Major Micheal Scott Rivers (Glaceon)
United Pokemorph Federation Special Task Force One: Frostbite
Alpha Harobed 84 IV a (0205hours)
Operation: Horseshoe

Of all the interstellar races we could have ever met, of all the universes the Federation could have expanded to. We got ponies... Arceus dammit the times my brother and sister tried to cram this show down my throat made it unbearable for me to watch. I'd never think that I'd be fighting with them side by side on the battlefield, let alone meeting some of the main characters. Especially Pinkie Pie, Arceus I fucking hate Pinkie Pie but strangely enough she isn't as annoying in person. I shouldn't be thinking this way, they're our allies now much to the disagreement of some of the others within the UPF back home. I swear things went to shit on the UPF internet when that damn show came over from Lylat. How do male teenagers and adults find anything to LIKE about this show? It's all a bunch of hippie bullshit they feed to kids to keep their ADHD in check. The sad state of TV nowadays. Luckily for me these cast of characters seem to know how to fight a war.

“ETA two minutes to drop! Hope you guys are good back there!” my wife, Emerald, piloted our transport into the area of operation. Her sparkly green eyes were hidden behind the mask of a helmet mounted display. I could see her Buizel tails swish back and forth in discomfort. I heard her whisper under her breath, “fucking ponies.”

Yeah no kidding. Luckily the ponies in the back of the ship didn't hear her. I caught wind of it because us Pokemorphs have a better sense of hearing than our new allies. That, and it helps to have four ears, being a Glaceon and all. She wasn't fond of our new allies either, mostly because of her equinophobia. She had a traumatic accident as a child with a feral horse back in the day. No amount of colorful pastel ponies could save her from that. Among those I know my father, the president, also dislikes the show. I was honestly surprised to see him ally with these fuckers. He's a major geek like the rest of us and one of the biggest trolls known on the UPF web. He doesn't run the country that way though, just his internet antics. He can't stand the show and what it has spawned in our universe. For your whole life you were trained to either be a soldier or a worker within the Federation. Suddenly this comes along and tries to redefine what it is to be a man? I find it crap, Emmy finds it crap, and my dad finds it crap too. At least we don't have to worry about being kid friendly in this universe. It was time to open a can of whoop ass on these Apex and luckily this would be how the inside of a can of whoop ass looked. This was a Bo-1C, a cargo conversion of the UPF's main heavy stealth bomber. The bomb bay and back engines were replaced with a large cargo hold able to hold fifty four troops plus the two Type 23 armored recon jeeps tied down to the back.

“Yo Mikey, why no HUD today?” Zak waved to me from the opposite side of the ship. He was another one intolerant of Bronies and a hybrid Pokemorph: Absol/Charmeleon.

“Oh opps!” I put my earpiece in and flipped down my HUD screen to my eye, “Much better. Okay Prism! Activate augmented reality combat heads up display.”

ARCHUD ENABLED. LINK ESTABLISHED TO UPF HQ. WELCOME MIKEY.

My vision was filled with an advanced UI overlayed on the single lens on my right eye.

I looked to my twin sister to my right. She was asleep and curled around her sniper rifle like a deadly teddy bear. One could easily confuse her for a Hylotl due to her Vaporeon features. Unlike other Vaporeon the circular frills on her neck were replaced with shark like gill slits. Her iconic violet bandana was wrapped snug on her head with tinted goggles that helped keep it in place. I prodded her awake.

“Yo sis! Look alive we're gonna drop,” I patted her shoulder as she stretched.

“Alright, alright! Let me work my magic,” she loaded a fresh magazine into her SVX Nova Dragon and yawned, “I'm chill man. Let's just get down there and fuck shit up.”

She was very nonchalant about the whole war thing. We all were except for the ponies. Us Pokemorphs are born and bred warriors. Our culture has turned war into a bloodless sport with virtual arenas and augmented reality. We become numb, jaded, and used to all the violence and simulated bloodshed. When an actual war hit we were prepared for it. The war with Lylat served to train us well to fight this new foe.

“Hey! You stupid unicorn in the power armor. I think something's wrong with it,” one of the other UPF soldiers in the transport mouthed off to that Dawn Shy guy in the corner, “There's already a dead horse it in! Haha!”

