> Out of the Sand > by Forward Unto Dawn > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue Part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Just a bump > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Out in an empty void, nothing stirred. Everything was just this cold, yet somewhat welcoming black. Miles's soul sat there, waiting for what was to come. Are you prepared for the future? Miles listened to his 'Guardian Angel'. "As much as I can be..." That is good to hear. You'll be excited for what I'm about to tell you. "I do hope so," he answered. "I'm still confused about my whole situation. I mean, I've died twice, and I turned into a pony for one of those lives. Is it wrong for me to be confused?" No... This is all normal. There are a few differences with this life and your next life, however. "How so?" For one, you're going to be a human again. Exactly the same as you were before you died in that first firefight. Secondly, I'm giving you a new set of skills. "What kind of skills?" He hoped they were useful. You are now a part of what your country calls MARSOC, along with your new comrade. Miles whistled at that. So he was being given useful skills. And a new teammate. It really was a gift. "Who's the new teammate?" He's an old friend of yours, as well as a member of your fire team. I've already briefed him on this. "I can't say that I'm not grateful. Thank you. Is there anything else?" Of course. I haven't briefed you on your whole situation yet, have I? You will now act under code names. You are under the code name Wolf, and your subordinate is going to called Rhino. The next bit of information is a problem, that unfortunately even I can't fix. The inhabitants will not remember who you are, and you will not remember them, or anything of their kind at all. Make that their planet. There is a bit of information I can give you. You are looking for Ponyville or Canterlot of Equestria. Your objective is for you to find your own objective. Just make sure that you don't start anything down there. Are you prepared? Wolf nodded, quite happy with his situation. "I'm ready when you are." Before I let you loose, I'm giving you another skill. "What is that?" A new kind of discipline with your attitude. "Why?!" Wolf shook his head in confusion. He swore he could hear some laughter. I felt like it needed some tweaking. "Thank you," Wolf retorted sarcastically. He started to get impatient. Watch yourself out there, Lieutenant. "Lieutenant? Are you giving me those skills too?" The knowledge, yes, the experience however will come in time. Wolf nodded. He had heard all that he needed to hear. He closed his eyes and disappeared from the void. His adventure had just begun. > Objective Unknown > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a planet. And on this planet, is a nation called Equestria. And in this nation, there is a town called Ponyville. And next to Ponyville, is a forest. A forest known as the Everfree. And inside of this forest, are two very confused MAR SOC marines. And that is where the adventure begins... ------------------ ------ A light breeze was what caused the Lieutenant to awaken. Lieutenant Miles 'Wolf' Worth yawned as he blinked open his eyes. He climbed to his feet and stretched, enjoying the popping sound of his back. He brushed off the dust that was lying on his MAR PAT Woodland camouflage, and took a minute to view his surroundings. The forest was quiet, as if it were frozen. His concentration was broken when he heard a rustle from a bush right behind him. Wolf, startled, quickly stooped down and scooped up his M16a4, bringing it to his shoulder. He aimed at the bush, prepared for whatever was about to walk out of it. The rustling ceased, and a familiar voice quietly spoke to him. "Sir?" Whispered First Sergeant Evan 'Rhino' Redding, who had awoken at the same time. He was just as confused as the other marine. He slowly walked out of the bush with his hands up, before snapping a crisp salute at the LT. Wolf returned the salute, before saying "At ease." Rhino dropped the salute and relaxed a little. In what they now dubbed 'The Void', the two were allowed to reacquaint with each other, so that they didn't get interrupted. It was good to be with Redding again. Wolf nodded to the First Sergeant. "Rhino." "Wolf," Rhino answered back, returning the nod. "Do you have any idea as to where we are currently?" Rhino answered with a blank look. "No sir, though I would guess that the path we are currently standing on leads somewhere," he reported while looking at muddy path that the two were standing on. "Maybe a town or something." Wolf nodded in agreement. They only needed to check their gear and they could be on their way. "What gear do you have on you," asked Wolf, making sure that everything was accounted for. He had all of his rations, water, communication equipment, as well as his M9 sidearm and his M16a4, with it's ACOG and laser pointer. These two firearms, paired with 3 magazines for the former and 8 magazines for the latter, finished off his load. A MICH helmet sat on both his and Rhino's head, allowing their headphones to be worn. Rhino had a similar load, only with a M4a1 instead. After making a second check, they both set off down the path, just as the sun started coming up over the horizon. ---------------------------------- Wolf walked at Rhino's side, taking in all of the surroundings. The scenery hadn't changed at all, yet the forest was noisier than it had been when they had woken up. The lieutenant checked his watch to see if it had an accurate time. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It showed that it was 19:34, when, according to the position of the sun, and the obvious fact that it was daytime, it clearly wasn't. Wolf looked over at Rhino, who was currently trying to gain some kind of contact with friendly units. The only line working was with Wolf however, so that meant that they probably weren't going to see friendlies anytime soon. Rhino stopped and pointed ahead. "I think that's our exit." Wolf was about to speak when he heard shrieks nearby. He dropped onto one knee and put a fist up. Rhino stopped and crouched next to him, scanning for any possible hostiles throughout the dense and wet trees. Wolf listened some more, and finally pinpointed the direction that the shrieking was coming from. He tapped Rhino's shoulder and nodded to his left, and Rhino pushed off into the ferns, keeping low to stay undetected. Wolf did the same, following him at about 8 feet back, just to make sure that if anything attacked Rhino, he would be there to help. Wet, leafy stocks slapped his face as the pair increased their pace, just to push off into a small clearing. Rhino hit the dirt, and took in the situation. Wolf crawled up next to him, keeping still under the bush he was using to conceal himself. "Fire on the second wooden wolf after I hit the alpha." The first sergeant nodded, taking aim at the second wolf. Wolf resumed aiming down his Acog, and decided that taking shots at the center mass would be fine. He flipped the safety off, switched it to semi-automatic, and sent a round down the field, his M16a4 making a crack sound. The single 5.56 round punched into the neck of the alpha wolf, and actually managed to splinter its neck, making the head fall to the muddy ground. Another wolf fell after a few more cracks, this time splintering its head. The third wolf jolted back at the cracks, and managed to see its two pack members fall dead, before meeting a similar demise. The little horses shrieked at the sounds, screaming at the top of their lungs... Wait. "Rhino...?" He asked, confused yet again. "They screamed like humans, didn't they?" Wolf nodded his head, trying to make sense of it. The marine lay next to Rhino for a moment, before Rhino got his attention. "Wolf? They seem to have one injured over there." Wolf peeked out of the bush and saw it for himself. Two of the horses, the light yellow horse with a bow in its hair and the orange one with purple hair started pulling on a white one that was lying on the ground. He couldn't see in much detail from where he was. "Rhino, do you have any serious medical training?" "Yes sir. Are you thinking that we should go and help?" "I don't think it'd be right if we didn't. Maybe we'll actually find civilization. Do you have black lenses on your goggles?" "I do have two pairs in my bag, but it'll take some time to switch it out. Will sunglasses do, sir?" "They'll work for now, but as soon as we get the chance, I want to pairs of goggles with new, sparkling black lenses on them. Get your mask out as well. I don't want them to recognize our faces." "Yes sir." Wolf nodded to him and unzipped his pack, grabbing a pair of black Oakley sunglasses and putting them on. Rhino lay watching for any sort of danger, before switching positions with the lieutenant, putting on his own pair. He crouched next to Wolf, waiting for a signal. Wolf whispered the order to "advance", and got up on his feet, cautiously jogging down the field, before stopping about ten yards away from the young horses, with Rhino bringing up his rear. Now he could really observe the situation. The one white horse lay on the ground, muddy and bloody. Hey, that rhymed... The other two were covered in mud as well, and wearily dragged their friend out of the clearing towards the path that the marines had been moving along only minutes before. Wolf cleared his throat, and the two little horses froze, and one of them quickly glanced at the humans nervously. Wolf cleared his throat again. "Does that one need medical aid?" He asked, gesturing towards the white horse. "You know Equestrian?!" The orange one exclaimed. "First off, it's English, and secondly, does your friend there need any sort of aid?" The question was pretty obvious. The orange one looked suspicious now. "How do we know you won't do something bad?!" She accused, at least she sounded like a female. Rhino pushed past Wolf and around her, and the yellow one, who looked similar to the orange horse, or filly, and unzipped the medical bag he was holding. He pulled out some ointment and was about to apply it to some cuts when the orange filly blocked him, getting up in his face aggressively. "Get away from our friend!" Rhino looked into the filly's eyes with annoyance, and when he spoke, his voice was cold. "Alright, let your friend obtain some infections. Don't worry, I'll go away." He was about to stand up, when the yellow filly pushed the orange filly out of the way. "Stop, Scootaloo! He might be honestly trying to help Sweetie Belle." "And what if he hurts her, Applebloom?! How can we trust him?!" Applebloom yelled back. "We won't let him!" Wolf grunted, getting the fillies' attention. "Not to interrupt your argument or anything, but we were the ones who saved you a few minutes ago. Oh, and I be pointing out the obvious, but infected cuts aren't a fun experience, and I don't think your friend will thank you two when she wakes up! That is, if you don't let us provide medical aid!" The fillies' stood off to the left, as Rhino started his task, cleaning out cuts and applying ointment to them. To finish it off, he put bandages on the wounds, to keep them safe. He stood up and smiled slightly at his handy work. "Done..." Wolf looked over at Applebloom and Scootaloo, and asked,"Is there anywhere safe that we can move her?" Applebloom nodded and took the lead towards the large opening in the trees, as Scootaloo, Rhino, and Wolf, with Sweetie Belle in his arms, followed. Applebloom stepped into the light, and the group soon joined her in a field overlooking a town. A group of six horses stood outside, with different expressions, some ranging from confusion, and others soon turning to aggression at the appearance of the humans. Wolf and Rhino just stopped, and both connected on the same sentence. "Aw, fuck." > First Impressions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Impressions... Second Lieutenant Miles 'Wolf' Worth has seen and experienced many things in his roughly 22 years of life. He'd seen war, death, all of the shit that would leave anyone a broken shell of who they were. But never once had he seen multicolored horses who could, yes, COULD, talk. This only left one thought in his mind when he saw the six other horses grouped up in front of him. 