Blackness all around. No light, no shapes, no sounds.
Everything was perfectly quiet, like after a terrible storm.
"Why is it so dark?" someone thought "Why's there so much silence?".
That person didn't like all of that. He was feeling alone, and he didn't like that. He didn't want to be alone.
"I… I don't want to be alone… please… help…" that person implored, he like was feeling more and more without air, surrounded by that darkness.
Then a sound, a call by an unknown voice, echoed in the air…
"Hello?"
Silence again.
"Come on, wake up."
Then the darkness began to fade. A faint light appeared and started to be more and more bright. Until…
«WAKE UP!!».
He then suddenly woke up, startling and hitting something over him with the head.
He was sleeping in a bunk bed, on the lower one.
«AGH!! Dang it!!» he said: he was an Earth Pony, a red-maned stallion with pale yellow coat. He rubbed his head, feeling the pain of that hit.
«Whoohoo! You woke up at last! You were starting to ramble in your sleep and then I was starting to get worried!» said a grey male Pegasus with white mane and tail.
The other one grumbled looking at him with a heavily annoyed look. «You know, there is the alarm for that…!».
«Deeeetails…» replied the grey Pegasus «So? What were you dreaming?».
«Nothing.» answered the Earth Pony, jumping down the bed «If I'd take a Dash dose I would have done a way more normal dream…» he said, walking towards the bathroom.
The Pegasus yawned. «Aren't you tired of being in the army?».
«Why?» asked the other, from the bathroom closed door.
«You know… we are soldiers. We are supposed to make war or something like that…».
«Umph… that's why you are never gonna get promoted to a higher rank.» replied the other, while the sound of the drain could be heard.
«Whuuuut? Then, what's the point of the army's existence?» asked the Pegasus, tilting his head.
«You don't get it? Let me explain that, then.» the Earth stallion said, going out the bathroom and towards the beds. He then stopped in front of the Pegasus. «The duty of a soldier is NOT to make war, it's to PROTECT. To protect his country, to protect his citizens and to protect his government, got it?».
«Ohh! Now it's much more clear now! Thanks Red!» the Pegasus said with a glad tone.
«SERGEANT Red. Remember to NEVER mix together any relationship with your job, OK?» Red explained.
«… That's another thing I don't understand.» the other said, a bit confused.
Red sighed. «When you are in the army, you must forget every concept of relationship: this kind of things are a distraction that make you do your job at worst.» he explained.
The Pegasus looked perplexed. «Honestly… I don't agree. I mean… if an enemy kills somepony and that pony and I have any kind of relation… I could be more determined to destroy my enemy.».
«But on the other hoof you could run towards your enemy screaming like a Mandragola and getting killed in the process, making everything pointless.» Red replied, with neutral tone «Mother of Celestia, how can't you understand such things?».
«Dude, I spent most of my life in the countryside! I'm still sooooo full of prejudices.» said the Pegasus.
«You better start deleting them from your mind, then. My superiors are not as kind as I am.» the Earth Pony said, walking towards the exit. The Pegasus jumped down from the bed and followed him.
Both walked outside, watching the first lights of dawn.
«When's the awakening going to be played?» asked the Pegasus.
«In about half an hour.» answered Red.
«What are we gonna do waiting for that?».
«Nothing. We are in a military base, not an amusement park.».
The pegasus stayed silent for some seconds. «… Do you even laugh sometimes?».
«I stopped doing it long ago, as I stopped smiling.» answered Red with a cold tone.
«… Did you stop smiling? What the hay? That doesn't make any sense! You can't stop smiling like you can stop smoking!».
«I had to choose indeed: stop smiling or stop smoking. Guess what I choose?» said the Earth Pony, taking out a pack of cigarettes.
«… That was the worst joke ever.» commented the Pegasus.
«Not entirely a joke.» Red said, taking a cigarette from the carton «I just don't have any good reason to smile anymore. Then, I prefer to have this kind of comfort.». Then, he lit up the cigarette.
«… Whewww… saaaad…».
«I know.» the Earth Pony said, dragging a bit of smoke.
«And… what happened in your life?».
Suddenly, Red stopped and turned slowly his head towards his comrade, staring at him for some seconds.
«… Ahm… it's… just a question…» the Pegasus said, regretting his question, somewhat.
«… You should avoid asking question like this sometimes.» said Red, sounding a little annoyed.
