"Fuck, man... Why'd they have to make this shit so heavy?" Jet Stream said aloud as he hovered overhead, keeping an eye on the balconies along the main road. His wings were beginning to strain after such a long patrol.

Azimuth sighed, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to shift the heavy armor he wore into a more comfortable position. "Eh, quit yer' bitchin'. I'd rather deal with a little extra weight than another fucking two by four through my fucking leg."

Jet Stream snorted. "Two by four? Mother fucker, that little piece of wood was nothing more than a piece of plywood!"

Azimuth shot his friend a look. "Whatever. It still knocked me out of action for a fucking month! I'll deal with the weight so long as it keeps me in the fight. Celestia knows what would have happened if it was something bigger."

"Yeah, well it didn't, and here you are. Fuckin' blowing in doors like it's nothing. Was boring as shit not havin' you around though. I kinda missed my little shrapnel sponge."

"Man will you cut that shit out? I've been back in the suck for over a month now and everyday it's the same bullshit from you."

Jet Stream shrugged as he glanced over another balcony. "Doesn't make it any less true, Az."

Azimuth shook his head quickly before continuing his scanning.

Three months... Azimuth thought to himself. Only Three months in this fucking desert, and we're already down nine Protectors. Burgundy and Horizons are dead... All the others get to go home.

It was a familiar melancholy. He'd been in and out of it the entire time he was recovering from his wound. The number of casualties had dropped dramatically since those first couple of weeks, the Protectors got smarter and more cautious with every attack. Still, even one casualty was to many.

While Azimuth was out of action, the rest of the Protectors had gone on fairly regular patrols. At least two a week.

From what Azimuth heard, Captain Steadfast wasn't happy about the amount of time between each patrol, but there really wasn't much they could do. Lieutenants Carbon and Copper had conceded their stance and allowed them to go on combat patrols, in spite of Captain Sinder's orders, but they didn't have the stallionpower to have them out everyday.

According to command, the next group of Protectors would be joining them within a week. Azimuth didn't know whether to be relieved or depressed about that. On one hoof, there would be more Protectors to spread the workload. On the other hoof, he'd have to deal with a bunch of fucking boots, and it would take quite a bit of time to get them up to speed on how things are done around here.

The patrols, as infrequent as they were, seemed to be enough. The attacks on Camp Hope had dropped in frequency, averaging maybe once a week. Instead, they seemed to be focusing on the patrols. The Protectors were becoming very good at spotting IEDs. After all, they were getting a lot of practice, finding at least three each time they went out.

Thank Celestia for the unicorns more gifted than he. Some of them happened to have some kind of detection spell that let them sense the mass of metal underground. It took time to disarm the explosives, but they could get them taken care of. It just meant another hour in the city.

Help from the locals was almost non-existent. There were a couple Saddle Arabians who saw our training and equipment, and assumed that we'd be the best bet in ending the conflict quickly. They were invaluable in terms of weeding out Guardian nests.

The sand continued to crunch under their hooves as they neared the end of their eight-hour patrol. It had been a slow patrol, with only minor problems along the way. Azimuth was surprised at the lack of explosives along their route. They'd only found one small bomb at the very beginning of their route, and it was disposed of quickly. Other than that, things had been quiet. The Saddle Arabians seemed almost friendly... Well, not exactly friendly... More accepting of the Protector's presence than usual.

It sent shivers down Azimuth's spine. This was too easy. Something wasn't quite right and it set the unicorn on edge.

"I'd wish they'd fuckin' do something already... This tension is making me twitchy." Azimuth said with a sideways glance toward Jet Stream.

"No kidding... Something ain't right here." The pegasus responded.

Camp hope came into view as they rounded the final corner and the patrol stopped dead.

Lining both sides of the road were dozens upon dozens of Saddle Arabians. They all looked upon the Protectors with serious faces, but made no move toward them.

Lieutenant Copper cast a searching gaze over the crowd before motioning for the patrol to continue. Azimuth clicked his weapon to semi-automatic before looking over the group around them and stepping forward. He looked at the sheer number of ponies around him before clicking the safety once more into fully-automatic. This could turn into a shit-show really, really quickly.

