Politics

by Dai Kirai

Side Story: Portal Problems

9/28/13 Portal Room, Earth

Corporal James Walker was standing guard in the portal room on Earth. People and ponies had been moving through all day with either construction supplies or tools. The two sides had to work together to move the supplies through the portal. Human vehicles were used to move the heavy wooden beams and bags of cement to the portal but the vehicles were too large to fit through the portal. Unicorns were on the other side to grab bits and pieces as they came through and lift the heavy objects, but if their magic even brushed the portal, whatever spell they were using would be instantly disrupted.

Corporal Walker thought it was an interesting display of teamwork and cooperation by the separate species. Only occasionally would a living creature step through the portal, they always felt it unnerving. The portal did make one start to feel paranoid after several hours in close proximity. As a result it was required for all armed guards to switch off every two hours with a guard from a different part of the base, usually with one in charge of guarding the ponies while they worked on their own Embassy.

Their buildings were ‘unique’ by human standards and seemed to defy the laws of physics. Their second story’s would be larger than the first and overhang by several feet, but they seemed stable. Their Embassy was the only one that seemed normal, and it still used massive amounts of marble.

Today had been a unique day; several new ponies had come through so far. His favorite pony so far had been the rose pink mare that would stop and talk to him whenever she passed with more supplies. She came through every other week for the last two months.

A light cough came from behind him. Corporal Walker turned to see his favorite pony of the day. Her off-white and pink mane belied her strength. He had seen this earth pony moving 100 pounds of cement on her back like it was nothing. Her two by four cutie mark should have been a dead giveaway that her profession was construction. “Hay. I have to go back. But I’ll be back for my tour. Can’t wait to see more of humanity.”

“Thought you didn’t have to go back today?” He said, mildly surprised. The ponies tended to stay a week at a time minimum, so they could get acquainted with human habits and vice versa.

“One of my workers called in sick today and there’s another small load that needs to be brought over.” She humphed. “Somepony forgot to grab the connectors to allow for proper weight allowances.”

“Ouch. Good luck.” He offered.

Heavy Mover walked to the steps leading to the portal. There were only two steps that she easily climbed, reaching the large white pool of light. The portal itself was a vertical pool ten feet across and still as water until it was touched. As she moved her hoof to the surface, ripples spread to the edge of portal and disappeared. She nodded back to her human friend and stepped through towards Equestria.

When Heavy was halfway through the portal, Corporal Walker saw her body start to spasm. After a few seconds her body collapsed half in and half out of the portal. Walker ran up to her body and pulled her out by the back hooves. He quickly checked her neck for a pulse, upon not finding one he quickly wrapped her in his arms and ran for the nearest exit.

Corporal Walker blew through the door out of the portal room, smashing it open using his shoulder. He then ran outside as fast as he could. He understood the point of the clinic being in the middle of the village, but at this point he wished it were closer. The clinic was almost a mile away and her limp body was worrying him. The guard had always been a stickler for staying in the peak of fitness but it was harder when gripped by panic.

Corporal Walker was gasping for breath as he neared the small white building with a red cross emblazoned on the front. He burst through the double doors and up to the front desk. “Emergency!” He called. “She just collapsed.” He was having trouble keeping breath in his lungs from the run and his voice clear from the terror. Please be ok. He pleaded.

The white earth pony yelled, “Code Blue in Admin!” And within seconds a group of unicorns ran in with a gurney. They quickly lifted her onto it and then ran into the back.

“Stay calm. Just breathe.” The nurse at the front desk offered. “We need to know what happened.”

“She was …going back through the portal when …she started spasming and collapsed.” He rasped. “Ran here.”

“Thank you sir. We have some of the best doctor from Equestria here. If you want we can send you notification when we have more information.” The nurse offered.

“That’s ok. I’ll just stay here.” Corporal Walker found a nice spot on the floor and leaned against the wall. If Command doesn’t like it, I will go with staying here will help international relations.

9/17/13 Quarantine room, Portal Research Facility, Equestria

Mystic Dawn settled over the body. The pink mare lay on a metal slab her eyes closed. Mystic’s teal fur was bright against the white walls of the emergency room. After she had been confirmed dead, the room had been sealed until his arrival. The doctors had never seen anything like it before, nothing they did had any effect. Her entire nervous system had died.

Mystic’s cyan eyes looked at the body. He had studied several ponies coming through the portal when ponies first started going through it had been deemed harmless. It turned out that a second charge within a 24 hour period caused the nervous system to be overloaded. The second she started spasming she was dead; there had been no hope of saving her. It appeared that the amount of damage would change depending on how much of the charge had dissipated.

Mystic shook his head. He’d heard about the human that brought the pink mare in, how he ran to the nearest place he could for treatment. He also heard that the human had to be dragged out crying when he’d been told about her death. It’s a shame several of the more paranoid ponies were saying it was some type of human experiment; that the human wanted to see the results. While Mystic didn’t doubt that some humans were capable of such feats, he knew the vast majority of them could never view that as an acceptable option. Ponies, just like people, needed to blame something and it was hard to blame inanimate objects.

But until he could prove to Celestia that the portal was not only safe, but that Heavy Mover had not died because of the results of standard travel, nothing was allowed to move between worlds.

11/12/13 2:03pm Portal Room, Earth

Private Johann Daniels had been on guard duty in the portal room for the past four hours. “Why hasn’t my relief come in yet?” He complained.

