We are at the train station bright and early, I have brought all of my kit and newly manufactured ammunition, I also have the notes of the ammunition we created which are secured on my person underneath my armour. Sunny and Chaser are both in their full kit, their armour enchantments making them appear the same as any other royal guard. We managed to leave the library before Spike and Twilight woke up, I never was exactly one for goodbyes.

As I stare into space Twilight's voice is heard from the platform behind me, "John, don't even think of leaving before you say goodbye," So much for that plan. I turn around to find Twilight, Spike and the other girls all gathered on the platform.

Pinkie leaps forward wrapping me in a hug, "Yeah! What would we do without our most super favourite human!?"

I push her back slightly, "Pinkie, I'm the only human you know."

"That still makes you our favourite," A smile spreads wide across her face.

Rarity is next to step forward, "Since you are going to be meeting royalty as an officer I figured you'd want to be correctly dressed for the occasion, I just finished this last night," Rarity floats over a dark suit bag, and presents it to me. I take hold of the bag and open it, inside is a red tunic, similar the that of the royal guards back home except with golden coloured cuffs and collar, the epaulettes are black but instead of having two diamonds sewn in there are two small diamond gems on each epaulette. The trousers are jet black with red trim, the same style to the one Rarity had seen previously in the photo of my passing out parade, a white waist belt with golden buckle are contained within, "I hope it is to your liking. I've based it similar to the uniform you had shown me, but I also combined it with the uniform decorated officers wear. Oh, and the pièce de résistance," Rarity brings a black beret from a bag attacked to her flank. A cap badge made of gold and silver is attached to the front, it is shaped exactly the same as the royal engineers badge minus the inscribing.

I smile as I run my thumb over the cap badge. Positioning the beret correctly over my head I move to Rarity and squeeze her in a hug, "Thank you, Rarity. It's perfect, I shall change into it on the train."

Rarity smiles as she steps back, "Think nothing of it, darling."

Fluttershy steps forward, bringing her hoof to her face she pushes her long flowing mane from in front of her eye, "Promise me you'll stay safe, John. We want you to come back to us all."

I pause as I look down to her, kneeling down I rest my arm on her shoulder, "I will do everything I can to ensure I will make it back in one piece. I made it through Afghanistan, I can make it through the Griffin Empire."

Pinkie raises her hoof, "Actually you didn't make it through Afghanistan, otherwise you wouldn't be here," Everyone else just glares towards her, "What?"

Fluttershy turns back to me and nods, leaning closer she whispers quietly, "Stay safe."

I stand up as I look to the others, "I will."

Once Fluttershy moves back to the rest Applejack makes her way to me, basket held in her mouth. Once she is positioned in front of me, she places the basket on the floor which contains a number of food items, "Y'all didn't really think we'd let ya leave without wishin' you luck?"

I just shrug to her, "I never really did like saying goodbye to anyone when shipping out. It feels like I'm sealing my fate, knowing that I likely won't return."

Applejack looks me straight in the eye, after a brief pause she rears up places her fore hooves on my shoulders, "John, you're gonna come back. That's the honest truth," Once I crack a small smirk she pulls in closer and hugs me tight, "Now make sure ya take all that food, me and Granny made it for ya."

Breaking off the hug I lean down and take hold of the basket, adding it to the growing number of items in my hands, "I'm sure we can finish these off fairly quickly."

Applejack chuckles, "Good, we wouldn't want any goin' to waste."

Once Applejack returns to the others I find Rainbow hovering alongside me in a matter of seconds, "So, how long do you think you'll be gone?"

I shrug, "I haven't got the foggiest clue. Why? Are you going to miss me?" I snicker as Rainbows eyes narrow.

"I wouldn't go that far. It's just, you're pretty cool to hang out with. You've still got some things to show me to help impress the Wonderbolts"

"Wow, good to know you care so much for me."

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "You know what I mean. You're alright for an egghead."

I hold a hand to my chest, "Egghead? How am I an egghead?"

Laughing softly she looks up to me, "You spent six days in the library with Twilight doing something sciencey. That makes you an egghead."

"Umm... have you seen an explosion? It's kinda cool."

"Yeah I guess," Rainbow lands and briefly digs at the ground as she looks to me, "Make it back, okay?"

