They say we're leavin' home. We're goin' to what home was always supposed to be. So let us understand the situation. We are goin' into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear before you and before Almighty God: That when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to stop off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me God.

Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, "We Were Soldiers"

"So here's where we're at," Matt said to the assembled troopers in a spare palace meeting room. The table they gathered around had a large map of Equis laying on it. "For the time being we'll be helping the Equestrian Royal Guard when it comes to tracking down Zerg movements. Basically we're doing the same scout shit we normally do, but we're focused more on preventing civilian casualties than eliminating hostiles, at least until reinforcements arrive. I think it's safe to say by now that the Equestrians aren't nearly as advanced as us, so direct support from them is probably going to be pretty minimal. That said, we'll still try to wipe the Zerg out on a case-by-case basis, but disengagement criteria is going to be pretty strict here."

"What kind of support can we expect then?" Sergei asked.

"Mostly logistics, but don't expect it to be anywhere near as quick or reliable as what we're used to. Weapons and ammo are still mostly limited to what we brought with us, so try not to go overboard. We've gotta make sure what we have lasts at least the next three weeks."

"Hold on," Stuart interjected. "They had dynamite in Appleloosa, but so far I've only seen them use iron age weapons, maybe early medieval if I'm being generous. What gives?"

"I'm guessing it's because these people are way too peaceful to pursue developing weapons technology to that degree. You heard what Dory said, they don't wage wars nearly as much as we do. That would mean that all of what they have is the result of peacetime development."

"They've got steam engines, telegraph lines, and dynamite," Mike said. "If you ask me I'd say their actual technological level is probably pretty similar to the late nineteenth century."

"Don't forget magic," John pointed out. "That shit's a real game changer. I mean, we've already seen what Discord and Celestia are capable of."

Stuart, ever the skeptic, objected, "Yeah, but as far as we know there's only a few individuals like that on Equis. And if the Zerg ever get to them that'll be a massive liability. I say, why take the risk with them? We should try to keep them as far from the front lines as possible."

"Doesn't mean the rest of the ponies won't be useful," was John's counterpoint. "The unicorns still seem pretty powerful on their own."

"This might sound crazy," Sergei mused. "But I think there might be more to the others than meets the eye. You saw how quick the 'normal' ones in Appleloosa were able to set up that wall and minefield. There might be something to that."

Matt jotted that down on his notepad. That was definitely something worth investigating. "Might also be the same for the pegasi then too. Commander Aegis seemed to imply that they have a degree of weather control."

Stuart remained unconvinced. "We already established that the ponies were too peaceful to develop substantial weapons technology. So far it looks like the Royal Guard is the extent of their military strength, and it looks fucking tiny. Even if they were to go full war-time recruitment, we couldn't train them in time to make a difference."

"Sergeant said they'd be doing logistics," Mike reminded him. "We don't necessarily need soldiers for that, but they are going to need to convert to a total war economy."

"You think they're willing or capable of that?"

"The folks in Appleloosa were," Sergei pointed out. "Granted they probably wouldn't have lasted with support being so far away, but people have a way of surprising you when faced with certain death."

"That still leaves us pretty lacking in firepower."

"Yeah... I get the feeling the Equestrians aren't gonna be much help there," John lamented. "Any other ideas?"

They were briefly interrupted by the sound of shod hooves running on the other side of the door.

Matt flipped through his notes. "Dory said the other heavy hitters on Equis were the griffins and minotaurs. From what I've been able to piece together, it sounds like the griffins are the most militarized, but I've no idea what their actual technology looks like. I'd expect it to be comparable to the ponies, but that's just a guess."

"I actually asked around a little bit when you were talking to the Commander," Stuart confessed. "Not much, since my translator wore off, but I was able to pick up a few things. The minotaurs are apparently pretty hush-hush when it comes to their technology, but I heard that they're pretty advanced by pony standards. They say they use crossbows, but there's rumors of those having been replaced by what I'm assuming are firearms. At least, that's my guess. Kinda hard to figure out what exactly they mean based on just descriptions."

