I approached slowly and cautiously, keeping my weapon trained on the certain entrance I was approaching, all while I scanned side to side to make sure no one was patrolling around the camp. I spotted two windows earlier on two opposing sides of the tent, thankfully there were no windows at the two opposing entrances, allowing me to approach with relative ease. In any other situation, I would have checked the windows from afar in order to check for occupants. However, in this case, not only was I not far enough away to avoid the risk of being spotted, I also didn't have the luxury to wait and stake out the campsite. Spike and I would need to get inside soon and warm up if we ever hope to survive this storm.

It was only a few moments later I was at the zipped up entrance of the tent. Carefully, keeping myself from falling over, I leaned my head against the tent's wall and listened for any activity. It was quite quiet at first, but then I began to hear movement and voices within the tent. I listened carefully, hoping to hear something that will clue me in on what their intentions out here were.

"You mean to say that we have some sort of animal stalking us from around our camp!?" A masculine voice asked. I took note of the authoritative tone of the voice. If I have had to guess, this must have been their leader... However, that was a bit of a wild guess.

"Yes, that is what is seems like. Both me and Fluttershy saw it." A feminine voice replied. I took note of the voice, it had an educated ring to it... I also took note of the strange name, briefly wondering what kind of mother would give anyone that sort of name; especially in this day and age... I also took note of the fact that they had apparently spotted me.

Well, shit. So it turns out not only is the camp occupied, but it also turns out that they already know I am here. How did they... oh, right... I was screaming and running towards their camp like an idiot not even a minute ago. Well, at least they assumed I was an animal and not another human, the element of surprise is still on my side... I suppose I might as well listen a little more, see what else they know before I make myself known.

"Well, that is just brilliant, we are not even here for a couple of hours and we already have predators to deal with... What did you say it was again?" Another masculine voice replied. I think I will call this one a subordinate.

"Well... Fluttershy said that she thought it was a cat." The educated voice replied.

"Yes, a cat, a really big one." A softer, feminine voice added. I took note that this voice may belong to this 'Fluttershy'. I also took note that they were describing something very familiar... It wasn't me.

"What? Like tiger size?" A scratchy yet feminine voice asked. I'll call this one the tomboy.

"No more like manticore." 'Fluttershy' added. Though I didn't know what a 'Manticore' was, most people have different names for the mutants after all, but I assumed that meant 'something big' judging by the next response.

"That big!?" A different feminine voice exclaimed. I dubbed this one 'female subordinate'.

"Well, I didn't see it entirely myself, it just looked like a big snow mound. I only realized it wasn't when it disappeared the moment we looked away." the educated voice responded once again. I felt my eyes grow wide in fear upon hearing this. I knew exactly what this was.

Oh dear god... I felt dread fill my body to the brim upon hearing that description. There is only one type of mutant that matches that certain description! A Stalker! A cat like monster that is known for its surprising patience and intelligence. It stalks, as it name suggests, large groups and targets isolated prey with startling efficiency. They been known to pick off entire groups of scouts without them ever spotting it. Few ever survive such attacks, I remember scout teams that left our bunker in numbers of 5 to 10 people... After a stalker attack, there are usually 1 or 2 left if any at all. They were quite possibly the most dangerous predators in the frozen wastes.

I quickly assessed my situation. There is a stalker nearby... and I had just sent Spike to flank around the camp... We are both now isolated and exposed targets... Our situation went from bad to worse, If the Stalker didn't take this opportunity to strike I would be surprised. We need inside, NOW!

I try my best to quickly figure out a way to approach this as I scanned the horizon for any sign of the Stalker. I could just Introduce myself and ask for safe haven, but that could be very well a death sentence anyways. There are at least 5, if not more, in there. I haven't listened to them long enough to determine what sort of people they were. All I know so far is that they are people with funny sounding names, that wasn't enough to go on and risk a simple "hello." I can't call over Spike for that exact same reason. I simply don't know these people, I can't risk trusting them...

That leaves only one option... Something I am probably going to regret very soon...

