Do you believe in Ghosts?

by Material Defender


The Other Side

Talbot opened his eyes. He felt his right hand close his grip, feeling that his MR8 was still in his hands. He was... somewhere. He was staring at a high arched ceiling, made of something marble, very bright. There was stained glass in the room, though he couldn't tell as his head was still spinning.

Pastor's face obscured his field of vision. "Boss? You okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" He held up two fingers.

"Ugh... two..."

Pastor looked away from him. "He's fine!" He stood up and offered Talbot a hand. "Come on, boss, a little fall shouldn't knock you out of commission."

Talbot took it and looked around as he righted himself. "Where the hell are we?" It was a wide hallway, lined with red carpet, with a runed door at the end with lots of inscriptions. The stained glass was ornate and filled with carvings of some kind depicting events.

"Hell if I know. But I bet Maynard's around here somewhere."

"Right. Cloak up, Anvil. Let's track him down."


"What the hell is that?" Mendoza said, peeking around a corner. There was a large set of double doors and a couple of quadruped beings decked in armor that stood guard in front of it. "Does that thing have... wings? It looks like a horse."

"A pegasus," Pastor said. "I thought they weren't real."

Talbot's brow furrowed in concentration. "Just where the hell are we...?"

"Not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure," Raymond said, looking around behind them as rearguard. "They could be hostile. Recommend we avoid, boss."

"Agreed. Keep moving, scope out the hallways. We need to find Maynard, he can't have gone far if these things are everywhere."

They continued pass the hallway, passing by more guards, and eventually found themselves on a balcony overlooking a garden.

"Whoa... definitely not in Kansas," Mendoza said. The four stood looking over a great view of a city, apparently on top of a mountain as they noticed the valley down below. The city was quite far up as the clouds floated beneath it. A neatly-trimmed garden sat below the balcony.

"Wherever we are, it's inhabited, and most likely by sentient beings," Pastor said. "I don't think animals live in buildings and make gardens."

"Oh, great, first contact," Mendoza said. "And in the middle of a war? I sort of thought we'd make extraterrestrial contact in, oh, I don't know, space?"

Talbot cleared his throat. "Enough talking, we have a crazy genius to find."

"Right, boss."

The four then continued looking around the castle, silently observing the many guards and the various rooms that they used. They had libraries, kitchens, living quarters, everything you would expect from a perfectly sentient species. There was no trace of Maynard anywhere. The castle was huge and expansive, decorated and ornate, so the Ghosts quickly found themselves turning up no leads.

"Oh, shit..." Mendoza said. "Do you think maybe we ended up somewhere else?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Pastor said. "This portal stuff was always a bit tricky, even in the books."

"Doesn't matter, keep looking," Talbot said, trying to keep his squad's attention. They happened upon a great hall of sorts, of what seemed to be a throne room or a place for royalty to gather and discuss. There was a large white creature of sorts standing at the top, with various guards throughout the room.

"Whoa... is that a...?" Mendoza said.

"A unicorn?" Pastor said disbelievingly. "And with pegasus wings? God, I'm glad we have our cloaking."

"Doesn't look like he's in here either, boss," Raymond said. "He could be anywhere on this planet, for all we know."

The white unicorn being was talking with one of her... assistants about something, then turned her head towards the door that they'd come from. "Please send in the first petitioner!"

"Oh, my God, they speak English," Mendoza gasped. The four quickly cleared out of the hallway as the first pony entered to petition the royal unicorn about issues about farming.

"Well, they don't seem to be any worse for wear for having a monarchy," Pastor said.

"Yeah, well, how the hell are we supposed to know there ain't some crazy Crusades going on out there or something?" Mendoza shot back.

"Mendoza, they're horses... ponies, too small to be horses," Pastor responded. "Pretty sure they can't really use a weapon for crap. Man, what's with their colors?" he said, watching a pink pastel pony that had just entered the throne room after the previous petitioner had left.

"Focus on the mission, guys," Raymond said.

"Come on, we've been searching this place for God knows how long now," Mendoza whined.

"We'll be bound to find him eventually."

"This cloak juice won't run for forever, you know."

"Then we find somewhere to hide."

"Stuck on an alien world and we're going to hide in some broom closet," Mendoza laughed. "That's just real nice."

The four then decided on leaving the throne room and looking for a place to hide when there was the sound of gasps and the sound of an explosion coming from it. Talbot quickly turned around and found a glowing white orb there, suspended in the air. Harvey came walking out of it, stumbling and then rolling on the floor, followed by Maynard, who pranced in with a look of success on his face.

"Ah, a new world! You there, Doctor, you should consider yourself lucky. Do get up, you're making me look bad."

"You crazy--" Maynard kicked Harvey in the face.

