My Little Paintball: Rise of the Griffon Kingdom

Chapter 10: Behind the Scenes

-Ponyville, Equestria-

"Hold the line!" Rarity shouted above the hundreds of paintball shots, dashing to one of the stone hedges that ran along the wall and crouching behind it.

"Do you have a shot?" Velvet hollered as she raised her paintball marker and fired a few shots before ducking back behind cover.

A black-armored griffon soared over the wall and aimed his marker at the ponies. No sooner had he taken aim, a paintball exploded against his visor. The griffon ground his teeth as he raised his marker in defeat and began to fly back towards home.

"Gotcha, you son of a gun!" Night yelled victoriously. His cheer was met with the thwacking of paintballs against the stone cover he shrank back behind.

"No need to celebrate just yet, Private!" Rarity levitated her AUG-modeled paintball marker and pointed it toward the enemy. After firing a few random shots, she released the marker from her magic and caught it in her hooves. "Private Bleedingheart! Do we have an opening for a retreat back to our outpost?"

Velvet took a small glance out from behind cover only to zip back as a few paintballs zipped past the pegasus' mask. "That's a negative, ma'am!"

Rarity detached her marker's empty magazine and held up another with her magic. Last one. Let's make it count! She slammed the mag into the rear of the marker and prepared herself for her stand, possibly her last.

"Yee-haw!"

Diamond Squad's ears perked up at the familiar reveille.

"Let's get 'em, Apple Squad!" A blur of blue and scarlet zipped to the wall as an electric hum filled the air. Rarity looked up from her cover to see Hyper Strike grinning maniacally at the griffons with his saddle-mounted paintball chain-guns spinning to life. "Get some, muthabuckas!" The chain-guns roared to life with a thrumming vrrrrrrr. The guns spat ten paintballs a second as several unsuspecting griffons were painted from helmet to claw.

"Diamond Squad!" a country-accented voice called. The group looked to see Applejack in red and yellow paintball armor waving them over to an outpost farther along the wall. "Get over here while Hyper gives y'all cover fire! Pronto!"

Rarity turned to her squad mates. "You heard her! Let's go!"

Night Assault and Velvet shot up from their cover and galloped closely behind Rarity while Hyper continued hosing griffons out of the sky.

Ahead of them, they saw a black and blue-striped alicorn put his hooves to the sides of his mouth. "Hyper!" Rogue Shadow yelled. "They're on their way! Get back over here!"

"But it's so much fun!" Hyper whined as he took aim at a swooping griffon and thoroughly neutralized his attacker with a few dozen paintballs.

"More fun later! Safety now! If you get shot, there isn't going to be any more fun for you!"

Hyper quickly glanced at his brother then back at the griffons, who by this point were beginning to close in and take aim at him from multiple directions. "Cover me!" With that, Hyper ceased his fire, turned on his hooves and sped towards the outpost.

"Gotcha!" Rogue raised his multi-use paintball rifle and flicked a switch next to the trigger. With its rapid-fire option selected, Rogue took aim with his marker. Just as a griffon was about to pull the trigger on Hyper, Rogue put the aggressor in his sights. Within moments, Rogue sent a volley of paintballs at the griffon's direction. He grinned at the sight of paint covering the griffon's chest.

Diamond Squad raised their markers and joined him in helping Hyper get back. As the group provided suppressing fire, Hyper dashed through the outpost doorway.

"Dang, that was a close one," Applejack sighed with relief as the door was pulled shut.

"How the hay did griffons attack us without us knowing about it beforehand?" Night Assault asked in disbelief.

"It's called a surprise attack for a reason, bud." Rogue answered, extending a hoof. "Rogue Shadow, Apple Squad."

Night grasped the alicorn's hoof and shook it. "Night Assault, Diamond Squad."

"So, I'm guessing we're gonna be teaming up from here on out?" Velvet inquired.

Rarity and Applejack glanced at each other, then turned to their respective squads.

"Seems that way," Applejack replied. "Strength in numbers and all."

Rarity gave the cowpony a quick nod. "I agree. I'm sure there are other squads along the wall that need our help."

A few thwacks of paintballs against the wooden door reminded everyone of their situation.

"Well, we gotta get out of here first," Tiger Lily chimed in. "I don't think we have an exact count of how many griffons are out there right now, but I definitely know it's enough to overrun us."

"We can check the next outpost over," Night Assault suggested. "Meet up with them. Which squad occupies the tower next to this one?"

Applejack's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember. "I think it's… oh." Her shoulders sagged. "Our neighboring squad is Fluttershy's group. Butterfly Squad."

Meanwhile

As the first wave of griffons struck the outer walls of Ponyville's border, three fillies gathered in their clubhouse to discuss their course of action.

"I say we charge straight into their ranks and take them all out in a single attack!" Scootaloo exclaimed enthusiastically.

"That'd be a great idea," Applebloom agreed, "For all of ten seconds, at best. We gotta find a way to help out without getting ourselves shot up."