"That sounds more like it," John said excitedly.

"So the griffins and minotaurs are the ones we need to get on board next?" Mike asked. "That's logistics, troops and weaponry covered right there."

"That's what it's sounding like to me," Matt said with a nod. "We should probably keep looking into what else there is though. The more we can get on board, the better."

"Didn't the tsarina mention something about dragons? If they're anything like the myths they'd be tough to bargain with, but it sounds worth the effort."

Ooooh... Now that's an idea, Matt thought giddily as he imagined a flock of fire-breathing dragons incinerating swarms of Zerg from above. "Good thinking, Sergei. I'll run it by the Princesses when we get the chance."

"What about that 'Canida' place Dory said?" Stuart asked. "All the others I can guess what lives there, but that one's got me stumped."

Matt flipped through his notes from the discussion with the Commander. "Commander Aegis said that's where most of the..." He squinted at his notes."... 'Diamond Dogs' live."

"The what?" the troopers all asked in unison. They'd gotten used to everything on Equis being at least some kind of mythical creature from Old Earth, so this was a new one.

"Uh... yeah. 'Diamond Dogs'," Matt repeated. "Apparently Canida's less of a nation and more of a region that a bunch of tribes of these guys are local to."

"Okay, but what exactly is a Diamond Dog?" Mike wondered.

"Eh... The Commander was pretty light on details. Apparently they tend to be a bit less smart than the other species, but they still have a decent sized civilization. Pretty decentralized, though. He said they're also the most aggressive intelligent species on the planet." Matt flipped a page on his notes, trying to find what else he'd written down. "They're also extremely good tunnelers and eat gemstones the same way dragons do..." Wait, dragons eat gems? Like... rubies and sapphires? How'd I miss that?

Stuart said with a raised eyebrow, "Either they're really dumb or precious minerals grew like plants here."

"Not to mention they eat rocks," Mike remarked, actually getting a laugh from Stuart. "But hey, why not, right? Changelings eat love, Celestia moves the sun, why wouldn't it make sense here?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to notice a trend here. Could be useful having someone good at digging on our side though," Stuart said, then slowly adopted his trademark grin. Matt saw the wheels turning in Stuart's head before he even opened his mouth. "Speaking of changelings, that reminds me: have we gotten any 'confirmation' on that yet?"

"That's none of your business."

"That's not a no~"

Matt groaned. "It's not a yes, either."

"Just sayin', if it makes her stronger, we could always use another heavy hitter."

"Yeah, she's not a fuckin' succubus, my guy."

"Hey, I'm just pitchin' ideas."

"Uh huh."

Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of another pony runner in the hallway.

What the fuck is going on out there? Matt wondered, growing a bit concerned. The palace might as well have been a strict 'no running' zone the way the ponies walked about normally.

He opened the door and stuck his head into the hallway, only to immediately duck back in as a Royal Guard went bolting past, holding a square of yellow paper in his teeth. Matt suddenly got a very bad feeling about what was going on.

"Guys, grab your shit and be ready to roll. I'm gonna go grab Dory and find the Commander. Something's up."

"What's going on?" Dory asked as she trotted next to Matt, who'd donned his armor, weapons and pack. Thankfully he'd evidently had the foresight to remove a lot to reduce its weight and size. "I've been hearing guards running around all morning."

"That's what I want to know. We were just hashing stuff out and I nearly got ran over when I went to see what was going on."

"Think it's another Zerg attack?"

"What else could it be?"

"You clearly don't know how weird the past few years have been here," Dory laughed. "Trust me, it could be a lot of things."

"'Weird'?"

"Should've seen what happened when Discord broke free from prison. Back then, he wasn't as, uh... 'friendly' as he is now."

"... Yikes. Think I'd rather deal with the Zerg."

"Well, I don't know if I'd go that far..."

"At least I can kinda predict what the Zerg might do. Discord, not so much."

"Fair. But let's see what the Commander has to say."

