, thin barrel from one of the crates. “This here is my ñinita (little girl); the SRS99C-S2-AM Sniper Rifle. This gas-operated baby is designed to take out targets from long distances.” The ODST taps the black box on top of the rifle. “Up here is an Oracle-N scope, which aids with long-range shooting.”

A few dragons were confused about this gun’s purpose. Why would anyone pick targets off at a distance rather than up close?

Carlito pulled out a bullet from his back pocket and held it up for every creature to see. It was much longer than any other bullet he showcased. “The SRS99C only fires 14.5×114mm, extremely deadly at any range.” Carlito then chambered the round inside of the gun before looking back to the group. “It has a box magazine that holds 4 rounds.”

For demonstration, Carlito then aimed the sniper rifle at the second dummy. He fired, and many creatures jumped as it was the loudest gunshot yet. They continue to look on in shock as the single bullet completely destroys the head of the dummy, turning it into bloody chunks and a red mist. The trainees were astounded as Carlito began to laugh.

“¡De eso estoy hablando! (That’s what I’m talking about!)” the lance corporal exclaimed in Spanish. Carlito sets his rifle back in its original spot and pulls out a similar weapon, though much smaller and lighter looking.

“Here we have the M392 Designated Marksman Rifle; DMR for short.” He said. “Very similar to the sniper, but this is made for the infantry. It is gas operated, firing a 7.62×51mm M118 Full Metal Jacket Armor-Piercing round. The magazine holds about 15 rounds, and the rifle is equipped with a simple EVOS-D Optic. A skilled sharpshooter can take down a whole mob of Covie bastards with this thing.” Carlito began to fire this one as well, into the third dummy. The shots easily began to plow off chunks of the torso as he fired.

Carlito looked satisfied with his demonstration, took all his guns, and approached the rack. He set them all back in their corresponding places before pulling out two more weapons.

“Now, what if you don’t want to be hundreds of feet away?” He asked. “What if you want to be nice and close to the Pendejos (Assholes)?” Applejack, the dragons, and a few yaks seemed to perk up at that thought. “You have two… no, three very good choices.”

Carlito shoulders the shotgun before reaching for something behind him.

“This little boy is the M7 Sub-Machine Gun or SMG.” he said, holding the gun in both hands. The trainees noticed the SMG was smaller and more compact than the MA5B.

“Do not be fooled by its small size. The SMG still packs quite a punch. It runs on 5×23mm rounds, with a magazine capacity of 60.” Carlito pulls out a magazine and attaches it to the side of the gun rather than underneath it. “The SMG is automatic, capable of firing 900 rounds per minute. It’s effective at a moderate distance. As I said, it’s more geared for close to mid-range.

He then turned back to the headless dummy and began to fire. It was the fastest-firing gun yet. It was still destructive, ripping apart the gel.

“The best part of this little bastard is that some of them come with a sub-variant, the M7S SMG.” He pulled out another SMG that had a longer tube and a magnification sight on top. “Attached to the barrel right here is a silencer. It helps dampen any noise the SMG makes, as well as reducing the recoil.”

Carlito turned and fired at another target. Many trainees were relieved by how quiet it was.

When he was done, the ODST then pulled out a shotgun. He pumped it a few times to see if it was empty.

“This gun, the M90 Shotgun, is quite different from others. This one doesn’t use magazines, so you have to load each individual round manually.” Carlito pulled out a shell, and allowed them all to analyze it. “This here is an 8-Gauge Magnum shell. You can load 12 of these at a time into the internal magazine via this slot.” He then began to load it and other shells into the gun.

“Right now, it’s completely useless unless I pump a shell into it like this.” Carlito cocked the pump with a satisfying sound. He stepped closer to the third dummy and then fired. This one sounded like a loud blast as the pellets tore into the gel. He racked again and fired, repeating until he fired all the shells in the gun.

“This gun can fire many types of ammo, pellets, or slugs. And always remember, it can only fire once you rack it.” He pumped it again for emphasis, and the last spent shell flew out.

“We have a few more weapons here, but many of them are far too dangerous in the setting we are currently in. However, my buddy Marcus here is an expert in these kinds of weapons. If you’re interested to learn more, feel free to follow him. If you want to try out any of the guns I have shown, I have a few Marines with me to assist you in any way they can.” Carlito then invited everyone present to pick out a weapon.

