Andrew sat at a computer in the Agency’s library as he waited for his partner to return. He looked at the clock as he realized his time was very limited on the database of the THPA. Andrew thought it was because they didn’t want him to find sensitive material. As he skimmed through the introductory files, he noticed a folder named ‘Equestria’. He was intrigued by the title and opened the folder.
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1826: First Contact.
Summarized by Sir Jacob Frederickson
Documented by Captain Abraham Riel: 1826
Our agency, following a group of pioneers on their way westward, had to take shelter from a storm in a valley. We entered a settlement of what appeared to be natives, however they did not act like the average savages we had encountered before. This had metal tools and organized structures, they even took to us and helped our group. A strange marking appeared on their shoulders, different from one another. They were of different races and wore very little clothing, most of which was made of plant fibers. We believed they were savages, however they acted civilized and even had written manuscripts. As we inspected their diet we saw it consisted of mostly fruit and grains, none of them ate meat. This was awkward when our men offered them jerky.
To our amazement the visitors seemed to speak our language, or at least a language similar to ours. Their manuscripts were written in a rune styled script which made it difficult for us to learn more about them. The maps they had of our world were unreadable and confusing to our partners as they could not tell which way the map was facing.
Our men often tried to communicate with them, however they felt confused over the use of equine nouns in everyday words. They used the phrase ‘every pony’, rather than ‘everybody’ or ‘every one’. Markus, one of the travelers, felt so irritated by this that he assaulted one of the visitors. I had to explain that they were still learning our language and they probably were told this as a joke, a lie my team had to uphold until the end of their stay.
As soon as the storm passed, the travelers headed west, but I stayed behind along with a handful of members from our agency. We believed to have found a portal to another world. Upon further investigation the visitors explained that they came from a portal known as the Moon Stone. This portal only opened near full moons and, to our understanding, changed them from equine creatures to human upon transportation. Upon further explanations they taught us that unlike this world, their world was one where dragons and other legendary creatures lived. This was a historical find for us.
They appear to have been horses with mystic powers in their world and had come to ours to originally research our world. Unfortunately they took it as a spot for family trips and holiday. Families had began to visit our world for pleasure. We explained the dangers of what had been happening to the natives and told them to carefully retreat. For their safety they retreated, however a few of the guardians stayed to help us create our depot to protect the portal.
We petitioned headquarters to send men to our aid in disguising the Moon Stone as a new settlement. We were sent settlers and to our location in with the guise of fertile soil. A settlement named Dewford was founded in 1863 as a farming community in the valley. The portal itself is in a mountain five miles northeast from the border of ranch. Our base is just five hundred yards from the portal as to not raise suspicion. My final request is we investigate their world before we can claim them friend or foe.
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Andrew was intrigued by the history of this location. However, he was confused by the name ‘Equestria’. It sounded similar to something he may had heard on TV. He continued to move on as he felt a childlike curiosity about this world.
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1908: Entrance
Told by Markus Wie
After many ventures into the portal in the past, none have been able stay longer than three minutes. The portal has some strange properties as it transforms the traveler into whatever creature they most closely represent, mainly horses and other livestock. The change was too much for our explorers.
Last month’s venture had a bit of success as we made contact. A young mare by the name of Annie Smith promised to have some provisions ready for us, along with some guides. We took some equipment with us, including a camera, test tubes for samples, and cartography tools. Some took weapons with them just in case. I advised against it but they were persistent. Our preparations were made and the portal opened and we passed through. There were six of us: Dr. James Cambridge, Dr. Leroy Michaels, Sergeant First Class Joannes Rogers, Corporal Henry Briggs, Photographer Griffin Deans and myself.
From personal experience, the sensation was strange when we were transformed. It took a while to get the taste of anomaly out of my mouth. When I opened my eyes I could sense something was wrong, I looked around to see my partners had turned into colorful horses with markings on our flanks. Mine was a scroll and a quill. I had a horn on my head which by their understanding made me a unicorn. We were each of different races, it appeared.
We were greeted by a rather small group of guards. The Sergeant tried to draw his weapon, but it was useless with the hooves we were given. However, the guards didn’t have any problem as the held their spears with a glowing essence which they later told us was Unicorn magic. The Sergeant was confused by all this and stood his ground.
Soon the guards parted as their ambassador and princess came to inspect us in full armor. She introduced herself as Princess Celestia and told us not to worry as we were in safe hands. The guards took our camera equipment and proceeded to inspect the lenses. After a quick explanation of what they were, they were intrigued by our technology. The Princess led us into town and we were greeted by a multitude of colorful horses of all shapes and size.
We had a small dinner of oats and fruits. The Sergeant scared the townsfolk when he asked if he could get some meat. They quickly explained that they were herbivores, which was an amazement to the men. I could understand, they are horses. We were then taken to a cottage to rest where I found that one of our cameras and rifles were missing. The Princess explained that they were taken to be studied, as they were fascinated by the technology. I was worried, since our autochrome sates were in the bag was in that camera.
