Of Friendships and Warships

“Red Team, you said it was a ghost town,” Cutter warned the three Spartans via commlink.

“We saw nothing. Maybe We’re too used to looking for Covenant, sir. Sorry, sir,” Jerome replied after a few moments. “We saw nothing on our motion trackers, either.”

“Have you considered you scared EVERYTHING off? Hogs are loud,” Cutter berated Red Team.

“Sorry, sir,” Jerome replied.

“Spirit of Fire to Cutter. We’ve been scanning the village and its surrounding area. There is a nearby structure of some kind. We can’t determine it if there are life signs inside, there’s something blocking more detailed scans of it. It may give us a way home,” a bridge officer reported over commlink.

“Anything from the nearby structures, Lieutenant?” Cutter asked, curious as to if the structures were occupied by possibly scared natives.

“Yes, sir,” the officer replied, “Random numbers of life signs from various structures. Anders, do not ask if we can determine what they are,” the officer continued, addressing Anders with slight annoyance.

“Alright, we are heading for this structure you told us about. Mark it on our HUD. Red Team should still be on recon,” Cutter order through his commlink.

“Yes, sir, location marked. We have Fireteam Atlantis heading down there. Major Aurelleah Sheppard thought one of the structures in the forest might help us,” the bridge officer notified the ground teams.

=== ===

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were in the Everfree forest when everything went quiet. Just as the noises were beginning to return to normal, a loud sound similar to rockets had passed overhead making everything quiet again. This being the second time that day that sound passed over the forest made the timberwolves very hostile, more so than normal.

Unfortunately for the three fillies, they were the timberwolves’ target. Ten of them stalked the CMC from all sides. The alpha of the pack, and also the largest, revealed himself in an attempt to run the CMC into an ambush. Upon seeing the big timberwolf, the three fillies started screaming and ran as fast as their legs could go. The pack, after a minute of confusion, gave chase; and the pack was faster.

=== ===

“Hopefully all this turns out well,” Cutter told his companions, Kinsano and Anders, as they neared the marked structure. They walk up to the front door; only to find it slightly ajar, “Well, not like its locked…” Cutter commented.

Kinsano pushed the door open and entered. Not a single alarm or bell went off. “Cleared for entry, Captain, Professor,” Kinsano reported the obvious. “Permission to explore this structure?”

“As long as you don’t use your flamethrower, no matter how much you want to. You, too, Anders,” Cutter said before the group split up.

Cutter walked to the main hall. By chance, Twilight was too busy to notice him enter due to her books. Looking around, Cutter saw a purple alicorn and a screen showing three cupcakes. “A security camera pointed at cupcakes?” Cutter asked out loud of no one in particular.

“No. The mirror shows an alternate universe. It should be showing Rainbow Dash, but it is only showing those cupcakes. I do not know why,” Twilight answered, completely unaware of who she was answering.

“I’m not familiar with this Rainbow Dash,” Cutter replied investigating the mirror more closely.

“She’s the Element of Loyalty,” Twilight replied as if that explained everything, still unaware of who she was answering.

Anders entered the room still holding Fluttershy, and noticed the mirror, “Cupcakes?” she asked seeing the cupcakes in the mirror.

“It should show Rainbow Dash, though,” Twilight replied, unaware she answered someone else entirely.

“Does she know who she’s talking to?” Anders questioned of Cutter while motioning toward Twilight.

“She?” Cutters asked, unknowing why Anders started referring to the sudden use of feminine pronouns when referring to the creatures.

“I checked this one. She appears to have female parts; and as the purple one has similar muzzle, that one must be female as well,” Anders explain.

“You checked? You don’t even know if they have a nudity taboo of any sort, you…” Cutter said before being interrupted.

“Nudity taboo? What nudity taboo?” Twilight asked, interrupting Cutter; and still unaware of who she was talking to.

“Okay, then. Maybe not…” Cutter said, trailing off. He went back to examining the mirror more closely. After a few minutes pass, Cutter turns toward Anders, “I don’t see an off button anywhere on it.”

Kinsano, having gotten lost, wandered into the main hall where Anders and Cutter were standing. “Nice to see we all found the same room,” Kinsano said passing them and approaching the mirror, “Is that blood in the cupcakes?”

“Blood in the whAAAAAHH!!!” Twilight started saying looking up to see three humans and having no clue where they came from. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

“The front door was open,” Cutter replied matter-of-factly.

At that moment Fluttershy decided to ask, “Can you please, if it isn’t too much trouble, put me down?” Anders puts Fluttershy down without saying a word.

“Now you’ve put her down, Anders,” Cutter says when Anders starts to pet Fluttershy.

=== ===

Fireteam Atlantis disembarked from the dropship. As the Pelican was heading back to the ship, they heard screaming coming from ahead of them and getting closer. Sheppard raised his assault rifle, which he had a grenade launcher underneath the barrel and a custom flashlight mount to the side of, and switched on the flashlight to illuminate the dark forest. The rest of the fireteam did the same with their weapons.

“No sound other them screaming of something is always a good sign you’re in the right place,” a marine with a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun said sarcastically.

“Of course it is, Jackson,” Sheppard replied, “Fireteam, move up; we are investigating that screaming, weapons hot.” With the order given the 4-man fireteam moved up towards the screaming they heard coming their way.

Upon reaching the a large fallen tree, they took cover behind it while Sheppard peaked over it to see what the source of the screaming was. “Three small horse-like creatures pinned by a pack of ten wolves made of wood,” Sheppard informed his team. “They look like the creature that Anders, Cutter and Kinsano found in the town.”

“I have a clear shot at the alpha,” the team’s marksman, McKay, said aiming his rifle at the alpha timberwolf. “Permission to fire?”

“Atlantis, fire at all wooden wolves,” Sheppard ordered his team, peaking around the log with his rifle to take out the wolf approaching the three fillies. McKay fired his rifle hitting the alpha between its eyes, causing the wolf to fall apart. Sheppard fired at his chosen target, causing that wolf fall apart before it could reach the fillies. The muzzle flash put aflame a timberwolf trying to get around the fillies. “Flammable or inflammable! I forget which!” Sheppard taunted the burning timberwolf running away.

With no more timberwolves in the vicinity, the three fillies cautiously approached the four marines. “Thank you! You saved us!” the three of them yelled.

“You’re welcome. You should go home, I doubt it is safe here,” Sheppard said to the three of them. “Atlantis, we are near our objective. Let’s get there and get this done before nightfall. I want to be airborne before dark.”