My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom
Chapter 5: Nocturnal Affairs
-Canterlot, Equestria-
The night was calm in Canterlot. The moon shone brightly on the capital city of Equestria as ponies slept soundly in their beds, the sunrise mere hours away from starting another day. However, one establishment found no such peace in the early hours of the morning. Inside the security office at Buddy Buzzbear's Pizza, a lone security guard stood bravely on watch with a half-empty pitcher of alcoholic cider keeping him company.
"HEY! WHERE THE BUCK IS THE DUCK?!" Booze shrieked as he flipped back and forth between cameras in the security room. Empty hallway, empty party room, empty Pirate Cove, empty- "GAH!" Booze's beer-scented breath battered against the video camera feed's screen. Staring back at him through the camera outside the bathrooms was an animatronic figure in a yellow duck suit, the words LET'S EAT! written on a white bib around its neck.
After a few moments of staring at the duck, Booze began to nervously grin at the robot. "Hehe. Hey, frriend." His voice slurred. "You… you don't want any of my beer, do ya? 'Cuz you're not gettin' any!"
The robot's empty eyes stared back in reply.
"Ahh, screw you. I ain't opening this door for you!" Booze shouted, pointing his hoof to an electromagnetically locked door to his right. "Well I guess it's just you, so nothin' to wurry about."
Booze flipped the screen to show the camera in 1A, the room backstage. "Okay, so there's the bear and- wait…" Where's the bunny? Booze quickly switched the camera footage to the hallway outside the left side of the security office. Standing in the flickering light stood the silhouette of the animatronic bunny.
"Nope." Booze's hoof slammed the button to shut the left door. The door shut with a hissing of air as it connected with the floor. "Nope nope nope nope nope nope. No. No, non, nyet, nein, não, no. You ain't gettin' any of this Sweet Apple Acre cider either, mister bunny! Ya hear me!?"
Booze's eyes shot to the lower left hand corner of the screen, three power bars, two green and one yellow, shone above the 8% POWER.
"Eight percent?!" Booze cried. "Nooooo! It's not even five a.m. yet! What the buck am I supposed to do now?" Putting the screen down, his gaze fell to the pitcher of hard apple cider he had yet to finish. Giving a resigned sigh, Booze gave a shrug. "Buck it. If I'm going out, it's gonna be with you, my love." He said, picking up the mug and brushing the side of his muzzle affectionately against it.
Tilting his head back, Booze chugged the last of his cider. He frowned around his mug as the last drop passed from the hollowed out barrel and into his gullet. Gulping with a satisfied 'Ahh', Booze looked back to his security screen. The bunny was gone from the hallway.
"Aw buck." Booze groaned, flipping between camera footage. He stopped at the security camera that was right outside his door. Booze let out a whine at seeing the animatronic bunny staring back at him through the camera. "Whyyy? Why do you do this to me?"
Booze's eyes shot to the power percentage just in time for it to hit 0%. Oh dear. Both doors shot open as the lights died with a disheartening dmmmm, only a single backlight providing a blue tinged light ahead of the drunken pony.
"Oh Celestia, buck no! They're gonna get me!" Booze curled up into a ball in the chair, his teeth clacking in fear.
At hearing a whimsical tune playing to his left, Booze turned his head to see what was making the noise. The pony's pupils shrunk at seeing a pair of blinking blue eyes staring at him from just beyond the open doorway.
"Noooo." He groaned, burying his head in his hooves, "For the love of Luna go away."
As soon as the words left his muzzle, the backlight flickered out, leaving Booze completely in the dark. Booze tensed up at hearing the sound of heavy footsteps entering the security room.
"Uh, Buzzy? If that's you, I can offer you some beer tomorrow night if you don't stuff me in a suit. Sound good?"
The shriek in Booze's throat couldn't get out in time as the animatronic bear suddenly jumped into his vision.
"AAAAAAAAAGHHH!"
Meanwhile
"You do realize you're a bit late for this, don't you?" Luna asked, her blue eyes staring down the trio of black-armored soldiers before her. In front of her stood two humanoid figures, one wearing standard paintball armor while the other was adorned in black Spartan armor. At their sides was a griffon wearing similarly hued armor. The members of Ghost Squad stood at attention in front of Luna. It'd been a couple of years since they saw her last, so it was best to make a good impression again.
"I am sorry, Princess." Gurren Artren one spoke up. "However, I do feel that as a result of our past experiences together, we have proved ourselves worthy of being accepted into the Paintball Corps."
Luna nodded in agreement. "Yes, you three were rather invaluable to the Lunar Eclipses the first time around. But why come back?"
Before human Gurren could respond, the griffon turned his head to his squad mates. "Должны ли мы сказать ей? (Should we tell her?)"
"О чем? (About what?)" Spartan Gurren asked back.
"Если речь идет о Delta команды, ей не нужно знать. (If this is about Delta Team, she doesn't need to know.)" human Gurren hissed.
"А кто это "Дельта команды? (And who is this 'Delta Team'?)" A feminine voice said in front of the black-armored soldiers.
All three pairs of eyes snapped in Luna's direction, a smug smile spread across her face.
Gurren Artren furrowed his eyebrows at the lunar princess. "Вы говорите русские язык? (You speak Russian?)"
"Немного. (A little.) If your involvement in the last paintball war helped me discover anything, it was that I had a fascination with your language." Luna confirmed. "But if I might ask once more, who is this 'Delta Team' you referred to?"
Before Griffon Gurren could open his beak to reply, Spartan Gurren beat him to it. "Let's just say they are rivals to a certain degree."
"And they are the reason you wish to join the Corps?"
