Chapter Ten

(Artistic representation of the Barn Raising. By Spring Apple.)

***

Outside Carousel Boutique.
24 hours since mission start.

"24 hours, one day. Has is really been that long?"

Anya sat on the seat of the bench and watched as Bernie and Rainbow Dash talked about the pegasus city of Cloudsdale. Scootaloo was sitting next to them, smiling and listening intently. Anya looked over to her left and saw that Rarity was examining a piece of Gear body armor and trying to work out how it was built and out together. Her little sister, Sweetie Belle, was sitting between her and Anya looking somewhat bored. In the spirit of keeping things friendly between them and the residents of Ponyville Anya decided to the and distract the filly from her boredom.

"So Sweetie Belle. You like living around here?"

"Yeah, it's okay. Not much happens though. But at least you guys are here so now everything is much more interesting."

"You're right there, you wait until we can get some more of the COG here."

Sweetie Belle looked up at Anya questioningly.

"Why are those humans coming here? Is there something you want?"

"Not exactly," Anya said, her tone shifting to something slightly more grim. "Our homeworld has been ravaged by two very long and very destructive wars. So many people died and so much has been lost. Main reason why we are here is because we need to find a way to fix up our planet so that we can try and save what is left of our race."

"Sounds like you guys have been thought a lot," Sweetie Belle said, her ears drooping. Anya placed a hand on the filly's head.

"We have, but we're pulling through."

Over on the other side of the table, Bernie was telling Rainbow Dash how she was both a sniper and a survival specialist. Dash was inclined to hear how she became a master of both tasks and her stories of being in the COG. Scootaloo also was impressed with Bernie's stories and skills.

"Wow, you sure did a lot," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yep, years of practice and experience," Bernie replied.

"So how good of a sniper are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"A bloody good one, believe me."

"Can you show me? I'd love to see how good you are."

"Sure, you have anything I could use as targets?"

"Well, there might be some old cider bottles around here," Rainbow Dash said. Bernie smiled and picked up her rifle.

"Mind if I use them?"

"Sure, but I think we should go out somewhere safe."

"No argument here, I was just about to suggest that."

Bernie followed Rainbow Dash out into an open area with a large dirt mound, behind them Anya, Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kept up their pace. Anya jogged over to Bernie's side.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that the ponies here will understand that it's just nothing more than a demonstration."

"You think they trust us that much?"

"Well they don't seem very pissed off or else we'd be in the shitter."

Rainbow Dash stopped in front of a massive mound of dirt and walked around it before flying up to the top of it and then setting down next to Bernie.

"Yeah, this seems like a good place."

"Think so?" Bernie asked.

"Yep, I don't think you'll be endangering the town out here."

Bernie managed to find a picnic table and after rotating it towards the dirt mound, sat down and aimed her Longshot over towards it.

"Yep, this'll work."

"You gonna try and use this as a shooting platform?" Anya asked.

"Yeah, it'll be good for all of our weapons."

"Are we using our Lancers and Snubs as well?"

"We might as well, since we're not gonna use them for awhile. Also, we may need to brush up on our aiming in case something does happen."

As Bernie was setting up her Longshot the ponies trotted over behind them.

"So you're just gonna shoot those bottles I set up?" Rainbow Dash asked her.

"Yep. Just stay behind us, okay?"

"These things are so cool!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Not to mention very dangerous," Anya said, "You take care to stay behind us when we're using these. We don't want you to get hurt."

"So, how do these get made?" Rarity asked as she examined Bernie's Snub Pistol that was sitting on the table.

"Usually most are made in a factory but since most of them got destroyed we mainly scavenge for out weapons and ammo."

"You scavenge?"

"We have no other choice. It's either we scavenge for what we need, or we die."

"That's horrible!" Rarity said.

"You have no idea how bad it was."

"Right-o," Bernie said, "I got the sights zeroed in. Let's see if I've still got my skills."

An hour later Bernie and Anya had blasted apart more than twenty bottle and were now cleaning out their weapons while talking to the ponies. The main topic of the conversation was when the rest of the COG were going to pass through the portal and join Delta in Ponyville. The citizens of Ponyville had heard that Chairman Hoffman and the COG's armed forces were going to arrive in the town and had prepared a large celebratory greeting for them. Bernie wasn't sure how the Gears would take such a surprise but she hoped that they would be easy on the ponies. She was ready to explain to Hoffman what the ponies were doing and she knew that he would understand her. As she cleaned out the barrel of the longshot, she felt something tug her sleeve, she looked down and saw Sweetie Belle looking up at her.