For the first few days we traveled across town inspecting the works of our new neighbors. They were quite humble in their works. However, one thing that upset our men was something I pointed out. We were told that the females were the dominant gender of the culture. While the males were important in industry and the hard work force, the females were dominating with décor, social activities, and political jobs. I met the mayor and I was surprised it as a mare.
The mayor told me that it is common for a mare to be head of the decision making, however the stallions would rather work with their muscles than their brains. It didn’t help that our men spent the day to rile the stallions up only to find out they get paid more for doing hard work than they would if they were party planners or mayor. The Sergeant was detained, as we were told by the guardsmen, and this didn’t come to a surprise for me. He was protesting over the the gender differences. To add insult to injury he was restrained by a female guard. He did not like that.
Their language was also strange. While they spoke English, thanks to the teaching they received from Sir Frederickson, they used pronouns that use the word “Pony” in place of “body”, “people”, or “person”. This was confusing and challenging when we talked about our home lives with them.
After my report on the social structure was done I headed to find a family fitting for my study. I found one which had some potential. The Apple family, as they called themselves, were a model example of a family unit in this world. I followed them to the outskirts of town into an orchard. There I found how the families worked. The parents took turns raising the children. The father worked hard during the day to return to tell the children stories by dark and hold the family together emotionally.
Weekends were three days long and the families took the time to have fun. According the father the farm hands have set schedules to work during the four day week. Working the weekend was optional in most businesses as stated by Equestrian law. Marriage laws were also strange; it seems they do not differentiate between who gets married as long as the love is real. There were race mixing and even inter species between deer and horse, cow and sheep; the Sergeant was appalled. As a Christian man I found it strange that two males could form a union,. I had a few problems accepting it but the agency clearly states to “expect the unexpected.” I tried to hold it in as much as i could.
The month passed quickly and we managed to survive. Our camera was returned after “magical dissection” and they showed us a prototype for their own. I believe that with magic, things can advance faster. One thing we noticed was that we formed an appetite for hay and oats. When we returned home the doctors told us it was probably a reaction to changing into horses, when we get visitors they tend to get cravings for meat and it shocks their minds. Living our life as a vegetarian is strange when you feel tempted to eat your fellow animals.
This is a summarized report; the full report is in the archives.
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Andrew sat back as he saw the guards enter the room.
“Time’s up,” they said as they turned off his computer. With tactful force, he was escorted out of the room and pushed out as the doors were shut behind him.
Andrew felt confused as he checked his watched and saw he had still half an hour in with of computer use. He believed they were hiding something but chose not to fight it. He headed out to his car. Along the way, he met up with his partner.
“Didn’t got too well, did it?” Natalie asked in jest.
“It’s like they don’t want us digging in here,” Andrew replied.
“They’re at the end of their rope and they know it. I found enough reason to get them dissolved.” Natalie replied with grim pleasure.
“Did you send the report?”
“Got a reply. They’ll be here next week on standby until their investigation goes haywire.” She said with hope, “our job here is almost done; now I just need to wait for the next slip-up and we will take them down.”
“I don’t think he will go down without a fight.” He replied with worry.
“Why”?
“I don’t know. After what he’s pulled in the past ten years, I think he is a ticking time bomb.” He replied with his hand on his forehead.
“Listen, why don’t you just relax? Take a break, after all tomorrow is Sunday. Just take a break, visit your brother, or go out on the town. I’ll be in my hotel finishing the report.”
Andrew let out a sigh. “You're right. I’ve been working too hard for the year, I need a small breather. I’ll call my brother and see if he wants to change our appointment.”
"And Drew." She let out a final word, "You take care of yourself as well. I know he is the only family you have left, but you still treat yourself badly after the accident three years ago. Be careful and don't hurt yourself."
John turned to think of what she said. He spent years being sorry for himself. the anger of his father damaged him and he tried his hardest not to follow it.
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Back in the main office, Oswald looked through his monitor at the outside parking lot footage. Andrew got into his car and left with Natalie following him. A call came in and Oswald answered.
“Yes,” he answered.
“We got a breach,” said the officer on the other end, “half our classified information has been streamed to Washington. They took Sea Breeze along with it.”
“Damn it!” Oswald slammed his fist down in anger. “That file should have been destroyed.”
“What do we do?” The officer asked.
After a deep breath, Oswald made a daring decision. “Follow them, make sure they don’t stray too far from your sight. And tell White to fire up the servers for failsafe Gamma.”
“Sir?” The officer sounded worried.
“That’s an order, lakie!” he shouted. After he hung up the call he contemplated on his plan like a chess game in his head. He seemed ready to flip the board.