As they neared the very end of the road next to the checkpoint into camp, a pair of elderly Saddle Arabians stepped into the middle of the road, blocking the patrol's progress. Lieutenant Copper halted the patrol and looked around quickly. It was obvious that the elders wished to speak to him, so he motioned for the patrol to set up quick defensive positions. Unfortunately, due to the proximity of the civilians, that mostly meant form a circle and point your rifles out. Once they were in position, the Lieutenant stepped to the elders.

They didn't talk long, and unfortunately Azimuth was too far from them to hear what they were saying. After maybe five minutes, the elders cleared the road and the remaining citizens began dispersing into their homes and shops.

Azimuth couldn't help but notice the look on Lieutenant Copper's face. He looked pissed of course, but that was normal. What threw Azimuth was how shaken the officer looked. He didn't say anything as he took his position at the center of the patrol and motioned for them to continue into the camp.

"The fuck do you think that was about?" Jet Stream asked under his breath as they walked through the checkpoint.

"I don't know, but it really fucked with the Louie. That can't be anything good." Azimuth responded.

"No shit..." The pegasus let out a quick chuckle. "Welp, knowing our luck it means more patrols..."

Azimuth groaned. "You better find some wood to knock on. That's how you fucking curse us."

Jet Stream grinned. "Now where am I gonna find any wood? They already took the chunk out of your leg."

Azimuth rolled his eyes. "Ugh... Fuck you man."

"I don't like this, Carbon. They were being serious out there." Copper said as he hung his weapon from a hook in the officers' tent.

"What do you think it means? I know the Guardians don't make empty threats, but what do they have to make one of this scale?" The black unicorn asked.

"Fuck if I know..." Copper grunted. "Maybe they have the mother of all bombs planted somewhere. All I know is I don't like it." The unicorn sighed in relief as he shed the heavy armor he wore, setting it aside with his telekinesis and relieving the pressure in his neck with a loud crack.

Carbon sighed in thought. "it won't matter... Captain Weakass is gonna keep sending us out there anyway. That sorry sack of shit has been stuck here for so long, and he hasn't even looked outside of the wire. Now that we Protectors are here, he's got bodies to throw at the fucking problem without having to put his own Guards in danger."

"Eh, to be fair that's kind of our job." Copper said as he sat down with a bottle of water.

"No, our job is to defend Equestria and her interests. Not die for no reason. The only thing that's changed in the last three months is that instead of attacking Camp Hope, now they're attacking our patrols. We still don't know where the Guardians are. The locals fucking hate us, and the Guards are just sitting around getting bored and fat." Carbon said angrily. "I'm fucking sick of it. I can't fucking wait for Jase to finally get here. we need some guidance on how to get shit done. Sure, we can fight but we have no idea how to go about making this situation better."

Copper nodded in agreement. "Shit... I just can't wait to see how Jason handles Captain Weakass. That's a shitshow just waiting to happen. It's gonna be fuckin' awesome"

"Sirs?" Both officers turned their attention to the entrance flap of their tent. a nervous looking Guard had stuck in his head and looked to the two Lieutenants.

"What, Guard!" Copper spat, more as a command than a question.

The Guard shrank back, his ears laying flat against his head in submission. "Excuse me gentlecolts, Captain Steadfast was asking for you."

Copper let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. We'll be there in a minute."

"Yes Sir. I'll let the Captain know." The Guard said quickly before pulling his head from the tent and beating a hasty retreat.

Carbon shook his head as he stood. "You know, it's not the Guards' fault. They're doing everything they can. Captain Weakass is the one holding them back."

Copper sighed. "I know... Still pisses me off to no end though that they just sit behind the wire all the time and leave us to do all the work."

"Hey, at least they provide security around the base. Without 'em, we'd have to pull watch and patrol. Tha shit would suck."

"True..." Copper conceded as he stood. "Come on, let's see what dumbass wants."

"Gentlemen! Good to see you! Come in, come in. Sit." Captain Steadfast said, spreading his hooves in welcome. "I wanted to debrief you on the patrol today!"

"Sir?" Carbon asked, somewhat confused. "Normally Lieutenant Briar debriefs us." This was strange. Normally, the Captain didn't give a shit about the patrols.

"I've received word from the Guards I've had posted that there was quite the commotion outside the gate earlier." The Captain said, turning serious. "The village elders spoke with you. I want to know exactly what they said."