"Um...Miss Mataki. Do you know when Carmine will be back?"

"He'll be back soon, don't you worry. Why? You miss him?"

"Yes, he was really friendly and kind. Even though he's got that big scary pet monster."

"You mean his Raven? Nah, it's not a monster, just a machine."

"So, it won't hurt us then?"

"Nope, not unless you do something really dumb around it."

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to ask what those dumb things would be but she stayed quiet, more focused on when Carmine was coming back to Ponyville. Reason being was because she had become somewhat attached to him and had also written him a letter asking about what his life was like when he was in the COG's military. Also, she was secretly looking forward to getting earrubs from him. Sweetie Belle sighed and leaned against Bernie, a little bored but glad that there was the possibility of seeing Carmine again. Bernie looked down, saw the little filly resting against her and smiled. It was a cute sight and she wished she could savor this moment. As she went back to cleaning the Longshot, she heard a faint whisper in her ear.

"You say something, Anya?"

Anya looked up from her Snub pistol and shook her head.

"I didn't hear anything."

"I swear I just heard something-"

"KR Five-Nine to Delta One. Do you read me Delta?"

Bernie jumped and then switched on her radio transmitter.

"Carmine? What the bloody hell? How'd the radio work?"

"Simple, the engineers managed to build a radio tower for us to use. Also, I've got someone on board who'd like to talk to you."

Bernie held her breath for what felt like an eternity before she heard a familiar voice speak.

"Commander Mataki, it's Hoffman. You'd better explain what the fuck is going on in this place."

"I'll try my best, Chairman. You did see the footage that Jack shot?"

"I sure as hell did, what's going on with this place?"

"It's best just to go with it, sir. Trust me, there's a lotta weird stuff going on here."

"Hm, is that so?"

"Yes sir. The inhabitants here want to set up some sort of massive greeting for you and the COG forces."

"Is that so?" Hoffman said, Bernie could tell that he was rubbing his chin. "Well, I'll wait here until the entire force gets here so that'll give them some time to get all set up."

"Okay," Bernie replied, "I'll go tell them to get ready. Commander Mataki out."

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And why were you talking to no-pony?" Sweetie Belle added.

"Dash, you're fast, you mind going around and telling the townsfolk that the rest of our friends are about to arrive?"

Rainbow Dash jumped up, saluted Bernie and shot off leaving a trail of rainbows behind her.

"She's so cool," Scootaloo said.

Sweet Apple Acres.
A few minutes after the Barn Raising.

"Ah have to say, this looks amazing," Applejack said as she admired the newly built barn.

"We did such a great job on this," Apple Bloom added. Applejack nodded and turn around to face the two Gears standing behind her.

"Ah do think that we owe our thanks to Baird and Cole."

Baird gave his trademark smirk as Cole nodded and grinned widely. The apple family behind them all cheered and approached to shake hands with Cole and Baird. Cole treated the moment like he had just won a major Thrashball game and was waving and accepting hugs from the ponies who gave him one. Baird groaned and shook his head.

"Shit, can't he ever get enough attention? he thought.

Applejack managed to get the family's attention by announcing that the food was ready. Cole and Baird looked at each other and shrugged, they had spent the last few hours helping the Apple Family build the barn and they were slightly famished. As they followed them, a loud whoosh came from behind them. Baird and Cole span around with their Lancers raised only to have Rainbow Dash fly past them and land next to Applejack.

"Hey! Watch where you're flying!" Baird said to her. Rainbow Dash ignored him and talked to Applejack. Cole and Baird didn't hear what she was saying but they knew that it involved them when Applejack turned to look at them.

"Aww, hell. This don't look good," Cole said. Baird sighed and stepped forward.

"Look, I said I was sorry for the workbench we sawed in half. You really don't need to hold that against us."

"It's not that," Applejack said, "It's something else."

"Oh, well. What is it?"

"You know that old human who's with you?"

"Granny? Yeah, what about her?"

"She was talking in her head to someone called 'Chairman Hoffman', sound familiar to you?"

Cole and Baird looked at each other with stunned looks.

