Chapter 1: A Shift in Scenery
A convoy of antiquated armored fighting vehicles rumbled through a mountainous pass with a mechanical din, kicking up thick clouds of dust as they went. Several American-built Abrams main battle tanks and smaller Bradley infantry fighting vehicles surrounded a much larger wheeled mobile construction vehicle in a protective enclosed formation. Light all-terrain bike and buggy reconnaissance vehicles zipped past them, scouting ahead of the convoy. Overhead, a trio of Russian-manufactured Hind helicopter gunships flew in a loose formation, keeping watch for any threats to the convoy from up high.
The many vehicles that comprised the convoy sported an odd mix of desert and urban camouflage paintjobs, with yet others painted a solid grey. The mismatched machines of war were unified, however, by a single emblem that was printed on various spots on their chassis. The emblem was a red and black chamfered triangle. Depicted within the triangle was a scorpion’s tail in a menacing curve, poised to strike.
Driving alongside the massive MCV was a much smaller humvee truck. Painted a desert tan and equipped with an enlarged rear canopy that contained the disassembled components of a scaled-down mobile command and control computer system, the humvee served as the impromptu command post of the convoy. The commander helming this post was one Confessor Alexander Andric, Black Hand reject and rogue Nod warlord. Sitting in the front passenger seat, he looked at the screen of his laptop personal computer on his lap. After rereading for the umpteenth time the mission directive produced by his dated third-generation Electronic Video Agent unit, he finally put the laptop on standby mode and closed it, giving his strained eyes reprieve from the oppressive glare of the glowing computer screen.
Since the end of the First Tiberium War, the Republic of Kazakhstan had effectively ceased to exist as a functioning state and has been ruled by one ruthless warlord after another, the latest being Alexander himself. With his regime entering its seventh year in power, he had lasted surprisingly longer than his predecessors. He would attribute his success to the great effort he put in ensuring a safe and reasonably comfortable existence for the people under his benevolent rule… as well as making any who complain too much disappear.
The reason for the convoy was to reinforce one of his bases in the region that had come under heavy attack by rival Nod factions. The base in question guarded the Baikonur Cosmodrome Space Center, an extremely valuable strategic asset for its atmospheric launch capabilities and repository of advance Soviet military technology. Realizing that he could not afford to lose such an important facility, he assembled a reinforcement convoy to relieve the base and rebuild the fortifications around the Cosmodrome. Not trusting any of his lieutenants with such a critical mission, he went himself with the convoy to personally direct and oversee the reinforcement efforts.
Looking at the driver, Alexander inquired about how long it would be until they reached their destination, “Brother, how long are we out from the Cosmodrome?”
The driver paused to think for a moment before answering, “We’re still two hours away, sir.”
Breathing a quiet sigh, Alexander turned towards the view from his window, staring off into the distance. Listlessly watching the passing arid landscape, he let his mind wander, thinking back on how he came to be what he is today.
Born to European refugees…
Settling in New York City with other European refugees…
Getting a job at an “imports” store…
Getting inducted into a Mediterranean smuggling ring at gunpoint by his boss…
Going overseas on a “business trip” and getting conscripted into the Brotherhood of Nod…
Moving up the ranks and eventually getting accepted into the Black Hand…
Getting excommunicated from the Black Hand for having a semblance of a conscience…
Narrowly escaping subsequent Black Hand assassination attempts and somehow winding up several countries away in Kazakhstan…
Seizing control of the country by way of persuasion, promises, bribery, assassination, and all manner of underhandedness…
Present day…
Alexander let out a quiet chuckle. When he thought about it, his life so far had been a series of curious misadventures and odd and sometimes nearly lethal mishaps. From refugee to smuggler to terrorist to warlord, his life story was quite the tale. Perhaps he could write and publish a memoir of his life…
As he dwelled on the thought, his mouth pulled upwards into a slight grin, ‘Now there’s an idea.’
Reopening his laptop, he accessed its word processing application and started a new document. His hands hovered over the keyboard for a moment before he began typing, putting the opening words of his memoir to print…
Very likely, you and those around you have led more or less “normal lives.” You were born to loving parents, perhaps had a sibling or two with which you likely had a somewhat antagonistic relationship. You went to school, maybe college, discovered life, and now look back on your younger years fondly. You eventually moved out, excited to strike it out on your own. Perhaps you did well for yourself, landing a good job or creating a successful startup and launching your career. You met someone, got a house and a dog and maybe a potted plant and finally settled down.