I turned away. I wanted to do that as well but that would reflect badly on the UPF's new allies. Of course, I can't stop all the soldiers from hating them. I glared at my sister and she instantly knew what I meant.

“Yeah yeah, I know I'm sorry for trying to cram that show down your eyes.”

“Just between us,” I whispered to her, “I want nothing to do with this horse shit. Let's just help them gain a foothold on this planet and fly right back to the home universe okay?”

“Just give them a chance. They're OCs, not show canon. That Dawn Shy guy right there. In our universe he's Scalez Signkiller. I've been spying past our universe with David for quite a bit and it seems that each one of us here is an OC or character of a guy sitting on a computer right now. Hard to believe that huh? We're all just play things of an author who subjects us to his whim. Still, this is very much real, physical, and it's happening here and now in this plain of existence. And at least we are in control of our own actions.”

“Yeah, that was quite something to wrap my head around. What the hell is Ghost doing?” I looked to the back to see him chatting with Vinyl.

“Man! I love your music! When is the new album coming out?”

“Heh, couple of weeks. Ready to see my bass cannon in action bro?”

“Bitch please, I got a sonic shotgun mounted on my exosuit,” Ghost showed off the UPF Reactionary Shock Trooper Armor with the modular weapons and electronics package, “custom user interface, modular rail mounted weapons systems, with servomotors that enhance my speed, agility, and strength. Couple this with the nanobots already in my system and we kick things into overdrive.”

“Well don't start the party without us,” the teal pegasus mare in the corner waved to Vinyl. Tanya poked my shoulder.

“That's Kim. OC, pegasus. Super spy pony and her creator wants to be an animator. One of the most famous female MLP analysts.”

“Okay, what can she do and why should I care?” I looked at Kim and assessed her combat capacity.

“Sniper, many years of special forces experience. Three wars under her belt, at least in fan fiction canon, and almost as good of a shot as I am... Almost...” my sister smirked as she placed the goggles on her face, “bout time to rock and roll.”

“One minute to drop!”

“Mikey, you might wanna get ready,” Zak pointed to my guns, “You bringing the Hydra Helix?”

“Of course. My Bitch Cannon with thirty two frag rounds. Never leave home without it. Also, David gave me this to try out,” I slid a brand new rifle off my back and loaded in a fresh twenty round mag of 7.62x51 FED, “He calls this the PAR or Precision Attack Rifle. Says it uses IFF to lock onto enemy troops. Comes with a built in target finder screen in place of the accessory rail. The barrel free floats and uses servo motors to move vertically and horizontally to track the targets.”

“Your brother is a fucking genius. He's like Iron Man or something,” Zak laughed as he readied his RPK-113.

“Thirty seconds to drop! Load up now!” Emmy shouted on the PA system as I looked outside to see flak starting to puff up.

“That's our cue,” Tanya stepped up and lined up with the other droptroopers, “Ghost, you gun when we touch down.”

“On it,” Ghost climbed into the top of the jeep and armed the anti-tank railgun before running back to his harness, “Serious whoop ass in a magnetic package.”

“No kidding. Zak you're with me. Command whatcha got?”

“Frostbite this is AWACS Murkrow be advised Avali and Human forces are joining the fight as well. Proceed with Operation Horseshoe, out.”

“Copy command! We are dropping into the AO! Deploy! Deploy!”

The cargo door slid open with the blaring alarm and bright red lights that fill the hull of the plane. The loadmaster unlatched the two jeeps and they parachuted in slowly. We had the more exciting insertion.

Our seats latched onto us with full metal braces and we were enveloped in a cocoon of steel and metal. The hiss of pressurized air sealed our drop pods and I looked to the ponies caught off guard. I smirked.

“Pffft, pussies,” with one more loud metallic clank we were launched from the bottom of the dropship in a sudden drop. The pod shook and rattled but I shrugged it off with indifference as I had done this many times in my special forces career. I was bounced around and shaken like beans in a can. I saw Ghost guide his pod into my viewing window and he stuck his tongue out at me playfully. I waved to him and smiled.

