As Shiv woke up from his bed, he began to look from side to side, today was an important day for him, he possessed information that could change the course of the war, and all he needed to do was relay it to Celestia herself. He didn’t trust his companions or coworkers in the field, he viewed them as potential holes in his plan, and he never had it in him to work with others, so here he was, waking up alone and about to leave for Equestria. Or at least, that’s what he even bothered to think through last night, but like any good agent, he had plans, plans he had yet to make, but he would push through, and he simply needed a good morning start to shrug off the morning ache he had grown used to waking up to.
Trotting towards the counter around the corner of his room, the apartment that he had used as both his home and safe haven (after he had personally inspected it) had become more than a home in his mind, although small compared to what he could buy with the money he earned through lies in his time in America, he hated the thoughts that crept at the back of his mind, but for the past 4, 5-ish years, he saw what humanity had and could have done, both the good and bad, and although he hated the thought that Equestria was in the wrong, he saw humanity’s side in the conflict and he had never seen a world of grey as the first day in his undercover job, years of academic training did not prepare him for what he saw during the first few weeks. He started his days as an intelligence agent on American soil immediately after the declaration of war, but as he took his job as an agent much more seriously, he found himself trotting in unknown territories.
Only his special ability in the field had prevented such disasters to happen to him, he had heard of other agents being captured during the job, and he didn’t need to be told because he knew first hoof what happened to some of them, he saw the files and he had heard rumors spread by Equestrian propaganda, yet for all of that, he saw through all the chaos of war and paperwork’s, the war was a solid fog of grey to the eyes of humanity while Equestria believed it to be a wall and hall of black and white, and the conflict only further supported this, the actions of countless human politicians and leaders have been criticized, no matter how convoluted or practical the idea was, humans never had a one way thinking to the war and their pessimistic demeanor and varied opinions on, during, and what the war was about and the actions that had to be done with reason had only proved itself to Shiv’s bare eyes.
Washing his face and making his way to the fridge in his apartment, he grabbed some bread and fillings while he brewed himself some tea. In all his time in America, he always wanted to spite humans, so he would always ask or order tea over coffee, which definitely gave him some memories to remember. As he placed and prepared all of these on the small table that came with his apartment, he eyed the intelligence report from an agent, wherever they may be on this time no one knows, but from his experience, they are either 6ft underground or in the process of going so, but the moment he eyed it, tread trembled into the back of his neck, recently, there had been rumors circulating about how the UN had recently created more than twenty groups or foundations around the globe.
‘Interesting.’ He said to himself as he began to re-read it, the rumors would have recurring names and abbreviations, explanations on the supposed creation, and merging of groups into a larger independent entity, all fascinating subjects for Shiv to dissect. Some recurring abbreviations or names on the report would be a containment foundation funnily given the complete abbreviation, “S.C.P.F”, a trading company abbreviated as the “E.I.T.C.” was also formed to accompany said containment foundation which was based around the tip of the African continent and spans the South-East Asian and Australian waters, other groups where labeled under “Under investigation/Re-organization”, some of the files had missing information but what was shown would do, for the most part, organizations such as the “The Continental” or “The Tribunal”. Now, the names, important for him to memorize in case any slip-ups occur, there was a portion labeled as “M.I.A.”, amongst them were (presumably) important agents such as “Johann Schmidt” and even “Victor Reznov”. Some of these names he was familiar with, others not so much, but he had always heard the persistent saying about these files, and some of them he denied to believe.
“Welp...” He said aloud, “Got to pack my things, now, where was it that I place my Balisong at...” As he said this, he set to work to prepare for the long journey ahead of him, one which would bring consequences with it. A patriot he started, he would now leave for Equestria with something more than what he would ever expect, one such is a knife gifted by a talented person that he had met, an ironic gift considering what Equestria had portrayed humanity as.
As Shiv exited the taxi, he was greeted by a fairly crowded airport, bringing his luggage with him into the main entrance, he stumbled a bit as he tried to get to the place where he needed to be. Fortunately, some people came by to help him with his little predicament, after he thanked them, he went straight to get a ticket to Alaska, from there, a flight to Mongolia and a train ride for the Indian coast, and finally a fairy to mainland Equestria, at least that was his plan.
Approaching the counter, an earth pony mare was operating it, and as he approached, he merely gave a note and a one-hundred-dollar bill on the counter. The mare, in response, read the note then proceeded to give a nod as she took the bill and motioned for Shiv to give her his luggage, he won’t be needing them anytime soon, and so, he was given a ticket bound for Alaska then to… Russia? He didn’t question it at the time, since he knew it would make little difference and there were plenty of workarounds should the need come, plus he needed to leave as soon as possible, and so, he went and boarded his plane, bound for Alaska to Russia, unluckily for him, this would be his last trip and one that he would be engraved for him to remember.
