> The Call > by sjrxbox > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Call chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Call “AGH- my back!” Paul whined. “You’ll be fine it’s just two more days till they get here. “John replied” besides don’t those mark twos have that pain relieving system?” “No they don’t” Paul replied flatly. John chuckled” oh yeah that’s the mark three’s.” John responded with a smile. Paul just returned his gaze to the range finder that sat about a foot from his position. “So why are we here again?” Paul asked with a bored tone in his voice. “We’re here to assassinate the rebel general remember?” John replied” We had to sit through that four hour briefing.” “Oh yeah” Paul remembered” But why did we have to be deployed here a week before this guy even drives by?” “They deployed us here so early because they didn’t want any rebel scouts walking in on us, and warning them so they don’t drive by at all.” John explained to his spotter and best friend. “All right then” Paul said with the same tone as earlier” Well I’m going to take a nap wake me up if something blows up wont’cha?” “All right” john said with a sigh and sat and returned his focus to scanning the horizon. The Next Day “Paul get your ass up!” John hissed “Huh wha-“Paul started only to have a hand clamp over his mouth. “Shh, quiet” John whispered” We’ve got some very... colorful movement.” “What do you mean by ‘colorful’ movement?” Paul whispered in reply. “I mean we’ve got a rainbow colored…” John paused” tail I think.” “A rainbow colored tail.?” Paul said with a smirk” Really?” “If you don’t believe me look for yourself.” John said with a motion towards his rifle laying a few feet away. Paul pulled his face up to the scope of the rifle and sure enough he could see a rainbow colored object sticking out, just above a rock about four hundred yards from their location. “All be damned, there is a rainbow colored tail out there.” Paul whispered just loud enough for john to hear him. “What ever it is it’s a threat to our mission and it has to be removed.” John told his partner. “Ok ill get you the stats for the shot” Paul whispered as he slid back to his range locator” ok it’s about four hundred twenty seven yards out, with a wind coming in from the northeast at about seven miles per hour.” “A baby shot then” John said with confidence” ok ill send the shot in thirty seconds.” “Five… Four… Three… Two… One…” A loud bang filled the air as john’s beret 50. Cal’s barrel exploded and the bullet was sent towards its target. The round easily pierced the stone and tore into its target. A rock behind the target was partly covered in a red paint, when the two men heard the screams of pain coming from the area which they shot at. “We need to go down there and see what that was!” Paul said to John as he stood up only to see his partner had already taken off down the hill. The two men reached the rock in seconds stopping on the opposite side as they prepared their pistols to sweep the area and find the target. They could tell that they had hit their target the instant they rounded the corner, the rock behind was covered in a thick layer of blood and… “Feathers?” John said confused. “I’m just as confused as you are” Paul started when they heard a small whimper of come from a small rock outcropping several yards away. They could not see into the small alcove due to the fact there were rocks blocking the view from their angle. “Whoever you are, under that out cropping come out with your hands up or will fill you with lead!” Paul yelled at the alcove. “Why you already have” a feminine voice responded to the statement. “Come out with your hands up” John said calmly “Well I would but since you put that bullet through one of my legs I kind of can’t walk” The voice responded again. “All right I’m coming in” John said with the same calm voice as before As he rounded the corner his eyes were greeted with the site of a cyan blue pony with a gapping bloody hole in her right shoulder. The pony stared at him with a calm expression on her face, but her eyes had the look of pure terror in them. The pony held a nine millimeter pistol in its left hoof and aimed strait at johns head. “What the hell!?!?!” John said nearly screaming the words. “What you looking at?” the pony responded with a sarcastic tone to its voice. