The only normal day was yesterday.

Chapter 1: The only normal day was yesterday

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“Just for fucking once I'd like something to go as planned.” Gaz hissed as he ducked into cover again, the muzzle of his rifle red-hot. With a speed born from the finest training, years of experience as well as simple talent he reloaded the rifle in a second flat as he moved towards the other edge of the low wall they were ducking behind. Soap and Yuri were both busy firing back at the swarm of hostiles approaching and he passed them with a glance up at the two. Soap got winged by a bullet just as Gaz passed by and the Scotsman ducked into a cover with a curse.

“These сукины дети mean business!” Yuri yelled as he was driven into cover as well. Gaz would have to ask him what that meant some time later, when they weren't shot upon.

“Roach!” Soap yelled into his headset. “What's the status on that UGV, we're in bit o' a pickle here!”

“Working on it captain!” Roach yelled over the comms.

“Work faster!” Soap told him and popped up to fire a few more rounds. Gaz, at this point, had reached the other end of the wall where Ghost sat down, rapidly reloading his grenade launcher.

“Take your sweet time darling,” Gaz told him as he pulled out a grenade, primed it and tossed it in one motion. “Not like we're getting swarmed or anything.”

“Less gabbing, more shooting Gaz,” Price's voice said over the comms right before the sound of a sniper rifle being fired reverberated both over the comms and the area. The old captain's accurate shots came at a steady and lethal pace, dropping hostile after hostile. “Prepare to fall back to the cave on my go, the UGV will cover you.”

“Not a second too late,” Ghost said as he got up now and let the launcher thump six times at a steady pace. Gaz shot up as well to cover him and watched how the grenades reaped a horrifying toll upon their assailants yet at the same time they just kept coming. Especially...

“Oh fuck me sideways,” Gaz exclaimed after a few moments, “Juggernaut!” he yelled, emptying his magazine in the direction of the ridiculously well-armored man that came striding out of the smoke and dust, clutching a machine gun in his hand. The rounds did little more than piss him off, and Gaz only barely got back into cover before he unleashed a hailstorm of lead against them.

“Don't they ever run out of those wankers?!” Soap yelled from further away, clutching a bleeding arm. “Any time now Roach!” a thunderous crack of a .50 caliber rifle rang out over the area and a second later Roach's voice came over the comms.

“UGV online!” the man cheered triumphantly. “Heads down people! This will be messy!” Gaz looked to behind them to see how, out of the cave behind them, the treadmill-carried heavily armed robot rolled with the barrels of its minigun already rotating. There was something special about being in front of a firing minigun really. The sheer amount of firepower it unleashed made the entire area vibrate and if you were in front of it it made you shiver down to the very bones merely from the roaring muzzle flashes and thunderous bangs of countless bullets shooting out of the barrels.

“Fall back!” Soap yelled and Gaz wasn't late to obey, throwing himself out from behind cover and dashing up the slope towards the cave with Ghost only a few feet behind him. A rope came sailing down from the cliff above now and Price came abseiling down at a speed Gaz remembered him chewing out Soap back for reaching when the man was just an FNG, calling it “stupidly reckless”. Whatever, this was one hell of a jam either way and Price landed heavily but upright. Gaz instead spun around to cover Yuri and Soap. The former was helping the latter up the slope and Gaz raised his rifle to cover them along with Ghost and Price. First now though Gaz got a better overlook and what he saw made him wish he had taken up professional football instead of military service all those years ago.

There wasn't just a few squads coming at them. He could see a veritable army coming up towards them. Trucks still unloaded further down the slope, dozens of soldiers spilling up the mountain towards them. APCs were doing their best to climb towards their position as well and even effing attack helis were coming in! Roach's UGV turned its attention skywards and while it rapidly blew two of the helis out of the air the third managed to fire a rocket towards them and the now disavowed members of Task Force 141 ended up throwing themselves headfirst down into the cave to avoid the shockwave. Roach's snarled “shit!” was barely audible over the detonation and the subsequent rumble of collapsing stone.

Gaz could get to his feet and moved deeper into the cave to avoid getting crushed, making sure to help a dazed Ghost along with him. The earth moved under his feet and he barely remained upright as he stumbled deeper into the cave. When everything finally calmed down after what felt like an eternity he could stop and focus on breathing.

“Right,” Price's gruff voice said in the darkness as he lit up a signal flare, becoming visible in the darkness. “Everyone not dead, sound off.”

“I'm okay,” Gaz said.

“I will be...” Ghost said slowly, shaking his head to clear it.

“I got winged,” Soap said, “Yuri, mind helpin' me with seeing tae it?”

“You got it,” the ex-Spetsnaz said. Gaz silently pondered the man's quiet and almost withdrawn nature. He had put it down to the man being aloof but after the revelations of his old ties to Makarov and how Soap almost had gotten killed he was more ready to bet on self-loathing. Yuri had the blood of tens of thousands of innocents on his hands. Probably didn't seem like a wise move to risk his one chance of doing good after acquiring that kinda shitload of bad karma.

“UGV's down,” Roach said as he came out from deeper inside the cave. “Entrance collapsed. This where we start crying?”

“Shut up Roach,” Soap said as Yuri was applying disinfectant to the large gash across his arm. Roach shrugged.

“Why is this happening anyway?” Ghost asked. “Shepard's dead, Makarov too. We pretty much cleared all the loose ends up. Why the hell did we end up here?”

“Because there's one loose end left,” Price grunted as he pulled out a cigar and lit it against the flare. “Us. Shepard's betrayal made the US lose about all of its face in the world and Makarov did the same for Russia. If they can't even claim to have dealt with them themselves but that a bunch of rogue spec ops did it they'll look like even bigger tits.”

“That's it then?” Gaz asked, “We bailed out half the world and now we might as well die because we're inconvenient?!” he was exhausted and the only anger he could muster was a slow, sizzling one.

“Welcome to the world of politics Gaz,” Price muttered. “Politicians like black ops teams for this very reason.”

“So what do we do?” Roach asked as he wiped his hands on an oily rag.

“Right now?” Yuri asked as he finished bandaging Soap's arm and looked up. “Our best bet is faking our deaths and go to ground for the coming decade.”

“Shit!” Gaz snapped, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“Makes you see why Makarov did what he did...” Ghost growled from his position by the cave wall.

“Politicians being politicians make you see the sense in murdering thousands of innocents?” Price asked with a low growl of his own. Ghost looked back at the man. Even in here the balaclava-wearing man wore his sunglasses and Gaz wondered just what kind of bat-vision the man operated on.

“No one,” he growled, “Not a fucking one has paid their dues more than us! We dragged the world back from the brink again and again! And now that world wants us dead!”

“Ghost!” Soap thundered, making the man fall silent. “Not the world. Those people were Makarov's old wankers looking fer revenge. The US and Russia just need tae sit this one oot. An' knowin' what yeh know, what we all know... if yeh were responsible fer managin' tha US, would yeh want the shit we know oot in the open?”

“And do you believe they can take the chance either way?” Yuri added with a melancholy voice.

“So what then?” Ghost asked, “We just sit here waiting for the inevitable?”

“This flare's dying.” Price said, making them all reach for their night-vision goggles. “We move deeper into the cave, see if we can find a way out. And with that the flare he held started to sputter. Within moments it had died, leaving them all in darkness for a few seconds before they had donned their night-vision gear. “I don't care about the back-story of the people outside. We find our way the hell out of here and can talk details when we get to safety.”

“Where?” Yuri asked, “Nikolai's gone, your contact with the SAS burned his last bridge informing us about this ambush. We're persona non grata globally.”

“So then we just keep going until we reach the country of flying unicorn princesses!” Price hissed. “Get moving!” With that he started down the path deeper into the cavern and the others set off after him. Set off, however, was something else also. Something heard Price's statement and remembered someplace somewhere that was like that.

Why did it do what it did? Hard to say, it had never spoken to any other being, only listened to the world around it. Yet perhaps one could say it did what it did in a sincere, yet probably misguided attempt to help. It did it subtly, very much so, and when it had done it it went to sleep again, content that it had managed to help.

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“Fantastic,” Gaz growled as he slapped the side of his night-vision goggles, “How the hell did they get EMP down here?!” About three seconds ago their night-vision equipment had all failed, leaving then even deeper in a pickle now that they didn't see squat.

“I don't think it was EMP,” Ghost said, “It was too gradual. It could be some natural field.”

“Whatever it is, we seem to be on flat ground,” Price said, “Too flat...” They could all feel it. The ground under their feet was no longer rocky and covered with debris. Rather it was smooth and clear of rocks and gravel. It was like walking over a floor almost.

“Everyone still here?” Soap asked. “Keep close, we don't need tae lose people down here.”

“I'm still here,” Gaz said.

“Me too,” Ghost muttered sourly.

“As am I,” Yuri finished. For a couple of seconds things were quiet and Soap eventually spoke up again. This time his voice was tense.

“Roach?!” he yelled, his yell echoing in the cavern.

“Yeah yeah I'm here,” Roach said, his voice revealing he had something in his mouth. Gaz couldn't help but chuckle at this. Soap's voice had been terrified there for a moment.

“Don't do that tae me Roach,” Soap growled, “I'm not losing yeh, any of yeh, down here of all places.”

“I ain't on fire here am I?” Roach said. “I just wanted something to eat. Oh for the...!” he suddenly exclaimed.

“What now?” Ghost asked tiredly.

“I dropped my energy bar!” Roach said, “It just slipped out of my hand. Like I couldn't grab it...”

“How smooth,” Gaz said with a chuckle, “Should we tie up now before you trip over your own feet?”

“Up yours lieutenant,” Roach said, “seriously though... must have been greasy or something. My fingers' feeling a bit stiff.”

“I can see light up ahead!” Yuri said. The others looked up and caught it as well. A faint, slightly blueish light came from further ahead. It was the light of day without any doubt.

“That doesn't make sense,” Ghost said warily, “We've been heading downwards for an hour, we should be far below surface level.”

“Well there's something over there,” Price said, “We're checking it out. Come on everypony.”

“What?” Roach asked now, his voice perplexed.

“What did you just say?” Ghost added with a disbelieving voice.

“Body!” Price snapped, “EveryBODY. Slip of tongue, get moving!”

“Yeh heard him,” Soap said, backing his old captain instantly. It was obvious who ran this team and had done so ever since that gulag. The last squad of the disavowed Task Force 141 moved forward carefully yet swiftly.

“Daylight, no doubt about it,” Yuri said silently, his voice only barely audible even to the others. As the cave floor began to rise more and more they ended up climbing towards the distant light and in the very end they were moving on all fours as they climbed up towards the daylight after what felt like an eternity down in these caverns. The light stung their eyes in its brightness and they squinted as they carefully got to the mouth, Roach taking point.

“What do yeh see?” Soap asked as he kept climbing up and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the light. Roach didn't answer the first time so Soap was left addressing him again. “Roach!” this made Roach startle and he looked back at them, all of them only barely being able to see how his head turned.

“I think... paradise...” he said with a disbelieving voice. The others began to reach the mouth as well now and could look outside. None of them, not even Price, was able to say anything as they saw what Roach had meant.

A landscape so verdant as any could be stretched out in front of them. A landscape of softly rolling hills that sparkled green and impossibly blue where rivers snaked through it. Orchards could be seen in the distance with countless trees that stood in straight lines that went on for miles. The heaven above them was equally much sky blue and pearly white where clouds could be seen lazily resting. And beyond this immense valley, so full of life and beauty that it made the weary soldiers' hearts ache, giant peaks, proud and snow-tipped, clawed against the sky and though the horizon was jagged because of it, it was no less clearly-defined. Also, far away in the valley a small village could be seen, picturesque enough that even the most untouched alp village could compare.

Perhaps even in the most cynical of soldier's heart there is some small piece that believes that what he does is for something greater, something better. That his service means something. That after it is all said and done, after all the death, the anger and the horror there's something better left unspoilt because of what he did. They seemed all to gaze at this something now. A paradise, unspoilt and untouched by the horrors of war or indeed any such things. It wasn't something that could be defined, pointed out or explained, but they felt like tired shepherds who, after such an incredibly long and difficult night fending off predators and scavengers, finally came home again, to a warm bed and hearth, a rich meal and a soft and loving touch praising them for their vigilance. Fulfillment, happiness, peace. All of it so richly that their souls overflowed.

“Sweet mother of god...” Price's breathless voice quivered at the sight.

“This ain't Pakistan,” Ghost said after a while, his voice a whisper.

“We died when the cave collapsed,” Yuri eventually could muster enough strength to say. “We died, and this is... heaven?”

“Ain't no place for us there,” Price eventually said, bitterly, “Keep on your toes people, there still-WHAT THE HAY?!” he eventually yelled, the others looking to see what was the matter.

Quite a lot was the matter. One of these things was that Price had a panicked expression on his face and was currently madly recoiling away from them. To see the grizzled, twenty-year veteran act like that was shocking enough, but it paled to say the least to the fact that, in spite of everything sensible, he had somehow turned into a unicorn. A gray, white-maned unicorn still wearing Price's beloved boonie-hat and exotic moustache to be more precise.

This sent a shock through all of them and they looked around, all of them being just as utterly spooked as the captain had become. Each and every last one of these deadly covert ops agents, some of the finest soldiers mankind had produced, were left freaking out completely at the slope at what they saw.

Like Price, Roach had become a unicorn, only he was deep black and his mane light blue. His goggles remained on yet that was all. Gaz had not gained a horn but wings along with his pony-form, standing green and brown-maned with his cap still on. The Pegasus theme remained in place with Ghost, who in an eerie similarity to his code-name was almost as white as snow. It was only his mane that held another colour, being light gray. The balaclava and sunglasses remained in place, as did the headset. Finally Yuri and Soap seemed to be the most “normal” in that they had neither horns nor wings. Soap, even though he stood almost a head (pony-head!) higher than them all, was brown and black-maned. The only thing really separating him from a normal horse was the black mohawk. Yuri, finally, stood blue and white-maned with his scarf still around his neck.

“Buck me!” Gaz yelled, stumbling and flailing in half-panic. His wings flailed as well, leaving him getting thrown almost six feet to the side. “What the hay, what is this!?” The reactions of the others were about as well-balanced. Yuri launched into a storm of Russian expletives and Soap was frantically touching himself with his hands, or well hooves, to check that he wasn't imagining things. After a good while, however, Price restored order.

“That's enough soldiers!” he thundered, making the freakout come to a stop. “Stop yelling like little fillies, I mean kids, and get your hooves.... feet! Back on the bucking ground!”

“What the hay is this captain,” Roach said with a panicked voice, “What the hay's happened, and why can't I even say hay! Hay damn it!”

“I said shut up!” Price snarled, lowering his head, “I've got several inches of sharpened bone here and I'm going to introduce you to it unless you shut, up, and, sit, down!”

It took some more work but within twenty seconds the team of special ops ponies had managed to collect their wits enough to sit down while Price stood towering above them with his eyes blazing out his intent if they didn't obey.

“Right people,” he growled as he paced back and forth in front of them. His boonie hat was somewhat obscuring his eyes and his teeth were bared. Even though he had been reduced to a pony, and a remarkably cute variant of one too boot, he was still scary. “Whatever happened here we're not going to freak out like a bunch of rookies. You were picked for Task Force 141 since you were the best, now act like it. We're going to recon that valley and establish where we are. Avoid contact with the locals at all costs. We do it by the book this time. Yes?!” he asked now, watching as Gaz had raised a... hoof.

“Can't we just turn around?” Gaz asked apprehensively, Price looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“Look behind you soldier,” he growled and Gaz did so. He and the others did this almost simultaneously. There was hardly any cave behind them any more, just a small, perhaps five foot deep crevice in the mountain.

“Oh hay no...” Roach said in despair. Soap got up now, the mighty stallion darting towards the crevice and reaching the wall. Rising up on his hind legs, he smashed the front hooves into it and began to furiously dig.

“I'm not staying in this bucking place!” he snarled, smashing his hooves against the rocks for the better part of ten seconds. Yuri and Roach came up to his side, doing their best to help. To no avail however, the rock remained firmly in place.

“Soap!” Price said now, coming up and moving in to push the burly stallion away. Soap was left flat on his back, struggling for a second to get up in his new form.

“Buck, buck, buck, buck...” Ghost said, pacing back and forth some distance away. “And what's with this!?” he said, pointing at his mouth with one hoof before he stumbled and had to put it down to get even again.

“I don't know, and I don't care,” Price growled. “Yuri, you're sneaking up on the village with me. Soap and Ghost, you head towards the river. Gaz and Roach head for the orchards. Avoid contact with the locals at all costs and keep as low a profile as you can, got it?!”

“Yes sir!” Yuri snapped, still shivering but at least collected. Bit by bit the other soldiers got their hooves back on the ground and could move out as well. In teams of two the ponified last members of Task Force 141 moved out, trying to not let their minds break from the absurdity of the situation.

Seeing (mostly) unseen

View Online

Chapter 2: Seeing (mostly) unseen.

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“Seriously captain,” Ghost said as he walked along the river, keeping both eyes on the surroundings. “What the hay do you make out of this? Did we stumble on a pocket of natural LSD or something.”

“I've got nae a clue Ghost,” Soap said, “So fer now, adapt an' overcome. What do yeh make of the landscape?”

“So pretty and nice that I could puke,” Ghost told him, looking around. “It's like some five-year-old girl's storybook, this place. Worst thing is that this place should piss me off but it doesn't...” Soap looked at Ghost, knowing very well what the colt... guy, meant. He felt that too. “In fact, it makes me want to pick flowers, perhaps eat them too, and skip around like an idiot.” Ghost continued and Soap stared towards the stallion. Was that really Lieutenant Simon Riley, the SAS's best and most ruthless soldier speaking?

“That's... nice,” he added lamely after a while. They needed to get out of here soon. “Get down!” he hissed a second later, Ghost following suit and leaping in behind the shrubbery where Soap had hid. Only seconds later something dashed past on the river, blurring by in front of them so fast it was like a missile flying by. Something vaguely blue with other details in other colors shot by, leaving a trail that honest-to-god seemed like a rainbow at surface level. Their heads whipped to follow it and the thing changed heading after a few seconds, flying up into the air and decelerating until it came to a halt about three-hundred meters up in the air.

It was a pegasus. It was sky blue in colour yet its mane and tail were in all the colors of the rainbow. It was too far to make out any other features however both Soap and Ghost were flabbergasted by it. That thing must have gone almost at the speed of sound! It had torn up a furrow in the water at it passed them by!

After only a second of hovering the pegasus descended again, weaving a pattern across the sky with such sharp turns that any aircraft they knew of would have been torn apart even attempting something like that. And all across the sky it left a rainbow streak in its wake.

“Holy...” Soap said as he watched it vanish. He idly noticed that Ghost's wings were trembling. “Ghost, yeh okay?” he asked now, recognizing the signs of of distress.

“I've never wanted to fly more in my entire life,” Ghost whispered now, his breath ragged and his voice shivering. “I see that and I want nothing more than to follow her. I want to fly... I need to fly!” Soap put a hoof on Ghost' shoulder and pushed him down a bit.

“Stay on the ground Ghost,” he hissed, “I need yeh tae keep yer head straight on.”

“Yeah,” Ghost whispered, “Yeah... I'm fine... I'm cool.”

“Come on, we're going back to the rendezvous point,” Soap said, half-dragging the still spellbound Ghost back towards the slope.

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The orchards were evidently fertile as could be. Roach could almost smell the apples growing on the trees from fifty feet away. Lying flat on his stomach next to Gaz, he watched the orchard with squinting eyes.

“No farmhands or machines,” Gaz stated as he watched the trees, “They seem to be running this joint the old-fashioned way.”

“Blooming hay,” Roach muttered, too focused to even care about how his expletives got warped. “Those orchards must be magical or something. I grew up near one of these and this one makes that one look like it was dead.”

“So what does Orchard-colt see?” Gaz grinned at Roach, who gave him a dry look.

“Check the apples,” he said, “They gotta be a pound each or something, the average apple's half that. They're way too red too... way too juicy-looking...” he continued, trailing off after a moment. The unicorn looked at the apples with wide eyes, not realizing that he was starting to drool a bit.

“You know,” Gaz said. The hunger was reminding them both of its existence. “I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it's time to revisit our childhood.”

