I'd like to thank Battle Damage for his OC, which is mentioned at the end of this chapter. He'll appear for the first official time in chapter 11. I also forgot to mention that Connor is an OC from Ice Assassin Ace, so I'd also like to thank him. Lastly, I'd like to say that at the time I'm writing this message, I have started to write the first chapters of the sequel to Reaper. I will say that its first chapter probably won't be out for a while, but it will probably be out before I've uploaded the last part of this story. Anyway, I'm gonna shut up now, so you can read this chapter.

VI

Past midnight… couldn't sleep. I wasn't feeling very good ether. I sat up in bed and immediately grabbed my head which was throbbing really heavily. With a good force, I pushed myself off the bed and began to slowly walk towards the bathroom in order to wash my face, hoping that the cold water would do something about the splitting headache ravaging through my skull. As soon as I had reached the bathroom, I turned on the water and began to splash really, really cold water on my face. The faucet turned off but instantly afterwards, a sound echoed from where I kept my computer (it was pretty much a rock with wiring in it, so it was only used for recording orders, keeping records of what parts are needed to make which gun, etc.), so I went to investigate.

I drew the loaded M1911 that Connor had made me as I moved slowly into the room. The monitor of the computer was light up and there was some random guy in a U.S. army uniform sitting there typing away. I gulped, because I knew this wasn't going to end well. I snuck up behind him as quietly as I could, and I grabbed the computer's plug out of the wall. He simply turned around to see me holding the cable up right in front of his face. I lifted the gun so the barrel was pointed directly between his eyes. I squeezed the trigger and a gunshot went off, sending a bullet directly through the soldier's head and into the computer. I didn't care about the computer, I just had to be sure that there weren't any more of these soldiers around here. I went over to my workspace that only had my M1, and I grabbed the M1 and loaded a magazine into it.

I fixed my bayonet on the end as well. Connor came running into the room with his giant LMG. We both gathered at the sides of the door. I whispered over to him "They'll die by the gun," and I opened up the door slowly to peek out. I saw a few soldiers gather around the buildings, probably drawn by the sound of my gun. I instructed Connor to go first and use his LMG. He kicked out the door and opened fire. The soldiers fired back while the tried to get into cover. He managed to get most of them, but 2 got away. One was almost instantly taken down by a guard in one of the towers, and the second one was just hiding behind cover. As soon as we thought the coast was clear, he popped out with his rifle and opened fire, but I was close enough to lunge my gun forward, stabbing my bayonet straight into his neck.

We thought it was over, but a few others opened fire from another side of the town. We heard some of the ponies firing back using the firearms we had given them. Me and Connor rushed over to help out. I quickly saw 2 soldiers and managed to kill both of them using my M1. Connor went around to assist from the ponies' side. I continued to creep closer and closer to the soldiers' position, taking them out one by one as I went. When there were only a few left, one saw me and turned his fire to me. One bullet grazed my leg, while another hit me in the arm. I still managed to take him out, regardless of how much pain I was in. Finally the gunfire stopped and I yelled out for somepony to help me. Shining Armor and Cadence came over to help. Shining Armor ripped the bullet out of my arm (which sure as hell didn't feel good) as Cadence closed the wound. I got up and thanked both ponies for helping me.

"We gotta tell Princess Celestia what just happened" I said, turning to face Connor.

"Oh hell no, brother" he retreated hastily. "I wouldn't talk to that lazy bitch if you paid me."

"What if I were to tell you there was a certain being there who likes to fuck with people as much as you do?"

"Okay, when do we leave?" Connor asked in a completely normal tone.

I rolled my eyes. "As soon as we can!" I said. "We gotta let the Princess know what just happened."

"Well okay" he agreed. "Let's go; onward and upward; tally ho!"

"Typical Connor" I mumbled, letting out a sigh. Another train ride that took what seemed like forever passed and we were at Canterlot. It was closing in on midnight, meaning everypony had abandoned the streets and went home, leaving the entire city quitter than what I thought was comfortable. Connor and I walked at a faster pace than normal, as I was anxious to let the Princess know that we were in bigger danger than we thought, and Connor was anxious to meet Discord. It wasn't long before we had reached the castle's very large front door. Standing on each side of the entrance were two stallion guards with their M4A1's on their backs. They didn't even bother to ask who we were because they already knew (we were the only humans that lived in Equestria, after all).