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 “What the hell are you?!” John exclaimed while raising his pistol. “Well technically I’m a Pegasus but of right now I can’t fly” the pony told john motioning to her wing which had a large hole at the base, and several chunks of feathers missing. “Ok then…” John said “and what are you doing here?” “As for right now I’m bleeding out in a cave, getting interrogated by the sniper that almost blew off my wing.” The pony said smugly. “Why am I not surprised you said that” John said remembering his time with Paul and another one of his friends rouge . John’s headset fizzled to life and Paul’s voice came to life “Hey john we’ve got a bit of a- OH SHIT, GRENADE” Paul’s voice yelled through the radio and went silent. “Paul!?!” John yelled “Paul hold on man I’m coming” “Stay here” John told the Pegasus sternly “If I have to” she responded John rushed out of the cave, and dashed behind a large boulder several feet away from Paul’s location. He was just able to peek around the corner of the boulder and see his partner. Paul was crumpled up on the ground like he was unconscious, John slowly moved from behind the stone and move to his friend’s side. “What the hell?” John said to himself with concern, whatever had done this to Paul had to have had enough force to knock him out even with his helmet on. A dull ‘thunk’ rang out behind him and he turned with his pistol at the ready, he was greeted with the sight of a flash grenade. “Oh shit” John had barely enough time to mutter before his eyesight left him, a sound that reminded him of cloven hooves on cobble was coming towards him, suddenly a sharp pain raced through his body momentarily as two hard objects slammed into his helmet. The last thing john heard before blacking out, were the words “good job applejack” -0- “Hmm” Rouge murmured “What is it?” Roach asked “Well they shot something” Rouge stated in a matter of fact tone. “How can you tell?” Roach asked instantly regretting the question “Oh I don’t know, maybe the giant blood splatter on this rock here” Rouge said pointing towards the now crimson red stone. “So yeah I think they shot something” Roach only sighed in response to the sarcasm. There was a long period of silence as the duo observed the scene before them. “Any sign of what happened to them?” Roach asked with a cautious tone. “As of now… no” Rouge replied with a sigh. “Look I’m sorry man, I know you three were good friends” Rouge said with sympathy in his voice as he patted his friends back. “It’s just a bit nerve racking knowing that my two best friends since kindergarten, might be found with their heads on spikes” Rouge said with a tremble of rage. Roach sighed again “Ok man I think I’ll give you a minute” he told his friend deciding to give him some space “I’m going to go check the perimeter again” “All right just keep your eyes open” Rouge said not even looking up at Roach “I don’t want what happened to them to happen to you too” “I will” Roach replied as he walked away Several minutes passed before Rouges mind was calm enough to focus on the task at hand. ‘Ok so what do we know now?’ Rouge asked himself ‘They’ve been gone since the day that general was supposed to take a bullet’ “There’s nothing here” Rouge finally radioed Roach “Same here, I’m on my way back I just gotta check this cave real quick” Roach replied through Rouges head piece “All right I’ll wait here” Rouge responded “Ok I’ll be-“Roach started, a dull ‘thunk’ could be heard through the head set. “What’s going on?” Rouge tried to ask his partner through the radio A quiet fizzing noise could be heard through the headset, but no response from roach was there. Rouges heart raced with fear “ROACH!” he yelled into the headset as he took off in a dead sprint towards his friends location . > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3 John slowly blinked away the spots in his eye's and grunted. "Well looks like sleeping beauty's awake" A voice said to the right of him. "Shut up Paul" John mumbled to his partner "How long was I out?" "Oh, about four weeks" Paul said sarcastically "Ha...Ha, now seriously how long" John said in a serious tone "Honestly man, I have no clue" Paul returned "I woke up just before you did" "What do you mean you don't know?" John asked "Well look around there's no way for me to be able to tell" Paul answered John sat up to look around. They were both sitting on beds that looked like they were made for large dogs, due to their size. The room was a starch white with light being shown through the white panels that made up the walls of the room itself. A grey meal door sat at the end of Johns bed to the left. "Well this is..... different" John said with a confused tone. "Yup" Paul replied simply "So when did you wake up again?" John asked still scanning the room. "Like I said a couple of minutes ago... I think" Paul replied "Doesn't your armor have a built in clock for the HUB?" John questioned "Yea but my armors gone... and