Breach and Clear

Cadence could only look on with a face of pure laughter. She used all of her power to stop from herself from laughing. She thought she saw her aunt and this...alien...mate. She didn't see all of it but all she heard was a loud "EEK!" and then she saw the scene seconds later.

Shane holstered his pistol and grabbed his gun that was hanging on to his back by a strap.

"I should really get back to my...uh...friends." Shane grinned as he turned around and took one step before someone stopped him dead in his tracks,"Cadence?" Shane's view was stolen by a familiar pony hanging from the ceiling.

"My dear Cadence!" Celestia wondered how long she stood there on the...ceiling.

"Muhahahaha!" A familiar voice spoke. All three of them looked at The changeling sitting across the room, just exiting from from the old doors in which Shane's group entered.."I would question what I just saw, but I think I got it: this alien and Celestia are in love!"

"Do you realize I could kill you from here?" Shane asked as he pointed to the spot he stood on.

"Yes, and I can see Celestia's juices 'from here' too"

Shane blushed a light pink."Fucker." Shane mumbled. He shook his head,"Wait, what am I doing?" Shane stumbled over in front of Celestia and pulled his pistol and aimed it at Chrysalis,"If you make any hostile movements, I will be forced to use deadly force." Celestia looked at her protector. Chrysalis was twice his size in width and slightly shorter and yet he could stand there and not be intimidated by her.

"Ha! I could take you on, bring it!"

"Ok." Shane said, firing a round into her hoof. The round passed right through her hard shell like it was thin printer paper creating a new hole among the many scattered among her body. Green goop started to drip from the wound as she screamed in agony. The scream turned into a whistle. Shane ran up and plugged her mouth while holding his knife to her throat. She shut right up."Think I can't take you still?"

"hmmf hmmf hmmmmf." Came through Shane's hand. He looked into the room where his group and found the ponies. It looked to be a wedding room. He winked to Celestia before taking off running in to the room. Chrysailis, horrifyingly angry with rage, ran after Shane. He sprinted up the stairs and through the window where he free fell. Looking up at the morning sky and an angry Chrysalis who spread her fly wings and pulled up, letting out an evil laugh.

Shane continued my fall, he noticed changelings zooming past him. Twisting his body to face the ground, he saw hundreds of changelings pooling below.

"Shit!" Shane exclaimed, grabbing onto the castle wall. He pulled out his knife and tried to stab into the castle wall. The idea was scrapped when the knife went flying out of his hand and into a nearby changeling's head killing it.

Shane instead grabbed onto a nearby vine which swung him against the wall like Indiana Jones and his whip.

"I HAVEN'T DONE THIS IN YEARS!" Shane cheered The rope snapped and sent Shane flying right into a tower wall. Attempting to gain a grip, Shane grasped at the wall. The distant sound of a laughing Chrysalis drew louder and louder as she flew closer.

Shane checked his surroundings for anyone, or anything that could save him from certain death. He closed his eyes and watched his life flash before his eyes. His first time riding a bike, first pimple on face, first girlfriend, the time when he got braces, first car, first sex. He regretted nothing. A small tear flashed on his face. He did regret something. He married a girl and she died from a car accident. Fucking drunks. Shane would never get to see his youngest son grow up. He was only three years old.

"I'm sorry." Shane whispered before grasping a grenade in each hand and grabbing the pins in his mouth. The changelings created an ocean that rose to catch him. He threw them at the two main waves, a shattering explosion and massive sound blast rocked the air. Changelings dropped like flies as Shane continued to free fall.

Opening his eyes, Shane saw the ocean disburse towards the horizon followed by a rainbow explosion and a large pink bubble. The bubble passed right through Shane and continued until the entire the entire castle was covered.

THUNK! An explosion of yellow flowers and roses threw grass and dirt into the air.

"Holy mother of Hell!" Shane cried, grasping his left arm which spurted out small amounts of blood from where the humorous ripped through the skin. He tried to stand up and capture his surroundings. He was in a large garden. A set of doors sat towards the left of his vision which would send him into a ballroom looking building. Trees littered the garden and gave peaceful little shadows that danced during  a current of wind.

