Sitting back in the chair I watch as the nurse continues to suture the cut along my arm, she has already sutured the wound on my leg along with the rear of my hand. All of Bravo shift we called on duty, I tasked them with conducting a search of the surrounding area where we located the targets in an attempt to locate any others in the area and to recover the bodies. The backpack I took from the Diamond Dog rests at my feet, though I haven't yet had an opportunity to look at its contents.

As the nurse finishes up the suture she begins to bandage my arm. With a soft smile she looks up to me, "You're starting to become one of our regulars, John. We should have a permanent room here for you."

"As much as I enjoy your service, Redheart, I'm not a fan of hospitals."

Securing the bandage she picks up all the waste and disposes of it, "You couldn't tell, you've been here more times then most of the residents in town," Putting my shirt back on I lift the backpack onto the chair and flip the cover open. As she moves to leave the room Chaser comes in wearing his old armour. With one last look Redheart smiles once again to me, "Try not to get hurt again."

"That's like asking Rainbow Dash not to fly, it ain't gonna happen."

As Redheart leaves the room Chaser steps up to me, "Perimeter checks have been completed as requested. Nopony else was located within the vicinity where you encountered the group, the rest of Bravo shift are currently recovering the bodies for transportation to the morgue."

Closing the backpack I hoist it over my shoulder, "Come on, let's get back to the town hall so we can figure out what the fuck is going on."

We start to make our way along the various corridors of the hospital as we continue to talk, "Unfortunately we were unable to recover anything from the mutt's body. You really did a number on him."

"That wasn't me, dumb fucker blew himself up with a grenade. I only took out the one Griffin, did you get anything from the Griffin bodies?"

"Not much, a few personal effects such as pictures and coins, other then that they had nothing on them. Though why are they in Militarist uniforms?"

"I think they are reluctant to accept defeat, probably members of the Children of the Motherland who wanted revenge? Who knows," Stepping outside I look onto Bravo shift as they start to wheel the bodies into the hospital, thankfully they had the common sense to cover them up to prevent everyone from realising what went on.

"John?" Well... almost everyone. Looking to the side I find Twilight approaching me, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Stuff... things," Twilight just looks to me waiting for a sufficient answer, "Former members of the Militarist army were with a Diamond Dog, then stuff happened."

"More Militarists? We have to inform the Princesses."

As me and Chaser continue to walk Twilight joins alongside us, "I need to get more information before I can give a full report on the incident. For now if you could use Spike to send an immediate update to Luna, let her know that I am investigating the matter and she will be updated of any developments."

"Actually that isn't necessary, Princess Luna is at the town hall. She asked me to come and find you."

"She's here? Right now?" Twilight just nods, "Why?"

"It's to arrange the construction of the Ponyville barracks, apparently she has had a change of plans."

"Great. Do you want to come with me Twilight?"

Smiling Twilight steps alongside me, "It would be nice to know what the Princess has to say about the Diamond Dogs."

Patting the side of my leg I turn to Chaser, "Come on, boy. Walkies."

Groaning Chaser follows alongside me, "I'm not a dog."

"You'd be a pretty ugly dog if you were, not to mention the fact that you've been poorly trained."

"Well your lesson yesterday certainly didn't help," Chaser says in an irritated tone.

"Have you learnt what will happen if you blab about my sex life?"

"...Yes."

"Then now you know not to do it again," Patting him on the head I pick up the pace as we make our way inside the town hall.

As we enter the main reception the mayor's assistant looks up to me from her desk, "Captain the Princess is waiting for you upstairs in the conference room."

"Thank you," Looking to Twilight I hold the bag to her which she takes in her magic, "I will be through to our office shortly with Luna, in the mean time can you help Chaser and Dawnstar with anything you discover in this bag?"

Flicking the cover open Twilight has a quick glance inside at the contents, "I will see what I can find out for you," Heading down to our temporary office Chaser joins alongside her as I make my way upstairs.