so is yours" Paul said looking over at John John looked down at his chest expecting to see his black and grey ODST armor, but was greeted only by the sight of his under armor clothing consisting of nothing more than a digital camo T-shirt and pants. "Well crap" We're the only words John could utter "Yup" Paul replied again John sighed, but stopped when he heard the sound of foot steps out side the room, and quickly came up with a plan. "Paul lye down and act like your knocked out" John ordered Paul immediately did as john asked and lye down on his bed and slow his breathing to a soft slow pace, and John followed his example just as the door opened. Another pony walked into the room, it was a light grey color with bright blond hair. They pony had a belt on that held a holster with an old Glock 18 Pistol, a weapon that hadn't been used in over seventy five years and a ring of keys that hung from the front of the belt. The pony approached Paul's bed, it placed it's front left hoof on Paul's head as if checking his temperature , when it seemed satisfied it walked over to Johns bed. 'Now's the time for my plan' John thought to himself. The pony placed it's hoof on John's head, a split second after it contacted his forehead his left and shot out and grabed it holding it in place, his right hand shot out and cupped over it's mouth stifling a scream that almost escaped it's lips. John released the pony's hoof and sent his left fist straight into the pony's temple knocking it out instantly. "Ok, Paul get up we gotta hurry" John told his teammate as he took the key's and the pistol ammo and all. "Ok I'm ready lets go man" Paul said as he reached the door and flung it open. The two men scrambled out of the room without a second glance, but what they didn't know was they were being watched through a one way mirror by a camera, the camera having witnessed the escape sent the footage to the command center where a certain purple unicorn gave the order to hit the alarm. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4 "What in the hell?" Rouge quietly asked himself as he glanced at the strange sight from behind the boulder. The scene before him was a bizarre one, Roache's crumpled form was sitting in a pile near the edge of a cliff. Two creatures that reminded Rouge of ponies but wh much smaller than what he believed to be the normal size of one, and they were colored in unnaturally bright colors. There was a large bright red pony that stood above roach starring down at his partner, the other pony stood several feet away from the red pony. Rouge could instantly tell the smaller pony was a female due to her stance, she was a light orange color with a bright blond pony, she also had a picture of three apples sitting in a triangular shape. "Now we need ta get the other one" The orange pony said with a thick southern accent. "Eyup" The red pony replied simply The red pony reached towards Roaches body and gripped his arm with its hoof (how rouge was oblivious), and began to drag his body towards a small hill that ended with a short drop off, as rouge had observed as they entered the investigation sight. The pony drug Roach several yards until he stood above the drop, he then lowered himself towards the ground and began to pull Roach off the edge until the orange pony interrupted him. "Carful Mac we still got ta question them when we get back" The pony explained "Don't want to knock um up to bad" 'At least they don't want to kill us' Rouge thought to himself as he observed this. Rouge heard a small *thunk* as if a rock had been dislodged from its position several meters to Rouges left, he quickly glance towards the noise only to see nothing and he shrugged it off as nothing. When he looked back towards the orange pony, and he saw that her stance had change..... almost as if she was preparing to jump. "Besides we don't want to make the other one feel threatened" She said with a strange tone 'I don't like the sound of that' he though as heard another noise off to his left. He sprang backwards as the cyan blur *whizzed* straight by his position seconds ago, he landed on a boulder and drew his pistol, an antique Colt 1911 pistol, he looked towards the orange pony and saw she was slowly walking towards his position. He glance over towards where he guess the cyan creature landed and saw that it was only a pony but a Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane, she was partially buried in rocks, and the red pony had disappeared from sight. "Now yall just calm down now" The orange pony said trying to sound as soothing as possible "What did you do to Roach!?!" Rouge nearly yells at the pony "It's ok just calm