XI

"… Well, we're fucked." I turned around and walked back inside. "Come inside if you want. I'll be sitting here thinking of an idea that won't get us killed."

"Thou art not out of all options" Luna said, interrupting my self-directed anger. "If we keep calm and develop a plan, perhaps we can overcome these hardships as Equestria has overcome problems before."

"Thank you for your suggestion, Princess" I replied, "but I'm afraid this is something too big for anypony here to handle."

"I wouldn't say that just yet" Connor yelled, while behind him, a man stepped out in an old forest combat uniform, but he wasn't American. He was holding an assault rifle that looked similar to an AK47… But it was different. He also had a holstered pistol that looked (from what I could tell) as if it was a P226. My eyes traveled up and I saw his face. Short black hair with several large scars along his nose and left eye. His right eye was missing, though… It hit me… this was Afanasai Aleksander Chechnoi. "Our salvation has arrived!"

"You must be Afanasai" I greeted him. He nodded, remaining silent. "You were a Spetsnaz soldier, right?" He nodded again. "What's that weapon you're holding?"

"AK103" He answered in a very deep voice with a Russian accent that was as thick as a bank's safe door.

"Well, it's great to have you aboard, Afanasai" I said, sticking my hand out as he shook it. "As you heard, we have a problem at hand. I assume you're staying in the empty room right there, so you should be fine for accommodations. We also need someone to help me and Connor come up with a plan that won't kill everypony here."

"I've also got other news" Connor interrupted once again. "I've managed to remember an old WWII pistol that is VERY quiet."

"Well what in the Sam hell are you waiting for, Connor. Spit it out!"

"It's called the Welrod. It's an old British weapon" he explained. "Only about 2800 were made officially. There is a catch though… It's bolt action."

"Bolt action… Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled at him, quite annoyed with his statement.

"It works! Trust me, I've made and tested one of these before! They work like a charm!" He seemed intent on this so I told him to turn out 4 or 5 of them ASAP.

I turned back to Afanasai. "Our target is Lieutenant Colonel McMarland. We're not sure if he's actually in Canterlot, so if we just barge in and mow people down, it may be a wasted effort."

He looked at me with a skeptical look, as If I should know what our first move should be. "Recon" he finally said.

"Ah" I sighed. "But who is small and agile enough to be able to sneak around Canterlot unseen…" I had an idea… but Applejack wouldn't be too happy about it.

"NO!" Applejack was so angry her coat looked as if it would go from bright orange to red. "If ya'll think I'm gonna risk ma little sister like that, yer outta yer pony picken' mind!"

"She's small, she's agile and goddammit, she's well trained!" I argued. "There's no way that she could get hurt. Hell, she could pass off as a Canterlot citizen."

"I don't give a flyin' feather!" she yelled. "I'm not lettin' 'er go, and that's final!"

From behind me came a deep and robust voice. "He's got a point. And plus, she's obviously not gonna be on 'er own. Doin' that'd be like tellin' a fish to run a race!" It was her brother, Big Mac.

"Ya'll stay outta this, Big McIntosh."

"I have just as much of a sayin' in this as you!" he shouted back.

"She's not gonna go alone. I'll be there with her and we'll have her two friends there, too!" I added.

"Have fun tryin' ta get Rarity to let HER sister go!" Applejack responded in a smart-ass tone.

"Look, little sis" Big Mac continued. "I've made ma decision, and there ain't a thing you can do 'bout it! She'll be perfectly safe, and so will all her little friends!" Applejack let out an angered snort and stormed off back to her house. "No need ta thank me. I know that the fate of Equestria rides on yer shoulders, so you should get all the help you can" Big Mac said, smiling at me. "I also trust ya ta take good care of Applebloom, seein' how well you an' her seem ta get along."

I nodded and took my leave. There was only one more angrily over protective big sister I had to deal with… Rarity.

"Not a chance!" she spouted, turning away from me.

"Applebloom, Scootaloo and I are all already going! I guarantee that Sweetie Belle will NOT get hurt AT ALL!

"It doesn't matter to me" she retaliated.

"Look here! This is the fate of your fucking existence we're dealing with!" I roared, having just snapped. "I don't give a fuck if you want to be "super safe" about her safety. I know she won't get hurt! She's coming along. I don't care what your decision is, because I think that a one in a million chance of her getting hurt is better than a one in one chance of everypony in town dying! She better be over at my house tomorrow night, completely ready, or I won't be responsible for the shit that I'll do!"