"One of them." The human soldier flatly stated.
What's the harm in letting them back in? Who knows? We may learn something of this 'Delta Team' soon enough. Luna figured. "Very well. I will send in a request on your behalf for you to be admitted into the Equestrian Paintball Corps. I'm sure Princess Celestia remembers you as well."
The three soldiers smiled graciously. "Большое спасибо, Принцесса Луна. (Many thanks, Princess Luna.)" The human said.
Luna gave the trio a slight nod. "Пожалуйста. (You're welcome.) So will any of you need lodging for the night? The barracks have a few open spots if you need them."
"No need, Princess." Spartan Gurren vouched for his squad. "We have our own accommodations."
Griffon and human Gurrens gave Luna a swift salute. "До утром. (Until morning.)" With that, the three soldiers vanished in an explosion of black smoke.
A smile graced the side of Luna's face as she watched the cloud dissipate. "Crazy Russians."
-Hawkeye Forest, Griffon Kingdom-
Black Mark's eyes darted back and forth between the trees. He knew that he and his squad mates were in potentially hostile territory. Celestia had told them that her teleportation spell would get them within a few kilometers to the training site, but nothing about how many guards there might be. Even though he couldn't see anything, he could feel like someone out in the forest was watching them.
Meanwhile
"Дельта два, вы меня слышите? (Delta two, do you copy?)" The griffon whispered, keeping his scope's sights trained on the Equestrian squad as they wandered through the forestry.
"Я слышу тебя, Cтаршина. Продолжай. (I hear you, Starshina. Go ahead.)" The static-filled reply came through the gas mask's radio.
The griffon sniper's claw hovered over the trigger of his paintball M-21 DMR, ready to strike the unsuspecting group of ponies. "Цели в поле зрения. Должен ли я атаковать? (Targets in sight. Should I attack?)"
"Отрицание. Убедитесь, что они получают на Cайт 17. (Negative. Make sure that they make it to Site 17.)"
"Тогда я могу стрелять в них? (Then I can shoot them?)" Starshina asked, focusing his sights on the chegasus in the middle of the group. Based on what he'd heard about that particular paintball soldier from the last conflict, letting this one go was a risky move.
The radio's voice was quick to respond. "Наш командир не сказать, что мы могли. (Our commander didn't say we could.)"
"Он не говорят, что мы не могли. (He didn't say we couldn't.)"
Silence settled on the conversation while Starshina kept his sights on the group. The latest intel from the Griffon Forward Command showed that what they were up to. So why not take them out now?
The radio sounded off again. "Возвращение на базу. Мы можем подтвердить присутствие пони силы в Грифон Королевства. (Return to base. We can confirm the presence of pony forces in the Griffon Kingdom.)"
"Принято. (Roger that.)" The griffon lifted the scope from his eye, but still stared through the trees at the ponies that lay beyond his range of vision.
Meanwhile
"So any of you guys know where we're supposed to go?" Black Mark whispered to the trio of ponies ahead of him.
One turned his head to look back as the other two continued. "We studied several lumber maps of this area prior to the briefing with Celestia. Based on the lessened density of trees in this area, our target should be straight north of here."
Before the briefing? Has this plan been set that far in advance? Black Mark wondered. "Cool." He said, whipping out his silenced Tavor-styled paintball assault rifle. An fanged grin spread across Black's face as he beheld one of his weapons. "Because those featherbrains won't know what hit 'em until it's too late."
"Whatever you say, pal." The pony said, resuming his walk as Black Mark followed him.
The group of ponies continued their trek through the forest, their target within a mile of their position.
One hour later…
Four ponies lay prone in the shrubbery near Site 17's south entrance, lying in wait for the time to strike.
"Okay. So everypony knows the plan?" Black Mark asked, his eyes scanning his squad mates.
"I think so." one of the mares said, tracing her hoof over the map in the dirt of the site from what they had seen in the briefing room. "Black Mark will flank the enemy camp and wait until Griffon training is initiated to give the signal. Once he does that, the rest of us will move in and secure the practice site. We'll rendezvous there and advance on the housing units in the camp, driving out any further resistance. After that, we hit the north exit of the camp and exfil back across the Equestrian border."
Black Mark nodded. "Excellent." He said with a spread of his wings. "I'll be hiding up in the trees above the site when I give the signal. Until then, I'll see you guys in the assault." With that, his leapt into the air and shot towards the branches above. Landing daintily on the tree limbs, Black Mark tiptoed from one tree to the next, balancing himself with each step. Left, right, left, right… Within a few minutes, he was concealed in the branches over the training site. And now to find that practice field. He thought as he surveyed the site. From the looks of it, the place looked like some sort of camp more than a training facility. "But looks can be deceiving." He whispered to himself. Black figured that he of all ponies would know about the art of deception.
Then he found it. A field of scattered pillars, wooden pallets, and boxes that could be used for cover, the early morning light revealing a few splatter spots of old paint. There we are. Black grinned as he made his way through the treetops towards the field. Soon the sun would be up, and with the new day would come a new day of paintball warfare.
Black Mark took out his Tavor and yanked back the charging handle, then let it lurch forward with a chik. This was gonna be a good day.
So after a lengthier-than-necessary break, here is the next update for RotGK. Like I said in my note last week, if you're still with this series after such a long intermission, then I cannot thank you enough for your support. Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the following users for their OC contributions:
-iOptimumReaper
-SnowCrystal802
I can confidently say that the next chapter will be coming out in less time than it took to get this one done, so expect the next chapter around the next couple weeks. Thanks for your continued support for this fic and, as always, send in those OCs!