//------------------------------// // The CrossWade Interlopers // Story: CMC Watch Bedtime Stories // by Lord Blundergosh //------------------------------// The three fillies re-entered Sweetie Belle’s bedroom without saying a word. The silence was filled by the howling winds outside and tick tack taps of the rain droplets against the window glass. Sweetie Belle herself was thinking back to the dinner they had just finished, an entire pot of standard store bought Mac & Cheese. Sweetie certainly wasn’t a picky eater by any means, but she was used to her sister serving more generous meals. Ones that were made with more time, effort and even soul on some occasions. On any other day the Mac & Cheese would probably be made with yummy string cheese, seasoned with pepper, topped with breadcrumbs and baked in the oven until it was gooey and delicious. Still, it’s not like she was complaining, it was a perfectly fine meal. It’s just that she could tell the reason Rarity decided to go for a faster and easier dish today was because she was desperate to get back to work as quickly as possible. For the second time that night, Sweetie silently prayed that her sister, for her own sake, figures her way around this creative roadblock she’s in soon. She also thought of the 20 minutes of awkward silence that had hovered over the dinner table; it was obvious that both her friends (and herself) wanted to continue their argument right then and there. The unicorn filly was just glad her friends kept their cool or that Rarity didn’t notice anything off about how the three of them were acting. Last thing she needed was to get scolded, then have the best instrument for passing the time taken away and the rest of their night be ruined all because they couldn’t keep it on the down low for a bit. However, that awkward silence had yet to leave now that they were back up here. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were visibly sour and cross, the former decided to head straight to the window to get a look at the stormy weather outside and the latter sat down right in front of the projecting crystal ball, folding her forelegs in front of her chest. Wanting to put that argument behind them at this point, Sweetie walked to the orb as well and lifted the pen with her magic. “So, remind me how you chose to pick the stories again?”, she asked. Apple Bloom merely replied with a short exhale through her nose, before uncrossing her hooves from her chest then using her right hoof to cover her eyes and the left to point straight at the projected screen. Finally she said, “Start scrollin’”. Doing as she was told, Sweetie Belle began scrolling up the list of stories until she reached the top. However, with Apple Bloom still not having told her to stop and having nowhere else to go, she then started scrolling downward. Down and down and down she went for quite a while until a now impatient orange pegasus filly spoke up. “Jeez, Apple Bloom! Isn’t your hoof getting tired from holding it up that long?”, she said, now standing right behind the farm filly and the little white unicorn. “Fine. Sweetie, you can stop.” Sweetie Belle obliged and Apple Bloom uncovered her eyes to read the title her hoof pointed to. The CrossWade Interlopers - A Subscriber Story Scootaloo puzzled at the name, “What are interlopers?” “Uhh… I think it’s someone who somehow gets involved in something that they weren’t supposed to be apart of.” Sweetie answered before adding, “And aren’t welcome.” “What do they mean by subscriber story?”, Apple Bloom pondered. “Does this Bedtime Stories thing work like a magazine?” “Maybe. So, this must be a personal story one of their subscribers sent to them?”, Scootaloo suggested. “Oh Celestia! Does this mean I accidentally subscribed to it when I clicked them!?”, Sweetie Belle panicked, placing both her fore hooves on top of her head. “My sis and my parents will kill me if either of them find out they have to pay for the stories we just saw!” “Woah! Chill out will ya?”, Scootaloo pleaded to Sweetie. “Sweetie, did anythin’ ya pressed have the word Subscribe on it?”, Apple Bloom asked her frazzled friend. “Well, no-“ “Then ya probably didn’t subscribe!” “Well then how are we watching these? Shouldn’t subscribers or ponies who pay for the issue only be able to see these?” “For all we know Sweetie, these might be pirated versions that someone is showing everypony for free.”, Scootaloo said. “Can we please just look at the story, now? Stop assuming the worst.” “*sigh… Fine!” With that, Sweetie Belle used the pen held in her magic to tap the story of their choice. If they were accidentally paying for something they shouldn’t be, Sweetie could just explain that it was, in fact, accidental. She was working with alien technology, after all. How was she supposed to know that this would be coming out of her legal guardians’ wallets? After a few seconds, the story opened on a scene set on the night of a full moon. Much of the image’s space was taken up by a large rectangular structure made out of a material that the three fillies weren’t able to deduce, mostly because the image was black and white as always. They could only tell the structure was a building thanks to the sign next to it that said CrossWade Enterprises. In front of the building stood two humans who appeared to be in the midst of conversation. Much of their features were obscured in darkness, but from their silhouettes the Crusaders could make out the shape of a peaked cap on top of both figures’ heads. Apple Bloom could also just barely make out a nightstick strapped to the hip of the taller human on the left. “Police.”, she