It was something like this for me in my early years, though a bit more lackluster than I’d like, and I never got to settle down in the traditional sense, but I did have a potted plant at one point. It was when I wandered into Honest Bob’s Imports Store looking for a job that my life began to deviate from normalcy. It was from that point on that my experiences became more unconventional…
----
A lavender unicorn sat among several stacks of books, many scattered open before her while a number of them floated around her, engulfed in the glowing purple aura of her magic. Entering her fourth hour of nonstop study, she let out a deep yawn before resuming her reading of ten books at once. Regarded by her friends as a bit of an “egghead,” though she would prefer the term “well-read,” the unicorn was known to engorge herself with the myriad of books that populated the library she called her home. While typically reading for pleasure, this particular book binge was for business, quite serious business.
It had been a few months since the invasion began. Demonic creatures straight from the pits of Tartarus itself had appeared and began attacking the Principality of Equestria, raiding outlaying towns and villages and even the major cities on occasion. While always being eventually pushed back by the Equestrian Royal Guard, the demons often managed to shed enough innocent pony blood to leave long-lasting scars on the communities they assaulted. The sheer brutality and savagery of the demons’ indiscriminate slaughter was mind-numbing. Nopony was spared; from the eldest senior to the youngest foal and everypony in between, all were killed. Equestria had not seen such death and destruction since time immemorial, and its citizens recoiled in absolute horror at the demons’ bloodshed.
The attacks were sporadic and targeted settlements seemingly at random. In response, the Royal Guard deployed troops everywhere in an attempt to provide at least some level of protection to as many settlements as possible, but in doing so had spread themselves thin. Although having held out reasonably well when the invasion first began, the Royal Guard as well as the civilian population of Equestria were beginning to feel the weight of growing losses from the demons’ constant attacks. The country was soon bogged down in a war of attrition with the invading demons, with the demons slowly gaining the upper hoof with their seemingly limitless numbers. Eventually, all outlaying towns and villages, locales where the demons had most often attacked, were evacuated, their residents relocated to the major cities where the Royal Guard could more easily concentrate their defenses.
Exacerbating the situation was the criminal element of Equestrian society, particularly dragon bandits and the Diamond Dogs, who took advantage of the chaos to wreak havoc for their own profit. In the many “no-pony lands” that were abandoned at the onset of the invasion, criminals, outlaws, and renegades of all kinds had set up their own “bandit kingdoms,” fortified dens of criminal activity from which they launched raids on passing travelers and caravans and even towns and cities whose defenses were weakened by the demons.
Pleas to the other nations for help against the demons went unanswered. The Gryphon Kingdom claimed that their armed forces were tied up defending their own country against demonic incursion. The Buffalo Nation was also unable to render any aid, their numbers barely enough to defend their own homes. The Zebra Tribes had been completely silent and the worst was assumed, that the demons had completely wiped them out.
And so it was at the behest of Equestria’s diarchy that the unicorn research the historical texts in her possession as her town’s resident librarian to try and find the reason for the demonic invasion as well as a way to stop it. As the unicorn continued to plow through books in a determined effort to find a solution to her country’s current crisis, a small purple dragon with green spikes approached her with a mug of piping hot tea.
“Twilight, you’ve been studying for hours now. You should take a break before you burn yourself out.” he advised, offering her the tea.
Twilight let out a conceding sigh as she accepted the tea, engulfing the mug in her magic and levitating it towards her, “I know Spike, but I just can’t rest right now, not with all that’s been going on. Thanks for the tea.”
“No problem. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are bringing over some more provisions for the refugees. They said they’d be over in an hour.” Spike said before tidying up the clutter of books that lay on the floor.
“Oh, that’s great! That’ll really help with things around here.” Twilight replied with a smile, perking up considerably at the mention of her friends. “Let me just finish up this one section and I’ll clear out some space in the basement for them.”
Ponyville, the town Twilight and her friends called home, had received a great number of refugees from neighboring settlements given its central location in Equestria. Many public buildings like Twilight’s home, the Golden Oaks Library, had been converted into shelters to house and care for the many ponies displaced from their own towns and villages. When the shelters began to fill to capacity, Ponyville residents opened up their own homes to those without a roof over their heads while a small tent city was being built just outside the town to accommodate the continuous flow of refugees.
As the town’s population grew considerably larger from the massive influx of refugees, the demons had begun assaulting it with increased frequency and ferocity, apparently sensing it as a bigger target. The rise in attacks necessitated a larger garrison of Royal Guards to be stationed there, though they would still be pressed for horsepower as the Royal Guard’s reserve forces were already deployed elsewhere, leaving little in the way of possible reinforcements for them.
Spike shook his head, “No, let me handle it. You just rest, okay? Please? You’ve done so much already helping all of these refugees.”
Twilight gave a warm smile to her assistant, touched by his concern for her wellbeing, “Oh, alright. Just be careful when you’re down there, okay?”
