Our Last Hope

by MnM

First published 17th of September, 2012

Upon fleeing Earth, humanity happens upon Equestria.

It is the year 2046, and the Earth as we used to know it is no more. After facing the threat of destruction from the newly returned and powerful Soviet Union, the remnants of an alliance named the United American Federation launch a large number of civilians and military personnel into space, shortly before the United States is hit by multiple nuclear strikes.

It's been five years since we narrowly managed to escape the nuclear fire that took so many friends and colleagues, and we have finally found a planet that we will be able to survive and thrive on.

But, upon arrival, something happened that most of the survivors didn't expect.

First contact with another sentient species.

Prelude

[Authors note - Please note that the following is just a summary of the events leading up to the events of this story. I will be going into greater detail about the events that transpired later in the story, through various dreams, flashbacks, stories, explanations, and even history lessons. Any inconsistencies you may see within this summary when compared to the modern world will be explained as well, but if you spot anything, just message me about it. I don't mind answering your questions.

In the year 2018, human life was experiencing yet another technological boom. After years of research, an effective alternative fuel had been created, able to be used in every car dependent on fossil fuel. Practically overnight, the archaic fuel was replaced by this new source. A month later, President Ramirez pulled all American forces out of the Middle East.

Two years later, in late 2020, the CIA uncovers solid evidence that North Korea had finally built a working ICBM, and were stockpiling hundreds upon hundreds of these nuclear missiles. The next day, President Ramirez deployed American forces to North Korea. His plan was to remove the nuclear devices and overthrow the North Korean government.

However, this plan went horribly wrong.

On January 22nd, 2021, the Russian and Chinese leadership met in a secret location. When both parties returned from their meeting, they announced the resurrection of the Soviet Union. Despite their differing political agendas, they soon joined North Korea's fight against the U.S.

The next day, members of the Russian VDV and the Chinese 15th Airborne Corps were dropped behind American lines, soon followed by large amounts of regular army forces. After suffering heavy casualties, the American forces pulled out. Shortly after, South Korea fell, resulting in a united Korea. The newly united Korea joined the Soviet Union near the end of 2021.

Following a massive arms build up throughout 2022 and 2023, the Soviet Union started expanding its borders. Within weeks, most of the nations that were part of the original Soviet Union, as well as Vietnam, Laos and Mongolia fell under Soviet rule. NATO deliberated about a possible military intervention.

In 2024, scientists in the United States built an international missile defense shield, protecting the America's and most of Europe from nuclear attacks. Near the end of 2024, the Soviet Union had their own missile defense shield up, effectively bringing an end to the threat of nuclear war.

In 2025, after helping the Taliban regain power in the Middle East, most of the nations in those regions willingly joined the Soviet Union, as well as a large portion of South African countries. By the end of 2025, both Taiwan and Japan fall and are taken over by the Soviet Union. The western world sat on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what will come of the international tension.

On January 3rd, 2026, the members of the European Union merged together and formed the European Federation. Days later, they left NATO and started preparations for war. Soon after, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is dissolved. Worried that the Soviet Union would strike the America's next, a new alliance is forged between the thirty five countries that make up both South and North America, including the new Democratic Republic of Cuba. This alliance is dubbed the United American Federation.

On June 2nd, 2027, Soviet forces begin to push into Eastern Germany. Hours after the first Soviet boot stepped onto German soil, the European Federation declared war with the Soviet Union. Despite putting up a fierce fight, the European Federation lost Germany.

In December of 2027, Soviet forces landed in Chile and Peru, shortly before they announced they were declaring war on the United American Federation. The Chilean and Peruvian military's fought valiantly in their struggle, but by the end of January, 2028, the two nations had fallen under Soviet occupation.

As the third World War started to heat up, a NASA scientist named Jones Garcia unveiled blueprints for a large space shuttle capable of holding up to 1500 people. In theory, his plans gave these ships the ability to travel at the speed of light. Understanding these shuttles could be used to gather supplies for the war effort off planet, President Ramirez authorizes NASA to begin production of these spacecrafts. They are dubbed the Emperor class colony ship.
In the next couple years, the war appeared to be at a stalemate as every side had taken high casualties. Without the use of nuclear weaponry, the war was based almost exclusively on conventional warfare.

In 2033, the Soviet Union launches its first offensive on the former United States, landing Naval Infantry on the western coast. The United American Federation's armed forces struck back swiftly and efficiently, managing to push the Soviets out.

In 2034, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and part of Brazil are under Soviet occupation. In Europe, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden and Finland also fall to the Soviets.

In 2035, the Soviet Union launches a major offensive against the European Federation. In this offensive, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Spain fall under Soviet occupation. By mid 2036, the European Federation manages to stop the Soviet advance.

In 2037, the first Emperor class colony ship is completed. Several members of the United American Federation Air Force and NASA volunteered to test its space flight capabilities. They also wanted to determine if the ship's theorized speed was possible. On October 18th, 2037, the U.S.S. Hope is launched into space, carrying the fifty or so volunteers into unknown regions of space.

On August 23rd, 2038, the Soviet Union unveils an advanced ICBM, capable of penetrating the missile defense shield. To test it, they launch five missiles at the country of Guatemala. It works perfectly. Not only does it manage to bypass the missile defense shield, it also destroys the majority of the country. The Soviet Union delivers an ultimatum to both the United American Federation and the European Federation. They must either join the Soviet Union, or they would be annihilated.

The European Federation decided to call the Soviet Union's bluff. In response, the Soviet Union launched twenty-five missiles at the European Federation, causing mass destruction and death. The European Federation surrendered shortly after, and joined the Soviet Union.

Before the Soviet Union could launch their missiles at the United American Federation, President Ramirez (who was still in power due to World War Three) announced that they had improved their missile defense shields to counter the Soviet missiles. Thinking that Ramirez may simply be lying, the Soviets test the shield by launching a single missile at Washington D.C. The shield held, and the Soviets and the Americans were once more locked in a stalemate.

Then, on June 16th, 2039, the U.S.S. Hope returned from the depths of space. The crew reported that the colony ship exceeded expectations, and were given a heroes welcome. President Ramirez ordered the immediate production of fifteen more colony ships, as well as five Ares class frigates (an armed variant of the Emperor class).
On December 1st, 2039, the Soviet Union launched a major offensive against the United American Federation, with forces numbering in the millions. The United American Federation lost every country in the offensive except for Canada, the United States, and southern Mexico.

On April 2nd, 2040, the Soviet Union launches another offensive, costing the United American Federation half of the United States, the rest of Mexico, and part of Canada.

On August 24th, 2040, the Soviet Union began a biological warfare campaign against the United States. Millions die as a result.

Seeing that losing the war was inevitable, President Ramirez decided to change his plans regarding the fleet of colony ships in the possession of the United States. Instead of using them to go to other planets and gather supplies for the war effort, they were going to simply transport a large number of people to a different planet, while the rest stayed behind to fight the Soviets. His first act that led to this becoming a reality was the creation of the American Federation Space Marines, which was made of the Royal Canadian Regiment's Third Battalion, the Thirteenth and Twenty Second Marine Expeditionary Units, the First Special Forces Group, the First Armored Division, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and the First Fighter Wing. Roughly a thousand Naval and NASA personnel, and members of the Royal Marines and Special Air Service, who traveled to the America's after the European Federation fell were also to be sent. The immediate families of the Space Marines would be allowed to leave with them if they wished.

By the end of 2040, everything had been settled with the Space Marines and their families. There were roughly 25,000 spots left open for civilians. A thousand of these spots were reserved for important people, such as intellectuals, scientists, engineers, and teachers. The roughly twenty four thousand other spots were given out via a lottery system. The only politician that was going to be evacuated was Ramirez's vice president, who was going to act as the leader until elections were held.

By the beginning of 2041, the Soviet Union announced they had improved their advanced ICBM's so they could once more defeat the United American Federations missile defense shield. Having launched ten missiles at unoccupied Canada, destroying most of the country, Soviet leadership gave one week to surrender. Within two days, those who were chosen to be sent into space were gathered in Houston, where they went through training over the next couple days.

On the day of the launch, the Soviet Union decided to launch their missiles early. Upon learning of this, NASA was ordered to begin an emergency launch. The passengers were loaded into the ships as quickly as possible. With only minutes to go, the colony ships started to ascend into the atmosphere. Most of the passengers watched as the United States was hit by dozens of nuclear missiles, witnessing the disastrous end of World War Three.

Chapter One

The Captain of the United American Federations First Space Fleet's flagship, the U.S.S. Hope, viewed out from the bridges large viewport, watching as thousands upon thousands of stars shot by them. After getting used to looking at this sight, it was honestly one of the most beautiful things that the Captain had ever seen.

More beautiful than the wife and children he lost in the war. More beautiful than the sunny beaches of California that were now probably nothing more than charred earth and dust. And certainly more beautiful than the Earths one single moon, that he always watched rise high into the sky each evening to keep himself going.

"Captain Harrison." someone said, shaking the Captain out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" the Captain responded, turning to the ships on board first generation artificial intelligence's avatar staring right back at him. "What is it, Eevee?"