Shane looked at his wound, he landed on his arm and most of the impact was absorbed by the dirt but it still hurt like all hell. On the other side of the door, green goop disintegrated and let free a few stallions in golden armor. Two of them just so happened to be near Shane when he landed. Shane had his pistol ready, at first it was jammed but he quickly resolved the problem and had it ready just in case.

"What in the name of Equestria are you?" Quizzed a perplexed stallion who approached Shane slowly.

"You need to get me to the train out of Canterlot."

"Wha-? Who are you?"

"A stronger, more skilled, and more important as of a few minutes ago, living creature."

"Look, I don't know what you are, who you are, or why you are being a complete foal right now, but I will not help you get to the train!"

"I can penetrate that armor with this device right here." Shane taunted with his pistol.

"Ha, You think that weird looking boomerang could penetrate this armor?"

"I could prove it right now." Shane said pointing it at the chest of the snow white stallion, cocking it.

The stallion didn't understand the sound it made and took second thoughts bout him proving it.

"You need to get to the train station?"

"Yes, quickly."

"Follow me, I guess."

Shane followed this stallion that was already bewildered by this random creature. They both entered the castle and up the steps where a room flooded with guards tried to come up with a plan to find the princesses and start the clean up efforts, if any.

"Oh my Celestia." One guard paused, looking at Shane," It's that creature that saved the princess!"

The escort looked at Shane with shock and then at the stallion who made the accusation.

"Are you serious? i mean look at him, he's wounded!"

"What? Wounded?"

"Looks like he is bleeding out."

"GET A MEDICAL TEAM IN HERE!" The stallion roared out as an ocean of stallions made room for the medical squad. The escort took one step away as three mares with stereotypical nurse outfits covering their body and masks surrounded Shane.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Shane asked as one of the nurses pulled out a needle."G-get away!" Shane started to retreat to his knife which he remembered was probably long gone.

"It's okay little fella." One of the mares promised.

"Oh Hell nah!" Shane protested before breaking into a full sprint towards a door on the opposite side of the room. The stallions aided the nurses in trying to stop him. Shane didn't get to far before feeling a sharp pinch right in his right arm.

"Son of a bit-." Shane went limp. A horse tranquilizer stuck in his arm.

"Where is he?" Carly asked, looking around the platform where just seconds ago it had at least a hundred changelings.

"What happened to the changelings?" James asked, looking up at the tower, the source of the blast.

"I'm going after him." Mark sighed,"The changelings didn't even touch the town we were going anyway."

"I'm going too." Carly joined in.

"I guess I'm coming too." James grinned.

"Should we check ground zero?" Mark laughed, pointing at the source of the bubble explosion.

"I think we should check the hall where we last saw him." Carly shrugged.

"Sounds fair enough." James agreed.

"Fine."Mark pouted.

"HEY!" A familiar voice screamed. The three turned to see a frantic princess running towards them.

"SHANE IS IN TERRIBLE DANGER!" She cried.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, what happened?"

"He took Chrysalis and he jumped from the window in the castle!"

"Do you know where he could have landed?" Carly asked.

"Maybe the gardens, come I take you!" Princess Celestia started dashing towards the garden.

"For *huff* some *huff* reason I *huff* thought she *huff* would take us *huff* On *huff* her back *puff*!" James sobbed.

"Lazy." Mark heaved.

Chuck roused to see to ponies touching horns, firing a fiery explosion that sent color in every direction. A large pink bubble engulfed the room..

"OH MY GOD!" Chuck exclaimed when it came rocketing towards him.

"EEP!" A yellow pegasus cried as she jumped from Chuck's chest and towards the other side of the room.

"ooh, sorry little pony." Chuck apologized after he realized the bubble wouldn't harm him."What  is going on here?"

"I think your friend might." Cadence's lips curled.