Strolling down the corridor I find the conference room and head straight in where I find Luna alongside two guards in a lighter variants of the regular armour, they seem to have utility belts holding a number of construction tools. As soon as I approach her she raises her head from the various plans laid on the table before her, "Good, you're here, glad to see you got my message so swiftly."

Cocking a brow I step alongside her, "You're only here for the barracks? You didn't hear anything else?"

"Well I must admit that I did heard you were in the hospital again with minor injuries, however since you're always there for more serious wounds I knew it wasn't an issue of concern," A playful smile spreads across her muzzle.

"It's nice to know that you care about me," Looking to the two guards I lean closer to Luna and whisper into her ear, "We need to talk in my office once we're done here. It's important."

Keeping a level expression she slowly nods her head before looking to the two guards, "Captain, these two are with the Second Construction Regiment, their role is the construction of facilities for the Guard. The two Lieutenants here will be responsible for the construction of your barracks following your specification... there has been one change though."

Standing tall I look to her, "Which is?"

"Due to the scale of the Everfree I will be assigning additional guards to your unit who will conduct primary guard duties for Ponyville allowing you to focus primarily on the Everfree and any additional tasks you receive. Therefore I shall provide you with an additional budget in order to provide accommodation for those under your command."

"How many are you going to be sending to be under my command."

"At least double your current unit, I am currently considering a total of thirty to allow for more sufficient coverage and additional shift rotations."

Stepping to the map I look over the location I had previously selected, "You're giving me my own troop within Ponyville? No offence, but for this quiet town it may seem a bit-"

"-John," Luna looks directly to me as she moves around the table, "I know that guard duty isn't what you want to do, it doesn't take a genius to see that. This will allow you to focus on other assignments whilst others take over the role of policing the town. You will be sent a Second Lieutenant who will take those responsibilities over."

"I take it you already have these new assignments planned out for me?"

Luna just smirks, "I have some ideas for you, something to fit your role as an Ammunition Technical Officer."

Is she now wanting me to pursue the development of weapons for the Equestrians? In all honesty I'd probably prefer it, I did spend years training to become an engineer then an ATO for a reason, If I wanted to watch over a town I would have joined the Military Police or even the regular Police for that matter. Raising my head I give a sly grin, "I'm game."

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The next hour is spent discussing the construction of the barracks and everything which would be contained within. The building would consist of three floors above ground with one level underground, the bottom level would be restricted access to members of the Everfree Rangers only and would contain the armoury, a custody suite and a lab for Dawnstar where we would also develop any potential projects.

The ground floor would allow public access to areas such as a reception, offices to discuss issues with members of the guard and a canteen open to anyone within, though those who weren't guards or family members would have to pay. The other half would contain restricted access leading to numerous offices where the guards would carry out their paperwork and investigations, a briefing room would also be made to allow everyone to be briefed on matters and potential operations. Finally a med bay would also be built so we wouldn't be forced to rely on the general hospital for treatment.

The first floor would consist of shared accommodations which would house four in a room, ten of these rooms would be constructed which would house guards who are to watch over the town until they buy their own accommodation. Offices would also be constructed on this level for myself and my second in command, these two offices would have their own private quarters attached at the far end where we can stay, it would allow me to give Twilight her home back. Luna had also insisted that since we were pledged to here she would have an office reserved for her for when she visited along with private quarters, I didn't mind, she was paying after all.

The Second and last floor would have facilities for the guards to enjoy for themselves, a recreational room would be built where we could hold our own private functions, I may have also insisted a bar be opened there for those who were off duty. Private rooms would also be built up on this level for twelve people to live within or to use when they're in Ponyville, obviously these rooms were to be for everyone in my team so that they didn't have to share with the regular guards.

Considering the scale of the project I though it would have taken months or even years to build a facility of this scale. That was without considering the one important factor that makes Equestian life so easy, magic. I was told by the engineers that with the amount of workers they had, the scale of funding and the magical capabilities they had the entire barracks could be done within two to three months. They may not have the same technological level as human, but for what they lack technologically they have magic to compensate for it.

With the meeting over myself and Luna stroll down the corridor as we make our way to my office. As we walk Luna looks to me and seems to give me a close examination, when I finally turn my head to look at her she simply smiles, "I see you decided to replace your uniform, it's very fitting."

