Next chapter.

Solar Blitz brought Pinkie Pie to get some lunch at a local cafe. He enjoyed listening to her many jokes and funny stories. He envied her a bit, although he was happy to be serving his country, he missed the old life where he could sleep at night without worrying about a griffon slicing his throat open. Despite this, he was glad to see her so happy, especially after Gore's attack at Sugarcube Corner. Blitz decided to tell one of his jokes.

"So then I said 'Nice hooves!" Blitz said as he finished his joke. Pinkie began giggling uncontrollably. Now he knew why she was the element of laughter.

"Ohhh! There's our food!" Pinkie said excited. The pink mare only had a daisy sandwich because she was saving room for dessert back at Sugarcube Corner. Blitz on the other hand devoured enough food to feed three ponies.

"Wow you were hungry!" Pinkie said examining the large pile of plates.

"Well I'm a big stallion, I need to eat a lot.". Blitz began to devour more and more plates until Pinkie could barely see his head over the mountain of plates anymore.

"You full yet?" Pinkie asked.

"Of course not!" Blitz said. "Hey waiter, can I have two more of these?" Blitz asked.

"I am sorry sir but we are out of that along with everything else." The waiter said.

"Aw buck!" Blitz said said as he pulled out his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"130 bits." The waiter said. Pinkie gasped. It didn't even cost that much when all her friends and her went out to eat.

"Here ya go buddy!" Blitz said handing the waiter the bits. "Ready to go?" He asked to Pinkie.

"You bet I am!" Pinkie said as she hopped out of the restaurant.

"Hey, how does some-" Blitz said as a snowball nailed him in the face.

"Sorry Blitz, didn't see ya!" Black Soul shouted.

"Wait, Black Soul? Apologizing?" Solar Blitz thought to himself as Black Soul went up to him.

"It's okay Bl- I mean Bunnyhop." Blitz said chuckling at Black Soul's nickname. Blitz noticed that Black Soul's glasses were off and that his eyes were visible to the world. He noticed his eyes were no longer the eerie red they once were but were now blue and normal.

"COME ON MR. BUNNYHOP!" Applebloom yelled.

"Sorry gotta go! COMING!" He said.

"That was weird." Blitz said. "As I was saying how does sledding sound?". Pinkie's face lit up as a large smile crawled across her face.

"YESYESYESYES!" Pinkie said as she hugged Blitz.

XXXX

Back at Sugarcube Corner where the rest of the mane six hid under the personal protection of COLTS Omega, Fluttershy was getting nervous about her animals.

"Fluttershy, the griffons won't take the time to kill a small creature, even they aren't that heartless." Shadow said. He knew that in Captain Gore's case however, slaughtering small creatures was a sport.

"A-a-are you sure?" She asked nervously.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll run over and check." Shadow offered.

"Oh could you? I'm just so worried about Angel, he's all by himself." Fluttershy asked.

"Yes I'll bring him back here." Shadow said.

"Oh thank you so much!" Fluttershy said giving him a tight hug. She than pulled away and hid behind her mane. Shadow got a smile on his face as headed to her cottage to retrieve Angel. Big Mac was taking this opportunity to catch up with his sister.

"How are things at the farm?" Big Mac asked.

"Goin good, Applebloom started bucking three months ago so we were able to buck enough apples before winter came." Applejack said. "Which reminds me, Applebloom's class is performing the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant in Ponyville this year."

"Really? When is it?" Big Mac asked.

"T'night." Applejack said. Big Mac hoped that he and the other COLTS wouldn't get called in. "And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are gonna be there.". Upon hearing Luna's name Big Mac's ears perked up.

"Is she really comin?" Big Mac asked. It had been nearly a week since he saw her last because of him getting called and deployed everywhere.

"Yup, an ah never got to ask how yer night went with her." Applejack said. Big Mac smiled at the memory as he filled his sister in with what took place. Applejack couldn't believe her quiet, soft-spoken older brother was in love with the princess of the night.

"Awww, that's just about the sweetest thing ah've ever heard." Applejack said.

"Applejack ah'm not joking, ah really think ah like her." Big Mac said.

"Ah know big brother." Applejack asked.

"What time is she getting her exactly?" Big Mac asked.

"Round 8:00 when the pageant starts." Applejack said. Big looked at the clock and saw it was still 12:00 at noon so he had eight hours until Luna showed up. Right then Deadeye burst through the door with Twilight.

"MACINTOSH! Come here I need to talk to you." Deadeye said.

