//------------------------------// // Monday // Story: The Heralds of the Apocalypse... We Think. // by Dropbear //------------------------------// I ran, I never stopped. I could hear their feet falling on the ground just like mine. The fuckers ambushed my platoon and I was forced to bug out. I had lost my M4 in the initial confusion, right after they hit the LAV with an RPG and started peppering us with AK fire. I now only had my M9 and my KaBar. I paused to take a breather in the alleyway, I think I lost them. Fucking Taliban. I peered around the corner of the small… hut. My platoon was making our way through a medium sized Afghan village, we were supposed to be acting as deterrents, but then they hit us. Hard and quick. Yeah… there’s no way I’m getting through. The Taliban had apparently set up road blocks, this being one of them. At least twenty to thirty Taliban, along with technicals. I slink my head back, I could make it out of the village and to the safety of the bush, the only problem was the solid wall of houses blocking me. I make a risky decision, there is a house adjacent to me, I could kick down the door and rush through, but I had no guarantee there was another door on the other side. I suppose I could always make another door, mousehole my way through. Blow a hole in the wall and crawl through. Fuck it, I’m not going to survive long in this town anyway. I get ready to bust the door down, tensing my muscles, I lift my leg and kick. However, as soon as the door is down, I see an afghan going for his rifle. Another AK, I’m getting sick of these things. He manages to grab the rifle, I start rushing him, there’s at three meters between him and I. He manages to nearly aim it at my chest, before I grab the barrel and force it down. His finger pulls the trigger, and while I was expecting it to go: bang bang. It instead went: bang click. I couldn’t help but smirk to myself, it failed to fire, rare in an AK, but not impossible. I throw a left hook at the afghan, his head jerks back. Not my strongest hit, but enough for him to feel pain. I jerk on the rifle, and the fact that he had just been shocked by the hit was enough for me to wrench it out of his grasp. I kick the afghan in the stomach, forcing him to the ground. I grab the pistol grip of the AK with my left hand, and reaching my right around, I clear the dud by pulling the action back. I shoot the afghan once in the chest. I have got to get the fuck out of here. No doubt the roadblock heard me, and lucky me. There is a door to the outside of the village. Not bothering to stop and open it, I kick it down as well. There, my ticket to freedom, or at least relative safety. The bush, near a mountainside close to the village. I run to it, as quickly as I can. I reach it, and as soon as I do, I keep running. The afghans, they know the bush, you can’t lose them easily in it, but it’s much easier to lose them in here, than in their own village. I ran for minutes, until something annoying happened. I didn’t see it, as it was nearly covered, and I ran right into a deep dark hole. I blacked out when I hit what I think was the bottom. Brilliant. A figure stumbled out of a darkened room, the movements jerky like that of a zombie. A low groan pierced the silence of the teleporter chamber as the figure entered the light and the form was revealed. Nigel M Chalmers held onto his mug of coffee as he stepped into the Internal Security Agency teleporter located in the base’s transport bay. It was Monday and he was due on board the United Imperium of Planets Naval ship the UIPN Tyrannus. He stared down at the coffee in his hand, debating whether he should bother removing his helmet to take a sip now. Nah, too much effort. He’d wait until he’d arrived on the Cruiser, commandeered a comfortable chair and then and only then would he partake in his beverage. Wearing a full suit of powered-armour to bed was useful as you didn’t have to get dressed in the morning but an enclosed helmet did restrict coffee consumption. He couldn’t care right now, the sooner he got this crap over with the sooner he could go back to bed. Why he was even needed to oversee these pointless military exercises he hadn’t been told. Maybe the Captain would let him blow something up? “I hate bloody Mondays,” Nigel muttered as with a black-armoured hand he entered in the co-ordinates that his heads-up-display was telling him. He was still suffering from the effects of only an hours sleep however and instead of using his free hand he attempted to enter the destination with the mug of coffee. Predictably this did not work and the console was slathered in his freshly-brewed coffee. Nigel ignored the sparking console and instead stared in shock at the brown puddle growing on the floor. He lifted the mug to his helmet optics, finding that not one drop was left. As a blue glow started to built in the chamber the white mug shattered on the floor as Chalmers raised his fists to the ceiling. “Damn you Monda-” Nigel was cut off as the teleporter activated, his menacing armoured form vanishing as he was sent to his co-ordinates. On the still sparking console however there were no co-ordinates, the screen blank except for a message stating ‘Out of order, please contact your system administrator.’ I woke up, with someone shouting English in my ear. I slowly open my eyes, only to be greeted by the oddest sight, a very colorful… equine? Was shouting at me, and I was surrounded by, what was this? Cabbage? Yeah, definitely cabbage. What was I doing in a cabbage cart and why was a colorful equine yelling at me? I lift myself up, and pull myself over the edge of the cart. The equine was oddly proportioned, with extremely large eyes and a short muzzle. I’m finally paying enough attention to hear what it’s saying. “And further more! What are you doing just randomly appearing in ponies carts? Huh! What do you have to say for yourself?” Pony? This sounds like a female. Calmly reaching over the side of the cart, I retrieved my AK and my Kevlar helmet that had fallen off into the cart. After fixing the helmet onto my head, I sling the AK over my shoulder. I turn to the mare, she’s definitely female, and said an apology. “I apologize ma’am but I must be going.” And I quickly hightailed it out of there. I walked around for a bit, this city looked eerily similar to Manhattan. And these… ponies looked to be subsets of the Shetland pony. It’s, odd. They’re a bit smaller than a Shetland, coming in at about three and a half feet. I keep walking, this is really odd. Am I dead? I pinched myself, no, I can feel it. So I’m not dead. Wait a minute, is that what I think it is? It looks like a… Human. It’s got to be, it’s the only other biped here. He’s just standing there, wearing some sort of black armour, as well as being helmeted. He turned his head. Yeah, his helmeted head is in my direction, he’s just staring, and with no face, it’s more creepy than it normally would be. Why won’t he stop staring? The Manehatten female bathroom flashed with a blue glow as a large biped was deposited into one of the empty cubicles. Landing heavily the armoured ISA agent crushed a porcelain toilet under his bulk. Water sprayed out of the broken pipe and covered his armour as Nigel tried to figure out just what had happened. His loss of his coffee was forgotten as he examined his surrounds, something was definitely out of place. ‘This isn’t a teleportation bay,’ he thought as he struggled to his feet. The walls of the stall buckled as he placed his armoured hands against the sides to help him up. Now that he was upright everything seemed smaller and unsuited for the majority of the species in the UIP. After a few moments to figure out that teleporters must not like having coffee baths he deduced that there had been a malfunction and that he had been transported to a bathroom somewhere on the planet. A bathroom for midgets apparently. Figuring that standing around getting and drenched in toilet water was not productive to getting to where he needed to be Nigel walked out of the stall. The door was already open and no-one else was around the small area. Three mirrors above three sinks were on the left tiled wall while the three stalls including the one that Nigel had just destroyed. Spotting the wooden door in front of him that he assumed led to the outside, Nigel strolled towards it and pushed it open. He stepped out into a street filled with multi-coloured ponies walking around a busy market place. Nigel stopped and stared at the strange creatures as they did the same to him. The… ponies all had extremely large eyes that were locked on him and soon the entire crowd had him in their sights as they froze. Whispers rose up as they continued to stare at him while Nigel tried to figure out what to do. He hadn’t heard of any equine inhabitants of the UIP so he was likely on another planet. Wonderful. Seeing as he had already been detected he resorted to the number one stealth rule of the ages: If you’re found out, act like you’re meant to be there and everyone else would think the same thing. Taking the advice to heart Nigel waved, smiled under his helmet and pointed to the clear