Call Of Equis

As Allen, Ghost, and Roach dropped their salutes, Soap walked up to the three of them and nodded.

"You three doing okay?"

"Doing well, Captain. Please don't tell me you..."

"Died. Yes, I did. Even the best can fall." He replied, while sitting down on a bench. All this time, Rainbow was spouting insults at the humans, until Twilight's horn glowed, and her mouth was dragged off-screen into the trash bin. Rainbow tried to speak, only to eventually stop and start glaring at the humans. Soap sighed and looked over at the soldiers of One-four-One.

"I guess you need to be caught up then, huh?" and the humans nodded.

"Fine. Let's begin. We got word of your deaths while we were in an airplane graveyard, fighting off Makarov's lackeys. After our escape, we called Makarov for help regarding intel on Shepard. He gave us Shepard's location, reluctantly, since we both wanted him dead. We raided his base and pursued him when he tried to evacuate. After a crash, I brawled with him, until he stabbed me in the chest, pinning me. Then, when Price tried to engage him, I pulled the knife out and threw it. Hit the bastard straight in the right eye. Nikolai picked us up and took us to India, where I got medical treatment, and Price recruited a Russian named Yuri, one of Nikolai's men. Yuri's the only man the world who hates Makarov more than Price."

"That's...impressive." Ghost quipped. "Price despises Makarov more than I can fathom."

"Yeah. Back in the united states, the US pushed the Russians out of their Eastern Seaboard. Three months later, Makarov kidnaps the Russian president and his daughter, who were on their way to a peace delegation in Hamburg. He also had a stockpile of chemical weapons, which he planted in every major NATO city. He crippled the whole of Europe, paving the way for an Russian invasion. While the US tried to stop them, we got info from Captain MacMillian, Price's old CO, about a man in Somalia who knew the man who made the bombs. We got the info out of him, through some...well...brutal means, and we got the ID. Volk. Head of Fregata industries. We sent his location to a US special forces team, who got him. Heard the Eiffel Tower collapsed in the escape. The Special Forces team known as Metal, same guys, sent Makarov's location to us. Prague, Czech Republic, deep in the Russian occupied zone. With the help of the Russian loyalists and Czech partisans, we attempted to bag the bastard once and for all. Except he knew. And he told me that he knew Yuri well. Then, he blew up the tower that we were occupying sniper positions in, and the impact of  landing reopened my knife wound. I passed this on to Price before I died. I haven't the foggiest of what's happened since then. How have you been doing? Ponies here treating you well?"

"Really well. Gave Allen here some really good hospital care. We popped up in old Sun-butt's bedroom in the capital, if you can believe it..."

"SUN-BUTT?" Celestia said incredulously.

"Oh, shit." Allen said, and the humans braced themselves. To everyone's surprise, she immediately began to laugh her guts out, confusing every human and pony present.

"That's the best nickname for me you could come up with? I'm impressed!" She chortled, before wiping her tears and regaining her composure.

"Cadance, anything to ask?"

"One thing's been bothering me. Do you...enjoy killing your own kind?"

To her surprise, the humans shook their heads no.

"Why?"

"Being a soldier is a tough job, Princess. I killed because I knew what I was doing would help the world recover. If men like the ones I've done didn't realize that, it's their fault. To answer your question, I don't. I kill because there's no other way. Makarov was set in his goals. There was no way to change his mind. No conceivable way."

Cadance nodded, seeing the point. As they departed from the station, they saw a large crowd gathering at the city center, near the crystal heart. As the group approached, they could hear the voice of Flash Sentry. The humans saw three other humans, clad in grey and brown armor, wielding rifles, in a triangle formation around a crystal heart. They were in combat positions, and then Flash spoke up with a loudspeaker.

"CREATURES! STEP AWAY FROM THE HEART!"

"MAKE US, WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARE!" That was the voice the leader. The group sped up and forced their way through the crowd. As Cadance and Armor approached Sentry, he saluted.

"We've got a problem. Those creatures have the heart surrounded. They're not moving, and they're not being peaceful."

"Just what I'd expect."

Soap, Ghost, Roach, and Allen stepped forward, and Flash gasped.

"Don't worry, they're with us." Armor said quickly, and Flash sighed.

"Maybe they can talk some sense into THEM." he said.

"Soap walked forward, making a large amount of Ponies gasp. He smiled, and then waved, catching the human's attention.

"Well, hello there. We just have to stop meeting like this, Sandman." Soap said, smiling.

Sandman smiled, and shouldered his rifle, along with Grinch and Truck. As they walked forward, they shook hands. Armor took the loudspeaker from Sentry and told the crowd to disperse. As they did so, Team Metal walked up.

"Thanks for saving our asses."

"No problem." Shining said. "You friends with Soap here?"

"Yeah. Name's Sandman. This is Truck and Grinch. Call sign-Team Metal"

"You guys die?" Soap said, and they nodded. "How?"

"After your death, we tried to rescue the Russian President's daughter, but the Russians got to her before us. We eventually, along with Price and Yuri, managed to infiltrate the diamond mine she and her father were being kept in. We got them out, along with our other team member Frost, but we lost our lives. Don't know what's happened since."

"Alright. Let's get moving." Soap said, motioning. "they loaned us a house here."

"Sweet."

"Hey, what are those metal things?" Shining said, curious. "You never told us."

"We call em' guns. Pretty much humanity's main weapon of choice in the modern world."

"Care to demonstrate?" Shining said.

"Not a problem." Metal said.

"We've got a testing ranger nearby." Cadance said.

"Let's go, then."