“Let me be the first to welcome you to Equestria.”
With those words, Cole knew that the incidents in New York and its surrounding areas had not been a fiction. He’d looked into it, of course. He’d even taken some jobs in the months afterwards ferrying supplies into the affected areas, more due to the fact that certain parties refused to enter the affected zones, even after most of the damage was cleaned up.
One of his more conspiracy-theory oriented clients had insisted that the incident involved the cast members of some children’s cartoon, at least in passing. After doing more research, Cole was forced to agree. It seemed that the six principal members of that show’s cast actually existed, although where they had come from, and where they had gone after their appearance had remained a mystery, a mystery Cole had now at least partially solved.
A logical extension of that premise was that the creatures he now saw outside his vehicle, standing to his left, also called wherever the “ponies” that had been seen in New York had come from, home. He’d researched the basic premise of the show, and its core cast, more out of a need to be informed regarding the existence of creatures which had up until that point been relegated to the realms of a children’s fantasy, and now had been definitively proven to exist, than out of any love for the show, or desire to meet them, or any other creatures of their ilk.
Lyra stared across at the human in the driver’s seat. The blue glow of the instrument panel threw his face into sharp relief, and made the planes of his face harsh. His expression was blank, like a sphinx, but she could see the thoughts racing behind his eyes in the way his hands flexed once, and the way his shoulders shifted.
“Well, this is unexpected, but a job’s a job. Where’s the package I’m supposed to be moving?” he began.
After a brief moment of surprise at his professionalism, Lyra realized that Cole was keeping his unease at the current state of affairs in check by falling back into his “professional” persona, and simply taking events as they happened. He was clearly one of those rare kinds of persons who could deal with the unexpected almost instinctually, and process what had actually happened later, when his reactions would have less immediate consequences.
“We’re going to meet with some pon-people who will explain the situation, and give you your final instructions.”
“I take it GPS is not an option here?” At her puzzled look, he nodded sharply, and adjusted one of the extra screens that surrounded his instrument cluster. “There, I've set up an inertial trace. Will I need to find my way back here, or will there be a gate or portal to send me home at my destination?”
“A route back to your world will be provided when you arrive. Please, let’s go talk to the Professor, and her associates.”
With a curt nod, Cole put the car in park, and switched off the headlights, leaving the engine, and running lights engaged. He then unbuckled, and stepped out, Lyra mirroring his actions on the other side. As he stepped out, Cole kept the vehicle’s door open, allowing the bright interior lights to wash out around him, as he waited for his brief passenger to make introductions.
Lyra hurried over to the group standing off to the vehicle’s forward left. It consisted of four ponies, and one thestral, the latter clad in the armor of one of Princess Luna’s Night Guard. The ponies were fairly unique, but each sported the look of archaeologists, or other explorers. The obvious leader was a gray-maned earth pony mare wearing a tan bush jacket, which contrasted with her cobalt blue coat, and frame-less glasses perched on the end of her muzzle. Her cutie mark was of a stone tablet. The young Pegasus stallion on her left sported a telescope on his flank, and also wore a bush jacket, not as visible against his dark earth coat in this light, but still visible. The third member was a slightly taller than average unicorn mare, with a cutie mark of a crossed pickax and shovel, showing up clear against her vibrant orange coat. She wore no jacket, but instead a poncho with its hood thrown back.
As Lyra approached, she bent down slightly to offer greetings. “Professor Stone, I've brought along our transporter.”
“I trust the human has been briefed?” the Professor responded curtly.
“Yes, he knows the specs of the item, and has agreed to transport it.”
“Good.”
With that, Lyra turned, and addressed Cole. “Mr. Cole, this is Professor Rosetta Stone, and her two assistants Spyglass, and Earth Mover.” She didn't bother to introduce the Night Guard, and he didn't bother to introduce himself either. Mentally Cole noted the presence of all four equines, and then focused on the large trunk-like case that sat beside them.
“I take it this is the package?” he asked, indicating the case. “Seems a bit smaller than I expected.” He quickly glanced at the equine’s feet/hooves, and then realized his mistake. “Nevermind.”
“Mr. Cole,” The Professor began. “I trust you understand the nature of your assignment? This case must be delivered to the royal archives in Canterlot by sunup. Earth Mover here will be accompanying you, as well as Sergeant Stormcloud.”
Cole mentally calculated the space he had available, and answered. “That’s fine, I understand the need for additional security. And my payment?”
Wordlessly, the unicorn levitated a bag of bits to him. Cole took the bag, and placed it in the utility well in the driver’s side door. “Thanks, consider the package as good as delivered.”
“See that it is.” The Professor finished, and stalked off, her Pegasus assistant trailing behind, having never said a word.
