Twilight glanced around to her friends, watching each of them. Rainbow impatiently tapped her hoof on the ground, while Applejack paced across the small room. The humans were going out again, on something Master Chief had said was something they couldn't be a part of. Instead, they were to stay at the safe house with Nikolai. Rainbow had initially been insulted by the claim it was too dangerous for her, but Twilight and Applejack had been able to hold her back. Right now, all of her friends were simply walking around, looking, or exploring the room. Nikolai was in the room with the laptops, doing something he said was classified. Twilight had learned quite a bit about humans in her short time studying them, but why they liked to keep so many secrets confused her. What was so important that only a few humans were allowed to see it? Still, it wasn't her business to pry. She was here to retrieve the Element of Harmony, which still hadn't shown up.

"Ugh! I can't take it anymore!" Rainbow shouted angrily as she leapt up from where she was sitting. A couple of papers flew up in the air with a crinkling noise as the wind from her launch sent them into the air, causing Fluttershy to flinch. Rainbow was about to rush over to the door again when Applejack bit her tail. Twilight sighed and walked over as the farm mare pulled the irritated pegasus to the ground. Rainbow growled when she came in contact with the ground, unhappily resting her head on her front hooves.

"I hate just being locked up in here! It's so stupid!" She shouted angrily.

"Rainbow, we have to stay in here. Do you know what it would be like if we showed ourselves outside?" Twilight asked calmly. Rainbow looked up to her friend and glared unforgivingly.

"I don't need to hear the same speech twice Twilight." She said with a bored expression.

"Well stop poutin' so dang much and yah won't 'ave to." Applejack said with a stern voice. As Rainbow turned her attention to Applejack, Twilight decided to leave them alone. The last thing she wanted was to get involved in an argument between those two. They were her best friends and all, but the mares never seemed to see eye to eye unless it was a very big situation. Looking over to Pinkie, Twilight noticed the hyper pony leaping throughout the room, looking into each corner intently. She gave one corner a few sniffs, and then reared her head back in disgust.

"Ew!" She shrieked, shaking her head. Twilight rose an eyebrow, about to go over and see what was going on. Pinkie quickly regained her smile and gave a light giggle. With a snort, she began hopping over to the next corner, despite it probably being the same. Twilight never could figure out what Pinkie was doing, and she had stopped trying a long time ago. Sighing, she walked away from Pinkie, watching as Rarity seemed to be fighting to go on the in the corner. The bed was somewhat old, and seemed to have some dust on it.

"You tired or something?" Twilight asked as she came closer. Rarity turned to face her, a disgusted look on her face. Twilight sighed mentally and prepared for the worst.

"How can they be so filthy? I would never be able to sleep on such a mediocre excuse for a bed, it's just unsanitary!" She said with disgust in her voice. Twilight shook her head and smiled.

"Rarity, you don't have to sleep on that you know. There's plenty of spots on the floor that aren't..." Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Rarity gasped and rushed over to her, her face inches from Twilight's. Twilight continued to smile, but nervously as she backed her head away from Rarity's.

"THE FLOOR? Have you completely lost your mind? I will never stoop to such... DEMEANING levels! That thought alone is just... UGH!" She said. Twilight chuckled nervously and backed away slowly.

"Will you ponies shut up in there?" She heard Nikolai shout from the other room. Just then, Twilight heard a scream. A very familiar, quiet one. Looking to her left, she saw Fluttershy crunched up in a ball, right next to the window. She frowned. Ever since the group had gotten here, Fluttershy had been in an almost traumatized state. It made Twilight sad to see her friend so terrified.

"What's wrong Fluttershy?" She asked with a soothing tone as she got closer. Fluttershy looked up, trembling with fright.

"The... The..." She tried to say. Twilight kneeled down, placing a hoof on Fluttershy's. She tried to explain that everything was okay, but her friend kept shaking her head and pointing at the window. The more Twilight tried to calm her down, the more terrified Fluttershy became. That was when she heard a strange noise. The noise was a soft, but audible thudding noise that could easily be heard from throughout the room. All the ponies stopped what they were doing, each looking at each other.

"What is that?" Rainbow asked as she stepped up to the window. Just as she was about to look out, an alarm sounded, while a flashing red light lit up the room around the ponies. Twilight backed away, suddenly overcome with fear. Fluttershy began crying, rocking herself back and forth, trying to calm herself down. Twilight had never seen anything like this. Didn't things like this only happen in books? The door leading to Nikolai suddenly flew open, Nikolai speeding out of the room with one of the guns in his hands.

"Makarov and his men have found us! We need to get out of here!" He shouted over the alarm. That's when the glass suddenly shattered, small yellow lines flying to the wall...

...

John watched as Price flipped Makarov's guy over his shoulder. With one swift movement, he fired his weapon, killing the soldier before he had a chance to react. With him in the elevator was Price, MacTavish, Grinch, Truck, Sandman, and one unnamed Delta operator. Frost's broken arm from Sandman landing on him in Berlin prevented him from accompanying his team. Thanks to John's warning, Delta was able to get the girl before Makarov's forces knew what was going on. Now, John had revealed the diamond mine, where Makarov had been hiding the Russian president.