I slowly begin to back off from the entrance, taking carefully taking approximately 10 steps back, dreading every step I took; for more reason than one. Once I reach an appropriate distance away from my target, I hesitated a for a bit. I kept picking my mind, trying to think of a way around this. However in the end, I knew there was no other way, no other way that didn't involve risk... I wasn't in the business of taking risk when it wasn't necessary.

I brought my AK-47 to bare, and prepared to fire... Prepared to light up that tent and kill whoever was unlucky enough to be inside at the time. It was going to ruin a perfectly good tent, but we will still have the other tent and these people will no longer be a problem. As for the stalker situation... I'll probably use the corpses to bait it out so we can kill it ourselves. In the end, we will be alive and with a decent amount of supplies... Probably will even last us up to New York...

I have no choice... It is a choice between our survival and their lives... I chose our survival... There is no other way...

"I'm sorry." I mumbled quietly.

Putting my finger on the trigger, I began to pull...

"Grrrrr.... BARK BARK BARK!!!" I I heard Spike bark off in the distance, right behind the tent I was aiming at...

I felt my eyes grow wide with panic as I realized that something was wrong. Spike would never give away his position like that unless I gave the order... Not unless he was in trouble.

The stalker was after Spike...

Without thinking, I put my finger off the trigger as I began to quickly and noisily run around the tent. If the occupants inside didn't know I was there before, they most certainly did now. However, I didn't care. This effort was pointless without Spike, without him I was going to die anyways.

As behind the tent came into view, I spotted Spike... His ears were splayed back as he growled at a full grown stalker, the latter who had a paw up ready to strike the dog with all it had.

I made sure it never had the chance...

Once again bringing my rifle to bare, I took aim and placed my finger on the trigger.

"No you don't you sonnvabit-" I managed to get out before I fired off a volley of bullets.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

All three bullets hit its mark. One hits the shoulder of the raised paw, causing the stalker to wince and its attack to miss Spike by a couple of feet; said dog took the opportunity to back off a ways. Another ripped through the other front leg, causing to stumble a bit. The last went astray and straight through its right ear, ripping it clean off. The beast howled in pain before setting its eyes directly on me, a look of hatred splayed across its facial features.

Oh shit...

The monster let loose a loud, earsplitting, roar before beginning to run straight for me. In a panic I let loose another volley...

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

This volley wasn't particularly well aimed. One bullet missed completely, wissing past the stalker and implanting a hole into the snowy slope behind it. The other bullet grazed the stalker's left flank, not affecting its charge whatsoever. The last hit it directly in the head, however, it ricocheted off and whizzed into the stormy sky.

The last bullet managed to stagger it a tiny bit, just enough of a delay for me to roll away from the charging beast's path. I recovered from my roll and pointed to let off another volley into the monster's side, hopefully hitting the heart.

However, it turned out the monster was more agile than I originally thought... It had already stopped its charge the moment I rolled and had prepared a paw to strike me. This paw was about to strike me now. I felt jaw tighten tighten in surprise as everything seemed to slow down, the paw that was about to crush me seemingly coming at me in slow motion.

*BANG*-

I had only time to shoot off one round before I was swatted 10 feet across the snowy canyon. I landed face first with a wet *thumph* as I hit the soft snowy ground. In the distance, I heard a pained roar and the sound of a stalker hitting the ground running. I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the beast's footsteps getting farther away, rather than closer. I must have definitely hit him where it hurt and now it is running away to lick its wounds; not willing to take the chance that I was incapacitated at risk of further injury. Well, at least that problem was solved for now...

I rolled over to face the sky. It appears that the storm was straight overhead now... Me and Spike needed to get inside now... or we will freeze to death... God I am tired...

I tried to get up, but found that my muscles were very weak and refused to respond... on top of that... I was feeling very numb... very cold...

Lifting my head up, I looked down my body, I found that I my thermal suit was ripped open... and blood steadily flowing from two deep stab wounds across my chest. The stalker seems to have hit me just right for two of its claws to sink deep into my gut. At this point, I was probably lucky that the stalker didn't simply rip me in two with one strike... Well, perhaps not that lucky, because now I was likely going to die slowly.

"...F-fuck" I stuttered out as I began to realize the severity of my wounds.

