Equestria, in route to Forest east of Foal Mountains; Unknown Location, 6:35 pm, 8th July 20xx, Night, Weather: Stormy
As the journey continued, Jaden had to wonder if they would ever reach their destination. He knew it would take some time to reach the rendezvous site but didn’t think it would take most of the day. Considering the fact that their pilot had been dodging storm clouds all this time, he supposed it couldn’t be helped. Surrounding him in the cramped confines of the chariot were the rest of his team, dressed much like himself in specially constructed form fitting black tactical armor.
The armor was new and resembled, at least in Jaden’s opinion, military grade bullet proof vests with shin guards and helmets with what he guessed were specially constructed video cameras built in. Another unique feature of the armor was its ability to easily hold multiple ballistic based weapons, constructed from designs found within the Enrichment Center, without said weapons becoming detached from it without the wearers consent. For the rest of the squad, the armor covered their chests and front half of their bodies. Meanwhile, said weapons were currently secured to a separate wall; awaiting their arrival at the staging site.
Much like the armor they wore, the chariot was a newer design that looked, in Jaden’s opinion, like a Huey Bell helicopter without rotors. Although he had no idea how it functioned, given his history with the aviation industry back on earth, Jaden was certain he could fly the craft without difficulty. The only reason he hadn’t commandeered this one was because he didn’t want to rob their current pegasus pilot of his or her duty. Of course, like most of his team, Jaden was beginning to suspect their pilot was lost.
It probably didn’t help matters that sitting somewhere behind them, a portable CD boom box was playing tunes at a deafening volume. In fact, anyone speaking had to shout in order to be heard. Of course none of the group spoke as they continued to watch the falling rain amid the setting sun. Jaden noted dryly that most of the trip had passed without much interest as he and the others had spent their time staring out the side windows at the falling rain. Surprisingly, most of the songs that were playing were familiar to him. The current one happened to be none other than 'Long Tall Sally'. The allusion of his current situation wasn’t lost on Jaden as it reminded him of something he’d seen in a movie about a sneaky alien and commandos once back home.
The briefing they’d received about the situation before departure hadn’t exactly provided many details. All they knew was that a series of bizarre and rather grisly murders and disappearances were occurring in the forest surrounding the isolated community of Hollow Shades. As he understood it, the forest surrounding the community had been declared off limits to all civilians, angering most of the locals. They were supposed to link up with another R.R.T.S. team along the way called ‘Zeta squad’ and a detachment of Equestria Military Response Force, or EMRF for short, troops.
Jaden grinned to himself as he recalled the nickname given to his own team; ‘Reaper squad’.
Once assembled, the task force was supposed to find out what was causing the murders of every pony or other unfortunate creature and eliminate it. As they traveled, Jaden couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. If he recalled correctly, some of the victims had been killed in animal attacks. His musing was interrupted by the pilot reporting that they were about to land. As if on cue, Zander silently shut off the stereo and the squad collected their gear.
Although they were all armed with sidearms, combat knives, and a variant of the M41A Pulse Rifle; each member carried an additional weapon. Zan’s preferred load out addition included a combat shotgun. Jaden half suspected said pegasus colt would have chosen a smart gun if such a weapon had existed. Tess meanwhile, brandished her trademark modified SR-25 sniper-rifle. Jaden however, wielded his trademark modified M-32 Combustible Lemon Launcher known affectionately as the ‘bunny stomper’, or as he now liked to call it ‘Angel 2.0’. The rest of the team carried a variant of the MP-5K.
Sometimes, Jaden found himself amused that the yoke-like set-up that draped across a pony’s shoulders, and found on the weapons recovered from the Enrichment Center, had been adopted for use on the newer models used by all the members of the equestrian military; particularly by the wire setup used within the trigger mechanism. Returning to his seat, Jaden readjusted the extra parcel he had with him. The only reason he brought the gift he’d received that morning was because he hadn’t yet had the chance to open it and was curious to see what it was. Knowing the hyperactive pink pony that had sent it, Jaden knew that quite literally anything could come out of the box.