Copper let out a sigh before speaking. "It was a threat, Sir. They said that if the patrols didn't stop and we don't leave, they would, and I quote, 'hit us with more power than Celestia herself could bring upon the entirety of Equus.'"

Captain Steadfast's face went blank. For a moment anyway, before he let out a small snicker, which evolved to a chuckle and finally built to full guffaws of laughter. Carbon and Copper shared a glance of angry disapproval and waited for the Captain to collect himself.

"Ah ha ha... HA! Oh that's rich! Ha ha! More power than Celestia! HA!" Steadfast crowed, wiping a tear from his eye. After several moments, he was finally able to contain himself. "Ah, thank you for the joke, I needed that. Seriously though, what did they say?"

The Protectors looked to one another again, then stared at the Captain. Copper raised an eyebrow.

The Captain's eye twitched and a corner of his mouth was pulled upwards. "Wait, you're being serious, aren't you?" Steadfast said, a touch of laughter in his voice.

The Captain stood and walked to a chest in the corner of his room. "The Guardians are getting bold, which means you are failing gentlemen." He opened the chest, pulled out a bottle made of dark glass and poured himself a glass of amber colored liquid.

"With all due respect Sir, There's not much more we can do. We don't have the supplies or stallionpower to make equetarian aid a viable option. We don't have the stallionpower to provide real security to the innocent civilians. We don't have the stallionpower to do more than the occasional patrol. If you would allow yours Gaurds to go outsi..."

"See, I'm going to have to stop you riiiight there, Lieutenant Copper." Steadfast said before taking a pull from his whiskey. "I can't let my Guards outside the wire. That's what you and your Protectors are here for. To go into danger so we don't have to and all that." Steadfast said while swirling his alcohol in it's glass.

Carbon's eye twitched. "Sir, we're called Protectors for a reason! Let us protect the Guards while they try and help the locals in any way they can. The sooner we can get the Saddle Arabians on our side, the sooner they'll help us root out the Guardians!"

"No!" Captain Steadfast shouted. "We will continue as planned. You will continue your patrols and maintain our presence here." He took another drink.

"Sir, what about the threat?" Carbon said, his eye spasming once again.

"What about it?" The Captain responded, irritation growing in his voice.

"We can't just ignore it! he Guardians never make hollow threats."

"Pfft, please. The most the Guardians can do is plant another one of their little bombs, which we can detect before they detonate. They don't have anything we can't handle." Steadfast said dismissively.

"We don't know that! We don't know ANYTHING about the Guardians! We know that they are violent. We know they blend in to the local populace, and we know that they use explosives. That's it. That's all we know. We don't know what they're capable of!" Carbon nearly shouted.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, LIEUTENANT!" Captain Steadfast did shout. "You will continue your patrols! In fact, you will be going out tomorrow. You will demonstrate that we are not afraid of their threats. But, since you seem so concerned, Lieutenant Copper will be going with you with one of his squads. You will take the long route through the town."The Captain turned away from them and looked at a map tacked to his wall, lifting his drink to his lips. "Dismissed"

Carbon's eye twitch evolved into a full body shudder, a result of the infuriating stupidity that had been manifested into the pony standing before him.

"Sir, we-"

"DISMISSED!" Steadfast shouted.

The two Protectors' jaws clenched. "Aye,Sir." Carbon hissed before turning and leaving the squat building, Copper close behind him.

The rapidly cooling desert evening greeted them as they began walking back toward their tent.

Carbon was seething, the usually level-headed one of the two officers finally pushed over the edge by the pure incompetence of their commanding officer. Copper walked behind him, doing only slightly better than his companion. This was mostly in part to the exhaustion he was feeling after the nine-hour patrol which ended less than an hour ago.

Needing some form of release, Carbon looked around and snatched the first thing he saw in his telekinesis. The forty pound sandbag flew threw the air in a random direction while Carbon let out a guttural roar of pure hatred and frustration.

Copper stepped forward and placed a hoof on Carbon's shoulder, trying to calm the black unicorn.

"Come on, Carbon. Nothing we can do about it now. He'll get his soon enough. Remember, Jason is gonna be here in a few days. We just need to stick it out until then." Copper said calmly.

