Chapter Ten: Through a Lens
Master-Corporal Williams was starting to get bored. For the past eight hours he had been observing the royal capital of the strange land he had been deployed too, and it was still just as peaceful now as it was earlier.
It was infuriating. Williams was beginning to wonder for what possible reason his unit had been deployed here. They had been so close to nailing most of the high-ranking Taliban in the Korengal valley. Then they were pulled out to babysit some diplomats who were talking to ponies.
Williams had long ago accepted the absurdity of the situation. DARPA invents a portal to a dimension inhabited only by talking ponies? Sure. But by and large, they seemed to be kind, gentle folks. Given their reactions during the initial push into Ponyville, it was obvious that violence was not a regular part of their lives. Of course, I suppose folks in Toronto would freak out just as hard if the city was assaulted, Williams thought to himself. That aside, they seemed to have no standing army, apart from a token amount of Royal Guard.
Maybe there was something Williams wasn’t seeing, but from his perspective there seemed to be no reason to have overwatch that was backed up by .50 rifles. It was beyond overkill; it simply didn’t need to be there. A waste of good military assets.
But since he was here, he might as well work on some skills. Terrain sketches, firing cards, movement from target to target. He had the rest of his squad working on this as well when he heard his radio key.
“Team Edge, this is Overlord,” came the voice of General Richards. He sounded impossibly calm given the situation.
“This is Edge, go ahead,” Williams responded.
“Roger, VIPs are en route to you at this time. Callsign of the bird is Flapping Lips One,” Richards said.
“Flapping Lips One?” Williams said.
“Diplomats picked it out themselves. Guess they aren’t all stodgy. Their approach will take them through the pass roughly two clicks south of your position. Like you to keep eyes on them and the surrounding area,” Richards said.
“Roger. They have an escort?” Williams said.
“Two Cobras are going to do a pass before they come through. We’re not expecting anything severe to be waiting for them. All the same, stay frosty. Overlord out,” Richards said, and with that the conversation was over.
Williams switched channels and radioed to his team.
“Everyone hear that? We’re going to leave one fire team here, and have another fire team shadow the Osprey. Call in anything suspicious. Keep alert,” Williams said.
Finally with something to do apart from static watch, Williams was pleased. The operation, while likely to be anything serious, would at least give his team some good training with this sort of thing. With the war in Afghanistan winding down, there wasn’t going to be very many more opportunities to do something like this for the foreseeable future.
As Williams’ team made their way through the valleys, the powerful engines of the Cobras could be heard. Before the sound had finished echoing through the mountains, another, even more powerful engine could be heard. This one had to be the Osprey.
“Flapping Lips One, this is Team Edge, over,” Williams keyed in.
“Uh, roger Team Edge. Reading you Lima Charlie, over,” the pilot responded.
“Roger. Not sure what your exact flight path is, but keep it steady and low. Just through this pass is the main thoroughfare into the city, and there’s a hasty LZ just beyond the main gate,” Williams said.
“Roger,” came the response.
“Just a quick question. Why didn’t you just take a straight line from Ponyville up to here? As I understand it, Canterlot is visible from the village’s limits.”
“Mapping and reconnaissance. The more we know about this place, the better the brass will feel.”
“Roger. You’re clear on this end. Team Edge out.”
Williams watched as the Osprey tore through the valley and headed for the main gate to Canterlot. He saw what appeared to be some form of guard unit walking out to where the bird was landing. Surprisingly enough, as he looked through the scope on his C-15, they looked rather stern and uncompromising.
Maybe these ponies got some spine in them after all, Williams thought to himself. Williams watched them for a while, making sure the diplomats didn’t get ambushed at the LZ.
Satisfied that they weren’t going to be killed right then and there, Williams had his team sanitize their hide, and prepare to move into the city. If the brass wanted the diplomats to feel safe, damn it, they were going to feel safe.
“I’m given to understand that you are the diplomats?” Shining Armor asked of the men who exited the machine.