"It's the new Ponyville Guard uniform, minus the armour as that's still being made. You like it?"

"I do, despite the tear on your shirt and trousers," Raising her hoof she point to the tear on my sleeve and leg, "Is that what you wished to discuss?"

As we start to descend down the staircase I speak in a hushed tone so we aren't overheard, "We came across more members of the Children of the Motherland, they were engaged in a meeting with a Diamond Dog" -Luna's head immediately shoots up at the mention of this- "But we were unable to hear what they were discussing. During our meeting though Chaser, Dawnstar and Twilight have been looking through the backpack I recovered to see if they could learn anything."

"Diamond Dogs, I've never cared for them in all honesty. Many pony share the sentiment however they no longer remember the town of Manechester-"

"Manechester? You mean Manchester?"

Luna stops as she arches her brow, "No, I mean Manechester."

I groan, "I swear to god all your towns and cities are just puns from those in my world. Canterlot is the court of Camelot just like Manehattan is the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York," When I turn to Luna I see we looking at me with a deadpan expression, "Sorry, please continue."

She continues to look to me before she sets off to walk towards the office, "The town of Manechester was once constructed at the base of the Foal Mountain prior to my banishment to the moon. Little did they know that Diamond Dogs were underneath their town as they hunted for their precious gems. Due to over immeasurable mining the foundation for the town became unstable, one day the centre of the town was submerged within a sinkhole resulting in the death of more than a quarter of the towns population. The rest of the town was at risk so it had to be evacuated. Over the next five years the sinkhole expanded resulting in the entire town being lost within the tunnels the Diamond Dogs had constructed. If you searched the area now you would find little trace of the towns existence, they never accepted responsibility for the disaster. Since then Diamond Dogs haven't exactly been welcomed in Equestrian society."

As we stop outside the office door I rest my hand on the handle, "It's understandable why you aren't too fond of them, though you can't blame them all for the actions of a few."

"I don't blame them all, I simply don't trust them," With that her magic moves my hand off the door as she forces it open and makes her way inside.

When I follow her inside I find Chaser leaning back in my chair half asleep, "Don't get up!" Immediately his eyes flick open allowing him to see Luna causing him to leap from my chair and stand at attention, "At ease, I can see your working hard."

Stretching his legs he makes his way back to the other table with Dawnstar and Twilight, "I can't read Imperial Griffonian."

I look to Luna in confusion, "It's the old language of the Griffins, very few speak it anymore though."

Twilight looks up from the documents spread out in front of her, "I've been looking through my books to try and translate it but I can only make out a few words."

As Luna makes her way to the documents I look to my desk to see various other items spread over it along with the bag we recovered. On top is a destroyed pistol, likely as a result of the grenade, an abundance of gemstones and jewels the Diamond Dog had likely recovered prior to the meeting. The Griffins personal possessions had also been left on my desk including a new packet of cigarettes, having run out a while ago I take the packet and remove a cigarette before lighting it.

When I step back towards Luna she looks from the parchment towards me, "I can make out some of it. 'Die Kinder des Mutterlandes verstehen Ihre Situation und werden alles tun, um Ihnen zu helfen.' I'm afraid my Griffonian is a little rusty after so long."

Pulling the cigarette away from my mouth I release a plume of smoke towards everyone else making them cough slightly as they lift their heads to look to me. When I have their attention I smirk before translating what Luna said, "The children of the Motherland understand your situation and will do everything they can to help you," Everyone looks to me wide eyed as if they had just seem me solve the worlds most challenging equation, "Your world has the English language, why can't it have other languages as well? It's German."

Twilight closes her book, "You can speak another language?"

I shrug, "My girlfriend's mom was German, they used to speak to each other in German so I asked them to teach me. I also studied it whilst I was training at Sandhurst so I could be based in Germany... fat lot of good that did."

"Why didn't you say you could speak other languages?"

"You didn't ask. I'm not gonna tell you every tiny detail about me, we'll be here forever otherwise," Stepping past her I move towards the table containing the document.