Applejack was eager to get her hooves on the M90 Shotgun, as that one interested her the most. She gets on her hind legs and grabs it, and began to analyze it. As the others finished grabbing their weapons, she uses the strap to sling it onto her back. Carlito then led the group around a few more feet, where more ballistic dummies stood. Carlito kept near Applejack to help her out with her weapons training.

The cowpony cradled the gun in one hoof as she pulled out one shell at a time with her other. Carlito was impressed by how she was able to load the gun with ease, using just her hooves.

“Mind helpin’ me support mahself, Carlito?” Applejack asked as she stood in front of a dummy.

“No problem.” Carlito responded. “Just remember to be careful with that thing.”

Applejack quickly stood up on her hind legs, and then leaned back into Carlito’s chest as she soon supported herself. The ODST gently wrapped one of his arms around Applejack and helped her put the butt of the gun into her shoulder, He then placed her hoof onto the pump, and then cock it.

“Alright, amiga. Go ahead and fire.” Carlito told her.

She was able to squeeze the trigger with her hoof and fired it. Applejack winces just a bit as she was not prepared for how strong the recoil was.

“Sweet Celestia!” the cowpony exclaimed as she lowered the gun and rubbed her shoulder and eventually dropping back down to all fours. “This thing kicks harder than a ragin’ buffalo!”

“You’ll get used to it, amiga.” Carlito chuckled at her before turning to see if he could assist anyone else. He examines the other creatures as other marines had stepped up to help them with weapons. Carlito immediately saw Spike and approached him.

“Hey, Amigo! How ya doin’?” He gave Spike a fist bump. Spike smiled at Carlito, in his other claw was an M6D Magnum.

“Heya, Carlito. You said the Magnum was mainly used as a sidearm… but do you think I could use this as my primary?” Spike asked with a coy smile.

“I mean, you can, but it’s not very wise,” Carlito explained. “You need to rely on something more than just that. Something wrong, dawg?”

“Well… Kinda.” Spike admitted. “A lot of these weapons are…big. I’m still really small, and it’s hard for me to hold them.”

“Hard for you to hold?” Carlito repeated before half-joking, “I told you to keep up your weight-lifting.”

“Not like that…” Spike elaborated, cheeks turning red from embarrassment as he heard Princess Ember chuckle right behind him. “I can’t really reach the front of a rifle and keep the butt firmly on my shoulder at the same time.”

“I see.” Carlito said before grabbing an SMG. “Here, amigo. This might suit you perfectly. I can even adjust the stock for you.”

Carlito shrunk the stock down a bit. Once Spike took ahold of it, he found it much easier to hold and keep it firm. He then smiled and looked back up at his human friend. “Thanks, Carlito. I appreciate it.”

Spike and Carlito bump fists one more time before the young firebreather approaches one of the awaiting marines to help out anyone fire their weapon. Carlito only looked at Spike with worry.

“Excuse me, human.” A female voice broke the ODST out of thought. Carlito turned around and saw the Dragon Lord, Ember. His eyes almost widened at her sudden appearance.

“Well hello, dama dragón (dragon lady). What can I do for ya?” The ODST asked. Ember, while confused about the name Carlito referred to her as, held up the empty weapon she took hold of: a Grenade Launcher.

“You want to use that?” Carlito asked, surprised that the dragon lord got her claws on an explosive weapon. Ember nodded, which Carlito answered with, “That there is some heavy weaponry. If you wanna learn how to use that thing, follow that group over there, with Marcus.”

Carlito pointed in the direction Ember should go. She looked at him and only gave him a nod.

“Very well.” Ember said stoically. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Mi amiga que respira fuego (my fire-breathing friend).” Carlito replied before placing both his fists on his hips and puffed his chest out a bit to make him look bigger. “If you need any more help, just let me know.” Ember could only smirk at his attempts.

“Oh, I’ll keep that in mind.” Ember held the Grenade Launcher firmly and turned to follow a group of others who had grabbed explosive weapons.

However, the Dragon Lord paused and looked back at Carlito. She smiles at him and continues following the small group, mostly composed of other dragons who picked up more destructive weapons. They stood a few feet away from another human who was holding a lot of big guns.