«Ooookay… I'm not going to ask this anymore.» said the Pegasus, sighing, «Sooo… you don't laugh with tickles either?».
«You would regret for doing such a thing.» the Earth Pony replied. He then tossed the cigarette on the ground, without finishing it and stomping it with a hoof. «That's enough. I don't want to talk about my life or the fact that I don't smile anymore. That's my own business.».
«Oookay, Sergeant.».
The sun rose and lit up the entire base. The soldier on duty to wake everyone up played his trumpet and the soldiers woke up. A new day of military routine was about to start.
A telephone started ringing inside a deserted office, and kept doing that for some seconds. Then someone rushed inside the office and picked up the receiver.
«Here's the administrative office of the Littlepip Military Base. Please, explain your…». The soldier couldn't finish his sentence that a resolute voice spoke from the other side.
«Here's the President. I must talk with the General, it's an urgent issue.».
«Wh… Ehh… Mister President? Err… yes, just a moment.» the soldier said, putting on hold the call. Then he called the General's office.
«Yes?» answered an old unicorn with a fake leg.
«General, there's a call for you! It's urgent!».
«Who is?».
«The President, sir!».
«!! Hurry, pass the call to me!».
«Yes, sir!» said the soldier. Then, the call was transferred to the General's office. The latter stood up from his chair. «General Tiger Eye here, mister President! Tell me!».
«Good morning general. I'm sorry to call you at this time, but this is an emergency.» said the President, with a very serious tone.
«I'm listening.» replied the General.
«I urgently need one of your best ponies. Preferably a non-commissioned officer.».
«Uh? A non-commissioned? Can I ask why if I'm allowed?».
«I'm sorry, but there's not much time to explain. We are going to send a helicopter right there to bring him here. Make us find him on the helipad please.».
«… OK, sure. I have somepony in my mind already.».
«Perfect. The helicopter will be there within minutes.» said the President, closing the call. The general put down the telephone, stayed still for some seconds as if he was thinking about something. He seemed a bit perplexed. Then, he stood up and walked outside his office.
No time to waste. The base courtyard was already pretty lively. Tens, hundreds soldiers and recruits were already doing the morning exercises. Marches all around the base, push-ups and very harsh inspections.
«ATTENTION!!» Red suddenly exclaimed. All soldiers stopped. The Earth Pony scrutinized each one, with a not quite reassuring expression. «Well… I guess someone isn't awake yet. Am I wrong?» he said, turning suddenly the head towards someone. A slight swallowing sound could be heard. Then a chuckle from someone else. Red recognized the latter, and walked towards the culprit.
«… Well, soldier Silver Drop… someone is having fun, huh?» Red said, staring at him in the eyes.
«… Really? Who?» replied. Some soldiers started sniggering. The Earth Pony clammed them up with a glare, then stared again at the Pegasus in the eyes with an even less friendly look without say anything.
The Pegasus smiled awkwardly and lowered his ears. «… Whoops…?».
«You know what I'm going to do with you, don't you…?» said Red with a neutral tone, but somehow sounded threatening
«… Nnnnno…?» said the Pegasus, starting to fear for his own sake.
There was silence for some seconds. «… Well, don't worry. You're gonna discover it now…» the Earth Pony said at the end.
He was about to say something else, when a voice behind him pronounced his name with a strong tone.
«SERGEANT RED APPLE!!».
Red almost jumped when he recognized the voice, but he still kept his composure. Then, he turned around towards the voice. «Yes, General!» the Earth Pony said, standing at attention. Silver sighed with relief.
«I have an important task I need to tell you about. Follow me in my office.» said the General.
«Yes, sir! I ask just some seconds in order to dismiss properly from my soldiers.» the Earth Pony replied, nodding.
The General nodded, going away. Red turned again towards the soldiers, looking again at Silver Drop with the same look. «… Don't think you're safe. When I'll be back I'll apply the right treatment to you…!».
«… Y… Yes Red. I MEAN, yes sir.».
«LOUDER!».
«YES SEHR!!».
The Earth Pony looked at the Pegasus for some more seconds, then looked at the other soldiers. After this, he followed the General in his office. Silver sighed again.
«Well, at least you've got some time to prepare yourself psychologically.» said a colleague.
«Yay…» said the Pegasus with a dull voice.
In the meantime, Red and the General entered in the latter's office.