The plane journey as a whole was pretty tame, very few boarded the flight that he was on, and Shiv thankfully kept his cool from overreacting to the overwhelming silence of the flight. The flight itself to Alaska was uneventful, barely any passengers boarded the plane and he just sat on his seat until they took off once again, this time, bound from Alaska to Russia, and while the flight to Alaska was uneventful, the flight to Russia certainly was the direct opposite. Jam-packed was the plane they were on, ponies and people filled nearly all the seats from the perspective of Shiv, although thankfully for him, he had someone who both shared not only a seat but also time for the journey ahead.
“Oh,” said the man as he approached beside Shiv, as he himself carried his own briefcase and placed them on the overhead compartments just above his sit, where Shiv’s in his window seat and the man sat next to the walkway (a two-seated arrangement or something). “I believe ha haven’t met before, have we?” He asked.
Looking at the man, he wore a bowler hat, glasses, and a beige colored trench coat the covered most of his torso and limbs, and being in the economy, he found it weird for someone as well dressed as him to be there, “I believe not,” he answers, “but I think it’s best to get ourselves acquainted to each other, don’t you think?”
The man, thinking about Shiv’s offer, extended a hand for the stallion, “Jacques, Jacques Archambeau, but please, call me Jean.”
Shiv, upon the act of recognition, extended his hoof towards jean’s hand, “Sharp Witts,” he replied as they shook a hoof/hand, not wanting to arouse suspicion to his name, all part of the job, “And where is a fine man like you going with an economy passport?” he asked, again intrigued by this man’s appearance.
“Back home, the war hasn’t been too kind,” Jean replied, “Back to France I must go, attend a business venture for a friend of mine,” he grabbed some sort of pocket watch from the inner pockets of his coat, a weird antique if you asked Shiv, especially since he would prefer a wrist, or in this case, a hoof watch, to keep track of time. “But I could ask the same to you, Mr. Sharp.” He said.
“Oh, hardly anything important, I was sent to drop a package and return to my office, the boss wanted me to meet a colleague of his.” A clear lie, just like he has done before, he would do it again if it meant keeping his identity safe.
Jean just looked at Shiv and raised a brow, “A business pony?” he asked again.
“A what?” he asked.
“Your occupation, you are? Like a business pony or something?” Jean clarified, but by this time, the plane had already taken off with everyone seated and was at its cruising altitude.
“Oh it’s nothing that complicated,” Shiv said in a dismissive tone while also waving his hoof for a much more dramatic effect, “I just work as a sort of… advisor, per se, to some higher-ups.”
“With the way you’re speaking and acting, it’s not hard to see why,” Jean commented.
A simple nod from Shiv and they began to talk for the rest of the flight, mostly just their views on the war, and what was the “good and bad” about humanity, at least in Shiv’s opinion, which was just that, an opinion, never had he been able to speak freely as ever before on his time before or even during the war. The E.S.S. had always been a great pain to deal with (the treats and potential screw-ups that came with having an opinion, and even if he loved his country, one can’t help but realize just how much had changed from a different perspective), and although his allegiance was to Equestria as a whole, he worked and gave an oath specifically for the Princess of Friendship, not because she was the next (and likeliest) candidate to ascend to the throne after Celestia and Luna would abdicate, but alas, such plans never usually go as one might foresee.
After several hours of probably talking and a short nap that the two shared, the captain of the plane spoke through the intercom, “Attention to all passengers, due to a shortage of fuel, for reasons that are explainable on a later date, we will be making a quick pit stop to Hakodate Airport in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan, I have turned on the…” the captain then went on about safety protocols and all the different things that he should have done on situations like these.
As for Shiv, he really didn’t mind, although he wasn’t used to the sense of flying, and one of the burdens would be the pressure difference in altitude, his ear was, to say the least, agitated, the pain was manageable, but he wanted to sleep through this, and so, that’s exactly what he did. He would, fortunately (or maybe, unfortunately) wake up arriving at his destination of Russia, although it really would have helped him had he asked for specifics.
“Ugh…” Shiv groaned as the plane that he was one had recently landed, he felt the touchdown, and by Celestia’s name, he never imagined he’d see the twilight sky in a mountainous area, and judging by the window seat that he was at, he would probably have to stay the night. Noticing Jean was already doing away with his suitcase, he decided he’d go ahead and grab his own in the airport that they were in, although he felt a tap at the base of his neck, it was Jean who seemed to notice he was leaving.
