//------------------------------//
// Catching Up 
// Story: Blue vs Red: Magic is Friendship 
// by SergeantBuck 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3: Catching Up


Meanwhile, in another dimension...

God dammit, where did that idiot wander off to now? I swear, if Caboose wandered into some top secret lab and got himself teleported to another world or something, I'll drag him back here so I can kill him myself!
Church nervously paced back and forth in the Freelancer outpost as he tried to figure out where Caboose had gone. Three hours ago, the idiotic soldier had wandered off looking for a place to take a nap, but no one had been able to find him. Finding a soldier with the IQ of less than a rock in blue armor wearing an antiquated helmet shouldn't be akin to a needle in a haystack, and yet Church had looked everywhere without finding anyone who'd seen him. Being an AI had its benefits, like the ability to jump into any security cam in the base. There was only one area that he hadn't checked: Laboratory 7A. The only place in the facility with its own closed circuit security system.
No, there's no way Caboose could've gotten into that wing. Hell if I know what they even keep there. He let out an irritated sigh. Might as well check and see if anyone in that neck of the base spotted him.
Blue Team's self-proclaimed leader followed the multitude of signs through the stark, industrial halls of the Freelancer base, stopping when the arrows led him to an elevator protected by a single guard. Probably an inept one, too. As Church took a few steps towards the elevator, the guard held up a hand.
"Sorry, sir. Authorized personnel only," the guard said in a rather by-the-book manner.
"I'm just looking for my..." Church half-choked on the next word. "My friend. He's in blue armor, wears one of the older helmets." 
And probably is the dumbest thing in existence, he added.
"Oh, you mean Agent Washington's assistant?"
"What?!" Church spat before collecting himself. "I mean, yeah."
"Well, we couldn't find anything on record of anyone in blue armor, and if he's with Washington then I suppose it's cool, right? Jones let a guy like that in maybe three hours back. Can't imagine what a Freelancer would need with Slipspace tech, though. You're here to...what, may I ask?"
"I'm also one of...uh...Wash's assistants. I needed to speak with my colleague about...stuff."
It couldn't work, could it? I couldn't possibly use that excuse a second time.
"Sure thing! I'll call the elevator up and you can head down. Just try not to break anything."
In his digitized mind, Church's hand slammed against his forehead. What do you even need to qualify as a guard?
There was a loud whirring sound as a series of servos, valves, and gears all clicked into place. The doors to the elevator opened and Church stepped into the elevator, descending into the polished silver walls of 7A.



Caboose couldn't be happier, or at least that's what Apple Bloom had surmised. His face was thinly coated in a variety of frosting, crumbs, and syrups and he hadn't shut up about it all being "the best dream ever!" For the last hour, he and Pinkie Pie had been sitting in the grass, having a friendly argument about cakes and pies. The pink party pony advocated for cakes, being an expert at baking just about anything her mind could concieve. The gentle blue giant preferred the sweetness of pies, although he did admit that a pie wouldn't be a very good thing for sticking candles into. The conversation was soon interrupted by the sound of her older sister's rather upset shouting.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack charged right at the small group of ponies, leaving the rather frightened Fluttershy back a few meters. The cowpony stopped in front of her younger sibling, eyes burning and fuming with anger.
"What did I tell you?" she bellowed. "Huh? Answer me!"
"Oh my god, what are we yelling about?!" Caboose interrupted.
"I don't know!" Pinkie shouted in response. "But yelling is fun!"
"Would you two just shut up for five minutes?!" Rainbow Dash added with a fair amount of volume. "I can't hear myself think!"
"You're absolutely sure you're not Church's sister?" Caboose asked the rainbow pegasus, who merely rolled her eyes at him. "Psst!" he hissed to Pinkie Pie. "I don't think the blue one likes me."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all looked up at Applejack with apology etched on their faces before Apple Bloom finally spoke.
"I'm sorry sis', but Caboose was hungry! I tried to give somethin' to eat, but he wanted a cake! What was I s'posed to do, just not let him eat?"
Applejack's temper began to dissipate. "I ain't meanin' to get mad at you, but you shoulda waited for me to come back first instead of bringin' him into to town unannounced and scarin' everypony. I coulda come in and picked up a cake for him or somethin'. Now, why don't we introduce him to-"
"NO!" Fluttershy shouted, visibly shaking as she landed and held her position. "I mean, I'm f-fine over here."
Rainbow Dash zipped around behind the petrified pegasus and pushed her towards the blue biped. "Come on, Fluttershy! He's not that bad."
With her wings glued to her sides from fear, digging her hooves into the soft dirt did little to keep her friend from shoving her toward the armored being. She stopped moving when Dash had pushed her to his feet. With him seated in the grass, the powder-yellow pegasus sat just below his eye level. The two strangers stared at each other for a good five seconds before Caboose spoke.
"Hello," he said in his flat tone. "You're pretty."
Fluttershy's cheeks reddened slightly at his compliment, but it did little to settle her nerves. She managed to give him a very nerve-wracked smile.
"Aren't you gonna greet her like everypony else?" Scootaloo said.
"No. She doesn't look like she wants a hug."
"Why not?" Pinkie Pie said. "You should let him hug you! Caboose gives really good hugs! He may look all big and scary, but he's really not! Oh, and he absolutely loves cake too! And pie, he likes that too. Does anypony else want any cake?"
Fluttershy's frightened blue eyes scanned him from top to bottom before going back to her reflection in his orange faceplate. "Big...scary..."
Rainbow Dash nudged her towards him again. "Just sit down next to him, would you? Relax for once!"
The skittish pegasus shakily sat beside Caboose, who never stopped looking at her. He reached out, extending three of his five claws towards her. She let out a terrified squeak and shrank away from him, confident that he was going to hurt her, only to have her expectations shattered when they brushed through her mane.
His claws weren't sharp and pointy like a dragon's, but round, soft, and rubbery. Fluttershy had no idea what he was trying to do to her, but nothing about it seemed harmful or malicious. And as much as she hated sitting beside this thing, if he was happy instead of angry then she wouldn't argue.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Caboose said. "You're too nice to hurt. What's your name?"
"Fff..." she stammered, trying to answer him. "I...I'm F-Fluttershy..."
"Fluttershy," he repeated, the first name he'd gotten right on his first try. "That sounds like 'butterfly.'"
"Why do they call you Caboose?" she asked him, the quaver in her voice reduced but still audible.
"I don't know, that's just my name. You can ask me if you forget it."
"Okay," Fluttershy said as she managed a smile, unsure if what he said was a joke. "I can remember that, Caboose."