"He's here?" Cole asked.

"If he is we gotta get ourselves in our combat rigs now."

"Also, Bernie wants us to set up the big welcome for the rest of the humans," Rainbow Dash said. Applejack nodded and trotted off to tell her family what was going on. Baird and Cole jumped up and grabbed their Lancers.

"Where are you going?" Spring asked.

"We gotta get suited up for the Chairman," Cole said, "He prefers us in formal wear."

"Okay, bye guys."

Cole waited until Baird was distracted and he managed to give Spring a quick hug before going to join Baird. He didn't want to admit it but he really loved hugging the ponies because it helped him keep up his cheery and friendly personality. He gave off a relaxed sigh and jogged next to Baird as they made their way back to the hotel they were staying in.

"Baby, I love it here."

Corral Bed and Breakfast Inn.
Room 2B.

Marcus lay on his bed as he stared at the ceiling. He had been lying there for almost twelve hours, trying to sleep only to be awaken by the same series of nightmares of the two wars and watching his friends and father die over and over again. Marcus knew that he either had to get up and find something to do or try and fall asleep, but he didn't have the will to move or the feeling of sleeping anymore. After laying in one position for so long he finally found the ability to move and upon sitting up he discovered that he hadn't eaten properly for almost fourteen hours. His stomach growled and Marcus wasn't really in the mood for walking all the way to Sugarcube Corner for a small cake. Instead he decided to go to the small cafe that was downstairs to see if they had some food there. Marcus let out a grunt and stretched out the stiffness in his joints, he stood up and walked to the door but just when he was halfway there he spotted the letter that Scootaloo had written to him and after looking over it one more time, slid it into a pocket in his pants. He had to investigate what she has said to him at some point, but right now, he needed something to eat.

Ten minutes later Marcus was sitting at a low table, slowly eating his way through a sandwich. He payed no attention to the few ponies in the room who were staring at him and instead focused on the letter that Scootaloo had written to him. He had looked over it several times and still couldn't work out what was in the letter, Marcus made a mental note to go see Scootaloo later. As he took a sip of his cider he heard the heavy clanking of Gear boots, he turned around and saw Baird and Cole enter the front of the hotel, Baird saw Marcus and jogged over to his table.

"What are you two doing back?" Marcus asked.

"Hey man, big news," Baird said, "Hoffman's here with the rest of the COG."

Marcus stood up slowly and looked at Baird dead in his eye.

"You shitting me?"

"No, I swear I'm not. Hoffman's here and he's got a lot of Gears with him."

"Shit, we gotta get our combat rigs on."

"That's why we're here, Marcus," Cole said, "Gotta look good for when the Chairman arrives."

"Chairman?" the pony stallion behind the counter asked, "There's a diplomat coming to Ponyville?"

"Yeah," Marcus said to the stallion, "Our Chairman is coming to the town to work out an agreement with the Princess."

"Princess Celestia?" a pegasus mare said.

"Yeah, Princess Celestia," Baird said irritably, "Look, shouldn't you guys be doing something if the Princess and a foreign leader are coming to town?"

The ponies all looked at each other and then ran out of the hotel cafe in an instant, leaving just the three Gears alone. Cole looked at the two and nodded towards the main lobby.

"So are we gonna get ready or not? I don't wanna piss off the Chairman."

Marcus and Baird followed Cole, both of them not particularly pleased with Hoffman's arrival but more interested in how the Gears and Hoffman would react when they saw the greeting that the ponies had set up for them. Marcus knew that he had to look into Scootaloo's letter later but for now, the Chairman arriving was his top priority.

Ponyville town center.
One hour later.

"Holy shit, there's a lot of ponies, Marcus thought as he looked around.

"Looks like the whole town's here," Baird said as he walked up behind him. Marcus let out a grunt.

"You read my thoughts. So, when's the rest of the army show up?"

"Soon, you got your radio on?"

Marcus reached up and flicked it on. The sound of static filled his ear for a second then it went quiet, he then flicked through the channels until he was able to pick up Anya and Bernie making their way to where he and Baird was.

"Bernie to Marcus, are you receiving?"

"Yeah, I hear you Bernie."

"Hey Granny, where are you?"

"I'm near Sugarcube Corner, heading your way. Where's Cole?"