Luna joins alongside me and whispers into my ear, "Du scheinst ein Mann von vielen Talenten zu sein."

Chuckling I pat the side of her cheek playfully, "Lernen Sie mich kennen, ich bin erstaunlich."

Luna swats my hand away, "Soll ich dich wieder gegen einen Tisch werfen?"

"Nein Danke."

Chaser groans out loud, "Stop speaking Griffonian!" When we both look back to him he smiles sheepishly to Luna, "Your highness."

Luna steps back from the table and turns to me, "Since you're so fluent in their tongue, how about you translate for us?"

Sighing I pick up the text and read through it once before I begin read it aloud to everyone, "The Children of the Motherland understand your situation and will do everything they can to help you. We shall however require your assistance in order to carry out the previously discussed plan. Additional forces shall be dispatched to you closer to the planned date where we will also provide supplies. You will receive further instructions prior to our arrival. Together we shall remove this Equestrian threat so that the dark shadow over our land can be removed. We will retake the motherland for the rightful Griffonians, your assistance will be greatly rewarded. For the motherland."

Placing the parchment back down on the table I look to everyone else. Luna scowls as she begins to pace, "Do those insolent mutts really think that we are the threat? Removing the Equestrian threat? Are they stupid enough to try and attack us?"

"Luna, we don't know what's going on. It may be an isolated group, we can't just assume that every Diamond Dog is working alongside this group."

Luna just sighs as she brings her hoof across her muzzle, "Captain I need you to perform a search of the area and locate the Diamond Dogs, they are only to be engaged if they pose a threat to you or your team. Find out anything you can and report your findings back to me immediately, we need to determine if they are a threat or not," As Luna leaves the room she looks back to us all, "What you've learnt here must not leave this room. Twilight, if you would join me please."

As Twilight and Luna leave the door closes behind them. Moving back to my desk I rest back into the chair, "Did he have any other intelligence on him?"

Dawnstar brings another set of documentation towards me, "Blueprints for the creation of the Griffin rifles and grenades."

I scan through the documents to learn how they made their rifles, from this I can at least use it as a base to create my own weapons for the future. Somehow I doubt that they will understand how a fully automatic rifle or even a bolt action rifle would operate, all their weapons are based on old muskets. Sliding the papers across the table I look to Dawnstar, "I shall leave these for you WISWO."

Dawnstar looks up from the paperwork with confusion painted across her face, "WISWO?"

"Weapons Intelligence Specialist Warrant Officer, however you aren't a Warrant Officer but I'm gonna keep WISWO as your job title."

Chaser shakes his head, "Does your army have a hard on for acronyms or something?"

"Yup, hence the term HTEA."

Chaser rolls his eyes, "What's that one?"

As I open my mouth to answer Dawnstar interrupts me, "Having To Explain Acronyms."

Taking out a clean piece of parchment I look to Chaser, "Head to the library and get both my rifle and MTP armour. I then want you to get everyone from both shifts, we are going to pay the Diamond Dogs a visit," With a rapid salute he turns to run out of the room to find the others, once he's out of sight I take a quill and start to write out a letter to someone I really wish I didn't need to contact.

Balbean,

The Children of the Motherland have begun to operate within the borders of Equestria.
I will require any intelligence you have on this group, particularly and interactions they have had with Diamond Dogs.
I believe that they are planning to destabilise Equestria to prevent us from assisting when they attempt an uprising to retake the Griffin Empire.

If we are unable to act then your own nation may fall.
Remember it was the Equestrian military who provided the support you so desperately required following my advise. You would do well to remember the influence one person can have...

Captain John Davies
Lunar Guard
Everfree Rangers

Finishing my message I seal it within an envelope and present it to Dawnstar, "Get this sent urgently to a Griffin by the name of Balbean within the provisional government. Nobody else is to know of this message," As soon as she takes it in her magic I leave my chair and exit the office to find the others.