The doors to the elevator opened with a hydraulic hiss and Church stepped into the lab. The large room was vacant, save for a single desk loaded with what appeared to be a computer, a plethora of readouts on its screen all at zero percent. A collection of wires ran to a large machine, an engine of some sort. For an AI that should have access to a wealth of information, Church had surprisingly little knowledge about starship drives. Then again, there were a lot of things that he had little knowledge about.
You think they'd at least give me the basics so I could tell what the fuck this thing is.
"Slipspace drive is now operational," an electronic voice called out.
Or I could check the fucking computer.
He had no idea what any of the readouts meant beyond being numbers on a screen. Everything seemed normal, according to what the computer was telling him. Green bars across the board, and green never meant something bad was about to happen. He looked at the console, trying to figure out how Caboose would react to a room filled with a massive Silpspace drive and a computer with a bunch of buttons.
Here goes nothing.
Church shut his eyes and pressed a button, expecting some sort of explosion to occur. The far corner of the room lit up, illuminating a set of six machines, a mass of tubes and wires all about the size of a backpack. And by the straps on the front, Church assumed that they were designed to be worn as one.
"Uh...computer?" Church called out.
"Online, Director." the monotone female voice replied.
"What are those things over there?"
"Experimental personal Slipspace packs for the SPARTAN-IV program. These devices are designed to allow infantry to jump from one point in space to another. Tests have shown a seventy-seven success rate in short jumps of approximately five hundred kilometers, although it will be some time before they are issued to SPARTAN strike teams. Each pack is programmed with the coordinates of the previous location after a jump is completed."
"Uh-huh..." Church said. "What about jumps beyond that?"
"That is still being tested, but data shows that jumps beyond the range of five hundred kilometers have a seventy-four percent chance of failure, resulting in either landing off-target or being disintegrated upon exiting Slipspace."
"Wonderful," Church said.
"Interplanetary jumps have also been attempted," the computer continued.
"Oh, really?" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "And how did those go?"
"Results indicate a ninety-six-point-three chance of disintegration upon exiting Slipspace."
"How very reassuring."
Church walked over and took a jump pack from the shelves, hooking it into the slots on his armor usually reserved for a jetpack. For a device that was suppose to hurtle one through another dimension, it felt strangely lightweight.
Why am I even doing this? Strapping what is basically a bomb on my back to help someone I hate? What in the hell is wrong with me? Although it'd be a lot easier to bring him back that having to file all that damn paperwork...
"Hey, uh, computer?" he called out.
"Online."
"Did someone else come in here before me? He was wearing blue armor."
"Affirmative. Security records indicate that he activated the Slipspace drive."
Church waited for the voice to provide more information before continuing. "Could you tell me who they are?"
"Negative. Our records do not indicate any history of soldiers in blue armor."
"Could you at least tell me where he went?"
"Please stand by." The voice fell silent, followed by a series of beeps and buzzes. "Location unknown. Last jump coordinates have been transferred to your jump pack."
"Thanks, I guess."
A small window popped up in Church's HUD, indicating that the jump pack was ready for use. He took another look at the coordinates being displayed. The set of numbers meant nothing to him. He just wanted to go there, grab Caboose, and get back here, even though he knew full well that the soldier would cause far more damage here than where ever he was.
"Well, wish me luck," he said to the computer.
"Have a safe trip, sir."
Church stuck his middle finger in the air, directing towards the console as the jump pack began to hum to life, sending sparks of electricity down the coils in the side. A flash of white light, and in the next instant the Blue was gone.



Twilight Sparkle sat in the middle of the library surveying the last six hours of alphabetizing she'd just completed. Each and every book in the library had been pulled from the shelves, stacked, and then replaced by title. It had taken her all night, but at last she could get some rest. The lavender unicorn ascended the stairs to the bunk that she called her bedroom, and slipped between the sheets.
"Ah, what a day. Now for a little well deserved nap!"
WHAM!
Beams splintered, windows shattered, and books toppled from their places as something smashed through her roof in a cascade of leaves, shingles, and smoke. She rolled over in her bed and examined the new hole in her ceiling.
"For the last time, Rainbow Dash!" she shouted. "I don't mind you practicing your maneuvers, but it's quite invasive when they always end with you crashing into my-"
Whatever was laying on her floor now was most certainly not Rainbow Dash. A biped by the looks of it, but it looked rather odd for a biped of the Ponyville region. She didn't know of anything that had two legs and shining cobalt skin, or a strange looking saddlebag with an alarm and flashing red lights. It looked more like something out of one of those bizarre science fiction novels. The figure lay completely still, and she started to wonder if the fall had killed it.
"Hello?" she asked, her inquisitive nature overtaking any sort of fear. "Can you hear me?"
The cobalt thing groaned as it tried to move. After a moment it spoke, evidently being a male from the pitch of its voice.
"Ow."