I heard what sounded like footsteps on the floor below me, and I went to see who they belonged to. What happened next I can only explain to a degree, for it was hard for me to comprehend myself. I continued downstairs and saw a floating book go speeding by. I followed it into what appeared to be the main part of the library. I peered around the corner, and could not believe my eyes. There in the center of the room was Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. I just about exploded in elation. I then remembered something.
The droids could have captured you, and this could very well be a simulation they're using as a way to coax me into letting my guard down. That or I'm in the hospital and the drugs they gave me were a bit too strong. Or- wait, no. That's fucking ridiculous. Me, in Equestria. What a joke. I thought.
I concluded that whatever the case be, even if the case be that I am actually in Equestria, however unlikely, that I should keep my guard up. It took a whole lot of will not to go over and meet my idol, but I started to sneak my way over towards the front door.
“EEEEEP!” a startled voice exclaimed behind me.
“HEY, YOU!” the voice of my idol exclaimed.
“Wait!” the voice of Twilight said, likely holding back a very aggressive Rainbow Dash.
“You're awake.” Twilight said.
I faced about.
“My name is-”
“Twilight Sparkle” I interrupted.
“How did you know that?”
Shit.
“I-I...err... lucky guess.” I quickly said.
“Okaay... well you obviously know my name.” said Twilight “The Pegasus to my left is Rainbow Dash. What's your name?”
If I am in a simulation, they would've already accessed my mind, thus already gaining general knowledge such as my liking for the show, my name, the names of family, friends, etc. I thought to myself.
“Ssg Ackerman, attached to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, United States Army.”
“Special forces. Sounds cool. What is it?” my idol asked, clearly intrigued.
“It's a kind of unit in the Army” I replied.
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash said in a slightly confused tone.
“Um...” I searched for the right way to word this “I am a soldier. And the United States is the country I hail from.” I replied, hoping not to confuse her anymore.
“United States? I've never heard of that country.” Twilight interjected.
“It is on the planet known as Earth.”
“OH! There, yes! I've been researching you humans for some time now. Your race is quite... interesting.” said an eager Twilight.
That would be one way of putting it...
“ahem...”
“What was that?” I asked, looking around, trying to find the source of the sound.
I turned my attention to the only pony in the room who hadn't said a word the entire time I had been standing there.
“Flutt- err... and... um... whats your name?” I said cautiously, as to not reveal my knowledge of the show... yet.
If this isn't a simulation, and it's somehow all real, I can't have them knowing that they are from a T.V. show back on earth. Besides, they would probably just think I'm crazy.
I'll tell you, I sure was glad that I had been attached to Delta. If it weren't for the required training that one must complete prior to going to combat with them, I would likely have given the droids all the info they needed from me, and I would be well on my way to being disposed of.
Better dead than in some simulation. I thought solemnly to myself.
Before shit really hit the fan, Delta had been preparing their soldiers for this. Hooking them up to computers that would send electrical charges into the brains of sleeping soldiers- thus creating a simulation out of their dreams, not unlike the one I was in.
I haven't found any proof to back up the simulation theory. I reminded myself.
These simulations would act as a kind of virus, opening up the mind to being, put simply, hacked. Not only did the training act as a means of setting up our own mental firewalls, but it taught us to be able to think through said firewalls; essentially granting our thoughts a sort of shield from prying ears, or in this case, audio receptors. This technique allowed us to plan ahead without the knowledge of our captors, and eventually, escape our mental prison.
Then again, I haven't found any proof against said theory. I better keep my guard up, just to be safe.
“Well? What's your name?”
Fluttershy pulled the classic 'hide her blush behind her mane' thing.
So adorable. I just wanna hug her right now.
“Don't worry, I don't bite” I said with the kindest of smiles I could muster.
“Fluttershy...”
“I'm sorry, what was that?”
“my name is Fluttershy...”
I heard an annoyed Twilight groan behind me.
“Her name is Fluttershy.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you, Fluttershy.” I said as I stuck out a hoof to shake.
“EEP!” She said as she dove under a desk in the corner of the room.
Just my fucking luck, here I am, in Equestria, for Pete-sakes! And I scare off one of the most adorable characters... fuck my life.
“I'm sorry, she's just a bit-”
“Shy?” I interrupted.
“Yes, how did you-”
“The name kinda says it all, don't ya think?” I interrupted a second time.
“Heh, I guess it kinda does, doesn't it?” Twilight chuckled.
“Yeah...” I trailed off ever so slightly.
Twilight seemed to take notice of this.
“What's wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh, nothing...”
“Something is bothering you, I can tell.” she said.
“Oh... am I really that easy to read?”
“Kinda.”
Note to self, make more of an effort to show hide emotions.
“Its just this whole situation I guess.”
“What situation?”
They definitely know about the events that took place of late, so no harm in telling them.
“Before I was... however the fuck I got here, I was fighting these things called droids.”
"Droids?" Twilight asked.
Oh, yeah. Different universe. Duh.
