The war hero's shadow

Many years ago a human appeared in our peaceful land. He was dressed in a long ragged duster and wearing a full face helmet. The duster had been modified with pouches and a large belt like tool belt around his stomach held on with straps going over his shoulders and down his back. His face was covered with a helmet with a metal mask attached to the front and red eyelets. His hands carried a long black stick with a box attached to the bottom. His name was Alex Steel and it would be a name no one would forget. From the start it was present he was a soldier simply by the way he walked and carried himself. As the months went by he would ask our benevolent leaders to join the ranks of her guard but Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor all disagreed to let him in. Then the dreaded attack came. The changelings flooded the streets of Canterlot with spears, swords, arrows, and a wave of black chitinous soldiers.

The streets were in chaos as blood filled our sewer systems and screams filled the air. Smoke burned our nostrils and eyes as we all tried to escape. The royal guard had become a lazy shadow of what it was 1000 years ago while the bugs were hardened veterans. They tried to attack but Alex, Alex Steel stood in the way. He gathered the forces around him pulling out his stick and fired the first gunshot in Equestria. It was like hearing angry thunder for anyone nearby. With his rifle in hand and booming voice, he rallied the troops and showed his savagery. The troops followed him into the pits of hell as they killed the bugs like a strong pesticide.

The Battle raged on until the kiss of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence sent the Changeling army and their queen away but not for good. The fighting was not over as the wedding went on Alex interrupted it demanding that they finish the job, but our royal and humble Princess's denied his request. Anger flared in him as he left the castle growling. It was only weeks later that he had left to hunt any remaining Changlings down as a private contract. When he returned he was not empty handed over 50 Changeling horns rested in a bag and he had testimonies that the queen had already started planning her revenge. The horns he had collected were from spies hiding out in our beautiful nation. Celestia and Luna could not deny the truth any longer. Alex was appointed to be in charge of training a new group of guards. It was then and there in that room ponies saw the man smile for the first time.

Two and a half months went into the training and separating the group. He called them the Royal Equestrian Marines or R.E.M. for short. They were stripped of individuality, broken mentally, and pushed to their limit with physical exhaustion, but all that work put out a group of 80 Royal Equestrian Marines with a thirst for action and an attitude like a bull. The Stallions who made it were tough, rugged, proven, and ready to die for their country. It was chilling, worrying, exciting, and prideful all at once when they were first introduced in a parade. They stopped in the middle of the town square and Alex shouted out “What makes the grass grow!” They all replied “BLOOD! BLOOD MAKES THE GRASS GROW!” and thus the first REM was born.

It wasn't long After Alex retrained his original group to be instructors. The instructors had been with him for nearly two years out in the field learning what it takes to survive the hellish landscape of a battlefield. When they returned they trained nearly half the royal guards into REMs as well as any civilians who were brave enough to try and make the cut.

The war with the changelings raged on. Many of the queen's loyal soldiers left after Celestia offered to give them ‘food’ and shelter. While Celestia showed them kindness Alex showed them his wrath. The war raged hard for the first two years and the tipping point occurred when Alex captured one of the generals. Foust only knows what Alex did to that general. The war started slowing down by the third year nearly a quarter of the original equestrian army had been pulled away from the front lines. The fourth year it had been declared a victory even though the queen was never confirmed dead or alive. Her armies vanquished rounded up like cattle and set into new homes and roles. A new breed was born out of the old. Changelings that didn't need love to feed on were much more colorful. It put a lot of ponies at ease knowing that they wanted to turn a new leaf but there were still some who didn't want to change.

After the war, Alex was still never properly part of the REM program even though he was the one to start it. Alex still had a thirst for action and left the country to start his own gun for hire. The company flourished as a rag tag group. Alex saw bigger ambitions and turned it into a global industry. By the time he was thirty seven, he had everyone in every nation knowing the signature Skull with a knife going through it. It was then he retired after making his fortune. He married a wonderful mare that fought alongside his mercenary group called the Savage Knights. They settled down in Ponyville where Alex and his wife went to Princess Celestia to have a child. A human child. The mare, mayflower, was turned into a human and for nine months carried the baby boy at the same time Cadence and Shining armor had their baby girl as well. Alex and May agreed on the name Cecil for their boy.

They lived happily for two years when disaster struck the family. No pony knows what happened but mysteriously May Flower vanished one night. Alex looked and looked called in as many favors as he could but nothing ever came up. He wanted to search for her but he had a son to raise and his health was beginning to wear on him. With a sad mournful attitude, Alex went through life being the best father he could.