“What?” Roach asked, hurriedly wiping his mouth with a hoof as he got snapped back to reality. Gaz grinned at him.

“Scrumping!” he said as he got up, still keeping a low profile however. “Come on, we're gonna do some foraging,” he told Roach as he advanced on the farm swiftly but stealthily.

“You serious LT?” Roach said, getting up to follow the stallion. “I don't think the captain's gonna approve.”

“He'll approve when we've gotten hold of some food,” Gaz told him, “I didn't see any field rations on your scrawny flank. I take responsibility for this. We are in unknown territory and out of supplies, I think Price can overlook a few apples for survival.”

“Your neck LT,” Roach said as they reached the fence. Despite being ponies they could still move as well as they had when human strangely enough.

“Sack by the fence, three o clock, two hundred meters.” Gaz said, “You grab it, I snag some apples.”

“Roger,” Roach said, beginning to move along the fence quickly. Broad daylight and clear weather made this really risky, he knew that. Still though Gaz made sense in a way. None of them had eaten for two days before entering that cave. There hadn't been time. He therefore didn't make too much of an issue about it, taking the sack from from where it lay folded over the fence. It felt weird using his mouth to move things but at the same time he could feel the amount of dexterity he had in it now compared to earlier. “Bloomin' hay,” he muttered as he dragged the sack back towards Gaz, who was looking up the nearest tree. “Here, any bright ideas on how to get them down?” He asked as he dropped the sack in front of Gaz.

“Just watch,” Gaz said as he reached down, spreading the sack wide open under the tree before turning around and kicking the trunk with his back hooves. Over a dozen apples were shaken out of the tree and rained down on the ground. Curiously, an inordinately large amount landed in the sack directly. Roach could only flinch at the loud sound however and quickly moved to put the other apples in the sack as well.

“Let's get out of here fast,” he said, “I don't care to...”

“Stop right there ya thievin' varmints!” someone yelled from further away. It was an angry, female voice with a southern US twang as broad as it was unmistakeable. Roach grimaced now.

“Aw hay...” he muttered, looking to see another approaching. She was still quite a distance away, meaning they couldn't see much of her. The only real thing they could see was a stetson hat coming through the underbrush further away towards them at a full pelt.

“Run,” Gaz said plainly, Roach needing no more convincing. Accelerating to a full sprint, he leaped over the fence and started a wild dash through the underbrush. Gaz was right beside him, carrying the sack of apples yet still matching his speed.

“Don't think ya'll getting' away so easily!” their pursuer yelled and Roach looked back, seeing how she was keeping up with them.

“Good idea LT!” he hissed, “Just some apples, what's the worst that could happen?”

“Just like being little again,” Gaz grinned. “Head for the river, we go upstream and dump the sack there! Take as many as you can carry otherwise.

“I'm a blooming horse!” Roach hissed as they slid down the sloped riverside and Gaz rolled his eyes while still running.

“As the yanks say; adapt and overcome,” he said as they started dashing along the riverside and took a hard left up at a fork in it. “Stab some with that horn of yours if you can't think of any other way!” They had still managed to keep far ahead enough that the mare chasing them didn't get a good look at them. That was what would move this from the Price or Soap murdering them to simply punishing them.

“Get back here!” their pursuer yelled, utterly incensed. She seemed to take quite the exception to their little caper and Roach did his best to not consider the entire situation. Four hours ago he'd been fighting for his life against Makarov's vengeful goons. They had been on the run for weeks and were cornered, tired, hungry and rapidly running out of ammo. Now, only a few hours later, he was a pony, an unicorn pony to boot! He had come to a magical fairy land and was at the moment scrumping apples from another pony who now was chasing them.

This just couldn't get any weirder.

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“Seems to be an average rural community,” Yuri said as he watched the village from the slope they were lying down on. “If you mixed Soviet propaganda about how life at the kolkhozy were with a kid's book,” he added with a mutter. It truly was an idyllic place. The first thing one noticed was that this place was indeed inhabited by ponies. Ponies in all kinds of colors, natural and unnatural both, were wandering the streets in a prime example of how a quiet, peaceful small town was. The houses were generally built in a vaguely european style, sort of alpine in a manner. The streets were wide however and several houses could be seen that had a very unique appearance. One of these was a building that looked pretty much exactly like a gingerbread house.

“I can't spot any industry beyond a few shops,” Price agreed. “There's a railroad at the far side of town... seems to be a train at it. From how it's facing... it's probably going to the castle up on the mountain there.” Price pointed a hoof towards the castle that could be seen high up on the mountainside far away. Almost precariously it hung there, balancing on the steep mountainside like it was glued there. Its spires rose high into the sky and the banners fluttered proudly in the breeze. Price couldn't see any way of getting there but supposed the train supplied a route.

“A suburb to the royal palace?” Yuri asked, craning his neck to look closer at the town.

“Dunno,” Price, “I can see multiple infil- and exfil-points though, that's place's a Swiss cheese. Biggest problem might be how flat the surrounding landscape is.”

“I agree,” Yuri said, “It seems that large tree at the middle of town is a building as well, I can see windows. A town hall perhaps?”

“A library,” the pink pony lying in the grass beside them both said as she lowered the binoculars she held in her hooves. “A nest of books and all sorts of dangerous stuff.”

Captain John Price had been a special forces soldier for decades. When others had retired or become staff officers Price had remained in the field and age hadn't dulled his fangs. Twenty years had forged him into a dangerous old wolf of a kind few could equal. His body simply refused to weaken, only becoming more and more stringy and hard-bitten. His senses and skills were as sharp as they always had been.

Yuri was much the same. Having been trained by the utterly ruthless, even sadistic, drill sergeants of the Spetsnaz he had gotten weakness beaten out of him brutally. What had emerged was a beast of war that didn't know the meaning of the word weakness. As Russia had fallen apart bit by bit he had remained strong and lethal. Even the terrible events that turned him against his old brother in arms Makarov had only served to further fuel his need to be the best fighter possible.

Neither of them had even begun to notice the third pony that now lay by their side in the grass before now.

“What the?!” Price startled and Yuri swore in Russian as he all but flew to the side, instinctively reaching back to one of his hindlegs after a knife that no longer hung there. For some reason Price noticed that the warping effect on curses worked in Russian too. The pink pony, meanwhile, was really, really pink. She was all but glowing with how intensely pink she was and her mane was fluffed and curly. Her intensely blue eyes looked to them as she perked up with a shamelessly cheerful look on her face.

“Hi!” she said happily “Who are you? I've never seen you before and I know EVERY pony in Ponyville so if I haven't seen you you gotta be new around here! Where are you from? The way you're talking makes me think Stalliongrad and Trottingham, is that where you are from? I've never been there, what brings you to Ponyville? Did you just come here?”

“Hey,” Price said now, having raised one hoof in what seemed to be an attempt at a calming gesture, “Mind lowering the pace there miss? We can't follow what you're saying.” Yuri, meanwhile, was not saying anything. He was shaking like a leaf from all the adrenaline and all the willpower it took not to act on his training. That Price could actually carry a conversation was impressive indeed.

“You're definitely from Trottingham!” the girl cheered as she began to bounce around, literally so. She was bouncing around them with happy skips, getting at least a meter's height per jump. “You sound just like Pipsqueak! Oh!” she suddenly startled, “I gotta tell him and then we can arrange a welcoming party for you!” With that, she all but flew away from them. Her hooves seemed to touch the ground but the velocity she got was way beyond what any normal pony should be able to achieve. In the dust behind her Price and Yuri stood, staring after her.

“What the hay was that?” Yuri asked after a few seconds, having a disbelieving tone in his voice.

“Don't know but we're scarpering, now!” Price said through gritted teeth, Their presence had been compromised and the old captain was not sticking around to have that pink tosser drag half of town down on them. Yuri and Price both retreated quickly, heading towards the mountainside again to regroup and compare notes with the other teams.

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“Right,” Price said as he looked around on his team. Ponified as they might be, they were still his team, still the best of the best, and he knew that they most likely would have had more success than his absurd run-in with that pink pony. “What do we know?” he continued, having drawn up a crude map of the area with a stick held in his mouth.

“Pre-industrial society by the looks of it,” Gaz began, “Despite the trappings of a post- one, they seem to rely on older methods.”

“Right,” Price said, “Why are you chewing on an apple?” he asked after a second.

“Because we recced the orchards,” Gaz said, “Decided to do some foraging. We had a bit of a run-in with one of the locals. They are horses, like us.”

“Gaz,” Price began now, growling, “Please tell me you did not steal from the locals first thing you did in this place? And got spotted too?”

“Negative on the second sir,” Gaz said, “She never got a clear look at us. Also if you don't mind me saying so sir, none of us have eaten a real meal in a week now. We can say we're sorry for taking ten apples out of a million later.” Roach was silently nibbling on his apple as well, not saying anything. Price merely looked at Gaz for a few seconds, his face unreadable. Still, having been at the captain's side for a decade now had earned him enough plus points that in the end the grizzled warrior only scoffed.

“I haven't forgotten about this,” he said, snatching an apple off the ground as well. Using your hooves to perform basic tasks wasn't that complicated it turned out. “Anything more?”

“They speak English,” Roach said, “Southern US English more precisely. The farmer chasing us called us “Thievin' varmints”.” He grimaced at how weird it all sounded.

“That might not hold true for all of them,” Price said, “Yuri and I had a run-in with one of the locals too, she spoke with a normal US accent. What more, she said that we sounded like we were from...” he trailed off now, still not believing his ears.

“From Stalliongrad and Trottingham,” Yuri said with a grimace, the others staring at him.

“You're taking the piss,” Gaz said with a slight twitch in his left eye. Yuri only shoot his head however.

“No my friend, I do not.” He said, “The worst thing is this; she sneaked up on us both, without either of us noticing her. She was bright pink, coat and mane both, and yet she all of a sudden she lay beside us on that hill...”

“Good tae know we weren't the only ones seein' pastel coloured ponies daein' the impossible,” Soap interjected now, “When we recced the river a... lil' sky-blue flyin' pony with rainbow hair flew past us. It moved like it was a missile, easily halfway tae the sound barrier. Ain't that right Ghost... Ghost!?”

“Uh?” Ghost said now, bouncing back to reality the stallion had been sitting silent and unmoving for the entirety of the debriefing. Price had assumed it was a case of Ghost being Ghost but no, he seemed genuinely and completely lost in thoughts. “Yeah, yeah sure.”

“What's the matter with you Ghost?” Price asked, “Get your heads out of the clouds!”

“I can't,” the balaclava-wearing pony said, “It's like I'm addicted, like I for the first time understand what my brother went through when he became a junkie.”

“Addicted to what?” Price asked. Roach was unabashedly staring at Ghost, the young man, or colt now, having known Ghost only as intimidating and sublimely deadly.

“Flying,” Ghost said despondently, “I want to fly, more than anything else. I don't know how, I tried all the way back here but I just can't and it pisses me off. Like I'm a smack-addict and someone's dangling a full syringe in front of me!”

“We need to get out of here soon,” Gaz said, looking towards Ghost with a freaked-out look on his face. “Now that he's saying it, I'm feeling the urges too.”

“Pegasus puberty?” Yuri drawled as he chewed on an apple, “It begs the question what the unicorns will experience.”

“Freud would have a field day, that's fer sure,” Soap grinned at the Russian. He liked Yuri. Usually he was so calm, almost withdrawn, but now and then real zingers could come from him. Russian wit Soap supposed. And yes, perhaps some part of it hung on that Yuri, like him, was a normal horse. He had no fancy-schmancy wings that made him act like a drug-addict, nor did he have a horn sticking out from his forehead which opened up for so many jokes. A good old, dependable pony of the earth, that was the way to be. Wait what?

Price, meanwhile, was about to blow a gasket. His elite team was crumbling before his eyes. Two men losing it to some new type of addiction and the two others laughing at them for it. Only Roach seemed to keep his head screwed on straight. Was it the horns that nailed it there? Were unicorns simply more sensible? It sure seemed that way. And why the blooming hay was he thinking about that?!

“Enough!” he snarled, smacking one foot against the ground in an attempt to restore order. It worked reasonably well and while Ghost still remained in his... whatever one would call it, and Gaz seemed to get issues too, they at least managed to wrap up what they had learned. The village, Ponyville, was a small community on the way to the castle up on the mountain, it was surrounded by mostly forests and plains with one big exceptions in the large apple orchards further away. There were, at the outskirts of said orchards, another forest. This one was bigger, darker and Soap's first impression of it was “bad news”.

“Every instinct I've got told me, 'stay out of there',” the captain said. “If there's dragons here, that's where they live.”

“Right,” Price said thoughtfully, having marked out the forest on his map. “Nothing to do about it,” he added after a while, “We'll have to approach the locals.”

“Yeh sure?” Soap asked, Price giving him a sour glare.

“No,” he said bluntly, “But look around you. Gaz is right, we haven't eaten properly in a week, hardly slept in days. Ghost and Gaz's in the grip of that desire to fly and we haven't god a bloomin' clue where we are. From all our available intel they seemed friendly...” He grimaced at the absurdity of the situation once more.

“Can't say I'd ever imagine pastel-coloured ponies tae be hostile,” Soap shrugged. “I just hope Gaz's and Roach's lil' stunt at the orchards dinnae mess things up fer us.”

“We're going there first,” Price said now, tossing his stick to the side “If it did, I want to solve it here and now. We can't afford to make enemies when we are in the dark like his.”

“How d'yeh wanna do this?” Soap asked now, looking at the others.

“Keep it simple,” Price said, “We're travelling, got lost and have been drifting around in the mountains recently. I'm handling the talking, the less details we give the better. Leave the talking to me, if they address you directly speak as little as possible. Got it?” he looked at the others with that old “Price-glare”, the glare that said “this BETTER have stuck or else...”

“Got it,” Soap said, Roach, Gaz and Yuri all following suit. Ghost gave a small, non-committed mutter a few seconds later too. Price glared at the soldier who had once been one of the SAS's absolute best, perhaps one of the three best on this team, and wondered just what was wrong with him. He realized it first after a second but he had actually raised one hoof to massage his muzzle in a gesture of utter exasperation.

“Roach,” he said after a second, giving the youngest of his stallions... men damn it, an acerbic look “You're responsible for making sure Ghost doesn't fall behind.”

“Got it,” Roach said, walking over to Ghost and managing to get him on his feet. Roach more or less pushed Ghost onto his hooves by shoving his head into the stallion's back. “Come on Ghost,” he said supportingly, “time to visit the apple orchards, you like apples don't you? We're horses now, horses like apples...”

“I personally prefer carrots,” Gaz added helpfully as they began down the mountainside.

“Ah shut yer gob, the both o' ye” Soap snapped at them both.

First contact

View Online

Chapter 3: First Contact

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The farm that lay in the middle of the apple orchards looked pleasant as all could be. Red-painted buildings, white picket-fence and an entrance covered in greenery. The large buildings and the rolling hills carried different meanings for the members of Task Force 141. For the former SAS men it reminded them of the British countryside in many ways, or rather a more idealized version of it, the perfect little countryside paradise where hard work, honesty and tradition reigned. For Yuri however it was a bit different. During his formative years in the Soviet Union farms were not peaceful and idyllic but rather pure agricultural industries, a foundation of the socialist system where modern technology and industrial efficiency produced plenty for all sons of the revolution. This idyllic, rustic place seemed almost... quaint. Perhaps even bizarre. In his mind farms had never been this serene. He did not complain though.

As they wandered in through the gate to the farmstead proper they looked around, at first not seeing any other ponies out and about.

“Hello?!” Price yelled out when they had come up to the well, “Anyone here?” His voice echoed across the farmstead and they all waited.

“You know,” Roach said quietly after a while, “I've mentioned it before but bloomin' hay this place is idyllic.”

“It's like an old Soviet propaganda poster.” Yuri agreed with him silently before a glare from Price made them both quiet down. Soon something moved further away though and after a while somepony came out to meet them.

This pony was a stallion, a heavyset, burly farm worker of a pony with red coat and orange mane. He wore a harness around his neck and several of them subconsciously winced at how blooming heavy it looked. The stallion was rippling with muscles and looked like he could crush rocks between his hooves or single-handedly topple trees.

“Mornin',” he began with a southern drawl, his voice deep and rumbling. “I haven’t seen ya'll 'round here before. The name's Big Macintosh. Most call me Big Mac.” There was a slow, deliberate quality to his speech.

“I bet,” Gaz muttered under his breath in amazement at the sight, Price only clearing his throat.

“Good morning sir,” he said as well, “My name's Price. We're looking for the owner of this farm, would that be you?” Several of the ponies glanced at Price now, unused to hearing such a civil tone come from the mouth of this scarred old wolf. Price usually communicated through growls and snarls.

“Nope,” Big Mac said now. “That'd be my sis', Applejack. She's inside at the moment, lemme get her for ya'll.”

“Thank you,” Price said with a nod and watched as Big Mac disappeared into the main building, a giant, two-story barn-like thing.

“That went well,” Yuri remarked.

“Blooming hay that guy was big,” Roach muttered, “What do they feed ponies around here?”

“Apples,” Gaz quipped.

“Pipe down you two,” Price said just in time for another pony to come out on the patio. This one looked different. She was smaller than Big Mac, even though that said little, and had a more feminine appearance. Her muzzle was softer rounded, her body more gently curved. Her coat was orange, her mane was long and blonde and she wore a cowboy hat on her head. Gaz let out a small whistle upon seeing her and several of the others turned to stare at him.

“For buck's sake Gaz...” Soap growled, halfway between disgusted and disbelieving.

“What?” Gaz said with a shrug, “I like cowgirls... or well, cowponies now I guess.”

“Невероятно,” Yuri muttered to himself as the mare came up to them.

“Good morning,” she greeted them, being as different from her brother as day and night. Big Mac had been a big, burly stallion that moved slowly and deliberately. The mare however was much quicker in her step and attitude. She seemed no less hard-working though, what more she was a bit curt. “Applejack's the name. My brother said ya'll wanted somethin'. Hope ya don't mind if ah'm a bit curt,” she continued, “Some thieves' been sneaking around an' ah gotta head out to keep a lookout for 'em.”

“That thievery is actually why we are here Miss,” Price said and Applejack's eyes narrowed.

“Really now?” she asked now, a bit suspicious. Price nodded before looking back.

“Gaz, Roach,” he said, the old growl back in his voice. The two named ponies took a step forward to come up on each side of their captain. Gaz was all of a sudden very interested in the clouds and Roach refused to look up from the ground. Price gave them each a slap across the head with one front hoof before looking to Applejack again. “We're new in these parts and these two good-for-nothings got the bright ideas to steal from you,” he said, “I'd like to apologize on their behalf and offer what compensation we can to repay you for the lost fruit.” Applejack seemed somewhat taken aback now. She paused and blinked away her off-guard expression as she looked between the two awkward thieves in front of Price.

“Well that certainly makes mah day a whole lot easier,” she said eventually, chuckling a bit. “Ain't no problem though, your thieves didn't get away with any after all. Ah was just worried they'd try again.”

“We... actually did,” Gaz said with a grimace. “The sack we dropped weren't all the apples. It was a diversion, we got away with a few of them.” Applejack looked from pony to pony, the fact that she had a hard time knowing what to think evident on her face.

“How many?” she asked eventually. Gaz didn't answer at first but after a couple of seconds Price slapped him over the head again.

“Twelve apples all in all.” Gaz told her. Applejack leaned forward a bit to glance in under the brim of Gaz's cap which was hiding his eyes. Gaz didn't meet her eyes.

“Well since ya'll came to apologize ah suppose can overlook the thievin',” she said, “Let's say ten bits, that's market price.”

“Uhm...” Gaz said now, looking to Price, who didn't move a muscle. “We don't really have ten... bits?” he said uncertainly. Applejack blinked.

“So how much do you have?” she asked.

“Nae a bit,” Soap replied with a shake of his head, cutting Price off. The grizzled captain gave his younger peer a withering look which Soap met with equanimity. “Sorry, Price, but the fact o' the matter is we're tired, hungry an' broke in the middle o' nowhere. Everythin' we had is gone an' we ain't got a clue where we are.”

“You fellas don’t know where you are?” the farm pony inquired. The stallions shook their heads.

“Where did ya'll come from again?” Applejack asked now, wide-eyed, and Soap pointed towards the mountains.