I ruffle her mane earning a glare from her where as the others snicker quietly, "I don't plan on dying."

Shortly after the train pulls into the station, coming to a complete halt the doors open allowing us access. Sunny and Chaser make their way straight into our reserved train car, once I step on I turn back to face the others as they all wave to me. As the door closes and the train begins to move I give the girls a quick salute before picking up all my kit and placing it with Sunny. I make my way to the train's toilets and get changed into the new uniform Rarity made me, it fits surprisingly well and is extremely comfortable, I can't help but admire myself in the mirror. So this is what I would have looked like if I became a guard at Buckingham Palace.

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Upon our arrival in Canterlot we were met by a small unit of guards, they informed us that we were to accompany them to meet with the Princesses and other officers. The walk itself was a little better than when I initially walked through Ponyville, unlike there nobody was running at the sight of me, however the odd upper class snob would stick their nose up at me. I had taken to carrying all of my kit as I was now wearing my new officer's uniform, the only piece I had equipped was my utility belt underneath the tunic which supported my thigh holster and Glock.

We arrived at the main hall after about half an hour, I was still checked over by the guards but after the explanation from my current escorts along with Sunny and Chaser I was let through. Sitting in their thrones were Princess Celestia and Luna, located below them was a large table filled with various scrolls, a number of other officers we all gathered around the table but I only recognised Captain Shining Armor. I approach the table and rest my kit alongside it, I then move around to stand in front of the two monarchs and salute.

They both bow slightly to me in response. Celestia raises her head to me, "Thank you for coming, Lieutenant. We have much to discuss with regards to the upcoming conflict."

"That we do, your majesty," I know I said that I wouldn't really address them formally, but after my talk with Luna and the fact that I am here in uniform in front of her officers it seems like the wiser decision.

"Luna informed me that you don't wish to send a Company, but instead wish to send a number of battalions or even a regiment."

"Yes, ma'am. A company of just over one hundred units simply will not be sufficient in a combat role with a conflict of this scale. If you send that many they will more then likely return home either dead or seriously injured," Celestia lowers her head slightly at my bluntness, I guess she's used to everyone giving her the safe version, "We will need a stronger combat force in order to provide the support required on the field. That doesn't mean we will thrust everyone onto the front line, a number of these units can take over the logistical roles to allow the Royalist units to engage more on the battlefield."

Luna turns to her sister, "The Lieutenant is correct, sister. We need to help the Royalists now before they are defeated, that would leave us the next target of the General."

Celestia pauses as she contemplates this, "And what of you, Lieutenant? What role will you be filling in the Griffin Empire?"

I reach into my tunic and remove all the notes stashed within, stepping forward I hold them out to Luna who takes them in her magic and begins to read through it, "I've already been able to manufacture more ammunition for my weapons. If you can produce more for me and guarantee a supply line then I will fight on the front lines. Give me command of a Platoon and I will lead them into combat."

One of the officers scoffs, "Your highness you can't give command of a military unit to this... thing."

I turn back to face him, examining his uniform I can see that he is a Lieutenant, "Have you ever been in combat? Or even took command of a Platoon in a combat zone?

"Well no, bu-"

I raise my hand, "But nothing. I have more experience than a large number of any of your military forces. I have likely killed more than all of you combined, my species is fairly advanced at finding new ways to engage in combat."

Celestia and Luna both rise from their thrones. Celestia addresses the officers, "Lieutenant John Davies is now an Equestrian citizen, I am also granting him the rank of Lieutenant which you will all recognise," -She turns to me- "And that goes for you, you also take orders from any of these officers who are above your rank. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Celestia steps up to the table set below, "I will send three Battalions on the thirteenth of this month, John you will be under Captain Shining Armor's command."

I join her alongside the table, "Understood ma'am," Luna also joins us at the table.

