Chapter Thirty-Nine: Traitors Amongst Friends
Sergeant Steven Mace slowly walked back to the Camp outside of the Georgia Dome, still reeling from the sudden disappearance of Lime Tree Hill.
"I just don't get how it got to this point. Is it possible to have a dream that lasts this long. I've got to be crazy. That's it. I'm on a gurney somewhere. Maybe an IED got me or something. Which means that all of this is an elaborate fantasy created by a comatose mind..."
He turned to see the swirling vortex still festering above the city.
"Right."
"...Sergeant Mace, can you hear me? I believe I've got the hang of this now..."
His thoughts now interrupted by this sudden call on his radio, which he knew he had no choice but to answer.
"Major Classified..." A sigh. "Mace here."
"...I trust you haven't forgotten about our lead concerning the Banded traitors amongst us, correct?"
"I wish I had," he thought grimly.
"No... I haven't. Listen Major, surely you can find a more capable operative for this investigation."
..."How about you listen, Sergeant, admittedly you know Sky Blade, Star Sabre, and Crescent Skies only fairly well, but you've served with them most recently, and that means you have a unique angle on them almost no one else has."...
"And that's the only reason, right?"
Major Classified could be heard groaning over the radio.
"...For centuries the Banded have managed to escape the Equestrian military and police. Centuries, Sergeant. That's hundreds of years escaping even the princesses' notice. That takes skill. That takes guts. But most importantly, that takes an unbelievable level of subterfuge the likes of which nopony has even come close to matching..."
"With all due respect, Major, can you just tell me where I come in on this? What exactly do you want me to do?"
..."All right. Here you go. One of them, if not more has served a cause that is directly destroying everything we- you, hold dear. They trust you, and that is why you were chosen, not just by me, but by your superiors in your military service. Now I know you don't directly take orders from me, but I'm asking you to do this. Not just for me, but for all our sakes."...
Mace sighed.
"Yes... sir."
********************
General Highlander sat up at his table, appearing to almost stare through Mike Kaiser and Gerri Reed. Sitting next to him, Cleaves, Snow Wisp, and Rock appeared to be equally confused.
"Let me see if I understand this correctly. You think both our planets are the same planet?"
Dr. Marc Harrison quickly burst through the door, an unstable stack of papers spilling onto the floor.
"I have been studying this very theory, one I'd hoped Mr. Kaiser and Ms. Reed would have waited for me to explain..."
Highlander sat back down. "Please Doctor, by all means, please elaborate."
"Today, ladies and gentlemen, the word of the day is dimension. It's not a very reliable science, but for lack of a better term, this is what we will call our two worlds."
Lieutenant Cleaves shrugged. "Break it down for the more scientifically ignorant, will ya doc?"
"Two dimensions of the same world," the doctor answered.
"Mind going a little further into that?" General Rock stated flatly.
"I believe, and this is only a theory, that this dimension has a twin in your dimension, one that should be completely isolated from ours. Something had to weaken the walls between them, and judging by recent history, and word of mouth from some of our more recent guests, I am willing to believe that the only reason out worlds have crossed, is because of this Hircus's power."
Highlander nodded. "Fascinating. How do we stop it?"
"I'm not sure we can. Transdimensional science is still a very new subject, but my instruments are showing that our two dimensions are converging at quite a steady pace an-"
Mike stopped him. "Woah, woah, woah... Converging? What do you mean converging?"
"What I mean to say," Marcus continued, "Anomalous energy is growing stronger not just in this region, but my evidence says that this phenomenon is growing in strength all over the planet."
Gerri scratched her head. "But anomalies have only been recorded in this region, I've heard nothing about them popping up anywhere else."
"Exactly, 'not recorded'," Harrison continued, "But if left unchecked, we do know that events will start to appear in other locations, the results of which I cannot say."
General Snow Wisp slapped a hoof on the table. "Then we must put an end to the source."
