Shadows of Hope

"sometimes, fate has a reason for creating new friendships"

-The #1 Bushwacka

Chapter 2: New Friendships

Twilight Sparkle and her friends were on their way to Canterlot Castle, where Princess Celestia was waiting for them to tell them why she had required to see them immediately. When she got the letter to tell them to pack necessities because they were going somewhere special, she could tell by the handwriting that the letter was written hastily, so it must be VERY important.

When they arrived at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was outside waiting for them.

"My little ponies, why I am glad to see you we must hurry, there has been a grave problem." Celestia said. She urgently led the Ponies to a room where the elements of harmony were kept. There were six podiums, each one with the mane six's cutie mark on it, with a light shining on the top of the podium, this was were the elements of harmony was suppose to be.

"What happened?" Twilight asked Princess Celestia.

"The Elements of Harmony have suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. I was able to use my magic to find where they have disappeared to, but I can not find there exact location. This is where I need you and your friends. Since you, the Mane six, are telepathically connected to the elements of harmony, only you six can find them.

"How?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The Elements of harmony have been located at different locations on a planet known as "Earth"," Princes Celestia informed them. "I need you to go to this planet to retrieve the elements of harmony, and fast, before dangerous results happen. The mane six new what she meant. The Elements of Harmony is what holds Discord trapped in his stone prison. without the Elements of Harmony, Discord can slowly break free, which will cause havoc all over Equestria."

"We will do our best Princess," The Mane Six said unanimously. Princess Celestia was proud that she had such brave subjects.

"Of course you will, I have perfect faith in you. But you must be warned. The inhabitants of Earth, The "Humans" are an advanced, but dangerous race. While there may be some that will help you on your journey, there will also be ones that will challenge you." Celestia warned.

"Also, if Discord is set free, he will go after you to retrieve the elements himself. But to hide your appearance from him, your physical bodies will be transformed into the human female appearance while you are in mid teleportation. Also, you will all still have your powers. "

"Well, I just hope we won't look dreadful," Rarity said. She always cared about her appearance.

Celestia smiled a little. " Do not worry, the Humans are a beautiful race, it is just that they have a dark history." Rarity seemed to sigh a sigh of relief.

"Now, I wish you the best of luck." Celestia said, casting a spell which opened a portal.

"Don't worry princess, we'll find those elements before you can say "Wonderbolts!"" Rainbow dash said. One by one, the Mane Six walked into the portal, preparing for what awaits them.

"Good luck, my little ponies. You will need it." Celestia said as she watched the Mane six enter the portal.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Ghost, tango on your right!" Soap warned Ghost. Ghost immediately turned around, shooting the OpFor soldier before he could react.

"Got him" Ghost said. Ghost had joined up with Soap, Price, Specter, and Jester. The TF141 and Shadow Company forces were now hugging the entrance wall. Scarecrow told them what they were going to face.

"Alright, you got two enemy machine gun nests setting up in front of the door. One is to the northwest, the other northeast. I'll take out the one that is northeast, so you guys just worry about the one northwest. After that, it's clear. All the other units went inside the engineering facility. I won't have a shot on the soldiers inside there, so I'll move up to one of the towers so I can sniper from there." Scarecrow said over the radio.

"So, we're going to be without sniper cover for about 5 minutes, right?" Specter asked.

"Depends if I can still run like I did in College," Scarecrow jokingly said.

"Just run as fast as you're feet can take you." Soap said.

"Yes sir."

"Alright. This walls gonna take a good bit of C4." Price said. Specter nodded, then look at his men, Shadow company was on one end of the wall, TF141 the other.

"Jester, Sledgehammer, you're up." Specter ordered.

"Yes sir," They both responded. The two moved to the front of the SC ( Shadow Company) lines so they would be in front of the door. They both worked quickly to set up the charges. Before long, they both got back in line.

"Charges set, ready to breach!" Sledgehammer said.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Jester yelled. He pushed the button which detonated the explosives, destroying the door completely.