They'd stopped by Commander Aegis' office first, only to find him not present. Regrettably, his secretary wasn't much help either, just saying a runner had delivered a telegram and he'd headed straight for the operations center. Finding it wasn't easy, and if the Royal Guard hadn't already known who they were, getting in at all would have been a pain. As they entered, they heard the Commander's booming voice barking orders to his staff.

"... And I want somepony over there monitoring the telegraph lines at all times. Hourly updates, minimum." The moment he saw Matt and Dory, she felt a small amount of relief from him. "Oh, good, you're here. I was just about to send a runner to grab you."

"Sir, what the hell is going on here?" Matt asked. "Did the Zerg attack somewhere?"

The Commander groaned and said, "Possibly. Ever heard of a town called Ponyville? Little rural hamlet not too far away. Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony live there, so for us it's kind of a big deal."

He doesn't sound nearly as professional as the last time we spoke, Dory observed. "'Course I have. They tried to attack there?" She'd heard stories of Princess Twilight fighting off Lord Tirek herself. Ponyville couldn't have been a safer place with somepony like that to protect it, but the Zerg seemed to have a nasty habit of breaking any preconceived notions of "safety."

"No. Well, not yet, at least. They sent a report about sightings of mutated timberwolves in the Everfree Forest." He turned to face Matt. "Based on what you said about the Zerg adapting lifeforms for their own use, I'm concerned this might be the first example we've seen of that." Then with a sigh, he said, "And given how deep into Equestria this is... the implications are unsettling."

"What's a timberwolf?" Matt asked.

"Pack predators native to the Everfree. They're actually colonies of carnivorous plants held together by wild magic, and take the shape of, well, wolves."

This seemed almost too much for Matt to comprehend. "W- How does something like that even exist?"

"Really, Matt?" Dory teased. "You're from a space faring civilization and this is the thing that blows you away?"

"Plants. Don't. Walk," he insisted.

"Normally you'd actually be right," Commander Aegis admitted, "But timberwolves are inherently magical creatures. That's what holds them together in such a way they can move like animals. If they were just plants, they wouldn't be able to generate enough energy to move."

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, wait, you're telling me that magic is so widespread on Equis that entire lifeforms exist because of it?"

"More or less, yes."

"... And you think the Zerg modified them?" Dory asked.

"The descriptions I got weren't very detailed, but from what I do have, it doesn't sound like something naturally occurring, even in the Everfree which is known for being chock full of chaos magic."

"How do we know it's not just a previously undiscovered species, then?" Matt asked, his tone thick with skepticism.

"Because magical creatures have a tendency to be unique. It's extremely rare to find two that operate in a similar matter, since you would need both physical and magical traits to see convergence."

"Okay, but how do we know they're Zerg then? They do tend to have at least a few common traits across combat strains. Mostly looks, but still."

"Mm... They were only seen from a distance, but the report said they had pincers as long as their bodies where the jaws should have been. But, I digress. You said you'd help us with the Zerg. I'm sending some guards out to scout the area, see where these things are coming from. Can you join them? I don't like sending ponies into harm's way without good intel, and your expertise is the best we've got."

"We're geared up and ready to go, sir. Just say the word and we'll go where you need us." After a moment's thought, Matt added, "For the time being, it's probably a good idea if we just assume you're our commanding officer, sir. That way we don't need to worry about chain of command issues. At least, not until Dominion forces arrive."

"Good," Commander Aegis said with a nod. "What about you, Queen Dorylus? I understand you're technically a civilian, and I don't have any say on what you do, but aside from the Terrans you've got the most experience here."

Dory found it odd how much more accepting of her the Commander was. It reminded her of how the Terran troopers regarded her after they were able to communicate. She wondered if there was something to the military mindset that they shared in common; as even the Princesses still seemed hesitant around her.

"Of course. You'll need me to help coordinate with the Terrans anyway."

"Outstanding. Go to the chariot pad and talk to Lieutenant Slipstream. You'll be inserting directly into the Everfree with her."

