War Was All We Knew.

Chapter Eight

A reminder to all citizens of Ponyville. Due to the recent rise of Changeling attacks all ponies are to be indoors no later than 10:00 pm. All suspicious activities, duplicated ponies, and Changeling sightings are to be reported immediately! Failure to do so will result in punishment and possible imprisonment depending on the nature of the crime and if there is a following attack. Thank you.

(Ponyville Changeling attack warning poster. Found on the side of the Ponyville town hall)

***

Sugarcube Corner.
Two hours into-
Hi there!
Gah! What the fuck?!
I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?
Holy shit, how'd you get here? Look, can you let me get on with this?
Okiedokielokie! Seeya later mister!
...
Well fuck me...

Roughly a half hour had passed since Twilight decided to greet Delta in what could only be described as the most hilarious and rather inappropriate way to say hi. Cole was still suffering from the aftereffects of laughing so hard and even now he was still chuckling. Carmine, Sam and Jace had left with Jack and were on their way to Command to show the footage of Ponyville that was taken. As for the remainder of the Squad, they remained in the town and were taken to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat. Baird still hadn't returned from fixing the float, but no-one really seemed to care since they all knew that it was Baird who must have made Twilight curse. Bernie was now sitting next to the unicorn and talking to her.

"I'm sorry Bernie, I didn't know what it meant at the time."

"Hey, it's okay. You didn't know."

Twilight smiled and hugged Bernie.

"I think I should stay away from Baird for a little bit," she said. Bernie let herself chuckle as she rubbed Twilight's back.

"Yeah, Blondie says a lot of stuff like that. Good choice you made."

Twilight smiled and used her magic to levitate a cake and eat some. Bernie marveled at the sight but she diverted her attention when she saw Marcus and Anya sitting with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

"So what is the reason behind all those wars?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Many reasons," Anya replied, "More than enough to keep the fighting from stopping."

"But why fight?" Sweetie Belle asked, "Why didn't you work something out."

"If we did then the Pendulum Wars would've ended a lot quicker," Marcus said, "And if they did, so many lives could've been saved, including my brother."

The ponies all sat up and leaned closer. Marcus grunted and turned away.

"Ya wanna talk about it, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Marcus sighed and turned back to them.

"As much as I don't want to I'm gonna anyway. I need to get it off my chest."

"Sounds like something that's really troubled you for a long time," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, a really long time."

In the back of the store, Cole was minding his own business sitting down and trying to write a letter on a crumpled piece of paper and with a dying pen. He grunted in irritation as it faded but he managed to get it going again. As he was in the middle of a sentence a shadow was cast over his table, he looked up to see Pinkie Pie smiling at him. Behind her was Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Hi there Mr. Cole Train!" Pinkie said.

"Hey Pinkie," Cole said.

"Whatca doing?"

"Writing a letter to my momma. I've been doing it for a while now."

"Oooooh. Can I be included? Can my friends be in it too?!"

"Yeah all of ya are gonna be in it."

"So..um...can I meet your mother?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, I would like that as well," Rarity added, "I do like to meet new ponies, I mean, people."

"I wish you could...I also wish she could read this too..." Cole said then drifted off. Pinkie saw him let out a stuttered sigh and wipe off a tear. She knew what had upset Cole and her ears drooped in sadness and sympathy.

"Oh...I'm sorry mister. I didn't know I'd offend you."

"It's okay Pinkie. And call me Cole."

Fluttershy too saw the tears and she sat next to him and placed her wing around his back and hugged him. Cole returned the hug and then felt both Pinkie and Rarity hug him from the other side. Cole hugged them too and smiled.

"Here," Rarity said, "Let me get you something proper to write on rather than that old piece of paper."

"Nah, it's okay. I'm done anyways."

"Nonsense, what if you want to write again? You must have something nice to write on."

Cole shrugged and stroked Fluttershy's mane as Rarity rummaged around in her saddlebag for a mix of parchment rolls and quills. Pinkie prodded Cole in the side and gave him a cake once he turned around to see what she wanted, he smiled and ruffled Pinkie's fuzzy mane.

