Like a Bullet from a Gun

Celestia was surprised to see the guard platoon that see had sent out to where the creatures were hiding return to the castle bruised and wounded.

"My highness! The creatures massacred us! They took the lives of nine of us, we are the remaining three! Chief Spearpony Starbolt needs to be rushed to the infirmary, now!"

"Oh my! Nurse! You must help this poor soul! As for the creatures, set down a warning to all the major cities in Equestria. If they are sighted all ponies are obliged to retreat, understood?!"

"Understood, your highness!"

"My highness, we managed to hit one of the four creatures with a major knockback damage shot. He should be dead within the next 24 hours."

"There was no need to kill them, but what must be done, must be done."

"Crap! Alex is losing blood fast! Get something to help him!"

"Daniel, we did not pick up any medical supplies from Recoils ship, but there was a crate stacked with syringes and bandages!"

"Why the hell did you leave it behind then?! Just forget it, you two need to get over to that ship and gather some meds or Alex is gonna die! HURRY DAMN YOU!"

"On it!"

Alex was losing blood very fast. The spell that had hit him had caused his skin to tear open just above his bellybutton, and blood was running from the wound in torrents that started to paint the roof a sickening dark red. Daniel, him being the closest friend of Alex every since he joined the squad, was hysterical. He couldn't let his friend die. Not at the hands of talking ponies. He remembered the battle and how he had gunned down four of the buggers, and he remebered when the spell had hit Alex. Boy, the unicorn that hit him was now just a smouldering bloody mess. Mainly because Daniel had pumped 23 bullets into his skull. And that is not an over-exaggeration.

After an agonising slow twenty minutes, Rhod and Connor arrived back with the medical supplies. They tried their best to patch Alex up, but he was still in a pretty bad shape. Even after they had bandaged him up, he was still losing blood. But their handiwork eventually pay'd off, because the bleeding had stopped. Shorty after the bleeding had been controlled, Alex regained consciousness.

"Ow, my... my everything..."

"Alex! Thank god you're awake! Me and the boys thought you'd died!"

"Alex Cause doesn't die. he just rests until his country needs saving again."

Daniel couldn't help but laugh at this, even though they were in a real bad situation. They had obviously pissed off the authorities of this place as Connor had reported seeing many pegasi fly over the castle. Daniel knew their position had been compromised, and he knew they had to leave. Fast.

"C'mon Alex, we gotta move! Ugh!" mumbled Daniel as he helped his injured friend up off the ground. "There ya go!"

"I don't need your help!" shouted Alex. "I can walk just fine!"

He proved how he could walk fine by taking a step and falling right back down again onto his face.

"Ow. That kinda hurt."

"No shit! Come on laddie; we have to get out of here."

"Okay..."

After lifting Alex up and helping him away from the castle with the squad, Daniel wondered where they could head, but nowhere came to mind. That is until Rhod butted in.

"I know! We can go towards Ponyville!" Rhod said, pointing over a ridge. "They are ever so friendly there!"

"How can you be sure?!" asked Connor, perplexed at how his friend managed to break the fourth wall.

"I'm addicted to the show that is set in that village. Trust me, they are friendly."

"Ugh. My gut hates this, but you make a good point. However much I hate your decision, I have to agree with you."

"Damn. Same here." mumbled Daniel.

"Aww, fine!" shouted Alex.

So it was settled. The squad slowly made their way over the ridge, and were met with the medieval architecture they had seen only once before.

"Man, they sure look technologically advanced with those fancy smancie thatched roofs. That's only just below ours!" chuckled Connor, sarcastically.

They proceeded to follow the road that led into the small village. Luckily they had seen no guards. But stuff was about to get weird.

When they had reached halfway down the path, they started to hear voices, but every time that they turned around there was nothing there. This happened a couple of times, until seemingly out of nowhere Rhod was tackled of his feet by a pony. The pony had a mint-green coat and light green hair, with a stroke of white running through it.

"Woah, holy crap! Get off of him!"

"OH MAH SWEET CELSTIA I WAS RIGHT! YIPPEE!!" shouted the unicorn as she leapt up off of Rhod. "I KNEW HUMANS WERE REAL! I JUST KNEW IT!" The unicorn then grabbed Daniel by the shoulders, brought him close, and whispered:

"They never believed me..."

Everybody at the moment was in a state of confusion right now, except for Rhod because he knew exactly what was happening.

"Umm... ma'am? May I ask what your name is?"

"Oh! My name is Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings!" Lyra said, as he did the pony equivalent of a curtsey. On Lyra's rump there was a picture of a Lyre, and Alex took this as the moment to ask what they were; as he had seen every pony have one.

"Lyra, what is that tattoo thing that you have on your ass?"

"Hmm?"

"That picture. On your ass."

"I don't know what you are talking about, but the only Ass in 5 miles is Cranky Doodle Donkey."

Alex facepalmed so much at that moment that his hand could have gone straight through his skull.

"The picture, on your... rump? Is that the word?"

"Ohhhhhhhhh..." said Lyra at her moment of realization. "That's a cutie mark!" she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah that sort of raises more questions than it answers..."

"A cutie mark is what appears after a pony discovers what their talent is. For example, my cutie mark is a Lyre because I can play the Lyre with most fluency."

"Really? That brings a whole new meaning to we all have a purpose in life."

"Yea! Now, I'm gonna lead you back to Ponyville! I'm sure everypony will love you!"

And that is when shit hit the fan.