From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies?

by TLP

Chapter 2: A Warm Reunion

Author's Note:

(As of July 31, 2017, this chapter has went through moderate changes.)

(If you'd like to see the original, un-edited version of this chapter, click this link. I will be doing this for every chapter from here on out. As I edit more and more chapters, there will be a link at the very end of each doc that will lead directly to the next or previous un-edited chapter. I should have done it for the first chapters before this, but better late than never. )

2 words: Dirty. Harry.

"I come in peace, I didn't bring artillery. But I am pleading you with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all."-Marine General James Mattis, to Iraqi Tribe Leaders

About 1 mile away from Marcus' position...

Kayla slowly opened her eyes, covering them due to the multiple rays of sunlight hitting her face from the treeline above. She hissed slightly and looked down at the ground, a shocked expression slowly formed on her face.

"I'm!...I'm alive...?" She asked herself quietly, feeling the grass with her hands, before quickly crawling backwards in a sudden panic, backing into a tree which made her gasp and look up at the treeline, as well as noticing the cave a couple yards away from her.

"H-how the...but...wh...I..."

Kayla tried to calm herself down, almost convinced that she had either officially lost her mind or that she's in a sort of heaven. As she looked around, she noticed a majority of her equipment and weapons splayed out on the ground, in relatively good condition.

She slowly stood up, trying to make sense of her current situation and control her shaky breathing, "Gotta...gotta find the others...agh..." She groaned and reached for her weapons, quickly picking up her MR-28 and checking the magazine, which was full, as well as doing the same with her Honey Badger, with the same results.

"Still have everything..." She muttered, patting her person as she double checked to make sure she had all her equipment, as well as grabbing her radio, "Guess I can't really complain about that..."

Before Kayla could speak into her radio, she heard a loud, painful groan beside her.

"Agh, damn...where the...what?!"

Kayla recognized from anywhere, "Jackson...!" She turned and saw Jackson laying on his back, slowly lifting himself up. Kayla quickly made her way towards him and began to help him up, feeling a small wave of relief come over her at the sight of her friend.

He groaned again, looking up and almost falling back down when he saw Kayla, relief flowing over him, "Kayla...? Oh thank God. I thought I was the only one here..."

As Jackson got up, he looked around, also trying to take in the fact that they're now in a forest, "...where the...how did we even get here? Where is this place?..."

"I'm about as lost as you are, Jacks...panicking won't do us any good."

"Right...right. It's just so...I don't know what to think right now. Am I the only one you found?"

"Yeah. Marcus isn't anywhere to be found here, and Thompso-"

"Wha...agh...I...-"

Kayla and Jackson both quickly turned around and saw Thompson keeled over, vomiting as he tried to maintain his balance. They both quickly went and helped the medic back up on his feet after he finished. Jackson checked him for any visible injuries, while Kayla patted his back. "Christ...looks like you had a full meal before we even came here."

Thompson coughed a couple times and spoke quietly, "I uh...ugh, I had a couple MREs before we arrived at Exodus, remember?"

"Yeah," Jackson chuckled, "you ate the last chicken fajita pack I called dibs on."

Thompson just smiled a little and was slowly walked over to a relatively flat tree stump for him to sit on. Kayla handed him his canteen, which Thompson gratefully and quickly took, twirling off the cap and drinking from it, drinking almost all of it before handing it back to Kayla.

"Ah...th-thanks."

"Damn...looks like we're gonna have to find some sort of stream or pond to refill." Kayla muttered, barely drinking enough for herself and Jackson.

"Sorry...my throat burns a bit is all."

"No worries man," Jackson smiled, "How ya feeling now?"

Thompson rubbed the side of his head to get rid of his dizziness, "Like I drank for two days...nonstop." He then proceeded to vomit again, this time over his shoulder.

Jackson picked up his own gear and weapons, as well as Thompson's. "So...any of you know why we're not dead? And why all of us have our gear?"

Kayla shrugged, looking above them, the sunlight barely gleaming through the dense treetops, "Maybe the whole MEDUSA device...teleported us somehow? Like, maybe we're just in the forests of Maine or something? Somewhere the Cryptids haven't overran yet?"

Jackson and Thompson both thought about this. They knew that even before the detonation of the MEDUSA device, there were still plenty of military forces fighting the Cryptids all across the world, especially in the United States, even if it was all a war they couldn't win.

"Well, if that's really the case, then where the hell is Marcus?" Jackson spoke up. A long silence fell onto the three, thinking about where exactly their squad leader could be.

Thompson then spoke out, a hint of fear in his voice"...what if he...didn't make it? Or didn't get teleported with us here?"

Jackson thought about it for a good minute, but doubt took over and he shook his head, "Nah...nah, I doubt it. He must be here somewhere. Think about it, it's too much of a coincidence for all three of us to be teleported so close to each other."

"Well, none of us know that. I mean, all we knew about that thing was that it could fry the brain of any Cryptid. We never even knew it could teleport us, let alone put us all in one location." Thompson countered.

"True...but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to at least look for him around here."