Touchdown was precluded by the rocket boosters that slowed our descent as the pods dug into the ground. With both paws on my rifle the front panel blew off and lodged itself into the ground as a makeshift piece of cover. Already on the front lines, we hit the ground shooting. I leaned into my right and took aim down the electronic sights of the PAR. With a satisfying lock sound that rang in my ears I pulled the trigger once and the rifle did all the work downing three enemies with one trigger pull.

“Automated, nice!” I took time to admire my tool and glanced over to Tanya, “Tanya lay down some sniper fire Zak and I are moving up!”

“Roger bro! Can you help those ponies back there? They don't look too good from the drop,” Tanya wrapped her left arm around her rifles magazine well and picked off her foes with accurate semi automatic fire.

“They're noobs, why should I go and help them?” I carried on casually as I moved to the engine block of the Type 23 Koda that dropped in. I dug into my cover with Zak to my right using the armored back of the jeep to suppress those apes with LMG fire.

“The reputation of the Federation hinges on the survival of these guys you know?” Tanya ran dry and dipped into her cover, “Zak cover me I need to tac load.”

“Copy, got these shit throwers on lockdown,” Zak's RPK clattered with rapid fire. I could see his tracers taking off some heads, “Hell yeah! That'll teach you to poke your little noggin out!”

“So you want us to do some babysitting?” I rolled my eyes at my sister as one Apex soldier flanked us, only to be shot dead with my automatic explosive shotgun, “Seriously monkeyshit? I saw you coming four hundred meters away.”

“Yes, you gotta do the babysitting. It's in the script,” Tanya poked back up and continued to fire, “Back up! Freed up to move guys!”

“Mother of Arceus fuck,” I facepalmed but remembered to move my HUD to the side, “Zak c'mon! Let's see what these ponies need.”

As we retreated back to see what's going on we could tell that the ponies were rather shaken by their drop into hostile territory. I walked over and shook my head in disappointment.

“The hell is going on here? It's like you guys never used a drop pod before.”

“That's just it, that was rather unexpected,” the teal pegasus mare was the only one up and able, “My name's KP. I'm in charge of these guys here.”

“Walk it off now! Come on Rolo,” the white normal pony with the blue hair steadied his squadmate with a six pointed star on his ass.

“That was a fucked up landing. Ugh, I'm good sir!” Rolo stood up and looked around, “Okay, you, KP, Vinyl, Octavia, and Dawny. Are they all up?”

“I'm good!” the dark unicorn with the dirty blonde mane in power armor stood tall.

“Same here,” Vinyl wore the same power armor with a bass cannon mounted on the side.

“Can we quit being pussies and get out there and fight? Geez it's like you guys don't know how to fight a war. When we hit the ground we were already shooting!” I started to lose my temper, “Come on, we gotta secure a foothold here.”

Tanya and Ghost managed to secure the Type 23 Kodas that dropped from the plane and drove it over to us.

“Get in! Change of plan, bro you gun!”

“Copy, you ponies better not slow us down! Get the fuck in already!”

“Okay okay! You sure are bossy,” KP got into the front passenger seat and pulled out her radio, “Squad check in check in can you guys hear me okay?”

“Loud and clear Miss Possible. I'm with Dawny and Vinyl in the other jeep. What is our objectives over?”

“Our objective for today Rolo is to assault an Apex stronghold on this planet to claim it for Equestria. We've got full support from our allies today so don't be afraid to call in some fire support.”

“Yes ma'am!”

“This is the Avali Second Special Forces Brigade Firepack Stormfeather, be advised Frostbite we are on your six providing drone and gunship overwatch.”

“Oh hey Tuni! Long time no see!”

“Wait, KP? Good to hear you again! Call us in when you need the backup,” the Avali gunship flew right over us with five gun drones in escort.

Good, at least the Avali know how to fight. They're awesome warriors and pretty fluffy too.

“This is Troy, callsign Ferret. I'm in support of the operation as well. Be advised, my merc team has times two Anvil Hornets and times one Redeemer gunship! We're clearing the skies.”

Human mercenaries. They're a mixed bag for the UPF. Their society makes no sense to us. Why isn't their race united under one flag like all the others? Why so much internal hatred in their species? Oh well, humans...

“David, give me a sitrep on the mission objectives,” I tuned my earpiece to my brother who acted as our support officer.