silently concluded. The narrator’s introduction for the video reaffirmed this observation. In the Spring of 2013, what seemed to be a straightforward emergency call out for two police officers, would turn out to be anything but. Not only would this experience chill them to the core, it would have them questioning their own reality for years afterwards as they tried to solve the riddle that was The CrossWade Interlopers. “Woah. Questioning reality itself?”, Sweetie Belle said with both eye brows raised. “What could they have seen?”, Scootaloo wondered. Every tale they’ve seen since receiving this magical orb has been pretty freaky in one way or another. The story on the Men in Black did get them to briefly question whether they’re understanding of Equestrian history and government are correct and whether they’re heroes and families are truly what they say they are. However, the implication that this story can top that by showing them an incident capable of making them question the nature of their own reality and their entire existence… that was certainly something they’ve yet to see. The brief moment of silence that had taken the place of the music after the intro had ended gave way to the sounds of howling winds. However, none of the Crusaders even noticed it since those exact same type of winds were currently tearing through the air just like they’d been doing all day. The opening illustration was of the human world’s favorite vehicle, a car, driving down an empty road in the middle of the night. The word POLICE was emblazoned at the top of the car’s “face” and below that was a rectangular plate with a random assortment of letter and numbers with no discernible meaning. The streaked lines that the artist had drawn behind and the sides of the vehicle reminded one of the speed at which these things were said to travel. Shining from each of the car’s two “eyes” were beams of light that, together, illuminated the road ahead. “Huh. Nifty.”, Scootaloo thought as the narrator began speaking. The pitch of the engine climbed higher as the vehicle picked up speed, racing along dark country roads that would have been black as pitch if not for the high beams illuminating the trees and hedgerows around them. James Havilland, who was sat in the front passenger seat, had briefly considered switching on the blues and blaring the sirens, but decided there was little point. The roads were empty and there wasn’t another vehicle for miles around. “Wait. Ah knew Blues music is suppose’ ta be sad, but is it so depressin’ in the human world that people run away from it?”, Apple Bloom asked, confused on what kind of “blues” was supposed to make other vehicles disperse. It was 2:21 a.m. on the 31st of March 2013 and James and his on-duty partner, Chris Braddock, who was driving, had just received a call from the CCR - or contact and control room - about a possible break-in at a remote facility out in the countryside. They were in a rural area on the outskirts of Whitehaven, a town situated in the district of Cumbria, England, about three miles from their intended destination. They would be on scene within minutes, although neither man could have known at that moment in time that this call would challenge their very understanding of reality and change their lives forever. The facility they were heading towards was owned by CrossWade Enterprises and was known locally as something of an oddity; its modern architecture stood out like a sore thumb against the otherwise beautiful and unspoiled English countryside that surrounded it. The amount of technology it boasted was also at odds with its rural setting; a highly advanced security framework, remote access and lighting control, and the latest building management systems and head-end software suites all housed within what is otherwise known in the industry as “Smart” building. “Ah’m not even sure what half of that meant, but ah’m guessin’ that this place is even fancier than anythin’ Manehattan or Canterlot has.”, Apple Bloom asserted. “Dang. They got actually stuff in this world’s countrysides that even blows our cities out of the water!”, Scootaloo marveled. Sweetie Belle focused her eyes on the CrossWade facility that was now back on screen, “Wait… is it actually made out of glass?” Scootaloo gave her friend a perplexed look, “What? Don’t be stupid. Nopony in their right minds would make a building out of something as weak as glass.” “Ah can’t imagine livin’ in a place made outta glass. How do ya get any privacy?”, Apple Bloom added. This building’s quiet and remote location is the last place one would expect to see something like it. Nevertheless, the building stood in silence as they arrived, shrouded in an eerie darkness that made it seem all the more out of place. The facility looked deserted; no internal lights were switched on and there were certainly no signs of a break-in. The call had come through stating that the alarm had been going off intermittently and that some of the PIR (passive infra-red) sensors had picked up on some heat signatures within the building itself. Once again, the trio of fillies found themselves puzzled at the descriptions of this alien security system, lost on what the significance was in all of this technobabble. This information had been provided by the facilities manager who was off-site, but had remote access to the building’s security systems. Even so, the relative calm of the scene in front of them made Chris and James feel hesitant. “They’re afraid of how quiet it is?”, Apple Bloom asked aloud. “I’m pretty sure they’re worried that peacefulness is hiding something. They