My body was in shock, severe shock at that... I can't feel anything at the moment... I can't move anything... It is a surprise that I am even awake... This coldness and numbness I am feeling is due to this shock and the fact that I am being exposed to subzero temperatures... Oh god... I am going to die here... There... There is no denying it at this point... if my already weaken body doesn't succumb due to freezing temperatures, I am definitely going to die of shock! My nerves are probably completely fried at this point... it will probably be a matter of minutes now...

"I am going to die." I simply said to myself.

I lied my head back down, there was nothing more to see... Nothing more to do... Only just time to relax and let it happen... Perhaps reflect on life... Decisions I made... Decisions I didn't make... How I got here... Why I was here... Why it no longer matters...

Well, at least one good thing came out of this. The people in the tent are still alive... I was about to kill them after all...

I began to close my eyes and relax... to just let it happen.

However, as I was beginning to relax and accept my fate, I heard a soft wine. Opening my eyes weakly, I could see a familiar face within my line of sight. Spike was currently whining and nudging my mask with his nose, seemingly desperate to wake me up. If I couldn't hear his whines, I probably wouldn't have opened my eyes at all; I couldn't feel his physical means of getting my attention. With the little strength I had, I brought a hand up to pat Spike on the head.

"You did good Spike, but you now get into that tent. Bandits or not, I am sure they will take you in. You can't save me now. I am not going anywhere." I said softly.

Spike only seemed to whine louder at this, abandoning his attempts to get me moving and resorting to dragging my dying corpse towards what I assumed was the tent we were investigating instead.

"Spike, stop it... You are going to freeze to death out here. Just leave me... My time has come." I said as sternly as I possibly could.

Spike apparently refused to believe that, letting out a mix of a growl and whine at me as he continued to slowly pull me closer to the tent.

"Spike... Please... Just..."

I said no more after that as I simply blacked out...

Though the sudden confrontation outside was over within seconds, it had left everypony in the tent terrified and on edge. The moment the explosions sounded. All the civilian ponies were on the floor or otherwise breaking for some sort of cover, the guards immediately went for their weapons and joined the others as they waited for whatever was happening outside to make its way inside the tent. However, it never did as the confrontation ended a lingering 10 seconds later with one last explosion and a terrifying roar from an unknown beast.

It had been an entire minute since the confrontation, a minute that was spent in silence. No pony dared to make a sound in fear that, whatever was out there, would hear and come for them. Fluttershy was trembling under a cot with Twilight as she tried to calm her down and keep her quiet. Shining and the rest of the guard were staying attentive, searching and listening for any sort of movement or sound outside the tent. Daring was keeping her cool while lying under her own cot, but she was visibly shaken. Lyra was under her own cot, trying her best to not break down into screaming hysterics.

It was another half a minute before somepony spoke up, but in a mere whisper.

"W-what in Tartarus was that!" Lyra whispered fearfully.

"I don't know... but I think, whatever it was, it is over now." Shining responded, still not letting his guard down.

"Do you t-think we can move now?" Fluttershy whispered softly.

"I'm not sure... give it another minute." Shining responded back

"...Okay." Fluttershy responded.

Another minute passes in complete silence, nopony saying another word or making a single sound, before Shining finally decided it was safe to stand up.

"Alright everypony, I'm going to check it out. Stay down until I say-"

Shining didn't finish his sentence, he instead became silent as he heard something outside the tent... It was the sound of something being dragged. Moments later, there was a whimper. A whimper that sounded like it came from a dog.

Shining trotted over to the window nearest to the source of the sound and looked out. It was there that he spotted a very large dog, dragging a strange lifeless corpse towards the tent's entrance while whimpering helplessly. This confused Shining for a second, he was sure that the dog couldn't have been the monster that produced that loud roar that had had been heard by everypony earlier, and he assumed that the dog itself wouldn't have been able to defeat the owner of such a terrifying roar. However, then he looked more closely at the corpse that the dog was dragging with so much effort. The clothing... the gear... the mask... it was similar to theirs... This was an intelligent being! The one who gotten in a fight with that monster they heard earlier. Shining assumed it must have been killed in the fight, and that it must have been the owner of the dog considering the similar equipment it was wearing...