“Yes, that’s correct. I take it that you’re in some position of authority around here?” Ambassador Jonathon Grant asked.
“That’s affirmative. My name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. You are… ?”
“Jonathon Grant. I’m an ambassador sent here on behalf of the President of the United States of America. He sends his regards,” Grant said.
“Very well. I suggest that we not keep the Princesses waiting. They can get a bit… testy, when they sit around for too long. The guard will help stow your belongings and show you your rooms during your stay at the palace. Does any of your party have weapons that we should know about?” Shining said.
“My bodyguards have their own personal weapons. Apart from that, none of us are armed,” Grant said.
“Very well then. The main hall is our destination today. Follow me,” Shining said, and with that, the group walked through Canterlot and into the Palace.
As Grant took in his surroundings, one over-arching theme seemed to pop out at him. Everything that lived here was just… well, happy. Everyone that Grant saw during their walk to the Palace, while surprised, seemed to be content and full of life.
Grant had been all around the world back on Earth, and everywhere he went, people seemed to be just going through the motions, not really taking an active interest in… well, anything, really. Like there was no purpose to it all.
Here, he saw a society that legitimately cared about each member, a society where each member was valued simply for existing; everything else was just icing on the cake.
It seemed bright, cheery, and wonderful.
It had to be a cover-up.
There was simply no way a society could this be this happy all the time. Grant had many questions for these princesses, and he intended to get them answered.
First he had to get them to agree to a military installation near the portal.
The air was one of solemn respect for the individuals in the room. On one side of an impressively large and ornate table sat Grant and his bodyguard, along with the members of the CIA that had been sent along with him. On the other, two large ponies with horns and wings that exuded an aura of pure power. Despite the terse smiles, everyone could tell that there was real tension in the air. At once, the white pony stood up and began speaking.
“Ambassador Grant, distinguished guests, we welcome you to the Royal Palace of Canterlot. If there is anything that you might require while you are here, please let one of the servants know, so that we might accommodate you. Now that that is out of the way, let us sit down and begin discussing… whatever it is you were sent here to discuss. I’m sure that we have many questions for each other, and do not think I have forgotten your soldiers’ disastrous attempt at a friendly gathering. From what I understand, one of the Elements of Harmony remains in the hospital,” Celestia said.
“First off, Your Highnesses, I would like to extend my gratitude at your allowing of us to come here to discuss these important matters. More ambassadors will be arriving in time, but for the moment I will be the only one here. Secondly, we deeply regret the unfortunate events that landed one of your esteemed ponies in the hospital. Rest assured, we are conducting an investigation into the events surrounding the incident, and the guilty parties have been moved back through the portal to await a military tribunal. As for the matter at hand, I have been sent here to engage in talks with you for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the establishment of a military base for our forces on the outskirts of Ponyville,” Grant said.
Celestia’s eye visibly twitched before she responded.
“Let me get this straight. You open a portal in your world to a location that you have no inkling of information about. You send in machines and soldiers armed with devastating weaponry. You nearly kill me by conducting a… what was it? A ‘show of force’? You terrify my subjects, bring over more machines that were expressly built for the purpose of war, you try to make amends by horrifying some of the most important ponies in this nation with alcohol and tales of battles past, and your first demand is that we let you stay here permanently? Is this how all negotiations start on your world?” Celestia said.
Grant fought back the urge to say ‘Well, yes,’ and replied in kind.
“I don’t quite think you realize what opening that portal meant to us, Your Highness. Our expectations of what lay beyond were unclear; rather than send in scientists first, we thought the better option was to send in small teams of highly trained ground forces. Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate encountering a village of your subjects just seconds after entering through. We responded to this information in accordance with our rules of engagement; if you recall, no shots were fired during the first contact. The show of force was only conducted to clear out the landing zone so that we could move our casualty. Once we realized just what we dealing with, we ordered our troops to stand down.