The buzz of conversation in Sugarcube corner was interrupted when the front door to the shop burst open and a silhouette of a thin but stocky human was standing in the door. Delta and the ponies all sat up. Anya, Rainbow Dash and Applejack all covered the ears of the fillies because they knew what was coming.

"Holy shit it's hot out there."

"Hello Blondie," Bernie said.

"I managed to fix up that shitty little float of yours, well I got it running at least."

"And that's a good thing, how?" Marcus asked.

"Once the COG get here I can work on it properly. Best that you don't go and see it, I want to keep it a surprise."

"What are you planning, Baird?" Cole asked. Baird was about to answer but he froze when he saw Fluttershy cuddled up to him.

"Oh, really. You serious?"

"What?"

"You're hugging one of them."

"And? I ain't seeing anything wrong with this."

"Nevermind, I'm here because one of the ponies wanted to ask us something."

Baird let out a heavy sigh and stepped aside, revealing a earth pony. Twilight stood up and walked over to her.

"Hi Miss Cheerilee, what brings you here?"

"Hello Twilight. I was here because I wanted to talk to the humans, I need to ask them something."

Bernie stood up and went to go stand next to Twilight.

"Sure thing, what did you want to ask?"

Cheerilee looked a little nervous at first but then spoke up.

"Well I'm a teacher at Ponyville's school and currently I am teaching them about different Equestrian species. Since you are not from Ponyville I was wondering if you would come along as guests and tell the foals a little about yourselves."

Bernie turned back to Delta and gave them a questioning look.

"Well? Shall we?"

After a brief conversation with each other and a few goodbyes to the ponies, Delta all stood up and joined Bernie and Baird and let Cheerilee lead them to the school house. Being unfamiliar with the humans and wanting to know a little more about them, Cheerilee asked the squad a few questions relating to their lives, Sera, and what brought them to Ponyville. The mare was rather shocked but amazed to hear the stories of the Gears and what their home planet was like after nearly ninety years of constant warfare.

"My goodness, how did you manage to survive?" she asked.

"We just did," Bernie replied, "We weren't gonna give up. Not after everything that we've done."

"I'm impressed, so then, anything that you want me to add to my presentation?"

"Nah, you got everything you need, baby," Cole said. Cheerilee giggled and blushed, causing Baird to grunt in irritation.

"So where is this schoolhouse anyways?" Anya asked Cheerilee.

"Oh, just over there. You can't miss it. Follow me."

Delta followed Cheerilee into the schoolhouse and stood over by the side of her desk. As of now the single classroom school was empty but the sounds of approaching fillies and colts let Delta know that the desks would soon be filled. As the foals entered the room there was a mix of reactions; some sat down and stared at the Gears, a few stopped and froze in fear but were ushered in and sat down, only the three fillies that Delta had met were glad too see them. Cheerilee trotted up to the front of the class and hushed the whispers that had broken out.

"Class, I want you all to welcome Delta Squad. They're going to be our guests for today on our subject on Equestrian species and races."

"Hey," Baird said, "We're not from here."

"Oh, sorry. Would you mind telling me where you are from then?"

"Yeah, go on Blondie," Bernie said with a smile, "Tell the little kiddies where we came from."

Baird let out a heavy and disgruntled sigh.

"Shittttt," he hissed.

"And he's screwed it up already," Bernie whispered to Cole, who snorted and grinned.

"Baird's got a talent for doing that."

Baird grunted and stepped forwards to face the class, hands behind his back and a hardened look in his face.

"Okay then, since you have no clue as to who we are or where we came from I might as well tell you. We are humans and we come from Sera. There, anything else? No? Good."

Baird then stepped back and nodded to Bernie, a smirk on his face.

"Over to you, Granny."

A few of the foals giggled as Bernie stepped up and gave Baird a playful punch on the arm. She stepped up and adopted the same pose as Baird.

"Hello there, kids. I'm Commander Bernie Mataki of the Coalition of Ordinated Governments. I've been a COG soldier since the Seventy-fifth year of the Pendulum Wars. These Gears behind me are Delta Squad. They'll introduce themselves and tell you a little about themselves and then afterwards you can ask us any questions you want. Sound good?"