«Please, sit down.» exhorted the General. Red just obeyed. «So Red… as you probably deducted, I asked you to come here because I have a task. A VERY important task.».
«I'm listening, General.» the Earth Pony replied.
«The President just called and asked me to bring my best non-commissioned officer.».
«… The President?» Red said, almost incredulous.
«Exactly. But he didn't tell me more. He just said that a helicopter is coming right now to take that person. And I choose you because I know you are the best among everypony.».
The young Sergeant didn't say anything, he lowered his look a little, as if he was thinking.
«You know that you are almost like a son for me and I wouldn't ever force you to do something against your will, especially a mission like this where you don't know anything about your objective. Therefore… well, I'll let you make your choice: you can refuse this mission if you wish or accept it even without knowing what is expecting you.» said the General, with a quite serious but yet peaceful tone.
There was a long silence. Red stared at an empty point on the desk. Many questions went through his mind. At the end, he sighed and then spoke: «Well… if it's something so serious that even the President called you directly, then somepony must do it: to protect the country it's a soldier's duty.» he said, taking a short break. «I accept the task.».
The General raised a smile. «I was sure I could trust you.» he said, standing up. He then walked outside the office with Red following him. They went outside the building, on the roof and looked at the sky: something was visible from distance and was getting closer.
No need to guess: it was obviously the helicopter and its sound too was getting louder and louder, until it started to descend on the helipad on the building. Everyone walked back a little because of the air flow. The doors opened even if the helicopter didn't land yet and a soldier appeared.
«We have no time to land! Have you choose your pony, General?» said loudly because of the noise of the propellers.
«I'm here!» said Red, stepping forward.
«Yes, it's him!» confirmed the General.
«Perfect! Hurry, jump in then!» said the pony, gesturing him to come into. Red turned to give a last look to the General, then he did a salute to him and he replied doing the same, before hopping into the helicopter, which flied away straight after. Everyone in the base stared at the helicopter while it was leaving.
«Isn't that Red?» asked a soldier.
«Yes, he is! Where's he going?» said another.
«I don't know but… I think that our friend Silver is jumping for joy internally!» said the first chuckling and giving to Silver a mighty pat on the back.
«OWGH!» Silver said, surprised by that hit. «Ahm… yeah…». He didn't sound too happy.
Inside the vehicle Red looked around, analyzing every single person inside. «So, where this mission is going to take place?» he asked.
«Well… right now I can just tell you that the mission won't be on this world.» replied a soldier.
The Earth Pony raised an eyebrow, perplexed. «What do you mean?».
«Sorry, but we don't know any more. Don't worry, I think you're going to have your answers soon.».
The young sergeant wasn't very convinced yet, he was wondering why all this secrecy. He tried not to think about it and looked outside the window, watching the city that was passing under them.
They passed the city, went through the outside plains and woods, then they started to slow down in proximity of the middle of the desert. On the ground, everyone could see a giant structure.
«… Wait a minute…» said Red, getting a little surprised. «Isn't this… the Linking Station?».
«I suppose you got what's happening now.».
The helicopter landed and everyone hopped out, and then got inside the building. They walked down the stairs until they reached a long corridor and started to follow it.
«You said that the mission "won't be on this world". You mean that this is going to be a mission on the ESS?» asked Red.
«Yes. Something very serious happened but no one told us what. Your mission is, in a nutshell, solve the problem.» replied the soldier.
«Wait, I must do a mission in space which I don't know anything about all alone without any kind of training?».
«Sorry, we are doing just what was ordered to us. But don't worry: you won't be alone. Two more people will join you.».
«Who?».
«You're going to see.».
They kept walked along the corridor until they reached an armored door with a terminal. One of the soldiers passed a card, put a code and then scanned his retina; after this, the door opened.
That door was hiding an enormous room full of wires and any kind of data elaborator, all connected to many arch-like structures big enough to let a quite tall pony to pass through. Not much far, there was a pair of ponies, both females. One was a Pegasus with a long magenta-reddish mane, tail of the same color, very light amber coat and cyan iris; the other one was a greyish-coated Earth Pony with short brown mane, tail slightly longer with the same color and white iris slightly tending to green. The Pegasus girl kept looking around, looking a little nervous while the other one had a more serious expression.
«We’re waiting too long. I’m tired of wasting time.» the Earth Pony said, tapping her front hoof on the ground.
«Please, be patient, Quartz. I’m sure they will tell us soon what to do.» said the Pegasus with a very quiet voice.
