//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Just Dropped In // Story: PonySide // by Puzzle Piece //------------------------------// The two NC soldiers had been walking for hours without the slightest idea where they were going. They hadn’t thought too much about it at first. Not until Mat made a comment about not using Flashes to get around. Trevor had joked about Light Assault class infantry having an easy time over the Heavies who had three times the weight strapped to their backs. Mat responded with a quip about soldiers in Earth’s past, when they carried camp equipment and such as well as their weapons. That was when they realized they didn’t have any food. Mat froze up but Trevor kept his head and got them moving again. They weren’t going to get out of this situation standing still, he’d argued, so they might as well keep moving. The sun was getting low in the sky when they saw the road. Once they had a firm piece of civilization under their boots, their spirits lifted. They followed the road until they found the edge of an orchard. The expansive property was bordered by a low white fence. The orchard was well-tended and orderly. A farmstead rested on the far end of the orchard with the tops of the out buildings and barn just visible. The hills were thick with trees and the trees were thick with gleaming apples. They took one look at each other before hopping the fence and pulling down armfuls of apples. “Those were some damn good apples,” Mat said, leaning back against a tree some time later. He let the core of his last one fall from his limp hand. “Best fruit out there, I say,” Trevor replied, picking up his helmet and scrapping some dirt off the visor. “Not going to lie though. I’d kill for a steak right now.” “You and me both,” Mat laughed. “What say we go check up at that farm for a working com link?” “Naw, I like this place now. It’s a pretty little vacation spot and we’ve got it all to ourselves.” Mat pushed his visor lower over his eyes. “You know we can’t just lounge around here. We’ve got to get back to the platoon.” “Eh, screw the war.” Mat swatted a hand at the air. “They want to keep blowing the living shit out of each other forever, then I say let ‘em.” “So you’re just going to laze around and turn your back on our boys back there?” Mat looked up from under his helmet. “Shit man, there’s no need to guilt trip me. We’ll get back as soon as we can, but does it have to be as soon as we can?” “Yeah, it does,” Trevor said with no humor in his voice. “I’m not giving those sons of bitches a moment’s rest when I get back. TR or VS.” “Okay, okay. We’ll get going then.” Mat sighed. “But I’m taking some of these apples with me.” They gathered up their gear and Mat gathered an armful of apples. It was dark when they made it to the farmstead. The outbuildings were simple wooden structures and the house had a weatherworn look to it. The barn seemed to be the newest structure on the property. Trevor glanced around and shook his head. “Hold up,” he called to Mat, who had headed for the house. “No use asking. There isn’t a single relay tower in the place. From the looks of it, they wouldn’t even have anything powerful enough to get to the other side of the continent.” “We can ask for directions at least,” Mat suggested. “We could,” Trevor conceded. “But I don’t think doing that in the middle of the night is advisable. I mean, what’s the first thing you’d do if a couple of badasses decked out in weapons came knocking on your door out in the country?” “Grab a gun and shoot the shit out of ‘em?” he replied, scratching the back of his neck guiltily. “Right. We’ll lay low until morning and ask around then. Maybe they’ll know where we can find transport or communications.” “The barn then?” “It might be unoriginal, but the classics are classics because they work.” They pushed the doors open and stepped inside. There weren’t any animals inside and they were thankful for that. Not only would they not have to worry about disturbing them, it also smelled of fresh straw instead of manure. They pulled themselves up to the loft and threw off their packs and armor. They settled into the loosely piled hay that filled most of the loft. “Hey, Trev?” Mat asked after a long silence. “Hmm?” Trevor muttered back sleepily. “You ever wonder what would happen if the war ended?” “I don’t worry about it,” he said, rolling over. “We’ll deal with it when it happens.” “But what if it just ends one day?” Mat pressed. “What will we all do?” “Find something else to do? Maybe even something else to fight about. I don’t know, Mat. All I want to find right now is a few hours of sleep.” “You know what? That sounds like a pretty damn good plan,” Mat yawned. Trevor didn’t respond and soon they were both sound asleep. ~*~*~ It only took Katie a few minutes to stabilize Nathan after she got a hold of her applicator. It was completely undamaged and she quickly got to work healing her own injuries. First, she fixed her eyes. Once she was able to see, she looked at her hostess again. The purple pony stood watching with a look of supreme marvel on her face. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were getting wider as seconds passed and the nanites worked their technological magic. After Katie’s pain had subsided enough that she didn’t have to grit her teeth to keep from screaming, she sat back against the bed and looked the other over critically. While a talking pony was the last thing she’d expected, Katie figured it was better than tentacles. And besides, there were more pressing matters to deal with. “You said that I’m human, but you aren’t?” she asked, breaking the silence. The pony shook her head to clear away her surprise. “Yes, I did. And I suppose since you can see again, it’s pretty obvious what I meant.” “Yes, it is,” Katie nodded slowly. “But what are you exactly? And perhaps more importantly, how do you know what humans are when I’ve never heard of anything like you?” “I’m equine of course. But I’ve noticed that we’re a different kind of equine than humans are used to. Humans aren’t from this world at all.” Katie blinked. The pony kept staring at her brightly, as if the words she’d just spoken were as commonplace as breathing. Katie forced herself to take a deep breath to assure herself that she was indeed continuing to do just that. “This world,” she repeated. “You mean to say that I’m not on the same world as I was? A different planet?” “Not quite,” the pony said, sitting down beside her to get more comfortable. “I’ve visited a world other than this one and was turned into a human when I arrived there.” She stopped to rub her chin with her hoof thoughtfully. “Though I’m slightly confused as to why you two didn’t change into ponies here.” Katie made a face at the thought of having no hands. “In any case,” the pony continued. “My point is that they called their world Earth and so do we. So it would seem that the two worlds are parallel in the multiverse.” The pony looked over at Katie but she wasn’t looking back. Instead, her gaze was far away as she whispered to herself. “Earth? Could it be?” “You’re from Earth too?” the pony asked. Katie’s head slumped forward sadly. “No. I was born on the carrier ship Redshift. I’ve lived my whole life either there or on the planet Auraxis. I’ve heard stories of Earth but I’ve never been there. Only a few of those who have are still alive. Our people left a long time ago.” “Oh.” The pony obviously didn’t know what to do with this information. Katie heaved a sigh and stood up. “Enough mopping in the past,” she declared. “We need to deal with the present.” She walked over to the table that held the equipment they’d been found with. The pony followed and watched her closely as she handled each item. Her beamer was a husk, the slot for the energy cell reduced to a melted hole. She set it to one side and out of the way. Her Pulsar VS1 assault rifle was intact as well as Nathan’s Phantom VA23. She went through the rest of the items: Several grenades, two bricks of C-4, Nathan’s Beamer and motion spotter and two proximity mines, plus their two Force-Blades. None of them were damaged beyond some searing on the surface from the blast. It was lucky that nothing had been lost besides her Beamer, even if she preferred it to the much heavier assault rifle. She was checking how many spare battery packs there were when Nathan began to stir. She rushed to his side as he sat up. “What happened?” he asked groggily. “I’m still working on that.” Katie said, keeping her voice low so as not to alarm him. “But it sounds as if we’re not on Auraxis. We’re on Earth.” Nathan came fully awake and looked around, startled. “At least, technically,” Katie went on, pushing him back into the bed when he tried to jump up. “It seems to be a different version of Earth than our expedition left behind. There’s a lot about this that’s strange.” Nathan reached up and discovered that he was no longer wearing his mask. As he did so, he caught sight of the unusual pony watching them from across the room. He raised an eyebrow at Katie. This led him to another realization. His eyes traveled over her burns as sympathy softened his features. “Oh, Katie,” he whispered, cupping her check with his hand. She brushed his hand away gently. “It’ll be fine. I just haven’t had a chance to fix everything up yet.” “But your hair…,” he said. She felt around gingerly and frowned faintly at what she found. Her once thick, brown hair, neatly tucked away in a tight bun, had been reduced to short, frayed locks that hung loosely