Minutes later, the chariot touched down and the team disembarked. As the craft took to the air and flew off, Jaden noted that the field they’d been deposited in was several acres across from where they stood to the nearby forest. On a hill some thirty meters away stood an old barn. Turning, he could see the others were as confused as he felt. Fortunately, the rain had subsided to a moderate sprinkle although it looked like another heavy downpour could begin at any moment.
“We are sooo lost.” Tess grumbled.
“Well, don’t look at me. I wasn’t driving!” Jaden retorted quickly.
“Nor was I!” Zander piped up.
“The rendezvous point is fifteen miles north east of our current location.” Selena remarked from a micro-computer attached to Jaden’s right arm.
“Let’s just get this over with as I’d rather not stay in this mess any longer than absolutely necessary.” Fiora growled irritably.
As she continued speaking, Cameron sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. Jaden meanwhile, couldn’t help grinning to himself as the prissy pegesis’s mannerisms and lifting inflection reminded him of a certain purple maned unicorn he knew.
“After all, if I’m forced to do so… someponies will likely have wingboners.”
“Well, wet manes do make a mare attractive.” Zander contributed cheerily.
“You’re not helping!” Fiora squealed indignantly.
“What can I say... I’m a dude!” Zander retorted before the group burst into laughter.
Once the group had sufficiently recovered, Jaden pointed out the barn as he spoke.
“We can take shelter from the storm in there and continue in the morning.”
The others murmured in agreement and the group set off toward the barn. Soon after, they were exploring the forlorn structure. As they continued their inspection it became apparent that the building hadn’t been used in quite some time. A thick layer of dust coated every visible surface. It wasn’t much different upon the upper loft except for a dozen or so bales of mildewed hay.
“Oh, eww… this place is crawling with rats!” Fiora shrieked.
“Aww, c'mon ya wuss!” Cameron snapped, earning a swift angry glare from her sister while the others snickered.
As they all began to calm down the sound of a much heavier downpour caused everyone to exchange speculative glances as they began stashing their gear and relocated to the upper loft. Fortunately, the search had yielded several functional lanterns to use so they would have ample light as they settled in for the night. After lighting the lanterns, the group took seats and quietly dug into their rations. Once the meal was over, they cast one another jaded glances.
“Well, now what?” Cameron asked, rolling her eyes in sheer boredom.
Jaden was once again reminded of the gift Pinkie Pie had sent him. He supposed now was as good a time as any to find out what it was. Rising to his feet, Jaden smirked to himself at the bemused looks the others shot him as he fetched the box. Quickly returning, he placed the box on the floor beside a hay bale and took a seat as the others moved closer for a better view.
“Aww, what’s in the box?” Zander crowed.
“What’s in the box?” Jaden retorted with a grin.
“Well, let’s find out shall we?” he continued as he removed and opened an attached note.
The note turned out to be a letter from Pinkie Pie that detailed everything she and the others were up to while simultaneously congratulating him on his success and wishing him well. The letter went on to say that the contents of the accompanying package was something she’d put together as a token of their friendship and how she hoped he would enjoy it.
Chuckling to himself, Jaden found the whole thing bizarrely sweet as he pasted the letter to the others, many of whom cooed warmly as they read it, and focused on the box.
“My friend, it seems Hearth's Warming Eve came early for ya.” Shadow remarked casually.
Jaden laughed as he tore into the box and placed its contents on the hay bale before him. When he was finished, what appeared to be eight brightly colored pony dolls, each five inches tall excluding the mauve colored alicorn which was an inch taller, sat before them. And they weren’t just any old dolls. Rather they were highly detailed hoof-painted replicas of a specific group of ponies. The two pegasi and the alicorn even had flexible wings. Jaden blinked in bewilderment as he and the others picked up various dolls for a closer look; trying to figure out the connection.