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With everyone gathered we make our way along the dirt path leaving town to head towards the Diamond Dogs tunnel network, from what Twilight had told me she and the others had encountered them here before and that apparently Rarity was able to escape from them just by whining. If they caused problems for me though I don't intend on dealing with them by way of annoying noises, I intend to do what I do best. I'm not taking any chances, as we approach I ensure that everyone is in full armour and alert. Rounding the last corner I unclip the rifle from my sling and pull the cocking handle to the rear.

We find ourselves on a dusty field surrounded on either side by a rock ridge, scattered across the ground are various trees, smaller rock formations and numerous holes which have been dug out, "Form up into two rank! Swords on the front! Rifles to the rear!" Everyone rapidly moves into their positions with myself centred at the rear, "Keep your spacing! Advance!"

We begin to slowly advance across the uneven terrain in our formation, the only time we break rank is to avoid an oversized hole in the road. As I pass over one I take a quick look downward to try and identify any signs of life, to my surprise halfway down the hole there appears to be an iron grate of sorts blocking the passage.

Moving further down the road everyone halts when they hear a rock move down the one of the ridges, with everyone turning to the left we halt when we see a group of ten Diamond Dogs with crossbows aimed towards us. Almost immediately all of my own riflemen take aim at the dogs as we look up to them.

A minute passes as everyone twitches nervously. This isn't getting us anywhere, I need to change tactics. Lowering my rifle I step around my men and stand between everyone causing over half of the Diamond Dogs to make me their target.

Looking up to them I shout out, "Which one of you are in charge!?"

A scrawny jet black one jumps down from the rock formation and steps straight up to me, "What do you want!"

Cocking a brow I look to him, "Your in charge?"

"...Yes," Does he really think I'm stupid

Using my size to my advantage I grab hold of his neck and draw my pistol pressing the barrel against the bottom of his jaw, everyone on both sides immediately raise their weapons once again and shift their positions, "Denkst du, ich bin dumm?" He just looks to me in a state of confusion and fear, his body shaking slightly as I tighten my grip, "Wenn Sie der Anführer wären, würden Sie verstehen, was ich sage," As he fails to respond again I lean closer and whisper into his ear, "Your not in charge, are you?"

He stammers slightly as he tries to pull away, "...N-no."

"Then your going to be my messenger, aren't you?" Not knowing what to do he only nods, "Tell your leader that we know that some of you have been aiding the Children of the Motherland. You are going to tell your leader that it is a stupid idea, you'll only end up with me coming back here and doing so much more then just threaten you."

"I-I'll go," Trying to move away I pull him back in so that he's directly in front of my face.

"If I come back here, things are going to get really fucking ugly. We'll be watching you, if I see something I don't like then we are gonna be kicking down your front door," Releasing him I throw him to the floor as I keep the pistol aimed at his head, "Now take your mates and get the fuck out of my sight."

He quickly scurries off as I keep my sights on him, as he slinks away the rest of the Diamond Dogs slowly join him. Holstering my pistol I turn and join the rest of my team, stepping up to Chaser I glance back to the rock formations, "Make sure everyone pays attention to this area on their shifts, you see or hear anything I want it reported to me immediately. Nightmare Night is only a couple of weeks away, with Luna here for a public event I don't want any nasty surprises."

As we leave the area everyone keeps their weapons ready, hopefully our show of force will deter any actions against us. Reaching the path which would take us back to Ponyville Janine steps alongside me, "Why did you speak Griffonian to them?"

"They had a message which was written in the language. I'd say it was a pretty safe bet that only their leaders would be able to read or even speak the language, since he couldn't understand what I was saying he obviously wasn't in charge," Once we are out of their range I remove my magazine and make my rifle safe, "Do you speak it aswell?"

Janine nods, "My mother taught me and Georg when we were young. Safe to say its stuck with us."

Continuing our way down I look back to see a sizeable group watching us from the distance. I don't know what they're planning but I can probably guess it won't be good. I'm definitely gonna have everyone on shift and high alert for Nightmare Night, we can't risk anything bad happening to Luna while she's in town.

Hopefully I will hear back from Balbean before then, I don't exactly want to rely on him though for intelligence purposes.