“Mikey you've got three objectives for the mission. Destroy the hostile armor, infiltrate and capture the base, and mop up any remaining Apex resistance. Pretty standard mission I'd say.”

“Yeah, if you don't count the ponies...”

“Look, I know you're upset about the small equines in ones possession and I am sorry for trying to cram this fandom down your throat with Tanya but they are allies of the UPF now. You should probably treat them with more respect.”

“Whatever bro,” I hung up on the radio and the ponies in the jeep all murmured back and forth.

“What's the big deal with you guys? Can't you save that crap for the enemy?” Kim prodded at my back leg as I looked down from my gunner seat.

I really just wanted to say just go shove it up your ass. I ignored her.

“Hello! I asked you a question.”

“I'm focusing on the mission at hand. I suggest you don't distract me rookie,” my voice was stoic as I scanned back and forth for any movement as we advanced, “Tanya, let's hang with these tanks for a second and use them as cover for the infantry to dismount.”

“Roger! Everypony this is your stop! Grab some anti-tank railguns from the back of the jeep and lay down some covering fire for us!” my sister patted Kim on the shoulder and smiled to her.

“At least you're friendly. Alright squad, let's give these guys some support while they move up. Hole up on this hill and provide some covering fire for the UPF and our own troops to move up. Say, how do I work this thing?”

“You twist the battery in the back to lock and unlock it in place. And don't touch the barrel! It will melt your hooves off. And I suggest you brace for the recoil when you shoot it. Got it?” Tanya winked.

“Sure thing. Let's go!”

“Following you my dear,” the white pony addressed Kim affectionately.

“As I am Major,” Octavia and the others dismounted as we drove off into battle.

“Tanya support these UPF and pony tanks by staying at distance and give me some good firing angles on these guys.”

“Got it bro! Say did you listen to the newest album from Ascend Enemy?”

“Hell yeah! The Black Market? I am loving it. Oh, hold up here, I got an enemy mech spotted on thermal. One on the way!” the loud discharge of my magnetic weapon kicked up the dust around us and crippled the enemy walker with a piercing hit right into the cockpit as the metal beast fell to its knees and exploded, “Okay move! They're gonna see that bright blue tracer we left behind.”

“Wait, shouldn't we have told the ponies about that design flaw?” she was talking about how UPF gauss and rail guns leave behind a superheated blue tracer of plasma due to the high flight speed of the projectile. It was enough to turn the air into a neon blue plasma that could be traced back to the firer.

“Shit, okay. Let's go back,” those ponies were really slowing us down. As we drove back to their location it was apparent that one of them was already wounded.

“Damned sniper took a chunk out of me!” that white pony was applying pressure to his profusely bleeding neck pierced by a laser beam.

“You're gonna be okay honey! Just stay awake, we can fix you up!” Kim started to cry. I saw the look in her eyes and I knew what it meant. She thought his wound was too critical to be fixed. Tanya rushed to the white pony.

“You're okay. This is gonna hurt like a bitch though,” Tanya squirted some biofoam onto her palm and pasted it onto the neck of the white stallion. The pony twisted in agony as the foam mended his flesh and sealed off the wound, “That should do it. UPF's finest battlefield medicine.”

“Oh sweet Celestia, thank you!” Kim breathed a sigh of relief, “These snipers are pinning us down. They saw our tracers from your railguns.”

“Yeah, that was my bad. I don't really use those AT weapons as the recoil is a bit too much for me. Don't worry, I'll get these snipers!” Tanya winked again and sharply inhaled. With a satisfied sigh her smile became a zealous grin as she took the rifle off her back and did was she does best. She isn't the top UPF sniper for nothing, “Enemy bearing 3-3-0, snapping on!”

One trigger pull, one kill confirmed. Her sharp eyes and snappy aim was a sight to behold. She's killed so many through the scope of her rifle that we all lost count after the last war. Her rifle was scored with scratches of kill marks and sadly the polymer finish was dulled with so many of them that she ran out of space to put more.

“Enemy 3-1-4! Got him!” two kills confirmed for my sister, “Anti-tank team on the ridgeline bearing 2-9-9!”

“I see him! Taking a shot!” Kim shot her bolt action rifle and the enemy ape burst into flames, “Booyah! These new magic rounds are awesome.”