"Yes sir?" Big Mac asked.

"Listen, I was with Twilight and while I was around her I couldn't control my strength at all! I was getting that nervous feeling you get in your stomach before we go on a dangerous mission, and I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her for some reason. What is going on? Is this normal?" Deadeye explained. Big Mac smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Captain ah think you have a crush on Ms. Twilight." Big Mac said.

"What is a 'crush'?" Deadeye asked. Big Mac looked rather shocked.

"You mean you don't know?" Big Mac asked.

"Macintosh, I was taken in by the Royal Guard and trained since I was a foal, I haven't really had time to get out much." Deadeye said. Big Mac could see the resemblance between the two since Twilight spent most of her young life studying instead of getting out and about.

"Well it means you like her." Big Mac said.

"Like her?" Deadeye said confused.

"Ah'm not exactly the best at this describing this kind of stuff." Big Mac said. When it came to crushes, Rarity was the pony to go to.

"I know somepony who is." Deadeye said as he sprinted out the door and headed towards the Everfree Forest.

XXXXX

Black Soul was having so much fun with the three fillies that he forgot what time it was.

"Hey it's lunch time, you girls want something to eat?" Black Soul asked.

"YEAH!" The CMC said as Black Soul took them to a restaurant. The four sat down at a table and looked at their menu's. Black Soul had hundreds of bits on him. All COLTS were given large amounts of bits for food since Striper knew how much they needed to eat.

"Mr Bunnyhop, are you gonna come to the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant tonight?" Applebloom asked.

"All the fillies and colts are performing it tonight!" Scootaloo said.

"Including us!" Sweetie Belle said.

"If nothing comes up I promise I'll be there." Black Soul said as he took a sip of hot chocolate.

"Mr. Bunnyhop, do you have a special somepony?" Sweetie Belle asked. Black Soul dropped his glass as he took in what the filly said. He remembered the bond he shared with Celestia and how he broke it. He didn't know how to answer, his actions over a thousand years ago were inexcusable even though the griffons were the ones who instigate him.

"Yes, I do." Black Soul said as he felt something change about him.

"WHO IS IT!" The CMC all asked at once.

"Sorry girls but it's a secret." Black Soul.

"Ohhh!" The fillies all said.

"How bout you girls, do you have a special somepony?" Black Soul asked.

"No all the boys in our school are meanie heads!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Why do you say that?" Black Soul asked. Scootaloo told him the whole story of how the Young COLTS wouldn't let the CMC join their group.

"I see, but it appears to me that young Pipsqueak never said you couldn't play with them, he was only stating a true fact." Black Soul said.

"Yeah but-" Applebloom began to say.

"Now listen, I'm sure they didn't mean to exclude you there was just a little misunderstanding." Black Soul said.

"Actually." Sweetie said. "Spike tried apologizing last night but I was so mad I ignored him."

"You should go up to them and make amends, especially since you are all putting on that play tonight." Black Soul said. "When I get into fights with my fellow soldiers we still protect and look after each other on the battlefield."

"I guess your right." Scootaloo said as their food was brought to them.

"Well for now, let's eat." Black Soul said as he devoured his first serving of food. He brought his face up from his plate of mashed potatoes and saw the three fillies chuckling at him.

"What?" He said as he licked the mashed potatoes off his face with his tongue generating an 'ewww' from the fillies.

"Yer so gross!" Applebloom said as Black Soul chuckled.

XXXXX

Shadow was having a difficult time trying to catch Angel. Shadow was fast and slick enough to catch the small agile rabbit but Angel kept on jumping into small areas where Shadow's bulk wouldn't allow him to fit.

"This rabbit is so stubborn! How does Fluttershy put up with him?" Shadow thought as he pounced towards Angel who quickly moved out of the way. It was Shadow's fast reflexes that stopped him from putting another hole in the wall. Shadow had done quite a deal on Fluttershy's house trying to catch the rabbit, he had broken numerous furniture and put four holes in the wall. He would have to come by and fix all that later but for now he had to catch the rabbit. He eventually cornered Angel and was slowly walking towards him.

"Come here Angel." Shadow said gently as he put his hoof towards him. Angel slowly approached and was about to let Shadow grab him when he jumped on Shadow's head and pounded on his head with his foot than walked away. Since Shadow's aggressiveness was enhanced he got extremely mad by this and turned around.

"You're gonna get it rabbit!" Shadow growled as he swooped in at super speed and tackled the rabbit to the ground.