“Through a cave up there.” the mohawked pony said. Now Applejack's eyes were huge.

“Ya'll came from the mountains?!” she exclaimed loudly, evidently horrified. “Landsakes! Forget about them bits, ya can take all the apples ya want. Actually hold that, Mac!” she yelled back towards the house.

“Look we're not trying to impose...” Price began, but to no avail; Applejack either didn’t hear him or chose not to.

“Eyyup?” Mac said, sticking out his head from one of the windows.

“Tell, Applebloom to set for ten!” Applejack said, “We're gettin' lunch guests!”

“There's really no need to...” Price hissed frantically, Applejack raising a hoof to cut him off.

“Horseapples!” she told them all firmly, “If ya’ll stumble outta the mountains without a bit on you an' with empty bellies you got a spot at the Apple family's tables. On you go now fellas, git!” she said as she shooed them inside.

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“How did this happen?” Price muttered as he looked down at the hearty serving of food on the plate in front of him. They had been more or less swept inside the barn-house and all landed around the table of the Apple family as they apparently were named. Along with Applejack and Big Mac said family consisted of a young red-maned, yellow-coated filly named Applebloom who seemed to be a classic young filly, IE full of energy and annoying as could be. The fourth and final member was a green-coated and white-haired old mare, Granny Smith, who seemed like she should be on her way to the glue factory post-haste.

“Who dares, wins,” Soap told his commanding officer as he dug in on the food with a hearty appetite. Price only glared at him, not amused by how the guy he remembered having called a “muppet” the first time he saw him now quoted the motto of the SAS at him. Soap shrugged at the glare though. “Nae offence Price, but this situation innae gonna be solved with sneaking about.”

“We landed arse-first in the best possible situation,” Price said sourly, grudgingly taking a bite of food as well. Around them things were going quite well by the looks of it. Ghost was still sitting in a daze and Roach splitting his time between forcing him to eat and fending off questions from Applebloom about seemingly literally everything between heaven and earth. Yuri had been seated next to Granny Smith and was politely accepting getting his cheeks pinched as the old mare cooed over his “Stalliongrad” accent. Meanwhile, Gaz was doing his best to stuff his face with food. Both Price and Soap were seated on the sofa, watching the scene silently.

“That's a bad thing?” Soap asked.

“Too easy,” Price told him, “This is an invitation for complacency. Look around you, we're in a bad way. Ghost's all but out of it, Roach and Gaz are fooling around. We've been here a few hours only.”

“A few hours after escapin' from weeks o' constant fightin',” Soap reminded him gently, “We're all exhausted cap'n, give the lads a couple of days tae relax.” Price only grunted at this, returning to his food.

“So where ya'll from?” Applebloom asked Roach, making Soap and Price both tense up “Ya sound like Pipsqueak, so are ya'll from Trottin'ham?”

“I'm from a small town,” Roach told the filly politely. The youngest member of their team was, if Soap remembered correctly, only twenty-four years old. Compared to him and Gaz, both in their thirties now, not to mention Yuri or even captain Price, in their early and late forties, he was the “kid” in the group. That might have been why he was landed next to the young filly but he didn't seem to have any problems keeping up with her.

“Where?” Applebloom asked curiously.

“Back home,” Roach informed her succinctly before taking another bite of pie. “This really is an amazing pie, Mrs Apple,” he said after having chewed and swallowed (Granny Smith had given Gaz quite the lecture when he spoke with his mouth full). Granny Smith smiled at him and Applebloom was impatiently bouncing where she sat.

“But where's that?” she asked.

“My home?” Roach asked and Applebloom nodded. “In a small town,” he told her with a wide grin.

“Ah come on!” Applebloom exclaimed with an exasperated tone. She taking a bite out of her meal, pouting as she chewed and frowned between her plate and the uncooperative stallion.

“Ain't nice to badger folks 'bout things they ain't willin' to talk about, Applebloom,” Applejack cut the filly off now, Soap taking a slow breath of relief. Roach handled that well. “So where ya'll headin'?” she asked now, looking towards Price and Soap. The two captains looked at each other, a silent communion passing between them.

“We aren't quite sure yet,” Price eventually said, “We are strangers in a strange land, Miss Apple. At the moment we simply want to collect our bearings and recover. It was a tough journey to get here.”

“Ah bet,” Applejack said, “Look, Ah'm headin' to town soon to get some things, if ya'll interested ya can come along an' get a tour of Ponyville.” Price and Soap both looked at each other again.

“That would be great,” Soap said, “thanks.” Applejack waved a dismissive hoof at this.

“Nothin' to it,” she said humbly. “If ya got the backbone ta come clean about stealin' from my orchards, then I ain't gonna do other than respect that. We need more folks like ya'll 'round these parts.” She stopped to let out a small chuckle, before waving her hoof airily. “Well maybe ponies that don’t steal anyhow,” she finished, sending a playful look towards the Gaz. He was merrily munching on his final slice with a content smile between his bulging cheeks.

Soap couldn't help but grimace at her words.

“No Applejack,” he thought to himself, remembering how he, only yesterday, had killed a man by slitting his throat from behind. “You don't. You really don't.”

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The lunch continued without any real troubles barring a certain awkwardness about the fact that they still didn't know jack about this place they had landed in. At least Roach kept Applebloom occupied, Big Mac wasn't one for questions and Granny Smith rambled about whatever tangent she had come across. Applejack however was bit of an issue. She evidently was curious about where they all came from and kept asking small questions about it. They all knew to keep their mouths shut but silence was an answer in and of itself.

Still, about an hour later they had found themselves wandering the path towards the small town of Ponyville. Like before, the weather was sunny, warm and serene. The green hills sparkled in the beautiful sunlight and a breeze blew across the landscape, carrying birdsong and the occasional sounds from the picturesque town. It was such a peaceful day as could be and it had its little effect on the squad of six.

Ghost was able to function somewhat as he walked but every few steps or so he jumped and flapped his wings in an attempt to take flight, despite Gaz and Roach keeping an eye on him. Yuri walked silently and kept his eyes on the surroundings while Soap and Price walked with Applejack. The shenanigans of their still dazed teammate evidently made the mare somewhat confused.

“Is he gonna be okay?” she asked after a while, Price sourly muttering something before he responded.

“He's an idiot,” he said succinctly, Applejack uneasily laughing at this.

“Y'know, ain't my place to have opinions but maybe y'oughta have the docs take a look at 'im?” she said.

“We’re low on funds at the moment, Miss Applejack,” Price replied. Applejack merely shook her head.

“Totally free,” she said, “That's what we're payin' taxes for.”

“Hmh,” Price said, looking around. “The castle up on the mountain there, what is it?”

“Canterlot?” Applejack asked with an arched eyebrow, “That's the home o' Princess Celestia, an' Princess Luna now ah suppose. It’s the capitol o' Equestria.”

“Mind tellin' us a wee bit 'bout these princesses?” Soap asked. Applejack looked towards him now, confusion on her face.

“Ya mean to tell me ya ain't heard of Princess Celestia?” she asked. There was nothing condemning or suspicious in her voice though. It was simply confused. Like this should be obvious.

“Strangers in a strange land,” Soap reminded her.

“Right,” Applejack shook her head, “Sorry, ah guess when ya spend ya life in the shadow of Canterlot you take some things for granted. Well, Princess Celestia's our ruler, she raises an' lowers the sun every day an' has ruled over Equestria for centuries.”

“Centuries?” Soap echoed. That was a long time to rule.

“Raises the sun?” Price whispered with scepticism.

“She's an alicorn,” Applejack informed them. “Blood of all three races in her. Wings, horn and earth pony bond with nature.” Soap blinked at this, once, twice and thrice. He eventually looked to Price, who glanced at him.

“Oi cap'n,” he said slowly, not able to stop the small smile creeping up on his face.

“What?” Price asked.

“Flying unicorn princesses,” he grinned now, actually chuckling upon remembering what Price had snarled that one time. Price's eye narrowed at this and he bared his teeth at Soap. The scot didn't flinch though. Having grown up in the dirtiest part of Glasgow, itself one of the grittiest cities in Britain, he had always been somewhat detached in the “fear” department.

That, and his military career may have made him too acquainted with absolute terror.

“Shut up,” Price eventually told him. Applejack looked between the two now.

“Feels like ah came in right in the middle of somethin' here.”

“Nae worries,” Soap grinned wolfishly, “Let's just say tha' when our cap'n says we're goin' somewhere, we're bloomin' going there.” Applejack raised an eyebrow but didn't push the matter. This was partially due to politeness and partially due to the loud splash that came from further ahead which made all three of them look forwards.

“Ah fer buck's sake, Ghost!” Soap yelled as he and Price both broke into a sprint to help drag Ghost out of the river he had managed to catapult himself into. The white pegasus pony was flailing frantically several meters from the shore as he tried to get out of the water. In the end it was Yuri and Soap who leaped into the water and dragged him out of it. It all got handled without too much of a drama since it was a shallow and not too wide river but Soap nevertheless cursed as he waded ashore, Ghost shaking his head.

“I'm sorry...” he said, “I... I think I feel better now, that cold shower cleared my head...” The shame was evident in his voice and his head hung where he walked.

“Yer not in a good way, Ghost,” Soap said now, patting him on the back. “We'll take care o' you. Don' worry lad, we're here for you...” It was roughly then that a raspy laughter pierced the air and they both looked up, coming to see a familiar cyan-coloured pegasus resting on a small cloud above. She was perched on the cloud like it was a flying beanie bag or something. At the moment she was looking down at Ghost, grinning widely.

“Nice flying, hot-shot,” she said with a husky, brash voice. “Aiming for the “top crasher” medal perhaps?” her tone was jeering, cocky, and Soap immediately took a dislike to her attitude against the wet, despondent Ghost. He took a step forward with eyes narrowed, already planning how he could take her off her cloud.

“That's enough outta you, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said now, coming to their defence as she came walking up and stood in front of Ghost as well. Her voice was firm and disapproving. “These fellers came right outta the mountains, hungry, tired an' with not a bit to their names. They ain't in no need of your lip right now!” Rainbow Dash, as her name apparently was, blinked at this and got of her cloud now, leaping down to land in front of them.

“Really?” she asked, looking at Ghost now, a bit of a quizzical look on her face. “Seriously, those mountains?” she asked, pointing towards said mountains in in the distance. “Came out as in walked?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“Aye,” Soap said, still hostile to the pony. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to register that though. She only startled to slowly smile.

“That's so cool!” she exclaimed suddenly, pure glee on her face. “Are you crazy, do you know what lives there? And you walked through, that's so awesome!” she gushed. “Seriously, that's amazing!” Soap blinked now, not knowing what to make out of the once cocky and now almost adoring mare. His eyes wondered to Price, who was observing the scene with grin.

Ghost massaged his temples, idly looking around before double taking at the sight of the cyan mare. “You... you're...I saw you fly, by the water,” he said, pointing a hoof at Rainbow as she preened her wings.

“Damn straight,” she said, “I'm Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt and the best flyer in all of Ponyville,” she said with much bravado. As a display of her aerial prowess, and much to the white stallion’s awe, she bolted into the air and performed a quick summersault. Upon landing, she leaned into Soap. “Why were you even going through the mountains? Eh?” She asked now, being very close up in Soap's face.

“Hold yer horses, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said now, cutting in with practised ease. It was truly fortunate, as Soap had been about to place the mare in a headlock. “You can ask yer questions later after we've get these fellers to the hospital!”

“Huh?” RD said. “They don't look sick to me, well except that one...” She trailed off as she gave a quick once over of Ghost. “Okay, point taken,” Rainbow Dash said, the last two words coming after a long-suffering look from Applejack.

“I'll go ahead and tell the doctors then!” Dash said, darting off into the air and disappearing in a blur of movement. Ghost's face was a study in pure longing as he looked after the mare, Gaz showing clear signs of it as well.

“Gaz!” Price snapped, “Get your head back in the game,” Gaz shook his head and then nodded, blinking furiously.

“Yes sir,” he said briskly and began down the road again, Roach gently pushing Ghost to follow as the small gathering moved towards the village of Ponyville. As they crossed the bridge into the village proper they all tensed up somewhat as the amount of strangers around them increased exponentially. They were still worked up, running on willpower as much as anything else after days of activity and the meal they had gotten did affect them, making them becoming more and more drowsy. They were still far from falling unconsciousness but they felt it bit by bit; they'd need to rest soon.

Applejack guided them through the village, across the packed plaza where all kinds of activity was ongoing, mostly trading between the stalls that populated the immediate area.

“Reminds me of Brazil, only peaceful,” Roach muttered to Soap, who nodded as he thought of the favelas through which they had chased one of Makarov's closest men. They had fought their way through a marketplace bustling with all kinds of food put up for display. He shook off an idle thought about how he would have fought his way across this place. Almost none of the stands were anything more than tables with a cloth roof above them, meaning there was zero protection to be found behind them. Also he was a horse, so he couldn't use weapons.

“These markets usually are good places to find things, normal things.” Yuri said absently as he walked beside them. “When I was with Nikolai in Himachal Pradesh we always went to the markets. It is... comforting, to buy food directly from the hands that grew it. There are no lies there,” he said, trailing off a bit as the melancholy settled over him again.

“Darn tootin'!” Applejack said, looking back at them with a grin. “That's some mighty fine view you've got there, Mr Yuri! Ya know, if ya'll need some work later on, me an' the farm's got a lot comin' up the comin' weeks. If it’ll help you feel less guilty about the little mishap this mornin’.”

“We'll consider it,” Price grunted non-committally, giving the others a killing glare before any of them took the offer. He caught Gaz cursing beneath his breath as he kicked the cobble floor.

Soap’s mind, meanwhile, was steadily focusing on the mental state of the captain. Price was in an awful mood, even by his standards, and Soap wondered just what made him this angry. They were all confused by where they were, but the anger Price responded to the situation with didn't make sense.

The hospital was not far away and the sight of the building brought some comfort to them all, bar Price obviously, and already at the door they were met by a pony in a doctor's robe and with a small beard as well as glasses. With a brisk, no-nonsense attitude the doctor shooed them all into the examination room, Soap honestly having a bit of a hard time following what the hay was going on. Say what you wanted about Ponyville's medical facilities (and really, what was he going to say after five minutes?) but they weren't inefficient. Aided by a couple of nurses, one of whom seemingly a nice, tender mare and the other was a block of ice as domineering as they came.

Of course he ended up with the latter, who unceremoniously checked his pulse and swiftly followed up with other medical procedures. The entire debacle was done within a few minutes.

“I must say, from what Rainbow Dash described I half expected you to be missing limbs when you came in here.” The doctor concluded when it was all over, his eyes studying a clip board I his hoof. “There is nothing serious with any of you as far as I can tell,” he told them all. “Only, I seriously recommend you get some rest, you all are showing clear signs of accumulated fatigue.”

He flipped the page and looked pointed over the clipboard. “For you two however,” he said, looking to the two pegasi among them, “I'd recommend at least three hours constant flight before trying to sleep. Your FAWS is among the worst I've seen. I don't know why you've stayed grounded for so long, but it isn't healthy,” he finished somewhat sternly.

“Uhm...” Gaz said. “Fa-what now?” he asked sheepishly, the doctor sighing.

“Flight Abstinence Withdrawal Syndrome,” he said patiently. “They go through these things at flight school, did you not pay attention there?” Gaz looked to Price for guidance now, the man's orders about keeping a lid on things clear in his mind but all the same, the doctor wanted an answer. Price only scowled, the old stallion eventually shrugging.

“I never went to flight school,” Gaz ‘admitted’, “Neither did Ghost.” The doctor frowned.

“Nevertheless,” he said, “Didn't your parents tell you then? It is hardly an unknown condition...”

“It is to me, doc,” Gaz said plainly, looking at the medical pony. The doctor stopped, looking at the six stallions in the room with an expression that shift towards worry. In the end he looked to Price and Roach.

“Do you know how to use this?” he asked, pointing to his horn. Roach shook his head and Price said nothing. The doctor looked between them all now and eventually turned around as he walked to lock the door, an act that that made the squad share uneasy glances. “It seems there is a story to tell here,” he told them when he was done. “First of all, I don't know where you are from, but you are here, and you will have the help this Hospital can provide. But I need to know who you are, otherwise I won't know what to do.”

“Forget it,” Price growled. “This is what you're getting. We're not from around here, we don't know things we should know, and if pushed any more we'll be ready to give it back ten times over,” he finished, the doctor clearly getting the wind taken out of his sails by the remark and actually flinching back a little. He bounced back admirably fast however.

“If that is your call,” he said icily, walking over to open the door. “You know where the exit is. As I've said, flight for the pegasi and rest for all of you.” Soap looked to Price now, open reproach on his face.

None of the others met Price's chilling gaze, which was rapidly dropping to absolute zero, and they all left the hospital. Soap thought he saw Roach give the doctor an apologetic nod as he was the last pony out but he wasn't sure. What he was sure of, however, was that when they came out and was met by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Looking to keep the veteran in check, he turned to look at Price with a burning glare of his own.

“Tha' bloomin' hay's up with yeh?!” he snarled. “Are yeh so eager for what we left that yer makin' new enemies already!?” he asked furiously. Price looked up, a wolf-like growl in his throat.

“Shut your mouth, soldier,” he hissed lowly, Soap shaking his head. Further away he saw how Gaz and Roach quickly moved to push the two mares away to give them some time alone.

“Make me!” he snapped the man as he pointed a hoof at him. “Ye can’t outrank me now, Price! You know that, and yer entire reinstatement was unofficial to begin with! And if yeh wanna pull rank yeh dinnae got nothin' to back that up with! I've bled for yeh Price, we all have, an' don't yeh dare try tae pull rank with us. The buck is wrong with you? I ask that as th' man who sprung yer sorry arse outta the depths of the Gulag! This ain't you Price!”

“And this is you?!” Price snapped now, finally reaching boiling point. After a quick gesture to Soap’s new form, he swept hoof towards his squad. “Is this is any of us?! We're blooming horses stranded in some obscene fantasy world where we can't even swear! I've spent all my life as one of the best, you all have, and yet I seem to be the only one that sees something wrong in having everything we are taken from us!”

“We're still here, ain't we?” Soap asked. “An no matter what's goin' on, why are you actin' like we're all gonna die just 'cause we're tryin' tae get a wee bit o' R&R?”

“Are you seriously that blind?” Price snarled. “Already Gaz and Ghost are tied up in this withdrawal nonsense and we’ve practically waltzed into an offer to become bleeding farmhands! This place, whatever it is, is trying to keep us here.”

“So, what?” Soap asked. “D' yeh remember the part where we became outlaws 'cross the globe? Where we won only to find there's nothin' left fer any o' us? Whatever this place is, it ain't tryin' tae kill us. Whatever this place is, perhaps we've earned it? Remember what Roach said? Paradise? As twisted as this is, maybe he's right? That it's over fer us, that we've earned peace?” Price stopped now, looking at Soap with a disgust in his eyes.

“Peace,” he spat, “You mean degenerating into some fat, lazy civvie with nothing left of the edge that made us what we are? We're not ponies, Soap, we're wolves. That's what we were made into, what the world made us, and this is an abomination. Tigers don't lose their stripes, and neither will we.” With that, he turned to walk away, looking at the others who were watching him from the distance. “I'm going to those woods,” he said. “Stay or follow, I don't give a damn, but I'm finding either a threat to deal with or a dignified end.” At that point however, Soap stepped up and clocked Price right in the face. He could still throw a punch despite his new shape and he put a lot of strength into it. Price was unprepared for it, meaning he only barely managed to raise one hoof to deflect some of the strength. He still was sent flying however, landing three feet away.

“Right ol' man,” He said now as he rubbed his hooves against each other and cracked his neck, “I'm tired of yer whining. Get up an' I'll get this outta yer system.” Price sat up on the ground, running a hoof over his mouth to check if there was any blood. A red streak was indeed running down his mouth and he looked up. Wordlessly, he bounced to his hooves with an agility that for his age was nothing short of amazing and was upon Soap in a second flat.

Both Soap and Price had reached Captain's rank in the best special forces units in the world, they had years upon years of active service under their belt and what Price lacked in strength and size compared to Soap he compensated for in almost supernatural skill. What more, both of them moved like they were born as ponies. Both of them discovered fast that four hooves on the ground allowed for a whole new level of agility and versatility compared to two feet. Kicks and punches more or less became the same thing in terms of power which demanded a new level of thinking. Thinking they were already blessed with somehow.