“While alcohol was shipped over, we had assumed that our best men could handle themselves, and do the job of being ambassadors until proper ones could be sent over. What Gunnery Sergeant Johnson did was completely out of character for these men, and he is being punished accordingly. In the meantime, we are only sending out the men in mounted convoys to get the lay of the land, and map it out properly. With the lack of satellites that can do imaging of the area, we have to do the best with what we have available.
“All in all, while we certainly mucked things up a bit on the first day, I think we’ve rallied nicely. I would appreciate it if you could see that,” Grant said.
At once, Princess Luna burst out of her seat.
“You dare to say such things in this court! You would do well to choose your words carefully, human, lest you find us to not be so forgiving of your miscues. One thousand years ago, you would have been slain on the spot for uttering such deviant things! You arrive here with terrible weapons of war, the likes of which has never been seen here. You arrive here with men who have had their hearts hardened by a lifetime of conflict. Do not presume to think that we don’t know what war is, Ambassador. There were many, thousands of years ago, as my sister and I fought to bring control to a wild land. The Unification Wars are a dark and terrible chapter of our history, but we managed to recognize war for what it is- a blight upon the land and the souls of those who live on it.
“It is a heartbreaking thing, and we have done all we can to banish it to the history books. As far as I am concerned, we are operating on a much higher level of existence than your race,” Luna said.
As Luna finished her tirade, an overwhelming silence hit the room. Grant stared at Luna with as much anger as he could muster, and Luna returned the favor.
Seeing that nothing else would be accomplished right now, Celestia sighed, and stood up.
“It would appear that tempers are running short right now. Let us take a quick break, to cool our tongues, and then we can continue,” she said. As she finished, everyone in the room stood and began making for the exit.
Master-Corporal Williams couldn’t believe his luck. They had spent an inordinate amount of time trekking through the city, making sure they had not been seen. Of course, compared to some areas Williams had been, the security here was a farce. No one in the entire city had any idea that Team Edge had decided to set up shop.
And set up shop they had. From the rooftop they now occupied, they could see directly into the main hall where the meeting was taking place. Williams saw much shouting, gesticulating, and general fervor. He imagined what they were saying in there. No way it was as entertaining as the running dialogue he had going on in his head.
Suddenly, his radio keyed.
“Williams, I’m getting something strange over here. I’ve got my thermals up, and everyone appears to check out apart from one of the CIA guys,” the soldier said.
“What do you mean?” Williams said.
“Everyone else shows up but him. He’s a thermal dead spot. I switch to white-hot, he’s black. Black-hot, he’s white. I’ve tried my set and a spare set of thermals. Same thing across the board.”
“Stick with the thermals. We’ll get one of the armorer’s to look at it when we get extracted,” Williams said, and with that the conversation was over.
It was odd, though. There was almost no reason a set of thermals would malfunction like that. But that was an issue for someone else to deal with. Williams pushed the thought to the back of his mind and kept on watch.
Suddenly, the darker pony stood up, the one the team had decided was Big Blue. She was a feisty one, to be sure, and when she had finished talking, nobody moved for a good three minutes. Then the other one, the one they called Moby
Dick, stood up and said something. Must have been break time, because everyone started moving after that.
Suddenly, he heard his radio key up again.
“Williams, that CIA guy? I think… he’s going for Big Blue! Orders?”
Williams paused for a moment. As far as he was concerned, this was a diplomatic meeting, not an assassination attempt.
He barely had time to say the words, “Take the shot,” before he heard the report from the C-15. Williams motioned for his team to get moving. Whatever was going on in there, they needed to get brought up to speed on it.
Luna stood up and began walking out in a huff. She couldn’t believe the audacity of this human, demanding that they be allowed to set up a military base on Equestrian soil. She was so busy stomping out of the room, that she didn’t hear anyone yelling at her to move out of the way. She barely felt the blood spatter on to her hindquarters.
Everyone froze as they heard the sound of glass breaking, and the sickening sound of a round impacting flesh. But no one was prepared for what happened when the CIA officer had died, because all that was left was the misshapen body of a changeling.