"Droids are..." I tried to put it into words they could understand. "They're like robots."
"Robots?"
This is gonna be a bit harder than I thought.
"Autonomous machines that look like humans. Only we control what they do."
"Oh... okay." Twilight nodded in acknowledgment for me to continue.
“These droids... well... we humans created them to help make our day-to-day lives easier. We also created them to fight our wars.”
“The thought was that if machines fought our wars, there would be no actual lives lost. Or so we thought...”
“We soon learned of our mistake. An enemy country, Iran, hacked one of our nuclear warhead-bearing drones. Before long, Iran took their hijacked drone over the Red Sea, towards Israel.”
“They dropped the bomb the second the drone came within range of a major population center.”
“Was there no way to stop it?” Twilight interjected.
“No. All any of us could do was sit there and watch in horror as pictures and satellite videos of the carnage started appearing on the news.”
“Did Israel fight back?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. But they are a small country, whereas Iran is nearly 5 times their size. They fought back with all they had-”
“But it wasn't enough...” a saddened Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“No. It wasn't...”
“But that was just the beginning. After Iran took Israel, Iranian scientists started reverse-engineering Israeli droids...”
“Iran then started to attack any and all that wouldn't join them. For the majority of the Middle-Eastern countries, the firepower that Iran had gained from the droids they reverse-engineered proved to be too much. Not long after Iran's first assault, Russia started sending even more powerful weaponry their way. That's where I came in.”
“I got deployed to South Korea, Iran's next target. Everyone thought that Korea was where we were gonna put a stop to their blitzkrieg. We were wrong. So, so wrong.”
“Their attack force was immense, not just in numbers, but efficiency. So many lost their lives.”
The lump in my throat started to return. I quickly swallowed it.
“I was one of the survivors. I had lost my entire platoon to the Human-Droid onslaught. I had escaped with the hair on my neck.”
The lump started to return.
“I linked up with an elite spec ops team, known as Delta Force. They are the best of the best. And they have the best training and equipment to boot.”
“They sound kinda like the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“The Wonderbolts?” I played dumb.
“Only the best flying team in all of Equestria!”
Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with chastising eyes.
“Oh, heh, sorry...”
“Continue.” said Twilight.
“Yes. Anyway, these guys are the best. They taught me as many tricks of the trade as they could in such a short amount of time.”
“Tricks of the trade?” Twilight said.
“Do you want the honest truth, or the not-so-honest?”
“Honest.”
“Ways to take lives more quickly, quietly, and efficiently than anyone else on earth.”
“Oh...” Twilight said with a slight tinge of fear in her voice.
“Don't worry, they taught me to control these talents, so that they may be used only when needed.”
“Okay...” I could still detect the slightest amount of unease in her voice.
“Anyway, we went back to the states, and proceeded to train in preparation for the coming attack. Problem was, it never came.”
“What?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash asked at the same time.
“That's right. We waited and prepared for an assault that never came. What did come was something that was a complete surprise to everyone. Droids.”
“Droids?”
“Yes, droids. No faction controlling them. No country giving orders, just droids.”
“Wow.” replied a dumbstruck Twilight.
“Yeah. The war that ensued lasted a total of 5 years. Many lives were lost. Good men and women. Most of which had families...”
The lump in my throat grew.
“Before I arrived here, I was fighting in a desperate final assault on the droid control room. All we needed to do was hit a button and 85 percent of the droid army would be instantaneously wiped out. Heh. A single button to solve all our problems.” Thoughts of the Staples easy-button started to come to mind. “Just one issue.”
“What was that?”
“The 85 percent that I mentioned were there waiting for us.”
Twilight and Rainbow just sat there in silence. I continued.
“The battle was going terribly. We were horribly out-numbered and out-gunned, but we pressed on.”
“Then came the possibility of a turning point. But-” I choked on the last part as the lump in my throat ached for relief.
“But what?” asked Rainbow Dash.
I cleared my throat. “But as with all great victories, come great sacrifices.”
At this point, I started to tear up.
“I was told to give an order for an airstrike. Danger close, broken arrow...” I shuddered at the last part.
“Broken arrow?” asked Twilight.
“It means that friendlies are mixed in with the enemy to such a degree in which giving them time to fall back to a safe distance would only make things worse.”
“You mean-”
“Yes. The pilots then disregard all friendlies in the target vicinity. As far as the pilots are concerned, when broken arrow is declared, all targets in the sector of fire are hostile.”
Tears started to run down my cheeks.
“I'm so sorry. If you want to stop you can.” Twilight said.
“No, I'm fine.” I said holding in a sob.
“I started to charge towards the control room. By the time I reached the button, I had been shot multiple times. I did it, though. I put a stop to it and gave the rest of humanity a fighting chance.”
Tears kept coming, now flowing freely down my cheeks and dripping on the wood floor below.
I can't let my idol see me like this.
“Excuse me.” I said as I left the room and ran upstairs.
Little did I know, I had dropped a plastic bag which contents' could very well change the way Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy viewed their entire universe.