"Be what?" Chuck asked concerned.

"In love with the princess!"

"Well that escalated quickly." Chuck stared at the alicorn who fed him this news.

"WHAT?" The mane six catechized in unison.

"I think it's goes the same way around, too."

"Heads will roll when this gets out." Chuck started laughing so hard he collapsed onto the bed.

"I don't know much, I only saw a small amount of what happened."

"Jeez, my friend is already chasing pony tail. How long was I out?"

"Not long enough..." Shinning Armor scoffed, offended by Chuck's remarks.

"He should have landed right around here." Celestia searched the grass for any traces, her horn glowed to pick up a large rock. Behind it sat a familiar knife perpendicular to the ground.*Gasp*

"What's wrong?" James asked, walking over to investigate.

"I found his dagger."

"Really? Can I see it?"

"Sure, here." The knife began to glow yellow as it levitated to James.

"I'm not going to question this." James sighed, obviously used to the strange rules that govern this world. He grasped the leather handle and inspected the steel blade. Eight letters stained each side in scratched black ink.

"Semper Fi?" Celestia asked.

"It means always faithful."

"To who?"

"God, your country, your family."

"Shane was a real patriot, huh?"

"Yeah, when we were kids, he would always stick to what ever he chose. No matter what. I remember this one time, he liked this one girl and so he acted like her bitch for that entire school year. She rejected him this one time and he was so crestfallen, I went to his house and here he is punching  a punching bag. He was so in to it. He didn't know I was behind him and so when I tapped his shoulder..."

"He hurt you?" Celestia pondered.

"No, he was just seconds from my face. He told me that he had this gut feeling about when to attack someone. He protected the good and defeated any evil. That day when we both signed up for the Armed Forces, he nailed everything and became group leader. I just so happened to be called in his squad and Carly, Mark and Chuck Came in as time past. He really is the ultimate beacon of good."

Celestia never imagined how Shane could have been through this, must have been a crazy women to not choose Shane. Well it was her opinion anyway.

"We should probably continue looking for him." Mark suggested, breaking up memory lane.

"Hey guys!" Carly called, investigating a flower bed,"Think I found something!"

"What is it?" James asked while strolling over.

"Blood!"

"What?" James asked,"That's a first."

"Well looks as if he fell quite the distance so, think maybe he is okay?"

"He may have gone inside." Mark said, following a trail of blood that lead to the castle.

"Let's go then." James cheered,"I wanna see my best friend again!"

"I'll stay behind." Celestia smiled,"You all can keep going."

They all entered the castle in pursuit of their friend and leader. Celestia stayed behind because she could see her sister, Luna, circling around the castle. Luna's eyes met the body of her sister. She quickly landed in front of her kin.

"Do thou know what has happened to thy castle?!" Luna questioned in her ancient accent.

"Changelings attacked and were defeated my dear sister."

"How was such a deed carried out?"

"Special creatures have been presented to us as protectors, Luna."

"I see." Luna looked up at the main hall," Did they cause such a catastrophic event?"

"I believe it was an accident."

"Hmm, coincidence that they came to us in our time of great need?"

"probable, I think it has something else to do with how they almost died."

"What has thou said? They almost died and now thy is saying they are here now?"

"I was talking to one of them, their leader, he said how he was flying in it and how his squad almost died from something called an 'RPG'. They somehow transported here and couldn't control the vehicle and so they crashed, they saved my life, Luna. Besides, I think one of them is..."

"Oh dear sister don't tell me you actually like one of them!"

Celestia looked away in embarrassment . Her sister facehoofed.

Shane woke up from his short slumber when a needle like object drove through his arm. It didn't feel as bad as before. He opened one eye, they didn't notice his awakening. They were too intrigued by Shane's design as a living being. Well, they actually didn't give two shits about Shane. Only his equipment. He didn't care as long as he was fixed up. But then he saw them taking apart his M-4.

"OH HELL NAW!" Shane yelled, catching all the ponies off guard,"Don't mess with my equipment!"

