Equestria, Canterlot, 6:00 am, 8th July 20xx, Morning, Weather: Clear
Jaden awoke with a start. Gasping, he sat up and looked around the apartment he shared with Tess as he tried to figure out what had awoken him from a sound sleep. On the other side of the room, he could see the caramel colored alicorn with piercing green eyes sleeping soundly. Given the fact that Tess was actually a robo-pony, Jaden had to wonder if she had dreams. She was also the only omnivorous pony he’d ever met. If it weren’t for different colored furry coats, he could almost swear that she and a certain neurotic librarian were twins. They even had the same mane and tail color; indigo with a pink streak running along its length.
It had only been a few months since he’d been transported to a world from a cartoon about talking ponies after playing a video game. During that time, one of the friends he’d made, said librarian, had been transformed into an alicorn and appointed as a new princess. Jaden still wasn’t entirely used to the change any more than Twilight herself was. It was perhaps fortunate that Princess Celestia allowed him to retain his human form while living within the region cause now he was enrolled in the equestrian military and in charge of a squad of commando ponies in a newly created division called the “Rapid Response Tactical Squad” or “R.R.T.S.” for short.
The new organization’s task was to combat terrorism and other forms of hostiles should a threat ever arise beyond the scope of what other military units were capable of handling. While there were only a few R.R.T.S. teams available at the moment, they were composed of the best soldiers the equestrian military had to offer. The chief stallion in charge of the division and Jaden’s immediate superior was Master Sergeant Paranvilcora. Curiously, the Master Sergeant had served with Jaden’s uncle in the military sometime prior to an odd accident that had transported him to Equestria and turned him into a pony.
Besides himself, his own squad was composed of his close friend Tess, an olive colored pegasus colt with a black spiky mane named Zander, a white colored unicorn colt with a black crew cut mane named Shadow, a cyan colored pegasus mare with hazel eyes, a fiery orange mane, and a sassy disposition, who bore a striking resemblance to a certain rainbow maned pegasus mare, named Cameron, and another female pegasus mare with amber eyes, a blonde mane, and an evening blue colored coat, who resembled a cross between a young Nightmare Moon and that little pegasus filly that seemed to follow Rainbow Dash around, named Fiora.
It was no secret that the pegasus mares were actually siblings.
Rounding out the team was a digital pony named Selena. If he recalled correctly, the scientists had discovered a great deal of useful technology within the previously hidden Equestrian Science Magic-aided Enrichment Center and Princess Celestia had volunteered to test the new, and frankly controversial, brain mapping procedure. The results of that procedure had been Selena’s creation. Curiously, Selena physically resembled a cross between Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis, with a stronger emphasis on the changeling queen, but had the voice and personality of Cortana from the Halo franchise. She was also very much aware of her origin.
Within the squad, Tess was serving as the team’s sniper. Zander was a weapons and demolitions specialist who was also fond of pulling pranks. Fiora was a surveillance specialist and the team’s medic while Cameron served as a scout. Much like Zander, the cyan pegasus was rather fond of pulling pranks. Shadow meanwhile, was a tech and communications specialist and Selena often assisted him in that area. Sometimes Jaden found himself still questioning if he was experiencing a bizarre dream considering all the events that had led to him leading the unit.
Shaking his head and unable to go back to sleep, Jaden slowly climbed to his feet and checked the nearby alarm clock; surprised to see the time displayed was 6:00 am. Snorting incredulously, Jaden stumbled to the downstairs kitchen to get a glass of water.
Soon after, he entered the living room and approached a large flat screen TV that Selena had somehow managed to fetch for them; endlessly pleased and more than a little uncertain how the digital pony had managed to teleport the device along with his video game console and collection of games since such items weren’t common in the land. Turning both the TV and the game console on, Jaden knew he had plenty of time to devote to a session of gaming since he and Tess didn’t have to report in for work until 8:00 am.