"Our scans have shown that we are nearing a planet that may possibly be suited for colonization. I recommend we drop out of lightspeed and take a look." the AI recommended.

"Might as well." the Captain grunted, "pass on word to the other ships. Now tell me, how much longer till we arrive?"

"Just under half an hour. You may want to announce that we are about to jump out of lightspeed. I don't believe either of us want a repeat of the last time."

"Very funny, Eevee." he stated sarcastically, not amused in the slightest.

Ms. Evans watched over her large class of fifth graders as they rushed to finish their assignment. Even though they were in the middle of space, people on board the colony ships attempted to make life as normal as possible. People had jobs, people traded, and children learned in crowded classrooms like this one. Ms. Evans found it sad that the majority of her students probably didn't even remember Earth, and the ones that did didn't have the pleasant memories she had. The memories she had from before the war, from when she was a teenager in High School without a care in the world. Truly, those were her golden days.

"Alright class, are you all finished with your work?" Ms. Evans asked the class.

"Yes Miss Evans." the vast majority of the class responded. Ms. Evans smiled and pressed a small button on her datapad's touchscreen, instantly retrieving all of her students classwork. She pressed another button, which sent the classwork to her computer, where she would grade it before her sleeping period.

"Alright class, today we will be studying the Cuban Revolution of 2025. Now, does anyone in this class know anything about this revolution?" Ms. Evans asked the class. Of course, no one raised a hand, not even the smartest of the bunch looked like they had any idea of what she was talking about.

"Eevee, bring up the Cuban Revolution of 2025 on their holodesks. Twenty First century history, page eight two." Ms. Evans ordered.

"Of course, Ms. Evans, right away." Eevee's voice responded, emanating from the speakers scattered throughout the room, "Ms. Evans, just to give you a heads up, the Captain is going to make an announcement in a few minutes. I suggest you make it quick. Oh, and Mr. Robert from the U.S.S. Freedom is requesting a meeting via holocam."

"Tell him I will contact him after class." Ms. Evans stated, before turning to her class, who were all busy scanning the literature being projected onto their desk through an advanced holographic device. This brought a large smile to her face; Never in her years of teaching has any class been so involved in the learning. They were actually legitimately interested in their history.

"Alright class, so we're just going to make this quick. I'll get more into the Revolution in the next learning cycle." Ms. Evans promised, before opening up a holobook labelled '21st Century History' and flipping to page 82. "So, as we learned in the last chapter, the Soviet Union had just took over the Middle East and most of Africa. Even though back then the country of Cuba was a communistic country, a lot of government officials, as well as the majority of the public, did not like the way the Soviet Union was running things, and actually labelled the Soviet Union a threat. However, the leader of Cuba, a dictator named Pablo Sardina, announced he wished to join the Soviet Union. This caused a major uproar, and a few of his adjacent's tried to change his mind."

"Enraged, Pablo had these men arrested, tortured, and then beheaded in public and on national TV. These chain of events sparked the Cuban Rebellion of 2025, where-"

"If I may have everyone's attention, I would like to make an announcement." Captain Harrison's voice boomed over the classrooms speaker system, "our scans have discovered an Earth like planet in our vicinity. We will be dropping out of lightspeed in ten minutes so we may examine the planet and determine if it we will be able to make it our new home. Everyone must immediately secure themselves and their belongings to eliminate the risk of injury or damage to property."

As soon the silence returned to the classroom, Ms. Evans turned her attention back to her class. "Alright class, you heard the Captain. Everyone must secure themselves in their harnesses and stay in your seats until we exit lightspeed. Are we clear?"

"Yes Miss Evans." the class responded, before they started to secure themselves in their harnesses. Ms. Evans did a quick walk though to make sure no one was struggling with their harnesses before returning to her desk and placing her own harness over her chest.

Meanwhile, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood together in an empty field, looking up at the night sky above. Behind them sat Shining Armor and a battalion of unicorn infantry, waiting for the Princesses to tell them why they have been summoned. The two Princesses just stood there, their eyes not moving away from the sky. They didn't even blink.

The last part managed to unnerve even the most battle hardened soldiers standing there.

Finally, Princess Celestia showed that she was still alive by blinking and turning back to the soldiers. Her younger sister quickly followed her lead and faced the battalion. The assorted stallions and mares immediately bowed before their leaders in respect.

"Rise, royal subjects. We have no time for such formalities." Princess Luna urged.

"My little ponies, you are likely wondering why I gathered you here today. And I apologize for both me and my sister for making you stand here for hours on end with nothing to do. However, we had to confirm something. Something we have feared for years." Princess Celestia stated, looking over the crowd with unusually serious eyes.

After a long moment of silence, Luna spoke. "There is no way to say this that isn't difficult. So, we shall just be straight forward... last night, when the moon was at its highest point in the sky, we sensed something heading towards our planet. More than one thing, to be honest.These things are certainly nothing that we have created, and we know that it's not natural. But we didn't know exactly what it was until now."

"Our planet is about to be visited, my little ponies," Princess Celestia stated, "visited by beings never before encountered. We do not know of their intentions, but something tells me that we should be prepared to defend our nation and this world. When these creatures land, I want you to approach with caution. Be prepared to strike at a moments notice and without hesitation."

"Princess Celestia, are you serious? Or is this another one of your infamous pranks?" Shining Armor inquired. The glare that he received from Celestia was enough to get him to shut his mouth.

"Ready your forces, Shining Armor. They will arrive here soon." Princess Luna stated. Shining Armor bowed and turned to his troops, signalling them to follow him, before he marched past the two Princesses, with the rest of the battalion in tow.

Chapter Two

[Authors note - I have recently received some criticism based on the technology of the humans in this story. To combat this, I leave you with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRqIgCjp0pE&feature=player_embedded

Boom!]

Captain Harrison braced himself as the U.S.S. Hope exited lightspeed, the view from the viewport turning the typical view of a hundred different stars passing by every second, to a view of a planet that looked similar to Earth.

"Eevee, initiate a planetary scan." the Captain ordered.

"Already ahead of you, Captain." Eevee stated, as a holographic display in front of the Captain lit up, displaying a diagram of the planet and a list of information, such as atmospheric make up and pressure, amount of land mass, and how big the planet was. "Our scans show that this planet has plenty of water, and it's atmosphere make up is very similar to the Earth's atmosphere make up. I suggest we send a team down to test if the planet is suitable for colonization."

"Alright. Tell Left-tenant Robinson of the Second UASM Special Warfare Group to come to the bridge. I wish to speak to him personally."

"I don't think that's necessary, Captain." Eevee said, right as Lieutenant Robinson entered the bridge.

"Reporting for duty, Captain." Robinson said, flashing off a crisp salute. Captain Harrison looked over the Space Marines uniform, a British PCS with a multi-terrain pattern, with envious eyes. Harrison's dress uniform wasn't exactly the most comfortable clothing.

"At ease, Left-tenant. I don't believe I ordered you here yet." Captain Harrison pointed out.

"I came here on a whim." the Lieutenant said.

Captain Harrison nodded. "Well, Left-tenant, I was about to call you in brief you on your next mission."

"Lay it down on me, Captain." Robinson stated.

Captain Harrison glanced over to where Eevee's avatar was standing. "Eevee, bring up the mission specs, will ya?"

"Of course Captain." Eevee responded, as the holographic display nearest to the two lit up, displaying a diagram of the planet.

"You see here?" Harrison asked, pointing at a certain area on the planet. "This is where you are being inserted."

Robinson nodded in understanding. "What is the mission objective?"

"The mission objective, Left-tenant, is to insert with a squad from the UASC Science Battalion. You will keep their asses safe from anything that may or may not be down there. Whether is be E.T. or pastel colored ponies. Got it?"

"Yes sir. How many Marines should I be taking?" Robinson asked.

"Two squads. We will be going in atmosphere so you can insert via CH-53K Super Stallions. Alright?"

"Yes sir."

"You are dismissed, Left-tenant." Harrison said. Lieutenant Robinson stood at attention and saluted, before walking off the bridge.

"Eevee?" Harrison asked.

"Yes, Captain?" Eevee inquired.

"Go tell the UASC Science Battalions first squad to get ready to deploy. I want them ready in thirty minutes." the Captain stated.

"Aye sir." Eevee said, before the avatar disappeared.

Minutes later, Lieutenant Robinson was walking out of the armory, carrying his L85A3 in his right hand and his Mk. 8 Combat Helmet in his left, humming a little tune he listened to quite a bit back when he was stationed in Birmingham. He had already called up his two squads, and he was sure that they were all waiting for him and the science team in the main hanger.

"Attention: We are now descended into the planets atmosphere. If you begin to feel nauseous, please report to the medical ward." Eevee's voice proclaimed over the ships PA system.

Robinson looked out the nearest viewport and saw that, in fact, the ship was rapidly dropping altitude and entering the planets atmosphere.

"Hold it right there, Left-tenant!" someone from behind him called. Robinson looked over his shoulder to spot his friend, a Warrant Officer named MacManus, who served with Robinson in the Special Air Service during World War Three. He stood there and waited for his friend to catch up.

"You think we will get lucky this time, Mac?" Robinson asked, as the two walked down the corridor and into an elevator.