"I never said we shouldn't. I wanna find him as bad as you guys do, bu-"

"Guys, guys, hold on..." Kayla spoke up, looking upwards at the treeline, barely making out a faint line of smoke through the dense forest rooftop. She then slowly grabbed her MR-28 and adjusted the hybrid sight on it, getting a much clearer and less obstructed view on the line of smoke. As she pointed it out to the others, who could also see it, but not as clear as her, she began to speak.

"There...a line of smoke...north-east of us. I know it's a bit of a long shot but what if Marcus made some sort of a camp?"

Thompson then came up with his own theory, "Or maybe a distress signal?...even if it's not him, maybe it's some survivors? Or some cabin dwellers who could maybe help us?"

"Good point..." Jackson then asked Kayla, "How far do ya think it is?"

Kayla thought for a moment, then estimated, lowering her MR-28, "About 2 or 3 clicks west from here...we should get going before it gets dark. From the looks of it..." She looked up towards the direction of the sun, as best she could, "...we have about two hours of daylight left.

Jackson whistled slowly then spoke in surprised tone. "Already, huh? Guess time does fly by when you're having fun."

"Wait..." Thompson spoke up quietly as he also observed the position of the sun, "Wasn't it around morning when we arrived at Exodus?"

"What does that have to do with this?" Kayla grunted as she stood up and collected her gear. "We're wasting time on this, let's just get moving!"

"No, like, if we are in America still, like in Maine, there should still be a good seven or eight hours left of sunli-"

Before he could finish, the trio heard a series of howls, followed by an ear-piercing scream.

Kayla spoke in worry, "You think that was Marcus...?"

Jackson laughed, trying to otherwise hide his nervousness, "C'mon, really? Since when does he scream like a little bitch?"

Kayla was about retort, but heard a familiar sound echo through the forest...

Gunshots...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash has been following the strange creature at a moderate distance for quite a while, and despite having possibly been the first pony in history to find some sort of alien life, she was bored and annoyed out of her mind. She looked up to the sky and saw that the sun was setting, relatively quickly

"Ugh!...maybe I should just tie this thing up and see if Twilight knows anything about it..." She began contemplating on whether she should just show herself to the creature and knock it out or something, until she heard more howls that broke her train of thought.

"Yeah...it's probably for the best. I hate being out he-"

Until she also heard a scream that she immediately recognized...

Rainbow then quickly paused mid-flight with a look of horror and worry on her face, "F-Fluttershy?..."

She quickly looked around, having lost sight of the creature in the dense forest. She then heard more screaming and quickly calculated the direction it came from. Rainbow quickly flew under the treeline, gaining a couple scratches from the loose branches as she followed a trail that contained the weird creatures' footsteps.

Then, as she flew beyond a couple bushes, she finally spotted Fluttershy, cowering herself back onto a rotting tree, surrounded by the charred bodies Timberwolves, as well as the creature crouched in front of Fluttershy, holding the weird long, tan object and seemingly aiming it at Fluttershy herself.

"No...no, no, nononono! Rainbow Dash flew speedily towards the creature, anger and a determination to save her friend flowed through her veins as she pulled back both of her hooves, ready to pin and punch the creature for all she was worth.

"DON'T YOU BUCKING TOUCH HER!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Marcus' P.O.V

Marcus kept his R-5 up the whole time as he ventured deeper into the forest. He needed to find his squad. Fast. He took note as to how quickly it was getting dark, at how fast the sun was setting, at how unnatural everything seemed.

"I'm not going to die in the middle of a fucking...forest..."

After walking for what seemed like hours, he heard another pair of howls, only this time it was much closer.

"Pinche mierda...that was way too fucking close..."

Marcus slowly walked towards some bushes and went prone, waiting and hoping the wolves would not catch his scent or notice him, clutching his R-5 tightly and keeping his breathing quiet and at a minimum.

He then noticed shadows in the distance, and what looked like wolves, 7 of them, but there was something off about their appearance...

They were made of wood.

Marcus was in absolute shock, so much so that he gasped "What the...fuck? Wood?...I'm REALLY starting to wonder if this is another planet...or if I've completely lost my mind..." He mumbled, but concentrated on what the wolves were doing. It seemed they were surrounding something, since they were snarling and growling.

He then heard a scream, and saw what their prey was.

A yellow horse with a pinkish mane. With wings.

And it fucking screamed.

Marcus was confused beyond belief, on the verge of completely losing it, if he wasn't already. "What...the fuck..." He subconsciously said out-loud. The wolves turned to the source of the noise, and started toward the bush he was in, their heads hunched down as their growls grew louder and closer.

"Aw shit..." He thought, then he quickly switched the safety off his R-5 into semi-auto and quickly stood up on his feet, stepping out of the bush, startling the wolves and making them back up a little bit as Marcus stepped forward, away from the bush. He then raised his Remington up to him, aiming at the wolves.

"Thank god for incendiary." He thought with a small smirk and pulled the trigger. The rounds flew out of the barrel at subsonic speed, impacting the wolves, immediately setting them alight on impact, making the wolves howl in pain as the flames engulf them.