Her eyes were the size of dinner plates showing how petrified in horror she really was. She gulped and squeaked out "she'll be there."

"Thank you" I sighed. I went back home and tried to sleep, but I couldn't manage (like usual).

I got up and went to see if Connor was still at work. Sure enough, he was working away. "You can't sleep either?" I asked him, walking into the room and probably scaring the living Christ out of him.

"Not at all" he replied.

"What do you think is gonna happen?"

"Well, we have a home field advantage, so if we get a good plan then we may be able to find and kill this McMuffin guy."

"McMuffin" I laughed to myself. "Well, we still need to know if he's there. That's why I'm going on some recon with the CMC tomorrow night."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What do you mean?" I asked as a response to his question.

"I mean, this is the U.S. Military we're talking about. Super advanced shit, right? Don't you think you'll get… you know… obliterated?"

"I would care, but I'm all out of fucks to give" I told him. It was silent for a little bit after that. "Look" I started up again. "This is the only way to figure out if he's ACTUALLY there. We don't want to barge in and figure out he's not there, and we sure as hell can't just walk up and ask them."

"I suppose you have a point" Connor agreed. He picked up all 5 Welrods in his arms and carried them over to a little target he had set up for this. "Let's make sure these work, though." He tried to fire one, but it jammed instantly. He started mumbling what was probably endless cursing as he struggled to release the jam. Once he had released the jammed bullet, he tried to fire again… it jammed. "What the fuck?" he muttered angrily. He turned to me. "I don't get it! These should work!" He picked up a M1911."I mean, these work perfectly! Not a single problem!" He turned to fire, but when he did, it backfired. He stumbled back in pain, but tripped over the 4 other Welrods on the ground beside him. One of them fired off into his leg. "AAAARRGH!" he yelled in agony.

"Oh my god, are you Okay?" I asked frantically, racing over to his side.

"Oh I'm just fine" he said sarcastically, "except for the fact that I have a FUCKING BULLET INSIDE MY LEG!"

"Shit, uh… we gotta get you to one of the princesses. They can help."

"Sure, just get this bullet out of my flesh!" he begged.

I ran to Twilight's and got Princess Celestia (who was staying there along with Luna for the time being). She teleported us over and took a look at Connor. "I can handle this" she assured me. It was so fast I couldn't tell what she did, but she sure fixed him up pretty well.

"I can't walk, though!"

"That tends to happen when you get shot in the leg" I replied.

The rest of that day, I was stuck working on those Welrods all on my own. I had never made them before so it was complete trial and error on the troubleshooting. It took me all day to get all 5 of them to work properly and by then I had probably wasted a good 100$ or so in ammunition (considering 9mm ammunition is a cheap handgun bullet [thank god]). Night was closing in and it was almost time to go on recon with the CMC. I had all the Welrods ready and loaded. It was tonight when we found out if McMuffin was there or not.

It was late… almost time to leave. I was pacing, wondering where in the Sam hell Applebloom and her friends were. I noticed there was some chatter from outside the door. After a little bit, I heard the voices yell "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER RECON PONIES!" It was obvious who was outside the door.

I opened the door and sure enough, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were all standing there, eager to get going. "You girls ready for this?" I asked.

"YEAH!"

"Remember, though! This is a stealth-based mission. We want to remain as hidden as possible" I reminded them.

"Oh yeah, sorry" Sweetie Bell apologized.

"It doesn't matter right now" I laughed. "Come on girls, we got some work to do!"

Applebloom walked up to me and nervously said "Is it true that Manehattan was taken over?"

"Yeah"

"I hope Babs is all right" she sighed, looking down.

"It's ok" I assured, kneeling down next to her. "This war was a set-up. It wasn't meant to happen. That's why we're going on recon. We know the guy who set us up, but we need to know if he's at Canterlot right now. If we go in without info and it turns out he ISN'T there, we'll have just wasted ammo, effort and worst of all, lives. That's why we're gonna do this."

"Let's go!" Applebloom shouted enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit!" We walked off down the road to get our transportation to the castle… Twilight's magic.

Chapter title based on the song "Suggestions" By System of a Down