"Twilight, come here and look at this." Shining said simply.

Despite his direct address, his invitation to the window was accepted by nearly everypony in the room. All of them other than Fluttershy trotted over to see what Shining was seeing. They all looked with shock and awe as they watched the large whining pup dragged the strange, lifeless, corpse towards their tent.

"Okay, first off, why is there a huge Celestia Forsaken dog here? Secondly, WHAT THE HAY IS THAT!!!" Lyra exclaimed.

Nopony responded for an entire ten seconds, simply continuing to watch the dog continue the drag the corpse, before Twilight finally responded.

"Considering the equipment it is carrying, which looks similar to ours I may note, I can hypothesize that is likely what once was a intelligent lifeform... It was likely just killed in the confrontation we heard moments ago... Given the dog's equipment that it obviously couldn't have put on on its own as well its distress and obsession with this corpse, the dog must have been its pet..." Twilight concluded solemnly.

The ponies remained gravely quiet at that statement as they continued to watch the poor dog whimper as it dragged the corpse of its previous master. This continued on for a few more seconds before another pony spoke up.

"I think we should help, instead of just standing around and... you know... staring." Fluttershy said from behind the group

The group of ponies looked at Fluttershy as if she had just grown a second head, causing her to shrink back at the attention.

"You're kidding, right!? I mean you are kidding!? Look at the size of that thing! It could bite our heads off if it wanted to!"

"I agree, it doesn't look particularly safe to approach. It could be hostile towards us." Shining added.

All the other ponies seemed to agree with this... well, all except Twilight and Daring, both who seemed to be conflicted by this line of thinking.

"What are we suppose to do then? Just leave it out there to freeze to death? I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy! Plus, just look at him, I've seen more dangerous and vicious animals than this big bucket of fluff, what are you scared of!" Daring argued.

"I agree, why not help it? If not for the sake of learning more about this world we are in, then just for the sake of morality. We can't just let it freeze to death out there!" Twilight added in.

The rest of the ponies winced at both Twilight's and daring's arguments, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed by their own statements. Assuming that she had won the argument, Daring approached the door and unzipped it and stepped outside. She shivered a bit as her adaptive suit struggled to adjust to a acceptable temperature. She only peeked back in for a short moment to beckon Fluttershy and Twilight.

"Well, come on you two, I am going to need your help with this. These other pansies certainly won't." She said simply as she stepped back outside to approach the dog. Twilight and Fluttershy share a glance for a short moment before they chased after her.

"You three be careful! There is no knowing what it might do!" Shining shouted after them as the final two rushed out the door.

Twilight and Fluttershy were met with the sight of Daring keeping a small distance from the dog as she was trying to test the hostility of it. Despite how close she got, the most the dog did was give off a small growl when she got a little too close. Fluttershy and Twilight slowly and carefully made their way to the pegasus's side.

"As I said, the dog is not hostile, he would have attacked by now if he was." Daring explained to the two approaching ponies.

"He?" Twilight asked.

"It is a he, trust me, Twilight." Daring simply said.

"Okay... So, what do we do?" Twilight then asked.

"Well, he seems to want to get this body inside the tent. I don't exactly know why, but who am I to argue with a dog nearly my size? He is going in there whether we like it or not. So I say we get the body inside the tent and go from there."

"Alright... I guess I'll just-"

"Wait, don't try anything yet. He is very defensive of the corpse. We need Fluttershy to calm it down before we can help." Daring warned.

"A-alright" Fluttershy stuttered as the chill of the storm was beginning to get to her.

Fluttershy approached the dog with great care as she composed herself enough to talk the animal down. If there was any nervousness, doubt, or hesitation that filled Fluttershy, she was certainly trying her best to suppress it.

"Um... H-hello, Mr. Doggy?" Fluttershy started off.

The dog ignored her, still continuously trying to drag the lifeless corpse despite how much weaker he was getting. Fluttershy was a bit confused by this, she had expected to receive some sort of response. However, she quickly realized her mistake as she spied the tag hanging from the dog's neck. She hadn't called him by his name! She quickly read the tag, as much as all the dog's struggling with the corpse would allow. She was a bit surprised to find his name as 'Spike', the name of the baby dragon that Twilight took care of, but decided to save the contemplation of the coincidence for a later time.