Marcus proceeded to take down 4 of the 7 wolves in quick succession, the 2 remaining wolves panicking and running back into the woods, not wanting to turn up the same way the others did. He lowered the R-5 when he turned at the horse, who was shaking like it just came out of swimming in the Arctic.

He proceeded to walk towards it slowly, trying not to seem as intimidating, "Hey...uh...you're okay now. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

The horse only yelped and jumped back, its eyes unusually huge and looked like it was about to have a heart attack.

Marcus spoke even softer, reaching his gloved hand out to it, as a gesture of peace and friendliness, "I'm not going hurt you, I swear on my life. Just come out. Do you have any injuries on you?..."

The horse slowly relaxed and looked at his hand, contemplating on whether she should take the odd creature up on his gesture, But before she could, Marcus heard a loud, raspy voice behind him.

"DON'T YOU BUCKING TOUCH HER!"

"...bucking?..." He wondered as he quickly turned to the source of the voice, only to be met with two hooves grabbing onto, launching him forward and being forcefully pinned onto the tree by a strong creature.

He opened his eyes and coughed, dazed and barely able to make out the creature, only to be staring at something that completely made him lose his last bit of sanity.

Another fucking horse with wings.

After the dust settled, he looked at the horse clearer, noticing it had cyan fur and rainbow hair, and its eyes looked fierce, burning with a desire he couldn't quite pin point at the moment. The magenta coloring only making it look more menacing and determined.

Marcus shook his head and his training kicked in. He head-butted the cyan horse right as it was pulling back its hoof to punch him, making it stumble back and fall onto its back. He took this to his own advantage and pinned the horse's forelegs with both of his legs and took out his KSG-12 from his back, pumped it once and aimed it at its forehead, seeing its eyes widen in both shock and anger.

"Just give me a reason to blow your fucking head off..." He thought, breathing heavily, but the creature swiftly headbutted him back. It barley fazed him, but it was too late, the horse slipped from under him and took a defensive stance several feet away from Marcus, wiping its mouth with its forehoof, its wings fully extended and it was breathing in and out from its nostrils like a bull. So much so, that he could have sworn he saw steam coming out of them.

Needless to say, the horse was pissed.

Marcus took this opportunity to shout at the horse, willing to get some answers "Who and what in the flying fuck are you?!"

The horse was taken aback by the sudden shout, but regained its composure. It spoke with anger in its voice "Someone you don't wanna buck with, pal."

Marcus smirked and gripped his shotgun tighter, "Try me."

The horse replied with a smirk of its own, "I feel like I could take you on and buck you to Tartarus and back. And I feel more than lucky to get the opportunity to whoop your flank for you trying to hurt my friend here." It growled.

Marcus didn't know what Tartarus was, but he guessed it was some sort of equivalent to hell, "I wasn't trying to hurt your friend...I saved from those...things."

"Liar! You wanted her for yourself, that's why you killed the Timberwolves! It explains why you were aiming that...thing at her. You monster." She growled, pawing her hoof, as if she was ready to tackle him.

Before the cyan horse even could however, several footsteps came from behind it. When it turned around, her defensive stance faltered as she was greeted with three other similar creatures, holding similar weapons as the one it was about to tackle. All three of them were holding their weapons tightly, daring the horse to make a move.

Marcus couldn't help but smile proudly and laugh in both relief and pride at seeing his squad. He then spoke in a more cocky voice.

"I suggest you stay where you are if you don't want an early grave dug for you."

Comments

[JDPrime22]

They can't hurt Dashie! I curse you for this!

[Corporal Lyra]

*BANG* oops....

Fluttershy did it, I swear.

[TLP]

4891636 Sorry, but you know about rules of engagement. It still applies to them.

If it makes you feel any better, nobody' gonna die.

[TLP]

4891194 Um..damn.
For starters, cryptids can't walk on clouds..

Secondly, cryptid won't appear for quite a while.

[Spc jacko]

Good chapter, need to check your math though.

[TLP]

4892397 ..Can someone slap me please

I'm on it. and thank you

[H550]

2 more words; FUCK YEAH!!!!!!

[LE_MALEM]

'Do I feel lucky?' Well..do you, punk?

The Chicken from Quest of Camelot!

[ViktornovaMk2]

...and then Rainbow holds up a pin from one of his explosives, "Yeah, feeling like my chances are good."

[Sorrowfulwinds]

He cocks his shotgun then cocks it again? What kind of military spazzing idiot is this? He just wasted a round for a fucking horse!

[ptolisgoodguy]

5183714 a spaz-12-ing idiot.
(sorry had to do it)

[tranhdxrbntd]

Another thing about the SPAS, when in semiauto mode, the pump is locked and can't be racked. Also, no member of the military would keep their shotgun without a round in the tube, ready to fire right after leaving a combat situation. Two rounds were wasted in a way that was impossible in the first place.

[DEAD_ACCOUNT_01]

Omfg. He'th a thpas-12 noob? Where'th my inhaler?