“Kim, another guy, sniper 2-8-7 bearing.”

“Roger, I see him!” another shot from Kim. Her target dropped to the floor, “Squad! Move up what's her name and I got you guys covered with sniper fire.”

“Yes sir Miss Possible!” Rolo took the lead of the squad, “Dawny, Octavia, Vinyl all of you on me!”

“Don't start the party without us!” Ghost impacted the ground next to us fully geared in his armored exosuit with the mechanical reload of his sonic shotgun. Zak slipped in from the jeep they secured.

“Yo Mikey! Get this gauss rifle switched out to a minigun, we are proceeding into the base! Their armor is fucked up from our air support.”

“This is Troy! Callsign Ferret! Be advised new enemy aircraft are spotted by AWACs inbound to support the enemy defense! We need reinforcements in the air!”

“Zak, you know what,” I smiled to my absol/charmeleon friend as I pulled out a special flare pistol from my chest rig.

“Hell yeah,” we high-fived and got our flare guns up.

“Emmy! Skyhook now!” I radioed out to my wife as she flew into the battle with a specially modified cargo aircraft only used by Task Force Frostbite.

“Roger sweetheart, Rayna's got your Cazador Zak in the other Bo-1TFF.”

“See yeah later bitches!” I fired the flare gun into the air and it inflated into a small hydrogen balloon with a line attached to my chest and harness. Zak did the same and I was the first to be grabbed by my wife's low flying cargo plane with my fighter craft recessed in the modified bomb bay. We used a Skyhook for quick extraction and my line was rolled up by my cousin waiting for me in the open cargo bay door.

“I got you Mikey,” Ammad, my buizel cousin grabbed my arm and pulled me into the cargo bay of the plane, “Your Type 10 Cazador is ready for action.”

“Thanks cous!” I hopped right into the cockpit and fitted my helmet. With a quick preflight check I turned my radio to Zak.

“Yo Zak! You up?”

“Yup. Wait till these guys see me in action.”

“Word. This is Mikey, Callsign Frosty. Zak and I are supporting the air forces with our own fighters. We're taking to the air.”

“Wait, hold on. Weren't you just on the ground?!” Ferret came over the intercom as he pulled up next to Emmy's plane.

“The UPF has its ways,” my plane detached from the mothership and my ion engines roared to life. This was the deadliest space fighter the UPF has to offer and was just recently put into full scale production. However, Task Force Frostbite has been using the prototypes since the last war five years ago.

“Wow, now that is a nice plane. Is that a drone?” Troy asked. It was typical for humans to be so curious.

“Nope, UPF does not use dedicated drones. We prefer our manpower to do the fighting. It's dishonorable in the UPF to use drones unless we really need them. It's just an all metal cockpit with camera nodes all over the ship. I've got a complete three hundred sixty degree view of everything,” flight data filled my eyepiece as it linked to the planes systems. Zak, Troy, and two other pony planes pulled up to us.

“Good to be flying with you Ferret! This is Brigadier General Rainbow Dash of the United Equus Space Force. I'm right behind you kid.”

“Thanks, May is in my back seat as my RIO and turret gunner. This Anvil Hornet is an armored boom and zoomer. Should be good against Apex light fighters.”

I could see Rainbow glance back and forth to view her surroundings, “I've got my personal MiG-21X. Agile, fast, and stealthy like me. If you can lure them on your tail I can come in for a clean kill. Ink Rose, how you holding up?”

“Good, I'm glad to be flying again with you General. I've got Derpy in my back seat operating the radar and weapons systems. She's rather good at the technical stuff.”

“I did help to program the avionics of this F-14X Spacecat when Applebloom built it. I figured I could help test the prototype in this operation,” the crosseyed grey mare looked too out of place to be flying a combat aircraft.

Her maroon colored pony pilot pulled up next to my plane and looked to it, “Drone huh? Who's piloting it?”

I rolled my eyes and cloaked my cockpit to transparency, “Ain't a drone little missy. I'm flying.”

“How'd you get up here?”

“I'll tell you later, AWACs what's the sitrep?” I radioed out to my brother and our C&C assets.