"Hircus," the doctor answered. "But I'm afraid there's more."
Everyone looked at the doctor, and then everyone else, as if taking a silent vote as to whether or not they wished to hear anymore.
Highlander sighed. "Go on, doctor."
"I have been collaborating with many other scientists with the Anomalous Energy Event Team, as well as a host of Equestrian scientists, and I can now tell you that the connection between our two Earths is clearly greater than just these anomalies. Certain trends have appeared in both our histories that line up too well to be coincidences."
Mike shrugged, "Like..."
"It is generally accepted that this planet's mean temperature has risen in recent history, whether this is due to human-affected global warming or simply a period of climate change can be debated endlessly. But according to the Equestrian Ministry of Sciences, the mean temperature on their world has been slowly declining. This became even more suspect when we realized that this rate is exactly the same for both worlds."
Highlander groaned. "Please cut out the exposition and just get to the point, please, doctor. We're in the midst of a war, remember?"
Harrison frowned, "Fine. We believe that energy is flowing from the Equestrians' world into this one. Possibly due to anomalous events."
Gerri raised her hand. "I'll bite. Why?"
"I don't wish to spread doom and gloom, but if you had the ability to control energy, and were planning on invading a planet, how would you do it?"
Cleaves shook his head. "Despite my evaluations from various superiors, I am not a megalomaniac, and I don't think any of us here are either, so please don't tell me you were asking that question because you don't know the answer."
Marcus lowered his head. "That, uh, was the reason actually, but I have a few good guesses. One possible plan is that Hircus intends to neutralize both our worlds by routing energy from one to the other, cooking one and freezing another."
General Rock shook his head. "If he wanted to kill us all, I would think he would have had an easier time of it."
"He's right," Mike added, "What good is a kingdom with no subjects?"
Harrison slapped a clipboard onto the table. "Well the only other option I can think of, is that Hircus is trying to terraform our worlds into something else, using the anomalies."
Highlander removed his cap and ran a hand through is hair in thought. "But the million-dollar question is, into what?"
"I don't kn-"
A small, red, lizard-like creature in a lab coat unceremoniously entered the room, his arms folded behind his back in a scholarly manner.
"The 'thing' to which he is referring, human, is the Realm Sapphiron, and should we fail to prevent this affront, that will be the only realm there is."
*******************
Mace slowly crept back into the improvised Equestrian base outside of the Georgia Dome. A small Equestrian family could be seen casually trotting by the fence. After holding short to evade their notice. Mace slipped into a small barracks tent.
"Not home. Curfew is in effect. Where would three Equestrian soldiers be at this time of night?"
The sun had long set in the western skies, and the barracks were eerily silent. Mace began to rummage through a small stack of crates in the corner of the room. A sudden crash drove Mace to reflexively point his rifle towards the sound.
"Just a box of books."
He breathed a sigh of relief as he put the stack of what appeared to be Equestrian comic books back on the shelf it had tumbled from.
"Hardly incriminating," he mused out loud.
"If the Banded has been hiding for centuries, they aren't going to leave evidence just lying around. Searching tents like this is usele-"
A sharp impact drowned his sight with darkness. As Mace slowly lost consciousness, a faint voice could be heard behind him.
"Is he dead?"
Low growls echoed through the darkness.
"Then finish the job. Nopony can know of our activities here."
The mysterious growls grew in volume.
"Dispose of him."
****************
Princess Celestia gazed upon the masses of ponies gathered under the lights of the Georgia Dome. A tired, but relieved Twilight Sparkle trotted up to her.
"It's really good to talk to you in person, Princess. I trust you are well?"
The princess remained silent.
"Princess?"
"T-Twilight. My apologies, I was in thought."
"I understand. It's hard for me to look at it too."
The princess lowered her gaze. "I am at a loss as to what to say to them. They have all endured so much, and now I must ask more of them."
Twilight smiled. "They'll- we'll understand."