"I don't know, Left-tenant. This is like the... what, sixth planet we've discovered?" MacManus asked.

"Sounds about right." Robinson said, as he pressed a button labelled 'main hanger', causing the elevator to start rapidly descending.

"Well, I guess we should just hope we get lucky for once." MacManus stated as the elevator came to a sudden halt.

"Yeah." Robinson agreed, as the elevator doors opened and the two walked into the hanger.

Princess Celestia watched as two large objects descended down from the heavens, slowly drifting above her head. In all of her many years of leading Equestria, she had never seen anything like it.

And then, there was a blinding green flash. At first, Celestia thought that the aliens were attacking, but then she noticed a scroll float in front of her for a split second, before falling down on the ground before her. Using her telekinesis, she levitated it up to her face and unraveled it. She automatically recognized her students hasty writing style and began reading the letter.

Upon finishing reading the letter, Celestia felt her jaw drop and her eyes widen in shock.

"Tia, what's the matter?" Princess Luna asked, concerned.

But Celestia didn't answer her younger sister, but instead turned towards Shining Armor and his battalion of unicorn royal guards. "Captain! The aliens are currently hovering above Ponyville, and the town is erupting into chaos. I want you and your troops the head there immediately!" the white alicorn ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Shining Armor responded, before he and his battalion teleported away.

"Sister, I want you to head back to Canterlot and fetch us some reinforcements. Pegasi fast movers. Alright?" Celestia requested.

"Of course, sister." Luna responded, before teleporting away with a purple flash.

"Captain, I have recently received some... disturbing information from our most recent scans." Eevee stated, sounding rather unsure of herself.

"What is it, Eevee?" Captain Harrison inquired.

"Our scans have picked up signs of infrastructure on the planet. Quite similar to Earth's eighteenth to nineteenth century architecture, in fact." Eevee responded.

Captain Harrison released a heavy sigh and started walking out of the bridge. "Lieutenant Micheals?!" Harrison called out.

Lieutenant Micheals rose from his chair and snapped to attention. "Yes sir?"

"I'm heading down to the surface with the science team. Hold down the fort, will ya?" Harrison requested.

"Yes sir!" Lieutenant Micheals responded, sitting back down at his station. As Harrison continued out of the bridge, his headset activated and Eevee started to talk through it.

"Captain, you can't be serious. I can't even begin to list the risks if you go down there with Left-tenant Robinson's men. With all due respect, just let the professionals handle it, sir." Eevee stated.

"Eevee, as the Captain of this ship, it is my responsibility to act as a diplomat. If something happens to me, Lieutenant Micheals will make the perfect replacement. Now, go alert the other Captains of my plans, then please get off my private channel."

"Aye sir." Eevee said, before the Captain's headset clicked off.

Chapter Three

[Authors note - You know what I hate? When there are 120+ people that favorite this story, but don't bother to give it a thumbs up.

Hint hint.

Enjoy this shorter than what I would like chapter. I promise the chapters will get longer once things start to heat up.]

"Is everything loaded up?!" Lieutenant Robinson called out as he and MacManus walked up to the two CH-53K's that were assigned to them.

"Yes sir!" First Sergeant Nicholas, who was one of the Green Berets that were assigned to his battalion, responded. "Looks like the Captain hooked us up with some pretty high tech stuff. Found a few M8's in the back of one of the Super Stallions. Much better than our SCAR's."

"Have they all been taken yet?" MacManus asked eagerly.

"I think we have a few spares..." Nicholas responded, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Dibs." MacManus stated, before walking past the First Sergeant, a twisted grin spreading across his face.

"Well, shall we?" Robinson asked, motioning over to the helicopters.

"Yeah. Mount up people!" Nicholas called out.

As the two special forces operatives starting making their way over to the Super Stallions, they heard someone sprinting up from behind them. Robinson glanced over his shoulder to spot Captain Harrison, dressed in multicam fatigues and black body armor.

"Left-tenant, can you spare a moment?" Captain Harrison requested.

"Of course, sir." Robinson responded, before turning back to Nicholas, "I'll be a few minutes. Go tell the pilots to get ready to depart."

"Yes sir." Nicholas responded, before he started jogging towards the CH-53K's.

Robinson watched him jog off before turning back to the Captain, who appeared unusually troubled. "What is it, sir?"

"I'm just going to be straight forward, Left-tenant. Our recent scans have shown evidence that there is, or, at least has been intelligent life on this planet." Captain Harrison stated.

The Lieutenant took a few seconds to take it all in. "Sir, are you telling me that we have discovered proof of alien life?" he asked.

"Yes. And as Captain of this vessel, I must join you in your expedition. So I may represent the United American Federation and the human race in case we do make first contact." Harrison pointed out.

"Sir, you coming along would be too much of a risk. I recommend you-"

Harrison held up his hand, signalling the Lieutenant to silence his objections. "Left-tenant, are you questioning my decision?" he asked, lifting a brow.

"No sir. Just concerned for your safety, Captain." Robinson stated.

"Listen Robinson, you know my history. I've been in my share of firefights with the Russians." Harrison pointed out.

Lieutenant Robinson remained silent for a few moments before speaking up. "Fine. Are you armed?"

"Minimally." the Captain responded, motioning to the MP7A2 strapped to tactical vest.

"Perfect. Let's get a move on, Captain." Robinson stated, motioning to the CH-53's awaiting them.

Twilight Sparkle sat on the library's balcony, juggling around observing the huge objects floating over the town, taking notes on the objects, and watching the mass hysteria that was caused by the objects.

"Twilight!" a voice called from below. Twilight rose from her sitting position and looked down over the edge of the balcony, spotting her friend Applejack looking back up at her.

"What da hey is goin on ere', Twilight?" she inquired.

"I don't know, Applejack!" Twilight called back, clearly annoyed about being interrupted, "I was trying to figure out just that before I was rudely-"

Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Twilight was blinded by a large purple flash. When her vision cleared, she noticed that everypony was standing still, instead of running around frantically like previously. Then she noticed something new among the citizens of Ponyville.

Unicorns, clad in golden armor and armed with muskets and swords. They were the 1st Royal Guard Battalion, an elite unit of unicorns armed with the most high tech armor and weaponry in all of Equestria. And she knew that her older brother was among them.

"Well lookie der! The calvary has arrived!" Applejack called out. Twilight rolled her eyes and teleported beside her friend, who was visibly started by her sudden appearance.

"Applejack, care to do me a favor?" Twilight asked.

Applejack blinked. "Whai shure Twilight? What can ah do fer ya?"

"I need you to go out and gather the rest of the girls. Something tells me we may need the Elements of Harmony for this." Twilight stated.

"Ah see what ya mean. Ah'll be back." Applejack said, before galloping off.

Shining Armor stood in front of the troops under his command, each of them holding at least three tours of duty under their armor. He knew that if these aliens were hostile, and he was certain they were, they were the best suited to take on the new threat.

"First platoon, I want you to split up into four squads and gather the civilians in the town center. Second and third platoons, I want you to secure a perimeter around the town. Fourth platoon, I want you guy to help me secure an HQ. We clear?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yes sir!" the battalion thundered.

"Alright, let's go!" Shining Armor exclaimed, sending the entire battalion rushing to organize into their platoon and carry out their Captains orders. Shining Armor waited around for fourth platoon to form up on him, waiting eagerly to hear what his next orders were.

"Fourth platoon, not only will you be helping secure an HQ, you will also be the first to engage the alien forces should they land and prove hostile. I probably don't even have to say this, but if there is something going on that is troubling our princesses, even scaring them, then it's probably really bad."

"With that being said, I have the perfect place to set up our HQ, if the local librarian is willing, of course." Shining Armor said with a grin, "forward... march!"

And with that, Shining Armor and fourth platoon began to march in parade-like fashion down the street, towards a hollowed out tree occupied by a purple unicorn and a baby dragon.

Chapter Four

[Sorry about the pathetically short chapter. Writing this chapter, for some reason or another, was starting to get to me. Which is really weird; I have written more than a dozen action stories, and it never bugged me.

I don't know man. Maybe what's getting to me is the fact thirty people that faved this story haven't liked it.

I promise you guys, I'll have a longer chapter next chapter. If you haven't liked this story, and you faved it, please like it.

For Christs sake...]

Shining Armor rushed through the wooden door of Ponyville's sole library, followed by a squad of Royal Guards from fourth platoon.

"Twiley!?" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "Where are you?!"

"Up here! Come quickly Shining! Something is happening!" Twilight called from upstairs. Shining Armor pulled his service revolver out from its holster and rushed up the stairs, breaking down the door leading to Twilight's bedroom as he charged in, the rest of the Royal Guards right behind him.

Twilight turned around, eyes widening with shock. "Shining, what the hey?!" she demanded.

"But I thought..." Shining Armor began, immediately realizing Twilight was not in danger. He smiled sheepishly and blushed ever so lightly from embarrassment, "Sorry. What's up, Twiley?"

Twilight facehoofed. "There is a couple smaller objects leaving the large objects over the city. They appear to be heading towards the outskirts of Ponyville." she said.