"Go, go, go!" Specter ordered as the soldiers charged in. they saw that the machine gun nest to the northeast was already taken out, covered in Opfor blood.

"This is Scarecrow, I'm moving towards the base, so you're gonna be without sniper cover for a while." Scarecrow reported over the radio to the TF141 and SC units.

"Copy that," Soap replied. The units made a full sprint towards the building, also while taking down the other machine gun nest. But the OpFor units got some lucky kills before they were shot down by some 141 soldiers. They started with 40 men, but the machine gun nest took out ten, five from the 141, five from Shadow Company, so they now had thirty.

The men lined up against the wall, same way they did at the entrance.

"This door's been locked systematically and it's explosive proof. We would just be wasting explosives if we tried to blow it off." Jester said.

"Bloody great. Ghost, think you can hack into it?" Price asked.

"Should be able to. Just give me some time." Ghost responded as he set up a hacking system to the door's lock pad.

"Specter, this is Scarecrow." Scarecrow said over the radio to Specter.

"I copy, go ahead." Specter responded

"I'm in one of the towers now. I've got a clear view of everything inside." Scarecrow reported.

"Good. See anything we should be aware of?" Specter asked.

"Affirmative. There is another enemy machine gun nest on the second floor in front of the door. I would take the gunner out, but his body is covered by a steel bar that's supporting the roof." Scarecrow said.

"Got it, anything else?" Specter asked.

"No sir, nothing much… wait, what the?" Specter heard Scarecrow say over the radio.

"What is it?" Specter asked.

"All units, be advised," Scarecrow said. He was now using the public radio channel, so all of the soldiers could hear him.

"All units, be advised, this just got harder. We have a hostage situation."

"Scarecrow, what the bloody hell are you talking about mate?" Ghost asked.

"OpFor soldiers have six women tied up. They're using them as human shields." Scarecrow said.

"Confirmed Scarecrow," Soap said. " Can you tell if they're military personnel?" Soap asked Scarecrow.

"Well, um, I don't think so sir. They don't have uniforms on." Scarecrow reported.

"Well, do they have the local clothing on?" Price asked.

"Uh, negative sir."

"Then what the bloody hell are they wearing?" Price asked.

"Um, Nothing, sir. They're naked." Scarecrow answered.

Price just looked at Specter, who returned the stare. Ghost had even stopped hacking the door for a few seconds when he heard Scarecrow. Jester was the one to break the silence.

"They hot?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Five minutes earlier…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Twilight and the others were in awe as they were going through the portal. Even though it was frightening, it was a first for any of them. They were also looking at the images that were passing by. Little did they know, they were looking at pictures of Humanity's past. They saw the events of The Revolutionary war, The Civil War, WWI, D-Day of WWII, The Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam war, and other moments in human history.

"This is so cool!" Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy was covering her eyes with her hoofs, and Rarity was doing her best to calm her down.

As Twilight looked around, she noticed an object coming towards them.

"Girls, look out!" Twilight said. The mane six moved just in time as a Telephone booth flew past them and went into one of the images.

"Well, that was odd." Applejack commented. Suddenly, a blue aura surround the mane six.

"Ooh, a light show!" Pinkie said with excitement. The blue aura then expanded, until it was completely around the six ponies. Then, the aura turned bright white on the outside were the ponies could not see one another.

Twilight was worried, but then had a tingling feeling in her hoofs. She looked at her hooves and gasped.

Slowly, white light went over her hooves, turning them into the human hands of a female. She then closed her eyes, waiting for the transformation to complete. When it did, she opened her eyes and looked at herself in the reflection of the white light, while she still had her hairstyle, she noticed that her horn was gone. She looked like she was in her early twenties. Her skin was now Caucasian instead of purple. She also saw that her hooves turned into human hands and feet. She also looked at her chest, and questioned herself why there were now two round bumps on her chest. She decided she would find out why when they got to where ever they were going.

