When you open your eyes, you feel the air around you stifle you. Choke you. Suffocate you. You breathe in, the air grinding down the tissue in your lungs like sandpaper.

You open your eyes and remember. The airship.

You rise from your small bunk and note that you're the last up. The engines are quiet. There's a general stir of movement among the decks. Beside my bed, an Equestrian Armed Forces uniform. You'd say standard uniform, but, well, you're a human.

And you're here for war.

You move through the wooden floors of the airship halls and make your way to the deck. Sure enough, the ship has landed, and your eyes see across a wide, endless landscape of dirt, rock, and nothing.

As there is everything in all directions, there is surely nothing. Is this the war torn land, filled with those who wish to spill Equestrian blood? From this view, it feels almost lifeless, cold, mechanical.

"They want us to find our squads and get ready for orders," says a calm, quiet voice beside me.

I look to my left, and there stands Fluttershy. Quiet, smiling, calm. You remember a time when Fluttershy would be horrified at the very prospect of war. Terrified at the idea of the slightest conflict.

Yet here she stands in all of her perversion of self, smiling. Calculating.

"I've got a bad feeling about all of this."

"You should," she says, turning on her hooves. "War is insanity."

"What does that mean for those who start those wars?" you ask.

She then walks away without another answer.

Your brain is searing. There's something wrong. You feel like there's so much going on that just doesn't make sense. There's so much that's happened that you do not know. There's so much still to come that you need to prepare for.

And things that you alone cannot control.

You sigh to yourself and move to exit the ship.

Once you reach the ground, a soldier with several large crates hands out weapon after weapon to each solider.

You get in line, each pony around you completely silent. You'd imagine there would be some... camaraderie or something. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps it's due to the fear of a group of people that's never seen real war. Sadly, you're from Earth.

You just wish someone would make a joke. Or something.

Three gentle knocks grab your attention.

You snap to attention. The line has cleared, and it's your turn. The stallion soldier handing out weapons taps impatiently against his crate.

"We don't have all day, human."

You step forward to him, and he hands you two weapons. One resembling a sort of assault rifle, but strangely pastel colored. Fucking Equestria. Can't even get guns right. And then, he gives you a pistol.

"How much extra ammo do we have?" you ask.

"What? Do you think you need another magazine?" he asks.

You look over the gun, and find a small latch by the handle. Pulling on it, the clip within the gun pops out and exposes a small string of bullets. Maybe nine? Ten? You slam the clip back in.

"Are these reliable?" you ask.

"The best we have," he replies.

You pull the gun to your head and p-_______________________!!!!!!!!!!!

#Reset
#Reset
#ADD_PROTECTIONS Anonymous

Pull the trigger. The gun pops with a loud bang, but no bullet exits the barrel. You re-cock the gun, ejecting the bad cartridge. Then pull the trigger again at your skull. This time, a silent click. Fluttershy sprints toward you in a full gallop.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the soldier screams.

You eject the next bad bullet and point the gun at Fluttershy.

#ADD_PROTECTIONS Fluttershy

You pull the trigger while directed at her. Another silent click. You eject the next bullet and then point at the ground.

You pull the trigger. A loud bang echoes through the desert and a small caliber bullet digs its way into dirt and sand.

"Well, doesn't that remove some of the suspense, Fluttershy?" you ask her. "It's like all of this is being set up, huh?"

She glares at you, her teeth gritted.

"What makes you think I have any idea what's happening, Anon?" she asks you.

"The same thing that's telling me that there's something here for me. The same thing that's telling me that this war is all just a big distraction for something else. But if you want it this way. Fine. I'll play along. For now."

You strap on the assault rifle and tuck the pistol into the back waistband of your pants, walking towards where you see your Squadmates: Roseluck and Minuette.