"I'm over by Marcus and Baird," Cole said over the radio, "There's a lotta ponies who wanted help with stuff."

"And you went to help them?" Baird asked.

"I couldn't leave them alone, they looked like they needed help."

"Well, at least he's improving relations with the inhabitants," Hoffman's voice said over the radio.

"Chairman Hoffman?" Anya said as she pressed a finger to her ear, "Chairman Hoffman, are you on your way to the town?"

"Yeah. Are the ponies or whatever done with their greeting for us?"

Anya looked around to see if everything was all ready for the COG. Ponies were all standing around towards the predicted route where the COG would be arriving. Tables with entire mounds of food were set up on the sides of the road and huge greeting banners were erected above the center of the road and Pinkie Pie was bouncing around, expressing her eagerness about meeting the Chairman of the COG. Anya smiled and pressed her finger to her radio earpiece again.

"Yep, they're all ready for you."

"Excellent, I'll mobilize the troops. Make sure you alert the residents for our arrival."

"Wilco, Delta out."

"So then," Baird said as Anya and Bernie joined him, Marcus and Cole, "When do the COG arrive?"

"Soon, Blondie, soon," Bernie replied. As Delta waited for Hoffman's arrival, Twilight and her friends walked over to join them.

"Isn't this great?" Twilight said, "Both of our leaders are finally going to meet! I'm so excited."

"Same here, Ah got mah whole family here as well to help out," Applejack added.

"I do wonder what the leaders of your world wear," Rarity said.

"Seems like your friends are taking a long time," Rainbow Dash huffed.

"I...um...hope they are nice like you guys," Fluttershy said uneasily.

"OOOOOOOH! I'M SO EXCITED TOO, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around them, "I GOTTA GO GET MY PARTY GREETING WAGON!"

Pinkie darted off, leaving a semi pink cloud where she was standing. Delta exchanged looks before going back to discussing what might happen when the COG arrive.

"So now what?" Cole asked.

"Now we wait," Marcus replied.

"Whoo. Will the fun ever end?" Baird muttered. Bernie grinned and lightly punched Baird in the arm.

"Come on Blondie. Where's your sense of adventure."

"It joined my sense of humor and left a long time ago."

Bernie chuckled and went back to staring at the horizon. As she was awaiting the arrival of Hoffman's personal Raven, she realized something, where was Princess Celestia? She was meant to arrive in Ponyville before Hoffman but there was no sign of the princess or any royalty. Bernie looked around in the sky and saw nothing, she gave a sigh and went back to watching the ponies all get ready for the arrival of the COG. Several minutes passed and still nothing had happened. Bernie leaned down to Twilight to break the ice.

"Hey, Twilight. When is the Princess coming?"

"Soon, I think, very soon."

Suddenly, the sound of trumpets and trotting erupted from behind them. Delta span around and saw entire legions of pegasi and unicorn Royal guards making their way towards them. As the Royal Guards were making their way through the town, Cole pointed up to a large chariot being pulled by eight large pegasus Guards. Delta stood and waited as the chariot descended and landed several feet in front of the squad. Delta waited and watched as Princess Celestia and another alicorn descended off the chariot and walked over to Delta escorted by several very large pegasi and unicorn Guards. Celetia approached Bernie and gave her a nod of approval.

"Commander Mataki," she said.

"Hello Princess Celestia," Bernie replied, "Glad to see you arrived before the Chairman did."

"Thank you, good to see that the ponies are all ready for your leader's arrival."

"Who's the other princess?" Marcus asked. Celestia turned around and smiled.

"Ah, that is my younger sister, Luna. She is the princess of the night."

Luna slowly walked over to Delta and hesitated when she saw Marcus. She stared at him for a minute and then turned her attention to the rest of the squad.

"Hello there, squad Delta."

Marcus stared back at Luna and then stepped forward towards her.

"Hey. Why were you staring at me?"

"Nothing," Luna said shakily, "Nothing at all."

Luna then broke eye contact with Marcus and started to talk to Bernie. Marcus continued to stare at her as Cole walked over to him, looking somewhat confused.

"Yo Marcus. What's up with you and her?"

"She gave me a weird look. One that says that she's seen me before, but I've never seen anything like her in my whole life."

"Yeah, we've seen some weird shit but nothing like her before."