Scootaloo's shoulders sagged. "Well, I think it's a good plan."

"Well, I do have agree with the part where we defeat all the griffons with a single stroke," Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Do we still have our paintball markers from the last time we did this?"

Applebloom gave her unicorn friend a grin. "I made sure they didn't get taken after the first paintball war was over." She rubbed her hooves together and chuckled. "I stashed them away someplace safe."

"You hid them under the boards of the clubhouse, didn't you?" Scootaloo deadpanned.

"What?!" Applebloom turned to Scootaloo with a surprised look on her face. "How'd you know?"

"Well, when you were nowhere to be found after the war was over, I figured you'd be up to something."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sweetie asked with a pout.

"Look, it's not that I don't trust you gals," Applebloom replied. "But you two would've blabbed about it if you knew."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sweetie said with a shrug. "So, can we have them back?"

"Sure." Applebloom walked over to a small table in the clubhouse corner and grabbed a hammer with her mouth. "Nd t' thnk tht I'm terring up these bords agin," she grumbled with the hammer between her teeth. With a swift motion, she bashed a wooden plank in the middle of the room. The plank split in half and revealed a trio of sock-covered paintball gun barrels.

"Ooh!" Sweetie Belle squealed. She took hold of the markspony paintball rifle and held it to her chest. "It's been too long. So, tell me, how are we gonna do this?"

Applebloom reached in and grabbed her paintball shotgun. She pulled the pump back and checked the breach. Seeing that it was still clean, she returned the pump to its previous position. "Well, it's obvious we can play separate roles, Sweetie Belle. I can cover close-range while you can handle long-range engagements. What about you, Scoot?"

"I would cover you from the air, but..." She looked back at her wings sadly and buzzed them a bit. "I guess I…. can." A massive smile grew across the filly's muzzle as her eyes lit up with inspiration.

"What're you thinking, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

Scootaloo's gaze shot to Applebloom. "You still have all the spare wood and canvas from our talent show, right?" Applebloom replied with a cautionary nod. "Great! You and Sweetie get all those leftover materials and meet me in the barn!" With that, Scootaloo ran towards the clubhouse's door.

"Care to let us in on what you're planning?" Applebloom implored.

The orange pegasus filly's mouth spread into a grin that would've sent Cerberus running for its mother. "You'll see. The griffons won't know what hit them!"

-Tactics Center, Crow's Nest, Location Unknown-

"I don't like it, Ramaru, I don't like it one bit." The former lunar princess rubbed her chin with a hoof as she observed the radar screen. A massive computer stood before her with a single screen that displayed heat signatures as yellow dots against a gridded topographical background.

"I don't like it either," a young voice replied. Luna turned to look down at the mare-like stallion next to her. "This reading should be of Canterlot's defenses. Vaati's report is due any moment now."

Luna shook her head. "No, Ramaru, I'm not talking about the radar. We've already received reports of griffons attacking the strategic cities like Ponyville and Manehattan, and that makes sense. But why attack outlying regions, like Appleloosa and the Crystal Empire? Other than making ponies mad, I don't see the reason for the secondary offensives that the griffons have undertaken."

"They're just birdbrains looking for a fight."

Luna and Ramaru turned around to see Vinyl Scratch lying across a couch while spinning a vinyl record on her hoof with her magic. "I guess that's what some ponies get for goading them into this thing in the first place with all the insults."

"All this over some hurt feelings?" Luna protested.

Ramaru pursed his lips in thought. "I concur. There's gotta be something more to this that we aren't seeing."

"Give it time," a deep male voice said from the far end of the room, and the center's occupants looked to see a rather large silver-blue stallion with a coal black mane. Tadakatsu continued. "With the information Vaati's sending us soon, we'll have one more piece to the puzzle. Sooner or later, every piece will be presented to us."

"Two words for you, Tad," Vinyl groaned from her lazy position on the couch. "Melo. Dramatic."

"Scoff if you will, Vinyl, but Tadakatsu has a point." Ramaru sank to his haunches and scratched the side of his head with a hoof. "I'm sure that-"

"Crow's Nest, this is Mother Bird, repeat, this is Mother Bird."

Every head in the room snapped in the direction of the console. They all knew whose voice that was.

No sooner had the call sign been spoken that they all raced to the console. Luna got to the transmitter and slammed her hoof on the transceiver. "Copy, Mother Bird, this is Crow's Nest. What news do you have for us?"

"Good to hear your voice again, Luna," Vaati's relieved voice sounded through the radio. "Has Soaring Hawk radioed in?"

The sharp sound of static filled the radio for a moment before a second voice spoke up. "Soaring Hawk, checking in," the voice replied with its codename.

"Are you in a secure location, Kidd?" Vaati asked.

"About as secure as it can be for the moment," Kidd Death replied.

"Vaati, what news do you bring from Canterlot?" Ramaru inquired.

A sigh was heard over the radio. "Listen, guys, there are some big things going on over here. Princess Celestia has been receiving and sending messages a lot more frequently lately. Any news on your end, Kidd?"