Dory raised an eyebrow. "We're not going to Ponyville?"

With a shake of his head, the Commander said, "The less we can expose civilians to this the better. I don't want to run the risk of whatever these things are tracking you back to any populated areas, so you're going straight to where they were last seen. Dismissed."

"Aye aye, sir," Matt said, clicking his heels together and bringing his right hand up to the rim of his helmet. It took Dory - and the Commander - a moment to recognize it as a salute, which the Commander promptly returned.

The turned and left the operations center, with Matt relaying the instructions to the troopers over the radio. Finding their way to the chariot pad, the rest of the Terrans were already present and waiting, fully equipped in much the same way Matt was.

As Dory prepared to cast the translation spell on them, the memory of their discussion with Commander Aegis struck her like a train and she hesitated.

"Dory?" Matt asked as they approached the troopers. "What's up?"

"I... Are you sure it's a good idea for me to keep giving all of you the spell?" she asked, trying to keep her voice low so as not to be overheard by the other troopers. "You heard what the Commander said yesterday..." She felt Matt's nervousness as he heard her words. Dory almost expected him to disregard the warning, but she was relieved when he agreed with her.

"Probably for the best if we keep it to a minimum, then," he said reluctantly. "But, we'll need it when we start patrolling."

"I know, I know. Just... tell me if you start feeling any headaches again, alright?"

He laughed and said, "Sure thing, Angie."

Who's Angie?

As they regrouped with the troopers, Stuart asked, "So what's the op, Matt?"

"The ponies think they've spotted a new combat strain made from the local wildlife. Not confirmed, but they're sending out a recon mission to investigate. We're going with."

Mike nervously asked, "Uh, what kind of wildlife, Sergeant?"

Matt looked down at Dory. It took her a second to realize he wanted her to explain it.

"Uh... timberwolves. They're a species of predatory plants that're unique to the Everfree Forest."

"'Predatory plants'? That doesn't sound too bad..."

"By 'predatory,' I mean like... well, wolves, not flytraps," Dory explained. "Technically they're a bunch of individual plants held together by magic and can move around like animals."

To her surprise, Mike was actually excited by the idea. When we first met, the whole concept of magic seemed almost offensive to him. Sounds like he's come to terms with it. Though, I guess they did just watch Celestia raise the sun...

"Woah, really? I wonder if they're like siphonophores then... They're kinda like colonial animals like coral, but each one has a specific role like digestion, locomotion, or-"

He was interrupted by John elbowing him gently in the ribs. "Not really important right now, Mike."

"Uh... right," Mike said, deflating.

Matt shook his head and led them to a formation of nearly a dozen chariots, each with their own pair of pegasi already harnessed in and about five or six other guards around each one. They each had an array of weapons strapped to their armor. Interestingly, the unicorns had two large quivers holding a bundle of narrow javelins on their sides in addition to their glaives.

A pegasus mare with a white plume on her helmet saw them coming and waved them over. As they approached, her and Matt shared a salute, and the mare glanced at Dory with slightly narrowed eyes. She could sense a burning suspicion coming from the guard.

"Great, as if the mutant timberwolves weren't enough," she grumbled.

Dory could almost hear Matt's eye twitch behind his visor as he said, "Lieutenant Slipstream, I presume? I'm Sergeant Hobbes, we're-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know who you are, Sergeant. And unless you're here to bring me my morning coffee which I still haven't gotten, I know why you're here. While I would very much have liked to been told ahead of time we were taking six more personnel, I'm not about to go complaining about having a buffer between my guards and... whatever the hay those things are."

Anger blazed within Matt as he folded his arms across his chest and his back stiffened. "We're not here to be your meat shields, Lieutenant."

As the two glared daggers into each other, Dory groaned and face-hoofed. "Look, we're here to help with finding out whether or not these mutant timberwolves are related to the Zerg. Unless you think you can do that better than the Terrans, you're stuck with us."