were told a break-in was happening, after all.”, Scootaloo answered, being one who recently gained experience in having a nice, peaceful evening completely turn on its head. They parked across the road and sat in silence for a moment, observant, waiting for any kind of movement or indication of criminal activity. At one point, James thought he saw a flash of light through one of the ground floor windows, but reasoned that it could have been either a sensor, a smoke alarm or just his imagination. Over the next few minutes, nothing had happened at all. They could hear the muffled sound of wind blowing around the exterior of their car and leaves rustling in the breeze, which was somehow both peaceful and unsettling at the same time, but there was no sign of anything untoward. While the narrator had said all of this, Scootaloo had grabbed her pillow from her sleeping bag, brought it back with her to the orb and laid it down on the ground before laying herself on her back with her head resting on the pillow and facing towards the projection. Chris and James’ attention (and the Crusaders’ attention) were drawn to the lobby when they all witnessed the light flicker on and illuminate the space inside. Suddenly, the automatic doors at the front of the building opened and shut on their own before the alarm started to sound. Each of the young girls watching either winced or cringed as the high-pitched, undulating screech pierced the air. “Gosh, I hate this sound already! Couldn’t they have just used a bell?”, Sweetie griped. “Shh! We’re probably about to see a burglary and police chase in action!”, Scootaloo chided from her place down on the floor. Although startled, both men believed they had the measure of the situation; that the access system was malfunctioning and that the opening and closing doors was breaking the live circuit and setting off the alarm. “Wait. So, no robbery?”, Scootaloo asked disappointedly. Fortunately for the young orange pegasus, the officers’ initial assessment was immediately proven false. Just as James and Chris were about to radio back to the CCR, a figure emerged from the front entrance, then appeared to look over towards their police car before jogging off to the right around to the rear of the building. Just seconds later, another much taller figure emerged but headed around to the left instead. The trio watching were now at full attention, wishing to hear what these two intruders were up to and what they would do next. In normal circumstances, James and Chris would have jumped out of their vehicle and scrambled after the two men, but something had given them pause. Although the figures had been distant and only silhouettes cast against the light from the lobby, there was no denying who they were. They could tell by the shapes of the caps and bulky stab vests that these two had, in fact, been police officers. “So, there were other cops called to the place first?”, Apple Bloom wondered. “Are these two cops chasing the burglars out of the building? But the burglars weren’t seen though.”, Sweetie puzzled within her own mind, before an incredible idea struck her. “Unless they are the burglars!”, she said aloud this time. “Ya mean they’re crooked cops?” “Yeah.” Meanwhile, Chris scanned the scene for another police car, whilst James had radioed back to dispatch asking if there was another unit on scene. The reply came back negative; Chris and James were apparently the only ones there. The only other explanation was that the other two men were security guards, but the two police officers had been under the impression that the building had no on-site security. Afterall, it was in the middle of nowhere. As the explanations the girls had given were apparently debunked, they felt just faintest bit embarrassed yet the lack of imagination they displayed. They realized they probably shouldn’t be positing such obvious explanations, especially given what the beginning of this story had promised. “Mmmaybe they’re actually guys impersonating cops?”, Sweetie sheepishly suggested. Something was obviously not quite right with this picture and whilst the situation was becoming confusing, things were about turn extremely weird. Just as James finished using the radio, both figures had walked back to the front and stood outside the entrance looking confused. The taller one of the two appeared to kick a pebble on the ground, which might have seemed like an insignificant action at the time, but would later prove to be pivotal in realizing the truth of the matter. This unsurprisingly puzzled each Crusader, all briefly wondering whether the narrator was playing a joke on them or not. There was something oddly familiar about these two men and James and Chris were sure they must have known them. There was something in the way the two strangers moved and carried themselves that reminded them of someone they knew, but they could not put their finger on exactly who it was. Apple Bloom began to wonder if they’re initial reading on the situation had some truth to it afterall. “Maybe they’re friends of theirs from the force?”, she considered. Suddenly, both figures looked over towards the police car and began to run towards it. Even though they weren’t the one who would have to deal with them personally, the Crusaders still braced themselves for whatever these two strange men of unknown identity and unknown intentions might do. Their imagination had briefly taken over for them. James and Chris had stepped out of their vehicle and donned their caps ready to greet them, but when they looked up, the security guards or policemen or whatever they were had disappeared… The