“Alright, time to move on to the destructive capabilities of the Corp’s explosive weaponry.” Marcus took a small ball off of his hip and held it up in front of everyone.

“Behold! The standard issue M9 Fragmentation grenade.” Marcus said as he held up the explosive to view.

Every creature was confused, so Ember breaks the silence. “What is that supposed to be? How can something that small be dangerous?”

“It may look small, but there is nothing small about it.” Marcus chuckles at their reactions.

“Picture if you’re out of ammo and the enemy is approaching you. You take this pin, activate the primer, and…” Marcus primed the grenade and tossed it as far as he could. The grenade bounces off the ground and, within a few seconds, explodes. The explosion sent a small shockwave that the group felt. It frightened the few ponies, but all the dragons began to smirk and nodded in approval.

“Throwable fire! I love it!” One dragon spoke out loud.

“Easy there, trainee. That’s just the beginning.” Marcus held up a tube-like gun and gave a low-sounding chuckle.

“This is my favorite weapon; the M319 Individual Grenade Launcher! You stick in an explosive and fire a grenade almost 300 yards. It only fires 40mm grenades, though it can only fire one at a time. It’s a break action weapon, which folds open, allowing you to stick another grenade inside it, and you’re good to go.”

Marcus opened it up, slotted in a 40mm round, and closed it. He took aim, making sure he had a good angle and fired. The gun made a GAH-CHONK! sound as the grenade went flying out. The grenade landed much farther than the one he threw and exploded with a larger explosion. More smirks and approving growls came from the dragons.

“Ah, I love the smell this weapon makes after firing.” The Explosives expert sighed with satisfaction. “Remember, this thing is effective at any range, but I advise not using this for close quarters unless you want to blow yourselves to bits.” Marcus chuckled at his joke, but a handful of the trainees had frightened faces, not liking the joke.

“Now, as much as I want to mention the special feature of my favorite pipe, let’s move on to the next explosive weapon.” Marcus slings the weapon before opening a large weapon crate near him. He pulls out a rather large weapon consisting of two large tubes.

“Allow me to introduce one of the most destructive weapons in our arsenal.” Marcus begins. “The M41SSR Rocket Launcher!”

Every single creature was taken aback by the appearance of this last weapon, especially the dragons. Right now, they all had the same question in their heads, especially Ember. ‘What does this Big Freaking Gun do?’

As if luck would have it, Marcus answered that question.

“This baby fires M19 102mm surface-to-surface missiles, flying faster than anything you can imagine and up to 400 meters.” Marcus lifted the weapon on his shoulder and pointed to a single ballistic Dummy far away, one he had been avoiding earlier with his grenades. “See that poor little dummy over there?”

After receiving a collection of acknowledging nods, Marcus instantly spins to face the target, aims his rocket launcher, takes a deep breath before firing. A rocket flies out of one barrel at the speed of sound, strikes the dummy, and explodes, the biggest explosion yet. The barrels then rotate, allowing Marcus to fire his second shot, which he did at the wall just for fun. Rocks and pebbles flew everywhere. When the smoke cleared, no remains of the dummy were left. The dragons present began to pump their fists and cheer.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” One dragon said.

“These Humans have such destructive weapons!” Another exclaimed. “Just imagine if we had this stuff earlier!”

Marcus smiled upon hearing the positive reactions from the fire-breathing trainees.

“But that’s not all.” Marcus added, garnering the trainees’ attention yet again. “Thanks to a special lock-on ability, this weapon can take down enemy vehicles without a problem.” the ODST looked down. “Sadly, I have orders not to use that on anyone.”

Princess Ember and the other dragons were interested in seeing that feature firsthand. But for now, they were all almost a bit too eager to finally try out the explosive weapons for themselves.

“Alright. One at a time. Step forward and take some potshots away from everyone else.” Marcus said before stepping away.

Ember was the first to step forward while she held the M319 close to her chest. Marcus handed her one of the 40mm grenades for her to shoot. Ember loads it like she saw him do and lifts it up to her face. She looked down at the sights that auto-calculated the arc and fired. The grenade lands and then blows up. A very large smirk begins to grow across the Dragon Lord’s face.

“Oh, I think I’m going to enjoy this a lot.” Ember said in a serious, impressed tone.