Lieutenant Slipstream switched her glare to Dory. "Don't even get me started on you, 'your highness.' I don't know what kind of sick joke this is, but if you think I'm working with a changeling-"

Matt snapped. "You can insult me and my men all you want, Lieutenant, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to the same abuse thrown at someone who's saved my fucking life."

"You talk to all your superior officers like that, Sergeant?"

"You know what 'fragging' is, LT?"

She raised an eyebrow. Still irritated, but Dory could sense a slight curiosity.

"It's what happens when an officer treats their men like shit and sending them to die pointlessly for long enough." Matt pulled a small round device with a metal lever and ring from a pouch on his armor. Dory recognized it as one of their "grenades," and worried about where this conversation was going. "One of their troops gets fed up with their bullshit and waits until they go to bed. Then they go up to their tent while they're sleeping, toss one of these in, aaand boom.

"No more shitty officer."

"Is that a threat, Sergeant?"

"No, ma'am, I'm just telling you why we NCOs tell our officers to unfuck themselves in the way we do." He tucked the grenade back into its pouch as he leaned forward, looming over the mare. "Because if you don't, one of your Joes will do it for you."

The Lieutenant stared up at the imposing Terran with narrow, twitching eyes. Finally, she managed to spit out through clenched teeth, "Fine. Get in the chariots. The sooner we're done with this, the sooner I can get you out of my mane."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

Matt heaved over the side of the six-seat chariot, feeling sorry for any poor soul that happened to be beneath them. This. This was why he hated air assault. At least with Discord, he'd been so quick that he could just clamp his eyes shut and focus on his breathing. Hell, even the old APOD-33 dropships they used in training had inertial dampers. The flying chariot on the other hand...

He felt his gorge rise again as they hit more turbulence, but by now Matt had thoroughly emptied his stomach onto the ground far below. He dry-heaved in a cold sweat as the chariot shuddered beneath him. Dory pat him on the back in sympathy, while the four royal guards sharing the chariot laughed at his discomfort.

"Mares and gentlecolts, behold: the air-sick alien," jabbed Sergeant Long Shot, a unicorn stallion and one of the Equestrian squad leaders, or whatever their equivalent was. "You're telling me that you can fly between stars and you still get motion sickness?"

"Gofuggyerself..." Matt managed to mutter out, wiping off the thick drool dangling from his lips. "How much further we gotta go?"

"Landing in twenty minutes. Think you can hold on until then?"

"Ain't got nothing left to hold on to..."

Long Shot laughed again. "That's the spirit!"

Off in the distance, Matt could see a small rural village on the edge of the "Everfree Forest." Ponyville, he assumed. True to Commander Aegis' word, they were avoiding it entirely, instead flying over a dense temperate rainforest. Where they were supposed to land in all the foliage was a mystery to him.

Stupid ponies... Stupid chariot... Stupid city names... Can't believe I'd rather be on Braxis right now...

As they descended to just above treetop level, Matt spied a small clearing they were heading towards. He gripped the railing of the chariot as the wheels hit the ground, clenching his teeth as it came shaking to a stop. Pulling his helmet back on, Matt and the rest of the passengers leapt off. Thankfully, the guards followed a similar doctrine as the troopers when it came to disembarking a landed ship and formed a circle to establish security, scanning the surrounding area.

The two pegasi pulling the chariot spun it around and took off in the direction they came. Looking back, Matt could see the rest of the chariots coming in for a similar landing. The six stood up and ran into the dense foliage ahead of them, setting up in a security position away from the landing zone. One by one, the chariots deposited their passengers who each added to the circle.

The troopers had split themselves up among three chariots. Matt and Dory were in the first, Stuart and Mike were in the fifth, and Sergei and John were in the twelfth and last... along with Lieutenant Slipstream.

Matt curled his lip in disgust. Whatever happened to "first one in, last one out?"

"All patrol leaders, on me," she barked from the center of the circle.

Keep your fucking voice down, you idiot! Matt screamed internally. This bitch is gonna get us all killed...