"Um, Spike? Hello?" She asked.

This got Spike's attention, he let go of the corpse for a second to stare Fluttershy in the eyes. From the Spike's eyes, she felt his pain, sorrow, sadness, distress, and fear. Fluttershy couldn't know exactly what the dog was thinking, but it was something along the lines of "Help me."

"Uh, don't worry Spike... We are here to help. Why don't you come with inside the tent where it is warm? My friends will help move your master and.... he'll join us in a moment." Fluttershy tried.

Spike looked between the tent and his master's corpse hesitantly, as if conflicted as to whether or not he should stay with his master, or go inside and get warm. However, apparently it wasn't that hard of a choice. After looking over his choices, the dog gave a defiant bark and settled with attempting to drag the corpse again. At this, Twilight and Daring let out a collective sigh.

"Well, he is definitely stubborn. I think we should just let him carry the corpse inside if that his what he wants so damn badly." Daring said irritably.

Fluttershy momentarily gave Daring a glare before turning her attention back the the poor dog. She wasn't about to give up yet. She wouldn't give up so easily on her own animals, so what would she give up on this dog now?

"Um, well Spike, will you at least let us hel- EEEEK!" Fluttershy tried to say before the dog let go again, quickly walked behind Fluttershy, began nudging her towards the corpse. Though Twilight and Daring stiffen momentarily at the dog's sudden action, they relaxed as they realized that he was just pushing Fluttershy into position to help drag. This even made Daring chuckle a bit at the distraught and surprised look on Fluttershy's face.

"Heh, I guess that is a yes. Alright, lets get them both inside." Daring replied.

With a nod, Twilight began to levitate the body with her magic. It was a bit heavier and far more straining than usual, but Twilight lifted it with relative ease. This action seemed to momentarily confuse the dog, however he didn't complain as he followed his master's floating corpse inside the tent. Daring, Twilight, and Fluttershy came in right after him. The group inside were startled by the floating corpse that was being followed closely by the huge dog they had seen outside. The guard threateningly pointing crossbows at the dog while Lyra hid behind the guards. The three mares followed close behind, zipping up the tent behind them.

Daring and Twilight noticed the sudden hostility of the guards towards the dog now inside the tent; the dog whose only interest was the corpse mysteriously floating above him. Both shot Shining and the rest of the guards a warning glare. This caused Shining and the rest of the guards to, reluctantly, lowered their weapons, but not their guard.

Twilight carefully placed the corpse on the floor of the tent, trying her best not to upset the dog further. The moment it touched the floor, the dog was immediately on top of it. Spike ignored everyone else in the room as he lied down next to it, breathing heavily and distressingly, keeping close as if to warm up the corpse through body heat alone. It was a pitiful sight to behold.

Another minute passed in silence as the entire team watched Spike rest right next to the alien corpse, all were thinking the same thing.

"So... What now?" Daring asked to nopony in particular.

"I don't know..." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Well, this is turning out to be one huge circus of a trip." Iron hoof commented.

"I second that statement." Sparks added.

The ponies continued to lie silent as they beheld the sight before them. None of them knew exactly what to do. Daring and Fluttershy were at a complete loss, neither of them knew how long the dog was going to say like that, nor what they would do with the dog when it decided to stop grieving over the loss of its master. Twilight was wondering the same, but a small part of her was also wondering what was to become of the corpse. She wanted to study both it and the dog, but didn't want to anger the distressed puppy. Shining and the guards were internally debating how they were going to handle the situation if the dog turned hostile. Lyra, on the other hoof, was starring at both the supposed corpse and the dog in very deep concentration and thought.

The dog's complete obsession with the corpse was troubling for Lyra. Normally, though she was no expert, any other animal would have given up the moment they were sure their master was dead and went on to ensure their own survival. This dog wasn't doing that, he continuously dragged the corpse through the freezing temperatures outside despite the fact that it was risking its own life and well being doing so. He was acting as if he was trying to save the creature's life. So either the dog is in denial, or that corpse wasn't really a corpse. The implications of this shook Lyra to the very core... Enough to speak up.