"Kill it!" A voice in Shadow's head said. Shadow felt the urge to kill the small white creature and actually considered doing it.

"He must die, everything must die!" The voice said again. Shadow shook his head as he came back under control. He looked down at the terrified rabbit and felt awful for actually considering to kill it. Shadow realized it must be his aggressiveness taking over just like Colonel Striper warned. He would have to be more careful or somepony could get hurt. He would never forgive himself if he ever hurt Fluttershy in any way.

"I'm sorry Angel." Shadow said as he hugged the rabbit. "Let's get you to your owner."

XXXX

Once Deadeye entered the Everfree Forest he broke out into full speed towards COLTS-01 and arrived there in twenty minutes. He saw that the class that arrived three weeks after Macintosh's was almost done and had about fifty ponies till in it.

"Good, we could use more COLTS." Deadeye thought as he ran into the command center where he saw Striper looking over some plans with some other officers.

"Colonel Striper?" Deadeye asked.

"Deadeye! What brings you here?" Striper asked.

"It's actually kinda private so if I could talk to you alone that would be nice." Deadeye said. Striper dismissed the other officers into another room as he sat down with Deadeye.

"What's going on?" Striper asked.

"Well first off, are you familiar with the name Twilight Sparkle?" Deadeye asked.

"Hmmm Twilight Sparkle, Twilight- Yes one of the elements of harmony." Striper said as he recognized her name. The mane six were known across Equestria for being the bearers of the elements.

"Well I was escorting her and while I was with her I couldn't control my strength, I got a nervous feeling in my stomach, and I was just so in to her! What is this?" Deadeye asked.

"Well Deadeye it appears you have a crush on her." Striper said chuckling.

"That's what Macintosh said." Deadeye recalled. "Is it normal?"

"Of course it's normal, how do you think ponies wind up marrying each other?" Striper asked.

"Does that mean that I like her?" Deadeye asked.

"Yes it does, Twilight Sparkle is a pretty and smart mare." Striper said describing Twilight. He had met Twilight before when he was at a meeting with her brother, Shining Armor.

"But how do I say it? I get too nervous when I'm around her." Deadeye said.

"Deadeye, that is one obstacle you have to overcome that no amount of training can help you with." Striper said. "You do know the risks of having a special somepony right?"

"What do you mean?" Deadeye asked.

"If the grifs ever found out you had someone special, they would go out of their way to harm her so they could get to you." Striper said. "I think it's wonderful you have somepony in your life but I think it'd be best if you waited till this war was over to admit your feelings to her."

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Deadeye said as he turned around and headed back for Ponyville. After he left the officers came back in.

"Striper when are you going to tell him that he is your son?" One of them asked.

"When Von Griffon's head is on a pike and it is safe for my son to live his life." Striper said as he turned around and headed outside to help with the COLTS training. When he got out there he was approached by another officer.

"Sir, I'm not liking this." The officer said.

"What?" Striper asked.

"The grifs, the are pulling away from the frontlines and there hasn't been a Steel Talon attack in a while. They must be planning something big." The officer said.

"Have all COLTS on standby. The princesses are going to be in Ponyville so if the grifs decide to attack it will probably be there." Striper ordered.

"Yes sir." The officer said as he carried out his orders.

XXXX

Solar Blitz had gotten a tobaggan sled for Pinkie and himself. It was difficult to fit the two on because of Blitz's size but they managed. They were going perfectly until a rock came into view.

"AHH! BLITZY TURN!" Pinkie cried. Alas, not even Blitz's speed was enough avoid the incoming obstacle and the two crashed into the rock and jolted the two forward towards a large boulder. Blitz saw this and in midair, grabbed Pinkie and covered her with his body. When they made impact, Blitz took the force of the hit and nearly cracked the boulder in two.

"AHH! That hurt!" Blitz said as he let Pinkie out of his embrace. He knew that if Pinkie had hit the rock it would have surely killed her, she didn't escape unharmed though as her back right hoof appeared to be bent the wrong way. She was whimpering in pain.

"PINKIE!" Blitz screamed as he ran his hoof down hers. He was no doctor but he could tell it was broken.

"W-what's w-wrong?" Pinkie sniffled.

"Your back right leg is broken." Blitz said feeling guilty. "Oh Pinkie, I'm so sorry this is all my fault. If only I had seen that rock coming sooner."

"Why are you sorry, you saved me from hitting that big rock." Pinkie said smiling.

"I know but I-" Blitz said. Pinkie shushed him.