three fillies might have said something, but their now dinner-plate sized eyes said it all. Scootaloo gulped before finally speaking up to the other two, “Y-you think those guys might have been… ghosts?” “Ah dunno.”, Apple Bloom answered. All that stood before Chris and James was the dark CrossWade building, the lights had all turned off again and the alarm was no longer sounding. “How did that happen? Is this smart building playing tricks on them or something?”, Sweetie suggested. Both police looked left and right. They were in a wide open car park. There was nowhere these other two men could have gone. They had simply vanished into thin air. They looked at each other in stunned silence, neither man willing to speak first about what they had just witnessed. Time seemed to stand still; the wind was no longer no blowing, the leaves no longer rustling. The air had become thick and heavy as if muffled and weighted down by an inevitability that neither man was aware at that moment in time. Something about this narration made Scootaloo shudder, but she didn’t entirely know why. All she knew was that she was starting to feel like she had become the interloper, either stumbling or about to stumble into something that she was never meant to witness. While the winds had halted where the two officers were, the already strong gusts of whistling air outside Sweetie’s window was only picking up even more; it was as if the storm was somehow trying to impose itself upon Carousel Boutique. After their initial shock had subsided, James was the first to say something and suggested that they go over and take a look at the building. Chris agreed, but there was no denying that both men felt a stab of apprehension as they made their way over the road. “Why!? For all you know, you might actually be walking into a place that’s haunted!”, Scootaloo said from the floor as she lifted her head up slightly while expressively gesturing one hoof at the screen. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both started chuckling. It was funny that after seeing their friend attempt to disguise or dismiss her own obvious displays of cowardice in the face of ghouls for so long, she now decided was the time to come out of the closet to reveal herself as a chicken. “Oh come off it! If either of you are gonna actually tell me that you’d go in there after what just happened, then all that means is that I’m officially the smartest one in the room!”, Scootaloo punctuated her declaration by folding both forehooves behind her head. The two policemen noticed as they approached the front entrance that it was completely locked down; they had to relay a request to the facilities manager in order to gain access. “Well, then how in Tartarus did those two other guys just get out of the buildin’?”, Apple Bloom wondered. “I’m telling you guys, it’s ghosts!”, Scootaloo stated. Sweetie Belle looked down at the pegasus and asked, “Didn’t they imply that this place was brand new? How could somepony have died there?” “Could be built on an old burial ground, you don’t know!”, Scootaloo defended. As they entered the lobby, Chris walked up the stairs to the first floor, whilst James remained on the ground floor and began checking through the dark offices as the lighting system had still not activated. He found nothing out of the ordinary, but couldn’t help feeling a little spooked about what happened only moments before. The Crusaders were practically as much on edge as he was as they looked at James patrolling the empty, dark corridors with his flashlight illuminating the way. Focusing on James’ shadow trailing behind him, Scootaloo stared it like she expected it to come to life at any moment. “Why do ah get the feelin’ this is all some sorta trap?”, Apple Bloom pondered rhetorically. As James was walking back towards the lobby, he noticed the light flicker on. Then he heard the hiss of the automatic doors as they opened and closed before the silence was shattered once again by the sound of the alarm. Sweetie ears reflexively clamped down onto her head. She must admit that if nerve wracking was indeed what the designers of the alarm were going for, then they did a good job. James picked up the pace and noticed Chris coming down the stairs as he exited the building, fully believing that an intruder had just slipped past them. He looked over towards there vehicle and quickly scanned the car park for anyone running away, but there was no one there. His instincts told him to run around to the left of the building, as it was the quickest way to get out of sight. “Bad idea! They’re tryin’ ta trick ya into goin’ back there! Who knows what they’re gonna do ta ya?”, Apple Bloom impotently pleaded to the officer who couldn’t hear her. However, as he made his way around to the rear, he was confronted with a refuse area, which was surrounded by high brick walls. Thankfully, none of the fillies had to ask what a “refuse area” was with the help of the line of big garbage bins lined up against a wall that was now being shown on screen. He checked the bins inside and out and even tried to scale the wall itself, but it was just too high. There was no chance someone could have escaped this way. Returning to the front of the building, he noticed Chris walking back from the other side and they met up in front of the entrance. Once again, the Crusaders only felt more lost as yet another explanation they had posited was completely nullified. Not for the first time that night, the officers were completely baffled by what had just happened and had contemplated radioing back to the CCR to tell them that the access and