“Because of military cuts.” The private standing guard next to him explained. “They can only bring in so many troops for around the clock guard duty. At least if they want to continue keeping this a secret.” Private Mendelev stated. She hated how Daniels had to bitch about everything. Never thought I would miss Walker. The private thought. Even if he did fancy that pink mare, at least he could keep his mind on his duty. At the time, Corporal Walker and Heavy Mover had actually been dating. Even though they tried to keep it quiet, everybody and probably every pony knew what was going on. But after that incident he had a minor breakdown and asked to be reassigned.

“You know this place freaks me out though.” Daniels stated.

“Yeah.” She groused. “Only hear it every damned day I’m on duty with you. Just remember to be on your best when the VIP’s arrive.”

“When are they supposed to be here again?” Daniels asked.

“Two-Thirty. Can’t you even keep your duties straight?” Mendelev had no patience for his shit. They’ll just let anyone join.

2:30pm Portal Room, Equestria

Swift Runner looked over the group of politicians he was supposed to be looking after. The first was a brown earth pony stallion; he was quirky but mostly harmless and would shut up when asked. The other two were more of a pain in the guard pony’s flank. The first one was a blue unicorn mare and the second was a yellow pegasus stallion. They wouldn’t quit bickering about the most inane of things like which architectural style would be the most appropriate for the new village; Neo Canterlotian or Classic Prance.

Swift couldn’t stand escorting dignitaries. It was meant to be easy, quiet work. Captain Shining Armor liked to switch out guards so they became well rounded, he also didn’t trust humans yet. Scanning all users of the portal had been decreased, now they only checked for concealed weapons and signs of changelings. Eventually even that would be stopped when travel became frequent enough.

Swift adjusted the spear over his right shoulder. May only be an Honor Guard, but that still entitles me to a weapon. He then looked about the room, the only ponies there were him and the three ponies in collars. The room was still completely white despite months of use. “If everypony is ready. It’s time.”

Swift Runner stepped through the portal. He felt a slight electric current run through his body as he passed from one world to the next. The feeling of dread he had been told about could barely be felt. Some guards were able to ignore all sense of fear.

Swift stepped down onto the floor. The human side of the portal room or the ‘embarkation’ room as the humans called it, was large with machines against the walls. There was a bank of manned computer consoles to his left and two human guards fifteen feet in front of him. A male one and a female one based upon what information he had been briefed upon. The male seemed a little unstable by pony standards.

“Good afternoon.” The female on the right greeted. “As soon as the rest of your party arrives we are to escort you around ‘Bridle Lake.’

“Thank you.” Swift replied as he waited for the three ponies he was to escort. He soon heard the clopping of hooves behind him.

“Does everypony who goes through that thing get that same creepy feeling?” A female voice asked.

“That was quite interesting.” The brown stallion said. “It really makes one want to gallop doesn’t it?” His voice broke off at the end as the male human started speaking.

“What is that thing?” The human stuttered. “It’s not right! Not right!” He said taking a step back and pulling out his side arm.

Swift Runner pulled down his spear with a hoof. “What are you doing?” He demanded, pointing his weapon at the human.

The female guard pulled out her gun but seemed unsure about whom to point it at, as the gun kept shifting from Swift to her partner.

The male human’s eyes got bigger. “It’s not right!” He screamed one last time as his finger tightened on the trigger.

Swift heard two shots ring out from the gun. When he looked back at the ponies he was supposed to protect, the unicorn had two holes in the middle of her forehead. The guard turned back around and started to gallop at the human. He had already failed one of the ponies he was supposed to protect. He had to protect the others.

Before Swift managed to get five feet towards the human, a shrieking mass collided with his flank. It turned out to be the brown stallion. After shoving the raving pony off himself he looked back towards the human. The female had the male pinned on the ground, a large welt forming on the side of his head. But both humans were staring past Swift at something on the ground.

Swift turned to see what they were staring at. Where the blue unicorn had stood moments before was a black chitinous corpse. The legs had holes and there were small pale insect wings and a black horn. A changeling had made it through security despite being scanned, they were learning. The magic in the portal must have disrupted its disguise spell. It didn’t help knowing that changelings couldn’t get through the portal; yet.

Changelings were one of the biggest threats Equestria had ever faced. The Royal Guard had orders to make sure no changeling ever passed through the portal to Earth. Celestia had informed President Tow of their existence in the sake of honesty, it would’ve been incredibly hard to keep a secret forever. Unfortunately, the human military would now know of changelings and the threat they possessed, might even suspect any pony of being a disguised changeling.

Author's Note:

Slight rant so feel free to skip. Bigger rant than expected.

I have been getting comments about good and evil. But why does one side have to be evil and the other good? Why can't they just be. There is a duality to life, yin and yang if you want, you can't have good without evil. Its the darkness that makes light so powerful. Both sides have good, both sides have evil, that's how life works. Its when people transcend their "lot" that we mark them as a hero, that they inspire us to be better. Here is a speech for you, a very powerful one by a person you would never expect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O_ld2MTRbQ

I enjoy speculative fiction, spent the last quarter studying the effects of speculative fiction in Japanese literature and film. And the point is to ask questions and to show what ifs. Its not about following norms and tropes. Why write the same story that others have? What happened to the wonder of a world in which FTL flight is impossible? In which magic doesn't work perfectly? It's to see the world with new eyes, to think of the old in a new way.

Thank you for your time. Sorry for the rant, but its over.