The few, the magical, the unturned.

by megazero34

Chapter 3: The search begins.

Somewhere on the coast of Russia on a small island between 3 rivers, 4:00 AM.
Location: Camp Kazan

"Hey Starlight, Starlight, Wake up!" Twilight kept shaking Starlight trying to get her to wake up.

"Ugh, w-what time is it?" Starlight asked still very sleepy.

"4 o'clock now come on we have to get moving." Twilight said already having both bags packed. "We have to get moving, the sun is up and so should you. We have to go find that survivor that Leonard mentioned so that we can find our friends ASAP." It was still very early in the morning, the sun had risen not more than a few minutes ago. Twilight was already half way out of the tent before Starlight could even leave her sleeping bag.

"Twi, hold up, we haven't even eaten." Starlight said only now beginning to get out of her sleeping bag.

"No time, we can eat when we get there, remember based on what Leonard said the survivor has been there for a good while so that must mean he has to have a good food supply." Twilight reasoned while waiting outside the tent.

"Alright, where is my bag?" Starlight asked standing in the tent scanning it for her signature bag.

"I have it right here." Twilight said holding up Starlight bag outside the tent.

"Oh, thanks, I assume you already packed it." Starlight said beginning to leave the tent to join Twilight outside.

"Yep all packed up so that we could leave right away." Twilight said sounding rather pleased at her own preparedness. "Now that you are are up and out of the tent, I already informed Major Reynolds about our plans to leave in search of this survivor, so we can leave right away." Starlight looked at Twilight puzzled about how long she must have been awake. Sure Starlight new that organization and preparedness were everything to Twilight but considering how long it may have taken to prepare all this, Twilight was probably awake before the sun even rose over the horizon.

"Twilight, how long have you been awake?" Starlight finally got around to asking.

"Several minutes maybe about half an hour or so. I just wanted to be ready so that once the sun rose we could be on our way." Twilight answered.

"Oh, well are you sure we have everything ready to get going?" Starlight added

"Yup one-hundred percent, we are all ready to get moving. Now come on we have no time to waste." With that Twilight began to mover towards the camp's gate to see two guards standing on top of the large blue wall.

"You two the one's leaving to go see the LT?" The guard on the left asked.

"Yes, that would be us." Twilight responded.

"Alright have you informed the Major about your leave?" The guard on the right asked.

"We have I was just waiting on my friend for us to leave." Twilight answered.

"Aight, we will be opening the gates then, if you 2 are off to see the LT. then head down the road to your right, keep following the road, before you reach the town go right until you see a small hatch, he will be waiting. One last thing, DO NOT approach any buildings, that's where infected gather, good luck you two." When the guard finished they both began turning cranks on their respective sides and the gate began to creep open. When both sides of the gate reached the max opening the two ponies began walking outside the camp on their journey to find their friends.

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Somewhere on the coast of Russia , 4:24 AM.
Location: Russian wilderness

The two ponies had arrived at the location that the guard had mentioned and they could not find the hatch that he mentioned.

"Any luck?" Starlight asked still searching through the shrubs and trees trying to find what they were looking for.

"Nothing." Twilight replied.

"Are you sure we are looking in the right place, we have no idea if the hatch is even here." Starlight stated, starting to question Twilight.

"You are looking in the right spot alright." A deep mechanical voice said seemingly from nowhere.

"Huh! Who's there? Show yourself!" Starlight yelled into the forest starting to igniting her horn both for light and as a form of trying to threaten whoever spoke.

"I am not here to hurt you, in fact I think you are the two ponies that have been looking for me." The voice called out again.

"Wait, are you the Lieutenant everyone was talking about? They said you could help us find our friends." Starlight asked still with an ignited horn trying to spot where the voice came from. Soon enough a man wearing the same military uniform as the other troops in the camp came our from behind a bush carrying... something. Starlight could not tell what it was, she had never seen anything like it, even at the camp.

He was wearing what seemed to be a metal face mask attached to his helmet as well as a vest with a logo on it that looked like a simple silver metal bar. The image was also visible on his helmet and on his shoulder.

"So you two are the ones that are looking for your friends?" He asked still with that mechanical voice. "Oh right forgot I have this thing on." with that he pressed a button on the side of his helmet and the face mask lifted up revealing a surprisingly young looking man, at least based on what starlight had already seen compared to the rest of the coalition officers.

"Name's Raymond, nice to meet you two." He said now in a lot more normal voice with an American accent.

"Here, why don't I show yo-" Before either of the ponies could react Raymond raised the item that he held in his hands and soon the air around them was filled with smoke, fire, and extremely loud noises, both ponies dropped to the ground from instinct and covered their heads. Neither Starlight nor Twilight could describe what they heard mainly because both of their ears were filled with a constant ringing. A few seconds later the ringing dispersed.