"Ah-ah, no talking back." He still had his gun, and pulled Harvey up. The other ponies in the room stood in shock as the pegasus guards surrounded them. "Ah, new creatures of this world. Allow me to demonstrate what I do to those who try to corner me." He fired at the ceiling, and the guards warily jumped back. "Good. So we understand each other."

"Oh, shit," Mendoza said. "Orders, sir? Advise we intervene. Like, right now."

"Do it!" Talbot shouted as he uncloaked. Anvil Squad surrounded Maynard behind the pegasus guards, the guards themselves also pulling a double take at the humans who had just materialized out of nowhere.

"Ah, the spooks. I see you decided to come after me," Maynard said. "No matter." He grabbed Harvey and put the gun to his head. "I'll just make sure you play along with me."

"By order of the United States government, Julius Maynard, I am placing you under arrest."

Maynard laughed his insane laugh again. "Really? And what are you going to do if I disobey, spook? US laws don't hold up in another world, you should know that. I know how much your generals want me alive. I know lots of things, perhaps we could make a trade?" His gun was still pointed at Harvey, who slowly shook his head.

"No deal, Maynard."

"Just what is going on here?" the white unicorn/pegasus boomed, now descending her throne and approaching the spectacle.

"Ah, yes, your, erm, Majesty," Maynard cleared his throat. "I am a dignitary from another world, and these men were sent to kill me by those who would rather not intend my species be able to do so. If you'd be so kind, do you think you could perhaps deal with them?"

"He's lying. This man has committed treason in our world and we're here to bring him in," Talbot countered.

"Oh, and just what would the charges be? Do tell me, I'm actually interested in how long of a list your government has made for me," Maynard said.

"Selling national secrets, working with the enemy, active sabotage, creation of military forces with direct harm of our nation in mind, and attempted assassination of high-tier government personnel."

"That's it? I thought it would be longer."

The royal unicorn stood watching the exchange, not sure what to make of it. The other ponies in the room were loudly chattering among each other, as more guards poured into the room.

"I'm bringing you in one way or another, Maynard. Don't make this hard."

"Hard? Hard?" He laughed again, a manic kind of laugh like you hear from the insane villain in movies. "The world is going to shit. Everyone's launching nukes at each other. I'll be damned if someone as great as myself is going to burn and suffer along with the rest of you for your mistakes."

"So that justifies killing others? Killing innocents?"

"Merely minor inconveniences in my path to freedom from the constrictions of the modern world and the war that others have started."

"You really are a crazed son of a bitch."

"Yes, says the man who murders other men in cold blood," Maynard laughed. "You soldiers and politicians were always so uncouth. Always with the numbers game, about who could get more out of the other without losing too many. Millions are dead on our world by the hands of the men we elected to rule, and you have the nerve to accuse me of murder."

Talbot frowned beneath his balaclava. He was trying to shift the topic. His holographic sight on his MR8 didn't falter, pointing straight at Maynard's head. "Yes, of course, because that somehow makes it right for you to do it."

"Permission to shoot, sir," Raymond's whispered voice said on Talbot's crosscom.

"Denied," Talbot whispered back. "We need him alive if we can."

Maynard looked terrible. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot, darting across the room between each of the Ghosts and the various circling guards in between now. He had to slip up sooner or later, but he wasn't going to agree to anything the Ghosts might put forward. He was too paranoid for that, but that paranoia was quickly becoming a double-edged sword in this conversation.

"Halt and drop your weapons immediately!" There were a lot more guards now, and they now surrounded the Ghosts, Maynard, and the hostage Harvey.

Pastor slightly leaned his head towards them. "We are peacekeeping and law enforcement soldiers from another world. You can stay on guard, but please let us solve this ourselves," he said slowly. "This man is considered mentally unstable in our world. Do not trust him."

Maynard had completely stopped talking now, and was alternating between pointing his gun at the Ghosts and at Harvey. His face was plastered with a look of desperation.

"We can make this work, Maynard. Just come with us," Talbot said. Trying diplomacy just once...

"No, no! You don't know what they know. What they'd do me. You're working for them! I can't trust you!" ...and it didn't work.

"Don't be foolish, Maynard." Talbot lowered his gun slightly and held up his hand. "We can make this work. Don't be foolish."

"How I can I trust you? I can't trust anyone. No one. Not the Americans. Not the Europeans. Not the Russians. Nowhere. You can't help me! Only I can help me! Only I can make it out of that hell alive! And I did make it out alive! You aren't going to take me back, you damn murderers!"

"Don't make this hard on yourself, Maynard, just turn yourself in."

"No! You won't take me! You'll never take me back! Especially not you! Murderers! All of you! You'll die first!" Maynard screamed, pointing his gun at Talbot's head, and pulled the trigger.

