//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: Six wishes for six elements // by Malcolm Merlyn //------------------------------// Orussia being an alternate counterpart to Russia, not surprisingly, had a climate so cold that anyone not to used to constant sub-zero temperature would be in for a rough trip. But if anyone came to Orussia after September 1st 1939 west of the Ural moutains, the cold would be the least of anyone's concerns. Neuroi. Mysterious aliens that consumed swaths of land in an equally mysterious yet seemingly endless hunger. If it hadn't been for the witches and their uncanny magical abilities, the entire planet would have been consumed by the aliens. And here she was. Standing in the bitter cold with nothing but a rabbit-fur coat and the iconic usankas of Orussia, Sanya stood within the blizzard. The snow pelted her like an MG nest on an advancing charge, the bitter cold nipped at her face and stung her eyes. This was Orussia. The largest empire that the world has yet seen. A little tidbit of history now wouldn't be important, especially since this was only one person's history, not the rest. What was important was how in the midst of the terrible blizzard, a lone shape materialized out of nowhere. It was Eila. "Eila?" Sanya asked with disbelief at her friend as she stepped out of the snow which was almost like a veil to everything that was in front of her. "Sanya..." Eila replied. "Are you okay? Are you... how...uhh.... wake up!" "What?" Sanya asked. "Wake up Sanya! Please! Wake up!" Is this a dream? Definitely. Was this whole thing merely a dream? This "adventure"? Everyone that she had met? Surely there couldn't have been a land of magical ponies where... "God damn it! Wake up!" Eila cried out again. "Huh?" Sanya scratched her head as Eila began to shout incomprehensible things about "getting up". Maybe those comments should be saved for Hartmann... but that aside... "I know I shouldn't remind you... but didn't you say you'd carry me around if I was too tired to walk?" Sanya replied. "Are you kidding me?" Slade groaned as she listened to what Sanya just said through closed eyelids. "Are you kidding me?" "Well... you're job now!" Steve chuckled as he saw Slade glare daggers at him as Sanya continued to mumble incomprehensible words of gratitude and much to Slade's annoyance, calling him "Eila" which sounded much like a girl's name... you can only imagine how irritated he would get by that. "So Eila..." Steve said to Slade who had still not stopped giving him the evil eye. "How's your best friend doing? I hope..." "Very funny Captain. Very funny." Slade said as he held Sanya as he would to his children when they were younger. Back then, he actually knew how to hold children and probably could do it without either getting arrows/batarangs/shurikens/power rings/water/martians/kyrptonians/etc getting flung at him from all directions. Come on people, he was an assassin, not a kidnapper and... He stopped walking as he heard the footfalls. Silent... like that guy with the batarangs. Someone there was trying to sneak up on them. Or worse yet... it might be something. "You hear that?" Slade whispered. He didn't need an answer the moment cap's face went from jovial to alert in ten seconds flat. In less time than that, the Captain had drawn his pistol. Slade's hand strayed to his SMG. Whatever was trying to get the slip of them... it was getting closer. All the while, rather comically Sanya was still mumbling about someone called Eila. "So... what happened there?" Luna asked as the seven ponies went through the forest, trying hard to find what original route they had taken the last time, and where they had met up with the humans. They would stop temporarily at the large footprints within the ground. "Huh... looks like... well... wow..." Twilight said. "If I remember the books right... I think an Ursa Major has been through here." "Um... Twilight... doesn't that mean BAD things for us?" "Not at all actually! Did you know Ursas are mostly actually very calm and reasonable? They won't even notice you unless you do something to get their attention. Typically however, they leave us alone and probably wouldn't care about what we do and... what's that noise?" In the distance. Birds scattered as the roars became within earshot. The ponies took a look around for a moment for any telltale signs that could possibly tell them what was going on. Save for the footprints, there were none causing Luna to fly up into the skies to take a look. When she came down, she couldn't have been more panicked if someone had told her Feynaltdrog was (somehow) in her saddlebag. "We have to go. Now!" The princess of the night said. Her unfeigned anxiety and terror caused everypony to back up for a moment. "What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What's..." "There is no time to talk! There is a dragon fighting an Ursa Major!" "Wait.. say that again?" Twilight asked as she looked at her map again. "There is a dragon fighting an Ursa." Luna answered. "Come on! Let's go!" That instantly made Twilight's face droop. That's what she just forgot. "Umm... Luna what color was the dragon?" "Why do you care?! This entire forest is going to go up in flames with those two titans battling!" "Just tell me!" "Purple!" Imagine the looks on the faces of every pony when they all realized at the same time what they had forgot. "SPIKE!" "Vat vas that?" Medic asked to empty air as he drew out the bonesaw, the long blade still stained of blood on his last unlucky patient. "Something..." Jim said as he aimed his rifle. His motion detectors within his armor's HUD were buzzing like crazy, yet there was no way currently to search for a source. He couldn't tell where it was coming from. No one could. "I got nothing..." Slade grumbled as he activated his tactical vision. With Sanya in his hands, he mentally debated on whether or not Sanya would make a good bludgeoning tool. Frantically, the mercenary scanned around. He would find nothing. "Armin... what are you doing?" Rogers asked as he took out his shield, watching the boy step into the shallow stream, walking through it. "The water... we should go in... I know we'll get wet and all but if somethings out there... I think if we can't see it coming... we can hear it coming!" "And this is why I wish Sanya is awake." Slade said as he looked at the water. "What do you think if I... uh..." He pointed between Sanya and the water, getting all looks of disapproval... "Okay. I am certain her taking a nap isn't as important as... actually.. forget it. How the hell does she sleep through this is a better question." In all seriousness... Hartmann was easily outdone today in who was a better sleeper. But as things would have it, Sanya turned out to be a very heavy sleeper as she continued to mumble to an imaginary friend. Slade would have been the happiest man on the planet for like 2 seconds when Sanya perked up and wrapped her arms around his neck... only to find out... She was still asleep. "Thanks for carrying me Eila..." Sanya muttered in her dream-like state. Inwardly, dunking her in stream water was now becoming more and more of a viable option.