“Sorry about that.” Lyra said apologetically. “She’s like that with everyone.” I’ll be back on the other side with the other half of your fee, and some information for if we need your services again.” With that, she turned, and walked back through the arch behind the car. Cole saw her go in a brief ripple of the surrounding air. Turning to his new passengers, he allowed himself a small, sardonic grin. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Cole turned to his new passengers. “Ok, let’s get the package loaded.” Turning, he opened the rear driver’s side door, and then reached down into the driver’s door, and triggered the trunk release. Walking around to the trunk, he withdrew floor supports, and a support cradle, which he then installed in the back seat, creating a stable platform for the case, while leaving a space for one of the ponies in the seat right behind him. Finishing, he turned to see the unicorn (“Earth Mover”) had picked up the case, and was waiting expectantly, it being held in the orange-yellow glow of her magical grip. After a brief moment of consideration, Cole stepped back, and let the unicorn place the case in the obvious position atop the support frame.
As she stepped back, Cole stepped into the space she’d vacated, and strapped the case down, then he gestured to the Sergeant. “Sergeant, you can ride next to the package, if that’s your preference.”
“Thanks.” The thestral replied, and stepped into the compartment, after a moment, he sat on the cushion on his haunches, and hooked the door handle, drawing it closed with an authoritative “clunk”. Cole took note of how the Sergeant’s armor allowed him to move, yet still protected his vital areas, as well as the bladed sheaths he wore on his front hooves, and nodded silently to himself. Here was someone who could be counted on to protect the package if things got dicey…
Now, there was the professor’s assistant, who was now eyeing the softly rumbling vehicle with what Cole could only mentally describe as “trepidation”. Cole turned to her, and gestured around the side. “Come on, I’ll open your door.” With a short glance at the human, she followed him as he made his way to the passenger door, and opened it. After another momentary glance at the vehicle’s brightly lit interior, and the pulsating orange light at the lower corner of the passenger side door, Earth Mover climbed into the passenger seat.
Once she had settled down, Cole shut her door, and then walked around to his own door, entered, and took his seat. As the cabin lights faded, he switched on the two map lights up front, and turned to his two passengers.
“Ok, so here’s how this works. This vehicle can travel up to 200 kilometers per hour. 250 if things get dicey. But for safety’s sake, you’ll need to use the safety belts at your positions.”
He demonstrated by fastening his own seatbelt. After a moment, the unicorn mimicked his actions with her magic, drawing the webbed fabric strap across her body, so that the lap belt covered her front hooves, and the diagonal strap went across her chest. After a brief study, Earth Mover correctly determined how to slot the buckle into its receptacle.
“If it’s all the same to you Sir, I’ll stay loose. Better to keep the package safe, should we come under attack.” The Sergeant demurred. “Besides, I trust you’ll keep us on course without any major jostling, right?”
Cole nodded once. “Sure thing. Now, where am I headed?”
Here Earth Mover took up the conversation. “You’ll be heading north-northwest out of the Badlands to Dodge Junction. From there we’ll head west, and parallel the rail line to the Ghastly Gorge, and then cross the bridge, and follow it straight through Ponyville and on to Canterlot. Once we enter the city, we can take the streets to the Palace, and the secure archive.”
“Understood,” the human replied, and began adjusting his instruments. As he worked, both his passengers looked on with interest. First, Cole adjusted the small screen to the right of the instrument cluster to display a standard radar interface with compass indicator. The ponies were fascinated by the faded green wedge that tirelessly swept its little circle. Next, the human toggled the small rectangular screen in the center to display a view of outside, but the color was unnaturally washed out, yet almost as bright as daylight. After adjusting the FLIR display to a level he was comfortable with, Cole moved on to the left-hand screen, adjusting it to display a dorsal view of the car, with the front pointing up, and a standard chronograph beside it in a split screen.
As Cole sensed their eyes on him, he turned and gave his passengers a brief look. “Just some tools to let me see the world outside a bit more clearly, and a timer. Can’t have us getting there late, right?” At their wordless agreement, he nodded once, and pulled on his driving gloves. Tugging his seatbelt once, and settling into his seat, Cole snapped off the map lights, put the Elantra into gear, and switched on the headlights. The ice blue-white beams of the primary and high-beams cut through the darkness of the surrounding desert with an actinic glare that would have blinded anypony unfortunate enough to have been staring directly into them.
As it was, there were actually several somethings staring at the sleek vehicle when it switched on its lights, and they recoiled in pain, forelimbs scrubbing at compound eyes dazzled by the bright beams. After a moment they recovered, and returned to their posts to watch, some among the assembled still blinking spots from their eyes…
As the Elantra began to roll, Cole focused on the now running mission clock. He had determined that the car’s rugged street tires could handle the sandy ground with no trouble, so long as they avoided rocks and the divots and hummocks such terrain undoubtedly had in abundance. The ride was surprisingly smooth, no doubt due in part to the high-end shocks that cushioned the car’s frame. Slowly, Cole picked up speed, until they were rolling along at a good 65KPH. At that speed, the desert flowed by. Not too fast, but much faster than a pony could move at full gallop.