"Let me see!" Shining Armor called out. Twilight scooted away from her spot, allowing her older brother look through the telescope. In the distance, he spotted two small objects approaching the town, fast and low. A low gasp released from Shing Armor's lips.

"Fourth Platoon, we're moving out!" Shining Armor called out to the troops waiting outside the library, before sprinting down the stairway.

“Prep for dismount!” Lieutenant Robinson called out, slapping a magazine into his L85 and chambering a round into its chamber, “lock and load!”

“Oorah!” the rest of the Space Marines in the chopper shouted.

"MacManus! Get that door open!" Robinson ordered.

"Yes sir!" MacManus responded, pressing a small red button. Seconds later, the back ramp started to lower, revealing an empty field just a few feet below them.

"Dismount! Go! Go! Go!" Robinson shouted as he charged down the ramp, waving the rest of the Space Marines to follow him.

Once they finished filing out, their CH-53 lifted off the ground and moved out of the way so the other Super Stallion could land. Suddenly, as the other Super Stallion started to land, a large red ball shot past the helicopter, missing it by inches.

"Incoming!" the pilot shouted over the COM.

"Get out of here, Charlie Six!" Captain Harrison shouted into his radio headset. The CH-53K started to veer off, but another volley of red balls shot across the sky, one of them hitting the Super Stallion directly in the side, sending it out of control.

"Shit! We're hit! We're going down!" the pilot of the damaged chopper shouted over the COM, right before it crashed into the nearby forest, exploding like something out of a Micheal Bay movie.

The surviving Super Stallion took evasive maneuvers, but didn't fair any better, as another red ball hit it dead on, right in the tail rotor. It tilted forward and crashed on its side. It's rear door opened, and a shaken airman climbed out.

"What the hell was that?!" MacManus called out.

"I don't know man. It looked like lasers or some-" one of the operators began to say, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by a distant thunder. A split second later, the operator collapsed, blood starting to soak his clothes. Suddenly, there was more distant thunder, as hot lead started to pass over the teams head.

"Ambush!" Robinson shouted, "fall back! Fall back!"

Shining Armor watched as the aliens started fall back towards the crash site of one of their vehicles that they had knocked out of the sky. His troops continued to lay down a steady stream of fire, but sadly, they didn't manage to hit anymore of the aliens.

"They aren't so tough! Charge!" Shining Armor called out to his troops.

"Charge!" the members of fourth platoon bellowed, rising from their cover and charging out of the trees.

"Charge!" Robinson heard a chorus of voices bellow in the distance. In the treeline, he could see lots of movement. He couldn't make out what their attackers looked like, but he could tell they were heading their way.

"Set up your fields of fire!" Lieutenant Robinson ordered, "Captain, stay inside the Super Stallion and take cover!"

"Negative Left-tenant! We're in this together!" Captain Harrison responded, shouldering his MP7.

"SAW's up and running sir!" the squads SAW gunner, a Sergeant named Billy Gillespie, announced as he finished setting up his M240LW on its bipod.

"Here they come!" MacManus announced, as the first alien creature broke the treeline.

The creature was strangely equine-like, wearing gleaming gold armor with white plumes. It appeared to carrying an iron spear, and had what Robinson guessed was a musket draped over its back. Dozens more followed it, as a platoon sized force of colorful horses charged their lines.

"Fire on my mark!" Robinson shouted, as the distance between the humans and the charging horses continued to decrease.

Finally, when they were roughly two hundred feet away, Robinson turned to his men. "Mark!" he shouted.

Shining Armor galloped with all his might towards the crash site, bellowing a harsh war cry as he held his ceremonial sword over his head, prepared to kill any bipedal alien that stood in his path.

"Mark!" Shining Armor heard one of the alien creatures shout. Seconds later, he found himself on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Weakly, he rotated his head to the right and noticed that the dark objects that the aliens were actually automatic musket, quite similar to what the diamond dogs and griffin military's used, just much more accurate and deadly. All around him were his comrades, his brothers in arms, all either dying or dead. He noticed the aliens were walking throughout the bodies of his comrades, shooting any surviving member of fourth platoon in the head.

He noticed that he had only been hit in the side, and that his legs were still working fine. He had to make a break for it.

"Left-tenant! One of them is getting up!" Gillespie pointed out. Robinson glanced over to where the Sergeant was pointed and noticed one of the horses starting to get up. He shouldered his L85A3 and prepared to fire, but he felt someone clamp a hand down on his shoulder.

"Hold your fire!" Captain Harrison shouted, as he strapped his MP7 to his tactical vest and pulled his P220 Combat out its holster and started to approach the horse. The horse turned around and noticed the Captain walking towards him. Weakly, it pulled out what looked exactly like the antique Civil War revolver his grandfather had and started to lift it to bear.

Reacting swiftly, Captain Harrison charged forward and kicked the revolver out of the horses hooves. Without stopping to wonder how the hell the horse managed to hold the revolver without the use of fingers, he promptly kicked the horse to the dirt, ripped off its helmet, and put his handgun to its head.

"Why the hell did you attack me and my men?!" the Captain demanded, pressing the barrel of his P220 harder into the horses head.

"We were protecting our world!" the horse protested.

The Captain pistol-whipped the horse as hard as he could in the head. "Bullshit! We didn't have any intention of attacking your world. And you fucking ambushed us! Do you have any idea how many soldiers were aboard that chopper!?" Captain Harrison screeched.

"Please! Don't kill me! I have a wife and a foal!" the horse begged.

"Those men had wives and kids too, you son of a bitch!" Lieutenant Robinson spat hatefully, walking up to the two.

"He's worthless." the Captain stated, taking a step away from the horse and cocking the hammer of his P220 and aimed at the horses head.

"Please! Don't do this!" the horse begged.

"Shut up!" the Captain shouted, as he started putting pressure on the trigger.

"Stop!" someone screeched, causing the Captain and the other humans to turn towards the source, weapons ready to fire.

There stood a yellow horse, with a long pink mane, a tattoo with three butterflies on its ass, and had wings.

Chapter Five

[Authors note - I should probably mention this, but in the universe where this story takes place, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic doesn't exist, but My Little Pony still exists. Generation four ponies are still like the previous generations, and all of us would never dream about watching it.

Oh, and expect a short delay till the release of the next chapter. I won't be able to work on it tomorrow.]

The horse... or pegasus, whatever you wanted to call a horse with wings, stood there in a defensive stance, her wings fully extended as she glared intensely at the Space Marines, as if she expected that would work against the war hardened Marines.

Truth is, deep down, each Marine there felt a deep fear of this butter yellow pegasus, but they didn't let it effect them.

"On the ground, now!" Lieutenant Robinson shouted at the pegasus, keeping his L85A3 trained on the pegasus.

But the pegasus stood her ground, continuing to glare daggers at the Marines.

"Hostile's not standing down! Permission to engage?!" one of the Space Marines called out.

"Negative! She's obviously a civilian. Left-tenant, use non-lethal force." Captain Harrison ordered.

"Yes sir." Robinson responded, as he flipped his rifle around so it's stock was facing the ground. As he approached the tiny pegasus, he noticed that the stare seemed to get less intense, and it started to cower in fear. As much as he hated to admit, the little pegasus was rather cute.

"I'm sorry." Robinson stated, before whacking the yellow pegasus in the head with butt of his rifle, knocking her out cold.

"No!" the other horse screeched.

"Shut up!" Sergeant Gillespie shouted at the horse, kicking him in the stomach. The horse moaned in pain and blacked out.

"Mac, secure the prisoners!" Robinson ordered. MacManus nodded, pulling out several plastic cuffs and went to work, tying the horses legs together with ease. With the help of Sergeant Gillespie, the two dragged the unconscious horses and leaned them up against the crashed helicopter.

"Sir," Robinson began to say, turning to Captain Harrison, "what are we going to do? Evac?"

Harrison pondered this for a second. "No... I'm going to call up a few regular Marine units from the U.S.S. Athena. This planet suits our needs, but with a hostile species on the planet, we're going to need to secure the area first. As for your team, I want you guys to recon the settlement Eevee picked up in her scans."

"Rules of engagement, sir?" Robinson asked.

"None. Take four operators with you, and double time it to the settlement." Harrison ordered. Robinson nodded and walked away from the Captain, heading over to where his team was gathered.

Meanwhile, aboard the U.S.S. Athena, Captain Johnson was busy examining footage from the helmet cams the deployed operators were wearing. He watched as two multi-million helicopters were shot out of the air, as one operative was killed without warning, and as the creatures that attacked the Marines revealed themselves and charged their position, only to be mowed down in seconds.

"Looks like my brother did well down there." Major General Gillespie, who was the head of Special Operations and Espionage, commented.

"He certainly did. Our estimates say that he took out at least twenty of those... horses." Captain Johnson stated.

"I know, I'm weirded out by it as well, sir." the General said.

"Sir?" someone asked.

Captain Johnson and General Gillespie both looked up from the holoscreen to see an ensign holding a headset out to the Captain. "Sir, it's Captain Harrison. He wishes to speak to you, and he said it's urgent."

Johnson nodded and took the headset from the ensign, placing it over his head. "Captain Harrison?" he asked.

