Reviews:

DOVAHKIIN1911: so did I :(

LexiconHuka: Stuff.

IronicNounAndVerbCombo: I enjoyed writing it!

garebare65 (69): too many crossovers!
(70): Everywhere!
(71): Pretty much
(72): Tactical as fuck!

the other guy: Something.

Lone The Dark Hearted Wolf: Thanks!

LexiconHuka:
Mark: That's actually the orange flares.

anosufan: For the British Mark V, there is actually a co-driver. For Athena, I can understand that, but M4 'Crocodile' Shermans couldn't use the main gun, rendering a loader moot.

Dragon'z Wrath: I'll do something like that.

Guest: Because rainbow flavored cupcakes.

Krulla Chief: Too complicated for murhine mind.

Author's Note:

Co-Author's Note: do you know how hard it is to wrangle some 20 odd, 9 foot tall, harry yetis while trying to not freeze ones balls off in sub-zero arctic weather... Buck me running, I need a looong warm vacation after this arc...

After walking/driving for half of the half klick we had to finish, two flares popped up at the edge of the barrier. One was red, while the other was green. That meant the locals would probably be hostile to an extent.

"That's the signal." I tapped Duran's shoulder, causing him to press the gas pedal to the floor. Glancing out of the door and behind us, I gave Blake a thumbs up, causing Athena to go full throttle after a moment. We went along for the rest of the journey, arriving at the shield at about the same time a few ponies (including Lovebutt and Armor) did.

The townsfolk (or would it be Empirefolk?) looked depressed as hell, but also curious and slightly hostile.

"Top of the morn to you." I called out, getting out of Rover and walking up to the shield. "What's this shield made of?"

"Love and compassion." Cadence answered, smiling at me. "It keeps chaotic beings and anything with ill intents out."

"That may be problematic..." I sighed, looking at the others. "Do you think you can lower this side until my men and women get in?"

"What do you mean?" Armor asked in confusion. "Can't you simply walk through?"

"The only thing more chaotic than a human is stoned at the moment." To prove my point, I poked the shield. As soon as I came into contact with it, my finger bounced off and I received a low electrical shock. The ponies' eyes widened as I shook my hand, muttering in German.

"I see your point." Cadence sighed, creating a square large enough to where Athena and Rover could get through with some head room to spare for Callum and Blake. While the residents protested (with Shiny doing his best to convince them we meant no harm), us humans filed inside, weapons trained into the tundra behind us.

"Contact, three hundred yards and closing fast!" Duffy suddenly said, bringing his rifle up. "I have no fucking clue what they are, but they're big, hairy, and humanoid."

"Yetis." Cadence calmly said, a frown adorning her face. "This is the fourth time this week that they've assaulted the Empire, looking for a way to get in."

"What's their history with the Empire?" I asked, looking at Lovebutt.

"They were under Sombra's rule, helping him enforce the Crystal Ponies' slavery." She explained. I nodded once.

"Duffy, Bill, fill 'em up." I said before turning away from Cadence. "We have no mercy for slavers, even if they're considered mindless beasts." I could tell Bill was grinning as he raised his M82 and zeroed in on one of them.

With twin booms, a .50 BMG round and a 7.62x39 round went flying into the small group, downing one by ripping off it's head. Another took the round from Duffy to the chest, wounding it but not killing it.

"Hurry the fuck up, guys!" I yelled, causing them to double time it without trampling/running over the ponies behind me.

"We're all through!" Isaac was the last one in, causing me to look at the pink alicorn.

"You can shut it now." I told her, causing the hole to rapidly close up. Just in time, as the lead Yeti smashed into it right after it closed. "Any of ya'll injured?" Various negatives confirmed that everybody was in tip top shape.

"Well I'm fucking freezing." I muttered, walking towards the big ass Eiffel Tower knock off. The posse of ponies followed my men and women as we came into the city proper. All of the ponies we saw on our way to the crystal structure seemed depressed as hell, prompting Duran to question as much while looking out of the window.

"When the Empire returned, it was as if they were still just freed from King Sombra's clutches." Lovebutt sadly explained. I nodded in understanding.

"Even though it's not relevant anymore, our kind has done the same thing." I said. "Mostly to other religions or countries, of course." Jews, for one.

"And your ancestors stapled your god to a tree and killed him." Cadence deadpanned.

"Now honey, we've been over this." I said in a slight sing song voice. "I'm an Atheist, I have no god."