“Squadron of fifty drone fighters inbound from vector 2-7-5. Mostly ground attackers with manned fighter escorts numbering in the twenties,” my brother linked us his data feed of the enemy planes.

“Copy that. I am assuming control of this combined flight. We're in formation and ready to intercept,” I radioed out to the four planes in V formation to my wings with Zak as my wingman to my right.

“Roger that, you lead the way,” Troy tipped his wings in agreement.

“Mind if Ink Rose and I remain a separate element?” Rainbow radioed out to me as they split off from the formation.

“Roger, stay in touch. Contact! Bandits are within firing range. Switching to AIM-210 Altaria missiles!” the LCD screen on my instrument panel lit up with my weapons as I selected my long range missiles, “Frosty! Vulpix Three! Vulpix Three!”

With the press of the button four long range air to air missiles dropped from my internal payload and zoomed off beyond visual range. The dots on my AESA radar started to disperse as the coalition missiles found their targets despite their evasive moves. My threat warning alarm alerted me to an enemy radar missile lock. I responded immediately.

“Missiles coming in! Chaff and flares! Chaff and flares! Break! Break!” the sky started to blur as my vision tinted black from my high G combat turns. The countermeasures that popped from my craft formed into the shape of an angel guarding me from harm, “Missiles evaded! You guys okay?”

“Yeah! Ferret's good! I took a hit in the fuselage but she'll hold. My auto repair is working its magic.”

“Roger! Rainbow here! Be advised my fighter has no long range arms! Ink Rose! Derpy you gotta get some phoenix volleys into the enemy!” Rainbow was deftly avoiding several missiles on her tail. Just from her flight style alone I could tell she was an ace pilot as the missiles failed to connect and fell to the ground.

“Copy! Bloodrose has good tone! Fox Three! Fox Three!” Ink inverted her plane to instantly launch her missiles. This was a little trick to get your missiles on target faster at the expense of some range.

“I've got good tracking! Monitoring missile flight paths to target!” Ink's back seater managed her radar and weapons while her pilot focused on air combat maneuvers.

“Bingo! Four blips on radar are gone with that volley. Splash four!” Zak confirmed the hits, “Give me a minute, my ADMMs are warming up.”

“You guys are gonna love this,” I smirked as I knew what was about to happen next.

“We're almost into the merge! What is your wingman doing Frosty?”

“Just hold your horses Rainbow, he's got something,” I pulled up next to Zak as his fuselage mounted missile pods deployed their numerous vertical launch holes.

“Razgriz, DRIVE DRIVE!” hundreds of micro missiles erupted from Zak's fighter in the shape of a fiery and impressive Y. The majority of the enemy air fleet was vaporized in a cloud of miniature nuclear explosions when we merged. Our five fighters shot past the enemy and we turned hard back into them. My G suit was keeping me conscious as blood was drawn from my head in the intense turns.

“Damn, look at those ponies go! They must be pulling twelve Gs with their combat maneuvers!” Zak noticed their craft turning even tighter than our own, “You must have some really good G suits huh?”

“Nope! Pegasi pilots don't have to wear one. I pull Gs this hard in my sleep,” Rainbow was snapping her fighter back and forth effortlessly in and out of the enemy formation, “Rainbow! Guns! Guns! Guns!”

“Confirmed kill RD! He's smoking!” Ink Rose banked her plane to view the crash, “They're no match for our flying skills Dashie.”

“Wil-co! Be advised I've exhausted my guns. I've only got missiles left. Four of them to be exact.”

At least that was one thing going for us. UPF short range missiles are stored in twenty round pods that make one of our planes a one man air force.

“I've still got my guns and times two Sidewinders. I've got enough magic charge to stay up for a bit to support the ground troops,” Ink formed up with her leader as we cleared the skies of Apex fighters. I noticed the distinct wub wub sounds of those pony fighters.

“Just circle round for CAP. We're good on the air to air front!” Rainbow waved to me and I shrugged.

“Yo Zak, switch to the ground forces channel and let's see if we can get some fire support missions up.”

“Roger Mikey, to all ground forces allied aircraft have mopped up airspace around the base. Call in for CAS runs when you need it.”

“Hey Troy, switch us over to VTOL mode. I can't get good firing positions from up here,” Troy's back seater, May, radioed out in the open channel.