He chuckled and rolled his eyes a little, “Oh, come on, Twilight. I’m your Number One Assistant, aren’t I?”
Amused at his air of self-confidence, she took a sip of the tea, letting the hot liquid warm her, “I know, I know. Thanks Spike.”
Giving a nod, Spike headed to the basement of the library to make room for the incoming supplies. Taking another sip of tea, Twilight set down the books she was reading off in a stack before standing up. Having been sitting for the past few hours, the sudden shift in position caused blood to rush to her legs, causing an overwhelming sensation of pinpricks. After taking a moment to stretch her legs and wait for the tingling sensation to subside, she made her way upstairs and went out into the balcony. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she looked down into the streets below. They were busy with activity as Ponyville residents and refugees alike went about their business. The mood in the town was quite dreary, most ponies slowly trudging to their destinations while carrying somber and despondent expressions on their faces.
Almost immediately Twilight missed the diversion from her conversation with Spike and the brief moment of closeness they shared. The sight of tents and crude cooking fires strewn about the well-beaten paths that were Ponyville’s streets reminded her of the gravity of her task. She sighed, taking another sip of her tea.
‘A sign of things to come, I suppose…’
----
“It's getting rather windy.” Alexander muttered to himself, noticing how the wind was beginning to pick up significantly. The scenery outside also drew his attention, as the cloudy morning sky darkened quite a bit while the ambient light actually seemed to get brighter, creating a sharp contrast between the sky and the rest of the landscape. The changes outside were sudden and jarring enough to tear him away from his memoir.
As he pondered the peculiar events, he failed to notice a slight movement from within his pack on the floor. Emerging from it was a snake of considerable length, being nearly five feet in length. Colored a deep dark brown with a paler shaded underbelly, the snake was difficult to contrast from the black material of the pack and the shadows casted on the floor of the humvee.
Slithering out from the pack and onto Alexander’s leg, the snake slowly and stealthily made its way up to his shoulders before draping itself around his neck. Alexander displayed a surprisingly calm demeanor for someone with a large snake hanging off his neck, and after a brief moment in which the driver finally noticed the reptile on his commander’s shoulders, he acknowledged the violation of his personal space, “Comfortable, Hiss?”
The snake responded with its namesake sound, letting out a quiet and drawn out hiss, its forked tongue tickling Alexander’s cheek in a vaguely affectionate manner as it extended its hood, the flaps serving to accentuate its affirmative reply to the rhetorical inquiry.
“Ugh…” Alexander could only groan at the display, having gotten used to Hiss’ invasive behavior long ago, though he was no less exasperated with it. Hiss hissed once more, this time a much shorter one with an almost smug, teasing tone, if that were possible for a snake. Satisfied with its quarry’s acknowledgement towards its presence, Hiss arched itself over towards the window to get a view outside.
The driver had watched the entire exchange in complete silence, having been more than a little weirded out by the sight of his commander sharing a moment of one-sided affection with the giant cobra. He had heard of the… unique relationship his commander had with his pet, he assumed it was, but this was the first time he had actually witnessed their antics with his own eyes. The rumors did not do justice to just how strange they really were together.
Alexander caught the driver gawking at him and Hiss. Clearing his throat to fill the awkward silence, he reasserted himself as the driver’s commander to ensure his nondisclosure of what he just witnessed, “You saw nothing, brother. You were busy minding the road, correct?”
The driver blinked before returning his full attention to the road, “Ah- uh, I mean… Of course, sir.”
As Alexander gave the driver the evil eye to ensure his compliance on the matter, the humvee’s radio suddenly blared to life, diverting both men’s attention, “Commander! This is Alpha Lead! Forward scouts reported some kind of… energy phenomena? I think? They’ve stopped transmitting. I can’t raise them at all. I think- wha- the hell is that!? HOLY SH-”
A sudden bright light and deafening electrical hum drew their attention away from the frantic transmission. Before the convoy was a massive vortex of energy that towered over even the MCV. The vortex emitted a blinding white light edged with an electric blue hue and produced numerous tendrils of energy that lashed out wildly, producing a loud crack with each motion. Alexander recognized the energy phenomena as characteristic of a chrono vortex, an unusual and very dangerous side effect of an old Allied superweapon called the Chronosphere. He learned of the Chronosphere and chrono vortices through classified documents from the Great World War Two that he had “procured” from a GDI datacenter, along with a number of other things…
While it was still unknown what happened to anything consumed by a chrono vortex, there were many theories about it, some claiming that the vortex is actually a portal to another dimension or universe, while others say it simply destroys anything it consumes in inconceivable ways. Alexander sincerely hoped it was the former.
