Breach and Clear

James exited the house like a dog really wanting to go pee, sprinting and sniffing for the right place. Probably because he really did need to go.

"Jeez." Mark began, walking out of the house,"We all want to find Shane, but that's no way to act!"

"He's hopeless, Mark, don't bother." Carly sighed.

"Chuck! Come on dammit!" James yelled inside.

"Coming!" He yelled.

"So how are we going to get to Griffonville?"

"Maybe we should ask them." Carly pointed out to two Griffons landing close to the house. James walked up to the one with red, gray, and blue strips i.e. Shane.

"Uh, excuse me? Do you know where Griffonville is?"

"Why do you need to know little guy?" Shane smiled.

"I'm looking for a comrade. You sound a lot like him."

"Look bro, I don't think you understand me. Go and comeback once you learned not to ditch a friend."

"Huh?"

The other three walked up with their weapons drawn.

"I'm just fucking with you guys, Griffonville is that way."

"What do you mean ditching a friend?" James asked.

"Because staying with a friend and comrade is a sure fire way to make sure he doesn't turn into a Griffon from a weird medicine."

Shane was about the same height as James. But in his Griffon body, he was at least five inches taller.

"What are you talking about?"

"Guys, it's me! Shane!"

"No... you can't be! Shane wasn't some filthy animal."

"I'm not filthy, James."

"How do you know my name?"

"I told you! I drank a medicine and the next day I'm like this!"

"Well, at least you are OK." Mark shrugged.

"Now we just need to go home James sadly moaned.

"We should get to ground zero first." Shane replied.

Mark chuckled,"You mean the blast zone?"

"No, the helicopter crash."

"Oh."

"It's funny."Shane began,"I woke up almost half a week ago and thought to myself,'Can't wait until I get home to see my kids.' now i just want to get to Earth now."

"I bet being a creature of mythology was unforeseen too?" Chuck remarked.

"Nope." Shane looked on.

"Oh, that reminds me!" James called out,"The black pony from the bar said hi."

"Really? I haven't seen him in a while."

"About two days ago." Greaten corrected.

"Oh my God, you two should get together!" Carly grinned. Shane blushed and Greaten had the 'I will kill you in your sleep' look going on.

"No." Shane scolded Carly shaking his head.

"We should probably get to the train." Mark converted the subject while walking towards the train.

"Sounds fair enough." Shane sighed before the seven creatures trudged off to the train.

"So were is the helicopter?" Mark asked Shane as the train crawled up the mountain.

"I don't know." Shane shrugged as observed the skies from the train cart. A few white pegasi in golden armor swarmed around the giant pink bubble set up to block the changelings. The train suddenly stopped. The seven looked around suspiciously. The door slid open to the front of the cart and two guards walked in. They scanned the room until they both saw Shane's group. One used it's unicorn horn and pulled a picture from his knapsack around his back. It was a picture of Shane as a human.

"If you...humans...know where this human is, we request that information immediately." One guard spoke, his gray coat catching Shane's eye."

"Why do you need him?" James asked, reaching for his heavy gun.

"He is to be put under arrest for participating in a major crime: assisting the assassination of Princess Celestia."

Shane could only choke on his spit. What was he talking about? Assassination?

"Even if we did see him, why would we tell you?" Carly held her sniper pointed at the guards hoof just in case it needed to be blown to pieces.

"If you do not comply, we will be forced to arrest you too."

"He could kill you in a heart beat." Chuck smirked as he stood in front of the back of the train.

"I highly doubt it." He replied.

"I bet he is here in this room." James teased. The guard searched the room before replying.

"I-impossible, he isn't here."

"Are you so sure?" Shane knelt down next to the pony before they made eye contact. Shane recognized the pony as the one in the hallway,"I remember you. did you tell all the ponies in the barracks I had sex with the princess and then tried to kill her?

"You..."The guard turned white and his friend was just about to scream before he was pinned by Mark and Carly. James leaned out an open window and called out.

"It's all clear in the train!" He called impersonating as the grey guard. The other guard's horn tried to emit some kind of light but was stopped when Shane walked up and grasped it in his claws. He knelt in and whispered.

"Do you want to lose your horn?"

The guard's eyes dilated and he tried shake his head.

"Good, so then don't try anything and I might let you live." Shane let go and slowly walked away as the train continued forward.

The guards were hog tied and put into the end of the train as the seven exited the train at the Canterlot station. The place looked remarkably...empty. The cafe was vacant and so were the streets. The castle had some activity, but it was only the frequent pegasus that did laps around the building. A few guard ponies walked up. They asked the group to follow them and they obliged.

"Where are we going?" James asked to Shane in a whisper. Shane shrugged in response. The entire group entered the humongous castle where even more guards waited. Shane didn't want to be there.

"Now." One guard began,"Welcome to the academy."

Shane had a gut instinct to get ready to spread his wings.

"Before we begin, let's welcome Shane back." He said looking directly at the Griffin named Shane. Shane's wings were pulled out by two unicorns and his legs buckled. One unicorn with a white coat trotted up. His horn started to gleam green and Shane's griffin body started to shrink as it expelled into a jewel necklace around Shane's human body. His body ached and hurt all over. His group stood around him. He was all but naked if it wan't for his pants and vest. His rifle still strapped to his chest.

Celestia came into view of Shane's fading vision. She erupted into a green blaze and a familiar queen laughed as Shane's body was lifted from the ground, held in place by a green glow.

"You whore." Shane spat as he passed into unconsciousness.

"Wake up!" Shane gleaned the words from his surroundings.

"Huh?" Shane mumbled. He tried to open his eyes. Changelings flew around in the air. The walls were crystal like. James had his gun aimed up. Mark had his back. There was one other thing Shane noticed, the helicopter. It looked to be completely repaired with the exception of a few minor flaws. On the side read United States Army Corps in Chuck's spray paint hand writing.

"He's awake!" Greaten proclaimed as Carly came to his aid.

"Get up, man!" She exclaimed as both Greaten and Carly pulled him from the ground. Carly held his rifle out and he grabbed it gracefully.

"What happened?" He queried.

"They took all of us and lead us to the crystal mines. There were already ponies here and so was the helicopter. They thought if we were ever caught, we could be able to fly it. Since you are the only one who has any flying experience, we need you to get us out of here.

"So the bringers of peace need us to kill these bastards?" Shane smiled.

"Good to have you back." Carly patted before escorting Shane to James and Mark.

"Look! It's Sleeping Beauty!" James laughed before patting Shane on the back,"Are you able bodied enough to fly?" Shane laughed as the three escorted Shane to the helicopter. The changelings didn't give two fucks for the humans, it was the ponies they worried about. The four climbed into the helicopter. Shane climbed into the pilot's seat and turned a key while flicking a few switches.

"It's been way too long." Shane laughed as the engines roared to life. James pulled out the mini guns from the left door, facing the ponies.. Carly picked up a helmet and slid it on her head. Shane copied her actions and fastened the helmet to his head. The rotors started to twirl as the ponies took notice.

The cavern was almost 100 feet tall and nearly 250 wide. The helicopter could maneuver all over. The tail rotor began to spin as the helicopter took flight.

"Hey change-o-fuckers!" James exclaimed as the five changelings stopped and took a sight of the pure awesomeness that was a helicopter. With venom in his voice, James whispered," Game's on, bitch."