One of the officers, a Colonel, unrolls a map of the Griffin Empire, a large segment of the map is marked within a red box. "Alright, these coloured lines represent defence lines. We have a line set up on our side of the rail bridge which leads into Griffin territory, there is also a small coastal line set up on the Grittish Isles to protect our colony from Militarist attack. Black markers represent settlements, this one to the north which I have circled in red is the town of Grifol, The Prince is currently being held in the town and is using it as the current military headquarters for the Royalists. These red lines represent the Royalist defence lines, they lost the capital of Griffonstone and have withdrawn to the Guto river, these larger boxes in both blue and red represent military camps. Blue lines are the Militarist defence lines, as you can see they have established multiple lines and have momentarily dug in around the town of Wingston which is split by a bridge on both sides of the river. We are currently unaware of the General's location, but it is believed that he is operating from the occupied capital. When we deploy we will take modified trains fitted with armour and mounted with naval cannons into Griffin territory up to the first Royalist defence line, from there each Battalion will have their own orders which we shall establish over the next few days."

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The next few days were filled with preparations for the upcoming operation. Luna was able to pass the plans for my ammunition onto the armourers who forge all of the armour and weaponry for the royal guard. I mostly spent time maintaining and cleaning my weapons, since I didn't have a weapon cleaning kit I had to make my own from scratch, the SA-80 is a effective rifle but if you failed to clean it then it would become as temperamental as a two year old toddler.

Shining Armor introduced me to the rest of the Company which he was to command, he did give me free rein to select those who would be in my Platoon. I've already decided I would keep Sunny and Chaser, for the others I had selected a number of dossiers of potential soldiers I would have under my command. I would however select them all when the Company is on the train, our Company would be the first to be deployed into combat, the other Companies and Battalions would deploy as the day progresses due to the limited transportation.

I'm sat in my provided quarters, looking through all the dossiers in more detail, the moon hang low as it slowly begins to take control of the sky. I have a fair few promising candidates who would likely fill the role, Private Moonshadow, Private First Class Silver Spark, Corporal Firefly and Sergeant Blaze particularly caught my eye. Private First Class? I shall be changing that in my Platoon, I'll refer to him as Lance Corporal instead.

A knock at the door breaks my attention away from the dossiers, "Enter!"

A light coloured Unicorn guard enters my quarters, closing the door behind him with his magic he marches up to my desk before saluting, "Corporal Sunny Shield said you wanted to see me, Sir."

Dropping the paperwork I stand from the desk and move to the other side, leaning back on the desk I cross my arms as I try to determine who he is, "I did? I honestly have no clue how to tell the difference between all of you when you're in armour."

He snaps to attention once again, "Private First Class Silver Spark, Sir. Captain Shining Armor requested that I give you this in order to rectify the issue," Holding an amulet in his magic he moves it toward me. Taking hold of it I place it round my neck and tuck it under my tunic, looking back to Silver Spark I can now see through his armours enchantment. He has a coat of chalk white with a mane of chocolate brown, his sky blue eyes look straight toward me and never falter.

I wave my hand, "None of these American ranks, when you're under my command you are a Lance Corporal."

His expression turns to one of bemusement, "American? I have no clue what that is, Sir. But Lance Corporal does have a better ring to it," a smirk forms on his face.

"Good lad. The reason you're here is because I need Unicorns who are specialised in offensive ranged spells, word of mouth has pointed me to you."

His smirk widens as he steps forward, "I'm very good at what I do," In a matter of seconds his horn glows cherry red, a ball of fire materialises in front of him generating a tremendous amount of heat.

I grin as I move to the door, "Very good. You're definitely in, once we are in the Griffin Empire you will be under my command," He cancels out his spell and turns to face me, "You're free to go Lance Corporal, I have to meet with Princess Celestia," I leave my quarters and make my way down the long corridors of the castle, I'm able to see through the enchantment of every guard revealing a wide variety of colours.

I soon find myself in front of a double door which leads into Celestia's study, two guards stationed on either side of the door. Straightening my uniform I step closer and knock on the door, after a brief moment the doors glow in a golden aura and open for me. Once I enter the room the door immediately closes behind me, taking a quick glance I find a large collection of literature on various bookshelves which make up the walls, a number of small tables are scattered around filled with various scrolls, a liquor cabinet sits in one corner of the room.

"Welcome, Lieutenant. Thank you for coming to see me," I turn to see Celestia positioned on a cushion which is laid out in front of a fireplace, a cup of tea set out on a saucer alongside her. I approach her and salute before standing at attention, "There's no need for the formalities here, John. Please take a seat," Removing my beret I move to the opposite cushion and take a seat, "I believe it is your birthday today? Happy birthday, how old does that make you now?"