Ad Meliora’s Bridge…

Captain McCormick stood, looking out the front of the large window. He was watching the large group of trainees in the gorge. Accompanying him were both Celestia and Luna. They too watched the group training. Luna had a soft smile, while Celestia looked a bit uneasy. McCormick turns to her, noticing her expression.

“Princess, is everything alright?” McCormick asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“Oh. Nothing, really…” Celestia looked at him for a moment before looking back out the window. “I’m just…scared.”

“What has you so scared, sister?” Luna asked, looking at Celestia as well.

“I’m scared for the lives of our ponies.” the Solar Alicorn answered. “I know some of them are going to die… but… some part of me can’t accept that. I don’t want any of my dear little ponies to die.” Celestia was choking up a bit as she spoke. McCormick, keeping a professional stance, placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We are doing what we can to help them survive, Princess.” McCormick’s words came out as soft as he could make them. “The training has been proven to boost survivability, and I trust my second-in-command to watch over them with care, even if he has to be rough about it.” To his relief, they did seem to relieve some stress from Celestia.

“I know, and I’m grateful you are willing to share all you know to keep them safe. But this is still war… and war never changes.” Celestia said regretfully. In her long life, she has experienced many wars.

“But this time, you are not alone,” Luna spoke up. Her isolation on the moon has kept her from the peace Equis has experienced in the past thousand years and was still used to combat. “We do what we must to ensure peace, but sometimes, the road to peace is paved with violence. You and I both know that. Our hooves have been forced, and this is something we must do to safeguard all lives.”

Celestia looks at her sister, her words were tough to swallow, but they were the wisest she has heard from her sister. She sighs and nods before looking back out the window. Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Reagan on the pedestal. “Captain. My scanners show an unexpected guest on the bridge.”

McCormick and the Princesses turned around, but there was no one seen. McCormick looked confused before a low-sounding chuckle could be heard. That’s when Celestia and Luna narrow their eyes.

“Discord.” The two sisters say in unison.

“Up here.” Discord’s voice came through. They both look up to see the Draconequus lounging on the ceiling, sunglasses on his face and arms behind his head.

“What is the meaning of this, Discord?” Luna demanded.

“Oh, Lulu, Tia. Not even a simple hello?” Discord lowered his sunglasses to look down at the three. All of them looked unamused, even the Captain as he crossed his arms. “Sheesh, lighten up. I bring fantastic news.”

Discord snapped his fingers, and he was then suddenly standing in front of them, his smile growing bigger.

“What news could you possibly give us, Discord?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, you want to hear this, I assure you. I have been keeping tabs on the war outside of Equis, and a crushing defeat has been dealt to the Covenant. This defeat has sent shockwaves throughout the higher ups of Covenant.”

“Just spit it out, Discord.” McCormick ushered him to continue.

Discord remained ominously silent, giving them all his devilish smirk before answering, “A Halo ring…has been destroyed.”

Author's Note

“Hey everyone, it’s k00l. Just want to apologize for this chapter taking so long. Moving forward with this fic, I will be working alongside ObsidianFuryInMLP with editing and proofreading. We both want this fic to be amazing, and I am unable to do that alone. He has been an amazing Co-Author in this fic!”

“That’s very kind of you, k00l, but I’m still a beginner.”

“Wait… Obsidian!? How did you get into this message?”

“Let’s just Pinkie Pie isn’t the only pony who can break the 4th wall.”

“O…kay?”

“Oh. Hello, everypony. I’m ObsidianFuryinMLP; k00l’s Co-Author. May I say what an honor it is to help this guy with his story”

“Pleasure to have your assistance! Anyway, chapters may be taking a bit longer to release as we make the chapters, and make this fic the best it can be!”

“Also I hope you all take a moment to re-read some of the previous chapters as a full re-work and editing has been going on the entire time. Another reason why it’s taken so long!”

“Putting aside our frustrations, I have to admit, this chapter was pretty fun to type. Having our humans interact a bit more with non-pony characters, as well as showcasing weapons to the once peaceful creatures of Equis.”

“Can’t agree more! Can’t wait to explore the war experiences of the other races!”

“Likewise, my friend.”

“Anyway, hand-to-hand combat and Weapons training are covered. Next chapter will be about Human vehicles and what the UNSC already knows about the Covenant races.”

“Thanks for readin’.”

“And thank you so much for your patience!”