Earth Mover and Sergeant Stormcloud both stared out at the passing desert, muted a bit by the dark window tint, but still gleaming in the moonlight. The passing hills and occasional plant were almost mesmerizing, but the variance of the passing terrain was not enough to lull either of them to sleep. The experience of traveling this fast without any effort on their part was so much like riding the trains that crisscrossed Equestria, yet noticeably different. For starters, there were no tracks, and their vehicle could go anywhere it wanted to, just like a cart, but much, much faster.
As he got the Elantra up to speed, Cole set the cruise control, and relaxed. It looked like this was going to be a fairly easy, if somewhat boring job after all. Granted, there was the whole weirdness factor of dealing with sentient ponylike creatures, but the pay was good, and although his passengers hadn’t said much, Cole didn’t anticipate any complications…
Of course, it was as soon as those thoughts crossed his mind, and he’d just begun to mentally review the way he’d spin this story out to Jake, that things took a turn.
It started with a blip at the bottom of the radar screen. It pulsed as the sweep of the radar sensor painted it again and again, but it kept its distance. Cole eyed it with interest, but no real concern. Maybe one of the thestrals undoubtedly assigned to the group that had found the case had been assigned to shadow them, and ensure the package arrived safely… Cole felt a bit insulted at the thought, but held his tongue. Then the first blip was joined by one more. Then two. Then five. Then Cole switched the FLIR view to the rear camera, and saw the entire swarming mass glimmering in the infrared display.
Calmly, the human turned to his two companions. “Looks like someone else wants what we’ve got.” He stated calmly. “We’re being followed.”
“How can you tell?” Sergeant Stormcloud asked, peering out the rear window.
“Take a look,” Cole offered, indicating the rear FLIR view.
“Horseapples.” The sergeant cursed. “Can we outrun them?”
“No problem.” Cole replied, as he disengaged the cruise control, and put the pedal to the floor. The turbocharged DOHC engine responded to the demand for more power with a roar, and the Elantra leapt forward like a scalded manticore, quickly accelerating up to 170KPH. Cole held it at that speed, not wanting to push too hard on potentially unstable terrain, and the swarm on the FLIR view and radar scope began to drop back. That was when they started shooting.
The FLIR view sparkled, and then bolts of green energy began impacting all around the car. Cole reacted calmly, carving irregular S-turns all across the desert floor, still heading in the direction Earth Mover had told him to, but making the Elantra and its occupants a much harder target. The engine raced for a minute as the car raced off a low hummock, only getting a few inches of air, but jostling the occupants nonetheless.
As all this was going on, sergeant Stormcloud was keeping an eye on the firing changelings – for that was what they clearly were – The swarm had begun to gain again, but were clearly too far back to even come close to actually hitting the vehicle in which he rode. “Good move, weaving like that!” he called over his shoulder. “Looks like the bugs were expecting the first volley to scare you into stopping!”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been shot at while transporting.” Cole answered back.
While the two males were conversing, Earth Mover was silently panicking. This wasn’t supposed to go like this, the human was supposed to stop and surrender! She looked from the explosions outside and to their rear, over to the calm expression on the human’s mostly unreadable face.
“You need to stop.”
“What was that?” Cole asked.
‘You need to STOP.”
“Relax, we’ll outrun them. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“Really, you want to surrender to the bugs?” the sergeant broke in. “After how they treated the citizens in the failed invasion, you really want to surrender an unknown object to them? I knew you academic types were a bit weak-kneed, but this is a whole new level of pathetic!”
“You don’t understand! If we don’t stop, I’ll die!”
“You’re not making sense,” Cole responded. “If we stop, I’m pretty sure they’ll kill all three of us, and take the case, and whatever’s in it. Escaping them is our only viable option.”
“But if we deliver it, they’ll kill me!” Earth Mover insisted. After scrunching up her face in a clear internal struggle, the orange unicorn appeared to come to a decision, and was briefly consumed in a burst of orange-gold fire. What the flames left behind was definitely pony-like, but clearly to Cole’s eyes one of the “bugs” the sergeant had been referring to.
“You see,” the revealed changeling said, looking into the human’s face. “If you deliver that case to the princesses, you condemn all my kind to death.”
“BUCK!” The sergeant exclaimed, swinging around, and placing his left bladed forehoof against the changeling’s upper chest. “What did you do to the real Earth Mover!”
“I AM the ‘real’ Earth Mover!”
While this exchange was taking place, Cole had reached down into the well on his door, and retrieved his “insurance” a black Glock 18c machine pistol. Casually aiming it across his lap at the creature sitting in his passenger seat, he broke into the conversation in a calm clear voice that cut through the heated exchange between the two equines like a scalpel.
“I like to think I’m not the kind of person who will easily sentence another being to death. And normally I don’t as questions about what it is I’m transporting, or what happens when it gets where it’s supposed to go, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. I think you’d better explain this from the beginning.”