To fully describe just what happened, it might be best to describe how the furious fight seemed to the two mares. Having been firmly pushed away by Gaz and Roach, they only managed to see that the two elder ponies were arguing about something before one of them hit the other. Rainbow Dash, herself no stranger to scrapes, could only stare in equal parts disbelief and awe at the two ponies.

They moved like nothing she had seen before! She had a hard time remembering to even blink at the sight of their lightning fast moves, their skill and their simple technique! She didn't know half of what they were doing but she could tell that they were skilled as could be. What more, she could tell that they fought with equal tenacity, a controlled savagery. For all her bravado she realized she'd be twisted into a pretzel before she knew what had happened by either of these stallions.

‘Who are these guys?’ she pondered as she watched.

It was first after nearly ten minutes, during which one of the nurses had come out to try to stop them only to be held back by Yuri. He shook his head and gave her a cold stare to let her know these stallions needed this. Upon the tenth minute, the two old warhorses even came to a halt.

A sucker punch from Soap was met with an elbow from Price and they both stumbled away, stopping now to stare at each other. Bodies lowered, teeth bared and eyes narrowed, the two stallions stared down each other silently. In the end they both relaxed though, rising up from their stances simultaneously.

“Nice left,” Price told Soap lowly, wiping his mouth again. He had earned a fair share of bruises both in his face and on his body, Soap looking no better.

“Never could figure out yer elbows,” Soap offered in return. “Yeh cool now?”

“I'm not staying like this,” Price reiterated, “But fine, we'll do this your way. We're still looking for a way out, however.”

“Deal,” Soap said with a curt nod.

“Now if you're quite done with this asinine fight of yours,” the nurse, Redheart as her name seemed to be, snapped as she stormed up to them. She held a first aid bag in her mouth, and bore a scolding glare. Her voice was somewhat muffled but her tone was clear as day. Soap stopped her as she opened the bag.

“Nae worries,” he told her with a small smile. “Idiots heal quickly,” he continued, “We'll heal up on our own, better save that fer the people who dinnae beat the snot outta each other. “

“You don't need to tell me that twice,” the nurse said, her eyes filled with dry derision as she closed the bag and marched inside. “Get away from the premises if you're going to keep this up.” she told the two. Soap grinned a bit as he looked to Applejack.

“So...” he began, having no chance of saying anything before he was interrupted.

“That was awesome!” Rainbow Dash finally burst out. “Where did you learn to fight like that?! Is that how you got through the mountains? I've never seen anything like it, did you...” She was stopped now by Yuri, who looked at the mare with a sly expression on his face.

“You know, Miss Dash,” he said thoughtfully, his slavic-accented voice dripping with honey as he rubbed his chin with one hoof. “I think we can make a little deal between you and us. Help my two comrades to learn how to fly, and I'll teach you some of our little tricks. If, of course, they learn as soon as possible”

“You got it!” Rainbow Dash said with an eager grin. “So whaddya say hotshots?!” she asked with a look towards Gaz and Ghost. “Ready to learn how to fly?!” she asked, striking a dramatic pose in the air. Usually Soap found things like that silly but he'd be buggered if this lass didn't pull it off.

“You got it,” Ghost said, his voice calmer now than before. With an end to it in sight, his usual cool was returning in force it seemed. Gaz nodded as well.

“Are we taking the scenic route via air?” Gaz asked, looking to Price, who nodded in response. The two pegasi walked off with Rainbow Dash now, the almost childish eagerness displayed by their teacher to be mirrored to a shameful degree in Ghost's every movement.

“But yeah,” Soap said as he watched them walk off. “Any chance o' that tour yeh were talkin' about Miss Applejack?” he asked.

“...Sure ah guess,” Applejack said, glancing at Price. “You gonna start any more fights?” She asked a bit dryly.

“Nah,” Soap said with a small grin, “Just a wee bit o' a disagreement. Ain't gonna happen again, on me honour.” Applejack shrugged.

“Ya'll really one strange bunch,” she said eventually. “But ah said ah would and ah ain't no liar.” The small group began to move back down into ponyville, now minus their pegasi.

“Smooth moves there,” Roach muttered to Yuri, who shrugged.

“Easiest deal I've ever made,” Yuri muttered. “I'm not Nikolai, but after years on the black market you learn things. I teach a horse judo and we solve Ghost's addiction problem. Good deal.” Roach couldn't help but snort a little.

“You're a horrible man,” he said, Yuri sighing.

“It took you this long to realize, kid?” he said quietly, a look of melancholy coming over him. Roach slapped him now.

“No brooding,” he said, “Horses don't brood.”

“Заткнись” Yuri said, nevertheless smirking a little as they went back into the village. This time they passed the large tree structure by. The stallions shared a glance, the silent disbelief between them eventually broken by the former captain.

“This the library?” Price asked, finally able to start talking somewhat civilly. Applejack nodded.

“That it is,” she said, “Come on, Ah'll introduce ya'll to Twilight, the librarian.” Price's eye was twitching at the mentioning of the name. While the old wolf had accepted where he was, the more cutesy aspects of it was grating on him still.

Applejack didn't notice and instead only opened the door, letting them all inside the library. It was surprisingly spacey Soap had to admit, holding a lot more books than expected. At the moment there was one more pony inside it, a mare in this one too, who sat by the table reading. She was lavender, mane and fur both, and had a pink stripe in her hair. She seemed a bit more “rounded” compared to the sturdy Applejack and the athletic Rainbow Dash. While he didn't find her overweight he noted a certain amount of meat that indicated a sedentary life. What more, the way she hadn't even noticed their entrance made him peg her for the studious type.

“Howdy, Twilight!” Applejack said loudly, almost overly so. The mare evidently Twilight Sparkle was briefly startled as she looked up from her book, but upon recognising the farm pony, she smiled. It was a direct, genuine smile of happiness. Soap found himself almost a bit shocked by such a simple thing; how long since he had seen that kind of genuine, sweet smile?

“Hi there, Applejack,” she said whilst she pushed herself up, not without a certain amount of grace either. “Oh, and you’ve brought guests too. Who are your friends?”

“This here's Price, Soap, Yuri and Roach, some fellers who came by Sweet Apple Acres today. There’s two more of 'em too. Came right outta the mountains, would ya believe it?” She said. Twilight seemed surprised too at this, looking at the group.

“A pleasure to meet you all,” she said nevertheless with a small bow. Soap didn't find it in himself to not return it, so he did. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. What brings you to Ponyville?”

“Random chance and hunger,” Price quipped, only marginally less sourly than before. “To put it simple, we're strangers in a strange land and we're not quite sure where we go from here. Miss Applejack here was kind enough to feed us, even as SOME of us decided to steal from her,” he said, giving Roach a pointed glance. Roach looked away embarrassedly, mumbling as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“For the record that was all Gaz's idea and he outranks me,” Roach muttered. That last part caught Twilight’s twitching ear, and she began to regard them in a new light.

“Outrank?” she said now, looking a bit curious. “So… are you gentlecolts a part of the military?”

“Kind of,” Price said now, not missing a beat even as Soap tensed up a bit. “Not really though. It's a nice library you have here, Miss Sparkle,” he continued, changing topic. “We wondered what this building was; I got to say, I've never seen a library like this before.”

“The Golden Oak is one of its kind,” Twilight Sparkle said happily. “Starswirl the Bearded himself planted the acorn that rose into this tree. Some say it's...” she began. Soap's eyes widened as she launched into an enthusiastic retelling of what seemed to be half of this place's history.

‘Blooming hay, this mare was REALLY passionate about her books.’ He wryly thought as she rambled on.

Captain Price eventually cleared his throat after a while, somewhat loudly, and to the mare's credit she stopped now. “Sorry,” she said awkwardly. “So where are you from?” she hurriedly asked.

“Elsewhere,” Captain Price said evenly, Soap rolling his eyes in response as Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, but where would that be?” she asked, not getting the hint.

“Where we're from?” Roach asked now with a small smile, “It's in the direction we started from, about as far as we've travelled to come here and I suppose we've travelled about as many miles as we've currently got to where we're from – If you travel the road we took of course,” he finished with a grin. Twilight looked at them with a perplexed look on his face and Price proceeded to give Roach a small slap over the head.

“He does that,” the old warrior told Twilight calmly, “I advise slaps to the head.” Twilight hid a small smile now and the mood relaxed quite a lot. That, however, was when the dragon showed up.

Opening a door on the second floor, a figure came out of whatever room lay beyond and down the stairs. This short being was purple and green, scaled and fanged. It was unmistakably a dragon, even to the people-turned-ponies who had never seen a dragon in real life. It was only the fact that it was about the height of their legs as well as pudgy that stopped them from tensing up, what with the traditional earth image of dragons were.

“I'm done with the dishes, Twilight,” the little dragon said with the voice of a small child as he came down. At this point, Soap had given up trying to figure out this world. While still being all smiles outwardly, he mentally threw his hands up and laughed out loud at hearing that a dragon was doing the dishes. He simply relaxed, letting the glorious silliness of this world envelop him. Price, meanwhile, looked like he would have swallowed his cigar if he had had one. His eyes were closed and Soap could almost hear his muttered plea for somepony to end it all.

Operation Partycannon

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Chapter 4: Operation Partycannon

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It was, to say the least, a long day that had passed for the six displaced soldiers when they got back to Sweet Apple Acres. After the visit to the library and Twilight Sparkle they had dropped by another pegasus' home, a sweet little thing named Fluttershy. Said pegasus had been one of the most adorable figures imaginable, comparable to kittens in her sweet, shy disposition. Apparently she worked with animals, from fluffy bunnies to one surprisingly gentle bear named Harry.

Her personal pet, an ironically titled ‘Angel Bunny’ seemed to have taken offence to them from what Roach had been able to tell, chattering angrily and blocking the way for them as they tried to enter Fluttershy's cabin. One ‘get-out-of-the-way-or-you're-dinner’ glare from Price later they hadn't seen it again though. Fluttershy had been pleasant though, of course she had been. She was so eager to please and not offend that Roach had a feeling she could be pushed to do anything.

He also had a feeling that abusing that trait of hers would make half of Ponyville take up an interest in tying and testing out nooses.

Another interesting encounter had been the other unicorn, “Rarity”, a mare who had instantly made Roach twitch a little. Her behaviour had been almost exactly that of a few snooty young girls he remembered all too well from school, people who had made his trigger finger itch every time they opened their loud, whiny and haughty mouths. Annoyingly enough, however, this unicorn seemed basically all right overall. She had been polite and even gushed a bit over Yuri's coat.

In what had to be the most supreme example ever of unintended context she had extended an offer, on the spot, to design a few outfits for Yuri. Her twinkling eyes, coy smile and burning passion for fashion came over strong enough for the Russian to jump to conclusions about being invited into her home for modeling, and left him somewhat taken back. Whilst Yuri stammered beneath her studious gaze, Roach struggled defiantly to not explode into laughter at how much of a sexual invite it seemed to them. The squad were a dirty minded bunch, military life did that to you. When balancing on the knife's edge you took what chances you could to laugh and if crude jokes was all you had, you made them.

After the visit, however, they were unable to hold back the yawns that started to creep in. The aforementioned fatigue was bit by bit overwhelming them but luckily Applejack was graceful enough to wrap up her business quickly and led them back towards the Sweet Apple Acres. It felt like they hadn't slept in years, so it was no surprise that Roach found himself nodding off a bit as they walked.

They were nearly back at the farm when shadows fell over him that he woke up in surprise. They all did yet when they looked up and saw three shapes flying over their heads.

‘I guess some of us had to do something productive today,’ Roach thought with a grin, watching how Ghost and Gaz both came in for landing. While they landed somewhat unsteadily and moved more like flying cows, they were actually flying.

“Well ain't ye both quick learners,” Soap said to the two stallions, Gaz only grinning while Ghost seemed to be in a state of near bliss

“Occupational hazard, Cap'n,” Gaz told him. “Comes with being the best.” A snort from above made them all look up to see Rainbow Dash lounge on a cloud above with a raised eyebrow.

“Look who's getting cocky,” she drawled with a smirk. “Just so you don't get any ideas, here's how the best do it.” She said, leaping off the cloud and flying straight at them. Accelerating to that kind of insane, cruise-missile like speed she spun around them so sharply that it would have made a jet fighter hide in shame. She even left a rainbow-patterned trail after her, completing what had to be at least twelve laps in a second before she shot up into the sky with tornado almost spawning around them. Gaz had to clamp down on his hat to not lose it. Rainbow Dash only grinned however, giving them a wink as she flew above them. “Think you can pull that off hot-shot? You know where to find me,” she said before flying off, the six former soldiers all looking after her.

“I'd hit that,” Gaz eventually said. “What about you, Ghost, would you hit that?” he asked as he looked to his fellow pegasus.

“...Yep,” Ghost said after a while, Roach having to cover his mouth as Price got that ‘about-to-swallow-his-cigar’ look on his face again. Applejack only rolled her eyes, and Soap grinned a bit at her.

“Colts will be colts,” he said before he yawned and the farmpony shrugged.

“Tell me all 'bout it,” she drawled a bit. “Ah'd recommend ya to not get ya hopes up though,” she told them. “I ain't never seen a mare less interested in stallions than RD. She lives for flyin'.”

“Sweet,” Gaz said, “ A challenge!” A slap over the head from Price, which was rapidly becoming standard operating procedure, shut him up though. Applejack snorted at the remark.

“Lets get ya'll tucked in,” she said as they walked up to Sweet Apple Acres and towards the barn. “As I said, ya'll need anything, just come inside.”

“Thank you, Miss Applejack...” Price said patiently and evenly, his exhaustion evident, as he opened the door only to have the entire barn explode in front of him. Or rather, not explode, not quite. There was an explosion true, but it was not of fire and shockwave, but confetti and the sound of party blowers.

“SURPRISE!” the voice of seemingly half of Ponyville called out enthusiastically, the six soldiers having reacted, however, as soldiers tended to do when encountering explosions: they had thrown themselves backward and covered their heads when they landed on the ground. Looking up, they stared wide-eyed into what could only be described as half an army of ponies equipped with confetti, balloons, cakes, cupcakes, punch and various other party essentials. And in the middle of it all a certain pink pony was standing with a giant, radiant smile on her face.

“Welcome to Ponyville!” she cried out enthusiastically. “Were you surprised?” she asked as she seemingly teleported up to them and dragged them all inside within a heartbeat.

'Blooming hay she's enthusiastic' Roach thought. 'Or wait, scratch that, she's on something!'

Pinkie sat them all down and continued to beam at them as she spoke, “I hope you were, I did this for you since you're new in town and...”

“GET OUT!” Price suddenly detonated as he in some unexplained way managed to copy the instantaneous mannerisms of the pink pony and in the next second a pink pony, about a hundred more ponies, punch bowls, trays filled with muffins and cakes, silverware and plates, balloons, confetti and other things as well were sent flying out through the barn doors. Hyperventilating, the captain slammed the door shut and marched straight against the hay in one corner of the barn. “Of all the stupid...” he groused before he flopped straight onto the hay, making himself comfortable and closing his eyes. He was asleep within seconds.

Roach looked to his sleeping captain, then to the others, then to the door, and after a while he turned to head out again. While he was tired as could be, he just knew that this might bite them in the flank later on. He was accompanied by Soap and Gaz in this, the others having joined Price, and stepped out into what looked half like a battlefield with how many twitching, groaning ponies lay everywhere. The pink instigator of all this was sitting with wide eyes outside, a cupcake resting upside down on her head. She was blinking in shock and Roach felt his stomach grow a bit cold at the sight. That was the look of someone about to cry and he hurried up to her in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.

Right about there, however, the pink pony only fired off a massive grin. “Challenge accepted, Captain Price,” she said, her voice low and eager. Roach found himself stopping dead in his tracks as he stared at her, who looked much like cotton candy from where he stood now. Somehow his instincts were kicking in again, telling him not of danger, but that Price was screwed seven ways to Sunday right now.

“Uhm,” he said as he came up to her. “Sorry about that,” he began, “he's just had a very long day and...” The pink pony looked to him, blinking for a second before she took the cupcake out of her hair and swallowed it in one bite before turning her attention once more to him.

“Hi!” she said, utterly unperturbed by what just had happened. “Were you surprised?” she asked giddily. “I hope you were surprised even if Grumpy Grouchypants wasn't,” she began in a rapid fire, excitable manner. Roach got equally taken aback by her attitude and her nickname for Price, the latter especially giving him a slight sense of vertigo as he imagined just how Price would react to it. “I made this party for you, since you're new in town and just came out of the mountains and all...” She kept rambling, Roach getting the distinct feeling of being caught in a storm of words and cheer.

’What have I done?’ He wondered as the barrage of words kept going.

What followed honestly became a bit hard for the sleep-deprived commando to follow. One of the ponies from earlier, Twilight Sparkle, had managed to catch most of the food and ponies both. This she had done with some kind of force field, which she incidentally seemed to possess the ability to generate, and the party soon got started again. Roach would have dwelled on the forcefield, what with how he all of a sudden found most of his understanding of how physics worked sent for a massive spin, but it sort of faded away as he found himself participating in a conga line with a group of other ponies. He did not even, at that time, manage to find anything overly weird about a group of horses doing the conga.

Soap, meanwhile, had ended up at the refreshment table and was currently doing his best to drown himself in the giant bowl of punch standing there.

“I take it you like the punch?” Twilight Sparkle asked wryly as she came up by the table, Soap looking up from the bowl.

“Aye,” he said, “Was a long time since I had something like this. It's lacking bit o' a punch though,” he added thoughtfully, blinking and looking back when he heard Pinkie yell ‘Ironically!’ over by the conga line. Twilight only shook her head.

“Pinkie,” she offered as an explanation and Soap looked to her again, eventually shrugging.

“Aye, she's one of a kind, that lass,” he said, before taking another swig of the punch. He could have murdered for some liquor in this though, that would have been the piece de la resistance. He wondered if these ponies had alcohol and wasn't sure he could ask.

“I...” Twilight began and Soap looked to her. He noticed how she seemed uncertain, hesitant. “I hope I'm not offending you, Mister Soap,” she began, “But when you came by I couldn't help but notice your flanks.” Soap had taken a final swig of the punch and with that last word the liquid ended up taking a wrong turn in his throat, deciding to grace his lungs with their presence. Bursting into a loud cough and splutter, he raised a hoof to his mouth and stared at Twilight, only barely avoiding a spit take that would have drenched her.

“Bloomin' hay lass, yeh ain't wastin' yer time are ye?” he asked with a sly grin. ‘Is this really happening?’ Was this librarian filly coming onto him? A memory about Gaz calling him the ‘Scottish Sex Machine’ flashed by in his head as he looked at Twilight, whose face turned bright red.

“No!” she exclaimed, her face showing pure horror as she backed off several steps, shaking her head furiously. “No! Celestia, I didn't mean it like... I-I am so sorry, I didn't mean to...” she stammered, too embarrassed to finish a sentence. Soap blinked, feeling his pulse slow down a little as he managed to recover. Grinning at her, he offered her a glass of punch, which she quickly accepted with cheeks still burning bright red.

“Sorry 'bout that,” he told her. “So what did ye mean?” Twilight cleared her throat, taking a sip of the punch and then speaking up.

“I meant the fact that you're... blank,” she said after an awkward pause, speaking the word almost like she had called them on being midgets or something. She sounded like it took a lot to say it. Soap, however, didn't get what she was on about.

“Blank?” he asked flatly, Twilight nodding.

“Your flanks,” she reiterated, Soap looking to his flank. Indeed it seemed quite blank, nothing special there. It was then that the lightning bolt of realization struck him however. Among the ponies around him, all of them carried marks on their flanks. All bar him, Roach, Gaz, Price, Yuri and Ghost who didn't have those either. Was it some kind of traditional marking for something? Each of the marks were personalized, looking pretty much like well made tattoos.

“Aye well,” he began, wetting his lips. “Strangers in a strange land, Miss Twilight.” That would have to do to deflect the question. They should look into getting some tattoos done soon probably, though.