down" she said still trying to be soothing Rouge raised the pistol and fired a round inches from the pony's fore hooves "Take one more fucking step and its your head that's taking the next bullet" "Buck, Fluttershy was always better with animals" The orange pony cursed to herself "Now what are you doing with Roach?" Rouge questioned, trying not to sound offended about being called an animal. "Look yall your friend is gonna be fine, no need to get all violent now" the orange pony soothed. "Look you.... horse... thing, what did you do to him?!?" Rouge said while raising the pistol again A small groan escaped the cyan Pegasus that lay crumpled on the ground, the pony slowly rose its head and then slowly stood. It turned to face Rouge who still stood atop the boulder but was now looking intently at her. He stood at least a pony length taller than her, and had strange armor that covered its entire body except its head, on the arm that was pointed towards her had the word SPARTAN painted onto a metal plate on its shoulder. Rainbow Dashes POV 'What the buck are these things?' I think to myself 'Celestia, why do you do this to us?' "Applejack you get it to calm down?" I tell my friend "Shhh, rainbow we were talking about that right now" Applejack responded with a whisper "ugh boring stuff then" I said with a small groan. Rouge's POV 'Great the other one is awake now' I think to myself "Both of you shut the hell up right now!" I yell at the ponies causing them to quiet down almost instantly " I want to know what you did to my friend, now!" "Like ah said your friend is fine" the orange pony told me fort he second time "I swear to god if you don't tell me what you did to him, ill put a bullet between your eye's" I yell at the creature "and you better not try that" I say not even looking over at the cyan pony She looks at me with a state of disbelief written on her face, as she had closed a quarter of the original distance between us. "How'd the buck..." The pony starts but is cut of when I whirl around to face her,I now can get a better view oft he cyan pony, it has wings, but one of them is bandaged heavily. She has a tattoo on her flank of what looks like a rainbow colored lightning bolt striking out of a cloud, the color of the lightning bolt also matches her hair with the same pattern. "Well alright well explain it to you, but you have to come with us" The orange one said with a sigh. "Why do I have to go with you?" I ask "and I told you to stop that" I say as I saw the cyan pony had edged closer over the past few moments " cause we aren't able to explain it to you but our friend can." the orange one explained I looked at her skeptically, worried that I would be ambushed. "Look ah promise, it'll be fine" the orange one promised. I still felt nervous about it being a trap, but I decided finding Roach was more important than worrying about it. "Fine ill go with you but if you even breath a way I don't like ill put a bullet through you. "We understand" the orange one said "Don't we Rainbow?" "Yea, yea, yea..." The cyan pony responded The orange pony glared at the one called "rainbow". , until she shied away. "I understand" rainbow said trying to stop the glare she was receiving by her partner, this seemed to satisfy her and turned back towards me "Now where were we?" she asked "You were just about to lead me to my friend" I say with a ting of impatience "Oh yea that's right" she said " ok follow me" I stepped down from the boulder I was perched on and began to follow the pony, the cyan one ran to catch up with its partner. I stayed ten feet back from the two ponies making sure that they didn't have any tricks up they're... legs. We approached the cliff where the red pony had gone earlier. The ponies stopped and looked over the edge at something. "Ok ya'll we're here" the orange pony told me I just looked at the pony with a confused stare, not seeing anything around the area. 'No not there , down there" the cyan pony said with a "Duh" tone. I looked over the edge of the cliff to see an orange oval. "A portal?" I guessed "yes sir 'e, just go right through and we'll meet someone who can explain it all to you." " I don't like the, you first" "Suit yourself" the orange pony said and jumped off the cliff straight into the portal, closely followed by the cyan pony. "Well then" I said to myself, I look at the portal, nervous of what might be on the other side, but I pushed these worries away 'Don't be a pussy' I think to myself ' they don't let cowards be Spartans' "Well here goes nothing" I say, and step off the edge of the cliff, into the portal, and straight into another creature, with a very familiar voice.