She also noticed that her tail was gone. When the white light disappeared. She observed her friend's appearance. They looked to be around the same age as Twilight. They also had the same type of body like she did, all their skin colors being different shades of Caucasian. The other girl's hairstyle were the same as they were when they were ponies, but their tails were gone also. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's wings were gone, and so was rarity's horn. They also had the round bumps on their chest like Twilight did, but they all had different sizes. Twilight would definitely figure out they had them and why they were different sizes.

"Whoa, these bodies look cool, but ponies are 20% cooler," Rainbow Dash said.

"These look like balloons!" Pinkie pie said, poking at the round bumps on her chest.

"These creatures must walk on two feet," Twilight said, pointing at her own legs.

"I Think we'll have at find out more about these bodies later, girls, look what's comin'!" Applejack said. They all looked and saw an image of what looked like a big building, and they were heading straight towards it.

"Hang on! Join hooves!" Twilight said.

"But we don't have any hooves!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, join whatever these are than!" Twilight said, referring to her now human hands. The mane six joined hands as they entered the image, which would take them to Earth.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Door's hacked." Ghost said, getting back in the line up.

"Alright, anyone got a flash bang?" Soap asked.

"I got one sir," Said Nomad, and Australian soldier in the 141. He handed it to Soap.

"Thanks, mate." Soap said, moving to the front of the 141 line. The doors started to crack open.

"Flash bang going in!" Soap yelled, throwing the flash bang in. when it exploded, they could here the temporarily blinded soldiers that were waiting for them yelling from the explosion.

"Move in! remember, we have hostages, look for six females that are tied up." Specter said. SC soldiers easily took out the OpFor that was in front of the door.

"Iron, left side, high!" said one SC soldier to another.

"I got him. Thanks for the heads up Typhoon." the other soldier said. They're was constant radio chatter between the two groups.

After taking out the machine gun crew, the forces moved up to the second floor. They saw multiple machines, all of them looking experimental.

"These guys got more than a few tomahawks," Said Tick, a SC soldier.

"To right mate." Soap responded.

"Soap, look out!" Tick yelled. Before soap could turn around, he was tackled by an OpFor soldier, the soldier had caught him off guard and was able to knock Soaps weapon away. But before the soldier could kill him, Ghost jumped on the OpFor soldier, knocking him down. Ghost punched the OpFor soldier In the face before getting his tactical knife and stabbed the soldier in the chest, killing him.

"Thanks mate, I owe you one." Soap said. Ghost looked at him.

"Consider it payback for saving me back at the estate," Ghost said. Soap smiled and nodded.

"If you two are done, we've still got to save those hostages." Price said. The soldiers moved up until they saw the tomahawk missiles and the Hostages, both being guarded by two heavily armed OpFor soldiers, which were wearing Juggernaught armor. There was an OpFor officer behind them, and he pointed to the SC and 141 soldiers.

"Destroy them! Show no mercy!" the officer yelled in Arabic.

"Shit! TAKE COVER!" Specter yelled out. The soldiers immediately ran to their sides, where there were old boxes that they could use as cover.

"What the hell do we do now?" Jester asked. The SC and TF141 soldiers fired their weapons just over the crates, hoping that they will get a lucky hit on the juggernaughts.

"Scarecrow, come in! do you copy!" Specter yelled over the gunfire.

"I copy, I'm trying to find a weak point on the juggernauts now!" Scarecrow said.

"Hurry!" Jester yelled, throwing a grenade at the juggernauts. A 141 operative was shot and bleeding.

"Hurricane's hit. I'll tend to him!" Ghost said, getting out a med kit he had packed just incase.

"Found one. There's an opening between the helmet and the torso, where to can see the neck. But it's hard to hit." Scarecrow said.

"You mean you can't hit it?" Specter said.

"No. I said it's hard to hit. I didn't say I couldn't." Scarecrow said.

The next thing that Specter knew, one of the juggernauts fell to the ground dead. This distracted the other one, giving the soldiers a good opportunity.

"Open fire, now!" Price ordered. The soldiers opened fire on the juggernaut, their combined power killing him. The officer immediately got worried. He looked around, thinking of a way to escape, and then it hit him. He jumped towards one of the women being held hostage, one with a pink hairstyle, and grabbed her, using her as a human shield. The other girls shrieked and begged him to let her go.