'Why me?' I was stumped on what I was seeing. Simply, utterly confused. I don't know why I did it now. I mean, there were the three little horses or 'fillies' as they called themselves that he was currently following. Well, until now he had been following them. Rhino and I had stopped quite aways from where the other horses were standing. My mind felt as if it were about to shatter like glass. Well, that was until Rhino's voice spoke into my headphones. I shook my head and formed up a suitable reply. "Repeat your last. I got a little fuckin' confused at what I'm seeing." Rhino whispered through my headphones. "See that blue one on the far left? The one with the wings? It looks a little too twitchy for my liking sir." I nodded and glanced at it. Rhino was right, it was taking up an aggressive stance, well aggressive to me at least... "Got it. Yeah, it looks kinda aggressive. Oh, and before I forget, you've got permission to speak freely unless I state otherwise. I understand that it's weird for you, so I'll make it easier for both of us." "Thanks Wolf." I just nodded and stepped over to his position a little on my right. Rhino was eyeing the horses through his sunglasses. I gazed at them as well, glad that they couldn't see any recognizable facial features through my black mask and sunglasses. I noticed the fillies walk up behind the horses, and tightened my grip on my rifle. I started taking in all of the stares that we were getting. I counted the horses numbers. Two were pegasi, two were just multicolored horses, but the last two caught my gaze. They were unicorns. Of fucking course they were unicorns! Why wouldn't they be?! My teammate and I were stuck on horse world! Yep, I'm officially dubbing this whole place 'Horse World'! I took on a serious train of thought after that, snapping to business. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, gaining an attitude of professionalism. I patted Rhino on the shoulder and pointed towards the group. He took the order with a grunt, moving up next to me so that we could cover each side. We walked up slowly and cautiously towards the group, grips tight on our firearms and checking the area behind the group, incase there were any hostiles. I flipped off the safety just in case right as the blue horse darted forward towards me with amazing speed. Only to be snatched by Rhino's hands and pulled into a headlock. The winged horse started writhing and screaming as I pulled my rifle up and aimed it at the other five group members, switching between each of them incase they wanted to try anything else. I glanced over at the still writhing horse, as it struggled to get out of Rhino's grip unsuccessfully. The other horses looked on in shock, until I snapped all of them out of it by yelling. "EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!" Although I had yelled, I was quite calm when I did so. The horses stared at me, even the blue one stopped and stared. I continued on. "Alright, now that I have everyone's attention. There are two ways this will work out. The blue horse calms down, you five don't try anything stupid, and we give it back safe and sound. If you don't comply, however, there will be consequences." My voice was cold, as if I could freeze water by breathing on it. Thankfully, for them and for us, the blue one took the hint and calmed down. Rhino spoke into her ear, but I was close enough to hear it faintly. "Thanks. Now I'm gonna let go, and you're gonna go back to your friends, ok?" She nodded slowly. And with that, he let go of her. I watched as she darted back to her friends as quickly as she had come. I decided to break the ice. Speaking in a nicer tone of voice, I started. "Great. So we can move on to introductions now, right? My name's L-" And that was when it hit me. Literally. Yes, it caught me blind. And no, I never expected to get talked by a golden-armored horse. I bet Rhino didn't either. I fell flat on my face, the gear that I was wearing thankfully comforting me as I hit the ground. I felt pressure on my back and yanked my right arm around, hitting my elbow on a leg bare of any kind of armor. The hostile rolled off of me, giving me the chance to roll on top of him. Blue eyes peeking out from golden armor glared into my sunglasses. The expression inside of them showed some kind of unknown hatred, like I'd insulted his honor somehow. It changed to pain however, as I punched him right on the bottom of his jaw, knocking him out cold. I saw Rhino still grappling with another on top of him, and I pulled up my rifle quickly. My finger pulled the trigger, the assault rifle coughing as a bullet smacked into his shoulder. He flinched and fell, as blood trickled out of the wound. I doubted it would do any real harm to him permanently if he got help. I darted over to Rhino and pulled him on his feet, giving him a pat on his shoulder to let him know it was indeed his teammate. And with that I spun towards the remaining hostiles. Only to be blown off of my feet. I landed on my back roughly ten feet away. Thankfully, I still had my rifle, and it was trained on the other two horses that we wearing armor. And a much larger horse who had both wings and a horn. Rhino darted over to me and helped me up, keeping one weapon trained on the horses. All of a sudden, a large bubble appeared around us, and I started losing consciousness. The last thing I saw was Rhino firing three shots at one other horse before falling next to me. And then everything was cold and black.