It was a usual Spring day in London. That is to say, it was pissing down. Looking at the address written, he still couldn't believe it. He had been invited to the main building of the military. This was where all the top decisions were made. He approached the front desk and the young officer sat behind it.
“Afternoon love, I'm here for some sort of appointment. I don't know who with or what it's about. I just got the letter sent to me.”
“Okay sir, if I could just see the letter? Thank you.” As the officer looked over the letter, she started typing on her terminal. “Okay, if I could see two forms of ID please, something like a MOD ID card, driving license, or passport.”
“I'm no longer military ma'am, so here's my driving license and passport.”
“Thank you, I'll just be one moment.” Standing, the young officer walked away from the reception desk and past two armed guards, passing in to a room with “restricted” above the door. Looking around awkwardly, he spotted some seats nearby and went to sit down.
After ten minutes of waiting, the officer returned with two more armed guards. She handed him back his documents and spoke. “Please follow these gentleman, they will make sure you arrive at you destination.” Nodding, he stood up and followed the guards. After half an hour of walking, he was starting to get nervous, but the guards just stopped at a wall. One of them reached up and hit a button hidden in the window frame, and a buzzer followed.
“Yes?”
“He's here sir.”
“Very well.” There was the sound of machinery as the inner wall slid away, revealing as secret briefing facility. “Thank you gentlemen, you can go now.”
He just stood there, staring at the new room that appeared out of nowhere, until a voice brought him back to reality.
“Thank you for coming. We have a situation and we need your help.”
“You do know I'm no longer military right? That I can just say go fuck yourself and walk away?”
“Yes, we are well are of that. Please, have a seat.” He did as asked and sat facing more brass then he had ever seen in his life. “Now, we have a few questions for you, please answer as truthfully as you can. First question, when was the last time you spoke to one SAC Luckes?”
“About three months ago.”
“And what did you speak about?”
“What we were doing for our birthdays this year. We are only a week apart, and we were going to go out in Oxford on the weekend between them with some friends.”
“Are you aware of the events that happened on the third of February this year”
“To which event are you referring?”
“The event that took place where SAC Luckes is stationed?”
“I know of an explosion, and that you lost some prototype gear........and that you never recovered his body.”
“Precisely. We can not even locate the emergency transponder that is in one of those bits of kit. The force of the blast encountered was not enough to destroy it, so it still should have sent a signal. We haven't even gotten wind of it on our satellites.”
“So......what are you saying?”
“It is the belief, and theory, of some of those aware of the full event, that SAC Luckes isn't dead. How do you fell about that?”
“Show me a body and then I'll believe you. Until then, he is still alive.”
“Excellent. We have a mission for you if you decided to go through with it. You can even pick your own team. If you agree now, you will get full disclosure of the current theory, and it currently has eighty five percent support from those investigating. What do you say?”
“Are you asking me.......if I want to track down my missing friend who, by the sounds of it, you no longer believe is on this planet? You're crazy, all of you.”
“Perhaps we can do something else to persuade you.” One of the officers leant forward and hit the intercom. “Dr, bring in artefact 'alpha'.”
“Right away sir.”
A door opened behind them and a woman in a lab coat came in carrying a case with her. Setting it down on the desk, she nodded to the brass and walked away.
“When we looked over the area of the incident, we found several......items that were not there before hand. We have subjected these items to tests. Spectroscopic analysis came back with no results, they are made from materials not found on this planet. Carbon dating puts them at nearly a thousand years old. We have searched for the markings throughout history and came up blank. There must be a reason as to why he got taken and not someone else. We were wondering, and hoping, you may be able to tell us what it is. Open it.”
Reaching his hand forward tentatively, he opened the catches and flung the lid back. Sitting in the foam was six pieces of bluish grey armour. Four were nearly identical, with two being slightly smaller. They all had an elegant design to to them, with shield like shin guards on them. The biggest piece looked like a chest plate, and it had a lighter blue symbol of a moon on it. He reached in and pulled out the last piece, holding it in front of him. It was a helmet, but it had two holes on the side, and a hole in the middle.
“This can't be possible.” He whispered under his breath.
A new officer, one who was hiding in the shadows, spoke up. “What's that son? Do you know what this is?"
“Yes sir, I do. What you have here is a set of armour meant for a pony. Specifically Nightmare Moon. I think I know why he was taken, and no one else was.”
“And why is that?”
He just sighed and lowered his head. Man, I hope that pink one can't actually get here, because I'm about to break one of her most sacred vows...
“Well son, we are waiting.......”
“SAC Luckes.....is a brony.” The woman that was still waiting ran out the door and didn't close it properly. They could hear frantic typing on a keyboard.
“Ha!! I knew it. You all said I was crazy, but I won the pool!!! And at those odds, you are all going to be busy for a while!!!” They all looked up as she came back in the room beaming, before she noticed she was being watched, and offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry about that, please carry on.”
“So then, any questions?”
“Yeah, just one.” He picked up the chest piece and stared at the moon symbol. “When do I start?”
The officer from the shadows replied. “Whenever you are ready.” He made to leave when the voice spoke again. “Oh, and one last thing.” He slid a package across the table. Upon opening, it revealed rank slides with one thick gold bar, two thin ones, and another thin one looping over itself.
“Congratulations, Admiral.”