Day 2
SFC David Grayson
I awoke in the cave. I got and stretched. I heard my bones crack and I grunted as I realized that sleeping on a cold stone floor with only an ACU(Army Combat Uniform), a smoldering fire pit and a thin layer of leaves staving off hypothermia wasn't the most comfortable place in the world. I walked over to Elliot and kicked him lightly. "Up and at 'em, man. I want to be overlooking the town before most of its population is awake."
"We really got to stop starting the day like this. Uh, I wish we had some duct tape. At least we would have a semi-decent hammock." Elliot said, also cracking his bones.
"All in due time, man. Fill your canteen and put on your ghillie suit." I put on the ghillie suit that we had fashioned after the incident with the wolves. I took out my canteen and held under the waterfall. I remembered the basics from survival school; don't drink stagnate or sea water. Only drink moving water, or urine if you're desperate. I walked back into the cave and grabbed my M4A1. I screwed on my silencer, didn't want to risk having to fire close to town unsilenced. I looked at Elliot and saw him filling his canteen. He turned around and I asked him "Good to go?"
"The Totally Fucking Lost Duo is Oscar Mike. We should follow the tracks back." I nodded and found the tracks in the clearing. I looked up and saw dark clouds moving overhead.
"Looks like rain, and the darker the cloud the more rain. We should hurry before the tracks are washed away."
After about an hour of following the tracks, we saw the end of the forest. "Where should we set up?" I asked
"Why are you asking me?"
"You're the sniper. You're the expert at setting up a spot to overlook a place for hours at a time."
"Well you're higher up. It's your final decision."
"Well I'm making it your decision."
"Fine, um, up there. Good overlook, lots of cover and an easy escape route. Natural choice."
"Lead the way." We moved to overlook and took out our binoculars. Looking through them, we could see many ponies moving around.
An Hour Later
"Uh, this is why I don't hunt or fish. Too fucking boring." I groaned, bored out of my fucking skull. I may be the highest enlisted rank in the US Army, but that doesn't mean I can't be bored on duty.
"If you're so fucking bored, why don't you just walk down there and say 'Hello, I've been watching you for a few hours. Take me to your fucking leader.' Now shut the fuck up and keep watching or take a fucking nap." snapped back Elliot.
"At this rate, I wonder how long it is before we're at each other's necks." I said after a few seconds
This got a chuckle out of him and he responded "A few hours, at best. At worst, I'm gonna throttle you the next time you open your mouth."
"Alright, I'll keep my finger on the trigger." We shared a chuckle and went back to watching. "How long do you think it'll take them to figure out we're watching them."
"I don't know. Maybe some adventurer will find our skeletons, maybe those ponies that came looking for us yesterday are behind us right now with clubs, waiting for us to turn around before smacking us on the head." he chuckled a bit before saying "I've thought about this."
I chuckled and said "I can tell."
"Hang on. Ponies from yesterday are coming our way."
"Drop the binoculars. Glare, there must be glare of the lens. We should bail." I said with a hint of panic, slowly getting up.
"No, lie as still as you can. Don't want to blow our cover when they don't even know we're here. There couldn't have been a flash, we're in the shade. Maybe they're just going for a walk."
"You better be right." I said settling back into the place I was lying. I saw the ponies walk into the forest and overheard the conversation
"-plejack, Rarity don't worry. I'm sure Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootalo are fine." said the voice I recognized as Purple.
"Ah know Twi, but it doesn't stop me from worrying." said Country.
After they left earshot, both Elliot and I said "Maybe we should lend a hand."
"Guess we're in agreement." I said
"Yep." Elliot answered
"Oscar Mike." I responded. We got up from the position and made out way into the forest.
After around 30 minutes of searching, we heard a loud, high-pitched scream. We looked at each other for a few seconds before bolting in the direction of the scream. Our progress was blocked by a ravine but we saw multiple wood wolves staring down colorful blobs. "Set up firing position. Silencers off, we need to draw the ponies from before's attention." I ordered, steadying my rifle on a tree stump. I judged the distance and compensated for bullet drop. The wolves began moving forward and I began firing.
There was a flash of lightning, a crack of thunder and the thudding of rain. I heard Elliot say "Dramatic timing at its best." The 2 wolves dropped dead and the small ponies looked in our direction.
I took the initiative and shouted "RUN YOU FOOLS!" before firing again. The ponies ran to the left and left view. "We need to move. The only thing they'll find are shell casing." We ran in the other direction and after an hour, by pure luck, we found our base. There were a 5 deer drinking from the pond and we screwed on our silencers. We were able to get a single deer and after gutting it, we were cooking venison. We only hoped that the ponies were able to find them. We went to bed with a full stomach and a (mostly)clear conscience.