Chapter 7
Contingency
It's been...two weeks? I think it's been two weeks, the time in this place seems to move at just about the same pace as back home, at least as my watch can tell. Have absolutely no idea what the situation is at home right now. For all we know, Makarov got the bloody codes he wanted and reduced the rest of the world to a large ashtray. Even though about nintey percent of that part of the world wants us dead right now for Shepard, I honestly hope that they're still holding Makarov off.
But this place we've seemingly fallen into, it's unlike any place I've ever seen or heard before. Those Borneo jungles and Tibetan monasteries that I've visited on past missions have absolutely nothing on the sheer beauty that this untouched land does. I think that if we were ever given an assignment in a place even close to this one, everyone would be to distracted by the environment alone to get any actual work done.
As for the inhabitants...
Soap looked at the wall of his attic living space in Carousel Boutique, at the drawing of himself that Sweetie Bell had given to him after he had rescued Opal from a tree.
They're pretty nice to say the least.
The others are holding up pretty well, most of them at least. From what I've heard from Rarity, Ghost hasn't even said a word yet to Fluttershy, that during the day he'll help Fluttershy with whatever she needs getting done, but stay silent the entire time. I have a feeling it has to do with Shepard, but I'm also going to assume it wasn't the first time someone close to him double-crossed him and left him for dead, those things tend to leave impressions.
Nikolai is well, Nikolai. Well, at least that blue pegasus hasn't tried to throw him off of the cloud yet. I'm still trying to get used to that, that they live on bloody clouds! She likes having him around for the fact that since Nikolai's been piloting planes for over thirty years, he's watched her fly, he can give her little tips about what currents to ride and how tight to tuck loops, and other stuff like that. He's in good spirits, yet I'm sure she's getting tired of lifting his heavy arse up to that damn cloud home whenever the time calls for it.
Roach seems to be doing the best out of all of us. Considering he's been thrown in with what seems like the physical embodiment with happiness and laughter, no wonder too. To help out around the bakery he lives under, he takes inventory for them, telling how much they have of everything down there. It also seems like the owners know that with a 'monster' under the shop, none of the young foals even think about swiping a treat from there when their backs are turned.
Yuri. I'm not too sure what to say about his current situation. Applejack, the cowgirl, seems quite suspicious about him, I mean, she keeps him locked up in a barn all day. If that doesn't make someone wonder what she thinks about him, what would? Last time I talked to Yuri, he seemed less than pleased with the whole thing, but still understanding. He told me that she had her reasons, but he didn't tell me what they were. She told me that he does work around the farm for her during the night, when everybody's asleep and she unlocks the barn for him. Apparently she didn't put him up to it, and he just started doing it on his own. He probably feels as though he needs to do that to thank her. Overall he seems fine, so that's good.
And finally, Price. For the past two weeks, he and Twilight have just been going through all the books they can get their hands on about teleportation, lost magic, and mythological creatures that are anything like us. Price told me that they haven't had a single lead yet, but more books keep arriving from royal archives every day. When they're not doing that, Twilight begs Price to tell her what everything in the magical chest is, where all of our equipment is stored. She asked me if I could tell her, but since I know Price would snap my neck if I did so, I had to decline. Honestly, I agree with him, we shouldn't just go around telling these people what our guns are, not yet at least. I think he might lose it soon, he has to be running out of cigars.
As for me, well, I'm quite content with my current situation. Being a dressmaker's assistant has it's perks.
Soap closed the battle-worn journal and slipped it back in his pocket. Rising off of the old couch stored in the attic, he made his way to the ladder which led down to the second story. Looking at his watch, he saw it was about 12:30 AM. As per the mayor's request, the humans could only move around outside at night, as not to scare any of the townsfolk. Soap understood this request quite well. When he had saved Opal from a tree, half of the town gathered in a mob around Carousel Boutique thinking he was going to eat the cat. While the citizens now understood that they weren't barbaric savages, they still preferred to keep their distance.
Leaving the boutique with Rarity in tow, Soap stuck his hands in the jacket that Rarity had made for him. She spent hours quizzing him on the fashion of his home world, where clothing was mostly worn for modesty rather than fashion. She invited all of the soldiers over and crafted new winter clothing for all of them. She even tried to get Price to exchange his boonie hat for a fancy French-looking beret. Little did she know that was a loosing battle. They left foot and hoof prints as they walked though the snow, the windows of town mostly dark as their residents slept. Soap began making small talk while they made their way to the library, where they'd meet with others.
"So, do you think the town's a bit more tolerant of us now, that we're not the big scary monsters everyone thought us to be?"
"Well darling," Rarity looked up at Soap with a frowning face, "You know that I still have to ask you to leave the room when a client comes in. Even some of my more open minded visitors are frightened by your appearance." She shook her head, "I'm sure they'll all come around eventually."