around the left side of her face. The right side was completely burned away. “It’s…nothing,” she said dismissively. “It isn’t nothing to me.” He held her gaze for a moment. “You should take care of yourself now,” he said gesturing to the applicator. “And then we’ll see about figuring this situation out.” He turned to the pony, who stepped forward and announced herself brightly. “Hello! My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Nathan blinked at her blankly for a few seconds before leaning over and whispering to Katie, “Did that horse just talk?” ~*~*~ It took the two Terrans more than an hour to hike around the forest following their equine guides to reach the small cottage they now occupied. They’d traveled at a leisurely pace that had grated on the Major’s nerves. He kept silent only because of his agreement to be ‘nice’. When they’d arrived, it had been getting dark. Animals had crowded up to them to greet their returning friends and the MAX had to tread carefully so as not to step on any them. Getting through the door proved to be a challenge unto itself. After much stooping and shuffling, he managed to slip in and stand up in the more spacious interior. It was packed with animal lodgings of every kind, with assorted bags of feed set in the corners and on shelves around the walls. A door led deeper into the hillside cottage and a short staircase ascended to an upper floor. Once they were all inside, the animals retreated to their various boxes and holes, watching the meeting warily. “So,” the Major said, starting them off. “What are you exactly? Some kind of horse, right?” The MAX leaned in closer to him. “Actually sir, they’d be ponies. They’re like horses, but smaller.” “I don’t care, Corporal,” he replied, waving him off impatiently. “Ponies, yes,” the blue one agreed. “But to be more precise, the two of us are Pegasi.” It flapped its wings demonstratively. “Those aren’t real,” the Major said flatly. The two Pegasi glanced at each other. “Um, no. We’re definitely real,” the other went on. “In fact, I could just as easily say that nothing like you is real. What are you supposed to be?” “Humans of the Terran Republic,” the Major said proudly. “My name is Major Finnegan Gadrik and this is…,” he paused to glance over at the Corporal and flick through his HUD displays. “This is Unit C3P4S3-N493 of my battalion.” “My name is Corporal Anthony Janisson,” the MAX’s voice buzzed in an undertone. The Major gave him a look but let the comment pass. “I’m Rainbow Dash,” the blue Pegasus stated, flaring its wings dramatically. It pointed its hoof at its yellow companion. “And this is Fluttershy.” Fluttershy made an effort to respond but the words were too soft to hear. Thus, her wave was accompanied only by a slight squeaking sound. “I see,” the Major acknowledged with a nod. “And where are we?” “You’re in Equestria. On the southeast side of Ponyville to be exact.” Rainbow Dash peered at them closely. “You didn’t know where you were? I mean, how did you even get here?” “We’re not…” the Major hesitated. “Actually, that’s classified. All you need to know is that we’re looking for a way to get back to the continent of Indar.” “Indar?” Rainbow repeated, tapping her chin with a hoof. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any place called Indar.” “Esamir? Amerish?” he tried, starting to sound distressed. “Hossin?!” “Nope, nope, aaaaand nope.” Rainbow shook her head at each one. “I don’t know anything about those. Are you sure you’re talking about whole continents, because I’m pretty sure I’d know those names if they were whole continents?” The Major smacked a palm to his forehead. “How can you speak the same language and not know the names of the continents?” “How can you be standing in the middle of our country and not know what we are?” the Pegasus countered. The Major looked at Rainbow sharply. “Don’t sass me, pony.” “Hey, you started it,” Rainbow retorted coolly. “Can we just stick to sorting out facts?” the Corporal suggested. “Yes, let’s just find out what our situation is for now.” The Major took a deep breath. “First, I take it neither of you have ever seen anything like us before?” “No,” Rainbow said slowly. “Good. That means there will be no NC or VS presence here. Not prominently anyway.” He straightened his vest with finality. “Now, our equipment is in order and seems operable, minus the coms.” He glanced around and found himself looking at the darkened sky outside the window. “Erm, what do we have for supplies? Food and such?” The MAX stared back at him impassively. “Right. No food.” He looked at the ponies, trying hard not to seem pleading. “You don’t suppose we could ask for some assistance with supplies and lodging until we’re able to get back in contact with Command, do you?”