I woke up in the evening on a mattress in a room. A ragged wooden room with a window that looked out to the mountainous wall. I moved my arms to find I was tied down, just my wrists, by a single rope under the bed. I had a gown on, so I was nude, again.
“Are these guys idiots?” I mumbled. Not a fool myself, I closed my eyes and began to breathe slowly through my mouth. Focusing on my hearing I just listened. A moment of silence and I could hear my own heart beat, feel the blood pumping through parts of my body, and the footsteps of a single soldier passing the door.
One guard pacing in boredom. Easy enough to take down. I’ve played enough games to know it’s not easy, but if I want to escape I have to at least get out and not let him alert anyone. Five minutes passed and I smirked. He is alone and bored. I have to get out. Get my girls. Maybe Rus, I mused, Nah, I’ll get him, if he’s here.
I carefully raised my legs and rolled them over my head, pressing against the wall and carefully pushing the bed away from the wall. Placing my feet on the floor I pulled the rope binding my wrists to the head of the bed and the rope with it, then it slid out and off the bed. I was almost free, just had a three foot length of rope binding my wrists.
I could go all Tom Clancy and choke him out with the rope, but if he’s armed one shot and they’ll know. Plus, that’s stupid in more ways than I can go into right now. How bout if I play the Solid Snake route and sneak out, find my friends, and get us off this mountain. Shit, that’s almost as stupid. How am I gonna get a horse, pony, minotaur, plus myself, off an enemy occupied mountain without being seen?
I shrugged the idiotic thoughts away and went to the window, there wasn’t more than a length drop and it was facing the mountain with enough space for me to crouch and move with ease. The window slid open with little effort or noise and I climbed out.
Heh, easy peasy, rice, and cheesy. Now, I’ll go that way and hope for the best.
I crouched and began to untie my left wrist, then I wrapped the extra length around my right forearm, then I began moving ahead. There were homes spaced out with a length of space between each, each home was a standard ponyville size, some two stories, others one. I noticed they all had a raised front porch, four steps each.
I’d made it past three dark windows and homes before I came to a lit one. I pressed myself against the wall and peeked slowly into the room. Save for some woman sleeping in full uniform hugging a stuffed yellow plushie of a minotaur, it was just like my other room. I walked past quickly and quietly, so as to not wake her.
Even though I didn’t see it, I knew she had a gun nearby.
I made it past; two more alleys and a guard came around a corner. Some kid, just by chance. Hoping to pee quick behind a house, he had his rifle in one hand, unsecured, leaning on his shoulder. He looked at me and froze in shock, I didn’t. I reached and grabbed his weapon with a shove, sending him back. I aimed the weapon at him, inches from his nose.
“Password,” I asked firmly. He was terrified and told me whatever it was.
I aimed the weapon at him, his head, and swung it around quickly, nailing him firmly with the blunt butt end, most likely causing a concussion, since he passed out. Shitty rifle fired a shot, scaring the shit outta me, too.
I began shouting ‘misfire, misfire, misfire’. That’s what we said when a weapon was shot by accident. I watched his body twitch and I wasted no time taking off his coat, pants, and boots. Most of us wore the same size clothes, general fitting small, medium, large. Extra large were rare, mostly for the beaters.
I heard a shout, typical challenge words. Something like ‘the fly flies in the wind’.
“The password is,” I shouted what it was, “give me a minute, I’m shittin’, dropped my rifle.”
“Fuckin’ dumbass,” she mumbled before shouting, “bullets aren’t easy to make. Do it again and I’ll have you docked and flogged,” a stern woman’s voice said stomping away; grumbling about the soldiers she has to watch over.
I parked myself between the unconscious body, and the path that led to my next objective.
Find them. Get out. Nothing gets in my way.
I dressed and buttoned my new coat, looked at the name. “Henderson.” That’s who I am for now. There have to be a few more than a dozen people here. Hopefully I can get a ways before someone that knows the real Henderson catches on.
I moved and pulled his body out of view and left the shadows of the houses, only to enter the shadows of the night, mountain, and clouds the pegasi were perched on. Ever alert and ready, watching every movement with their night vision and weapons at the ready. The moon was out, waxing in the clear evening sky.
I didn’t look twice. That was how you became suspicious. I held the rifle at the ready and took a patrol close to the edge, where I could drop and slide out of sight quickly, with the least risk of loss of life. Them or mine.
One dead, assume fourteen more. OpFor Skills; highly trained and well armed, projectile and some energy weapons likely. Avoid contact with best of abilities. Mission; find them, get out. Nothing gets in my way. Ha, I’d much an awesome spec ops. Sleep tight, nudie.
I left him the gown I had and left him. He was breathing and that meant I didn’t kill him, so I went about my mission.
I walked uphill, since that made the most sense, strategically speaking, and it was away from the CO that had made her displeasure for me known.. I made it about a good mile before I came across a group of drunk soldiers heading down. I shouted the challenge and leveled my weapon at them.