A single gunshot rang throughout the throne room.


Maynard's gun dropped from his slack hands, hitting the floor with a metallic thud. His body fell backwards, and his arm loosened. Harvey broke out of his grip and ran towards the Ghosts. Maynard's body hit the ground with a flat thud, blood leaking out of his head.

Talbot looked around, and saw Raymond with smoke still coming out of his MR8.

"Scope..."

"He tried to kill you, so I killed him," he said as a matter-of-fact.

Silence. Then noise, as the guards closed in on the five and surrounded them. The Ghosts held up their weapons in the air as a sign of compliance.

"Whoa, now," Mendoza said, backing away slightly from the guards that were inches away from him.

The royal unicorn/pegasus stood behind her guards, watching them. "And just exactly what manner of events have just unfolded, strange intruders?"

"The execution of a traitor," Raymond spat.

"Scope, let the boss do the talking, okay?" Mendoza hissed.

"Please, let us explain," Talbot said, motioning for the Ghosts to holster their weapons. "We are... uh, beings from another world. One of our own had committed treason in our nation and attempted to escape retribution by trying to travel to another world... somehow... and ended up here... where we were forced to use lethal force to stop him."

The white unicorn/pegasus held her gaze... then closed her eyes. "Very well, I suppose I shall accept that explanation. As for you and your companions, however..."

Mendoza gave out a sigh of relief.

"...throw them in the dungeon."

"What?!" Mendoza snapped his head to her. "Whoa, wait, now, just give us more time and we can--argh, hey, let go! We can explain!" The guard had slapped cuffs on them and began dragging off Pastor, who did nothing, and Raymond, who flailed like a fish out of water, cursing as they tried to pull him out of the room.

Talbot looked at her as the guards slapped cuffs on him.

"You may explain later, intruder, but I will not have you disturbing my court while it is in session," she answered.

"Very well. I'll explain later," he plainly said. "But I have a question."

"Yes?"

"What are you?"

"I am an alicorn, and I am the Princess of this land. You may call me Princess Celestia."

"I... see. Then I shall be speaking with you later." She nodded in response, and then returned to her throne.

The guards didn't drag Talbot off, but merely escorted him to the dungeon at the Princess's orders. Talbot felt pretty good about himself not getting his squad killed. Yet, in any case.


"Damn. This is exactly what I didn't want," Mendoza muttered, pacing around his . They were now in prison cells in the dungeon, each one of them separated from the other.

"And what would that be?" Pastor asked, sitting against a wall, hands cuffed.

"Ending up in jail! I promised my mom that I wouldn't end up in jail, ever! Shit, man, this sucks so bad..."

Pastor and Raymond had to stifle a laugh, and even Talbot had to admit he found it kind of funny.

"Uh... excuse me?" Harvey asked from the corner of his cell.

"Yes, Doctor?" Talbot moved to the gate of his cell to speak with Harvey, who was just opposite him.

"Just... who are you?"

"United States Army, special forces. Ghost Recon."

"Oh... oh!" Harvey said, obviously having heard of them before. "Well... I apologize that we met under these circumstances. I am Doctor Alan Harvey. Do you men, uh, perhaps have a way back home?"

"Nope. It was a one-way trip, Doctor. Sorry."

"I had thought as much. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if we don't find a way back home, not unless we could build our own Rift machine on an opposite side. But this world clearly doesn't have the technological proficiency to produce such things."

"And on top of that subject, what's up with this place?" Mendoza asked.

Harvey shook his head. "I do not know myself. Such an infinite possibilities of worlds hold an infinite possibilities of creatures, sentient or otherwise. I suppose that we can consider ourselves lucky that we happened to find a world that just so happened to speak our language and had the same type of air that we breathe, though I'm not sure if it contains minute differences that could produce complications in the long run."

"We'll just have to deal with it," Talbot said. "How is it that we can understand these creatures?"

Harvey gave a smile. "Well, now that I cannot explain. Perhaps there's a type of pathogen in the air that can translate, or some technology or magic stone around that translates for us. Or maybe it just so turns out that they actually speak our language. Funny things about the universe, you know. These things can always happen, even if by a slim margin."

They heard a large heavy door open as a pegasus guard entered the cell block. "Her Majesty will see you now."

"Oh, finally!" Mendoza shouted.

"Not you." The guard looked at Talbot. "You will be the one to speak to her."

Talbot got to his feet as the guard unlocked his door and took his handcuffs off. "Lead the way." The guard nodded and pointed at the door. Talbot exited as the guard followed him out and closed the door behind them.

"Save us, boss! You're our only hope!" shouted Mendoza as the door slammed shut.