"My sister has made progress, but there is much more to go. The vast majority of humanity does not trust us. I can't say I blame them. We haven't exactly been forthcoming about what has occurred as of late."
"What do you mean, princess?"
"Princess Luna's affinity for darkness made her the ideal choice to become the director of the Affairs of Darkness forces. If you get the chance, confer with her."
"About what?"
"You will know."
Below, a unicorn, a pegasus, and an Earth pony trotted away from a poker game with a pair of humans. Celestia's gaze followed them.
"You've got the most shifty poker face I've ever seen, Baxton. Your son however, he could freeze dragon's tonsils with that stare."
"You still lost four hooves to me Blade, don't act like you weren't fooled," the human retorted.
The earth pony rolled his eyes. "C'mon Star, Crescent. Let's get back to base before they court martial us."
Celestia leaned to her young apprentice. "Have there been any disputes or fights between humans and ponies?"
"A few spats here and there, nothing serious," Twilight answered. "I think it's starting to settle down outside."
"I can almost feel their restlessness." Celestia sighed. "I don't know how much longer they can stay so high spirited with this disaster unfolding. They need to know that we can push Hircus' forces back, that we have a plan to retake our world."
"Do we?" Twilight asked without a forethought to how it might sound.
Princess Celestia looked away as a distant explosion rocked the dome.
"Not yet."
*****************
Sky Blade, Star Sabre, and Crescent Skies made their way back to the small barracks tent they called home.
Star Sabre galloped up front.
"I know I could have beat him, Sarge. I mean we're Equestrian soldiers... our game faces are supposed to be legendary."
Sky Blade shrugged. "The most emotionless Royal Guard face imaginable doesn't help if you have a tell a blind pony could expose."
The white pegasus stopped in his tracks. "Tell?" What tell? What are you talking about?"
"The same one earth ponies such as myself have been exploiting since the beginning of time..."
Crescent Skies raised a hoof. "If I may sir, he's talking about wing twitch."
"Get the flank out of here. My wings don't twitch."
Sky blade and Crescent Skies exchanged looks.
"You do, sir," The private Skies mused.
Corporal Sabre sharpened his gaze.
"I've lived around pegasai my entire life. Nopony has ever mentioned anything like that."
"Of course not, it's a secret Earth ponies and unicorns have been hiding from the wingies for decades, right Skies?"
"Absolutely, sir. Supposedly it has something to do with the sensitive tendons under their wing root."
Star Sabre let out an audible groan. "I am NOT taking pegasus biology lessons from an unicorn or his Earth pony collaborator."
Sky Blade shrugged. "By all means, don't believe us. Just more bits for us later."
"We'll see about that, si-"
Star Sabre suddenly stopped again, and his ears turned sharply to the right.
"You hear that?"
"Hear what?" the older Earth pony answered. "I don't hear anything."
"I'll say, the place sounds deserted," Crescent chimed in.
Star Sabre sped up into a light gallop towards the camp. Outside their barracks, a large man and a male pegasus stood outside the entrance to their tent.
"Hey now, what are you two digging around for in here?"
Neither turned or acknowledged the question in any way.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!"
The sergeant and private quickly caught up. "Star what are you-"
Sky Blade turned to the odd pair. "Can I help you?"
The human and pegasus slowly turned to face them.
"Leave," they both groaned in unison.
Star Sabre backed up a few paces. "Alright, who are you?" He stopped and focused in on the pegasus. "And why are you wearing a Wonderbolts uniform?"
"Leave. Now."
Sky Blade stepped forward. "This is our barracks. I would rather think you should leave."
Crescent leaned towards the sergeant. "I think we can take them, sir," he quietly.
Sky Blade raised up a hoof in caution. "Now now, I think we can all leave this without having to bash each others' skulls in-"
"I don't think so." Star Sabre pointed out a pair of booted legs splayed out under the darkened tent flap.