Searching through his sizable collection of games, Jaden remembered how crazy it often got when the other members of his squad were present. Cameron in particular had shown particular interest in the console and Jaden suspected he’d created a gamer. If he recalled correctly, his Ponyville friends were currently tasked with testing a new device that was based on his game console. Smirking to himself, Jaden couldn’t help wondering how that was working out.
After making his selection and loading the system, Jaden took a seat in front of the TV and retrieved a controller, loading a saved game in the process, when he heard the familiar warped hum that signaled the arrival of the apartment’s third resident into the land of the living who apparently wished to speak with him. Turning, he saw Selena quietly observing him. Due to her unique appearance, Jaden wasn’t sure if she was an alicorn or not. He was also rather intrigued by the way Selena was able to easily manipulate physical objects even though she was not actually a flesh and blood pony.
“Having trouble sleeping?” she asked lightly.
“I’m not sure what woke me up.” he replied.
“Hey, did I ever thank you for retrieving my game console and games?” Jaden asked after a pause.
“You did.” Selena replied, taking a seat in a nearby chair.
Silence fell between them as Jaden focused on his game.
“Is there anything special going on that I should know about?” he asked suddenly.
“The weather is going to be stormy this afternoon but aside from local reports coming in from the town of Hollow Shades regarding unusual disappearances nothing of considerable interest is happening.” Selena replied.
“Oh, a package arrived for you late yesterday afternoon from your friend Pinkie Pie.” she added quickly.
Pausing the game, Jaden turned toward the small table in the center of the room and spotted a brightly wrapped box he hadn’t noticed before.
“What is it?” he asked, turning his gaze back to his companion.
The amused smirk the digital pony wore indicated that she knew what it was but refused to speak on the matter.
Jaden let out an amused snort as he turned his attention back to the game.
“The longer I stay here and the more I see… the less I understand.” he muttered.
“That’s not surprising considering your background.” Selena retorted.
“After all, trying to explain the complex physics required to perform a rift transfer to those unfamiliar with the practice would be similar to attempting to explain how cybernetic ponies can use magic.”
Jaden stopped what he was doing and blinked as he turned and cocked an eyebrow at her. He didn’t know what a rift transfer was but assumed it was some sort of fancy teleportation spell. Something else about the conversation didn’t make sense and Jaden noted that Selena was continuing to stare at him amused.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“Just be grateful she isn’t as studious in her studies as some other ponies.” Selena answered with a smirk.
Jaden snickered and shuddered in reply as he recalled the numerous occasions Tess had threatened to kill him; particularly when he referred to her by her nick name; ‘Twilight 2.0’.
“After all, I was tasked with making sure the two of you play nice and stay out of trouble.” she continued.
“Is that like some sorta hidden directive-thing?” Jaden asked.
“Perhaps.”
Jaden blinked again as he caught onto the second half of the conversation.
“Wait, what trouble?”
Selena’s smirk only grew as she cocked an eyebrow at him.
“I took the liberty of reviewing the footage from your previous experiences in the
Enrichment Center and am quite aware of what the two of you are capable of.”
Jaden snorted again as he returned his attention to the game. Soon after, an extended silence fell between the pair. The silence was eventually broken by a strange sound that reminded Jaden of one of Spike’s belches made underwater. Turning, he saw Selena staring blankly into space while the sound was happening. Moments later, her eyes refocused on him with a stoic expression on her face.
“Incoming message.” she said.
Seconds later, a globe of vibrant amber light popped into being above the table. Without hesitation, Selena levitated the scroll that quickly materialized over to Jaden before he even had time to blink. Accepting the scroll, Jaden quickly unfurled it and discovered that they’d been given new orders.
He and Selena exchanged curious glances.
“Well, this is interesting.” Jaden remarked.
“It seems we’ve just been ordered to assist in the investigation happening in the region surrounding Hollow Shades.”
“When do we leave?”
“As soon as we check in and grab our gear.”