"Hello, Captain Johnson. My apologies about not being able to contact you via holocam, but as you know, I am currently in the field. You have gotten the recordings I have sent your way, correct?" Captain Harrison asked.

"Yes, I have received them. I'm going to be honest, Harrison, what I just saw kind of disturbed me. Those creatures reminds me of that My Little Pony show my daughter watched." Captain Johnson commented.

Harrison chuckled heartily. "You know, after we finished them off, the same thought ran through my head. It's like something out of a God damned cartoon."

"Alright, enough joking around. Down to business." General Gillespie stated.

Captain Johnson cleared his throat. "Yes, let's get back to business. I've sent the recordings to Admiral Stanford a few minutes ago. He'll be contacting with you within the next thirty minutes."

"Good." Harrison said.

"Now, is there anything you need from us?" Johnson asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I need you to deploy your Marine contingent."

"Alright, give us an hour, and we will have the 12th Stryker Combat Unit prepped for deployment. Just hold your position. In the meantime, I can deploy a Marine platoon to help you secure the area." Captain Johnson stated.

"I'd appreciate that. I also have two prisoners that I need to be interrogated, and one of them is in need medical attention. Think you can transport them up to the Athena?" Harrison asked.

"No problem. I'll have a Medivac team insert with the Marine platoon I'm about to deploy. Stay safe, Captain Harrison." Captain Johnson said.

"Roger that. Captain Harrison, out." Harrison said, before killing the trasmission.

Captain Johnson let out a sigh and turned to his associate. "General Gillespie, I want you to accompany the 12th Stryker Combat Unit. Understood?"

"Yes sir." the General replied.

"Good, get suited up. I want the twelfth ready to deploy in an hour." Captain Johnson stated. General Gillespie stood up and saluted, before walking out of the room.

"Captain! We've got a problem!" one of the operatives shouted, pointing out into the distance. The Captain squinted his eyes and tried to make out what was in the distance. At first, it looked like more trees. But, he noticed what they were.

More of those soldier horses, a lot more.

And they were trailing what looked like cannons behind them.

"Captain!" Robinson's voice shouted over the COM, his voice being drowned out by gunfire in the background.

"What is it, Left-tenant?" Captain Harrison inquired.

"We got ambushed on the outskirts on the town. I've got two down and we're pinned. We need back up!" Robinson exclaimed.

"Calm down son! Hold your position. We've got regular Marine forces being deployed from the Athena. Just hold them off, Left-tenant!" Harrison shouted into the headset.

"Yes sir!" Robinson replied, before killing the COM link.

Captain Harrison turned his attention back to the approaching enemy forces. He looked at the chopper and found a few spare M8's. After grabbing one, he jumped into a trench that the Marines had hastily dug in past twenty minutes, where the others were waiting.

"Alright Marines, open fire on my mark!" Harrison called out.

The approaching enemy soldiers started to charge forward, firing their muskets blindly in their direction.

"Mark!" Harrison shouted, pulling down on his M8's trigger.

Chapter Six

[Authors note - This is just a short chapter I wrote for today, since I won't have time to write out a full chapter. I'll have a full chapter out on Monday.

Enjoy.]

Lieutenant Robinson sprinted down an empty street, Sergeant Gillespie and Warrant Officer MacManus trailing right behind him. Behind them, Robinson could hear the enemy soldiers hoofsteps as they chased after them.

Suddenly, the Lieutenant stopped and dropped to his knees, firing off the rest of his L85's magazine into the mob of approaching soldiers. Gillespie and MacManus also stopped and brought their weapons to bear, but Robinson turned towards them.

"Keep going! I'll hold em off!" the Lieutenant shouted at the two.

"But Left-tenant-"

"Shut up and run!" Robinson shouted, silencing MacManus's protests. The two operators hesitated for a second, but soon found themselves under heavy fire and running up the street, away from their Lieutenant and the approaching enemy horde.

"Good to see someone will get out of this." Robinson commented, watching his two friends run off. He came under another barrage of gunfire, the bullets deflecting off the Marines heavy armor.

"Charge!" one of the horses shouted, upon noticing that their bullets were practically useless against the Marine.

As the horses started to gallop towards him, waving swords and spears over their heads and bellowing bloodthirsty war cries, Robinson let his rifles empty magazine slide out of the chamber and fall to the ground. He quickly fished a fresh magazine out of his tactical vest and slammed it into his L85, then he chambered a round into the chamber and shouldered his rifle, firing off a burst into the nearest enemy soldiers, who was less than fifteen feet away.

He shifted his aim to the next target, a black unicorn charging straight at him. He aimed slightly upwards and put a single round into the unicorns head, dropping him like a fly.

"You mother bucker!" someone shouted from his left. He quickly shifted to the left and spotted another enemy soldier not five feet away from him. Before he could bring his rifle to bear, the horse rammed right into him, knocking him to the ground and sending the L85 flying. The horse jumped on top of him and punched him in the face. Robinson shook it off and pulled his P220 Combat out of its holster, firing two rounds into the unicorns head. He pushed the limp body off of him and brought his handgun up to bear, firing the rest of the magazine into the two closest enemy soldiers.

Its magazine spent, and with not enough time to reload, Robinson tossed aside his handgun and pulled his KA-BAR combat knife out of its sheath.

"Come on! Let's do this!" he shouted at the approaching enemy soldiers as he shifted into a combat stance, his KA-BAR at the ready. He rushed forward, knocking the closest horse off its hooves and onto the floor. Another soldier came out of no where and tackled him, pinning him the ground. Robinson reached up and ran his knifes blade across the horses neck, slitting his throat open.

The horse fell off of him, gurgling as it drowned in its own blood. Robinson jumped up, dodging a swing from a horses sword. The Marine lunged at him, slamming his knife into its neck. It screamed out in pain and fell to the ground, desperately trying to pull the knife out of its neck.

"Take him down! Now!" someone shouted, right as another horse tackled him, followed by another, and yet another. The next thing he knew, Robinson was being swarmed by horses and could not move at all under their weight. He then found himself handcuff'd and on his knees, surrounded by pony soldiers.

"Well shit..." Robinson muttered. Suddenly, the soldiers that surrounded him starting bowing, as if God himself had just appeared in front of them.

"So... this is the alien creature that has been slaughtering my men?" a regal, feminine voice inquired.

"Yes ma'am." one of the soldiers answered. Robinson looked around for the source of the voice and spotted a tall, white horse, with a long flowing mane, large wings, and a long horn. She was also wearing a large crown and a jewel encrusted necklace.

"What are you supposed to be?" Robinson asked, before getting punched in the face by one of the nearby soldiers. God damn, their hooves hurt.

"I am Princess Celestia, and this is my kingdom. Why are your people here?" this 'Princess Celestia' asked.

Robinson smiled at the princess before spitting on the ground. "After your soldiers slaughtered my men without warning, you will find it very hard to get information out of me. I promise you that." the Lieutenant promised.

The princess trotted up to him, her face only inches away from him. "We shall see..." she whispered, before turning back to the other horses, "take him away!"

Chapter Seven

This chapter you lost me as a reader, sorry. I can't see Celestia being cold and uncaring about the whole situation like this. Afraid when the humans were coming, sure, but becoming a cold-hearted bitch? Not so much.

I enjoyed it till then though, so I wish you the best of luck.

~Amnistar, someone who made assumptions

You see this shit? Nothing pisses me off more than people who make assumptions. I portrayed Celestia as a 'cold-hearted bitch' in this chapter because, let's all be honest, Celestia would act that way if something went around killing her royal subjects, whom she loves and adores like nothing else.

If you are starting to think like Amnistar, please put yourselves in Celestia's hooves. I am not going to be portraying Celestia like a cold-hearted bitch the entire story, it's just what makes sense at that moment. Do you really think that Celestia would be all sunshine and lollipops and offer Lieutenant Robinson to become friends with benefits after he and his team slaughtered about... let's say... twenty or so Royal Guards, plus the Royal Guards of fourth platoon that he and his men wiped out?

-MarineMarksman

Twilight sat in her living room with four of the other five Elements of Harmony, save for Fluttershy, whom nopony could find anywhere.

"You sure Fluttershy wasn't home?" Twilight asked Applejack.

"Sure as apple pie. Ah couldn't find er anywhere." Applejack answered, "her place appeared abandoned. The poor thing probably skipped town or somethin'."

"But that doesn't really sound like her, darling." Rarity commented, taking a small sip of tea.

"Rarity's right. Fluttershy would never abandon her friends." Twilight agreed.

"Besides, knowing Fluttershy, she wouldn't skip town; she would be shivering with fear inside her cottage." Rainbow Dash stated.

"Do yall think it's possible the aliens got er? Ah mean, her cottage is right next to where Twilight told us they landed." Applejack pointed out.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but found herself silenced as her door came crashing in, throwing up a large cloud of dust (Spike was in Canterlot for the week, so no one was dusting the house). Once the dust settled, two tall, bi-pedal aliens stood at the doorway, pointing what Twilight guessed were weapons at her and her friends.