“Well, this is different.” Cameron muttered while examining a cyan colored, rainbow maned pegasus with a pair of black horns on its head.
“I guess she forgot I was a dude.” Jaden replied with a shrug.
Looking on, he watched Tess carefully examine a butter yellow pegasus with a red and white striped top hat and miss-matched eyes. He had to admit they were extremely well made and wondered how Pinkie had managed to make the dolls so life-like as he refocused his attention on the one in his own hand; a white colored unicorn mare with a pink mane and a purplish colored beret.
“I suppose they could always make interesting paperweights.” he continued.
“Is this friend of yours an artist?” Fiora asked as she returned the doll she was examining to the hay bale.
“She’s a baker actually.” Tess explained for him.
“Really?” Zander remarked in surprise.
Jaden suddenly realized why the dolls seemed familiar as he replaced the doll he’d been examining with another one that looked like a blue coated unicorn mare with a platinum colored mane, a pink streak running along its length. As he continued to examine the doll, Jaden had the sudden unusual urge to consume a ‘Twix’ bar. He had no idea why.
“How do you think Pinkie managed to create these cause I’ve never shown her any of those videos.” he remarked.
The others merely shrugged in reply as Shadow spoke up.
“The only question now is what we should do with ‘em.”
Looking up from his examination, Jaden noted that Cameron and Zander were exchanging amused looks before the olive colored pegasus suddenly scooted closer to Tess and leaned toward her.
“Soooo…” said pegasus began in a leading voice.
Tess blinked at him in bewilderment.
“So… what?”
“So, got any new magic tricks you can show us?”
“Yeah, you must have something we haven’t seen before, right?” Cameron cut in from Tess’s other shoulder.
“Uh, I don’t do tricks.” Tess countered.
“Aww, c'mon you know what we mean…” Zander retorted.
“What this dunce is trying to say is… would you care to demonstrate a spell for us?” Cameron cut in.
“Well, I don’t know…” Tess replied uncertainly.
“I mean… it’s a new spell, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to…” she continued.
“Ooo… so, there is a new spell!” Zander interjected.
“Well, yeah. I haven’t practiced it yet, though.” Tess snapped.
Jaden snorted in amusement as the conversation continued.
“Is it dangerous?” Cameron asked, even more interested now.
“No, it shouldn’t be… it’s just a general principle that if you’re sure nothing can go wrong with a new spell, you need to think again.” Tess replied.
“Although I won’t stop you, I don’t advise the current course of action.” Selena cut in.
“Do it!” Jaden spoke up.
He grinned as the rest of the team slowly turned to him with mixed emotions on their faces. His grin only grew as Cameron and Zander began begging Tess to perform the spell; prompting the alicorn to blush and turn away.
“Do it you wimp!”
Jaden laughed as Tess gaped at him over a chorus of snickers.
“I am not a wimp!” she howled indignantly.
Jaden just shrugged in reply; continuing to smirk in amusement as he did so. Checking his watch, Jaden noted that the time was 7:05 pm. After a pause, Tess spoke up.
“Oi… fine! I’ll do it!”
“Just keep in mind though that there’s a chance nothing interesting will happen. I might not get it right the first time.” she continued.
Looking on, Jaden watched as all the dolls were placed in a line on the hay bale. He and the rest of the squad quietly gathered around as Tess then crouched down to bring her eyes level with the dolls; horn softly glowing as she charged up.
“Okay, everypony stand back a bit.” Tess warned without looking back at them.
Murmuring in agreement, the group scooted back a short distance from the hay bale, exchanging excited grins.
“Alright, let’s see…” Tess murmured softly.
The next few minutes were complicated.
As the glow on Tess’s horn intensified, Jaden noted bright points of light shining from the toy ponies; each a different color. With frightful clarity, he was aware of a ghostly shimmer blooming around the bale and the toys. After a few moments, the glow subsided and nothing else seemed to happen. The group exchanged confused looks.
Tess looked like she was about to say something when the world around them suddenly exploded.