"Oh, sorry there stranger, we never saw such equipment before." One of the doctors came forward,"May I ask what it is for?"

"War, killing, death." Shane responded, his voice cold and hard as rock.

The doctor gulped,"Why would you need such instruments?" All the other ponies in the room had switched their attention to the strange creature whom is telling them about such instruments.

"Where I come from, we don't all come together to one leader. Sure there are religions that stretch to all types of humans but there are huge wars because of religion. So far humans have had two world wars and tons of civil wars."

The doctor's jaw fell to the ground," What does this do exactly?"

"It shoots small, lead projectiles that is classified to specific by its size. My carbine takes 5.56 rounds. When fired, anything at the end is either dead or dying."

"Then try this!" One of the assistants said holding a foam cup in his hoof..

"OK." Shane said, pulling his gun and entering a magazine into the bottom and cocking it. Some of the nurses were writing down what I was doing,"Throw it up."

"OK then." The assistant threw it up and Shane caught it in his sights. He pulled the trigger which released a few quick rounds into the cup, sending it across the relatively small room.

"Does the smaller one do that too?" A nurse asked, totally psyched by the adrenaline.  The doctor next to Shane had to shake his head to make it stop ringing.

"Not as powerful, but yeah it does just about the same only it carries 9mm bullets. Now can I have my armor back?"

"Uh, sure. Your foreleg should be fine by now."

"It's an arm, but OK. I'll be leaving then." Shane grabbed his outfit and then when he put on his vest, he turned to the nurses. He walked over and shoved his gloved hand to gather their attention."The next time yo tranquilize me, I'm going to have to use 'lethal force'."Shane winked and then left the room.

"Shane!"James shouted giving Shane a bear hug."What the Hell, bro!"

"Sorry if I felt like base jumping without you!"Shane laughed.

"Aww, that's a shame, I could have used the excercise!" James joked."I'm just fucking with ya! Get over here you fucker!" James laughed before giving Shane a noogie. Shane countered it by putting James in a head lock.

"Just like old times, eh?"

"Old times!"

Celestia climbed up the staircase following the blood stains. She was grossed out but she was extremely concerned for her crush.

"...Get over here you fucker!" Celestia heard these words and thought they were under attack. She began to run up the new hallway presented to her. Then she heard a new voice join the ocean of sounds.

"Just like old times, eh?"

Celestia calmed down and entered the room with the humans having a blast.

"Never thought I would see you guys again." Shane said, almost at tears.

"She's here!" One of the ponies screamed. Most of them bowed down, others stopped what they were doing and lined up like the soldiers they were. Most of them had disbursed to help with the reconstruction of the castle. One stallion who lined up next to her, Shane didn't have a good feeling about. He didn't trust him. Shane walked over and got between him and Princess Celestia.

"Who are you soldier?" Shane commanded. He looked at Shane with a confused look. He looked at Celestia who had the same expression of 'What is he doing?'."I say again, who are you, soldier?"

"Uh, Private Spear Head, sir?"

"How well do you obey your princess of the day?"

"With all my life, sir!"

"Then what kind of armor are you wearing under that gold, Private?"

A flap of darkened metal was showing under Spear Head's gold.

"I...I...I have a confession."

"What is that, private."

He walked out of line and everything fell silent. His head hung low. Shane had a terrible urge to push the princess back. Suddenly Shane saw him grab a small rusted and gnarly looking knife from where his chest plate met his golden chest plate. Shane acted without any mistakes: he quickly pushed back Celestia and yelled,"James! Protect the princess." The knife was in the guard's mouth and he had tried to swing where the princess was moments ago. James had gotten between Celestia and Shane. Shane had put his arm around his neck and put him in a hard headlock. The knife dropped to the ground and the pony grabbed for something different as he slowly choked. A cyanide capsule. Shane smacked it away and pinned him to the ground and held him to the ground. Shane peered down and tore a connection error in his armor. The gold fell of like snake shedding skin. His skin tone went from white to dark blue and his ears grew small flaps hanging off the back side. His wings went from feather to bat wings.