Captain Harrison ducked as a cannon ball passed overhead, narrowly missing his head. He jumped back up and fired a burst at the horses in the distance, killing one horse with a headshot and injuring another with a bullet to the knee.

"Corporal, get on top of the chopper and put that sniper to work!" the Captain shouted at Corporal Williams, who was crouched next him, firing away at the enemy with his SCAR-A1C.

"Yes sir!" he exclaimed, picking up a large metal case next to him, climbing out of the trench, and running towards the crash Super Stallion. Ten seconds later, Harrison could hear the signature boom of the M107A2, the standard sniper rifle of the United American Space Marine Corps, something Corporal Williams knew how to use to devastating effect.

As more of the horses fell, their bodies actually started to pile up, and the horses, finally realizing that mindlessly charging the Marines wasn't ever going to work, used their dead comrades as cover. The cannons started to fire explosive ordnance, passing over the heads of the Marines and exploding to close for comfort.

"Athena command, this is Captain Harrison, requesting air strike on enemy cannon emplacement, over!" Captain Harrison shouted into his headset.

"Copy that Captain, mark your targets." Athena Command responded.

"Copy that," he said, before looking over his shoulder, "Williams! Air strike in bound! Laser mark enemy cannon emplacement!"

"Yes sir!" Williams shouted back, switching on a tactical laser device attached to the side of his rifle and aiming it at the enemy cannon emplacement.

"Target marked!" Captain Harrison shouted into his headset.

"Copy that ground. Flight of F-35's are inbound to provide strafing run. Your reinforcements are right behind them. Over and out." Athena Command stated, before the transmission ended.

"Sabre One, this Athena Command, you are clear for take off." Athena Command stated over the radio.

"Copy that, Athena Command. Launching." Sabre One stated, as her F-35B started to lift off the hanger floor, utilizing it's STOVL abilities to full effect. She pushed forward on the throttle, sending her fighter rocketing out of the hanger.

Her heads up display then activated, displaying information such as fuel, weaponry, and her mission clock. It also showed her where she was supposed to drop her ordnance. It also displayed where her wingmates were, what their callsigns were, and what aircraft they were flying.

"Sabre One, this is Sabre Two, we're ready provide you with air cover while you go in for your attack run." Sabre Two stated over the COM.

"Copy that, Sabre Two. Moving in for the attack run." Sabre One announced over the COM.

Captain Harrison watched as a single F-35 screeched overhead, dropping hundreds of Mark 220 bomblets into the swarm of approaching enemy soldiers. These bomblets, though only the size of a human fist, packed more explosives than fifty pounds of C4.

"Take cover!" Williams shouted, jumping off the top of the crashed CH-53K and climbing inside it. Captain Harrison and the others ducked into the trench, just seconds before the bomblets exploded.

"Good effect on target." Sabre Two stated over the COM, "come on Sabre One, let's head back to the Athena."

"Copy that. Feels good to be in the saddle again, huh Sabre Two?" Sabre One asked, banking her fighter to the left and pulling up, angling her aircraft so she would have a straight path back to the Athena.

"Yeah. It's feels great." Sabre Two responded.

Sabre One smiled to herself. "Athena Command, this is Sabre One, requesting permission to land." she said.

"Copy that Sabre One, you are clear to land in Hanger Two." Athena Command stated over the COM.

"Copy that, Athena Command. Sabre One, out." Sabre One said, before killing the transmission.

Captain Harrison poked his head out of the trench to look at the destruction. Of course, like with every air strike against Russian forces on Earth, there were no survivors.

In the distance, he could hear sound of a helicopters blades rotating. He turned around and spotted five MH-60V's, followed by two HH-47's, both carrying M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles, and they were approaching fast. Within seconds, they were hovering above them, setting down in the field behind them. Captain Harrison climbed out of the trench and jogged up to the helicopters. Their sidedoors opened, allowing the Marines inside to disembark.

"Good to see you guys." Captain Harison commented.

"Just tell where the fight is, sir. We'll handle it from here." one of the Marines stated.

"There is a settlement to the west. I sent a five man team that way, but they were engaged by enemy forces. I haven't heard from them since." Captain Harrison said.

"Don't worry sir, we'll handle it from here. Just give us a few moments to get our Strykers unloaded, and we'll be on our way." the Marine promised.

"Good. Can you have someone extract our prisoners?" the Captain asked.

"Already taken care of." the Marine stated, pointed behind the Captain. Captain Harrison turned around and saw four Marines carrying away the prisoners on stretchers, taking them towards one of the HH-47's. He knew what was awaiting the horses on the ship, and while he didn't feel sorry for the officer, who likely ordered the attack on his men, he felt sorry for the little yellow pegasus. She seemed so innocent, so delicate. He doubted she would be able to take the harsh interrogation tactics that the Space Marine Intelligence division had in store for her and her compatriot.

Chapter Eight

Sergeant Gillespie moved into the home, keeping his SCAR-A1 rifle trained on the frightened pastel colored horses sitting inside. Warrant Officer MacManus followed him inside, keeping his M8 trained on the doorway, before lifting up the door broken door and putting back into place.

"Sergeant? Keep the door covered." MacManus ordered.

"No problem Mac." the Sergeant responded, as the two traded places. The Warrant Officer approached the frightened horses, removing his helmet and strapping his rifle to his tactical vest. He slowly dropped to his knee, so he could get to eye level with the horses and appear like less of a threat.

"My apologies for breaking into your home." MacManus stated, "I'll be sure to fix it if me and my mate don't get captured."

The purple one just nodded slowly, probably trying not to spook the Marine.

"May you tell me your names?" the Warrant Officer asked.

"I guess..." the purple one said sheepishly, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie."

The pink one, who was obviously Pinkie Pie, looked like she was about to speak, but the orange one shoved an apple in her mouth.

"I'm Warrant Officer Zachery MacManus, and this is Sergeant Billy Gillespie." MacManus stated.

"Yeah, why don't you give our enemies our mothers maiden name as well, Mac?" the Sergeant spat.

"We're with the United American Space Marine Corps." MacManus explained, ignoring his fellow Marine.

"Are you here to harm us?" Twilight asked.

"Excuse me?" the Warrant Officer asked.

"I said... are you here to harm us?" Twilight asked once more.

"No. We were never here to hurt anyone. We're just simple refugees looking for a new place to call home. That is, until what I'm guessing is your military ambushed us." MacManus explained, frowning at the memory, "I lost a lot of good friends in that ambush..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Zachery. I just have one question for you." Twilight stated.

"Shoot." said MacManus.

"Are all of you... what are you guys called?" Twilight asked.

"Humans." the Warrant Officer answered.

"Right. Are all humans typically this nice and polite?" Twilight inquired.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call breaking into your house uninvited polite, Ms. Sparkle." MacManus pointed out, earning a small chuckle from the purple unicorn.

"Don't worry about it. This is a public library, after all." the purple unicorn answered.

"I'll be sure to come in sometime... now anyways, to answer your question, yes, most humans are indeed friendly and polite. Except for those bloody Yanks, like the Sergeant over there." the Warrant Officer stated, motioning over to his friend.

"Well fuck you too, buddy." Sergeant Gillespie commented, flipping his friend the bird.

"Easy Billy. You don't curse in front of ladies. It's not polite." the Warrant Officer scolded.

"Whatever." the Sergeant said, dismissing him with a wave.

"Well, Zachery, if that is the case, I could possibly organize a meeting between our leadership." Twilight stated.

"Seriously?" MacManus asked.

"Yeah. It shouldn't be a problem. I am the princesses student and protege." Twilight said in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh, well in that case, I-"

"Mac, my motion tracker is picking up a lot of movement outside!" Sergeant Gillespie called out to his friend. MacManus jumped up and threw on his helmet, before unstrapping his rifle and bringing it up to his shoulder. He then went over to the Sergeant.

"How many?" MacManus asked.

"Twenty or so. Came out of no where." Gillespie responded.

There was a knock at the door.

"Twilight, are you home?" a feminine, regal voice asked.

The two Marines both tensed up, ready to engage at a moments notice. Twilight got up from her seat and started to trot towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Sergeant Gillespie demanded.

"Relax... I'll handle this. You two go take a seat." Twilight urged.

"Why should we trust you?" the Sergeant asked, before feeling a heavy palm fall on his shoulder.

"She can be trusted." MacManus stated.

"How do you know, Mac? How do you know she won't turn us in?!" Sergeant Gillespie demanded.

Before the Warrant Officer could answer his question, a large white horse, with both a horn and wings, a crown, and a long, flowing mane, crashed through the door, likely hearing the Sergeants little outburst. She lowered her horn at the two Marines, a red ball starting to form at the tip of the horn. Knowing she was about to attack, the two Marines raised their rifles and trained it in the horse.

"Stop!" Twilight exclaimed, jumping in between the Marines and the princess.

A laser shot out of the princesses horn, hitting the purple unicorn square in the side.

"Twilight!" her friends, MacManus, and the princess called out in unison.

It was twenty or so minutes after the strykers left the crash site, and once again, the Captain found himself surrounded by Marines. This time, the Marines were from the 12th Stryker Combat Unit, which was made up of 1,750 Marines. Most of them were equipped with standard M16A5, L85A3, C8A2, and M8 rifles, and were accompanied by forty M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicles, fifteen LAV III's, and ten M1128 Mobile Gun Systems.