“Leaving so soon?” He asked a weird line of questions for sure.
“I mean…” Shiv observed what Jean was doing, he notice the calm man had no problem just walking up straight to him, he knew he was in for a treat in Russia considering the, unfortunate, whether that he would have to deal with, “I need somewhere to stay, does no good to stay outside in the winter snow, now does it.”
“Point taken, although I have the feeling that you’d need some help, mind me coming with you until we find you a place to crash in?”
“Not a problem, and for a person of French origin, I must say, I am deeply impressed with your English, I have seen some Americans do worse.” he received a chuckle from Jean, and so, they pressed on, going together, a comforting feeling for Shiv since he has a reason not to just suddenly go to some dark alleyway, or worse since he would have company.
Suddenly, an announcement through the intercom was made, “Announcement, for the passengers of AA Flight 169, there has been an unfortunate change of plans for your flight, unforeseen circumstances had recently arisen that our crew is trying to fix as of the moment and we would like to extend our sincerest apologies. Having said that, a replacement flight will be booked for those that still wish to continue their journey to Moscow and Paris by the next morning, again, we sincerely apologies for the inconvenience, please approach any of our staff for further information on your stay…”
The announcer then went on about something, but by then, Shiv had already tuned it out as he had already made his decision, he would still continue in his journey, he already had planned contacts waiting for him anyway, but he had to find someplace to stay the night. Thankfully, Jean was there to extend a hand to him.
So, as they both were waiting for Shiv’s luggage, after which they would spend the night, well, sleeping (clearly not gay goddammit). Still waiting on a bench, they had talked earlier to past the time, but for the time being, Jean had excused himself to go grab himself a drink while Shiv waited patiently, his instincts telling him to just make a dash for the exit and to the woods, but he held adamant in trying to find and retrieve his luggage, after all, it had some important personal belongings that he’d rather burn with his own hooves than letting the ESS take any sort of credit for his hard work, amongst other things. And so, Shiv waited, and he waited and waited… until he finally found his bag, after a good 30 or so minutes of waiting, now, he only waited for Jean to arrive back.
Waiting again, he suddenly noticed a note left behind by Jean on the bench that he sat on, it simply gave him a map to an available hotel just across the road, said that two private rooms had already been paid by Jean, all the Shiv had to do was walk across the street and simply ask them to give him the room number that Jean had paid for, which was also written in the note. And so, that’s exactly what he did, he went to the hotel to have somewhere to stay, although he was hesitant at first, he could better anticipate potential attacks rather than roaming in a city that he barely knew the layout of, it was always nice, one of the things that Shiv really did both love and hate about humans was their mind, something he never fully understood the thought processes of.
Approaching his room, a gave a yawn as he entered it, it was a neatly sorted room, a bed, tables and chairs, and all the other things expected of a hotel room, making his way to the window, he saw another spectacle he could never see in Equestria, the moonlit night, shining, towering over buildings upon buildings of skyscrapers that also illuminated the night with their own lights, thousands, if not millions of similar spectacles like this, it was, breathtaking, he thought, certainly different to Manehatten, but it did go to show really how different Equestria was to this world just from the size of these cities.
Approaching the drawer, he saw a note, probably left by the staff, and he approached, planning on taking a quick shower and a night’s rest, after which he could worry about his flight tomorrow. Checking the note, it merely stated the time when house cleaning would be done, and the next one would be around an hour or so from now. He looked at the local clock that went with the room's design, it was past 6 pm already, he began to check his own luggage, he planned on thanking Jean in the morning, but for now, that had to wait.
Shortly thereafter, Shiv decided that he would talk a nap, and if possible, sleep through the night until morning to regain as much energy as possible from the constant pressure of doubt that kept lurking behind his back. Then, just as he was about to fall into the dream realm, a soft knock on the entrance door to his room was heard, and begrudgingly, Shiv began to wake up from his near-sleep to open what he expected to be a maid or something that would check/clean his room.
“Alright, alright… I’m coming, just wait for a moment please.” He said as he made his way to the door, although he didn’t receive a response from whoever it was on the other side. Once he arrived at the door, he opened it to let anyone through, but instead of being greeted by somebody, anyone really, he instead got an empty hallway, his room was beside an intersection of hallways and he decides to investigate this little mystery, won’t take up much time and effort since he just had to look at the hallways, and that’s what he did, unfortunately, before he even got the chance to even turn to return to his room, something poked the back of his neck, but before he could even make out the figure that did so, he became drowsy real fast until he fell into unconsciousness state, a dreamless sleep followed, one that he would wake up eventually.