//------------------------------// // It's a What? // Story: The Rock in the Gulch // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Captain Flowers stared through a pair of binoculars at Red Base across the canyon. Much as he expected, nothing was happening there. That was the plan, of course. The personalities of both Teams in Blood Gulch had been carefully selected to ensure a permanent stalemate with no one getting killed, because this Simulation wasn't about learning anything. Something was hidden here, something that needed to be kept safe. That was Captain Flowers real job, and he did it by keeping everything as vague as possible. The Red Team Sergeant was so focused on a twisted ideal of military behavior that it was practically counter-productive all on its own. Combine that with a brown-noser second in command who was better with computers than guns - when the Sergeant would be lucky to use a computer as anything but a blunt instrument - and a lazy trooper who was constantly shirking duty, and Red Team spent more time on 'punishment drills' than actually trying to do anything to Blue Team. Captain Flowers, meanwhile, led Blue Team in such a way to ensure no one ever tried to fight. Private Tucker seemed perfectly fine with this, as he preferred to laze about reveling in his perceived greatness even as he kept himself in shape. Private Church, on the other hand, was a good soldier who obeyed orders...and that was all he was ever supposed to be. That's why Blood Gulch existed in the first place. Still, as relaxed as Captain Flowers acted, he wouldn't have been selected for this assignment if he were the sort to take it easy on something so important. As such, he was keeping careful track of every soldier in the Canyon, both with his direct uplink to VIC at 'Command' for GPS location - which activated for a predetermined amount of time based on a voice-recognition command - and with visual confirmation through the binoculars. "Let's see where everyone is today," he murmured softly as he swept over the canyon. "Sarge is...yelling at Simmons for losing track of Grif. Grif is...at the top of the cliff with more than half of Red Base's rations. That ought to hold them all a few hours, depending on how long Grif's able to sleep after eating without snoring. Let's see about my men." He swept the binoculars back towards his own base. "Tucker is...looking at pictures of naked women. Oh that rascal...huh, I think I know that one." Deciding that didn't really matter at the moment, he searched for his primary charge. "And Church is..." He fell silent as he caught sight of Church, near the center of the canyon...too close to the area the Red Team considered theirs for his comfort. "Okay, that is not good...and what is that he's playing with?" He lifted his hand to his radio, the aqua of his armor glittering slightly in the day's light as it passed his visor. "Private Church, what are you doing so far from Blue Base? Did you go for a walk and get lost? You really should get back here. It'd be just terrible if anything happened to you..." Private Church knelt in his cobalt armor, carefully examining the small creature he'd come across. He'd felt something odd somewhere in his mind, a sensation he couldn't accurately describe, that had compelled him out here this day. He'd wanted to talk with Captain Flowers about the odd feeling, but he'd found himself following it instead. And then he'd seen this odd creature sitting there as though waiting for him, and any other thought had left his mind. The creature was about the size of a large kitten or a small house cat, but was definitely equine in shape. It had a stone grey coat, a pale purple mane and tail, and the biggest pale blue-green eyes he had ever seen on a living creature...relative to the size of its head anyway, which seemed large for its body. It was looking straight at him with those eyes, its mouth in a very neutral expression as it she took in his appearance. She? How did he know the creature was female? ...still, somehow he did know that, and the tiny filly seemed to be waiting for him to do something. Setting his gun down, he held out a hand for her to sniff, hoping the scent of armor wouldn't upset her. The little filly leaned forward and examined his hand carefully...then reached between his fingers and seized a rock that had gotten stuck between the joints that he'd barely noticed. Sitting back on her haunches, she dropped the rock into her fore hooves, carefully examining it in wide eyed fascination. "So you like rocks, huh?" Church asked in a friendly tone. To his surprise, the filly looked up at him and nodded. "You understand what I'm saying?" Another nod. "Wow. That's just...amazing," he marveled. "I've never seen anything like you before!" The little filly nodded firmly. Church turned that over in his mind a few times, then burst into laughter. "Well, whatever you are, you've got a good head on your shoulders. I'm Church. What's your name?" He wondered if she'd even be able to answer, since she hadn't spoken at all yet- "Maud," the tiny filly responded in a very quiet voice, slightly high pitched but with a flat monotone. "Maud, huh?" Church marveled. "Well, you speak the language, and you know your name. Wonder how much you've taken in? Can you say Church?" He pointed to himself. "Dad," Maud replied firmly. Church waved his arms defensively. "Hey now, I'm just a private! I'm not ready to be a parent, and this place is the absolute worst for kids-" Maud threw herself forward, wrapping all four legs around Church's right arm. "Dad," she repeated firmly as she nuzzled his elbow. "Oh what the hell?" Church groaned in frustration. "Hell," Maud repeated dutifully. "...yeah, I'm definitely not cut out for being a parent," Church concluded. Right at that moment, his communicator sparked with Captain Flowers message. He immediately opened communications. "Sorry Captain! I didn't realize how far I'd gone. I just...felt I had to come out here." "Oh?" Captain Flowers asked in surprise. "And what did you find following that feeling?" "A tiny pony," Church replied firmly. Captain Flowers was silent for a time, surprising Church. He hadn't thought the easygoing Captain could be rendered speechless. "Say again, Private Church?" Flowers pressed. "You found...what?" "A tiny pony," Church repeated. "She says her name is Maud, and seems to think I'm her father. ...kinda cute, I have to admit, but really freaking me out now." "You found an unknown alien sapient in the middle of Blood Gulch?" Flowers clarified. "Hmm...doesn't sound familiar..." "Familiar?" Church asked, confused. "Never mind, Church," Captain Flowers responded warmly. "Why don't you and your little pony get back here to Blue Base before someone at Red Team decides she makes good target practice?" Church's hand immediately, instinctively, went for his gun. He was only snapped out of firing on Red Base - and anything red he could see - because that was the arm Maud was clinging to and she protested the sudden movement by gripping the arm so tightly the armor shrieked in protest even as it warped. What was it about a little girl calling him 'Dad' that had caused him to get so fiercely protective? He wasn't a parent, so why did he have such strong parenting instincts? Questions for Captain Flowers, certainly. "Be right there, Captain," he stated over the communicator. "Come on, Maud. Let's go home." "...home," Maud murmured thoughtfully before climbing up Church's body before settling on his head. Church carefully moved his arm, wincing at the protests of the armor. "And Captain, I'm going to need a replacement arm for my armor. Maud kind of crushed it." "...she did what now?"