"I'm so sick of him..." Carbon said with shuddering breaths. "I swear to Celestia, that son of a bitch is going to get all of us killed."

"Come on, none of that." Copper said. Looking around, he noticed a few Guards and Protectors looking at them. Some shook their heads, others looked on, eyes wide with concern. "Let's go. The stallions are staring. we can't let them see us weak."

"Yeah..." Carbon said quietly before shaking his head and standing up straight. "Let's go. We need to put the orders together for tomorrow's patrols."

Copper's eyes widened. "Aw FUCK! I forgot about those! Luna dammit, I'm not gonna get any fucking sleep tonight!"

"Yo, I'm telling you man! She's fuckin' dead!" Jet stream said excitedly from his rack, where he sat cleaning his rifle.

"There's no fuckin' way!" Azimuth responded. Several bullets floated around him as he disassembled and inspected his magazines.

"Listen, bro. I was talkin to some of the POPs over at the chow hall and-"

"The fuck is a POP?" Azimuth interrupted.

Jet Stream rolled his eyes. "Ponies Other than Protectors. Come on bro, you weren't gone that long."

"Whatever..." Azimuth said as he began to reassemble his magazine.

"Anyway..." Jet Stream continued. "I was talkin' to some of the POPs at the chow hall and apparently one of them got a article or some shit in the mail. I'm telling you, Sapphire Shores is fuckin' dead!"

"Dude, I trust POPs as far as I can throw em. Which is normally pretty fuckin' far, but these Guards are getting so damn fat I don't know anymore."

"Fuck dude, we're so cut off here, I'll take any news I can fucking ge-"

"Yo, you guys aren't going to believe this!" Sky Wraith shouted as he walked excitedly into the crowded tent.

"Nobody cares, Sky Wraith!" Wind Shear shouted from his rack, where he was trying to sleep.

"I'm serious! Some POP almost got killed! He's in the med tent with a busted shoulder!" The pegasus shouted defensively.

"Wait, seriously? The fuck happened?" Birch Bark asked, standing up and walking over to the excited pegasus.

" Yo, it was fuckin' crazy! I was walkin' back from the showers when all of a sudden this fuckin' sand bag just flies in outta fuckin' nowhere! it almost took my damn head off! It flew right in front of me and smashed into one of the Guards' tents! It didn't hit anypony, but it knocked the main support of the tent down and smashed into somepony who was sleeping. Fucked him up bad." Sky Wraith explained.

"Yo... Lieutenant Carbon chucked that sandbag!" Midnight Blue said, his eyes widening.

"Woah! No shit?" Jet Stream asked.

"Yeah, I watched him do it! He'd just come out of Captain Weakass' hut and looked mighty pissed off. Just picked up a sandbag and chucked the bitch before yellin' something fierce."

"Shit... If I had to actually talk to that sack of shit, I'd probably throw a bitch fit too." Azimuth said bitterly.

"Yeah, no shit. That pony is a special kind of retard." Jet Stream agreed.

"Who's a special kind of retard?"

The tent went dead silent. You could hear the necks creaking as everypony turned to look at the source of the voice.

Lieutenant Carbon stood at the entrance of their tent, a slightly bemused, but mostly pissed off look on his face.

"Captain Weakass, Sir." Jet Stream said bravely.

Carbon stared daggers at him, before quickly breaking eye contact and letting out a sigh.

"If you have nicknames or issues with our command, I don't want to hear them. We only have a few more days of this. If you have a problem, the chow hall has straws."

There were several looks of confusion directed towards him.

"Straws, Sir?" Azimuth asked.

"Yes, straws." Carbon said before a small smirk formed on his lips. "So you can suck it the fuck up."

There were chuckles around the tent as Carbon tried to lighten the mood before passing what he had to pass.

"Gents, we've got a mission." Carbon said, his face serious.

The chuckles were replaced with groans.

"Fuck, already?"

"What the fuck, we just had a patrol today!"

"Luna fucking dammit."

"Alright, alright, quit yer bitchin." Carbon said quickly and the complaints died down to a low rumble.