blue sky. “Awful nice weather we’re having today,” he commented which only increased the whispers with a few of the ponies looking at him in surprise. “Why were you in the female bathroom?” a mare with a coat the colour of teal questioned. Nigel turned his head to look behind him and indeed found that the sign above the door depicted a pony that seemed more feminine than the sign next to it that was above another door. Chalmers faced the ponies again and shrugged. “Eh, technically I’m not a pony so I really didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe you should update your signs to include humans as well.” This didn’t get the response he was aiming for and the crowd didn’t get humor he intended. Subconsciously he moved his right hand to his side but then remembered that he had left his gun in his room. There goes plan A which was fire a warning shot and then run away in the confusion. He didn’t want to find out what it was like to be buried underneath a crowd of angry pastel ponies. Falling back on his experience and skills he used plan B: Create a distraction and then leg it. “Look over there!” he cried as he pointed a finger towards a random high-rise. “It’s an elephant, run for your lives!” His ploy worked as the ponies all turned to face the building allowing him an opening to make his stealthy getaway. Stealth ,however, was never Nigel’s forte and so he decided to just head to the right where the least amount of ponies were located. He strolled quickly away from the scene without realising that a stand of toilet paper was stuck to his right boot. The ponies who had been tricked looked back at the retreating biped, muttered a few words and then all went back to the hustle and bustle of city life. Nigel meanwhile was met with more stares as he attempted to navigate the crowded streets. he passed stores and cafes buzzing with activity before he noticed another bipedal figure walking towards him. He stopped, red optics locked on the figure wearing primitive armour with a desert-camouflage pattern. The other human was holding an old type of ballistic firearm and appeared to be just as confused as he was about the situation. The way that the surrounding equines were looking at the other human clued him in that their race was not that common around these parts. The figure’s eyes were hidden behind a pair of shades while his skin was slightly tanned. The figure noticed him and stopped dead in his tracks as Nigel continued to examine him. The tide of equines flowed around the two as they stood off against each other, none willing to make a move. Dante and the large, black biped continued to stare at eachother. As Dante scanned over the newcomer he took in what he assumed was armour covering the creature and tried to gauge what sort of threat it could be. As if colourful ponies were not enough now he also had to contend with a being that looked like it had arrived out of a badly-written sci-fi. The other biped seemed to be unarmed but Dante was unsure if twenty-seven 7.62mm rounds would be enough to drop it if it was hostile. After a few moments of observing the figure warily Dante noticed that all of the ponies also seemed to be giving the other biped a wide berth. Maybe the armoured figure was just alien to this planet as he was? Moving slowly and making sure that he kept his AK holstered and his movements non-threatening Dante edged forward towards the other figure. He figured that if the creature turned out to be a human wearing a futuristic suit of armour then maybe it would have some idea of what exactly was going on. As he approached the other figure started forward as well, the two meeting in the middle. “So,” Dante started as the armoured biped stared down at him with an extra full head of height. “I take it you aren't from around here either?” The armoured being made a show of looking around the crowd of ponies surrounding them. “What gave it away, the fact that I’m the only other one walking on two legs or did you come to that conclusion based on how I am also the only other one apart from you who is wearing pants?” Dante frowned, he didn’t need to be so rude about it. “Well sorry, I guess being sent to a planet where all the Shetland ponies talk and run a city after falling into a hole during a war and then crashing into a cabbage stand doesn’t make for a good day. Can you honestly tell me that having that happen to you wouldn’t put you in a bad mood?” The armoured figure hesitated before answering. “I teleported into a public restroom. A female, public restroom. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pretend like you meant to do that?” Dante shook his head, this was going to go nowhere. “Look,” he replied as he dragged a gloved-hand down his face in exasperation. “You don’t want to be here and I don’t want to be here. Do you have any clue as to how we can possibly get back to where we came from?” Dante waited for a reply as the biped rubbed his helmet’s chin while he thought. Hums of deep consideration emanated from the figure while Dante started to get annoyed with the lack of response. “No,” the biped answered finally. “Unless of course we somehow build a time machine.” “... And how would that help?” Dante asked prompting a shrug from the other guy. “Dunno, but at least we’d have a time machine.” “You know what?” Dante said as he swept his hands out in front of him. “Let’s just start again. Corporal Dante McClure of the United State Marine Corps.” Dante reached out a hand for a shake. The armoured figure looked down at the offered limb before meeting it with his own. Dante didn’t flinch as the metal digits clenched around his hand exerting a considerate force. “Commander Nigel M Chalmers of the Internal Security Agency Division of the United Imperium of Planets. No relation to the Imperium of Man, those guys are arseholes.” “So Commander Nigel M Chalmers of the Internal Security Agency Division of the United Imperium of Planets No Relation To the Imperium of Man Those Guys Are Arseholes, are you human?” “Close enough to one,” came the reply. Dante nodded, the two not really knowing what else to say. “Nice Weather we’re having?” Chalmers tried with a shrug. Dante hummed in agreement as the two glanced up at the sky. It was right at that time that a group of pegasi flew over their heads. Dante muttered under his breath at his terrible luck while Nigel merely watched them fly away. “Huh, flying ponies. I bet the scientists would just love to cut a few of them up.” The Commander looked down to the AK-47 on Dante’s back. “That’s a quaint little ballistic rifle you have there.” Dante looked back and un-holstered the weapon while keeping it pointed to the ground. “This? It’s just an AK-47. I lost my M4 when I was back on Earth and some Sheethead blindsided me. It jammed though and after I dealt with him I relieved him of it. He wasn’t going to need it anymore anyway.” “You killed him with his own gun?” Nigel casually inquired much to the shock of the surrounding ponies who froze and stared at the two. Dante turned the AK over in his hand. “Yeah, it is war after all.” Chalmers leaned forward as Dante said this and whispered into the soldier’s ear. “We might want to think about moving.” Dante followed the Commander’s eye line and hesiatantly looked behind him. A large group of the equines were standing behind the two waiting impatiently. Glances to the sides revealed that all traffic around the two humans had stopped as ponies stared at them with open mouths. Dante looked towards Chalmers again and nodded in agreement. “That is probably a good idea, I’m suprised that they haven’t really said anything to me already.” The two quickly started walking again even though they had nowhere to go. Dante kept on thinking about getting back while Chalmers was debating on whether the Marine beside him could be trusted. “Do you think these ponies would know of a way to help us return?” Dante remarked as they passed through the city’s entertainment district. Bars and clubs were empty due to the early time of day, a clock on a brickwork tower showing that it was nine -thirty -five in the morning. “Maybe,” Chalmers replied as he looked over the equines around them. “I mean they don’t look like a spacefaring species but they have unicorns so I wouldn’t be surprised if they can fire rainbows and send us back. We should probably try to ask one.” Before Dante could explain that asking a unicorn to shoot rainbows might be a bad idea Nigel had already walked over to a group of unicorns and accosted them. “Excuse me magical ponies,” he inquired and he stood in front of them while they stared in fear and confusion. “My companion and I are rather lost and I was wondering of you are able to teleport me and him to another planet, possibly dimension?” All he got in return was stares until one young mare went to raise her orange hoof but placed it back down. “Um, the only ponies who could probably do that are the Princesses.” She nervously replied while looking back to the other three unicorn mares who were still frozen. Dante walked next to Nigel just as the Commander reached out and patted the mare on the head. “Good pony, if I