"Thank you, I'm twenty-five now believe it or not," -Celestia levitates an empty cup towards me and fills it with some tea- "I try not to think about it too much in all honesty?"

"Why is that?"

"I don't know, it just reminds me of how long I am likely going to remain here. Humans live on average for seventy to eighty years, I'm not even halfway through my life yet I have to adapt to living here," I raise my cup and take a small drink.

"Do you really find it difficult living here in Equestria?" Celestia tilts her head.

"I kind of stand out here, I'm not even familiar with half of your laws."

Celestia raises an eyebrow, "Which area in particular are you concerned with?"

"I don't have any major concerns with the law," I take another drink but pause as the spa visit plays in my mind, "Actually I have once. Since I've been here I have had two mares... make advances towards me, I don't even know what the law says about inter-species relations. If I'm stuck here then in the future I may seek someone to... confide in."

Celestia glares at me, "I hope you are not referring to my sister," Wait.. she thinks I'm trying to bed her Sister? My eyes widen as I begin to stammer. Before I can give a response her scowl turns to a grin as she chuckles, "I'm joking, John. I know that nothing is going on between you two, though I must ask that you don't keep her from doing her duties just because you decided to have a few too many drinks," I run my hand over the back of my neck, "To answer your question, yes you are allowed to engage in relations with any sentient species which is mentally capable to consent such as Ponies, Griffins, Zebra and Dragons."

I cough when I hear the last one, "I don't think I have any plans to bed a dragon. Why did you wish to see me anyways?"

Rising from her seat Celestia moves to a window looking out onto one of the training courtyards, "I'm still not confident in deploying soldiers to the Griffin Empire, we will likely lose many in this conflict. Equestria has known peace for over a thousand years but now we are diving head first into war. Luna has informed me of the visions she saw in your memories, I'm not sure that my subjects will be able to cope with the horrors which you have faced."

"Nobody can prepare for war, many people back home suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after being in combat. Severe anxiety, flashbacks, uncontrollable thoughts and nightmares are common symptoms of the illness. The dreams I have could possibly be a result of it, but nobody here understands the condition, I will likely never know if I do suffer from PTSD. You can never prepare, you just have to help those who are affected by it both physically and mentally."

Celestia sighs, "I promise you that we will do everything we can to help those who are suffering from it," -Celestia opens the doors with her magic as she walks towards them- "Now come, we have somewhere important to be," Getting up from my seat I follow Celestia out of the room.

I honestly have no idea how anyone can find their way around this place it's like a labyrinth, you turn to go down one way and end up on the other side of the castle. Thankfully though I have Celestian to act as my guide, she knows this place like the back of her hand... well, hoof in her case. Before too long we find ourselves in front of a double door which I know leads into the castle's ballroom, I came across here one night whilst trying to find my way to the kitchen. Grasping the handle I pause as I look to Celestia, "Why are we here?"

Celestia just smiles softly, "Are you always so suspicious of everyone's motives? Go inside, John."

Pushing on the handle I throw the doors open. Initially the room is shrouded in complete darkness, however as soon as I take a few steps inside the room lights up.

"SURPRISE!"

Inside there must be around one hundred soldiers scattered throughout the room, directly in front of me me is the six girls from Ponyville along with Luna and Shining Armor.

Pinkie immediately starts bouncing in circles around me, "You didn't think we would let you leave without your super amazing birthday party, did you? I wanted it to be so much more fun so I invited lots of Ponies from around the castle, you know that they say, the more the merrier and I love merry."

I find a mug of cider floating toward me wrapped in Luna's magical aura, sparing a quick glance behind me towards Celestia I can see a small grin on her muzzle as she shakes her head. Taking hold of the mug I face the girls, "Well we may as well make this night count," Bringing the rim of the mug to my lips I throw my head back as I begin to chug the beverage, this earns a few cheers from numerous soldiers, one thing I learnt in the army is that nobody loves a uptight officer. As I drain more of the liquid ambrosia my eyes start to water, a mass majority of the crowd are now chanting for me to finish the drink.

