//------------------------------//
// Cold Alliance 
// Story: Modern Warmare 
// by Beatleboy62 
//------------------------------//


Ch 2



Cold Alliance


Somewhere in the Everfree Forest…

Price set Roach down as Yuri and Ghost scanned the area around them.

"It looks like we're clear; I'll just watch the rear to make sure they didn't fallow us."

Yuri leaned against a tree, checking his Desert Eagle for damage, "Well, now what?"

Price was thinking, trying to figure out their next course of action. Not sure what to do, he stayed silent.

"Well? Any ideas at all?" Roach asked.

"No, I have absolutely no ideas." Price said, "The SAS doesn't exactly train you for situations like this. Horses, let alone talking ones aren't exactly a priority there."

Ghost nodded, "Where the hell are we anyway? That bright light thing just before we crashed looked like something out of an old science film, and wherever we think we are, we're probably wrong."

Price was already smoking another cigar.

"Jesus, how many of those things do you have on you?" Ghost asked.

"Enough to keep me occupied," And with that, Price started plodding back in the general direction of the crash, "Let's see if they're still there."

Soap, Nikolai, and the ponies had moved from the Infirmary to what looked to be a library built inside a tree. They were being stared at by six of colorful ponies as Soap tried to find the words to say what he felt, yet nothing came to mind. Nikolai spoke first.

"Excuse me, was that a telescope I saw on the roof?"

"Yes, why?" Twilight replied

"I'd like to use it to pinpoint the wreck and where our friends may have gone; it'd make our job easier."

Twilight nodded, "Sure, just keep following the stairs until you reach the top."

And with that, Nikolai went upstairs, leaving Soap with the ponies.

"Well, um…hello."

A pink pony with poofy hair shouted back at him, "Hi!"

As the room became silent again, the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Looking for something, anything to say, he looked towards the purple unicorn that had talked to him earlier.

"You, what was your name again, Twilight Twinkle?"

"Sparkle." She replied.

"Yeah." He gathered his thoughts and continued. "You said you wanted to find my friends, right? Well, so do I."

"How would we go about finding them?" She asked, "When we found you, they ran off into the forest."

The words stung a little as Soap thought of his friends, the ones he relied on, leaving him. "Well, if they do anything I'd expect them to do, they're probably looking for Nikolai and myself right now, back where you found us."

Twilight spoke, enthusiastic about finding the rest of the group. "That's great; in that case we should get moving so we can-."

"I need my gear." Soap interrupted.

"What?"

"The stuff I brought with me, I need it. They'll know you don't mean harm when they see me with my gear." Soap was trying his best to keep away from the words 'gun,' or 'weapon,' less stir up any more questions.

"Why wouldn't they trust us if you didn't have your gear?"

"Just please, trust me on this. It has to do with how we do things back where I'm from. Please, trust me."

As he pleaded, Applejack tapped Twilight on the shoulder. Turning to Soap as she led Twilight to the next room, she said, "We'll be back in the whip of a tail."

Once they were alone, Twilight asked, "Get any weird feelings about him wanting his gear? I have a feeling some of his things are weapons, and that knife didn't look like it was for cooking either."

"While I don't know for sure what his intentions are, I know he doesn't want to hurt us. Ah' have a feeling that if he wanted to escape or hurt us, he would have tried already."

"Well, should we trust him and go with him to find the others?"

"Ah' think it work out for the best. If they really are dangerous, it would be good if they were corralled into one place. I think somepony else should know besides us. Some, royal pony."

Twilight nodded, "I agree, Princess Celestia should probably know about this, she'll know what to do next."

She levitated the quill and parchment over from the side table and started writing, dictating to Applejack as she wrote:

Dear Princess Celestia,

While this letter does not contain any notes about friendship, it does contain information I think you should know about. In the past few hours or so, a group of travelers have somehow ended up here in Ponyville. The thing is, there nothing like I've ever seen before. While I can't exactly explain what they look like, the technology they have is very different from what we have, and I think it would be best if we could see you right away. We have two of them with us, and while one is acting very friendly toward us, the other is a bit jumpy. I promise to be safe and keep a wary eye on them as we look for the other four that were with them.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight rolled up the letter, sealing it with a ribbon. She walked over to the small basket in the center of the room and started lightly tapping the purple dragon inside.