had a carrot I’d give you one but I’m afraid I have a Princess to find. Onwards Corporal, to victory!” Dante sighed once again as Chalmers whirled around and marched off towards a different street. Dante shrugged apologetically at the mares before hurrying off after the Commander. He was really starting to regret talking to him, how he had apparently become an officer was beyond him. “Do you have any idea where the Princess is?” he inquired causing Nigel to slow and stop. “No, I figured that if we walked around long enough we’d eventually find a horse wearing a crown.” “They’re ponies,” Dante corrected. “I don’t flipping care!” shouted Nigel while throwing his arms up in the air. “Ponies, horses, it doesn’t matter because they’re all the same. Let’s just find the Princess and go back to where we came from. I have a meeting I need to attend.” Dante raced ahead and halted Chalmers with an outstretched hand. “It does matter actually,” Dante lectured. “A pony is an equine below fourteen-point-two hands. These ponies appear to be closely related to Shetland ponies while having human characteristics so calling them horses is incorrect. I should know, I grew up on a horse farm and-” “Let me guess,” Nigel interrupted. “The farm burnt down and your parents died in a fire leaving you alone to raise your seven year old sister who was later killed in a driveby by a local gang. This has left you as an angst-ridden mess who constantly questions the nature of existence by writing heartfelt poetry in a dimly-lit room while an emo pop band sings about cutting themselves. Is that about right?” Dante looked at Nigel oddly, then replied. “Actually, no, I suck at poetry, and my parents are still alive. My sister is actually sixteen now. The farmhouse is still there as well. I mean the farm’s pig gave birth to runt and I had to kill it, but, nothing really earth shattering. Why do you always have to be a dick about things? I mean, I’ve known you for, what, ten minutes? I’m already considering about going that way!” Dante pointed to the opposite direction that Nigel was heading in. “Well, looks like I did find the Princess after all.” Nigel replied while raising his nose into the air. “I should have guessed that you’d have a… primitive manner.” Dante’s fists clenched and he quickly raised his AK-47 to point it right at Nigel’s face. “What did you call me?” Dante hissed dangerously. Chalmers leaned forward so that the barrel of the gun was pressed against helmet. “I called you a princess, Princess.” Chalmers responded. Dante’s finger inched closer to the trigger. “Do it Princess, or don’t you have the balls?” “Oh, I’ve got them Spaceman. I just don’t really want to waste my ammo on a bitch like you.” “Oh, kitty has claws,” Chalmers taunted. “Do it, your rifle probably won’t even scratch my armour.” Dante tensed and went to pull the trigger but both were halted by as a female voice gagged in disgust. The two of them turned towards the sound to spot a ‘normal’ pony dressed in a bonnet and a dress that seemed to be pulled straight from a Western. The mare raised a light yellow hoof to mouth and gagged again. “My, and here I was thinking that the city would be free of all you non-ponies. As if it wasn’t bad enough with the Bison. At least those critters make sense, you just look plain weird.” Nigel and Dante both forgot their differences and turned to the mare who was flicking her blond pigtail over her shoulder. “Excuse me?” Dante questioned as his AK began to point dangerously in the direction the pony instead of Nigel as he turned. “Do you have a problem with me being a human?” “Yeah pony,” Nigel joined in. “You have an issue with us? You better watch it or i’ll have Dante smack you in the tit.” Chalmers seemed to stare at the mare’s chest. “Even if you don’t seem to have any he’ll smack you so hard he’ll make you a pair.” “Uh, Nigel, her teats are closer to her crotch.” Dante dryly responded. The mare in response to this looked at Dante with a horrified face, at the mention of her private area in public so nonchalantly. “Just roll with it, I’m working my magic here,” Chalmers whispered sideways as he raised a hand. He turned back to the pony and puffed out his armoured chest. “Dante here worked on a horse farm so he knows all about your kind. Fear his knowledge of equine biology as it shall be your doom!” “Did you just call me a whorse!?” She yelled with a red face. A group of four guards in golden armour heard the commotion and immediately headed over to the arguing trio. “What was that about a whorse farm?” The leading guard asked the mare. She