Finally reaching the library, Soap held the door for Rarity as she walked in. Everyone had arrived before them, and was chatting away, mostly about how most ponies in town were reacting to the humans. As everyone was finally there, Twilight and Price called everyone's attention to them, Price talking first.
"I'm sure you all know why you're here and wish to know about anything we've found. The sad news is, we haven't got a damn clue how we got here." Twilight continued where he left off, "And since there doesn't seem to be an Equestrian answer as to how you all got here, we are going to take a trip in the morning to the crash site of your vehicle, where we hopefully can find some clues as to how you all got here. It seems as though the only explanation left is that something from your world brought you here, not us."
Nodding, Captain Price asked if there were any questions. Nikolai raised a hand, asking Twilight a question.
"Miss Twilight, does the town have any long term plans for us? Since they aren't exactly easy with the idea of us being here, I have a slight feeling they will ask us to leave soon."
Twilight stooped her head, "Actually...yes." Everyone, including Price turned to hear what she had to say, as even he hadn't heard this news yet, "I met with Mayor Mare today, and she told me that an increasing number of townsponies were asking when you were going to leave. She told me that even though Celestia herself had asked us to quarter you, she needs you to leave by tomorrow night, not just to cover herself, but for the safety and well being of everypony here in Ponyville. I'm sorry."
Price let out a sigh, a look of discontent on his face, before patting her on the neck. "It's ok, there's nothing you can do about it. Back home, our people are going through a difficult time, where anything foreign is viewed as scary, frightening, and people will do anything to get rid of it. It's not something you can control, so don't worry about it."
Twilight plopped down to the floor, an exasperated look on her face, "I just wish there was a way for everypony to see that you're not as bad as they think! I mean, they thought John was going to eat Opal! EAT OPAL!"
Suddenly, she was interrupted by a loud noise outside, silencing them all. Instinctively, Roach blew out the single candle illuminating the room as they looked out the dark windows.
"What the bloody hell is that thing?" Soap asked.
"It's a griffon, what's he doing here?" Dash asked. Suddenly, as he gave a signal to the sky, several more landed behind him, as a few other figures ran down the road into the center of town, meeting with the griffons.
"Diamond Dogs, Ponies, and Griffons, together? Nothin' good can come of this." Applejack warned.
They watched as the griffon that seemed to be in charge cupped his hands around his beak, yelling at the top of his lungs. "All citizens please come to the Town Square immediately. If there is anyone missing from this town archive list, we will tear apart this town to find them. Anyone who acts out will be met with equal and more powerful force, do not resist."
"Well," Price quietly asked, "Are you going to go? These guys look like bad news."
"You heard them," Twilight said, "They'll tear apart the town looking for us if we don't!"'
"Yeah, and a few ponies in the process." Rainbow Dash angrily spat, "what if we get the jump on them?"
"We don't know exactly what we're dealing with, not yet at least." Applejack replied, "It would be quite bad if we ran out there ready to fight and ended up trying to fend off fifty griffons at once."
"Well," Twilight said, nervously looking at the other ponies, "It looks like we don't have a choice."
As the Ponies exited the library single file, Soap looked at Price. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"
"Yeah," He pulled the chest out from under a table, it was unlocked as Price was teaching Twilight what a radio was right before the meeting.
They began to arm themselves, and noticed how understocked they were.
"So," Price began listing what they had, "we have an M4A1, empty, an AK-47, empty, an ACR, empty, an M16A4, empty, and my M14 with a single round. We also have two M9s, with fifteen rounds between the two, my M1911 with six rounds, Yuri's Deagle with two shots, and Soap has his Ranger. How many rounds do you have?" He opened the shotgun. "Well, I have one in the gun, but an extra six-" He reached in his pocket, it was empty. "An extra six...in my other pocket." He slapped himself in the face. "Right..." Price said, "A single shell shotgun. So we have that, and our knives. Bloody great."
As they finished checking what they had, Nikolai ran down from the highest balcony.
"Well, what do their forces look like?" Price asked.
"Six of those griffons, three Diamond Dogs, and four ponies. One unicorn, one pegasus, and two earth ponies. They're wearing armor, but it looks ramshackle, like they're not part of a bigger organization. Doesn't look like it would offer much against bullets either."
"For their sake," Price said slamming the magazine into his pistol, "they better surrender easily,"
With themselves armed as best they could, Price handed Nikolai a radio, "Watch from the balcony, give us locations." Nodding, Nikolai ran back up. Sitting in the darkness, waiting to go Ghost whispered, "Well if this doesn't look familiar."
--------------------------------------------------------141------------------------------------------------------
A/N:Yes, I'm tormenting you with these cliffhangers. The next chapter will be quite exciting. As always, please review.