"Despite Lieutenant Copper and my own recommendations, Captain Steadfast has decided to ignore the Guardian's threat. Instead, tomorrow we will be going on a patrol. We will be double stallioned, since Copper's squad is being mobilized alongside my own. And, we are taking the long route. More information will be passed tomorrow once we get everything set up, we'll let you know what exactly is going on. Don't expect to leave before oh-nine hundred, I just wanted to make sure you weren't taken by surprise by this." Carbon looked around at the combination of disappointed and pissed off faces around him. "That's it for now. Check your gear and make sure you get some sleep for tomorrow. There's a chance that shit might go down tomorrow, so be ready."

"Aye, Sir." The Protectors responded in chorus.

Carbon nodded. "Carry on." He said as he turned to leave the tent.

"Sir?" A voice asked, causing Carbon to turn toward the emerald pegasus who made his way to the Lieutenant.

"Yes PFC Jet Stream?"

"Do you have any word on-"

"No. I haven't gotten any word on when Captain Sinder and the rest are specifically going to get here." Carbon said with a sigh.

"Actually Sir, I was gonna ask about Sapphire Shores." Jet Stream said, his voice almost a whisper.

"What about Sapphire Shores?"

"You know..." Jet Stream leaned in toward the Lieutenant. "About her dying?"

Carbon raised an eyebrow. "No... I have not heard anything about Sapphire Shores dying. If anything like that happens, I'll be sure to let you know."

Jet Stream's ears drooped in disappointment. "Aye Sir."

"Anything else?" Carbon asked, looking around quickly. The remaining Protectors were silent. "Alright." He turned and left the tent.

"Wait, Sapphire Shores is dead?" Midnight Blue asked.

Jet Stream shrugged. "That's the word I got."

"Fuck, man..." Birch Bark said with a sigh. "I Can't believe she's fuckin' dead..."

"Fuck... This is some fucking bullshit. Luna fucking damit... FUCK!!" Azimuth grumbled to himself, cursing everything about life.

"Will you shut the fuck up, you're crying like a fucking foal! We're here suffering too..." Jet Stream said, bouncing slightly to adjust his armor.

"This is still some bullshit." Azimuth growled.

"And I'm agreeing with you. Now get your eyes open and keep lookin' around. We still don't know what the Guardians are planning but they could hit us at any second." Jet Stream sighed and looked at the buildings around him.

"Putting me on a fucking the day after I was just on one... Fucking bullshit..." Azimuth continued grumbling under his breath, but picked his head up and resumed scanning the area.

Up ahead, Lieutenant Carbon stood in the middle of the road, his fire teams split up on each side of the road. His nerves were beginning to be a problem as they marched further and further along into their patrol. They were just over halfway done with their patrol, and so far everything had been quiet. They hadn't seen anything all day, which bothered Carbon the most about this whole situation.

Normally, they would see the occasional civilian. Whether they be a child looking at them through a window or a merchant trying to sell their wares to anypony passing by. They hadn't seen anypony today. It was like the entire town had been deserted. Carbon could have sworn he had even seen a tumbleweed roll across the street.

The complete lack of any civilian activity made the city eerily quiet, The only sounds being the winds blowing between the buildings and the crunching of their hooves as they walked.

"Gold Eyes! Any sign of any IED's up there?" Carbon shouted to the unicorn acting as pointstallion.

"Not a Luna damned thing, Sir. All good up here." The unicorn replied.

Carbon let out a sigh. What thee fuck is going on? He thought to himself.

"Sir!" A voice called from his back left side, and Carbon turned to look. Midnight Blue was looking down an alley way on the left side of the patrol. "We've got movement! one of the locals is lookin' at me! It looks like he's wearing some-"

The loud report of a rifle echoed through the air, a puff of blood materializing on the back of the unicorn's neck as the round tore through his windpipe.

The Protectors stood frozen, watching as yet another round punched into Midnight Blue's armor, not penetrating but knocking the Protector to the ground. By the third round, everypony was moving. They hit the walls of the buildings next to the alley. A protector on each side popped around the corner, firing round after round towards the assailant while another unicorn pulled Midnight Blue to them with his telekinesis.

The unicorn began first aid while the rest of the patrol slammed into the walls directly adjacent to the alley, wary of any incoming fire.

The Protectors continued pouring on the fire. Their original assailant had been killed in the first volley, but several more had appeared, each attempting to get to the downed Guardian and claim his rifle.