proceeded to point an accusatory hoof at Dante. “This disgusting… rat! Apparently worked at a whorse farm!” Dante who looked between the mare, and then the guards, looked to Nigel with an angry look on his face. “I told you calling them horses would probably be an insult!” Dante angrily informed Nigel, who responded quickly to this accusation. “No you didn’t!” Nigel defended himself. “Because you cut me off before I could tell you anything!” “Well maybe you shouldn’t have been a little bitch! Officer,” Nigel pointed over to Dante. “I don’t know this disgusting and immoral man.” The Guards and the mare just looked at the two bipeds in confusion. “Me!?” Dante shot back. “You started all of this! I told you that they are ponies and not horses yet you still carry on like a child. How the hell did you even get into the military!?” Nigel paused for a second at this. “I… I actually don’t really know. I just signed some papers and then Blam! Military.” The ponies were all utterly lost while Dante just shook his head. He should have seen that one coming. “Who do we arrest sir?” One of the guard stallions asked his Sergeant The stallion with a slightly larger plume on his helmet stared at the two bipeds fighting in the street. The mare beside him glared at him with her face still beet red. “What are you waiting for, arrest both of them! They’re only non-ponies anyway!” Sergeant Iron Buckle winced. She was one of those ponies. “Ma'am,” he replied as he kept his eyes on the two bipeds continuing their argument of what a whorse was. “I suggest that you keep quiet and let us do our jobs. From the sounds of things you’ve not helped the situation and I’m close to arresting you.” The mare flinched as if stuck and decided that leaving before the guard made good on his threat was a good idea. With that sorted out Buckle gave his three subordinates a nod before looking back into the argument. “Excuse me sirs,” he spoke up, cutting through the insults and prompting both bipeds to look towards him. Buckle had to admit that they were intimidating with one in large black armour and the other wielding strange devices that appeared to be weapons. “I’m afraid that fighting in the streets is a criminal offense. Please come with me quietly and we might be able to let you off after an hour in the lockup.” Nigel and Dante did not like the sound of that at all. “You what mate?” Nigel questioned as he stomped towards the four guards as Dante stayed back in case things turned sour. Iron Buckle didn’t waiver as the biped stood over him and glared down with red eyes. “I said you’re under arrest for disturbing the peace,” Iron answered. All four guards moved towards the armoured being who stepped back and walked over to a streetlamp. The guards hesitated as with a grunt the biped grasped the lamp and ripped it out of the pavement violently. The four guards stepped back as the post was swung in a wide arc around the raging black creature. “You’ll never take me alive!” he yelled as the lamppost continued to be flung around. The second biped seemed just as shocked as the guards were and ponies in the streets were running around screaming. Dante caught sight of a problem approaching, a further ten guards rushing towards the scene. These ones had spears attached to their golden armour. He debated on just leaving Nigel to handle himself but relented when he realised that no matter what he did he would likely be in just as much trouble with the law. Looking towards his AK he pointed the weapon into the air and fired a single shot. The booming crack caused all of the ponies to drop to the ground and cover their ears, with the closest guards affected the worst by the loud noise. Horses had better hearing than humans so he assumed that these ponies had the same. Chalmers stopped swinging his weapon to look at Dante. “We better go before more cops come!” Dante yelled as Chalmers dropped his improvised weapon. “Fine, this is getting boring anyway.” Chalmers quickly bent over to snatch the Sergeant’s helmet from his head, the pony’s coat shimmering from white to a deep green hue while the blue mane and tail turned yellow. Nigel and Dante observed the change as Chalmers hesitantly perched the golden helm on his own. When he didn’t turn into a magical unicorn he strolled back over to Dante as if nothing had ever happened. “Where to then? I don’t see a map saying ‘This way to Freedom!’ anywhere.” Dante hurried off down an alleyway as the guards began to regain their footing. Chalmers followed and the two delved into the depths of the city with the fuzz hot on their trail. “There, we just have to nick that.” Dante looked at where Nigel was pointing, the two hidden in the alley way as the sound of their pursuers grew faint. The Commander had picked a steam train decorated with love hearts and the main engine was coloured in pink. It was truly sickening to the trained marine. “Why?” Dante questioned as he looked back to look for any guards pursuing them. “Why would you want something like a train?” Nigel raised his head to the sky and placed his fist against his chest. “I have to ruin everything beautiful.” He decreed solemnly. Dante sighed in frustration. “We are not going to steal a train.” He glanced out once more and found that the station was fairly deserted. He spotted an opening just as the sound of armoured hoofbeats thundered behind them. “But we can sneak aboard it, it’s the only option.” With that he dashed out and sprinted out towards the caboose. Nigel followed behind and they crossed the twenty metres of open ground to climb aboard. Just as they managed to close the door behind them a mass of guards numbering at least twenty galloped out of the alleyway and began to search the station. The train whistle tooted and the floor beneath them shuddered as the engine began to move forwards. The inside of the Caboose was small but the two of them managed to fit fine. Nigel leaned up against the wall while Dante chose to peak out of the rear window. The station was quickly disappearing behind them and from the looks of it they had gotten away scot-free. Where they were going however was unknown, at least it couldn’t get any worse. After what must have been hours the train slowed to a stop, Dante picking himself off his spot on the floor to glance out the window. Gone was the image of a bustling city, buildings having been replaced with yellow sand and tumbleweeds. Chalmers was still leaning against the wall, Dante unsure if the armoured human was asleep or not. “Nigel,” he addressed. Chalmers shook his head and stepped towards the door. “We’ve arrived?” he inquired as Dante took another look out the window. “Yes,” the marine answered as he still could only see the desert and a long line of train tracks going back through it. “I think.” With that he opened the door, raised the AK to his shoulder and then jumped out onto the dusty ground. He spotted a wooden platform that he assumed was the station and a small number of ponies ambling around a frontier town from the wild west. Chalmers followed and soon the two were both off the train and staring at the strange sight. “Well,” Chalmers stated as he began to move into the town itself. “Any port in a storm I suppose.” Dante couldn't argue there, hopefully the other human could avoid getting into any more fights with the local law. Dante followed and kept his gun at the ready just in case. He really didn’t want to shoot any of these ponies, they reminded him a bit of his family’s horses at home. The two had barely made it off the makeshift station before the train tooted its whistle once more and started to depart. It seemed like they were stuck here for the time being. Both humans halted as a yellow pony with an orange mane trotted up to them with a beaming smile on his face. The stallion sported a brown cowboy hat and a matching vest which were dusty, a given for the area they were in. “Howdy there strangers,” he greeted merrily. “I haven’t seen any of your kind around before but my name is Braeburn and it’s my duty and pleasure to welcome you to our fine town.” The stallion whinnied and reared up. “Appleoosa!” The two humans exchanged a look before Nigel glared at the still-smiling stallion. “I swear,” he said with a cold voice. “The first chance I get and it’s going to burn. It’s all going to burn.” The stallion looked at Chalmers in confusion while Dante quickly stepped in the salvage the situation before it devolved into another lamppost-swinging nightmare. “Don’t worry about it, he’s from the east.” Braeburn’s face lit up in realisation and he nodded with understanding. “Ah righty then, I don’t see any luggage on you fellers. Did you come to Apple Loosa looking for work perhaps?” Braeburn reared up a second time and shouted ‘Apple Loosa’ with exactly the same energy as the first time. Nigel’s armoured fists clenched as he continued to glare hatefully at the stallion. “I swear, if you shout ‘Apple Loosa’ one more time I’ll-” Dante quickly cut Nigel off. “What he means to say is yes,” the marine shot Chalmers a warning glare. “Do you happen to know of any work available?” Braeburn nodded excitedly as he gestured with a hoof