From the Shoulders of Giants

by Za Raapini

What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong?

South of Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Bowers had never seen so much sunlight. His preferred method of conducting business involved suits, keyboards, pens, paper. Not this messy outside business. He was struggling to pay attention to the presentation. It wasn’t as if he was here for that anyways. His job was to reconcile what appeared to be a phenomenal paperwork error regarding funding for this particular project.

He could tell the doctor was wrapping up, and struggled to focus on what was being said.

“So therefore gentlemen, as you can tell, this portal can help us field a tremendous tactical advantage if we are able to properly exploit whatever world lies beyond. By establishing points throughout the other dimension, tactical insertions of Special Forces teams could take place without the risk of unduly losing any equipment.

“Furthermore, it is more than likely that this world that lies beyond will have a number of natural resources for us to exploit. The overall potential from this is regarded as extremely high. Any questions?” Dr. Cintron, lead developer for the latest
DARPA device said.

“Do we have any idea where this portal leads to?” someone in the audience asked.

“Excellent question. From what we can tell based off of our limited scans, what lies beyond the portal is an Earth-like environment, with oxygen and nitrogen levels comparable to ours. Furthermore, soil samples that we have managed to collect with our Hazardous Materials element have proven conclusive as well,” Cintron explained.

“Conclusive in what way?” the same person said.

Cintron paused for a moment before answering.

“It is nearly an exact match to soil samples in this area. There is one thing, and one thing only that sets it apart.”

Bowers watched the spectacle that Cintron was putting on, and was immediately bored by it. The reps that had been sent out to witness the portal’s demonstration however, were captivated beyond all belief.

Idiots. He heard Cintron start talking again, about soil density this and gradient that and blah-de-fuckity-blah, and magic-

Wait. Did he just say magic?

“-And believe me when I tell you that there is simply no way to describe this otherwise. It is magic, pure and simple. We simply do not have an adequate way to express this without referring to it as such.”

Well. That was interesting. Magic huh? Well, if it had stumped the DARPA guys it was bound to be something pretty high-tech. Bowers was moderately curious now. He had been working for DARPA for years now, seen quite a few demonstrations. He had never heard them use the word 'magic.' But that wasn't his area. He was the numbers and paperwork guy, nothing more, nothing less.

He imagined that his bosses back in Virginia were about to be high-fiving each other when they heard it was a successful test.

It was the damndest thing though. Everyone was tracking that this project was due, but nobody could remember where the funding was supposed to have come from. Nobody’s paperwork was matching right now, and Bowers got a headache just thinking about the mess this was going to be.

He was going to have to go back through seven years’ worth of paperwork and then reconcile everything in one master audit.

This shit is going to take all year. Thank God for computers. Otherwise this would be an environmental disaster.

Bowers looked over at the crowd; it was starting to disperse, but the majority were clamoring around Dr. Cintron. Funny thing about him. Official records indicated he had just joined the project a few months back. Why was he giving the presentation?

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“I see the fools have begun their inexorable march towards conflict. They are none the wiser?”

“Oh but of course. Ignorant apes. They still fail to realize what is truly taking place here. The humans haven’t even begun to play their part. Are your pieces ready?”

“Oh yes.”

“Begin phase two.”

Langley, Virginia, one week after demonstration

The halls were filled with people moving from office to office, telephones cried out in anger as they were ignored, and the dull roar of conversation could be heard even from outside the walls.

However, one room could not hear the bustling noises that invaded everyone else’s ears at the Pentagon. This room was one of the most secure areas on the entire East Coast, and few people could realize the collective power sitting inside the room.

Representatives from several countries were there, and many were hoping that this could indicate a leap forward in international relations. While the United States was beginning to get on well with the rest of the world, there was still room for improvement. An advisor in the President’s camp had suggested a multilateral action in an effort to ramp it up.

Anyone who was in the room could soak up the tension with a piece of bread. The wizened old men sat around, talking in quiet tones with each other. Nobody knew what to make of the idea of another world. Nobody even knew where to begin with an idea. Most of them threw out ideas involving quiet reconnaissance, perhaps with Special Forces units. One voice began rising up amongst the others, desperate to be heard.

It was he who suggested that they conduct a recon in force, by deploying as many skilled operators as they could spare to the new area. In doing this, they would be able to gain a critical understanding of what lay beyond the portal, and still have the hardware necessary to fight back hostiles.

The room paused for a moment, unsure what to make of this idea. Then, as if a wave passed through the room, approval registered on everyone’s faces.

They agreed to begin the planning in two months after making the cases to their respective governments.

It was the damndest though. The general who suggested the armed recon in the first place died in a car crash a week after the meeting.

Edwards Air Force Base, Nevada, one year after initial presentation

The stage had been set. The proper authorities had been notified. The ducks were all in a row. And so on, and so on. This was it though.

Gunnery Sergeant Alan Johnson walked along the tarmac at Edwards Air Force Base. It had been a hell of an accomplishment gathering up all these high speed guys for this operation. From so many different nations too! They had reached out to NATO to provide a lot of the air support, and talks with Russia and France had succeeded in yielding some ground forces as well.

Hell of an accomplishment.

Johnson hadn’t bothered with getting all of the particulars on just how they had cobbled this thing together. All he had been focused on for the last four months was the mission.

From what he had been briefed on, the goal was to insert the ground forces and begin conducting an ‘armed recon’ to pave the way for future expeditions.

The limited scans they had been able to pull off suggested a mostly desolate landscape, but there was some imagery containing some truly shocking beasts. Shit outta legends, to be honest.

As such, the mission’s rules of engagement were clear: clear any structure, and if at any point you felt your life was threatened, deadly force was authorized.

Easy peasy.

Johnson was shaken from his thoughts by the realization that it was time for the final briefing. After that, they would board the helicopters and begin their insertion.

Game time.

Meanwhile, in Equestria...

Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville, clearing clouds as she went. With no rainstorms to prepare for a while, a week at least, she wanted to make sure the skies were clear and beautiful, and the air plenty warm for her afternoon naps.

Looping back around, she determined that that was indeed the last of the clouds. Rainbow began heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, looking for a comfy branch to fall asleep on. Looked like it was going to be another good day.

Yep, just gonna lie down, take a nap, maybe see what the gang is up to later, Rainbow thought. Just as she closed her eyes, she felt, and heard, an odd thumping sound.

Never heard anything like that before...bunch of pegasi maybe? Oh no! What if it's the princesses? Or the Wonderbolts! Can't let them see me napping! Rainbow thought with panic. She shot up out of the tree and looked to see where the sound was coming from. The west? What could possibly be causing the noise? She flew closer, determined to get to the bottom of this.

What she saw frightened her more than anything else had in her entire life.

A/N: Salutations! It's a return to writing fanfic for me, and I admit that this may be a little bit clunky. I know what you're all thinking: A My Little Pony fanfic, and yet the MLP universe barely had a nod in this chapter! All in good time friends. I'm open for constructive criticism, and any repairs to the plot machine or the grammar modulator are welcome. A few spanners got thrown loose recently, and the entire Manufactorum in general is suffering from a sad state of disrepair. Alright, enough literary and game references. This is Za Raapini saying, Good night, and good luck.