Leading them was Major General Gillespie, the head of the United American Space Marines Corps Special Operations and Espionage division. He had served in the Green Berets before the war even started, but became an officer in 2031. He was by far one of the most successful officers in the field, leading to many promotions.

"Greetings, General. It's been a long time since we talked face to face." Captain Harrison stated, shaking the Generals hand. The General returned the shake with a powerful grip, causing the Captain some slight discomfort.

"Too long, Captain. Think this planet has any good bars?" the General asked with a sly smile.

"Probably, but I'd be careful, General. The alien women may put something in your drink." the Captain stated, earning a hearty laugh from the General.

"I can't believe you still remember that. Some woman, huh?" the General asked.

"Mhmm. Ready to get down to business?" Harrison asked.

"You know damn well I'm ready." he said with a smirk, before turning on his headset, "alright men, saddle up! We're going to war!"

"Hoo-rah!" a chorus of voice shouted out.

Chapter Nine

Warrant Officer MacManus watched as Twilight's limp form hit the floor, a large hole in her side caused by the princesses attack. He turned to the white horse, glaring daggers at her.

“What the hell did you do?!” he demanded, before dropping to the ground and feeling Twilight’s pulse. It was faint and weak, but it was there.

“It was a mistake!” the princess defended, examining the injury. It was bleeding profusely, so much that a large portion of her purple coat was turning crimson.

“What else did you expect, Mac? These are the horses that attacked us.” Gillespie pointed out, keeping his rifle trained on the princess, expecting her to try to pull something.

The princess ignored her. “Is there anything you can do?” she asked.

“Not here.” MacManus responded, “but our medical facilities aboard our ships could easily patch her up.”

“Mac, are you serious? These horses are our enemies!” Gillespie exploded.

“No, what we have here, my friend, is an unfortunate case of miscommunication.” the Warrant Officer stated, before turning to the princess, “what’s your name?”

“Princess Celestia.” Celestia answered.

“Okay Celestia, here’s the deal. I can save Twilight here, as well as call off the Marines that on our way, but only if you negotiate and release our Captain. Deal?” MacManus inquired.

After a moments thought, the princess came up with a decision. “It's a deal. Just please, save her!” Celestia pleaded.

Satisfied with the princesses response, he switched on his headset and set up a link with Captain Harrison. "Captain Harrison, this is Warrant Officer MacManus, do you read me?" he inquired.

A few minutes later, MacManus carried Twilight outside of the library, gently placing her down on the ground. He ripped off his jacket and placed it on top of the gaping hole in Twilight's side, applying pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Captain, where is that medevac?!" MacManus demanded.

"It's on its way, son. Be advised, the U.S.S. Liberty is entering atmosphere. The Admiral is on his way to engage in peace talks with the princess." Captain Harrison responded.

"Copy that." MacManus replied, before killing the link. In the distance, he could hear the whomp-whomp of a helicopters rotor. Then, he spotted it; A CH-53K Stallion with a red cross symbol painted above the cockpit heading straight for the town. It passed overhead, before turning around abruptly and landing in front of the library. The back ramp lowered, allowing the small security team inside to disembark.

"Area clear!" one of the Marine called out. Upon hearing this, a team of four corpsman ran down the ramp, carrying a stretcher in between them. They made their way over to where Twilight was laying unconscious and set the stretcher on the ground.

"Gillespie, help me with her. And please for the love of Christ, be gentle." MacManus stated. The Sergeant nodded, gently lift Twilight's head up while his fellow Marine picked Twilight up by her legs. On the count of three, they hoisted up Twilight onto the stretcher, allowing the corpsmen to carry Twilight away.

While the corpsmen, MacManus, and Gillespie made there way to the Super Stallion, a man dressed in made his way out of the chopper and made his way over to the princess.

"Princess Celestia, I presume?" the Marine inquired.

"Correct. And you are?" Celestia asked.

"Colonel Simmons of the United American Space Marine Corps." he said, bowing before Celestia, "Your presence is required aboard our vessel for peace talks. If you would follow me into the chopper, we can be on our way."

The princess glanced over to the strange metal object that had landed in front of the library earlier. "That thing?" she asked.

The Colonel nodded. "Don't worry, it's completely safe. Just follow me on board."

The princess hesitated for a few seconds, but decided to trust to Marine. "Fine. But I want to make sure my student receives proper medical attention first. Then we may begin peace talks."

"Good enough for me. Come on, princess." Simmons urged, motioning for the princess to follow him. Celestia nodded, and together they walked up the Super Stallions ramp, which closed behind them after they walked on board.

Chapter Ten

[Authors Note - I am so, so sorry about the weak chapter yesterday. I had a very long day, and I wasn't really feeling it. So, have this.

Oh... and does anyone oppose to shipping in the future? Just curious. This shit does happen.]

Celestia stood and watched as her student was lowered into a pool of oxygenated water, fresh blood mixing with the water and tainting it a light pink. A few robot arms lowered into the pool, removing the blood stained bandages from Twilight's side. The princess cringed at the sight of the large hole she made in her students side, which was still bleeding quite heavily.

"This is all my fault." someone said from behind her. Celestia glanced behind her to see Shining Armor walking up behind her, two Marines following close behind. They stood side by side in silence, watching as the nanobots were injected into Twilight's wound via a robotic arm with a needle.

Celestia decided that she should be the one to break the silence. "Come on, Shining Armor. Don't be like-"

"It's all my fault!" Shining Armor snapped, causing the Marines behind them to train their rifles on him. He noticed this, and did he best to tone it down, lest he be shot once more, "if it wasn't for me, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. I am so stupid!"

Celestia glanced at him, then looked back at Twilight and sighed. "No, Shining, it's my fault." she said.

Shining looked at the princess strangely. "What do you mean?" the young officer asked.

"I made you a Captain just because you were dating my niece. I thought that maybe over time, you would mold into a professional soldier and leader, but judging by how you handled our first contact with an alien species, I was wrong. Because of your rash leadership, we lost over two hundred of our best trained soldiers, and could have possibly ruined our chances to establish peace with a possibly friendly race of aliens. I shouldn't have given you any special treatment whatsoever." Celestia said, before another heavy sigh escaped her lips, "I'm sorry, Shining Armor, but I'm going to have to dishonorably discharge you."

Shining Armor turned towards Celestia and glared at her. "You cannot be serious." he scoffed.

"Oh, but I am. I'm sorry, Shining Armor, but I cannot have somepony like you leading my troops into battle. Don't make this worse on yourself, Shining Armor, I could have you thrown into the dungeon." she said.

Shining Armor stood there in absolute silence, completely in disbelief. Suddenly, something deep inside of the former Royal Guard snapped. "Being a Captain is my life! How dare you take it away from me!" he bellowed, before releasing a war cry and charging at the princess. Before he could make contact with Celestia, he found himself being pinned against the ground by Warrant Officer MacManus. Shining Armor struggled with all his might, but before he managed to escape MacManus's pin, he found himself being carried away by his two Marine escorts.

"I'll kill you, Celestia! Mark my words! I will kill you!" Shining Armor screeched as he was carried out of the medical ward.

"Well, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast." MacManus commented, "you alright?"

Celestia put on an obviously fake smile. "Perfectly fine, but his words did sting."

The Marine shrugged. "He'll get over it eventually."

The princess released a heavy sigh. "Eventually." she said, "Say... what are you doing here, anyways?"

"Prisoner escort." he stated, motioning over to a tiny yellow Pegasus trembling in the corner of the room, "I was ordered to turn her over to you after the peace talks. Which, you are late for, might I add."

"Excellent. I will see you around, Warrant Officer MacManus." Celestia stated, making her way out of the medical ward.

"Certainly. And please, call me Mac." MacManus stated.

"Alright, Mac. See you around." Celestia stated, before walking out of the medical ward.

After being escorted throughout the ship by a Marine security team, Princess Celestia found herself in a cozy conference room, surrounded by weird and strange devices. There was also a nearby table covered in sweets and delights, as well as coffee, various meal items, and what looked like soda. But, out of politeness, Celestia refrained from engaging in a feast of epic proportions until the others arrived.

After what seemed like forever, a tall, clean cut man walked into the room, dressed in what Celestia guessed was the aliens version of a dress uniform. Following him were Colonel Simmons, as well as two other alien soldiers.

"Hello, Princess Celestia." the human in the dress uniform greeted, "allow me to introduce myself. I am Admiral Stanford of the United American Federations First Fleet. I am sure you remember Colonel Simmons from earlier."

"Evening, ma'am." the Colonel said, bowing before the princess.

"Also accompanying us are Captains Johnson and Harrison. Captain Harrison is the Captain of our flagship, the U.S.S. Hope, and Captain Johnson is the Captain of our frigate, the U.S.S. Athena. Now, let's get down to business." the Admiral stated, taking a seat at the conference table in the middle of the room. The other aliens joined him, while Celestia remained standing.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Warrant Officer MacManus were passing the time by playing go fish.