“Roger, we're breaking off from the flight and forming up with Nick and Mira in the Redeemer.”

“Yo bro! We got a shit load of enemy mechs that are pouring out of the base. Can you deal with these guys!” Tanya radioed out. I rolled my plane inverted and dove to the ground.

“Zak, follow me. Tanya, is it too danger close for ADMM strikes?”

“Affirmative! They've surrounded our position and our AT weapons are out!”

“You human mercs better get down up in that shit! Our fighters can't VTOL for that close of air support,” I gave another glance at my systems and thought quickly, “Emmy can you make another pass with the Bo-1? And do you still have some AT left?”

“Negative but Rayna's got some AT weapons left in her Bo-1. What you gonna do hubby?”

“Rayna requesting permission to dock! I need to get down there again to tip the scales!” I pulled up next to our other modified transport and flew right under it.

“Permission granted. Dock with the transport now.”

With a gentle latch the huge cargo plane coupled with my fighter and brought it into the cargo bay. I shut off my Cazador as Mika greeted me with her Purrloin face when I opened the cockpit.

“Sup dude, need these drop pod crates?”

“Yeah! Set me up with some Pilums, Obsidian MPRGs, and some RL-22s!” I got one of the unguided shoulder mounted railguns from the aerodynamic crates and slung it over my back. I stepped into one of the unoccupied drop pods and strapped in, “Drop me down Miks.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile, “Go fuck yourself.”

I smiled back and deployed once more into the thick of the ground combat. This was what the Federation did best: adaptive combat tactics and Task Force Frostbite was the best of the best. As before, I touched down onto the surface and began to lay down fire on the enemies as I slid into cover next to my sister and the rest of the ponies we babysat.

“Hey! Brought some presents! Where the hell is Ghost?”

Tanya put on a blank face and pointed above the ridge. With a peek I saw my friend punching the shit out of one of the enemy mechs with his agile exosuit. I saw him finish it off with a dubstep shotgun right into the cockpit.

“Enemy neutralized!” Ghost's suit boosters dashed him quickly back to our position, “Yo Mikey! Thanks for the AT weapons!”

He detached the sonic shotgun from his left arm and I helped him mount a railgun to it instead.

“Go kick some ass out there buddy!” I patted him on the shoulder and he dashed away back into the thick of combat. I relayed back to the open channel, “This is Frosty of Task Force Frostbite! We are now proceeding with the infiltration of the facility!”

“Copy that Frosty, all assigned units move into the base,” my brother radioed out to all the UPF infantry that began to dismount from our APCs.

“You ponies stay close! This is gonna be a shitstorm of close in combat!” I unhooked my helix shotgun from my back and check the mag, “Thirty two round frags. All praise Lord Helix.”

“Octy we're gonna need that beam sword of yours here you know that right?”

“Of course Vinyl. Only if you bring the wubs,” the soft toned normal pony mare spoke to the white unicorn.

“Aww yeah!” I heard her side mounted weapon click with an automatic reload.

“Don't start the party without us,” Kim and the others in her squad stood up, “Let's do this.”

“Once we breach this gate hell incarnate is gonna pour the fuck out! Light assaults boost up the wall and clear out the high ground! Do your job jump troopers!” I looked around me to see our jetpack equipped soldiers fly up to assault the Apex base.

“This is Firepack Stormfeather! Be adivsed Avali drop pods are inbound and our gun drones will support the UPF jump troopers.”

“Copy that, light assault troopers are clearing out the battlements of the base. Whatcha wanna do to breach that gate Mikey?” David radioed back to me from the C&C elements.

“Airstrike would be nice. Hey Zak can you just launch one ADMM?”

“Copy that, standby for fire mission ETA twenty seconds,” Zak zoomed over with his fighter and tipped his wings to us. I waved back and turned to the rest of my squad, “Alright guys! Back the hell up. Zak is gonna drop a nuke on this gate.”

“Isn't that a little dangerous? Aren't we in the blast area!” Kim stared at me with a look of shock.

“Don't worry, it's a low yield oxygen nuke. No radiation but it packs just as much punch as a 500 pound thermobarric bomb in a five pound package. Which is why we strap a hundred or so of them in launch pods on his fighter,” I pointed upwards to my friend circling above, “Like I said, stand the fuck back.”