"Ready?" Sandman asked everyone. As he said that, the elevator slowly began it's descent, moving to a lower floor. This experience was almost surreal for him, fighting alongside so many historical figures was humbling, not that he was one to be proud any way. Grinch looked over to him as the others loaded their weapons, preparing for the final assault.

"Why's this guy here again?" He asked. The Delta team had been somewhat cautious when Price and the others brought him along, and even after the explanation of him being from the future (Which they didn't believe at first), they still felt like he could have just been an informant giving them info. John couldn't even imagine himself as one of those, just sitting in some room with computers and microphones. That just wasn't him. He was a soldier on the front lines, simple as that.

"This lad ain't that bad of a fighter. Besides, he knows everything that's gonna happen from this point on." MacTavish said as he kneeled down, aiming his weapon at the elevator door. With a soft screeching noise, the elevator came to a halt, and softly began to open. Sandman ordered everyone to be ready, as John pointed his rifle forward. With a soft grinding, the doors opened to reveal several Russian troops, all of which with their backs turned.

"Now!" Price shouted. With that, everyone in the elevator began to fire, eliminating hostiles before they could figure out what was going on.

...

Nikolai instantly hit the floor, watching as the bullets whizzed over his head. All around him, the walls of the room chipped, sending dust everywhere. With a grunt, he looked forward, seeing one of the ponies, Flutter-something, rocking back and forth as she started crying. The orange and blue mares were locked in an embrace, both of them carrying genuine terror on their faces.

"What's going on?" The purple mare asked. Nikolai began to crawl to the edge of the window, standing once her made it to the outmost part. Gunfire continued to ring in his ears as he waited, trying to hold out. He didn't stand a chance alone, and there was no chance of Price or Soap arriving to save him this time. Like it or not, it was just him, and six completely useless ponies. They were civilians, not fighters, and he hated to downgrade anyone.

"We must get out of here! There is an escape route, but we must hurry!" Nikolai shouted as he hurried over to the purple mare. She was standing completely stiff, seemingly frozen in fear. Waiting for a moment, Nikolai tried to keep away from the windows, watching as the bullets continued to fly through them.

"Where's the escape?" He heard from the side. Looking over to direction he heard it from, he saw the purple mare with her arms... forelegs... whatever they were over her head, trying to protect her cranium from taking any damage.

"Back there! It's underneath the bed!" Nikolai shouted as the gunfire steadily ended. With a quick breath, he popped up, and fired his weapon. Until another bullet flew and hit him in his shoulder...

...

John saw more dirt fly across the room as a grenade exploded right in front of the fork lift he was hiding behind. A bullet crashed onto his arm, quickly shot away by his shields.

"Hostiles! 12 o'clock!" MacTavish shouted as he fired more rounds at the hostiles on the high balcony. To the side, Price moved along with Yuri to flank them from the right, while Delta moved in from the left. As a bullet whizzed by his face, John popped out from the other side, firing his weapon. The screams of pain from his enemies confirmed his hits. Going back behind the forklift, he dropped his empty magazine, instantly going for a fresh one. As he gave the magazine a solid slam, a bullet landed right to the side of his feet, nearly hitting them. Their aim was getting better, he'd give them that.

"Price! We got heavy activity on the balcony! Could really use some M203s about now!" MacTavish shouted as he ducked back down to reload. John watched as another enemy RPG sailed over head, connecting with the cave wall right behind him. The heat was strong enough to make him sweat, even if he was used to the heat.

"Roger that, we'll thin em' out!" Price said into the radio. John fired a few more rounds, making sure to keep too many bullets from hitting him at once.

...

Twilight watched in horror as Nikolai fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder as blood poured out of it.

"Gah! Son of a... GAH!" He shouted as he laid his head on the ground, gritting his teeth and muttering out curses under his breath. She had always seen these guys make it through their conflicts without getting hurt, seeing this happen was... horrifying.

"Are you okay?" She shouted over a large explosion. Just then, a part of the wall blew pieces of destroyed brick at them, stinging as they collided with Twilight's flesh. She gave a quick grunt of pain, backing away slightly.

"Don't worry, I've taken worse, this is nothing!" Nikolai shouted as he pushed himself up with his good arm. He used his gun as a crutch to get himself up, and growled in pain with every movement of his bad arm. Twilight ducked down again, looking over to Fluttershy, who was screaming loudly for the first time since Rainbow's rainboom. She quickly rushed over to her traumatized friend wrapping a foreleg around her.

"Don't worry! It's okay!" She shouted. Behind her, Nikolai fired a few more shots, before ducking down again and releasing a groan of pain. Twilight panted heavily, panicking as she tried to figure out what to do. Another explosion rocked the building, throwing Nikolai off of his feet. Come on, get over yourself! Twilight thought to herself. She was the one who was supposed to be watching out for her friends, and instead, she was hiding away too. She looked over to the bed, which Rarity was now hiding under. Looking over to the right, Twilight noticed Rainbow and Applejack no longer in a distressed state, merely trying to keep their heads covered. And Pinkie was throwing bullets out the window, seeming to think they would do something.