Marcus let out a sigh and stood by, listening to the two princesses talk to the rest of the squad. He knew that he had to confront the princess at some point but until then, all he could do was wait. For the next several minutes he stood and watched the ponies talk and the Royal Guards stand firm in the center of the road. Currently, Bernie was waiting for Hoffman to arrive in the town. So far nothing had shown up and Bernie was starting to get impatient. She was about to contact Hoffman when the distinct sound of rotors cut through the air. Bernie looked towards the horizon and saw a small black dot hover over the top of a large hill. This also caught the attention of the ponies in the town, they all looked up and smiled as the dot grew larger and took the form of a black Raven.

"They're here!" Pinkie yelled with joy. The townsponies all gathered up underneath the largest welcome banner and held their gifts ready, the Guards stood tall and held their spears at an angle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took their place next to Delta squad and stared at the oncoming helicopter.

"Isn't this exciting?" Twilight said, "Our leaders are finally going to meet!"

"Royal Guards! Stand tall and be ready!" Celestia said to her Guards.

As the soldiers stood ready and the townsponies gathered up behind them and stared as the black Raven slowed down and hovered above a small forest. Marcus stepped forward and waited.

"What the hell is Hoffman doing?"

"Looks like he's waiting," Anya said.

"Yeah," Baird said, "But for what?"

Suddenly, the sound of multiple Raven rotors started to increase and the single black Raven was joined by what appeared to be a hundred more silver Ravens. This was followed by the rumble of large engines and the ground slowly starting to shake. The townsponies all dropped their gifts and started to look around for the source of the shaking and rumbling, the Guards all looked at each other and cringed, nervous of what was to come. Delta squad exchanged looked with each other and the princesses.

"What's going on?" Anya asked.

"No idea," Baird said, "But if I had to guess I think that Hoffman might've brought some Centaurs and 'Dills to show off."

"That, or he's taking his security details to the next level," Marcus added.

"Knowing Hoffman, it's probably what Marcus said," Bernie said.

Delta stood and watched as Hoffman's Raven was joined by an entire fleet of Raven gunships and transport choppers. Baird was right as well because from the forest a convoy consisting of Grindlift Derricks, Centaurs and Armadillo APCs rolled onto the road. The ponies all gathered up and held each other in terrified hugs and the Guards all dropped their weapons and cowered as the Ravens flew overhead and circled around the town. As the front column of Centaurs and 'Dills rolled into the town, Hoffman's Raven landed several feet in front of Delta Squad. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna backed up a few feet and watched as the bay doors to the Raven opened and Hoffman stepped out followed by four Onyx Guards. Seeing this, several Royal Guards all gathered up their weapons and stood by Celestia and Luna and tried to look as intimidating as the Onyx Guards. Marcus, Bernie and Anya stepped forward to greet Hoffman.

"Chairman Hoffman, welcome to Ponyville," Marcus said.

"Damn, you guys weren't kidding," Hoffman said, "This is some weird shit. So who's in charge around here?"

"That would be me," Princess Celestia said as she stepped forward. The Onyx Guard raised their Lancers a little and in response the Royal Guards stepped forward with their spears raised. Hoffman and Celestia met in the center of the Guards, looked at each other for a few seconds before Celestia rose a hoof to him. Hoffman eyed her and then her hoof for a few seconds before taking it in his hand and shaking it slowly. Celestia smiled a little and spoke.

"Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."

"Chairman Hoffman of the Coalition of Ordinated Governments."

"Wait! Wait! Don't start yet!" Pinkie yelled from behind a corner. Hoffman and Celestia looked at each other and watched as Pinkie dragged her Welcome Wagon and was about to press the button on the side when a loud honking horn and the sound of a large speeding engine broke the silence and shook the ground violently. The ponies and humans all looked up and towards the source of the sound, speeding towards them was an out of control Grindlift Derrick.

"MOVE!" Marcus yelled.

The ponies and humans dived out of the way just as the Derrick screeched to a halt, crushing Pinkie's wagon. Marcus picked himself up and looked up at the Derrick, on the side was the name 'Betty'.

"Dizzy," Marcus muttered. Almost instantly, the sound of metal boots clanking on the metal floor of the Derrick sounded and the voice of the driver was heard.

"Howdy there, Delta. What did I miss?"

Author's Note

A massive thanks to SprenBrez for the artwork. Best thing I have ever put in the beginning of the chapter.