"Where the fuck did they get a fucking rifle?!?" Wind Shear cried as he moved over to Midnight Blue and his would-be rescuer, ready to evac the wounded unicorn back to base.

The unicorn shook his head as Wind Shear approached. "He's already dead. Nothing we can do for him nUGH!"

He was interrupted by a round slamming into his armored side, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the ground. Wind Shear's eyes shot across the street to the balcony on the building across the street. There were at least four Guardians standing there, each with a rifle at their side and spraying randomly into the Protectors clustered against the wall.

The world was chaos. All around, Protectors were dropping. It took the patrol several agonizing seconds before they began returning fire on the Guardians, causing them to duck behind the mud wall of the balcony.

"Get out of the street! Suppressing fire on that balcony and get to cover! FUCKING MOVE!" Carbon shouted as he began laying down his own fire into the balcony, giving his Protectors time to get to safety.

"Fuck!" Azimuth shouted as he ran to cover. Alpha was pinned down, stuck dead center in an ambush. Bravo seemed to have lucked out, being outside the ambush zone. The Guardians apparently hadn't planned on the double-sized patrol today, and hadn't prepared for it. He looked over the short wall he was ducking behind.

There were at least seven Protectors on the ground, either dead or wounded. The rest were attempting to get out of the kill zone. Azimuthe raised his rifle and took a couple pot shots toward the balcony the Guardians were hiding on.

"Azimuth!" He heard Lieutenant Copper call from across the street. He ducked behind his cover and turned to look at the officer.

"Take your fire team and go around to the back of that house! Weapons free! Kill every mother fucker you see in that building! I Want it done fucking yesterday! Let's save Alpha!"

"Yes Sir! Fire team, on me!" Azimuth called, moving toward another alley that would take them to their objective. Jet Stream, Morning Mist and Birch Bark all moved to follow their fire team leader.

Together, the four of them made their way down the back alleys, moving at a smooth glide that gave them both caution and speed and maintained weapon stability. A single Guardian stood outside their objective, looking down another alley towards Alpha. He was dropped by a pair of rounds from Azimuth's PCR before he had even noticed the Protectors approaching.

They stepped over the body and made their way to the building's back door, forming two pony stacks on each side of the door.

Once, they were set, Azimuth gave a quick countdown.

"Three... Two... One... BREACHING BREACHING!" Azimuth shouted as he focused his magic.

A massive telekinetic blast smashed into the door, blowing the wood clean off it's hinges and throwing it into the room beyond. Splinters were still flying as the Protectors slid into the room. Three Guardians were put down as the Protectors entered, clearing the room just as they had practiced so many times.

"Room clear!" Morning Mist called as he settled into his position.

"Moving to the next room!" Azimuth said as he moved to another door. The stack was formed once more. Instead of blowing open the door, Azimuth instead grabbed the handle and opened it quietly.

The air filled with a guttural scream as a Guardian rushed at the door, a wooden club in his teeth. He expected the Protectors to flow through the door like they usually did and had prepared as such. He ran straight through the door, expecting to run into somepony. He tripped and fell face first onto the body of one of his companions. He groaned in pain and rolled over and looked toward the door he came through.

Four rifle barrels stared back at him. He was dead before he heard the shots.

"Room clear!" Morning Mist said after the four had moved into the next room.

"First floor clear!" Azimuth said quickly. There were no more doors, only a set of stairs leading up.

"Stairs... I fucking hate stairs. Can't clear em with these fucking PCR rigs." Jet Stream grumbled.

"I'll lead. Everypony on me." Azimuth said. He aimed up toward the top of the stairs and began slowly making his way to the second floor.

"Clear!" Azimuth said as he made it to the top of the stairs. The room was empty, meaning they only had to worry about the Guardians on the balcony. Rifles were still being fired outside. They needed to end this quickly.

Stacking up on the door, Azimuth once again waited for the rest of his team to get set.

Satisfied, he began his countdown.

"Three... Two... One..."

A sudden cacophony of PCR fire filled the air, causing Carbon to look over his small bit of cover at the balcony that had given them hell.

He let out a sigh of relief as clouds of pink mist sprayed out over the edges of the balcony wall.

Almost as quickly as it had started, the rifle fire ended. Carbon watched as Azimuth peeked over the wall of the balcony and gave a wave. The remaining Guardians had retreated.