"So you're not denying what your ancestors did?" Shining asked, a little miffed from me calling his wife honey.

"Humans are pretty screwed up, I'll admit. That's tame compared to what Hitler did." Schmidt facepalmed at that.

"Right..." Cadence muttered as we walked under the castle thing. Standing at one of the bases was an odd, jet black unicorn that had some sick (in a good way goddammit) looking wings.

"Another alicorn?" I asked in confusion. Cadence shook her head.

"He's actually a unicorn, just... Different." She hesitantly said. "Shadow Wing, can you explain to General Mark as to what you're able to do?" The unicorn stepped forward.

"This platform is able to do anything with technology." He said with a small salute, before looking over the vehicles.

"What's with him?" Schmidt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like I said, he's different." Cadence said. "He may be a little odd, but he's brilliant at what he does."

"Einstein was considered retarded by many when he was in school." I added. The ponies looked confused at that, causing me to snicker. "Human thing."

"Why was he considered late, as is the meaning of the Prench word?" Cadence asked in confusion. My gloved palm met my helmet very slowly as I sighed.

"First, my race has been around on this rock longer so the word is French and you can say goodbye to your punny horse words. Second, I use English; the word retard means something completely different."

"It means that somebody is mentally slow, having a hard time grasping even the most basic of subjects outside of instinct." Gallan added. Cadence's face went from one of confusion, to one of mild horror.

"Anyway, what's Shadow doing here?" I asked, getting onto a completely different topic.

"Er, he was here when the Empire reappeared." She said, shaking her head to get away from mean thoughts.

"Why did he say 'this platform' when he was spoken to?" I continued, folding my hands behind my back at a parade rest pose.

"I honestly don't know." She admitted, sighing. "You'll have to ask him yourself."

"I'll do just that." I nodded and went over to the odd stallion, dismissing the humans as I did. They went around, getting a feel for the city. Shadow Wing was looking over the .50 on the Humvee, having used his metallic wings to get up there, I guess.

"So..." I began. "You're from the Haloverse, correct?" I was honestly surprised when he answered with something other than a 'what'.

Shadow shakes his head, "Your assumption is incorrect, this platform originates from this quantum plane. This platform had made a miscalculation when preforming a quantum jump making it appear in the same location as a UNSC computer terminal, fusing it with the technology and with the AI construct inhabiting that system." He then proceeds to mumble something about biological functions as he hops off and wanders away.

"What are you going to do about Sombra, daddy?" Apple asked, popping onto my shoulder. "You and I both know that these ponies won't take a life." I took a look around, noting that the only pony that didn't seem remotely depressed was going to get a bite to eat.

"Beat Sombrero to death with a table leg; seems appropriate for a tyrant and a slaver." I finally answered.

"Celestia and Luna are tyrants, too." Apple pointed out.

"They're not even remotely as evil as Sombra apparently is." I explained. "Besides, they're the new presidents in my book; I would throw myself in front of a bullet for my leader, if I could move that fast. That and they don't force beings into slavery." Or kill them for having magic.

"That's the only reason?" She asked with a metaphoric eyebrow raised.

"I don't want to completely throw my home country into disarray by murdering their leaders." I said, before shuddering. "God knows what would happen if Blueballs came to the throne."

After a moment of wandering around, I keyed the mic for Bill twice.

"Yessir?" He asked after a moment.

"Where are you?" I asked, letting Mugs out so he could explore the area. I made sure to keep him on a leash, though.

"Eastern end of the city." He answered. "Just finished interviewing a couple ponies; they don't recall a damn thing before Sombrero appeared."

"Right, go on and locate the library." I said, being inconspicuious. "If they have one, it might house public records and all that jazz." Might as well ward off curious ponies/Lovebutts, since they cannot know that they're a cartoon, even if it's in a different universe.

"I'll just go get directions, then." Bill watched the episodes, too, and he knew the importance of protecting them from themselves. "Anything I should be looking for?"

"Useful spells for the current situation." I suggested. "Though I noticed that there's an extreme shortage of unicorns in the city. Locating a few is your secondary objective."

"Mind if I bring somebody with me?" He asked after asking somebody for directions.

"Go ahead; have them look for the traditions and schisse like that." I cut the connection and popped my back, before tugging downwards on the leash. That was the signal for Mugs to lead the way, going wherever he wanted to.