Connor and I raced up the stairs into the throne room where Princess Celestia and another Alicorn, who looked similar but shorter and dark blue, stood side-by-side. "Princess, we have a bit of an issue" I said in a slightly hesitant voice.

"What is it?" Celestia asked turning around. The dark blue mare still stood facing the window looking out as if she was mesmerized.

"The Crystal Empire is under United States Control" I said. Celestia's eyes seemed to grow to the size of dinner plates. "And Ponyville would've been next if we hadn't armed every single pony and got some ponies to act as guards."

"This is a problem" Celestia whispered, turning her head towards the ground. "Also, we've been informed that there was an explosive set off in the United States. It was traced back to Equestria somehow."

"I KNEW it was a set up!" I mumbled angrily. "Someone's gonna get a bullet to the brain for this!"

"What is the next town they are most likely to invade?" asked the other Alicorn in a strict tone.

"Perhaps Cloudsdale" the Princess replied.

"But how?" the blue one responded, turning around to reveal an unusual amount of resemblance between the two Alicorns. "Only the Pegesai can walk on clouds"

"Perhaps they have some way to put Pegasai's DNA into humans" Celestia suggested.

"That's it!" I interrupted! "The U.S. could do that using Pegesai from Manehattan or the Crystal Empire, and then use air transportation to get them there!"

"That would make sense" the blue one said. "I don't believe I have made thy acquaintance before. I am Princess Luna."

"My name is John Jack. It's an honor to meet you Princess." I replied while politely taking a small bow. "I think I should go to Cloudsdale for the time being. Connor should stay here at Canterlot until I return… I don't trust him."

"Very well, but how would thou go about walking among the Pegesai of Cloudsdale?" Luna asked.

"I will need some kind of Pegasus DNA" I answered.

"Okay, John. We'll see what we can do" Princess Celestia nodded. "You can stay in the castle until we find the solution to our little "Cloudsdale" problem."

"Thank you Princess" I smiled, giving another polite bow. I turned and began to walk back towards the door to tell Connor about what was gonna happen, but I heard him talking… I went into the hallway and hid in one of the shadows to the side of the room.

"I'm talking about doing things just as jokes!" Connor said. "You don't have to hurt anypony."

"I still think it's a bad idea" replied a serious male voice. It came from a tall, snake-like dragon with long arms and legs as well as wings.

"Here, pick up some of the dirt in that flower pot" Connor commanded.

"Okay" I saw the mysterious figure pick up some dirt from a flower pot using magic. "Now what?"

"Throw it at one of the guards at the front door."

"What? No… I can't" the voice withdrew.

"Come on" Connor urged him. "I promise the reaction will be hilarious. Just aim for the side of his head and watch what happens." The figure did as he was asked and the guard that got hit began looking around in confusion. Connor and the shadow began to snicker as he continued looking around until he zeroed in on the guard at the opposite end of the door. He accused the guard of throwing the dirt and they began to argue as Connor and his new friend burst into hysterical laughter. Connor got up off of the ground and said through his laughter "You see? It's not destructive, but it IS fucking hilarious!"

I popped out of the shadows and interrupted them. "I'll assume you're Discord."

"Your assumption is correct" Discord answered, turning around to reveal his big yellow eyes.

"Anyway, Connor, it looks like you'll have to stay at the castle for a while, while I go to Cloudsdale to make sure the U.S. doesn't take control of it."

"Alright" he agreed. "As long as I don't have to stay in a room too close to Princess Ce-lazy-a."

"I would care about that, but I'm afraid I'm all out of fucks to give." I told him.

"Oh, and another thing" he continued. "I contacted an old friend of mine Afanasai Aleksander Chechnoi, because shit has definitely gotten real."

"Okay, but who exactly is this guy?"

"He's was a Russian Spetsnaz soldier for a while. He was discharged after a boarder clash between Russia and China."

"What happened?" I butted in.

"A few grenade fragments got lodged deep in his eye, which made him lose all sight in it. He decided he just wanted it out of there, so he got it removed. He also got shot a few times here and there. Anyway, he's been deep in history and the like since then and he was always pretty quiet, but he's still got his old instincts. I know he'll be really helpful to us, but he may not get here for a while."

"Okay. Well I'm gonna leave you two to… whatever the hell you were doing."

"Hey!" he called as I was walking away. "They'll die by the gun, right?" I nodded, smiling.

Chapter name based off of the song "Die By The Sword" by Dragonforce