SEAL Team Four: Missing In Action [Cancelled]

John and Brandon stared at the two ponies, dumbfounded.

The bush that they emerged out of rustled again.

Combat training kicking in, John reached to his hip for his G18, swiftly unholstering it and pointing at the bush. He cautiously took a step forwards, and reached his hand towards the bush, intending to part the leaves. But, before he could do so, Cooper stepped out, and froze.

“Whoa man! Get that this away from me!” Cooper called out.

John swiftly pulled the automatic pistol away, and reholstered it. He walked back over to the group, and stood in front of Brandon, whose mouth was still open, and eyes wide.

John then raised his hand and slapped him. Brandon’s mouth closed, and his eyes turned back to their normal size.

“Dude, what the hell?!” Brandon called out, nursing his cheek.

John gave no answer. He just simply walked up to Griffin, no emotion present. He stared at him for a few long seconds, though for Griffin, it felt like hours. He was never a fan of when John got angry.

“Griffin, do you mind to explain WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!” John shouted at Griffin with a shout loud enough to rival the Royal Canterlot Voice.

A piercing cold-hearted stare came from John's eyes.

“You know what? Fuck this! I need some time to think,” he threw his hand up into the air, and walked towards the downed Osprey.

They all stared at the spot he just was, not knowing what to do.

“I think we should give him some time alone,” whispered Cooper.

Sometime later, John emerged from the downed Osprey. He looked around and saw the group chatting. John walked over to them.

As he drew near, the group started to stand up, and the SEALs put on their gear. They started to say something to him, but he held his hand up silencing them.

“Guys—and ponies. I’m sorry for my outburst,” he said. He rocked back and forth on his feet, his hands crossed behind his back. “That was very unprofessional of me, especially when meeting new pe—ponies.

He suddenly felt two pairs of arms wrapped around him. He flinched, but held once he realized that it was the two ponies he met earlier.

He looked up to meet Cooper’s gaze, but he just shrugged.

The two ponies then released from the hug, then just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. But it was Twilight who broke the ice.

“I think we should head back to Ponyville, it’s starting to get dark, and you don’t want to be in the Everfree forest after dark!” she exclaimed.

Brandon looked at her with a questioning gaze. “What’s so bad about the Everfree forest?” he asked.

Twilight was obviously frightened, and looked left and right before whispering into Brandon’s ear.

He had a neutral face, until Twilight pulled away. Then he burst out laughing. He continued to laugh, until he out of breath. He wiped a tear away from his eye.

“Brandon, what’s so funny?” asked Griffin. John, along with Cooper, were wondering the same thing too.

“She just said that the clouds move on their own, animals take care of themselves, and there are scary monsters.”

By now, the SEALs couldn’t hold it in any longer. They all burst out laughing.

Once they stopped, Twilight looked at them, anger on her face.

“The Everfree Forest in nothing to joke about!” she said sternly.

They all just looked at each other, and shrugged.

“Alright, fine,” Brandon admitted in defeat.

“Good,” she turned away from them, and started to walk towards the path that led to Ponyville. “Let’s head back to Ponyville.”

The men just shrugged, and followed the two ponies, but they didn’t get far, as they heard three high-pitched screams.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted through the eerie forest, on a quest to earn their monster catching cutie marks. Oblivious to the trio, a certain predator was watching them, waiting for their future meal to falter, so he take advantage of that moment, and pounce. Suddenly, the orange one (which resembled a chicken to the manticore) fell, and grunted in pain. The manticore took this opportunity to pounce.

The lion-scorpion-dragon creature stalked out of the bush, and towards its prey. The creatures turned suddenly when they heard his pawsteps, and a look of pure fear adorned their faces.

The manticore raised its wings high, and licked his lips to seem all the more scarier. His meal shrieked in fear, and took off running. He noticed the orange one was limping slightly, and he chose that one to be his appetizer.

Although the three fillies outran the manticore, he was going at a slow pace. He liked his meals with a hint of adrenaline.

After a few moments of running, the manticore had enough, and pounced towards the orange one. The other two stopped in their tracks, and stared at what was about to happen to their friend.

The manticore held the little filly in his paws, haunches on the ground. He licked his lips in anticipation, and opened his massive jaws, about to take a bite, when he noticed the bushes rustling, and a creature stepped out, holding a metal tube with two handles.

The manticore, upset with this interruption, set the filly down. He didn’t care if it ran away, he just wanted to teach this unwanted visitor a lesson.

He got in a fighting stance, face low to the ground, wings spread out, and stinger raised high. He roared, and then pounced.

(Switch POV)

The lion thing pounced at John. He swung his M4 around, and hit the creature with it like it was a baseball bat. He then took the stock of the gun and jammed it into the lion’s face multiple times, but the thing would not give up.

John decided that it was out for blood, and switched the safety off of his M4. He lined up the sights, and put four bullets into the manticore. It wobbled around a bit, then fell, blood oozing everywhere.

John walked up to it, and put two bullets into its head, just to be sure it was dead.

Suddenly, the bushes John emerged from started rustling, and five figures burst out of it. John leveled his carbine at them, but put it down once he realized it was his squad and the two ponies. But before anyone (or pony) could say anything, Fluttershy saw the dead manticore, and ran off to it, tears streaming down her face.

Twilight was frozen in shock. She didn’t know what to say. All she did was stare at the manticore, then John, then back at the manticore.

John slowly walked up to her, and put a hand on her shoulder, but his hand only made contact for a minuscule amount of time, before she whipped around and bared her teeth. John jerked his hand away from the now menacing pony. He tried to back away, but he felt like he was frozen in place. He tried to look away from her eyes, but there was something about them that made him freeze in place. He felt like he wanted to confess all his sins, but his vocal cords didn't obey his commands.

The rest of SEAL Team Four could tell he was struggling, and they leveled their firearms at Fluttershy.

“Ma’am, release John now, or we will use lethal force,” commanded Cooper. He didn’t know what was controlling John, but he knew as soon as Fluttershy turned to face his friend, he froze in place.

She turned away from him, and John dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

“He killed him,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

“I’m sorry that I killed him!” John yelled in between wheezes. “It was either the lion thing, or those three ponies!”

At the words ‘three ponies’, Fluttershy turned her head over to where John was pointing. The tears in her eyes blurred her vision when she ran to the aid of the manticore, so she couldn’t see the Crusaders sitting on their haunches in shock over what just happened.

“Oh, girls!” Fluttershy ran over to where the Crusaders were, and hugged them tightly. “C’mon, let’s get back to my cottage.” The three fillies snapped out of their trance, and began walking away, tears streaming down their faces.

Before Twilight could say anything, John held a hand up. “Let me explain.”

He got up, dusted himself off, and walked over to Twilight.

“I am a soldier,” he bagan. “I fight so people don’t have to. I don’t fight what‘s in front of me, I fight for what’s behind me. I may seem like a cruel heartless monster, but I have a family and friends, and I fight for my country, so I can keep them safe. What you saw was not for fun, and it definitely was not an accident. That lion-thing—“

“Manticore,” she corrected, her tone neutral.

“Manticore, was going to kill and/or eat those three little fillies. If I had not been there to stop it, they would be gone forever. I’m pretty sure Fluttershy knows them well, judging by her reaction. Like I said before, I fight so others don’t have to. I know I am a soldier; a killing machine—but I’m proud of it. Call me what you want, but I will always be a soldier,” John concluded his improvised speech.

Twilight had no emotion on her face. She just got up, and walked away.

“C’mon,” she said in a monotone voice. “We’re going back to Ponyville.”