"Got any twos?" MacManus asked.

"Nope. Go fish." Fluttershy responded.

"Bloody hell..." he muttered, fishing a new card out of the deck.

"Now, first things first, from what the officer we captured told us, he ordered his men to attack us without being ordered to do so himself. Is this correct?" the Admiral asked.

"That is correct, Admiral. I did warn Shining Armor to be careful, but I did not order him to ambush you, especially in the manner depicted in the video logs you have shown me." Celestia answered.

"Just as I thought. Just a horrible failure in communication." Simmons commented.

Captain Harrison nodded. "It is my understanding that you have taken one of my men prisoner, a Left-tenant Robinson. Is this true?" he asked.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, but don't worry. He's perfectly fine, and I will release him into your custody once we're done with our peace talks."

"That's good. He's a good soldier. Single father too. I'd hate to be the one to tell his son his father wouldn't be coming home." Captain Harrison stated sadly.

Celestia nodded. "I know what you mean, Captain. It is not fun. Now, as for your prisoners, when will they be released?"

"The yellow Pegasus known as Fluttershy will be released into your care the moment you leave, but as for the Royal Guard, do to his recent attack on you, we will be holding him for the time being. We will turn him over to you once Left-tenant Robinson is released." Admiral Stanford stated.

"That sounds fair." Celestia said.

"Admiral, may I say something?" Colonel Simmons asked.

"Go ahead, Colonel." the Admiral stated.

Simmons cleared his throat and stood up from his chair, walking over to the refreshments table and acquiring a can of sprite. "I do believe that in the interest of peaceful coexistence," Simmons began, taking a drink of his sprite, "that we should cover up this little conflict. After all, we don't want our two species to be suspicious of each other. Especially after what our species has been through."

"I agree." Celestia stated, "my subjects, despite how friendly they may be, can be quite suspicious of new things. If they knew about this little conflict, it wouldn't help them trust your species any faster."

"Alright, we'll cover up this conflict. Our Marines died in a crash, and your soldiers died in a training accident. Clear?" Admiral Stanford asked.

"Alright. Now, you are planning to stay on this planet, correct?" Celestia asked.

"That is correct. We're starting to run low on fuel and food, and I doubt we would be able to take anymore travel." Admiral Stanford responded.

Celestia nodded. "On the outskirts of the town of Ponyville, which is the town our little "conflict" took place around, there is plenty of room for you all. However, that would put you right beside the Everfree Forest, a dangerous and unforgiving place, filled with dragons, hydras, manticores, and other many dangerous creatures. Do you think your Marines would be able to fend them off?" Celestia asked.

"That shouldn't be a problem. We'll send in our troops to clear out the area around where we shall be settling." Captain Johnson stated.

"Is that all there is?" Celestia asked.

"I believe so. Just need you to sign some documents to make this peace declaration official, then we will send you on your way." Admiral Stanford stated. Celestia nodded, picking up a nearby writing device (something she saw Colonel Simmons writing with earlier) with her telekinesis. Colonel Simmons placed a piece of parchment in front of the princess, which upon examination, detailed everything they had just discussed. She signed her signature on the dotted line and levitated it over to the Admiral, who gave it a quick look over.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, Princess Celestia. I look forward to making an official visit to your capital, that is, assuming you have one, soon." Admiral Stanford stated.

"Of course, I'll have a few aides come over and schedule a meeting with you once you are done settling in." Celestia said with a smile.

The Admiral nodded. "Colonel Simmons will escort you and Fluttershy to a transport."

Celestia nodded, bid the officers farewell, and followed the Colonel out of the room.

~End of Part One~

A Day in the Everfree: Prelude

[Authors Note - Sorry to disappoint, but I don't exactly know how to go into detail about how the human settlement is built. So, I'm just doing this instead.

Also, for those who continually say that Shining Armor is acting out of character, I would like to point out that I simply based the Shining Armor in the story off of an incompetent officer whom I had the displeasure of meeting four years ago. He acted and talked exactly like Shining Armor in the show, and ended up getting his entire ODA killed because of his rash and incompetent leadership. When our CO told him he was getting discharged, he flipped out, much like Shining Armor did.

Finally, I'm looking for a few pre-readers. If anyone is interested, please leave a comment.]

May 26th, 2046. A historical day that was marred with disaster. On that day, we found a new home for our species, and made first contact with a friendly sentient species. However, disaster struck, as the helicopters that dropped in Marine Special Forces operatives on a scouting mission crashed, resulting in the death of seven operatives and the five members of a Marine science team. Shortly after the 12th Stryker Combat Unit arrived to evacuate to surviving Special Forces operatives, Marine forces made first contact with a friendly sentient species known as the ponies.

Also on that day, the ponies suffered heavy losses in a training accident due to the incompetent leadership of Captain Shining Armor.

On May 28th, 2046, Admiral Stanford and the Captains of the First Fleet joined Princesses Celestia and Luna in Equestria's capital of Canterlot and signed the joint Human-Equestrian Alliance agreement, stating that the humans would be given part of the Everfree Forest and the outskirts of Ponyville to settle in, in exchange for military resources and instructors, as well as human medical resources and education.

On May 31st, 2046, the First Fleet lands on the planet now designated as Equis. To make materials for the settlement, ten Emperor-class Colony Ships are decommissioned in preparation for them to be scrapped.

On April 1st, 2046, a team of Marine Engineers are sent over to local town of Ponyville to help repair damages caused by the panic that was caused by the appearance of the U.S.S. Hope and the U.S.S. Athena over the town on May 26th. This step is praised by ponies and humans alike as a great first step towards friendship between the two species.

On April 2nd, 2046, the Equis Officer Candidate School is built. Among the first class are various pony officer and officer candidates, who are eager to be better trained that the pony officers that went to Equestrian academies.

On April 4th, 2046, an arms factory is built to replace the aged weaponry that the Space Marines are equipped with. The new M8A1 and SCAR-A2 rifles begin production.

On April 5th, 2046, the nation of Canida attacks the southern border of Equestria. To help the border guards who were valiantly attempting to fight off the invading canines, 5000 Marines are deployed to the border, sending the canines running home with their tails between their legs.

On April 6th, 2046, in the wake of the recent attacks on the Equestrian border, Admiral Stanford promises to supply the Equestrian military with 15,000 surplus M4A1's and M16A4's, which were used by United American Space Marine Reserve Forces. These M4's are replaced by brand new M8A1 rifles.

On April 9th, 2046, the Equestrian military phases out their obsolete centurion armor in favor of a new body armor developed by human scientists, which are aesthetically similar to their old centurion armor, however, they are reinforced with kevlar body armor and are painted with a multicam camouflage pattern. The old centurion armor is now used as a dress uniform and in royal ceremonies.

On April 11th, 2046, Captain Shining Armor, who was responsible for a horrible training accident resulting in the death of hundreds, is dishonorably discharged. After he attempted to assault Princess Celestia for this decision, he is arrested.

On April 15th, 2046, the nation of Canida attacks once more, but the border is defended with ease by the border guard, who had just finished their training with their new M16A2 rifles. The head of border security, a Captain named Shooting Star, praised the human weaponry as "the best weaponry that these hooves have ever touched". No casualties were suffered by the border guards.

On April 18th, 2046, the Marine Engineers announce that the construction of human city of New Haven has been concluded.

On April 21st, 2046, the city of New Haven is attacked by an enraged dragon. A flight of F-22C Raptors intercepted the dragon, and promptly shot it out of the sky.

On April 22nd, 2046, Princesses Celestia and Luna meet with Admiral Stanford and begin plans to clear out the nearby surrounding forest of any hostile creatures.

On April 24th, 2046, a unit of the Royal Guard went rogue and broke Shining Armor out of prison. The prison guards were all killed, and the Marine reinforcements that were sent in were sent into retreat, due to the sheer numbers of the rogue Royal Guards. A price 500,000 bits is put on Shining Armors head.

On April 26th, 2046, humans and ponies alike gather in New Haven in celebration of the one month anniversary of humanity's arrival. However, this celebration is marred by disaster, as an IED exploded in the midst of the celebration. A local colony of Diamond Dogs are blamed for the attack.

On April 27th, 2046, two Marine Stryker Combat Units and one Marine Armored Combat Unit is deployed to the outskirts of Ponyville to wipe out the nearby Diamond Dogs. The Diamond Dogs surrendered the moment the first shot was fired, and were taken into custody by Royal Guards.

On April 29th, 2046, half of the Marine forces go on stand by, in preparation for the clearing out of the nearby Everfree Forest. The clearing out of the Everfree Forest is met with praise from the local town of Ponyville, which is routinely attacked by its vicious inhabitants.

April 30th, 2046, Marine forces are deployed, and begin their journey towards the Everfree Forest. The forces deployed are made up of three Stryker Combat Units, two light infantry combat units, a Special Forces unit, an Armored Combat Unit, and two wings of F-35B's. The Royal Guards 3rd Infantry Regiment ended up joining them halfway through their journey, their commander, a Captain named Backdraft, stating that Princess Celestia herself sent them to assist in the clearing out of the forest.

[The story continues as the Marine forces and Royal Guards start to clear out the forest.]