"Rainbow, AJ! Are you two okay?" She shouted over the roar of the gunfire.

"This is insane! What the hay'r we supposed ta' do now?" Applejack shouted as she removed a foreleg from her head. Right next to her left eye was a small cut that was slowly oozing blood, although not serious. A piece of the broken bricks must have hit her. Twilight shook her head, trying to get back into focus.

"Guys! I need you to move that bed! Nikolai says there's an escape under it!" She shouted.

"Rarity's frozen solid under that thing Sherlock! There's no way we're getting her out from under there!" Rainbow shouted with a hateful tone, just as another explosion sent even more debris flying. Nikolai screamed in pain, falling once again as he covered the left part of his chest. Twilight let out a quick scream, watching as blood slowly seeped from below his hand, dripping down onto the rest of his body.

"JUST TRY!" Nikolai shouted as he slammed his fist into the ground several times. He let loose a roar of agony, giving Applejack and Rainbow the motivation they needed to get moving on the bed.

...

John dove behind a large grouping of crates, making sure to avoid the dead corpse to his side. Another explosion destroyed a helicopter attempting to bring in reinforcements for Makarov's men. The predator UAV was making mincemeat of these hostiles.

"Contact by the building!" He heard Grinch shout. Looking over, he observed a large group of Russian forces firing away at their position. Ducking back behind cover, he watched as an RPG fired over his head, and detonated right next to a Delta operator. The soldier had half of his face blown off, falling to the side before he had a chance to even scream.

"MacTavish, there's a group of RPG's by the tunnels on the side, take em' out with the predator." John said, looking over to the man. A bullet hit the top of the crate, throwing some of the wood at John. He threw his arm up, absorbing the sharp wood with his shields.

"The UAV's still reloading! There's not much I can do right now!" MacTavish shouted as he fired a few more shots before ducking down again. Popping back up, he fired more rounds down the construction yard as John ducked behind the crate again, making sure not to get hit.

...

Twilight grunted as she helped push the bed away from it's resting spot, trying to get to whatever it was that was going to help them escape. Fluttershy was still crying in a corner, although she was closer to the bed now. Rainbow and Applejack pulled and pushed with all their might, with the bed moving a few inches every time.

"Almost got it!" Rainbow said through clenched teeth, clearly growing more and more frustrated as the bed refused to move. A bullet whizzed past them, hitting the wall right above the bed. Fluttershy gave another squeal as Pinkie shouted out to leave them alone. To the side, Rarity was tapping her hooves anxiously, waiting to get away from the scenario in front of her. Finally, the bed was all but removed from where it once was, revealing a small latch in the center of it's place.

"There it is!" Applejack shouted after spitting a bar out of her mouth. The latch was made of rope, which gave the impression that it was made rather hastily. Still, it was better than nothing. Twilight took the rope with her magic, and pulled, levitating the door in the air. The passage way was dark, but still had enough light to be able to see. Several cobwebs had formed on the sides of the tunnel wall, giving the impression that it had been a while since it had been used.

"Everypony get going!" She shouted. Rarity instantly rushed down, panting as she did. Pinkie stayed at the window, continuing to throw bullets at who ever was attacking them.

"Pinkie! Come on!" Rainbow shouted as she flew in front and started to push her. Pinkie threw a fit, trying to tell her to stop. Despite all of her protesting, Rainbow kept pushing her friend until both of them had made it down the steps.

"Fluttershy come on you too!" Twilight said as she looked over to her trembling friend. Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, looking down the tunnel with terror.

"Y... You mean into that... D-D-Dark tunnel? I..." She began to say, but another explosion cut her off. Screaming, she raced down the stares, not slowing down at least once.
"You go! Make sure the others are okay down there!" Twilight shouted to Applejack, who was still staring down into the tunnel.

"An' leave you here?" She questioned.

"I'll be down in a minute, just go!" Twilight demanded. Applejack hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed Twilight's orders. As she disappeared from view, she looked back to Nikolai, who was still trying to hold off their attackers. He had already taken two bullets, and he didn't need any more.

"Nikolai come on!"

"Just g-" He began to say. Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, his head jerking back violently as a red mist formed at the very tip. Twilight gasped in horror, watching as his body made contact with the floor, making a loud thud. Blood slowly poured onto the floor as Nikolai's fingers twitched violently for a few seconds, then ceased to move. Twilight stared in horror at the scene before her, terrified by the corpse that now occupied the room. She heard voices from the outside, in some language she couldn't understand. She began to hyperventilate, and quickly slammed down the hatch, leaving her in darkness.

"Oh Celestia..." She said between her gasps. Her stomach felt nauseous, and her stomach started to churn. Looking back up to the hatch, she continued to hear the voices, although muffled now. Breathing heavily, she ran as fast as she could, desperate to get away from what she had just witnessed.

Author's Note

Longer chapter