The three Equestrian soldiers drew their concealed hoof bow sidearms and quickly brought them to a stand of position.
"All right, you two," Sky Blade spoke around his bit trigger, "I don't know what happened here, but nopony needs an incident right now. Just back up and let us take a look at him."
"Crescent. Go check him out," Sky Blade ordered without taking his eyes off of the odd pair before him.
The unicorn nodded and galloped up to the downed human soldier, who remained motionless. "He's breathing, sir. Nasty bruise on the back on his head. And- it's Sergeant Mace, sir!"
Star Sabre pointed his bow downrange. "All right, I want an explanation. Now!"
The human and pegasus strangers traded glances then turned back to them. their hands and hooves beginning to take on a dark blue glow.
Star Sabre jumped back. "Whoa, whoa! What exactly are you two?"
"His will," the simultaneous voices answered.
The pegasus dashed into the air, tackling Star Sabre and tossing him into a nearby row of barracks. Sky Blade deftly rolled out of the way but was soon caught by a charging lunge from the human, sending him reeling.
"Sarge, Corporal!" Crescent yelled, fired off several suppressive shots from his side bow and galloped toward his fallen comrades.
"I'm alive," Star Sabre muttered as he hastily crawled out of a crushed tent. Sky Blade quickly hopped back to his hooves and joined him.
"Still think we can take them, Skies?" Sky Blade muttered.
"The odds are different, I'll tell you that," the private answered.
The two glowing strangers began to fire streaks of blue energy from their hand and hooves, lighting a row of barracks on fire. The three Equestrian soldiers instinctively took cover behind a small rock wall.
"We can't engage them like this!" Sky Blade yelled over the deafening sound of burning energy.
Star fired several shots over his cover toward the strange invaders. "Why isn't anypony coming out the barracks to help us?!"
"I'll bet it has something to do with our friends here," Sky Blade growled. "Crescent, do you know where the Major's tent is?"
"Affirmative," Crescent quickly answered.
"The Major's tent has a human communications device. If the Major is... unable to help you, use it to get an alert out! We'll cover you!"
Crescent saluted and bolted off toward the center of the base as the remaining two war ponies took sporadic shots over the cover wall.
Sky Blade ducked to avoid a particularly low energy blast. "Star, we'll have to hold off these two jokers until help gets here, then we have to get Mace out. You up for it?"
Star Sabre nodded calmly. "Always."
Sky Blade took a moment to calm himself. "All right then. Change your sling mag and buck up. We're going to charge them."
Star Sabre removed a nearly empty arrow magazine from his weapon and inserted another. "Let's take 'em!"
******************
Anomalous Energy Event Team Research And Development File #568-2: Pandragon Aerial Performance
One of the more surprising forms of resistance being encountered by AEE expedition teams upon entering into the Anomalous Realm, are the fearsome Pandragon mounts and their pilots, known as Pandragon minors. Much like the pegasus, griffin, and other winged species, Pandragon mounts are inexplicably capable of reaching high subsonic speeds under the unique conditions of the other Earth. Curiously, Pandragon minors do not seem capable of reaching the same velocities, which may explain why they prefer to ride their larger less intelligent "cousins" into battle.
According to our liaison with the Equestrian Affairs of Darkness special forces, A mount and minor combination typically brandishes a much more powerful version of the standard fire-bolts weapons the infantry uses. These weapons don't seem capable of critically damaging armored vehicles, but seem completely capable of inflicting fatal damage to a more vulnerable airborne target. Pandragon minors themselves are reported to carry a small mini-bolt side arm, as well as a few magma orbs to disrupt enemy armored divisions. Finally, Pandragon fighter mounts are one of the more exclusive users of the magnetized FSL's or Flare Spear Launchers which could be described as primitive metal-seeking rockets.
Scientists are still scrambling to find an effective defense to these weapons, and the Pandragon fighters that bear them.