Upon finishing the drink I slam the mug against a nearby table as I release a thunderous belch, this earns a large roar of approval from the squaddies. Soon enough a large number of the crowd go back the their own drinks and conversations. Sunny steps up to me, "Seeing as we fixed your phone we may as well put it to good use," Raising her hoof she points towards some sort of sounds system which is linked to various speakers. We rapidly make our way over and check through the numerous cables, surprisingly I am able to find one that is compatible with my phone. Turning my phone and the speakers volume up I select the song 'party hard' and play it out loud.

Initially everyone seems a bit taken aback with the style of music though the squaddies soon settle into it. I make my way back to the others grabbing a new drink on the way. Luna steps up to me, "Your music is... interesting."

I just grin, "This is the kind of music I was into back home. What do you think of it?"

Luna pauses as she listens to the guitar riff and lyrics, "I actually like it, it's fairly different to the normal music which I'm expected to listen to."

I take a sip of my drink as I give a small chuckle, "Not a fan of classical? Not even a little Beethoven?"

Luna bring her own drink to her lips, "Oh goodness, no. I don't even know who Beethoven is, I just can't stand all the high-class pretentious snobs who insist I listen to it because it's 'sophisticated.'"

Glancing towards the dance floor I can see a number of soldiers who formed their own mosh pit. I place my drink down as I step back towards the dance floor, "Come on, Luna. Time to release your inner rocker."

Luna just stays put, "My inner rocker? What are they even doing?"

"It's called moshing, it's the dancing you can expect to see at rock shows."

Luna steps alongside me and halts on the edge of the dance floor, "I don't exactly dance."

Facing her I jump backwards joining the rest of the crowd, "Well neither do I," Soon enough I'm in the centre on the makeshift mosh pit, waving my arms around as I jump into the others in the crowd. Luna just chuckles at my poor attempt at dancing, soon enough she is joined by Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow who are all watching on the sidelines. Jumping closer to them I reach out taking a hold of Pinkie and Rainbow, "Come on, get stuck in," Dragging them both in pinkie instantly begins jumping against me, Rainbow is hesitant at first but soon begins to join in with Pinkie. As the song continues Applejack joins in as well, her dancing is mostly just kicking from side to side but it fits in well with the genre. At one point it seems that Luna contemplates joining in but she manages to resist. We continue to dance and drink throughout the night, although it may not be the greatest idea to get pissed before going to fight it certainly acts as a great moral boost.

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By late night nearly all of the guards have returned to their own barracks and quarters. Myself, Sunny, Chaser and Silver Spark are all sat around a table, various mugs and bottles are scattered across the surface. I already know that I've had far too much to drink, though seeing as I rarely get hangovers I'm not particularly too fussed, just get me a large breakfast in the morning and I'll be fine.

Silver reaches over the table, "So let me get this straight? We are expected to fight in a civil war, yet we will have no clue if the civilians of the towns will be on our side or not? That's bucking ridiculous."

Chaser lifts his head from the table, "It will be very hard to tell, won't it?"

I slam my hand on the table, "Yeah, I mean how will we tell if he's one of them, or if he's one of them?"

Silver slurs as he knocks a bottle onto the floor, "Wait, wait, which ones are thems again?"

I pull out my phone to look at the time, "Well, they're both thems, aren't they? But there's two ways of saying it. Is he one of them or is he one of them?"

Sunny raises herself over the table, "We need different terms. One for the Griffins who aren't Militarists and one for the Militarists who aren't Militarists."

Silver looks up to her, "Look, we just need a bucking word so we can identify who's who-"

As I listen to the pointless drunken conversation something in the distance catches my eye, a dark figure is shrouded outside the window. Raising from my seat I stumble slightly as I approach the window, the others don't seem to notice my sudden fixation. Approaching I'm able to see the figure more clearly. Holy shit... I think it's a human, light coloured clothing, ruffled blonde hair, the face is covered in blood... Williams?

Sunny presses a hoof against my chest bringing my focus to her, "John, what's wrong?"

Turning back to the window the figure is now gone, I step closer and look around outside but fail to find the source, "Nothing... Just thought I saw something."

What the fuck is going on?

Author's Notes:

Feel free to submit character ideas to me for the story.
Many will be introduced over the next chapters for minor and major roles.

I hope you enjoy
The next one will have more combat