“But, you're still ponies,” Twilight said, her face showing her disbelief. “Everyone develops their Cutie Marks before they become adults, there's not been a single case in the history of Equestria that a pony's Cutie Mark didn't manifest before adulthood and none of you have them. It's... it shouldn't be possible.” Soap blinked. He had been way off in his first guess, apparently these... Cutie Marks... were something natural to these folks. Thinking quickly, he answered after a few seconds.

“It was a long way here, Miss Twilight... and nae all distances count in miles...” he added mysteriously before turning away. “We lost a lot comin' here, not all things we can talk about,” he finished before noticing the large bowl of crisps nearby and walked up to them. Digging in, he silently made a note about running this story past the others as well.

“But I...” Twilight began, Soap looking to her.

“Hope ye dinnae mind,” he added, nailing her in place with those words. For all her eagerness, she was a socially awkward bookworm. She wouldn't be able to keep going without seeming mean, something she wouldn't be able to do if he had pegged her correctly. Twilight didn't push it, but backed off with an awkward look on her face. Soap couldn't help but feel a mite assholish but as he looked around at the absurd little sweet fantasy realm he was in, he thought to himself that if these ponies knew what he had done, what all of them had done, they'd have run in fear.

“Gaz!” he yelled out, watching how Gaz at the moment was leaning back under a tree with a mare under each arm. 'How did he get to that point so fast?' He wondered as the man came up towards him. “No fraternizing,” he muttered into the man's ears.

Gaz began to object, “Oh come on, Soap,” he said but Soap knocked him between the eyes lightly with one hoof.

“Want me to tell Price?” he asked, Gaz sighing and raising one hoof in a gesture that, if he had still had access to fingers, would have been very rude. “Off ye go,” Soap told the man and turned back to Twilight. “So, yer a wizard?” he asked , clarifying after a second. “That telekinesis thing,” he said.

“Y-yes,” Twilight said, perking up a little. “I'm the disciple of Princess Celestia actually,” she said with a slightly proud look on her face. Soap raised an eyebrow now. Celestia as in the ruler? ‘Now THAT’s interestin’’. A protégé of a demigod ruler that ostensibly raised and lowered the sun around here?

“Really now?” he said, “So yer the best wizard around here then?” he asked, deciding to stroke her ego a bit. Twilight's reaction was to look to the side, a slight blush on her face.

“I wouldn't say I'm THAT good,” she said bashfully before she was interrupted again.

“Hel-lo!” Rainbow Dash said as she came up. The mare seemed intent on the punch but stopped to speak now. “So defeating an Ursa Minor isn't good?” she asked. “Don't listen to the egghead, Soap,” she told him as she moved her hoof in a circle by her temple. “She's the best in Ponyville and probably more too, she just doesn't get that you're allowed to brag when you're awesome.”

“Like ye?” Soap asked dryly. Rainbow Dash preened and grinned.

“Of course!” she said and got a glass of punch which she downed. Soap smiled. After the brash mare's help with Ghost and Gaz she had racked up quite a few points with him. Her attitude wasn't uncommon at all among the people he had worked with. He remembered one guy, Ozone, who had been convinced he was God's gift to man. She could back her talk with action so he didn't have any real reason to hate her as it was. Fact was, he liked her. Twilight, meanwhile, was still grimacing.

“I just don't like to brag,” she said. “Besides, your captain was remarkably skilled as well. Throwing us all out like that is something only few unicorns could hope to do,” she said, levitating a small glass to get some punch. “Would you mind telling me where he was taught? I'm sure there must be some references to an unicorn that powerful.” Soap though this over quickly, trying to come up with something.

“Well, Price ain't too keen on discussin' his past,” he said eventually, deciding to deflect the question. “Dunno fer sure if he even was taught,” he shrugged, instantly regretting having opened his mouth as Twilight blinked.

“That... makes a lot of sense actually,” she said with a small furrow on her brow. Rubbing a hoof against her cheek, she looked towards the barn. “The discharge in there was massive, if it was a surge then it'd be more reasonable. Mister Soap, if he isn't willing to tell you, can you at least tell him that he should learn to control his magic if he doesn't already know. If that was a surge he's very powerful, and if he bottles up his magic it might be dangerous.” Soap pursed his lips thoughtfully, glancing at the young unicorn mare.

“Would the protégé of her majesty be willin' tae help out with that?” he asked her smoothly, Twilight blinking.

“Well,” she said, “I suppose I could, I'm not sure I would be the best teacher but...”

“Oi,” Soap interrupted her now. “Don't play coy with me here,” he smirked. “All I'm hearin' suggests yer tha best at what ye do. Humility's one thing but when yer tha best ye should admit that. When the situation calls fer the best, ye shouldn't be scared tae step up. People might get hurt if ye don't.” He told her, giving her a small pat on the shoulder. “I'll tell Price yer willin' tae help out,” he grinned at the furiously blushing pony, thinking 'Heh, cute' to himself. The next second he chastised himself. Starting to run after little girls, or rather fillies now, at his age wasn't okay. That was one of those moral lines he'd always been adamant about never crossing and overall enforcing with a bayonet if that was what it took. Besides, no fraternizing as he had told Gaz.

Suddenly a bolt of light shot right over their heads, Soap ducking with a curse as his entire body kicked into combat-mode. Turning towards the source with wide eyes, he saw how Roach was standing wide-eyed with his horn smoking.

“Sorry!” The youngest member of Task Force 141 exclaimed, shock in his voice. “I haven't gotten the hang of this thing yet,” he excused himself hurriedly. “Blooming hay,” he told Pinkie, who was standing right next to him. “Thanks a lot you pink tosser, Soap's gonna kill me now!”

“Ooops,” Pinkie said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck as she grinned in an attempt to defuse the situation. “Just tried to teach Roachie how to pop balloons, Soapy, my bad.” Soap took a deep breath, his entire body trembling with excess energy.

“Barn,” he said atonally to Roach. The good mood was gone for him and he was in full battle-mood. “Now. Tomorrow yer gonna learn tae control that thing under Twilight here, is that clear?” he asked. His voice was calm but to Roach it would be evident just what kind of calm it was. It wasn't a relaxed calm at all, it was the calm before the storm, a storm that would erupt if Roach didn't obey instantly.

“Yes, sir,” Roach said meekly, scurrying off towards the barn without another word. Soap grunted with narrowed eyes as the young man left, feeling like a stern father at the moment. He supposed he was. Roach was in many ways his protégé. Where Ghost always had been something of a lone wolf even if he was as reliable and skilled as could be, Roach was a team-player of the highest order. He and Soap had always simply 'clicked', able to work together almost without words. That bond had made Roach special to him, the bond and his age both. A snot-nosed little kid, with more raw talent than experience, who had gotten to try out for the SAS the very same day he became eligible, passing with flying colours and getting into Task Force 141 on his twenty-third birthday. Soap, who neared forty now, could very well have been his dad age-wise. It wasn't a strange thought to him, many of his childhood peers had gotten kids before they reached eighteen back in Glasgow.

'Celestia my childhood's a mess innit?' he thought to himself, adding 'Wait, what?' when he realized what name he had thought of. Also, a small giggle made him blink and look to Twilight. “Aye?” he asked as the mare was holding a hoof to cover her mouth.

“Sorry,” she said, “It's like watching my brother and father. Shining Armor once was practising his aim using some old clay pots he found in the basement. They turned out to be part of our father's inheritance though,” she said. Soap burst out laughing.

“Ouch,” he said, imagining just how angry his dad would have been for something like that.

“Yes, father had the exact same look on his face when he sent Shining to his room.” Twilight said.

“What's yer brother daein fer a livin'?” Soap asked, taking some more punch to settle his nerves.

“He's captain of the royal guard,” Twilight said proudly, Soap raising an eyebrow. So even this place had an active military? If the ruler could control the sun it made sense to guard her. “One of Princess Celestia's closest advisers and probably the best with a shield spell in all of Equestria.” There was a titbit that made Soap very interested. So the sister was the princess' protégé and the brother captain of the Royal Guard? That sounded like a very powerful family if they could snag positions like that. They'd have to play nice with this mare, that much was certain.

Abruptly, Soap found himself running on fumes, and he felt a wave exhaustion crash over him. It came all in one go, probably due to the adrenaline settling after Roach's stunt. Soap shook his head to clear it, putting down the cup he had been somehow holding in one hoof.

“Right.” he said, “That's it fer me. Thank ye kindly everypony!” he yelled, getting the attention of most, if not all, of the ponies around. “Ye sure know how tae make a man feel right welcome,” he began, getting a lot of approving sounds and gestures. “But now I've been awake fer over 48 hours straight, so if ye'd all kindly take a hike now an' we can go back tae bein' friendly and welcoming tae each other when I've gotten tae sleep that'd be alright! Cheers!” He said, picking up the cup again and draining it in one swig. The ponies around him responded enthusiastically, emptying their cups as well.

“Gaz,” he added when he was done, “Saddle up, we're goin' tae bed. Now!” he added with some emphasis after a while. It was funny in way, seeing how Gaz had been in the SAS for over a year when Soap showed up but it was Soap who had taken the role of the mature one between them. Grousing a bit, Gaz nevertheless said goodbye to the ponies he had been talking to and accompanied Soap back to the barn, where Roach already had laid down to sleep as well.

“Are you done with that blooming tea party now?” Price muttered from the pile of hay where he was lying as they closed the door.

“Aye, Sir,” Soap yawned, “Also, yer goin' back tae school tomorrow, Price.”

“What?” Price asked, the edge in his voice clear in the darkness.

“Yer horn's magical,” Soap said as he laid down in the hay as well. “If ye dinnae learn tae control it ye'll blow yer head off in the end. Class starts tomorrow with that librarian lass, she's the protégé of the princess, one o’ the best mages in Equestria. Good night sir,” he finished, beginning to relax and stretch on his bale of hay. Finally, after the longest day of his life, he was granted the blessing of sleep. He drifted away to dreamland, joining his comrades in blissful sleep. Their troubles and concerns could wait until morning, now, in this clearly safe place, they treated themselves to the most precious thing they knew: sleep.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

Price let his SMG roar and watched the two soldiers fall to the ground, both of them dead. Advancing with the gun gripped firmly in his hands, he scanned the sandstone buildings around him with expert ease, picking out at least three more hostiles in the immediate area. Getting into cover, he reloaded and reached for the earpiece.

“Bravo Six to Bravo Team, come in,” he said lowly, looking towards the corner behind which he was hiding. The gun was raised and at the ready. The response he waited for didn't come however. “Bravo Team, come in!” he hissed. ‘Why aren’t they responding?!’ he thought worriedly, his mind high on adrenaline. Angry shouts could be heard, the sound of the enemy approaching rapidly. With no response, Price had to spin around the corner, firing several short bursts to drive the attackers back.

“Come in Bravo Team, where are you?” he asked as he darted into cover again, just in time to avoid a swarm of AK-47 bullets.

As he reached for the headset he felt his fingers refuse to grab it and push the button. Teeth gritted, he looked to his hand to see in horror how it was no longer a hand, but a hoof. Shock and horror filled him as he looked down, realizing that he had been transformed. He was no longer human but a horse, and he stood naked, unarmed and helpless in the dusty alleyway, his enemies soon rounding the corner. Shock was in their eyes as they gawked at him, but Price gritted his teeth and charged. Going on instinct, he slammed into one of them, burying his horn completely inside the man's gut. Trying to pull out, he swore only to have his curse warped into some strange pony pun as he realized he was stuck. The other man yelled something in another language, raising his gun and Price, still stuck inside the first man, saw the muzzle flash, realizing he was done for.

Closing his eyes, he tried to pull out one more time and this time he succeeded. Instinctively, he back-pedalled and ended up scrambling to the side, away from his attacker. It took him a second to realize that the man was gone however. So was the one he had stabbed. In fact, looking around, Price realized that the street was completely deserted. There was no one here, he was alone.

“Such violence,” a voice said behind him, a deep, melodious female voice. He spun around with adrenaline still pumping in him, coming face to face with another horse. This one was different to the ones he had seen before. Her fur was deep blue and its mane and tail both billowing in some unseen wind. What more, her mane seemed like the very night sky with the stars shining in the deep darkness of space. She was bigger than him and had a horn as well as wings. Her eyes, meanwhile, carried a weight to them that was unlike anything Price had seen before. A weight of age, experience, pain and resolve. It was the gaze he saw every time he looked into a mirror. Still tense, Price found himself frozen between fight and flight. Whoever this newcomer was, she wasn't some average pony. “'Tis truly a strange place thou calleth home, Captain Price.” She spoke and Price startled at the mention of his name.

“Who are you?” he growled, ready to attack at the least sign of hostility.

“Be at ease,” the figure said, standing her ground and making no attempt to move in any direction. “For we bear thee no ill will. We art Luna, the Princess of the night. Thou art in our domain, the dream world, and we were drawn by the screams of violence, more potent than we have felt in centuries. Thou and thy companions art not native to this realm, that much is clear, and this strange realm whence thee cometh art not a place we recognize.”

“It's called Earth, now get out of my head,” Price told her. The figure only shook her head however.

“Neigh,” she said, “Thou came to us, not the other way around. Our little ponies cometh hither in their sleeping hours and we watch over them. Whatever ails them in their waking hours is reflected here, and we cometh here to offer balm for these pains.”

“I don't need your balms,” Price told her heatedly. “If you want to help me then show me the fastest way out of this obscene fantasy world. I'm not going to stay here one second more than I have to and believe me, you don't want me here either.”

“Is that so?” the mare said, Price feeling more and more like a child in front of her. There was something to her, something... old. No, more than old, ancient even. He had a feeling that this entity, whatever and whoever it was, played in the same league as that Princess Celestia the cowpony had talked about. “Thou bestoweth judgement swiftly, Captain” she said, slowly beginning to walk towards him, “Yet beware thy rage, for whilst thou findeth strength therein, thou findeth also thine worst enemy, thyself.”

“Stay back!” Price snarled, readying himself to charge. The mare only smiled at him though, smiling like he was an unruly child which only further enraged him.

“Of course, 'twas not our intent to provoke. Be at peace tonight, Captain Price, thine journey hath not yet come to an end, yet if thou hath the courage to open the eyes thou closed a long time ago, then there is hope. There is always hope, even for thee,” she said, beginning to slowly fade away and with it, the alleyway he stood in as well. Price looked around, seeing how the dream fell apart and how he eventually was enveloped in a soothing, empty darkness, a darkness that embraced him for the rest of the night.

Getting a feel for the terrain

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The sun rose gently over the Sweet Apple Acres, as it had many times before, and as it usually did, the rooster greeted the dawn with its loud crowing. Applejack stretched in bed and got out after about five seconds. That was as much leisure as she allowed herself in the mornings. Donning her hat, she walked downstairs to see about breakfast. Throwing a glance out towards the barn, she pondered how the strange fellows who had come down from the mountain yesterday felt.

She thought back about it and wondered just how exhausted they had been. When thinking back on it, it had seemed as though they had been staying awake on pure willpower. That wasn't easy, she would know that. Having once tried to single-hoofedly harvest the entire orchard and ended up an exhausted, confused wreck from it, she wondered just what kind of iron will these ponies were in possession of. That big stallion, Soap, had said they had been awake for forty-eight hours. If that was true then that was crazy, but she had no reason to doubt the stallion's word.

He looked like a stand-up sorta stallion to her. Strong, looked dependable and he had a certain rugged handsomeness about him. Most of them had, possibly with the exception of the fellow in the balaclava, Ghost. While Applejack hardly was some stallion-chasing flirt like Rarity might be, AJ could appreciate a nice flank when seeing it and these fellows were very well built. 'Course, she'd always be ready to offer a job to people lost and drifting if she had one, but these six stallions' looks didn't exactly make it harder for her to offer it. Shaking her head to clear out the silly thoughts, she glanced outside the window only to see that the barn door was opening. To her surprise, the six stallions were all coming out of it, yawning and stretching as they moved. Leaning out of the window, she held one eyebrow raised as her front hooves lay crossed on the windowsill.

“Well ain't ya'll up and runnin' early,” she asked as she leaned out. “Ah thought you'd want to sleep in after yesterday an' all.” One of the ponies, Roach, yawned loudly at this.

“Six hours' plenty for us,” he said with a brave smile, Applejack raising an eyebrow at it. Yeah sure, she'd believe that when pigs flew.

“Breakfast?” she asked them.

“Oh yes that'd be great,” Gaz said instantly, Price giving him a murderous glare that he didn't even seem to register. After a second the moustachioed pony grunted however.

“Yes... if it is not too much of a bother,” he said. Price reminded Applejack a bit of her pa, only a lot stricter. She wished he'd lighten up a bit but then again she had no idea what they had gone through recently so she didn't make a deal of it.

“Ah asked you, didn't I?” she smiled. “How does pancakes sound?”

“Like heaven descended to us mere mortals and whispered its sweet enlightenment onto our plates,” Gaz said as he came up and bowed before her. “What must I do mistress Applejack?” he asked, Applejack raising an eyebrow at his mannerisms. Despite that she made sure they got into the kitchen and soon the smell of pancakes filled the kitchen, that and Gaz's singing as he helped her with the pancakes. As he flipped the pancakes the words came from him and Applejack glanced as he kept going.

“Here's forty pancakes on the plate,
Which sound so freaking great.
To have as my breakfast today,
'Cause my hunger won't go away”

He sang this song as he finished the first, large stack of pancakes and placed it on the table with a small flourish. The other stallions looked to him, a mixture of disbelief and amusement on their faces. After a while Roach butted in as well.

“Forty pancakes on the plate,
That is what my hunger will sate
That's how you start off a great day,
When your hunger won't go away.”

Grinning, Soap dug into the pancakes, covering them with apple purée and digging in happily. Between the large mouthfuls he added his small piece to it.

“Syrup or jam or honey sweet,
only improves this lovely treat.
No matter what's on though just stack,
Pancakes so high so I don't lack.”

At the end the entire table, minus Price, was happily joining in for the second chorus.

“Forty pancakes on the plate,
That is what my hunger will sate.
That's how you start off a great day,
When your hunger won't go away.”

Price, meanwhile, was sitting with his face down into the table and refusing to sing along. It was first after a while, when a small stack of pancakes sat on his plate, that he looked up and dug in, albeit reluctantly. Applejack started feeling a bit concerned for the stallion, wondering just what had happened to get him into such a foul mood. Maybe it had something to do with their missing Cutie Marks. Applejack hadn't had the heart to ask about it. Ponies without their Cutie Marks, that was strange to say the least.

“So what are your plans for the day?” she asked after a while.

“I'm going to school, and so is Price!” Roach said happily with his mouth full, before Soap slapped him over the head. “Ow! Oh come on Soap!” he protested, “That's Price's thing.”

“Don't talk with yer mouth full,” Soap told him, Price having sunken further and further down into his seat. The boonie hat he wore hung over his eyes and the mouth was locked in a massive scowl. Applejack raised an eyebrow at what he said. “But aye,” Soap said. “I spoke tae Miss Sparkle yesterday an' she agreed tae help Roach an' Price with some things.”

“Can I bring an apple from the orchard for my new teacher?” Roach asked with a grin before being given another slap over the head, Applejack was unable to stop herself from smiling a little. She couldn't help but pity Twilight, knowing fully well that the poor mare would soon be at her wits' end with this stallion.

“Sure,” she said. “Just... try not ta be too hard on 'er. She's as bookish as they come but I dunno if she's ever teached before.”

“Taught,” Roach corrected before Price slapped him over the head. “Ow!”

“Mind your manners,” the old stallion growled. “We're still guests here.” Roach rubbed the back of his head with one hoof.

“Sorry, Miss Applejack,” he said sheepishly just as a small splat came from the other end of the table. Applejack looked only to see that Yuri had gotten a large splash of jam on his face and Gaz sat with wide eyes, the position of his hoof by the jam jar as well as the spoon resting over his hoof making it clear he had managed to launch a glob of jam straight into Yuri's face. For a second everything was quiet, Gaz silently wincing under Price's withering stare.

“Really?” the old stallion asked, sounding only tired. “It's like a blooming class of foals with you people! Eat up, then you're all out to get working. You two,” he said, pointing at Gaz and Ghost, “Are doing those flying drills you did yesterday until you can do what your instructor could. Soap, you and Yuri are helping out on the farm today. Roach, any horseplay in class and you'll be doing laps around the town until you faint, got it?” he asked with a growl. Applejack couldn't help but think that when the stallion was like that he reminded her of a timber wolf.