"Spike, Spike, wake up, I need you to do something."

The purple dragon tossed and turned, but stayed asleep, so Twilight tried tapping him a bit harder.

"Spike, Spike! This is really important."

Again, he moved around, but didn't wake up.

Applejack winked at Twilight, "Don't worry, ah' got this one."

She leaned over and whispered into Spike's ear, "Oh Spike, I think Rarity wants to talk to yah'."

Spike quickly sat up, looking around excitedly. After a few seconds, he looked at Twilight, with both a sad and slightly annoyed look on his face.

"You're not Rarity."

"No, but you're a dragon who can send letters to Princess Celestia, which is exactly what I need you to do right now."

Spike sighed, "Fine, give me the letter."

Twilight passed him the rolled up letter, and holding it in his hand, he exhaled a magical breath of fire over it, sending the letter to Princess Celestia in Canterlot.

"Good, let's hope she reads it soon."

"What was that about anyway?" Spike asked, groggily getting back into his bed.

"Oh," Twilight replied, "Just some…visitors."

In the next room Soap was left with the four other ponies staring at him. The aura of awkwardness had regained control of the room as three of the four just stared at him. The fourth, Rarity on the other hand, was thinking about Soap.

She stared at his outfit, 'Hmm, functional, suits his needs, a bit plain, but yet, so different.'

Breaking the silence, she asked him, "Excuse me, Mr. MacTavish, what is your occupation back wherever you're from?"

Soap rocked his head back and forth, still thinking that his life as a soldier back home was dangerous to discuss.

"I am a…" He thought for a moment more as the ponies leaned in, "Tactical Specialist."

"A wha?" Pinkie Pie questioned.

"I help people get out of tough situations, whether it be by stealth or force, always to protect the ones I care about most."

Rarity looked at him again, trying to analyze him, 'He looks and acts though, yet appears to also have a compassionate side for those he cares about. He has a barbaric pattern of war paint on his face, uses force in his job, and yet acts with such dignity and grace when in front of a group of ladies. I'll have to keep an eye on him, he seems…interesting.'

As Twilight and Applejack walked out of the next room, Soap questioned Twilight.

"Ms. Sparkle, have you come to a decision?"

She nodded, "Yes, we've decided that if it gains the trust of your friends, then you can have your gear. Just please, be careful." She brought out Soap's things from a dresser drawer and gave it to him.

Soap began checking his things, making a mental list in his head while the ponies watched. 'Ka-Bar Knife? Check. M1A1? Out of ammo, but check. Ranger? Six shells, use wisely, check. M9? Check, 6 rounds in gun, extra mag on vest. Journal?' He looked in his breast pocket, sighing with relief as the leather bound journal was still there. 'Check.'

Nikolai walked down from upstairs, having found what he was looking for.

"I can see smoke billowing from about five klicks east of here. If they ran father away like you said, I could only imagine that they'd be more eastward then."

"Good." Soap replied, "But before we go, I think we should get to know your names. I'm John, or 'Soap' if you want, this is Nikolai, and I know that's Twilight, but what's the rest of your names?"

"Hello darling, I'm Rarity, aspiring fashionista."

"I'm Applejack, apple farmer and best darn rodeo pony you'll ever see, thank ya' very much."

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I work at Sugarcube Corner!"

"And I'm Rainbow Dash, Captain of the Weather Patrol and best young flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Captain?" Soap replied, "Seems we have something in common."

Soap and Nikolai were gradually warming up to the ponies, as they were to them, but Soap had one more question. "Who's that one hiding behind the couch?"

The five ponies looked behind the couch, where Fluttershy was cowering on the floor.

"C'mon Fluttershy," Twilight spoke in between grunts, trying to push her out, "They're friendly, they're not going to hurt you!"

Nikolai looked behind the couch, making eye contact, trying to comfort her in Russian.

"Я обещаю не ушибить вас маленькое одно." It didn't help much.

Hearing Nikolai's deep voice in a different language, Fluttershy shrieked and fell over, frozen in that position.

"Is she ok?" Soap asked.

"This happens a lot." Rainbow Dash sighed, putting a hoof over her face.

"I got it." Nikolai said, taking the frozen Fluttershy and putting her under his arm, "Let's go."