"You might want to see this." Shane said, holding out a piece of paper from his armor to a nearby guard, most of which just watched a professorial take down and were stunned. Even the doctors came out to watch.

The guard gasped,"It's a contract to kill the Princess!"

Celestia stared on with horror, what if Shane wasn't there? Would that rusty knife have been in me or.... Celestia walked over to the knife. Using her magic to engulf the object in a yellow glow, she held it up. It was an old knife issued before Luna became Nightmare Moon.

"You okay?" Shane asked Celestia, now using his knee to pin the stallion.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

"Can I get a few guards over here?" Shane asked. A few stallions volunteered. Shane got up and off from him,"Make sure he doesn't escape." Then he leaned in to his opponent,"Just be happy I didn't kill you for an attempted assassination."

Shane walked over to his squad.

"How did you know?" Mark asked.

"I had a feeling that something was off." Shane replied with a grin.

"I believe that is twice." James joked.

"Huh?" Shane asked.

"The amount of time you've saved the princess!"

"Oh, heh yeah." Shane didn't exactly love the subject but he couldn't do anything."Look, do you know if there would be anywhere where your guards can't control?"

"The old royal guard hangout, it was meant for night guards but it changed into an underground hangout." One of the guards answered. He was grey and had a scar under his cheek.

"Have you been there?" Shane asked.

"Yeah."

"Can you take me there?"

"Sure."

"Meet me at sundown." Shane nodded. The guard nodded,"Think maybe he can take the day off tomorrow?"

Celestia down at him,"As long as it stops the assassinations."

The guard didn't show any emotion but on the inside he was cheering on the inside.

"Do you have an interrogation room of some sort?" James asked.

"We have a dungeon." Celestia answered.

"Take him there, I'll talk to him later."

The guards nodded and began to escort him. There was one guard on each side of him.

"Wait, you." Shane pointed at another guard,"Follow behind them, just in case." He nodded and followed.

"Guess I see you later." Shane said as he walked out with his squad behind him.

"Where will you go?" Celestia asked.

"I wonder if the helicopter still has some sheet metal for me to sleep under."

"You can sleep in my bed tonight. If you don't want to sleep in you helicopter."

"Where will you sleep?"

"I'll find a place, I still have a lot to do."

"If you say so."

"What about my friends?"

"There is a very comfy inn across from the castle. They can stay there until we get to the bottom of this."

They group broke off from Shane. Shane stepped outside. It was still morning.

"A few hours ago." Shane started,"There would have been five more lost souls in the world. 3:47."

"Hey Shane." James said, walking up to Shane,"We found this earlier." James presented the knife. Shane grasped it gracefully.

"Thank you."

"Is this it?" Shane asked as he opened a metal door in a lonely hallway with only one guard guarding the hallway. Inside was a bed room with a huge bed. A bunch of smaller furniture items lay scattered around the room, a dresser, a large mirror, etc.

Shane began to unpack his MOLLE vest and set down his M-4 and his knife went on to the dresser next to the bed,"I wonder if she will care if I..." Shane took off his shirt and kicked off his boots.

~~~~(One hour later)~~~~

Celesetia walked to her room, exhausted and drowsy. Moments ago she asked her sister to raise the sun when it was time and she accepted. All she wanted was to sleep and try to relieve some stress.

She uncovered some of the yellow blanket and tucked herself in. She felt too close to the edge and so she scooted in. Seconds later she made contact with Shane. She thought he felt different so she looked at him. It the dimly lit light in the hallway, she could see he didn't have any of his gear on. His hair showed a blondish brown and it majestically lay straight form Shane's skin. The next thing she knew, he turned to face her. He was still asleep, just turning to get a comfy spot. She lifted his arm with her magic and  slid into position next to him with his arm around her. Celestia was so tired, her bags under her eyes and how fast she went to sleep after getting comfy with her guest said it all.