“Yes sir,” the other stallions all muttered and the breakfast concluded in silence.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

Roach was silent as he and Price both walked along the path towards the village of Ponyville. Courtesy of Applejack, they each wore some old saddlebags that the mare had borrowed them to carry books in. “Weird” still didn't suffice to describe the situation. He was going back to school: THAT was weird. He was doing so alongside Captain Price: that was absurd. He was doing so to learn unicorn magic since he had turned into a magical pony: that was a cause for finding a thesaurus and look up synonyms for “My brain is about to implode” posthaste.

“So...” he said after a while, wanting to fill the air with something other than this silence. “Where'd you go to school originally Captain?”

“Community school, East London,” Price answered. It was atonally and unenthusiastically, but it was an answer.

“Same,” Roach said, “Just in Bishop's Lydeard... Somerset,” he added dryly after a second.

“Can't hear that on you,” Price noted and Roach snorted.

“You only need so many comedians calling you out on sounding like a yokel before Queen's English starts sounding real tempting,” he said, “Easier that way.”

“It's 'ardly easy ter be cockney eever,” Price said in the thickest, broadest cockney-accent to ever have walked Celestia's green earth, Roach suddenly staring at his captain. The man seemed to be transformed from the pure military man he knew to some bloke from Eastenders. Blinking at the sight, he eventually chuckled.

“You're not getting me to talk about seeing to my chickens, just so you know.” Price responded with a small 'heh' of his own.

“Soap's bloody Scottish gives you plenty of leeway,” the Captain told him.

“Well we can't all be Londoners now, can we?” Roach shrugged. Ghost, Gaz and Price were all from London. “I wonder what Yuri's accent is.”

“Couldn't tell you,” Price shrugged. “He strikes me as a city guy though.”

“Yeah and now he's working a farm...” Roach said, suddenly laughing. Price gave him an odd look as Roach kept on laughing. “Look at us!” he said, “The Scottish and the immigrants are taking all the jobs!” he grinned. “At least there's higher education for the REAL English still.” Price only groaned at this, covering his face with one hoof. Roach only kept grinning at his wit. “Sorry, I'll shut up now sir,” he chuckled and Price slowly shook his head as he began to walk again.

“I need a cigar,” he muttered as they entered Ponyville. The streets were hardly bustling but people were out and about despite the quite early hour. “I'm checking if they have them here during lunch break...” he muttered before realizing what he had said. It made the enormity of him, a twenty year special forces officer, actually going back to the school bench, sink in and he wanted to bang his head against something.

“Good morning you two,” a voice rang out then, Roach instantly twitching at the tone of the voice. By Celestia he still hated that snotty tone on pure instinct. Remembering that he had met the owner of said tone yesterday, however, he turned around and came face to face with Rarity. For some reason he still had a little devil on his shoulder that made him say what he said.

“Top o' the mornin' to ye, luv,” he said with a slight bow right before he felt a smack across the back of his head. “I mean... Good morning, miss,” he winced, rubbing the back of his head.

“Good morning,” Price answered as well. Rarity was all smiles and grace as she came up to them with a small flutter of her eyelashes. Roach, still rubbing the back of his head, realized that by pony standards, insofar as he had any clue of those, Rarity had to be a real stunner. He couldn't help but give her a quick glance-over. Her shapely legs, her graceful yet curvaceous build, her expertly styled hair and eyes were simply captivating. Blimey, was he drooling?

“I'm quite surprised to see you two up and about,” she said amicably as Roach quickly swallowed and tried to seem neutral, “I had thought you'd sleep in after yesterday.”

“We're not much for sleeping in, miss Rarity,” Price said, “Besides, we were heading to the library for some business that miss Twilight Sparkle was going to aid us with.” Rarity's brow furrowed a little. It wasn't much, but both Roach and Price caught it, the latter then leaned in. “Is there something we should know about that? We spoke with her yesterday and she seemed eager” he asked quietly, Rarity standing up a little taller and waving a hoof dismissively.

“Oh no, not like that.” she said quickly. “Make no mistake, Twilight's a lovely filly and as bright as can be... she just tends to be a bit...” Rarity's brow furrowed again, this time in uncertainty. “Shall we say 'verbose'? She's quite passionate and sometimes... Well, let me just say that I wouldn't fault you for becoming impatient. But please, do be gentle with her.”

“That was our intent,” Price said. “Despite our appearances we're not barbarians,” he said with a small smile. Roach almost wanted to let out a held breath at this. The small attempt at levity was the closest Price had gotten to not acting like he wanted to kill someone.

“Oh I didn't mean to imply,” Rarity began hastily, being given pause a second later “Though if I may say so, there's a spa here in town that is quite excellent and I couldn't help but notice you happen to be somewhat... unshorn. Which I of course understand,” she hurried quickly to add. “Why your trek through the mountains must have been positively awful! Might I tempt you with a trip to the spa, my treat of course? It's just a shame that such handsome stallions aren't at their very best,” she smiled coyly, fluttering her eyes at them.

“We'll consider it,” Price said stiffly. “We must be off though, the library beckons. Good day.”

“Of course,” Rarity said sweetly, “Good luck and say hi to Twilight from me. Toodles!” she finished, departing. As she did so she gave Roach a quick wink as she passed him by with a sway of her hips, the fragrance of her perfume lingering. Roach didn't move a muscle but nevertheless felt embarrassed as all could be. 'She noticed.' he thought to himself. 'Oh yes she noticed!' That thought was followed up by another, even more embarrassing one. 'I have the weirdest boner right now'.

“Get,” Price growled, his voice as icy as any cold shower could be, “Your head, back, in the game, soldier.”

“Yes sir...” Roach said meekly as they headed for the library tree. It towered in the middle of the town as imposing as always and Roach looked up at it, marvelling at the fact that the thing was still alive. Even with a house carved into it the tree was alive. That had to be magic. Roach knew enough about trees to know that they didn't survive having rooms carved out of them normally. So he found himself excited as they walked up to the door. However...

“Lights are out...” Price noted as they approached the door.

“Think she's asleep?” Roach asked.

“Probably,” Price groused as he walked up and began banging on the door. “A deal's a deal though. I'm not drifting around until the pony princess gets her arse out of bed on her own.” After a few knocks, with no answer, Price tried the door to see if it was open. It was, as it turned out, and they could enter the library. Flipping the light-switch on, they got a better look around the library they had been introduced to. There was, however, not a single mare in sight anywhere. “She's asleep all right,” Price said.

“Hello?!” Roach asked, somewhat loudly. “Miss Sparkle?” he asked as he walked into the building.

“This is ridiculous,” Price groused after a few more seconds. “Let's...” he began only to be interrupted when a door at the top of a stairwell further into the building opened. Out of it peeked a familiar, lavender-coloured head and looked bleary-eyed down at them.

“Oh,” Twilight said sleepily. “It's you guys...” she came out of the room beyond the stairs, hair frazzled. “Can I...” she said before yawning widely, “Can I help you?”

“Uhm yeah,” Roach said, “We were supposed to come here for magic classes. Should we come back later?” he asked, Twilight's eyes opening wide.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” she began rambling as she shot into the room she had come out from, the door wide open and allowing them hear her yelling inside. “Spike! Where's my copies of Starswirl's guide for the Magical Student! I know I picked it out when I came home last night!”

Roach and Price could only stare at each other as something more sounding like a large scale brawl rocked the library upstairs. After a few, hesitant seconds they both were on it, leaping up the stairs with large steps to see what was going on. As they peeked inside they were met by a strange sight.

Twilight was standing in the middle of the room, hair frazzled and eyes panicky as dozens of books were rotating around her. Around her in the messy room every single book that could be seen was grabbed by some kind of forcefield and yanked into the air no matter what was piled upon it. This had made several small towers of both stationary and personal effects come tumbling down and added to the chaos inside the room. Twilight, meanwhile, looked around herself at the books, seemingly sorting through them at an incredible speed. It seemed she was a little overenthusiastic, if the sight of the pudgy little dragon being one of the things spinning around her -upside down to boot- was any indication.

“Gaah!” Spike yelled in panic, “They're downstairs along with the other things you gathered up last night! Let me down!”

“Oh, right!” Twilight said with the voice of someone too worked up to think straight. Unceremoniously, she let go of all the books - as well as Spike – and made her way towards the stairs quickly. “Right then, gentlecolts, let us just get down and we can...” She rambled. Roach couldn't help but feel unsettled by the panic in her eyes. Price did more than just sit there however; the captain held out a hoof to stop the mare, grabbing her foreleg and turning her to face him.

“OI!” he barked into her face, startling her and making her back down. “Will you blooming calm down?” he said, Roach ready to bet that he had been about to bark 'Soldier' as well. Twilight stood still, still staring at them. She seemed too shocked to move. “Oi Spike,” Price continued, “You're responsible for her, ain't ya?” he asked as Spike rubbed his forehead, surrounded by books.

“More than I should have to be at times,” the little dragon groused as he got up, Roach coming up to give him a helping hoof.

“Care to whip up some coffee and a sandwich for the teacher here?” Price said tiredly. “She seems to need it.”

“It's okay,” Twilight said, having raised her hoof to rub her eyes. “I'm terribly sorry about this, it's so embarrassing. I know I promised to aid you but then I got stuck looking through the library for teaching materials and I guess I forgot the time...” she grimaced at her panicked outburst and Price only shook his hoof.

“Less apologizing and more eating, Miss Sparkle,” he said. “Get your hooves on the ground and back in the saddle and I'll be happy.” Roach, meanwhile, was pushing a chair for Spike to hop onto at the bench, the small dragon giving him a 'thanks' as he began to work. Roach watched entire thing with interest, noticing that Spike was putting what looked like daisies on the sandwich. He found the concept intriguing, never having eaten flowers before. He was a horse however, and horses were herbivores. So therefore he snatched a daisy off the table and put it in his mouth, giving Spike a wink when he looked to him with a long-suffering look.

“You want a sandwich too?” he asked with the look of someone who had gotten quite enough of what they'd refer to as 'this crap' already.

“It's all right,” Roach said as he chewed on the flower. It was not bad at all really. It had a fresh sort of taste that reminded him of mint. Not nearly as strong though, just a faint, temporary aftertaste that brought forth a freshness to his breathe for a moment. That, along with the initial, somewhat bitter taste, made him decide he actually wanted a sandwich like this after all. Still, when looking at how the grousing little dragon was making the sandwich he felt like he'd be a bastard if he asked for one. He'd just have to make one himself later on.

Within another minute they were downstairs again, Twilight having a sandwich and a large cup of coffee with her. Soap and Price were seated at the main table, as were Twilight. The latter had a massively embarrassed look on her face as she took a sip of the coffee and hovered two books to put them down in front of the two stallions. Opening them both, Price held a look that spoke volumes of just how unimpressed he was thus far and Roach with a small, amused smile.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

“Huah!” Yuri exclaimed as he bucked the tree behind him and looked back to see the tree shake as the apples came raining down out of it. Nearly a third of the apples came down with one go and he smiled somewhat to himself at the sight. His first buck had only gotten five apples out of the tree and he took a deep breath as he turned around to buck again, “Huah!” he exclaimed once more, bucking with all he had. There was a technique to it he had realized after a few hours of this. You had to hit the tree dead centre and straight on, even being a little off would completely ruin the effect.

“Doin' good, Yuri,” Soap said as he walked by with his saddlebags filled with apples.

“Thank you,” Yuri responded, a tiny smile on his face. He looked up at the tree once more and noted that he had gotten another third of the apples out of the tree so with a final buck he cleared it out and brought the apples over to the large cart they were gathering them in.

“Mighty fine work you're doin' there, Yuri,” Applejack said as he dumped the apples into the cart. “We might just hafta keep ya here.” She continued jokingly. Yuri nodded with a small smile at her words but didn't show how strangely happy those words had made him. Going to buck apples out of another tree, he thought about how strangely fulfilling the work they were doing felt. Having been on it for a few hours, Yuri felt like he was, in a strange way, happy doing this. It was hard, kinda monotonous work, but as he looked towards the cart and saw it filled with apples he couldn't help but be content with it. Tough as it was, it made him feel good about himself. Good in a way he hadn't for a long time...

“Well ain't ya lookin' happy as a clam,” Soap commented, coming up beside him. “Care tae take this one together?” he asked as they moved to the next tree. Yuri nodded and they both got in position to buck it from one side each. “I've nae seen ye this happy before. What gives?” Soap continued as they bucked together, managing to actually get all the apples out of the tree in one go. “Hah!” Soap exclaimed as they began to pick the apples.

“I've not had much to smile about,” Yuri said, “This... I can smile at this. I'm not hurting anyone, not failing in everything I set out to do, not looking down on my hands to see rivers of blood run across them...” he smiled, the smile melancholy to say the least, yet all the same not bitter at all. “I am working at a farm, helping a good pony who took me in and gave me a home for now. It is good...” He concluded as he walked over to the cart with a new bagload of apples. “It's been long since I felt good.”

“Don't get too comfortable,” Soap murmured as they emptied the bags and went to get new ones.

“Why shouldn't I?” Yuri asked, plainly. “I have no oath of service to go back to in the real world. No family, no homeland. I am a wanted criminal that could just as well be dead as far as the world cares. So tell me, my friend, why shouldn't I settle in when it seems I've found somewhere, anywhere, to be accepted?”

“Ye really think it's acceptance when they dinnae know anything 'bout who ye are, yer history, what ye've done...” Soap asked lowly, Yuri's eyes darkening. He turned to look at Soap, his eyes were those of a dead pony. Dark, emotionless and distant.

“The blood of tens of thousands are on my hands,” he said bitterly, “Here or in the real world, acceptance for who I truly am is a pipe dream. At least this lie is soothing...” With that, he walked away from Soap to continue bucking the apples, his good mood vanishing.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

Gaz didn't care if he was being undignified or anything such as he laughed. At the moment he was having way too much of a blast to give a damn. Flying through the air at high speed, he felt how his wings trembled from exertion and yet he didn't care! This was blooming brilliant!

“Doing good there, hot-shot!” Rainbow Dash said as she corkscrewed around them. She was a real ace at flying and didn't miss a single chance to show it either. Ghost and Gaz was only just able to keep up with her and he was ready to bet that she'd have a lot more speed to pull out. They were at the moment flying over the Ponyville meadows, the ground flying by beneath them. RD ducked to the left, Ghost and Gaz needing to take out a wide turn in order to keep up at this pace. Turning was hard at this speed and the two ponies strained themselves “Come on, come on, go, go, go!” Rainbow Dash cried out all around them, “You got your wings plucked?! Show me what you've got!” she said as she came up behind them and shot past them. Ghost and Gaz glanced at each other, knowing what they'd have to do.

Turning downwards, they used the added momentum from gravity to speed up even more before turning sharply upwards, their wings burning with the strain as they kept following her, manoeuvre after manoeuvre. When they stopped, over an hour later, on a cloud quite a distance from Ponyville, the two men were panting, but still able to stand up.

“You know something, hot-shots?” Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she sat nearby, hardly even sweaty, “You're not half bad at this. Maybe one day you'll be half as awesome as me.”

“Keep that up,” Ghost said, “And we'll blast past you before you know it.” Rainbow Dash only laughed at this.

“Look who's getting cocky again,” she said, striking a pose. “I'm the best flyer in Ponyville, no, in all of Equestria!” Ghost remained where he stood, looking calmly at her.

“And with that attitude, you'll lose the title,” he told her frankly. “You're good, really good, but arrogance leads to complacency, and complacency to weakness. One day you're not as young as you were and bam,” he said, clapping his hooves together to underline what he was saying, “Some younger ace comes, same talent as yours, only she's younger and more vital, while you've lost that little edge. Suddenly, you're second best, old hat, the has-been. You wanna keep the title of the best, you're gonna need to do a lot more than boast.”

“Mighty fine talk for someone who didn't know how to fly two days ago!” Rainbow Dash retorted, her hackles raised as she hovered in front of him.

“And yet, now I'm this good,” Ghost said mildly, Gaz wishing he had some popcorn to chew while watching this spectacle. It was awesome! “Where do you think I'll be in six months?” At this point, Rainbow Dash was right up in his face. Ghost could have kissed her if he wanted to and didn't have his balaclava.

“Is that a challenge, hot-shot?” she asked, poking her hoof into his chest. “It sounds like a challenge to me! Six months from now! The Ghastly Gorge! We'll see if you can beat me!” she said. She would have been intimidating, were she not a pastel pony.

“Deal,” Ghost japed, Rainbow Dash's face turning blood red as she seemed about to burst into flames.

“Okay you two, you're done resting!” she yelled, flying up a meter and hovering there as she yelled. “Get moving right now! Come on!” she said, Gaz grinning as he got up. Yeah the fact remained, damn he'd hit that.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

“Evenin' ya'll,” Applejack greeted Roach and Price as they came up through the gateway into Sweet Apple Acres. She, Yuri and Soap were each pulling a large cart of apples and were quite dirty and sweaty all. In contrast, Price and Roach were still clean. Their saddlebags were stuffed full though and the looks on their faces spoke of exhaustion. “Doin' good?”

“Depends on how you see it...” Roach said, “You were right about Twilight, AJ... she's... pretty enthusiastic...”

“Don't say ah didn't warn ya,” AJ said, a hint of smugness creeping into her tone. Price shook his head.

“You did, and I don't mind,” He said. “She's a born academic though. But I'm not minding too much. You learn quickly.”

“Or not at all!” Roach said, “If she was any less pedagogic she'd set a world record.” Price snorted.

“Don't blame her for being a bad student,” the old captain remarked dryly. “You simply have to adapt to the situation” As if to accentuate his point, he grabbed an apple off Soap's cart with telekinesis, raising it into the air and moving it into his hoof. While he sweated a little, it had gone without a hitch and he smirked, biting into the apple and looking at Roach as he chewed at it. Roach sulked, looking away.

“Teacher's pet,” he muttered as, further away, Yuri and Roach got the harnesses off their neck and massaged their necks.

“Oi Yuri,” Soap said lowly with a wry smile, looking to the still somewhat grim-faced Yuri. “Ain't this fittin'? The English are banging on 'bout their fancy education while the scots an' the foreigners get tae work the fields,” he quipped, Yuri actually chuckling at this.

“Workers of all Equestria, unite,” he said, his eyes seeming a little brighter at least. Soap gave him a pat on the shoulder as they walked up to Price and Roach.

“Nice work, cap'n,” Soap greeted him with a grin. “Ye seem tae be doin' well with yer magic. Hopefully yer head won't blow up now.”

“Don't dismiss the possibility just yet,” he said with a dry mutter, “Still haven't found a cigar.”

“Oh, aye,” Soap said, nodding understandingly. After Price's capture by the Russians many years ago Soap had taken up his old captain's cigar-smoking ways. Admittedly, he preferred Perfectos while Price preferred Churchills. “So how was the teacher?” he asked, leaning in to add something just for his fellow captain, “An' I know that's more Roach's thing, but do ye get what Van Halen was singing about now?” he asked with a grin, Price giving him a look that could have made hell freeze over.

“I'll pretend I didn't hear you talking about hitting on a mare not even half my age,” he said lowly.

“Nah, I just like that song,” Soap said innocently, giving Price another grin. Price grunted and headed inside the house just as a couple of additional ponies joined them. Gaz and Ghost landed with much steadier legs this time, almost as though they had been doing this all their lives. Soap smiled at the sight. Ghost always reeked of skill. He was a silent, focused killing-machine. Gaz, meanwhile, was much more rough-and-tumble, much more relaxed and laid-back, yet he was just as focused if needed. He hadn't fallen behind the least. The fact that he he was still surprised by Gaz's actual ability was either a testament to how easily he dismissed Gaz, or Gaz's own ability to play the goat. He didn't know really. What he did know, however, was that they really seemed to settle in well here.

--------xxxxxxxx--------

After dinner there wasn't much do to before sleeping so they all got some time off. Yuri had gone outside to take a walk, Gaz, Soap and Roach had been drafted into playing a game with Applebloom and Ghost was off doing... something. Price, meanwhile, was standing outside, leaning against the fence as he thoughtfully looked towards Ponyville. After a while Gaz came walking out. He'd escaped the game for a while to get some air but when noticing the captain he came up to him.