"-ome -n we h--e to get inside. Come on!" Raymond was shouting at the two while offering his hand to pick up the two cowering ponies. "Seems your magic show drew some attention." He pointed behind the two ponies at several bodies lying on the ground. They all looked similar to Raymond in their build except they had sickly green skin and were wearing a mixture of civilian clothing. "What are you two waiting for come on!" He leads the two ponies to a bush that was hiding a chrome metal hatch with a small handle. Raymond opened the hatch by the handle and let the two ponies in. When Starlight and Twilight both looked in they saw a ladder. The two ponies climbed down and were greeted with what looked to be a rather normal living space, at least compared to what they have seen before. There was a couch and coffee table in the north eastern corner along with a fridge with a table and 4 chairs with a stove and some counters in the north western corner. there was also a radio on the table that was playing a recording seemingly on a loop.

Besides that there were a few hallways leading to other rooms. The corridor to the north lead to a small basic bedroom of sorts. The eastern hall lead to a locked door that they could only guess was private storage. The corridor to west lead to a small bathroom. After the the two ponies got antiquated with their surroundings seemingly on cue Raymond slid down the ladder and landed on the polished metal floor. With surprising agility he hung his rifle and helmet / mask combo on the wall in the same motion. He walked to the sofa in the corner and set himself down. Raymond let out a long sigh while motioning for the two ponies to come over and sit down. Starlight and Twilight both went over and sat on the sofa as well.

"So, what was it that you needed my help with?" Raymond questioned when the two ponies sat.

"We need you to help us find our friends, we think they may be somewhere out there in the area." Starlight stated.

"Hummm, I got a message earlier about power surges, you think that might be your friends?" Raymond stated, reaching for his radio. "They are all over the area so it will more than likely be one hell of a trek." Raymond pull over a folded piece of parchment that was the map both Starlight and Twilight were well antiquated with at this point.

"The message came in that the surges spanned from where you were originally located all the way to the Shereyavo airport, they could be anywhere. You sure you are willing to go all the way out there for your friends?" Raymond questioned, turning to the two ponies.

"We are sure. Now, can you help us?" Twilight said without a second thought.

Raymond sighed. "Yes, I can help you but first we have to pin down where the surges came from, based on the data the logistics team already came up with we only know two other places where the surges came from. The first is just south of the Airport the other is just north of Vorkuta junction. I recommend we go to Vorkuta junction first because if we are going to be going anywhere north of Moscow we are going to need coalition back up."

"Why is that?" Starlight questioned.

"Let me explain, there are people out there who just want to see the world burn, including a group called the Rangers. They have taken over just about everything north west of Moscow, and everything north east of Moscow is either filled with infected or other dangerous groups so if we are to have any chance to get there we are going to need help."

"Then where are we going to go first?" Starlight asked.

"Like I said, Vorkuta junction is our best shot at making it over there and back in one piece, so we are going there, let me just gear up." Raymond stood up, taking the paper and radio with him. He walked down the corridor to the east reaching the locked door. He punched in a code into a small keypad next to the door. Soon after the door slid open with a hiss. He walked inside leaving the two ponies to themselves.

"You think we will be able to find them Twi?" Starlight asked, looking back at her friend.

"I know we will, we are not leaving this place until we do." Twilight responded without a single thread of uncertainty in her voice.

"How will we get back home anyways, we don't even know where the communicator in this world is, if there even is one... what if we are stuck here?" Starlight asked, panic starting to seep into her voice.

"We will get back home, no mater what, I will make sure about that." Twilight spoke, trying to reassure her friend. "For now we just have to find the rest of our friends and then find a way to leave this place." The two ponies sat there waiting for Raymond to return so that they could begin their search. Soon after Raymond came back out the same door holding two backpacks and wearing a fresh change of Coalition gear. He still had the same hunk of metal in his hands except the top piece was replaced with a small metal item.

"Alright, let's get moving, I packed a few items in these packs." Raymond tossed the backpacks to the two ponies. "There is food, water, ammo, a couple guns, radios, all that good stuff." Raymond walked to the southern wall, grabbing his helmet and putting it on in a quick motion. "Well what are you two waiting for, let's go." Raymond motioned to the ladder waiting for the two ponies to get their packs on.

"Oh, right." Starlight said, somewhat awkwardly. They both grasped their backs using their magic, slipping them on quite easily.

"Now, let's get on our way, we are burning daylight." Raymond spoke, tapping the side of his helmet again letting the mask slide onto his face. He grabbed the ladder letting his rifle hang on it's sling along his chest. The two ponies followed him climbing up back to the infected wasteland.

Author's Note:

Sorry for not updating I am just lazy plus this is just a hobby of mine so just don't expect many consistent updates.