Carbon stood and began surveying the scene. The air was loud, filled with the screams of the wounded.

Carbon was numb as he looked at his squad. He had come out with twelve Protectors. Eight of them were now lying on the ground. Only a couple of those were still moving.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by members of Bravo. Copper's squad. The uninjured Protectors moved to begin triaging the wounded, seeing what needed to be done for who. The pegasi began removing their transport slings from their packs, preparing to transport the wounded back to Camp Hope.

Carbon just stood there, still in too much shock to think straight.

"YO! HEEELLLOOO??!?! EQUUS TO CARBON!" Copper shouted into Carbon's ear.

Carbon blinked and then shook himself, trying to regain at least some control. "I'm here." He said quietly.

"Good... Good." Copper said as he grit his teeth and looked around. "We need to get moving. This patrol is fucked. As soon as we can move the wounded, we need to airlift them back to base. We're down to just over fifty percent of our stallionpower, which means we need to get our asses back to base before that number shrinks any more."

"Agreed." Carbon was still numb, but he began moving to assist with the wounded.

The Protectors sat together in the chow hall of Camp Hope, waiting for the docs to finish doing what they could for the wounded. Every Protector was there, comforting one another in by far the hardest time they've had since arriving in Saddle Arabia.

Four had already died. Midnight Blue, Evening Wind, Jade, and Rising Flame. Four more were in critical condition and were still in surgery.

Nopony was eating. All of them felt the pain of todays losses. They lost brothers on this day.

"Ahem..." The Protectors turned their heads. Standing at the entrance of the chow hall was Captain Steadfast, all dressed up in his fancy armor.

"Carbon, Copper... I would like to address your Protectors." The Captain said.

"You're the OIC. We wouldn't be able to stop you anyway." Carbon said gravely before turning his attention back to the table he was sitting at. Copper stared daggers at Steadfast. Nopony was ready for his shit.

The Captain puffed out his chest and made his way to the front of the tent where the group of Protectors sat.

Steadfast cleared his throat before speaking. "Getnlecolts, gentlecolts. Quite the day today. I just wanted to say that in spite of your failure today, I am proud of what you have accomplished."

The silence was deafening.

"We now know what the Guardians are willing to do. Thanks to your sacrifices today, we know more about how to handle them in the future. And we know for sure that the Guardians do not make idle threats."

"Sir?" Wind Shear, one of the last members of Alpha, spoke up. "What do you mean 'idle threats'?"

"Oh... You remember when the patrol was stopped yesterday? Yeah, they told us that they were going to do something big today if we sent out a patrol. Guess we know what they meant now."

"You're telling me... You knew they were going to attack... And you just sent us out here anyway? Without any intel or reconnaissance? Without any kind of field support? Just us and our rifles." Wind Shear was seething.

"Yes... Yes I did." Captain Steadfast growled. "If you think I'm sending out my Guards as support, you're sorely mistaken. I can't risk our medics. and our recon Guards are too valuable to send out for something as trivial as this. You did your job of being bullet sponges just fine."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Wind Shear screamed as he lunged through the air, making a bee line straight at the Captain.

Before he could make it to the officer, an emerald blur shot out and intercepted the raging pegasus and slamming him to the ground.

"Easy, brother. He's not fuckin' worth it." Jet Stream said calmly as he held Wind Shear to the ground.

"LET ME GO! I'LL RIP HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF!" Wind Shear screamed.

"Quick thinking, Prot." Steadfast quipped, still wide eyed and slightly panicked.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I DID THIS FOR YOU!" Jet Stream shouted. "This stallion is too good a soldier to be kicked out for murdering an officer. If I thought he could get away with it, i'd let him have you."

Every Protector in the tent cheered in agreement.

"Wha... But... I..." Steadfast stammered. "This insubordination will not be tolerated! Lieutenant Carbon! Lieutenant Copper! I demand that every one of these Protectors be punished!"

"You dug your own fucking grave!" Copper shouted over the yelling around him. "Now dig yourself out!"

"I... I can't believe this." Steadfast nervously looked around the tent, his eyes moving rapidly. Sweat was running over his face from under his helmet.

Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to the center aisle of the tent, and impossibly his eyes grew wider. His mouth moved, though nopony heard what he said.