The foals nodded. Cheerilee stepped up and spoke.

"You may call them by name, class. They want to feel more welcome here."

"Thank you Miss. Cheerilee," Bernie said, she then turned to the squad, "Go on Marcus, you can be first."

Marcus stepped up and grunted. He kept his face blank and took a spot next to Bernie. He then drew breath and spoke.

"My name's Marcus Fenix. I'm a sergeant in the COG's armed forces. I've fought in both the Pendulum Wars and the war against the Locust. My father was a scientist and he helped the COG develop weapons, as for me, I became a Gear. A soldier."

One of the foals raised a hoof.

"Save your questions for after they introduce themselves," Cheerilee said. The foal then lowered their hoof. This time Anya stepped forward.

"Hello there. I'm Anya Stroud. I used to be Delta's CIC informant. What I did was I used to tell the squad what to do and where to go while they gave me information as to what was going on in the field. After a while I became a soldier and fought in Delta."

Cole stepped up as Anya stepped back.

"Hey there kids. My name's Augustus Cole, better known as the world famous Thashball player, The Cole Train! Whooo!"

Some of the schoolponies jumped when Cole did his trademark cheer. A few others stared at him and giggled.

"No I know y'all don't know what Thrashball is but I can tell you one thing, I'm the best at it. Ain't no-one who plays the game like me, nobody!"

By now most of the fillies and colts had relaxed and were eager to hear the last human talk, but Delta was a little on edge about it.

Baird took Cole's place and spoke.

"Okay then, I'm gonna make this quick cuz I don't like talking. I'm Baird and I'm an engineer, and for those of you who don't know what that is I basically fix and build stuff. Now I'm not gonna answer any questions about me unless I want to okay?"

The foals nodded and Baird stepped behind Cheerilee, happy that he had gotten his little intro out of the way. Cheerilee smiled to the squad and then turned to the class.

"Okay, you may ask them some questions now."

The foal who raised their hoof earlier did so again, Cheerilee nodded.

"This one is for Marcus. If your dad's a scientist, then are you smart too?"

"Yeah, I know a decent amount of stuff."

This time a young colt raised a hoof and pointed to Cole.

"Whadda wanna ask me?" Cole said cheerfully.

"Well, um, how'd you get to be so good at what you do?"

"Simple little guy, I just kept at it until I knew I was the best."

The colt nodded, smiled and leaned back. This time Apple Bloom wanted to ask a question.

"Um...Miss Matacki. Ah was wondering what that big noisy thing you had was."

"What do you mean?"

"That long thing that looked like a big metal stick."

"Oh, you mean my Longshot sniper rifle?"

"Yeah. Why is it so loud?"

"Well, that's because it is. Longshot rounds are quite big so they are gonna be loud."

"Cool!" Scootaloo said, "Can we see it later?"

"Sure, if anyone knows where I can get some targets I can show you guys."

Most of the foals nodded gingerly and grinned, however, one filly raised a hoof. Cheerilee noticed her.

"Yes Diamond Tiara?"

"I wanted to ask something for all of these humans. If you're supposed to be great soldiers or whatever, how come you don't have any cutie marks?"

"Cutie marks?" Baird asked, "What the hell are those?"

"Ah yes, I forgot that you didn't know about those."

"Would you mind explaining what they are?"

"Cutie marks are marks that show your special talent."

"Something that you don't have," Diamond Tiara said with what was unmistakably an evil sneer.

Baird strided over and placed both of his hands flat on her desk and stared at her dead in her eyes.

"You're one little rude piece of shit aren't you?" he said flatly. Diamond Tiara leaned back in her chair and scowled at Baird.

"So? At least I've got my cutie mark. Where's yours Mr. so-called engineer?"

"What's a funny little mark gotta do with something that I can do that I know you can't do for shit?"

"Because it makes me pretty and not a blank flank."

She shot an evil glance at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Baird looked behind him to Bernie and shook his head.

"Can you believe this?"

"No, I can't," Bernie said. If Baird hadn't been extremely pissed off at Diamond Tiara a flash of amazement would've crossed his face, Bernie was glowering at Diamond rather than Baird. Baird then turned to Marcus.