Heh, the look on their faces was priceless. Three men, two women. All dressed in combat uniforms, but untucked, loose boots, sidearms unsecured, starting to touch each other inappropriately. Drunk as heck.
“What. The. Holy. FUCK are you doing?!” I shouted so loud it echoed. I didn’t care, that was how we talked to those that messed up. “Attention, maggots!” I shouted like a trainer. They all snapped to attention, one of the women’s pants fell to her knees. They laughed.
I frowned so deep, narrowed my eyes so sharply, and inhaled slowly. They stopped laughing just looking at me. I sneered, gutturally growling at them.
“What’re your names?”
“Why should I answer?”
I switched the safety on my new rifle from safe to semi. The look on their faces wasn’t defiant anymore. That click meant life or death. I offered them the challenge again. They didn’t know the password. I stomped at them, ten feet away with the moonlight being blocked out by a pegasus that came to watch.
I raised my rifle and took aim, the red dot lighting on the chest of a female soldier. Terror washed over her, the rules were simple in the military of earth. Fail a test; risk death.
“I ask you again, soldier. What are you doing out at these hours looking like a droughter?”
A droughter? Um, well simply put they were people who wanted to live on their own back on earth. Only when drought season came did they, men and women, swarm the bases prostituting themselves for sex or live testing. Maybe they’d get a vitamin shot to help them, maybe they’d get a baby, like I was, and have more rations as a result.
Anyway, the female trembled and stared at the business end of my rifle.
“Uh, w-we, ahem, we were celebrating my promotion to sergeant.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. I can use this.
“Who’s your commanding officer?” I asked. She relaxed.
“Lieutenant Chang.”
Huh, that name’s familiar. “Two more questions. Where’s he located?”
They sighed. She pointed up. “About three levels up in the blue house. Ya know, I don’t know why he likes blue so much. It’s kinda femmy.”
“Hey, I’m not done yet,” I let a smirk onto my face, “how many soldiers are here? Eh, roughly.”
I was asking easy questions with solid answers that I needed.
“Forty seven humans, twelve minotaur “workers”, she air quoted, the others chuckled, “and about a dozen ponies and horses, plus two from the other day,” she turned to the guy to her right, “how long did you say that pink one was gonna be in the vet’s?”
“Meh, coupla daysh. She’s outta the wroust of eet,” he chucked and wavered.
“Oh, that little pink horse?” the other woman said looking to her female friend, “she almost died with that one guy. He’s, like, a hero. Feeding them both a mattress to survive while their paperwork was “lost”,” she said with a scowl.
I lowered my weapon. “What’s that now?”
“What?”
“I didn’t hear about that. I don’t get into the gossip mills,” I said flatly.
“Oh,” the one woman said trying to take a casual pose, falling over herself as she forgot her pants had fallen. A round of laughs went by and I slung my rifle as she got up, pulling her pants up with a blush. “Yeah, so, this guy and a horse are put in a cell and the guard puts his paperwork with his other stuff.
“The dumbass filed it all away and no one checked the cells until, what was it, two days ago? Found ‘em both almost dead, stuffed with stuffing.”
“Yeah, they even drank their own pee!”
“Eew, thash grosh. Buuut, shmart,” one of the men leaned over stumbling ‘accidentally’ grabbing the breast of the new sergeant. Got a smile from her, wasn’t my business or problem.
“Yeah, but why’d they lock ‘em together? Wouldn’t it be better interrogation to do it separately?” I asked.
“Interrogate? Dude, some stupid bird jumped on a cloud and shocked him. Poor bastard almost died. Had to take out his main implant processor. He’ll never remote operate tech again, but he’s still alive. One of us. So, we’ll help him. And, since we’re done, can we get back to our orgy?”
The other woman punched her while gasping in shock. “Don’t listen, she cray-crazy! What’s your name?” The other men chuckled to themselves.
“Uh, Henderson.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job. Keep at it, can we move on without you shooting us in the ass.”
“Yeah, have a good one. I’m almost done on my shift. Wrap it up, peeps.”
We parted ways, me resuming a ‘patrol’ while they giggled into a random house to ‘celebrate’.
So, I was accidentally attacked by a pegasus and forgotten about? Hero? No, too convenient. If I was a hero they wouldn’t have lost me. Not even the military is that messed up in their logistics. Whatever, fuck it. Get this done.
I continued up the mountain paths, taking shortcuts up the sides via crude steps. It was then i noticed my feet were a bit snug in Henderson’s shoes. It was like everything that was going wrong in a small way was.
I peeked above the ledge to the next level and smirked. Not a ‘haha’ smirk, but one of those ‘finally’ smirks. I’d found the stables. One guard was asleep leaning against a support beam of a broken house.
The stables were actually in great shape, which led me to believe they were stables made by the minotaurs and were part of the buyout.
I put on my best solid snake mode and crawled toward the guard and, using the stock of my rifle, slammed it into the side of his head. He grunted and fell over, rolling to his side. He put his hand to his head and moaned.