behind the town to a grove of apple trees in the distance. Why they were growing apples in the desert the two humans couldn’t work out. “We sure do!” Braeburn exclaimed. “The apples are ripe for bucking but with your fancy claws there I think you could be a great help. We’re always on the lookout for new helpers around harvesting time.” Braeburn extended a forehoof towards Nigel. Chalmers looked set to smack the stallion but Dante quickly grabbed the hoof with a hand instead and shook it three times. “Name’s Dante, he’s Nigel,” the marine introduced as he gestured to the fuming Commander. Dante leaned in to whisper in Braeburn’s ear. “Don’t worry about him, he spilt his coffee this morning.” Braeburn nodded once again as Chalmers fixed both of them with a stare. “I heard that, Princess.” Dante took a deep breath and forced a smile to his face as he looked at the confused stallion. “When do we start?” he inquired. Having some of the local currency couldn’t hurt and if they ever needed to leave then they would likely have to purchase a train ticket. He was sick to death with deserts. Chalmers merely snorted but kept any objections to himself. “You can start right now if you want,” Braeburn informed. “Everypony should be getting off lunch and heading back to the fields. I hope you two like plenty of hard work.” “It’s only apples,” Nigel said as he stormed off towards the orchards. Dante and Braeburn stared at the back of Chalmers as he made his way through the town with ponies moving to the sides to let him pass. Dante ran a hand down his face. “I guess I better go after him and make sure he doesn’t kill anyone,” he muttered, Braeburn trotting alongside him. “That was a pretty funny joke,” the cheery pony responded but his smile dropped when he didn’t receive an answer from Dante. “...Right?” The door to the ‘Mystical Wares’ antique shop in Manehatten was thrown open violently. The bell at the top jingled as a unicorn in a black cloak rushed into the dusty shop before checking behind her. Confident that she wasn’t followed the unicorn shut the door with a cream-coloured hoof and made her way to the back room. “Prophet Nightblade,” she called out, a young stallion stirring at a table in the corner. “Huh? What is- oh, it’s just you Cultmember Fable,” the Prophet brushed back his black fringe with a dark-purple hoof as he sat up. “What news do you bring?” Sweet Fable shifted nervously under her black robe. “There was two bipeds fighting in the market today-” “Two bipeds!?” Nightblade exclaimed as he hurriedly got off his seat and headed to a rundown bookshelf. The unicorn’s horn lit up and a large tome floated down from the top in a crimson energy field. The flaky book of parchment was opened and Nightblade skimmed through the pages with haste. He stopped on one page and his eyes lit up with a deluded glint. “On the seventh day of the seventh month two beings of pure wickedness shall walk the ground and bring pandemonium wherever they tread. These beings are the required catalysts for the ritual of ending in the temple of Gehelzamet.” Nightblade looked up with a grin in his face. “Fable, they have arrived! Quickly, assemble the cult and capture the two creatures wherever they may be!” The mare raised her hoof to ask a question. “But Prophet, it’s the fifth day of the third month,” she informed to which Nightblade shrugged. “Details, details,” he dismissed with a casual wave before shutting his book. “Gather the rest and dispatch all of our forces to scour the entire planet. Those bipeds must be found and brought to the temple!” “There’s only five of us though…” Fable trailed off when she realised that Nightblade was too caught up rubbing his forehooves together manically to hear her concerns. Sighing she left the shop to gather the other three cult members, they would have their work cut out for them. Nightblade wasn’t paying attention as he hurriedly gathered his cloak and components needed to complete the ritual. The tome was shoved underneath the cloak after he had put it on and the last thing he did was retrieve a single, golden key from a lockbox under his bed. The key to the temple of Gehelzamet. As soon as his peons brought him the creatures his plan would be complete. “Yes, Yes!” Nightblade cackled as he left the shop and locked it. “Soon this world will burn and all will be ended. All will know of the Heralds Of Redemption, Salvation and Ending when their corrupt world is brought to its doom!” Heads of city-goers turned to stare at the madpony as he dashed away towards the city gates, an evil plot brewing in his mind.