alarm systems were malfunctioning and would need to be checked over. They were reluctant to put it all down to a false alarm as they both knew that they saw two other people on the scene. Although they would have trouble explaining in their reports exactly who those men were or where they had gone. As she looked at the scene of the two visibly stumped officers standing in front of the building and voicing their confusion to one another, Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but feel that there was something familiar about all of this. It was only when Chris, James’ 6ft 6 tall partner, casually kicked a pebble on the ground whilst discussing their options that the reality of the situation came crashing down; not just on them, but also on the unicorn filly. Sweetie’s eyes widened before she breathed out just two words “No way.” “What?”, Scootaloo inquired of her unicorn friend without taking her eyes off the screen. But it couldn’t be… Surely? James and Chris looked back towards their vehicle and sure enough, they saw two faces staring out at them from behind the widescreen, the dash lights were reflecting off their skin. And they knew in that moment, that those two faces were their own. The powerful winds outside Sweetie’s window grew even stronger; they built and built up at the same pace as the tension within all three Crusaders’ chests as they stared at the two shadowy figures sitting in the vehicle behind Chris and James. The two officers ran back towards their car and saw the doors open, but no one had stepped out. The two men inside had vanished. “Woah.” All three voices in the room combined to deliver that one word, all at a loss when it came to any other way to express their astonishment. Sweetie Belle looked to her right and saw that saw Scootaloo had lifted her head off the pillow and was sitting upright. She also something else was different. The increasingly violent gusts of wind outside had seemingly died down out of nowhere. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were both surprised, shocked for sure. But Scootaloo was experiencing a sensation she hadn’t felt since the Mothman story; so similar, in fact, that she once again felt her stand up on different parts of her body. Except this time, it was somehow even more all consuming. She hadn’t gotten such a sense of being powerless against the cold, unforgiving universe since that night a tree crashed into her house. James had spent the last four years pondering on what exactly happened on the early hours of that morning. Before this, he had never encountered anything he would consider paranormal or supernatural. He was an ardent skeptic and in most cases still is, but he has no rational explanation for what occurred. He has researched online and spoken to many so-called experts, but finds that they usually have more questions than they do answers. Neither he nor Chris are certain what they experienced, whether they saw their own doppelgängers or it was a glitch in reality, where the universe slipped time and allowed them a glimpse into their own futures. Or maybe they even both temporarily lost their minds. Apple Bloom shuttered at that last statement. This whole time slip incident was freaky enough, but the possibility that she could actually go crazy entirely without warning and no ability to prevent it made her skin crawl. Both officers were aware of how unbelievable their story sounds, which is why neither of them wrote it up in their reports. The narrator then clarified that names and details have had to be changed in order for this story to shared with the viewer. There is no CrossWade Enterprises, but there is a building somewhere out in the wilds of Cumbria which stands alone and in stark contrast to its surroundings. A building which sends a chill of the spines of at least two police officers whenever they think back on the events of that early morning all those years ago… As the story faded to black, signifying it’s end, Apple Bloom began tapping her chin as a new thought occurred to her. “Ah wonder if this CrossWade Enterprises, or whatever their name is, somehow caused this?” “What do you mean?”, Sweetie Belle asked. “Well, we know that they got some fancy, high-tech facility, but we don’t what they make or even do.”, Apple Bloom paused. “Who’s ta say they aren’t testin’ out some sorta time travel?” “Wouldn’t they want to keep that secret, though? Why would they let the cops have a look at their building where all their important technology is?” “Maybe they called them there in order to trick ‘em into bein’ part a some experiment.”, Apple Bloom face lightened slightly. “Or not, ah’m only sayin’ this while assumin’ this story isn’t a bunch a horse apples.” “Not to interrupt you guys, but do any of you wonder how that time loop stuff works? Like, is there always a version of those two cops staking out and looking that building?”, Scootaloo spoke up suddenly. “You mean like somewhere in the… multiverse-“, Sweetie had paused to recall that last term. “those cops’ past or… future selves are coming and leaving CrossWade forever?” “Yeah. Does that mean that you’re technically stuck at a certain place for all eternity?” “Ah dunno, but what ah do know is that ah wanna see another story.”, Apple Bloom said as she walked over to the orb. Sweetie Belle joined her, taking her turn as the one to cover her eyes and choose the next story by accident. Scootaloo, however looked to her side out at the overbearing storm in the sky, focusing on the bright flashes and rumbles of the thunder and lightning. “Sure.”, she said as she turned headed back to the crystal ball.