"I still had tons of fun!" Pinkie said trying to make him feel better.

"Well we have to get you to a hospital." Blitz said as he picked up Pinkie on his back gently. She was shocked at how warm Blitz's body was, it felt even better since she was in the cold.

"Hey Blitzy?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"If you hit the rock so hard, how come you aren't hurt?". Blitz froze, he wasn't wearing armor so he couldn't use that as an excuse.

"Uhh just got lucky I guess?" Blitz said with a nervous laugh.

"Well as long as you didn't get an owie." Pinkie said as Blitz carried her to gat a cast for her leg, she soon fell asleep on his back. Two hours later, Skullcrusher and Soarin finally woke up.

"That felt amazing!" Skullcrusher said as he stretched his body.

"You said it!" Soarin said with a yawn. "Wait! Where is everypony!?"

"They all are being escorted by my team." Autumn said who was sitting in a corner talking with Rarity.

"Whew! That scared the buck out of me!" Skullcrusher said as he went and snuggled next to Applejack. Soarin did the same with Rainbow. Silent Shadow than entered with a rabbit on his back. Fluttershy leapt with joy as Angel jumped off Shadow's back and hopped over to Fluttershy.

"Oh Angel Bunny! I missed you!" She said in a motherly tone as she caressed the rabbit. "Thank you so much Shadow!". She said as she hugged him out of joy.

"Oh it was nothing!" He said. He still remembered how he almost went rampant and killed Angel, he decide he would have to tell Deadeye when he got back from where ever he was.

"Autumn, do you mind if we got outside for a moment?" Rarity asked.

"Of course not." Autumn said as the two walked outside and went to a secluded spot in a snowy field.

"Autumn, I never really got to thank you for saving me from those thugs." Rarity said.

"You don't have to thank-" Autumn said as Rarity kissed him full on the lips. "Me." Autumn said as his eyes slowly closed as the two kissed for longer than they expected. When they finally broke away Rarity snuggled up next to him, her white coat blending in with the snow.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" Rarity began to say.

"Don't be." Autumn said. Rarity looked up into his red eyes. It was funny really, she had always thought she would fall for some high-class, fancy, and rich unicorn from Canterlot, yet here she was with this elite soldier earth pony from Stalliongrad. Ever since she first saw him at the hospital six months ago she knew they were going to be together. She was still rather cold and snuggled in further into Autumn's body.

"You're very warm." She said as Autumn put his hoof around her to caress her.

"Rarity?" He asked.

"Yes darling?" She asked.

"Will you be my special somepony?" He asked.

"Of course I will." She said as the two kissed one more time and walked back to Sugarcube Corner holding each others hooves.

XXXX

Claws Von Griffon listened to his generals as they planned in the war room.

"We are preparing an all out invasion force, our reserves number in the millions we will overrun the ponies defenses." A general said.

"We must wait for the COLTS to be dealt with first." Von Griffon said. "Or if we can capture the elements and princess Luna."

"That is where I come in." Gore said.

"How exactly do you plan on capturing the princess?" A general asked.

"They are in the settlement called Ponyville for the holiday Hearths Warming Eve. I will take my finest ST's and infiltrate the town." Gore said.

"You do realize they will have COLTS teams there right?" A general said.

"Which is why you are going to invade Manehattan with the 3rd regiment to distract them. There are about 80,000 troops garrisoned there so we will attack with a force of 150,000." Gore said.

"Are you sure that will work?" Another general asked.

"Manehattan is the ponies largest city, there are at least twenty million ponies living there. Not to mention it is where most of their trading ports and weapons factories are located. If we attack the city the COLTS will have no choice but to go defend it leaving the princess and the elements unguarded." Gore explained. "Even if this plan fails, I have one more trick up my sleeve that will eliminate the COLTS."

"Even without the COLTS there will be hundreds or maybe even a thousand soldiers guarding the town. Even the ST's can't take out that many ponies at once."

"You underestimate me again general." Gore said. "Five of ST teams will attack different parts of the town so most of those guards will have move to engage them. Once they are split up we will pick them off one by one till we get to the princess."

"General, Captain Gore is making you look bad." Von Griffon said. "Prepare your troops, you move out in five hours."

Those bastard griffons making me write more chapters...In answer to people's questions, yes I do plan on making a sequel for this story. I will also make a prequel which tells the lives of the COLTS before the the war started. R&R

"And when he gets to Heaven,

To Saint Peter he will tell.

'One more soldier reporting sir,

I've served my time in hell'."