"Do you think we should-" Lyra began to ask

"Lyra, if you are about to suggest that we start screwing around with a corpse that a dog, that could probably break your neck in one bite, is grieving over, then I think you are bucking nuts." Daring answered, interrupting Lyra mid sentence.

"Actually, I was about to suggest that we check if it is still alive." Lyra deadpanned with an annoyed look.

Everypony gave Lyra a strange look for what she was suggesting. To say that this obviously dead corpse could still be alive was beyond ridiculous for everypony to imagine.

"You can't be serious..." Sky Chaser replied.

"What!? What's wrong with simply checking!? For all we know it could still be alive and we are currently standing idly by as it is dying! I don't know about you, but that is a horrible start to diplomatic relations with another world! I can see it now... 'Oh, by the way, we sort of let one of your citizens bleed to death on our tent floor as we internally debated what to do with the body! Please don't hate us!' I don't know about you, but I believe that is grounds for war! Especially if this was a soldier! Do any of you know what this looks like politically!?" Lyra exclaimed a little overly dramatically.

Everypony grew silent as they looked between themselves and the seemingly lifeless body, putting together the implications of what Lyra was suggesting if she turned out to be right. It would be war, and they were not here to be a cause of a likely devastating war.

"Alright Lyra, though I actually doubt it is alive, we'll check." Twilight said as she powered up her magic. She turned to face everyone, ready to inform them of what the plan was.

"Alright everypony, I am about to do a vital signs scan. If my aura turns green, it is alive. If it turns red, it is not. Plain and simple. Fluttershy, make sure the dog doesn't panic when I do this." Twilight stated as she began to focus the her magic into the appropriate spell.

Fluttershy nodded as she slowly walked over and lied down a few feet from the dog, careful not to accidentally make any aggressive movements and appear non threatening as possible; least as non threatening as you can get when you are already half the dog's size.

"Hey, Spike, we are going to need you to move for a second." Fluttershy said softly.

Spike merely whined in response, moving closer the the 'corpse' and refusing to move.

"I'm sorry, but we can't help your master if you are on top of him. You need to get off so that my friend can help. I promise that we won't cause any harm." Fluttershy tried to assure Spike.

Spike lingered on top of the 'corpse' for a few more moments before finally decided, reluctantly, to get off and let the ponies help. However, once he reached a lying position a few mere feet away, he kept a warning, predatory, glare upon Twilight. A glare that pretty much said: "Don't you dare try anything funny."

Twilight inwardly shivered at the Spike staring at her like she was going to be his next victim if she screwed up, but managed to cast the spell properly regardless. A white aura surrounded the 'corpse' and it began analyzing its vital signs for any signs of life. Tension grew in the room as the analyzing process went on and on. Spike kept his gaze upon Twilight. Fluttershy shuffled nervously next to Spike as she felt his aggression slowly and steadily growing higher as every second passed. Shining and the other guards kept their gaze upon the worrisome dog, fully prepared to put it down if necessary. Daring was glancing nervously around the room as it felt like it was about to explode. Lyra kept her focus on the 'corpse', a part of her hoping that this creature was still alive and another part of her terrified that it wasn't.

This tension went on for another 30 seconds for they finally received the results.

It flashed green before the spell dissipated.

The room remained in stunned silenced at what they just witnessed. They had a live intelligent life form from this alien world in the room with them, at this exact moment.

"...No Bucking Way." Daring whispered.

"Get it on a cot and somepony get a med kit! Now!" Somepony in the room said before the room fell into chaos.

Author's Notes:

A very eventful first contact. Hmmm...

Btw, there is a fourth chapter in the works, and I will release it as soon as I can get my lazy ass to finish it. Then again, I could probably get it released faster if you guys could help me out. I'm looking for anyone willing to help me proof read and edit this story, so I will no longer be forever alone!

I cannot promise any sort of payment, but you will get your name in the credits!!! As much as that is worth in a My Little Pony fanfiction... Heh heh....

SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!

Private message me if you are interested.