«”Be patient”, “be patient”, “BE PATIENT”! Ugh, I have been TOO patient!! We are here since almost an hour and nopony told us what to do yet!! I’m. Fucking. Tired!» said the Earth Pony, very close to the Pegasus' face, which swallowed the saliva.
«Ahem...» said a voice behind Quartz. She turned her head seeing a soldier and next to him, there was Red. «Sergeant Quartz Crystal? Doctor Cherry Juice?» the guard asked.
«Yes? Is there any update about the mission?» Cherry said.
«More or less. We just brought here the last Member of the team. I present you Red Apple, sergeant from the Littlepip Military Base.» the soldier said.
«Nice to meet you.» Red said, with a neutral tone.
«A sergeant?» Quartz said, «I was expecting someone with a higher rank. Why another sergeant?».
«Those were the orders. The President wanted a non-commissioned officer for this mission.» the soldier said.
«Hmph, whatever. What about the mission? Is there somepony else we have to wait for?» the girl asked.
«Actually no. Not that I’m aware of. Now you just have to wait for more orders.».
«WAITING?! Again?! Urrgh…!!» Quartz said, grumbling.
«Ahmm… sorry sir: she hates waiting for too long.» Cherry explained.
«Don’t worry: this is an urgent mission. We are just going to inform the President and let him tell us what to do next.».
«OK, OK… but quick please.» Quartz said. The soldier was gone. The girl looked at the stallion, getting close to him. «You are a sergeant too, huh? I hope your skills are higher than your grade.».
«As I hope yours are better than your attitude.» Red replied. Quartz seemed quite annoyed by that answer: she neared her face to his and looked into his eyes with an intimidating look. «Are you often such a braggart…?» she said.
«Only with who deserves it…» was his reply. There was a short pause before Quartz spoke again: «… You’re lucky we’re at the same rank, you little piece of shit, otherwise I would have crushed you with my own hooves…!!».
«With such a behaviour I’m surprised you’re even a sergeant…!» the stallion replied, making her do a threatening snarl.
«Please, calm down! We have a mission to accomplish and starting to argue even before to get further instructions isn’t a good idea.» Cherry stepped in.
«Grrmph, thank her if I’m not going to pulverize your ass!» the earth mare said, going away.
«Such a nice person, huh…?» Red commented, ironic.
«Forgive her. She doesn’t like to stand still and wait for too long: she prefers to be active.» the medic answered.
«They said you’re a medic. What kind?» the male Earth Pony asked.
«I’ve got a qualification in surgery. They needed a doctor that could cover pretty much everything. Soooo… here I am.» the Pegasus explained.
«I see. What’s that grumpy bear’s role then?» Red asked.
«Mechanic from what I got. Her role will be to assist us in the mission, taking care of all the machinery.» Cherry answered. The stallion seemed perplexed «That’s strange… we’re about to go on the ESS and that place doesn’t have any staff member to take care of everything?» he said. «I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry…» he got as an answer.
«Oh, look.» Quartz said, pointing at a mare going towards them «Looks like we’re going to have some instructions at last.».
«So…» the mare said, stopping in front of them. «I’m the director of the facility. I just contacted the President and all I have to do is accompany you to the right portal. I haven’t received any other orders.».
«… Excuse me? What? We have waited for THIS long… and what we have to do is go in a mission IN SPACE without any kind of instructions?!» Quartz protested.
«These were the orders. But I think you shall be informed about the mission on the Station: the overseer is waiting for you.» the director explained.
«You really don’t know anything? Not even a little detail?» Red asked.
«We just know that there is a virus alert and that we had to isolate most part of the Supernetwork from the rest. Nothing else.».
«Supernetwork? Do you mean Eden?».
The director nodded «Yes, if you want call it with the public name.».
«OK then.» the male sergeant said «Where’s our portal?».
«That one. I’ll give order to turn it on.» the director said, pointing at it.
«Perfect, let’s go then.» said Quartz, walking towards the said portal.
«Hey, wait! Owgh…» said Cherry, following her. Red sighed, shook his head and followed the two girls.
An alert sound started and could be heard in the area. Various soldiers announced that a portal was going to be opened. Power started to flow in the energy conduits and the portal turned on with an air flow. The three ponies looked at the glowing screen in front of them. They stared at it for some seconds, then crossed it. Few seconds later, the portal was turned off.