“Razgriz! DRIVE DRIVE!” Zak uttered the brevity code for the launch of the ADMM. His Cazador cleared the way with the gate blasted open in a fiery nuclear explosion complete with a mini mushroom cloud.

“Move move move! Friendly elements have breached the gate and are inside the facility!”

“Frosty be advised allied gun drones are flying in to provide pincer fire. We've got them sandwiched.”

“Nice one Tuni! Hey! You ponies still have some AT weapons? You there! Rolo right? Why don't you take that RPG of yours and rocket the bastard in that MG tower to our front! My railgun doesn't have much explosive power,” I called to one of the ponies as I slid under a concrete pillar that had fallen over.

“Roger! Rocket away!” the dust kicked up from Rolo's RPG and the explosive impact silenced the MG tower.

“Good job! We're free to move!” I flipped my shotgun from my back and disengaged the safety, “Multiple enemy contacts! I've got em!”

I vaulted over the pillar with my sister and Kim giving some much needed sniper cover. The one they called Dawny was in the thick of the action with Vinyl and Octavia. It seems like some sort of magic was protecting their armor and acted like a plasma shield. Apes to our front fell defeated to our combined firepower. My shotgun spat explosive shells with a steady four hundred rounds per minute stream of death. Dawny was quite the fighter. His magic levitated an SMG around effortlessly and his accurate unaimed fire thinned the ranks of our enemies. With a swift buck he flung an Apex soldier trying to get into melee range straight into the sky where Octavia finished him off with a jump boosted slice of a beam saber. Held in her mouth her quick movements and erratic dashes served to foul the aim of anyone shooting at her. She was really using that jump boost tech to it potential as she closed within melee range of an enemy squad to cut them to pieces.

“Vinyl! What's keeping you?” She yelled to her white unicorn friend.

“Octy! I'm such a dumbass! I didn't bring any wubs!”

“Vinyl! That bass cannon of yours is the only thing between us and the hordes of enemies pouring out of that base! How in tartarus did you forget to bring the wubs!” Kim yelled furiously as her rifle ran dry, “Shit! Cover me while I reload Tanya.”

“You should try getting a semi-auto! Much better for multiple engagements like this!” Tanya kept their heads down with her continuous fire, “Does your weapon run off a USB port by any chance?”

Vinyl's power armor dashed her into Tanya's cover, “Yeah! It does.”

“Lucky for you, I brought mine...” Tanya removed her Fluttershy USB necklace and gave it to Vinyl as I went back into cover to reload my own shotgun, “I suggest Klaypex-Chinter's Will”

“Got it!” Vinyl plugged in the USB drive and I saw my sister wink to her with a smile. Knowing her, that was the theme song she picked for herself. As the song started its melodic intro the power meter on Vinyl's weapon began to charge. My sister's fins stood on ends as the music climaxes to the drop. She was in the zone now, focused, concentrated, and letting the music take her away, her shots synchronized with the beat. With each hard drop Vinyl's sound based weapon tore into the enemy with sustained pulsating streams of magical energy cutting them down like stalks of wheat.

“YEAH!” Vinyl's sunglasses shimmered electrically as she cheered.

“Times fifteen tangos down,” Tanya's zealous smirk was wide on her face as she reloaded another fifteen round magazine into her sniper rifle, “Perfect clip and not one bullet wasted.”

“Good, let's mop up,” I stood to view the damage. Most of the enemy retreated back into their facility as we gained ground on them. The Avali drop pods started to rain down to give the UPF and pony troops some support, “All infantry sections assault the interior of the facility!”

“You ponies stay close now! Just watch and learn from the very best that is Task Force Frostbite!” Tanya patted Kim as she casually walked up and out of the cover, “Well, come now. Let's not wait.”

“Yeah, I need to switch out my PAR. Wait up for me sis! Hey can you guys hand me a ARP-5A2?”

The UPF soldiers I flagged down handed me one of our iconic rifles.

“I'm good! Let's go! We've won this, so let's mop up,” as I walked on I thought about those ponies one more time.

Maybe they aren't so bad after all.