"Why don't you show her what kind of marks we have over in Tyrus?"

He then nodded to the sleeve that covered Marcus's tattoo, Marcus nodded and then walked over. Currently Diamond Tiara was distracted so he took his glove off and rolled up his sleeve. He then clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it down on Diamond's desk making her yelp and jump. She looked up and saw Marcus's tattoo which he then jabbed a finger to.

"You see this? These name here? These are the names of my brothers. You know what happened to them? They fucking died for me, I didn't want them to do that but you know what? They fucking did. This here isn't a mark to show that all the people who I fought with die like it's what they're good at, it's here to honor, commemorate and remember them. And that's something you're shitty little ass tattoo can't do."

Baird backed up and smothered a few laughs. Cole leaned out from behind Marcus and grinned at Diamond.

"Bad idea to piss off Marcus, Diamond baby."

Several of the foals burst out laughing as Diamond buried her head under her hooves in shame. Marcus rolled his sleeve back down and pulled his glove on before going to stand back next to Anya.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" she asked.

"Better these ponies learn what shit we went through rather than let it all slide by," Marcus replied, "I'm not putting up with them insulting my friends. No matter who they are."

Marcus looked over to the three fillies and gave them a friendly nod. The three smiled back. Cheerilee then stepped up and smiled nervously to the class, she clearly didn't want this debacle to continue.

"Okay class, let's all thank Delta Squad for coming."

"Thank you Delta!" the class chimed, then they applauded as they left, Marcus stepped in front of Diamond's desk and tapped it, making her look up. He jabbed a finger close to her face and spoke sternly to her.

"Don't you ever fucking insult my friends!"

Then he strolled out, not even looking back to see her reaction.

"Nice one," Baird said as Marcus passed him. Marcus nodded and took his Lancer from the bench where it was resting.

"Let's go find a place to sleep. Move out Delta."

Half an hour and a few friendly directions later Delta arrived at the Corral Bed and Breakfast inn. Much to the surprise of the Gears, the place had rooms that could accommodate their sheer size. Unfortunately there were only three rooms meaning that four of the squad had to share. After a brief argument between Bernie and Baird the Gears each managed to organize who was in what room. Anya and Bernie were paired up in one room while Cole and Baird got another room, Marcus however got a room to himself. As he sat there on the bed he looked up to the sky through the open window and sighed deeply.

"I wish you were here Dom. I really do."

Realizing that there was no sign of any sort of threat Marcus decided to take off his armor. He didn't see any need for it nor would the others be wearing theirs for much longer. As he pulled off the heavy outer plating there was a knock on his door, he tossed the plates on the bed and walked over to it, the weight of his boots making a sound that made it seem as if the floor was about to collapse. He opened up the door and saw a gray pegasus wearing a mailbag hovering at his eye level and grinning at him. Marcus simply stared back, not because his time alone had been interrupted but because the pegasus's eyes seemed to be off center by a massive margin.

"Um...Hello," Marcus said.

"Hi there mister," The pegasus replied, "Are you Marcus Fenix?"

"Yeah. Who are you though?"

"I'm Ditzy Hooves, Ponyville's mailmare. Although, everypony calls me Derpy instead of Ditzy. I dunno why but I don't mind the name Derpy, you can call me Derpy too if you want."

"Okay then, so why are you here?"

"Oh, well I was told to deliver these to you," Derpy said as she reached into her mailbag and pulled out several colorful letters and gave them to Marcus. He looked through them and then gave Derpy a questioning look. "The fillies and colts who saw you at the school today were told to write letters to you and your friends. They're mainly questions though, nothing interesting."

"I bet," Marcus muttered. Derpy gave Marcus a little salute and flew off, the sounds of various objects breaking followed. Marcus sighed and sat down on the bed to read some of the letters. A lot of them were in colorful and decorated with a mix of stickers, glitter or crude drawings of him and the rest of his squad. He let out a small huff and randomly picked up a bright orange letter, he turned it over in his hand and read what it said on the front.

"To Marcus Fenix, from Scootaloo"

Marcus opened it up and decided to read it. After all, who knew what the little filly had written to Marcus about.