"Oi, you untie those other girls." Soap ordered some of his men. The officer pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his shield's head.

"Drop your weapons or I kill her!" The officer said in rough English.

"Let her go!" Soap yelled, aiming and looking for any open shots. But none of them could find an open spot since the officer had a small, thin frame.

They still had their weapons aimed at the officer, just in case he made a mistake and gave them an opening. But the officer was careful with his steps, and made it to a back door.

"Well, you may have won this battle, but we shall win the war!" The officer said, before pushing the girl into Soap. The officer ran out and Ghost started to chase him.

"Leave him, we have what we came for." Soap said, untying the girl.

"T-t-thank you sir." The pink haired girl said. Soap simply nodded.

"Sir, what about that officer? He'll warn their leaders, and they'll be hunting us." Ghost asked.

"I wouldn't worry about him." Said a voice from the back door. The girls looked and saw what looked like a walking bush.

"Scarecrow, when did you get down here?" Jester asked. Scarecrow was standing in the door way, and he was carrying the officer, who was now knocked out cold.

"I figure you could use him for questioning since they have a lot more than tomahawks here. So he's not dead… yet." Scarecrow said.

"Alright." Jester said. He turned towards the six women.

"So, what are a bunch of good looking ladies like you doing in a place like this?" He asked them.

"Well, it's a long story," Said the girl with Purple hair with a pink streak through it.

"Maybe you can explain on the way back to our base, cause you're coming with us." Specter said. "Oh and ladies," Specter said, getting their attention. "you may want to put some clothes on before we get there." Jester chuckled some.

"Right, think there's anything we can use to cover them up?" Ghost said.

Scarecrow walked towards the girl with the blond ponytail. " Here, you can wear my ghillie suit." he said.

"Your what?" The girl asked.

"My ghille suit. It's what this is that makes me look like a bush. Here, I'll show you how to put it on." Scarecrow offered. As he was showing her how to put the suit on, he introduced himself.

"I'm Nick, but I'd rather be called Scarecrow. That's my nickname, see?" He said.

Applejack could tell he was from the south, even though his southern accent wasn't that strong. "Name's Applejack, And Ah Thank ya kindly for offering me clothing," Applejack said.

"Applejack, hmm." Scarecrow said. He observed Applejack as she pulled the ghillie suit's hood off her head and pulled her ponytail out from under the clothing.

"Looks good. Come on, maybe you and your friends can tell us about yourselves while we are heading back to base," Scarecrow said.

"Well, ah hope you're ready for a story then," Applejack said. The 141 and SC was able to find temporary clothing for the girls, so their bodies were covered up.

Soap was walking along, thinking about what had happen, when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned around and saw the pink haired girl.

"I just wanted to say, thank you." She said timidly.

"Not a problem mate, it's my job." Soap said.

"My names Fluttershy." Fluttershy said.

"Just call me Soap." Soap responded.

"Soap? That sounds like an odd name." Fluttershy said.

"That's what I thought when I first saw him." Price commented. Soap laughed.

"Well, it's really a nickname."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As the soldiers and the mane six arrived just outside the entrance base, they saw two CH-46 Sea Knights coming back.

"What are those?" Twilight asked.

"Helicopters. They're flying us back to base." Specter told her.

"It may not be as cool as flying around Equestria, but still, awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Jester whispered to ghost, who simply shrugged.

"Beats me."

As the Helicopters landed, the pilots helped the wounded on board first. Then, the soldiers and mane six got on. Soap, Price, Ghost, Scarecrow, Jester, Specter, and the mane six got on one helicopter with some other soldiers, while the others got onto the other one.

"So, you wanna start telling us why you're all out here in the middle of Afghanistan?" Soap asked.

"Well, Here is the story." Twilight said, explaining why they were there and their situation.

The tough, battle hardened soldiers of Task Force 141 and Shadow Company had no idea

Of the upcoming adventure and war that they were going to take place in.