//------------------------------// // Switzerland // Story: Be Kind, Rewind // by Dunglord //------------------------------// As the door to the cafe creaked open, two men pushed themselves inside. Their entire bodies obscured by the heavy winter wear they wore. Stomping their boots on the ground they blearily looked around the cafe for an open table of some kind.  “Over there.” One of the men said, his deep voice cutting through the murmurs of the cafe as he pointed towards an open table with a view of snow-capped mountains. They lumbered over to the table and proceeded to plop down removing a majority of their snow gear in a hurry.  “Why the fuck is it so cold.” The man with a deep voice complained. “You’re the one who made the call to come to Switzerland, Nova.” Was the reply from the other man. “Chance, I fucking know that. Let me complain.” Chance chuckled and waved for a waitress who quickly approached them. “Good afternoon gentlemen, what can I get for you?” “We’ll take two coffees please.” As the waitress walked off, Chance turned to Nova, who was rubbing his hands together in a vain attempt to warm them up. “Seriously, why the hell did you come all the way to Switzerland with me, and more importantly, how did you get the ok from the spooks?” “Eh, considering my background and how long we’ve known each other, they actually approached me.”  “No shit?”  “Yup.”  “Damn.” The waiter came back with their coffee, which Nova greedily began sipping.  “This is some damn good coffee.”  “Thanks, I always get it whenever I come here.” Chance replied, pulling the laptop he had from out of his bag and onto the table, Nova did the same as well.  “What’s IRC saying.” “Nothing much, still no leads on where that bastard went.” Chance replied. “My main concern is how the hell was he able to escape, we had that house surrounded from all sides, including the exit tunnel. How the hell he managed to slip past Equestrian spec-ops concerns me.” Chance replied, running his hand over the burn scars on his face. “The only way he could have known we were there was if there was a mole of some kind.” “The same kind of mole that caused that.” Nova replied, gesturing at the burn scars with a slight tip of his mug.” “Yeah, and no offense to you guys, but I feel Luna and crew have been dragging their feet when it comes to finding them.”  “Some taken, but we’ve mostly slowed down any involvement other than just placing sleepers here in your world. The only reason why we were so upfront during the Sombra debacle was because we had no idea if he could come back to our dimension, and if he did find a way to come back, with the technology that this world has the not even the yaks up north or the griffons to the east could survive a slaughter like that.”  “Projectile weaponry, fun but deadly.” Chance muttered.  “Yup, makes me wish for the days of old.”  “Days of old? You’re only forty fuckin’ something.” Nova chuckled.  “Yeah, but considering the life I lived since I stepped into this world, I would say its a long one.”  “How did you come to earth anyways?”  “I never explained it?”  “Not really.” “Well then, allow me to tell you how I built a miniature working airship.”  ================================== Cloudales elementary school may have been closed for the day, but clubs and other extracurricular after school kept many colts and fillies behind. But that wasn't the reason why the door to the school's storeroom was open, no, for some reason, a little pegasus colt had somehow sneaked in and was rummaging through the various bins in there that held school supplies. And it was something that had caught the eye of the janitor working there.  “Hello? Anypony in there?” A gruff voice called out.  “Yeah!” Nova called out. The Janitor facepalmed as another box toppled over. “Whoops.” The sounds of rustling were heard as the janitor set his foot down on the cloud below him.  “Colt, is that you?” The janitor said with a hint of annoyance.  “Yup!” Nova continued to rummage through the mess “Aha! Found it!” He exclaimed as he bounded over to the janitor with a tote bag, filled to the brim with parts. The janitor unamused continued to glare at Nova. “And who exactly is going to clean this mess.” He gestured with a wave of his hoof. Nova looked back and grimaced slightly.  “Uhhh?”  “Oh for Celestia's sake.” The Janitor mumbled, grabbing nova by the scruff of his neck along with the bag. He throws the bag over his back, he continued to walk with nova still held in his grip.  “Hey put me down!” Nova whined. “No way in Tartarus kid, not until we have a little talk with the principal.”  ================================== “So this whole thing starts with you getting your ass chewed out by a janitor.” “Just wait, it gets better.” ================================== “Found him rummaging through the supply room.”  “Oh dear, that's not good at all.” The mare replied as she took Nova from the janitor. “I’ll take it from here.”  “Thanks.”  Both Nova and the Principal sat down in their chairs, the Principal bearing a look of exhaustion while Nova looked just plained confused.  “Nova, how many times have I told you, if you want to get items from our supply closets, just ask! One of us will accompany you!”  “Yeah, but you guys ask way too many questions.” The principal groaned before asking another question.  “Alright, do you know what the term liability means?”  “I think I do, does it mean if I get hurt, you get in trouble?”  “Yes, and if you get hurt in places where you’re not supposed to be, then we get in trouble even more.”  “But I’m careful though, I don't get hurt when it comes to looking for parts.”  “You don’t know that though, you don’t know if the next time you enter that room you’ll leave with a fractured foreleg or a sprained wing!” Nova shied away from the Principals glare. “You are without a doubt one of our brightest students at this school, and I don’t want to put you in detention just because you don’t want any supervision!” The principal took a deep breath before speaking once more. “I know none of this is going to stop you, so for your safety, can you please for the love of Celestia, just let us know that you’re going to be raiding our supplies?” Nova huffed before sighing.  “Fine.”  “Good, keep whatever you took. And whatever you don't use, return it. I hope to see your project at the science fair next week.”  ============================== “So you built a miniature airship, somehow got the attention of your government, and came to the US through one of those freaky portal things.” “Yeah, and let me tell you when they first approached me I was kinda shocked.”  ============================= “Nova?” A mare called from the lower portions of the cloud house.  “Yeah, ma?” Nova called back, focused on the blueprint in front of him, the mini airship had been a hit at the science fair, but there were numerous places that it could be improved, either with performance or with efficiency.  “Can you come down here please?”  “I’m kinda busy ma!”  “We have visitors!” “Well tell them I said hi, and that I’m busy!”  “They specifically came here to visit you!” Nova looked up from the table.  “And they want to talk, right now?!”  “Yes, now! And if you make me keep yelling, Celestia help me I will come up there and drag your flank down her myself!”  “Fine! Fine! Hold on a second!” Nova yelled, stepping off his chair and walking out of his room.  As he reached the bottom of the staircase, he saw his mother, two guards, and a stallion in a business suit.  “I didn’t do it!” Nova explained, his wings flaring out as he took a step back up the staircase.  “Called it, pay up sucker.” One of the guards said, holding out his hoof to the other guard. The stallion in the business suit cuffed the guard on the back of the head with his wing and an accompanying eye roll before turning back to Nova.  “We’re not here for any crimes you may or may not have committed. We saw your little display at the science fair, and are interested in how exactly you built that miniature model.”  ==================================== “From there it was smooth sailing, for the most part, I came to America, and through business deals that Equestria somehow secured during the ’20s to the ’60s I somehow found myself sitting in front of a weird device called a ‘Personal Computer,’ When it was fresh off the factory line.”  “That’s interesting as fuck.” Chance said with a nod looking down at his computer. “So you came to earth, and started using computers from day one, no wonder people think you’re old school on forums everywhere, its because you are.”  “Damn right.”  “Hey, want to visit New York?” Chance suddenly asked. Nova paused, the coffee mug halfway to his mouth as he stared at Chance. “Like, right now. I can get us first-class flights to JFK in minutes.”  “And why the hell would I want to go to New York after I just arrived in fucking Switzerland?”  “I got business there, I figured I would drag you along. C'mon I’ll pay for your meals and housing.”  “You just want me for security, don’t you.”  “I’m not gonna lie and say that thought didn't cross my mind. But no, I’m genuinely curious as to your other exploits on this realm of existence.” “So you want to use me as entertainment?” “No, god no! I want to bring you along as a friend who happens to be an abundant source of entertainment. There's a big difference” Chance said with a smile. Nova looked at Chance with a skeptical look on his face before sighing and taking a gulp of his coffee.  “Alright, fine, when's the first flight out?”  “Four hours, more than enough time to pack, do you want window seats or what?”  “Yeah, window seats sound nice.” Nova replied, finishing off his coffee and stowing his laptop away in his bag “Let's go?”  “Yup, we have a flight to catch.”