The entire convoy threw themselves into full reverse as all vehicles attempted to back away from the approaching chrono vortex. It was too late for the helicopters, two of them having flown straight into the vortex when it appeared and the third being unable to bank away in time to avoid it. The tanks and IFVs were quickly overtaken by the vortex, being too slow to escape the rapidly advancing wall and tendrils of light.
As the swirling vortex of white and blue engulfed the entire convoy and approached his own vehicle, Alexander had only a single thought…
‘Please let it be somewhere warm with cocktail drinks…’
----
Alexander let out a breath he did not realize he was holding as his sight returned to him. When his vision finally cleared, his first sight was Hiss mere inches away from his face. He recoiled slightly, startled at the snake’s close proximity. Hiss produced an inquisitive-toned hiss as it resituated itself back onto his shoulders, giving him some breathing space.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” he replied in all seriousness, much to the bemusement of the driver who had just come to. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he grabbed the radio hooked on the dashboard before turning towards the driver, “What's the convoy’s status?”
The driver merely shrugged, “No idea, sir. All the vehicles seem to be here, but I haven’t heard anything. Maybe they’re all out cold, or…” He trailed off, preferring to leave the rest of his conjecture unsaid. Hoping to change the subject, the driver put forward a rhetorical question he knew neither of them knew the answer to, “So, any idea where we are, sir? ‘Cause I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Alexander made a mental note to berate the driver later for his use of such a dated cliché as he glanced out the window to visually assess the convoy’s status and was greeted by a markedly different environment than the one he was in previously. Instead of the dark, cloudy skies and dry, rocky terrain speckled with tiberium-mutated desert flora that characterized much of Kazakhstan circa 2040 AD, he now beheld bright blue skies and a wide open field of lush green grass with rolling hills and a thick forest not far off from the convoy’s position.
He adjusted the radio’s settings to transmit a broadcast on all frequencies before speaking into it, hoping to raise any survivors, “This is Confessor Alexander Andric to all convoy elements. Sound off and report status. Repeat, everyone who's not dead, sound off. Over.”
Much to his surprise, he received a number of replies. Most reported that they were alright, if a little dazed, with only a few reporting having hit their heads a little hard after being spat out by the chrono vortex. One by one, all the vehicles of the convoy were accounted for, including the helicopters, though they seemed a little rattled, two of them saying they nearly crashed into a mountain and each other while the third claimed to have flown through a peculiar cloud formation that he swore looked like a house.
Satisfied that his men were alive and well for the time being, Alexander began to assess their current situation, firstly by getting the convoy’s bearings. Deciding to utilize the helicopters’ altitude, he radioed them to scout the immediate area, “All helicopters, perform a scan of the immediate and outlaying vicinities and tell me what you see. Over.”
“Roger, commander. Commencing sector scan. Over.” came the reply. The Hinds spread out, scanning the horizon for any indicator of where they might be. Soon afterwards, one of them sighted something of interest.
“This is Crocodile 2. I see what looks like a town, due west, a few klicks out. Maybe we should start there. Over.”
Agreeing with the suggestion, Alexander issued his orders, “Affirmative, Crocodile 2. All helicopters, formation and get set to provide overwatch. All convoy elements, form up and get ready to head out west along the forest. Alpha Lead is on point. How copy? Over.”
“Alpha Lead copies. Moving into lead position now. Out.”
Outside his window, he could see an urban camouflaged Abrams move ahead of the rest of the convoy. Once in front, it began to drive alongside the forest, the rest of the convoy coming to motion to follow it.
As the convoy made its way towards the town sighted by the helicopters, Alexander mused about their current predicament, his hand cupping his chin as he stared out at the convoy, inattentively watching it as it traversed alien, yet oddly familiar terrain.
‘Well, if anything, it’s certainly a nice shift in scenery…’
----
A bright light began glowing from past the Everfree Forest. It grew brighter and brighter until it nearly outshone the sun. It was enough of a disruption to cause everypony to stop what they were doing and look in the direction of the forest. Many began to panic, thinking that the light was the onset of some cataclysmic event. But just as they started to lose their heads, the light began to rapidly subside before completely vanishing. After a moment of stunned silence, ponies began whispering all around, speculating as to what the cause of the light was.
Twilight had gotten a good view of the light from her balcony. She was left in a state of bewilderment, continuing to dumbly stare in the direction from which the light came. After a couple of minutes, she came out of her shock, shaking her head and regaining her senses. The whispering of the ponies below caught her attention, her gaze shifting downwards towards the ponies on the streets, who were now huddled together, fright and worry evident on their faces.
She could only sigh, now worried for her fellow ponies already fragile metal and emotional wellbeing.
‘Oh, what now? Just what in Equestria is going on?’