"Well, after being evicted from the Griffon Kingdom in the wake of this war, I can't say I've gotten anything lately," Kidd said with a sigh.

"Wouldn't it make sense that Celestia's been sending and getting messages much more frequently given the circumstances? These are the opening stages of a war, after all," Tadakatsu suggested.

"That's the thing, though," Vaati said. "I don't know who or where these messages are coming from. When asked about it, she always says they're going to forces in the field. I don't buy it."

"So what're you gonna do?" Kidd asked.

"I'm not going to continue asking her. It'll seem suspicious. I'll try to intercept a message or two. Hopefully it'll fill in the gaps a bit."

Vinyl stepped closer to the radio as she spoke. "Any orders for us?"

"Yes. First, Kidd, report back to the Crow's Nest as soon as you can. And whatever you do, do not engage with anyone affiliated with the EPC or the griffon army. Avoid suspicion at all costs."

"Roger that. Soaring Hawk signing off." With that, a click of radio static ended the communication line.

"As for you all at Crow's Nest," Vaati continued. "Stay on alert and stay on those battle movements. I want you to study both sides' strategies."

"Do you suspect upcoming conflict between us and the two factions?" Luna asked in a somewhat surprised tone.

"It doesn't hurt to take precautions, Luna. We will directly intervene if we need to. Mother Bird out."

The click of static echoed around the room as Vaati terminated the connection.

Meanwhile

High above the group huddled around the radio, a certain female draconequus stroked her chin with a clawed hand as she hung from a ceiling lamp by her feathery tail.

"It doesn't hurt to take precautions, Luna. We will directly intervene if we need to. Mother Bird out." Vaati, from what Trimmer had heard, said.

She juggled her options in her head. Should she tell Discord? Or should she keep her options open? Or maybe even report this to Celestia. Who knows what this group was planning!

We'll see what happens with this group, Trimmer figured. For now, best to let things be. With a soft snap of her fingers, she vanished from the facility.

-Canterlot, Equestria-

Three Russian-speaking mercenaries stood outside a looming warehouse. They'd had the building constructed shortly after the first paintball war. Sure, they were asked about what they were putting inside the building, but they'd just smile at the question and ignore it. Today, however, they were going to show everyone what was in the warehouse.

"Всем готовы для вас создение? (Is everyone ready for our creation?)" Gurren Artren gave both the mercenaries at his side an assured look.

Griffon Gurren rubbed his front two paws together. "Я приготовь. (I have been ready)"

"Наша машина будет уничтожить все! (Оur machine will destroy everything!)" Spartan Gurren exclaimed eagerly.

"Будем? (Shall we?)" Human Gurren folded his arms and nodded towards the warehouse door.

"Да." Both Griffon and Spartan Gurrens replied.

The three walked up to the massive rollaway door and pulled it to the side. The large wooden barricade rolled away to reveal the gleaming war machine that stood before them. Its two quad-*r*o*t*o*r* paintball machine guns glinted in the sunlight. The machine donned a divine appearance as its curved armor reflected the sun's rays around the warehouse. Finally, a massive paintball howitzer barrel protruded from the contraption as its primary gun.

"Я буду стрелок! (I'll be the gunner!)" Griffon Gurren flapped his wings, leaping up to the top of the machine and disappearing into the hatch atop the machine.

"Водитель! (Driver!)" Spartan Gurren climbed to the top and crawled into the depths of the apparatus.

Human Gurren smiled proudly and walked up to the machine. He put a hand to the smooth cold metal and gave it a few pats. "Буду командир. (I will be the commander.)"

Meanwhile

An eye gazed through the Zastava M93 rifle's scope. A hand slowly twisted a knob at the top to correct the blur. The operative's lips cracked into a smile as she watched the machine roll out of the warehouse. "Это будет интересно. (This will be interesting.)"

Meanwhile

"The reinforcements are away?" Celestia asked as she overlooked the arranging of EPC troops below in the castle courtyard. Only a week prior, they were training to guard Equestria from paintball attack. Today, that training would be put to use.

"I've received report that the Third Platoon just arrived in Ponyville, Princess." Sergeant Foaley gave Celestia a determined look. "If we should go on the offensive to push them back-"

"Negative, Sergeant," Celestia cut off. "Let the towns thin the griffons' numbers before they reach Canterlot."

"Permission to speak freely, your Highness?" Foaley asked concernedly.

"Granted."

"Why send the reinforcements in the first place?"

Celestia gave a somber sigh and turned away from the army pony. "The prospect of fighting a losing battle is never good for morale, Sergeant. Give them more troops during a desperate situation, and they will fight harder."

Foaley gave her a salute. "Very well, Princess. And I assume this will remain confidential?"

Celestia turned towards him and gave the stallion an innocent look. "That what remains confidential, sergeant?"

The sergeant gave a knowing nod. "Understood."

So sorry for this update taking so long! I'm just glad I was able to get in more than one update for this in a month, even if that first update was an April Fool's joke. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter and send in those OCs!