"AT EASE!"

The silence came instantly.

The voice came from the back of the chow hall. A familiar voice. One that still struck fear into each and every one of the enlisted Protectors, and hope into the officers.

Every single eye turned to the source of the voice. Captain Sinder was moving at a brisk walk. He had already made it halfway to the front. His movements were tense, his fingers were clenched into tight fists, and his face was a mask that, if a recruit had ever seen it, knew it meant only one thing.

Jason was FUCKING PISSED!

"C-C... Captain Sinder!" Steadfast sputtered. "I demand that you reign in your Protectors AT ONCE! They are out of line!"

Jason remained silent as he stormed up to Captain Steadfast. Without any warning, Jason reached out and ripped the helmet from Steadfast's head.

"What in Tartarus do you think yo-" Steadfast began.

Before he had a chance to finish, a single human fist smashed into his face, directly above his eye. The force of the blow nearly crushing the Guard into the ground.

Steadfast groaned from his place on the ground. The Protectors stared on in silence as their Captain stared down on the pathetic creature in front of him.

"Twenty minutes..." Jason said quietly. " I have been here for twenty minutes, and already I hear about the pure depth of your incompetence. Over a period of almost four months, we have taken nine casualties. In one day... ONE FUCKING DAY... You have doubled that number. Your stupidity has hurt our cause here in more ways than you can possibly know, and you... You sorry sack of shit... You're too fucking stupid to even know you're doing something fucking wrong. You have failed. Both as a Guard, and as a pony!"

Steadfast stared up at the human who towered over him. His eye was already beginning to swell shut. "I... But I-"

"YOU STAND RELIEVED! I will be taking full authority over Equestria's operations in Saddle Arabia, including command of the Protectors as well as the Guard. You are to return to Equestria, where the Princesses will determine your punishment."

Captain Steadfast swallowed quickly. "Under whose authority do you take command? You can't tell me what to do! WE'RE THE SAME RANK!"

The kick could be felt by the sentry at the gate.

"LOOK AGAIN WORM! LAST I CHECKED, AN OAK LEAF OUTRANKS A SHIELD!"

"Y-y-you...." Steadfast attempted before groaning in pain.

"I swear to fucking Luna, if the next words out of your mouth are anything but 'Aye Aye, Major', you're going to be going to the Princesses with more tubes coming out of you than you have legs."

"I...I..." Steadfast looked at Jason pleadingly. The cold he received in return broke his resolve quickly.

"Aye Aye, Sir."

"Good!" Jason turned to the end of the chow hall. "GUARDS!" He shouted.

Three Guards, wearing full armor, filed in within just a couple of seconds and made their way to Major Sinder. They came to attention before him and saluted.

Returning the salute quickly, Jason put them both at ease. "Good evening gents. I need you to escort the good Captain here to the carriage bound for Equestria. He is taking it back."

The Guard nodded. "Aye Aye, Sir! It will be done.

"Ah," Jason added. "Don't mind his injuries, he tripped over a chair on the way in."

The Guard smirked. "I wasn't even going to ask, Sir. Welcome to Camp Hope. Maybe now we can live up to the name."

Jason nodded quickly and dismissed the Guards. After a quick exchange of salutes, he watched as Captain Steadfast was dragged from the chow hall and into the night.

Letting out a quick sigh, Jason finally turned his attention to his Protectors.

"Good evening, gents... Did you miss me?"

The response from his stallions could be heard all the way back in Ponyville.

Author's Notes:

Oh My GOD! I'M STILL ALIVE!

Alright, first thing's first. No, I did not get selected for MARSOC. I tried my damndest, I promise you that. But the competition was unbelievable and I just wasn't good enough.

On top of that, I have been having some medical issues lately in regards to my leg. It's been two and a half months and I am still suffering from constant pain. Physical therapy has done nothing, meds have done nothing, and we still don't even know exactly what's wrong. This of course has put any attempts at joining the special forces on hold, and has even put my future in the Marines in question.

As you can imagine, i've been a little stressed out and unmotivated.

I was able to push through a bit and get this chapter done. (FINALLY!) I apologize in advance for any typos or grammar issues. If you see any, please feel free to point them out.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me! You guys are awesome!