Matt and the other guard sergeants stood up and clustered around Lieutenant Slipstream. As Matt approached, she glared at him, but held her tongue.

"Good, we're all here," she said after surveying the gathered NCOs. "We're currently three miles south of where the mutated timberwolves were last seen. We're to advance north, following any tracks or traces of them we can find, and see if we can locate where they're coming from. Sergeant Long Shot is our tracking expert, so he'll be taking the lead." She flicked her eyes to Matt and said begrudgingly, "Sergeant Hobbes will be assisting in identifying any evidence of... 'Zerg' presence. Now, what exactly are we going to be looking for?"

"First and foremost are any other combat strains that might be accompanying them. You've already seen pictures of the zerglings and roaches, but keep an eye out for hydralisks. Big snake tail, two arms with scythes on the ends, and a big crest sticking out of their heads. If you do see them, stick to cover. They're the Zerg's primary infantry and can shoot down air targets as well as ground. Best way to kill them is to aim for the chest. If you get hit with a spine, throw a tourniquet on whatever got hit as fast as possible so the venom doesn't spread.

"Beyond that are any signs of a Zerg base. First thing you'll see is creep, which basically looks like purple goop that'll cover the ground and trees. If you see it, don't step on it. It'll send a signal to them that someone's near their hive cluster."

"Anything else?"

Matt thought. They hadn't seen any overlords yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't still be used. "Look for big floating things in the air. Those are either overlords or overseers and they control any Zerg in a local area. If you do see one, we'll have to focus fire on it. Once it's dead the rest will turn feral. They'll still be dangerous, but they'll start fighting each other as much as us."

"If that's all, remember we're still dealing with timberwolves, however mutated they might be. Unicorns use fire spells wherever you can, but try not to set the forest on fire."

They broke the huddle and returned to their respective squads - "patrols," as the ponies apparently called them. Matt called Dory and the troopers over to him.

"Alright boys, we're gonna be doing at least a five click movement to the north. The ponies have six squads in total, so we're gonna spread out between the leading four. That way we can help maintain comms between us. I'll go with the first squad. Sergei, go with second, if we run into trouble I need you to get on line with us as quick as you can. Stu, you go with the third, Mike and John, you're with the fourth."

"Roger, sar'nt."

As the troopers left to meet up with their respective patrols of guards, Dory made sure to cast the translation spell on them. Then, turning to Matt she asked, "Where should I go?"

"Go with Stu. That way if we're separated for too long it won't be too hard to get our translators refreshed." Hesitantly, he added, "And... hopefully you'll be far enough from any immediate danger."

She smirked at him. "And here I was, worried all you cared about was my abilities."

"Hey, it's not like that at all," Matt stammered out.

"Oh, I know," Dory said with a wry grin, hip-checking him as she turned to leave. She didn't make it more than a few steps before turning around and asking in a worried tone. "Are you sure you'll be alright up front?"

Matt gave her a thumbs-up. "I'll be fine. God, you sound like my mom sometimes..." Matt had to fight the instinct to clamp his hand over his mouth when he realized what he'd just said.

Thankfully, Dory took it in stride with a roll of her eyes. Then with a smirk said, "Just remember to brush your teeth, Mattie," before continuing on. Matt simply facepalmed in response.

Sergeant Long Shot, who was evidently the first patrol leader, heard the whole exchange. "You're bucking with me right? You and... her?"

"Motherfucker, I've been on rotation for six months."

"You're that down bad, huh?"

"Swear to God, I've already got Stu on my case about her. I don't need any more input."

"Hey, I can't say I blame ya. Them hips lookin' like the real Element of Honesty." Long Shot's grin stretched ear to ear.

"... What?"

"'Cause they don't lie!"

Matt groaned. "C'mon, let's go..."

Author's Note

Matt really doesn't like the ponies, does he?

Also, figured it was for the best to go ahead and upgrade the story to "mature." Probably should've done that from the get-go, but hey, the mods didn't seem to mind at the time. On the other hand...

MY SHACKLES HAVE BEEN RELEASED.