Shit, it didn’t work. Damn you, video games.
A bolt of lightning struck the guy in his back, sending him into a brief fit, then to slumberland. I looked up to see a cloud over me. That meant a pegasi was watching me. And had helped me.
The cloud began to lower, I held my rifle at the ready, but didn’t point it at the cloud.
Maybe I can BS my way out of this. Okay, a blue pegasus, black mane, blue eyes, full body armor. Crap, what’m I gonna say?
“Jung ner lbh qbvat?”
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “Say that again?”
“Jung ner lbh qbvat, uhzna?”
I grasped my chest lightly, higher by my neck, to find I didn’t have my necklace. No way for me to understand what he was saying.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, whoever you are. Go away, let me do my job.”
“V uheg lbh, ncybtvmr.”
“Yeah, I can’t understand you. No necklace and I don’t speak,” I gestured to him, sitting on the cloud, “whatever language you use.”
“Oveq cbal,” he replied. Okay, funny thing. The original name for pegasi was Oveq cbal, literally bird pony. Ha, ha, ha. I know, creative, weren’t they?
Unicorns were ‘bar ubea’ which meant one horn; and earth pony’s were ‘uvtu ubaberq’.
Well, that was a bit of a problem later, especially during the third pony war. It meant highest of honors. Based off the fact that even without the other races, crops tended to by earth ponies would grow, only at a rate so low it’d keep them alone alive.
That was a tactic during the second world war. Ponies wanted no part in it, so they refused to feed, water, and heal warriors.
I’ll get to that soon, don’t worry. Back to the pegasus.
“Okay, so you speak Oveq cobal, whatever.” I turned to leave and heard him growl. Not what I need right now. “Alright, what’s the deal?”
He pointed to my unconscious ‘friend’, giving me a look that just screamed ‘got you’.
“What? He was a traitor and I’m going to report him,” I said with a hint of firmness in my voice. He crossed his arms and gave me one of those ‘are you serious’ looks. “So, you’re not an idiot, damn,” I said with a bit of humor and a snap of my fingers in feigned defeat. “Fine, my daughters were taken when I was KO’d, uh, knocked out, and they almost killed one of ‘em.
“I’m gonna save them, get the hell outta here, before they know I’m gone. That’s the plan, anyway. So, gonna turn me in?” I finished with a sigh of defeat.
He smirked and reached into his armor and pulled out a gem, moving his hooved back and forth between us, then handed it to me.
“I am sorry. I was who hurt you, I was a fool and wanted to prank you. The lightning found metal in your head and…” he trailed off.
“So, you’re the reason my life turned to shit, again. I can’t believe you did that! Not only could you have killed me, you could have hurt Heart! She was-” he pointed to the gem in my clenched fist. “So, we’re sharing a comms gem, great. Tell you what. Give it to me and tell me what the fuck you’re here for? You got him for me, so are we even, or something?”
He tossed the gem back to me, his armor shined along the runes in his foreleg in the moonlight. “I will help you escape. My ponies are warriors, fighters; loyal and feirce. But, good in heart, will understand the debt I owe. Then, we’ll be even.”
I looked at him for a good twenty seconds, I could feel him becoming annoyed, but he held his military posture. He only blinked as he waited for my answer.
This is too perfect. What’s happening, how can things keep falling in line with my luck?
Home has magic, sometime plays tricks on eyes. Have little trust of what you see when what you see make little sense.
That doe may have been right. Magic could be why little things keep going my way, and why I keep getting fucked over so bad ten times worse than the good that happens. Yeah, ‘magic’. More like luck.
I tossed the gem back to him. Fine. I accept your offer. If you’re a creature with honor you’ll fulfill your promise, if you’re not; you’ll betray me and it will weigh on your heart for the rest of your life,” he looked at me with a hint of more respect in his eyes. He was about to hand the gem back to me when I waved him off.
“Keep it. I have to save my family. A brown horse and a pink pony. Ready?” His jaw dropped open at my mention of what my little family was. “What, were you expecting them to be humans? The only humans I need are in my squad. They’re as much my family as my daughters are.”
The look on his face went from shock to stern. With a nod he opened and slowly flapped his wings, taking to the sky above me by about fifty feet.
The stables were simple enough. Several houses worth of space and stalls with ponies and horses lined against the mountain wall. Most of them were asleep, except for one that was mumbling, sadly.
I know that voice.
“M-Mocha?” I heard Lom ask as I approached her. A smile crossed her muzzle and I calmly walked to her stall, unhitched the latch, and she took a few steps out. I took a knee and we hugged, tightly.
“I know you can’t understand me, but I’m so glad to see you. I think we should learn the same language. It’ll fix this issue.” She looked at me and smiled, nuzzling me as I stood and held my arms like I was holding a baby. Her brow furrowed but she nodded. With a nicker she turned and began trotting ahead.
Looks like she knows where she’s going. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a pink pony in this place.