“Penny for your thoughts, Price?” he asked, placing his front hooves on the fence as well. It was a pretty comfortable position to take.

“We can't stay here,” he said after a while.

“Don't have much choice,” Gaz said. “That cave vanished. We can recce the mountains for it but for the time being, we're stuck here.”

“Not like that,” Price muttered, “though that is also on the list. Here, on this farm. They're good ponies...” he sighed, placing a hoof against his face as he spat out the next word, “people...” he amended. “But they aren't rich, not enough to put up with a bunch of boarders for free.”

“So...” Gaz said, “Are we looking for work? Or going into the woods to live off the land?”

“I don't trust that forest,” Price said, glaring towards the forest, which they at this point knew as the Everfree Forest and that ponies as a rule didn't go there for good reasons. “...we're going to have to look for jobs as soon as possible,” he decided. Gaz chuckled.

“Look on the bright side,” he said with an amused voice, interjecting “which shouldn't be too hard because everything's so bright around here,” before he continued, “Yuri said we'd have to go to ground anyway. While it's a bit more... pastel-colored, this is as good a place as any to hide.”

“To rot,” Price muttered sourly, “We're all murderers, Gaz,” he said. With the exception of Soap, Gaz was probably the only person Price was fully open with. They'd fought together for long enough that Price not just trusted him completely, but connected with him on a deeper level. “Mass murderers, people who've left hundreds of people dead in our wake. This fairytale doesn't need murderers. We bring sweat, blood and tears to a land of sunshine, cupcakes and laughter,” he spat.

“So ya'll hidin' out here,” an old, creaky voice said behind them and they looked back to see the old mare Granny Smith come out of the house. She was smiling, much like most of the ponies around here seemed to. “It's your turn now, sonny,” she said and Gaz looked to Price, giving him a small, comforting pat on the shoulder before heading inside. Granny Smith, meanwhile, came up to Price and sat down beside him. “That's a mighty worried look you got there,” she said. Price grunted.

“Got a lot on my mind,” he said non-committally. Granny Smith reached out to him, Price being startled when she placed a hoof over his.

“I can tell,” she said, “An' I'm getting' the feelin' you ain't too keen on where your thoughts'll lead ya,” she smiled. “But you know what, sonny? It's strange how sometimes the thing we fear the most is ourselves. But the good part is, we can also control that person we fear so much. If we're just willing to try.” Price looked at the old mare, his first cynical instincts wanting to dismiss her as a rambling old mare, but after a while he got uncertain. He looked out across the town again, at all the shimmering lights and the moon that shone high above.

“Who dares, wins,” He muttered after a while, the old mare smiling widely.

“That's the spirit sonny!” she chimed, “Speaking of spirits...” she continued mysteriously, Price noticing she was holding a bottle in a hoof. “Care to try a little?” she asked him. The SAS captain got a sense of vertigo as he realized an old horse was offering him liquor. Blinking, he looked at the bottle and was struck by the color of the contents. It was rainbow-patterned, the colours clearly separated from each other. Were there several different liquids in the bottle? They didn’t mix when she shook it...

“Never seen that before,” he muttered.

“Oh, it's an old secret of mine,” she grinned, “The young'uns don't like me drinking this nowadays, so I keep it a little secret. It's made from zap-apples. Long ago, my pappy got the idea to try makin' cider off our family's zap-apples. Thing is, he left a barrel out during the winter, an' as the water froze, he removed the ice bit by bit, an' in spring he had this,” she confided in him. Price looked at her, recognizing the method of making it from Earth, a north-american liquor made from distilling apple cider...

“Oh for the love of...” he said, hiding his face in his hooves from sheer exasperation. Granny Smith hoofed him a small mug, holding her hoof upside down to let it rest there. The motion was easy and Price took it as well. He wasn't going to say no.

“Here's to ya'll,” Granny Smith said, “An' a right good future.”

“To a good future,” Price agreed. He only had enough for a small shot so he decided to enjoy it, knocking it back and taking it all into his mouth before he realized that he felt as though he was chewing power cables. “Blooming hay!” he yelped as the drink knocked him flat on his flank.

Hostage Rescue (?)

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As it turned out, the job market in Ponyville wasn't half-bad, even for six stallions that had come out of nowhere. The following day they all had gone out to find some kind of jobs, anything really, and amazingly, they hadn't been laughed at even once. Even more amazingly, which made Gaz want to hold onto his hat in case it was blown off from sheer disbelief, they actually had done pretty well. He and Ghost definitely had landed a good job and they had landed it thanks to Rainbow Dash of all people. She had heard they needed a job and, in ten seconds flat, gotten them signed up with the so-called Weather Patrol (yes, that was a thing. There wasn't any natural weather in this place, it was managed by pegasi patrols. Gaz didn't even care anymore). He didn't know jack about how well the job paid in comparison to other stuff, but it was a job!

Soap and Yuri hadn't done quite as well though, having looked around for quite a while before Applejack had given them an extension. With the harvest season coming up she needed all the help she could get and they had work for a few weeks there while looking for other jobs. Truth be told, it felt good that at least some hands, or rather hooves, were helping out the family who had taken them in when they came here. She paid mostly in housing and food, but there was a modest salary there as well.

Roach had landed the most hilarious job of all and they were all laughing at him for it, being now the shop assistant of a store that sold quills and sofas. Yes. Quills and Sofas. What drug induced psychosis that had spawned that idea he didn't know, but that was where Roach worked, being bossed around by the biggest horseapple in the world.

Now if they only could figure out how the hay he could work the fact that he had commission so well that he earned the half of their combined salary.

Price was a janitor. That was all.

No seriously, that was all anyone dared to mention without being murdered. Price had gotten a job working at the town hall as the janitor. From what they could tell it wasn't a half bad job, but their CO was as grouchy as could be. Seriously, they half expected Price to burst in flame any time now. Days had turned into weeks here in Ponyville and things honestly were shaping up pretty nicely for them. The people... ponies... were welcoming and friendly, their salaries were from what they could tell decent and all in all things were good barring two things.

Firstly, that damnable cave was nowhere to be found. They'd taken to spend the weekends reconnoitering the mountains, having now mapped them out pretty thoroughly, but they didn't find any cave anywhere. It was simply gone. Secondly, Price was only turning more and more upset by this fact. Gaz knew his CO well enough to figure him out. Price hated being here, but not because he hated this place. No, it was different from that and it had taken Gaz a while to figure out what was going on.

Price was afraid. He was afraid of what their presence here would bring to this place. They brought with them, no matter how you looked at it, an arsenal of lethality, six trained killers who were forged into the ultimate weapons. Not even weapons of war, but instruments of death. Price feared that they'd taint this hand, that their being here would cause the war, death and murder that was their bread and butter to spill into this paradise. It didn't matter how much they tried to convince him to relax, to give it a try at least, Price remained sour. Not the least since he'd picked up a stalker.

Yep, that pink pony, Pinkie Pie, had zeroed in on the captain, pestering him seemingly constantly. She was hell-bent on making him laugh, one way or another. Gaz had washed his hooves of the entire thing a long time ago, preferring to lean back and watch the spectacle. It was like a parade showing off the entire history of comedy, with everything from knock knock jokes (to which Price responded to by telekinetically tossing the mare out through the door), to silly hats ( to which Price, litter-picking at the time, responded by taking the hat off her head and tossing it into the litter bag) and so on it went. It became a constant sight in the village: the grumpy janitor followed by the bouncing young mare. The only thing that had stopped them from making jokes about him having an admirer was the fact that they honestly didn't know what Price might to to them if they did.

Still, it was weird how, after Price calmed down after Pinkie's harassment, he always was a bit less tense, a bit less angry about the situation in all.

Yuri, meanwhile, had to deal not with Pinkie, but with Rarity digging her hooves into him. The seamstress had politely, but pretty damn firmly dragged Yuri into her boutique at her earliest convenience and not let him out until five hours later. Yuri was no captain Price, however, so he had been teased mercilessly about it. Weirdest part, however, was that Yuri only seemed perplexed by it all. Apparently nothing whatsoever happened beyond her putting him in one outfit after another and gushing about his build. Who would have thought that Yuri apparently was built like a model?

Roach had ended up sticking around at the library quite a lot. Not due to the lessons, heavens no, but he apparently had bonded really well with Twilight Sparkle's little dragon. The two could be seen around town quite a lot, always up to something. Gaz didn't know what to think of it as. Was it a case of Roach being happy to act the big brother for once, or had he just found someone as mature as him? Either way those two were peas in a pod.

As for him and Ghost... Gaz pondered their situation as he panted, laying on a cloud with his tongue out and the sweat running down his face. It was like boot camp all over again with how the hellion that was Rainbow Dash drove them on. She really hadn't taken Ghost's challenge well, or maybe she had and this was how she showed it. She was currently in top gear and had remained such. Ghost, the relentless blooming stallion that he was, wouldn't fall behind either and had pushed himself to the absolute limit. Gaz could only barely keep up with them. SAS or no, Rainbow Dash and Ghost had one thing in common, that obsessive drive to be faster, stronger, better. Militant perfectionism was the best way he could describe it and he got up again, grunting before he took off again. They weren't going to have him beat, not that easily.

Happy days, calm days, and Gaz figured that this was gonna be life for now. Would something give in the end? He didn't know, and figured he'd have to see just what'd happen.

As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long.

------xxxxxx------

Roach was whistling a little as he walked across the dusty field, looking around himself and being surprised that there was such a barren place so close to Ponyville. Everything around here was so blooming idyllic, it made his old home back on Earth seem barren in comparison. This place however, was almost completely lacking in life. Just earth and rock as far as he could see. It was depressing honestly. He wouldn't have come here if it wasn't for the fact that Spike was out here. And Spike was out here because of Rarity. She apparently had some huge project coming up and needed gems, a lot of gems, to decorate with.

Of course, being that she was Rarity, she couldn't POSSIBLY dig the stuff up herself, but had hired Spike to do it for her. Roach had come along partly to help out with pulling the wagon and partly to keep an eye on this. He still didn't precisely dislike Rarity, having seen clearly how she was happily willing to work herself to the bones for her friends' sake and how she, uniquely for her type, didn't have much, if any, in the way of malice about her. But her prissiness still grated on him. At least she had promised Spike all the jewels she didn't need for himself which was what made it okay for Roach.

Hay, not like Spike would have said no anyway; the little guy was head over heels in love with Rarity. It was adorable, utterly adorable, and Roach had to fight not to smile whenever Spike interacted with Rarity. If he was any more infatuated and he'd be slowly hovering behind her with small hearts spinning around his head. Seeing as how Roach had taken on the position of big brother to Spike, he'd decided, mainly for the fun of it, to help Spike along a little. He was a kid of course, dragon equivalent of about 8 years old, but Roach still wanted to wingman for the adorable little scamp. If not for her attitude Roach would have drooled constantly himself. Now he only drooled occasionally.

“So how much do you need again?” he asked as they had been working for a while. That was the division of labour it seemed; Rarity marked the spot, Spike dug and Roach pulled the cart. The little guy really had the paws for it though, digging his way through the ground like a mole and Roach figured that Rarity probably had a point in letting him dig.

“A bit more Roach dear,” Rarity told him as she marked another spot. “I really am grateful for your and Spikey-wikey's help,” she smiled at him and Roach grinned back. Yup, she knew very well how to push his buttons... As lethal as he was, this mare was dangerous in a whole different way. A femme fatale without the fatale bit really. He was suddenly struck by the idea of her as a Bond-girl, in a sexy red dress and with a sultry smile, looking at him with an alluring gaze that could set fire to ice. Shaking his head, Roach did his best to clear it and try to push away from the fact that he was sexualizing a horse(as well as the fact that with him being a horse too that wasn't really an issue, or was it?). As he did so, Rarity shot Spike a gentle, but warning look. “Spike,” she said pointedly Roach looked back, seeing that Spike had been about to take a bite out of the gem they had found. He chuckled at the crestfallen look on Spike's face.

“You getting hungry, champ?” he asked as Spike jumped aboard his back as they sat off again. “Already?” he teased.

“Oh come on!” Spike said, throwing his hands up for emphasis. “Did you see that gem? It looked utterly delicious! Oh I hope Rarity doesn't need it.” He said longingly, licking his lips. Roach grinned at it all. Like a kid with sweets...

“Haven't you gotten enough gems already?” he asked, bucking a little to shake him where he sat. “I swear you've gained a few pounds.” He said.

“I'm still growing!” Spike protested. “Besides, I'm not the one sitting on my fat flank listening to Twilight all day.”

“Hey, you wanna walk, brat?” Roach drawled now, seeming annoyed but in truth only amused by the wit Spike showed. It was a really good idea to befriend Spike he concluded. All the girliness he was surrounded by would stunt his growth as a man. Every guy needed some testosterone in his life when growing up. Girls too probably.

“Over heeere,” Rarity sing-songed now and Roach sat after her as they neared a small cluster of trees. Roach chuckled as he pulled the cart.

“I don't know if it's you or the gems that weigh more,” he said, Spike grunting behind him.

“Weakling,” he told Roach with a small scoff. Roach, smiling, set course for Rarity when he suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach. Something wasn't right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. Rarity had started walking again he noticed, and she was heading towards the shrubberies by the tree cluster, something that made him grow cold with instinctive wariness.

“Rarity, stay away from there!” he said as he sped up only for his voice to be drowned out as something big and ugly came out of the woods, advancing on her. It was more humanoid than Roach and Rarity was, yet it seemed more gorilla-like in build and more dog-like in appearance. Roach cursed, seeing the body language clearly despite the creature's alien appearance. This newcomer meant business! “Get the harness off me,” he told Spike hurriedly, “Now, now, now, now!” he hissed, making Spike scramble off him and hurriedly get the heavy leather straps off him as fast as he could. Rarity was back-pedaling, speaking to the newcomer in a frantic, tense voice as she tried to defuse the situation. The newcomer wasn't having any of that though and Roach could tell what was happening. Kidnapping attempt!

After three weeks of rest and recuperation Roach had lost all the exhaustion he'd felt when coming here. His new shape was fully familiar to him by now and the magic of his horn was pretty well under his control. He was ready and able. Lowering his horn, he took aim and fired a bolt of energy that flew towards the dog-ape thing, singing its ear and making it yelp.

“Stay back, or it's the eye next time,” he growled as he advanced. “Rarity, move, back to Ponyville, move, move, move!” he called her, repeating the word over and over to drive home the point in the obviously stunned and hesitant Rarity, hoping she'd oblige. The dog-ape snarled however, Roach suddenly noticing movement behind him. He looked back, kicking blindly and managing to nail another dog in the face. Another? Where'd he come from?!

Looking to the side as the second dog was stumbling backwards with a dull moan, Roach managed to catch a glimpse of yet another dog as it came crawling, no burrowing, up through the very earth! This was bad, seriously bad! The only bright spot was Rarity, who was hurriedly back-pedaling away from her attacker, turning to run only to have the brutish figure lash out and grab her. Rarity screamed and Roach snarled and prepared to fire another bolt. This time that creature was paying with his eye!

Then, however, he heard Spike's choked cry and looked to the side, seeing how Spike had thrown himself at the third dog, scratching it to the best of his abilities but the dog was way bigger and stronger. Roach felt a surge of rage at this, unable to fire more than one bolt at a time and yet having two targets to choose between. The mere split-second of hesitation, one Price would have murdered him for, gave Rarity, who was being dragged off by the beast, to call out.

“Save Spike!” she screamed, desperately, and Roach cursed, turning around and firing the bolt straight into the other dog's eye. It howled in pain as it let Spike go, stumbling back and giving Roach clear line of sight for another shot. This one he put more juice into, nailing the beast straight in the chest and sent it flying backwards with a choked whine before he turned back to Rarity. Hopefully there was still time!

There wasn't. He was treated to the sight of Rarity screaming in fear as she was pulled into a pit further away, Roach snarling as he charged, his horn glowing as he galloped towards the opening, about to leap in after her before the entire opening was collapsed. It fell apart utterly, burying the hole in a thick layer of dirt and Roach had to skid to a halt with another, choked, snarl.

Not good, not good at all, what the hay were these things?! Turning back to the dog he had downed, Roach was treated to the sight of it being dragged into another hole, further away, by two additional dogs. Before he could do anything, that hole as well was collapsed. Hissing in frustration, Roach darted towards Spike, tossing the still stunned dragon up on his back as he ran back to Ponyville as fast as his legs could carry him.

------xxxxxx------

Back in Ponyville Price was walking through the town square with a large pair of open saddlebags over his back and a spiked rod telekinetikally gripped to pick up trash with. After its long absence, the cigar was planted in his mouth once again. After much ado, Price had finally having found a place that sold them and while they were perplexing him with their taste (sweeter than he'd prefer, almost fruity) they were at least cigars. Not bad quality either.

Now if he could just be rid of the bouncing tosser that insisted on following him.

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie said, “I got it! Why did the chicken cross the road?” she asked him merrily as she came up beside him, Price groaning internally.

“To find some place where he could cross the road without being questioned,” Price drawled, not even looking to her as he stabbed a piece of paper and shook it into his bag. His telekinesis was coming along nicely at least.

“No silly!” Pinkie said equally merry. “To get to the other side! Unless it was on the other side when it started. Would that mean it's on this side now?” she asked and Price took a deep puff of his cigar, wishing it'd all just end. In the distance he noticed how Roach was coming now, the boy running like he had half an army after himself. What more, the look on his face... Price instantly tensed up now, turning to come towards him.

“Captain!” Roach called out now, Price noticing how he was carrying that little dragon on his back. The kid looked scared, even panicked, and leaped off when Roach reached them, starting to incoherently yell.

“Dogs!” he yelled, “Rarity, gems, big!” he yelled until Roach placed his hoof over the little dragon's mouth.

“I was with Rarity out of town, five clicks north, dust field. We were ambushed, some kind of... gorilla-like dog creatures. They kidnapped Rarity, fled underground. I had to extract Spike...” While he panted, he spoke in quick, clipped tones and Price nodded now, snapping into the familiar mindset of the consummate soldier.

“Good call,” he said. Getting the kid out of there made sense. Better a good call in time than a perfect call ten seconds too late, Price knew that and wasn't about to start criticizing Roach. Not now, when speed was of the essence. Swinging his horn, he moved it in an arc before he stabbed skywards, shooting a sooty red ball of light into the air. It shot into the sky with a loud, hissing sound that echoed across Ponyville before starting to slowly descend, being airborne for over a minute. Getting the saddlebags off himself, he took Roach and headed for the library at a quick run.

Already when they reached it Gaz and Ghost came through the air, both of them landing with quite the expert grace now, Yuri and Soap soon coming from the Sweet Apple Acres at a full pelt. Some of the locals, mainly Applejack's friends, were already in the library. Price gritted his teeth but guessed it was inevitable.

“What's wrong?” Twilight asked when she saw them, Price realizing they had to all look murderous right about now.

“Twilight!” Spike yelled, still hyperventilating and provoking Soap to grab him, pushing a paper bag into his hands.

“Breathe into this lad,” he told the little dragon as Roach came up to Twilight.

“Rarity's been kidnapped,” he said bluntly. The ponies in there, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack all gasped at this.

“What?!” they asked and Roach nodded.

“Some kind of gorilla-dogs, lives north of town. What are they?” he asked. Twilight's brow furrowed.

“Gorilla-dogs?” she asked. “I've... never heard of that, how did they look?”

“Big forearms, small legs, big, slobbering dog-faces... they had a lot of gems on them,” he said, Twilight blinking at this as she furrowed her brow.

“I don't know... wait!” she exclaimed, running to her bookshelf and tearing out a book there. Hurriedly flipping through it as Roach was waylaid by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who both heatedly asked for more details of what had happened. Twilight pushed them aside, however, and showed them the book she'd found. On the open pages were two things. Firstly a drawing of a large dog-like creature, built like an ape and with clothes covered in gems. Secondly was a description of them. “Diamond dogs,” Twilight said, the six stallions all leaning in to look at it. “They're a subterranean species, obsessed with finding gems, willing to steal if that's what it takes.”

“Steal, or kidnap,” Price growled as Roach turned to the side, slamming a hoof into the table in anger. “Calm down Roach!”

“That's it!” he hissed. “Rarity was using a spell to find gems, they kidnapped her for it! Damn it!” he hissed now. “I... I had to choose... one of them was coming after Spike, I had to make the call... she told me to save Spike! Horseapples... it was Kingfish all over again, I had to choose!” he was actually trembling in anger now, anger and frustration. Price grabbed him however and slapped him.

“Get your head back in the game soldier,” he told the young stallion icily. “You got me back, and we'll get her back.” With that, he looked to the others. “You heard me, a mare was kidnapped on our watch, and we're getting her back. Prepare to move out.” the others all looked at him, nodding.

No questions were needed. The brotherhood that had formed around these six men had always been devoted to their job. Even when they were persona non grata globally, fighting a vastly superior foe possessing unlimited resources and doing so for the sake of people who wouldn't even know about it they'd been committed. Now that they had a face to it they couldn't have backed off. They had all met Rarity, gotten a feel for her as a person, as the generous, though somewhat snobbish figure she was. She was someone who had offered them little favors here and there, such as treating Roach and Price to the spa “so they could be their best”, or making Yuri her favorite male model, something Yuri couldn't deny he'd found flattering. She was actually there, a person they'd all bonded with in their own ways. Not a faceless somebody they knew existed only logically, but someone who had become present in their emotions as well.

Price could see it in their eyes. They'd all die to get her back if that was what it took. Good, that was what Task Force 141 was all about.

“We're coming with you!” Twilight said now, Price looking to the mares to see them all look at him with determined looks in their eyes, even gentle Fluttershy. He shook his head.

“No,” he told them plainly. “We don't know what they might do, this is no job for civilians,”

“Civilians my flank!” Rainbow Dash called out. “She's our friend, we've got more right to try to rescue her than you do! We don't abandon our friends!”

“Right, yes, chance, no.” Price told them bluntly. “You asked us if we were military once miss Sparkle,” he said. “We were. More specifically the kind specializing in situations like this. You're right; she's your friend, and that's why we're doing this. We were lost, and you took us in. This is the only way we can repay that.”

“Sorry sugarcube,” Applejack said, “But you ain't going alone, we're with ya, an' that's final.” Price growled at this, frustrated at their obstinate refusal to see what had to be done. Soap put a hoof on Price's shoulder though.

“Fastest flyer in Equestria an' the most powerful wizard too, the others' got their assets too,” he muttered to Price. “I ain't likin' it, but these lassies have handled themselves at other times.” Price grunted. It went against all his principles to drag civilians into a hostile situation, but they didn't have time to screw around.

“Fine,” he said eventually, turning to the door and puffing his cigar in frustration. What he found, however, was Twilight coming up and placing a hoof on his shoulder.

“Don't worry captain,” she smiled comfortingly. “We're not that weak. We might surprise you.”

“Just survive,” Price said plainly. “That's all I ask.”

------xxxxxx------

As they came over the ridge that was the only obstacle between them and the muddy field where Rarity had been taken they came to a halt. Roach swore as he looked out across the valley. The field in front of them was littered with holes, Roach counting several dozen. He looked around, teeth gritted in frustration.

“They must have dug these only just now.” He said lowly. This would complicate matters, a lot. Just which of these bloody holes would lead them into the enemy stronghold?!

“Spread out,” Price said, “Pair up and investigate,” They all obeyed instantly, spreading out in pairs across the landscape even as Twilight and the others came up behind them. Heading for the nearest hole, Price found himself stymied when, suddenly, the hole was filled up by earth. “What the!?”

A furious scramble started now, the ponies all running around as they tried to get to any of the holes before they closed. Yet hole after hole was collapsed by the diamond dogs, making their scramble a futile one. Eventually Price stopped.

“Abort!” he yelled and his men stopped, all of them showing their frustration.

“What are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Keep going!” she told them as she shot past, diving for a hole yet ending up faceplanting in a pile of dirt as the hole was collapsed.

“No, and that's why!” Price snapped as his men came up to him, the mares not too far behind. “They're toying with us,” he growled. This was humiliating! Best soldiers in the world and some slobbering dog creatures had them outmanoeuvred! As soon as he got his hands on these creatures he'd reduce them to whimpering pups!

“What do we do?” Yuri asked as he looked around himself. “Front entrance seems a no-go, anyone know of a back door?”

“Oooh, ooh, I know!” Pinkie yelled now, excitedly bouncing up and down. “Why don't we go fish?” she asked happily and Price face-hoofed.

“Miss Sparkle,” he growled. “I know she's your friend, but either she shuts up or I don't know what I'll do...” he was trembling as it was, so angry with this pink tosser he didn't know what to do.

“Actually...” Twilight said, not perturbed at all. “I think she might have a point,” she continued thoughtfully. “We can't enter the holes... but maybe we could set a bait?” At this the soldier six all blinked, Soap and Gaz looking at each other.

“That could work actually...” Gaz said, Price silently twitching.

------xxxxxx------

“Riiight, fish for diamond dogs, what could possibly go wrong...” Rainbow Dash asked as she clambered out of the pony pile they'd all ended up in. Their attempts to “fish” had ended up with them all dragged into the hole. Twelve ponies hadn't been enough to hold back whatever had pulled at the rope and now they had been dragged into the caverns.

“Yer callin' this goin' wrong lass?” Soap asked as he got to his feet and cracked his neck. “From where I'm standin' we got in, aye?”

“But where are we?” Twilight asked as she looked around. That was a good question indeed. Some kind of cave tunnel complex, with tunnels branching off in all directions. As for which tunnel led where they needed to go?

“Clever mutts,” Ghost muttered. “Drag us down, dump us in a labyrinth and wait until we're weak enough to not put up a fight any more.”

“Oh dear...” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Oh man, how are we gonna find them?!” Spike asked, about to panic again and Roach quickly handed him the paper bag again.

“Miss Sparkle, do you have any spells to track living things?” Price asked as he looked around. “They'll be down here somewhere, we need to know in which direction.”

“Sorry...” Twilight said awkwardly. “I'm not too good with search spells.” she admitted and Price grunted.

“Search spells... I got it !” Spike exclaimed. “Rarity's gem-searching spell! You could use that to find out where the gems are.”

“And where there's gems, there's diamond dogs?” Price said. “Miss Sparkle?”

“I don't know if I can use that spell, it was Rarity's specialty and I've never used it before...” Twilight began hesitantly, her insecurity about her abilities coming out in force. Soap spoke up instantly to cut her off.

“Miss Sparkle, it's Rarity,” he said. “Yer friend's been captured. She needs ye. Will ye risk not tryin' and an' leave her to suffer down here? Do it, fer Rarity.”

“I... I can try....” Twilight said, her face showing clearly just how taken aback she was by the grim reminder of what was at stake. She furrowed her brow as she began to focus, everyone being silent as beads of sweat slowly began to creep out on Twilight's forehead. Then, slowly, a glow came from the ground nearby as they could see a gem in the ground being illuminated by magic. More and more of them appeared, all going seemingly in one direction.

“You did it!” Spike cheered, Price nodded.

“Let's move,” he ordered.

------xxxxxx------

The tunnels were quiet, real quiet, and it put all of the former Task Force 141 members on edge. They were moving quickly but silently, scanning their surroundings without seeing much of anything. The fact that there was ample light down here was helpful, but strange. Not that they thought much of it as they entered a large chamber, which looked almost like an antechamber to something. They were just about to advance into it when suddenly, in the distance, they could hear crying.

It sent a chill down their spines in an instant as they could recognize the voice. It was Rarity's voice that was weeping uncontrollably, desperately.

It's hard to explain just what went through the minds of the six stallions at this point. Rage certainly, but a cold, frozen such. Certainty too. Not of the kind that meant they knew what something would lead to but rather what they would do now. It was time for these mutts to pay. Not in gems, but blood. They stormed forwards, spotting the shadows only just in time.

“ABOVE!” Gaz yelled as they all looked up to see the massive, heavily armored diamond dog guards that were descending towards them through the air. And maybe the dogs could have succeeded, maybe they could have muzzled them with the ropes they were holding, if they hadn't picked the six worst ponies in Equestria to attempt this on.

Gaz and Ghost shot into the air with instinctive speed, each body-slamming into two of the dogs and sending them tumbling to the sides before they each did a one-eighty and descended at them again to dive-slam into two of the dogs. Price and Roach both lowered their flanks and aimed upwards, unleashing a steady staccato of bolts that struck with expert accuracy and sent the dogs for a spin while Yuri and Soap fell upon the dogs that now crashed into the ground on their faces rather than their feet, Soap especially meeting one of them, mid-fall, with a savage uppercut that sent him vaulting upwards again.

The dogs hadn't a chance in Tartarus to win or indeed to escape. Not only were the soldier six their superiors in martial training, they were at the moment on a surge of pure fury. After a rough minute of gruesome violence one of the dogs was slammed into the wall by Yuri and Ghost, who held him in place as Price looked back to the mares.

“Go ahead,” he told them with a growl, eyes glacial under his boonie hat. “We'll catch up when we've tied these guys up. Move! Rarity needs you!” He ordered, leaving the mares accompanying him and his men to hesitate for a second before they ran ahead, Soap and Roach accompanying them. The instant they vanished out of sight, however, Price tore up a large rock with telekinesis which he proceeded to slam into the wall right next to the dog's head.

“One chance you filthy mongrel!” the grizzled old captain hissed into the now terrified dog's face. “Where is the prisoner!? Answer or I'll smash your head like an egg! I've got five other dogs to interrogate so don't think I won't! Talk!” He snarled, able to go all out now that the mares were out of sight and hearing range. More than anyone, Price knew that importance of when and where, and he didn't want to traumatize the civilians that had ended up being dragged along. Yet when nobody saw, he could go all out and keep one goal in mind only. Rarity was what mattered right now, no matter how many dog corpses he'd have to walk over for that to happen. The dog, terrified, quickly pointed towards one of the tunnels on the left. Price nodded and dropped the rock before delivering an uppercut that knocked the dog out. As the now unconscious dog sank slowly to the ground he turned around and silently nodded towards the entrance, the stallions all following him without a word.

Before long, they reached another door, the sound of Rarity's crying clear here. She was on the other door, that much was clear. Price leaned in to listen at the door before pulling back and drawing up some lines in the sand.

“Big chamber,” he said briskly, “Unknown number of hostiles. Soap, Yuri, you kick the door in. Roach, you're with me as they breach, fire the most potent flash spell into the room you can. Gaz, Ghost, when they hit I want you in the air, fly in and take out priority targets at your discretion. Soap, Yuri, I want you right on their tails, clear out the nearest hostiles while Roach and I follow up taking out any remnants, questions?” he asked only to be met by five stallions shaking their heads.

“I'm with you and Roach, right captain?” Twilight's voice asked and they looked up, seeing how the mares had caught up with them. While Fluttershy seemed almost queasy, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all looked determined and ready. Price looked at them for a second before grunting.

“It's going to be dangerous, too dangerous for just anyone,” he warned them.

“You think we didn't get that much Sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “She's our friend and we ain't gonna stand back while ya'll do the work.”

“Not if we can buck some teeth in the process,” Rainbow Dash told them with narrowed eyes and the gleam of someone spoiling for a fight in them.

“Fine,” Price said, “Positions!” he ordered and was obeyed in moments, Yuri stepping back and letting Applejack take the position to breach the door. Taking a deep breath, Price focused before snapping out the command “Breach!”

Applejack and Soap bucked the doors with all they had, the lock being torn open and the doors flying inwards and slamming wide open. In the same instant, three bolts of magic flew into the room, impacting with the walls and floors and exploding with blinding light. Surprised yelps could be heard from inside even as Rainbow Dash, Ghost and Gaz flew inside at top speed, Yuri, Soap and Applejack on their tails followed by Twilight, Price and Roach, all of them with lit horns.

And yet there were no tumult, no chaotic brawling, only a voice that yelled out even as they were storming inside.

“Dogs give up!” it yelled in panic as they came dashing inside and got a better appraisal of the situation,”Dogs give up, just take her away!” The yelping came from behind a large stalagmite, where a few dogs Roach instantly recognized were hiding. They were the ones who'd taken Rarity. Now, however, they were hiding behind the rocks in terror. How had they moved that fast Roach found himself wondering, unless she already had...

“Oh my...” Rarity said, coming from further away as she blinked, a bit disheveled but without a single scratch on her. “That was... quite the entrance Roach dear. I... oh my, I didn't expect quite such a.... flashy rescue.” She shook her head and blinked repeatedly

“Wait a second here,” Gaz asked now, blinking. “Why are they they ones cowering and you're the one walking around freely? We heard you cry?”

“Oh, that,” Rarity smiled widely, “Let's just say that I had the situation quite under control. Really, for such brutish figures they really were sensitive to whining and crying. I had the situation fully under control,” she declared, Roach blinking as he looked at Rarity, who smiled, then to his teammates, who were silently staring in disbelief at her, then back to Rarity.

“Really?”

------xxxxxx------

“How did this happen?” Gaz asked as they walked backwards Ponyville, each of the soldier six dragging one of the large wagons filled with germs that Rarity had managed to bully out of her captives behind them.

“The short version is that we tried to save Rarity from captivity, only to have...” Yuri drawled as he pulled at the cart, looking no happier than Gaz.

“It was a rhetorical question!” Gaz exclaimed as they neared the village. Roach grunted at this, looking in Rarity's direction as they walked. He should have been pissed off, but somewhere Roach could only chuckle at the situation. Again; he and the others were lethal killers, but Rarity was dangerous in a wholly different way. Kidnapped by those giant rapey-looking dogs she had proceeded to whine at them until they had been desperate to get rid of her one way or another. It was... either amazing or mindbogglingly stupid, maybe a bit of both.

He just wasn't going to tell the captain that. Price was looking as though he was ready to murder again.

Getting back home to Rarity's boutique, they got the harnesses for the wagons off them, Price looking as though he was about to storm away, when Rarity came up to them.

“Gentlecolts,” she said as she came up, looking as happy as a lark at the massive haul she'd managed to get. Again something that made Roach think of how dangerous she was. Not only was she a captive who talked, or whined, her way out of it, she actually had kept her need for gems in mind! That was some PSYOPS level stuff right there. Not that it made him and the others feel any less like absolute tits at the moment. “Please, don't look so down. I do appreciate what you did for me, and let nobody tell you you shouldn't have tried to come to my aid.”

“Hmh,” Price grunted, only to have his boonie hat almost fly off as Rarity came up to him and gave him a small nuzzle on the cheek.

“Don't fret,” she told the man, “In fact, how about that this remains our little secret and Ponyville can think you were the ones who saved me?” she asked with a wink. “Surely a brave, dedicated stallion like you help me with that?” she asked, Price looking at her with blinking eyes.

“Very well,” he said after a while, looking away as he kept puffing his cigar. Roach was NOT going to say anything whatsoever about the fact that he almost seemed like he was blushing.

“Wonderful, thank you so much!” Rarity said happily and proceeded to give them each a small, chaste nuzzle before she turned to head for the store. “I must get right to work now, oh but do come by tomorrow. I'll have an excess of gems you could help me with. Toodles!” she sing-songed as she headed into the store, leaving six very surprised stallions behind.

“Anypony know if MI6 have a branch in Ponyville?” Roach asked eventually, “That mare's dangerous.”

“And hot,” Gaz added, his remark actually not provoking any outrage of disgust or shock this time around.

“Whatever,” Price muttered, “dismissed everybody, time to go try to pick up whatever shards of respect we can salvage.” His voice was bitter. Gaz grimaced to himself, realizing why his captain was so upset.

“All is well that ends well, isn't it captain?” Twilight's voice came from further away and Price looked up to see Twilight and the others come up to them. “I know it might have been a bit anti-climactic, but I'm...”

“Miss Sparkle, shut up,” Price said with a sudden growl, taking a deep puff of his cigar before tossing it away. “I just leaped into one of the most risky types of missions there are only for it to magically fix itself and end up being used as a pack mule. I don't like being messed with. Solve your own darn problems from now on, because we're evidently not needed here.” He spat before storming off, leaving his men and the mares both to look after him in shock.

------xxxxxx-------

“Thou art a glutton for punishment, art thou not?” Price slowly opened his eyes, looking around and finding himself standing in a deep, dark forest. He didn't know where he was, but the voice was familiar. Looking up, he saw her standing on a cliff higher up. She was looking down at him, the look in her eyes raising his hackles in an instant.

“And you're a meddler,” he told her sourly. “Let's get whatever ham-fisted sermon you have planned over with, I don't have the patience or the naivete to listen to you of all ponies right now.”

“Pardon?” Luna asked him, raising an eyebrow. “Me of all ponies?”

“I did some digging around, Nightmare Moon,” Price told her frankly, seeing how Luna flinched at the mentioning of this name and smiling grimly. He wasn't going to let this uppity horse lecture him, not when her history was so filthy. Therefore he twisted the knife around in her. “Jealous of big sister getting all the attention, weren't you?” he continued, “Your story's too familiar to me. Some entitled horseapple thinks he deserves more than he gets. He doesn't accept it or try to peacefully change it. Rather he decides the world that doesn't bow to him must fall. He takes up weapons and lets nothing stop him, not even that he'd have to murder his own family to get it.” he finished, growling. “In your case, that's not even including the fact that photosynthesis needs sunlight, not moonlight, and you'd have slowly choked the world to death. I'm not gonna beat around the bush, princess, you better be damn glad your sister didn't have me and my men to call upon when you tried that stunt of yours. Our jobs were to kill ponies like you.”

“I am,” Luna told him, a quiver in her voice but her eyes steady. She looked straight at him, not backing away from her crimes but rather facing them. Price couldn't help but respect that somewhat. “As I am that my foalish coup attempt was averted. I make no excuses for my actions a thousand years ago. Indeed that my sister forgave what I did seems, at times, to be more than I deserved.”

“Some insight at least,” Price told her. He had seen too much, stood in the ruins of too many lives, to be a big fan of second chances. Even Yuri was a borderline case for him.

“Thou art harsh, Captain Price,” she told him. “Be that also the reasons for what transpired today?” she continued, looking at him with an inquiring look.

“Respectfully princess, buck off,” he told her. “What happened today is who I am, who my men and I all are. That's the long and short of it, we're murderers, not heroes.”

“I speakest of how thou lashed out at Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” Luna cut him off. “Thou hoped, didst thou not? Hoped that thine presence here actually could bring something positive for the natives of this place, that thou hath found a way to not taint, but to save?”

“No, because the road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions,” Price told her lowly. “I don't live in the rainbow-sunshine land where that alone absolves someone. If I did I was a fool and it only further proved why I shouldn't be here.”

“And yet thou hath remained in a service like thine for so long. Be this also a desire to martyr thyself?”

“Martyrs look for self-gratification,” Price spat, “I just do the dirty work that must be done so no one else has to. And when I die it's not as a hero, but as a butcher. Only thing absolving me in the least was that I was necessary.”

“If only thou saw how much that humility alone can absolve a pony,” Luna said with a small smile, “Thou art better than I was, so I see not why thou must act pre-emptively, and push those who could be thine friends away.”

“They don't need to to be tainted by association with me,” Price said. “If you know this much, you know how they reacted. And tell me, you really want your sister's precious apprentice to get involved with blood-soaked murderers?”

“That is for Twilight to decide,” Luna replied, “And were thou not so fearful, I think she could surprise thee. Thou hath taken for granted that thy actions make thee irredeemable, and thou createst a self-fulfilling prophecy. Art thou so fearful, that thou darest not reap what thine grim but fundamentally virtuous actions could bestow upon thee?”

“They don't need someone like me,” Price muttered as he looked away, incensed by how she seemed to stare right through him. “Young fillies whose lives are such that they can solve their troubles through love and friendship doesn't need blood-soaked old wolves in their midst. My very presence taints them.”

“The mares thou seekest to protect are more durable than thou thinkest.” Luna told him as her voice began to fade. “Thou hath sought to help the world for so long. Be not afraid to accept its help now. Be not afraid...” she said again, slowly spreading her wings as a darkness extended from her which slowly unraveled the dream and left him in a void, a void where he slowly drifted off to sleep again, not waking up until morning.

My Little Duty: Call of Friendship

by maneyan

The only normal day was yesterday.

Seeing (mostly) unseen

First contact

Operation Partycannon

Getting a feel for the terrain

Hostage Rescue (?)