• Published 7th Sep 2013
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Of Ponies and Papers - The card holder



A portal to Equestria opens on Arstotzka's border, and you now have to deal with pony immigrants along with the usual mix.

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Day Five: Exchange

November 7, 1983

As you walk to work in the darkness of four thirty in the morning, you reflect over how your family reacted to the news. Your wife was surprisingly okay with it, and less surprisingly, your son and niece wanted to go with you. They weren't as thrilled to hear that they would have to stay in Arstotzka, but that is to be expected.

As you approach your booth, you spot the director of the MOA- your boss, essentially- talking with that one large white pony you let through not too long ago. There was also another mare behind her, who wore a uniform that was similar to your own. Her cutie mark looked like a pair of red and green stamps from this distance, but you couldn't be sure.

The princess and your boss stop talking once you're in view, and you give the customary quick salute to your superior.

"You're early. Good," he says. "I trust you know why you're here?"

"I was randomly chosen for an exchange program?" you offer.

"Not randomly, but yes." His words give you a small swell of pride, but it quickly passes. "Princess Celestia will show you to your temporary new station, while I will do the same with this young mare." He turns to the smaller pony, who gives her own salute in response. Humorously, she appears to be shivering slightly, though you can't tell if it's from nervousness, excitement, or simply the cold. Your boss nods, and starts walking towards your booth. Before he leaves, though, he faces you again. "Also, I should mention that eighty percent of any pay you earn while in Equestria will be wired to your family, so do not worry about them." With that, he leads the pony away.

The princess nods, too, and motions towards you. You follow her as she walks towards the building housing the portal between Earth and Equestria. A few armed guards are milling about, no doubt waiting for the night shift to end.

As Celestia walks through the portal, you feel a brief stint of hesitation. You haven't been to Equestria yourself, nor have you been through the portal. None of the people who pass through the checkpoint said how the portal was, so you were flying blind as to what would happen.

Ah, to hell with it. You steel your resolve and walk through.

Surprisingly, there was hardly anything to the portal travel. Just half a second of a feeling like being underwater, then suddenly you were on the other side. The Equestrian side of the portal was also decently guarded, but even from the inside of a building it looked a bit more colorful than Arstotzka.

Up ahead, you spot Celestia, who was patiently waiting for you, a soft smile on her face. When you catch up to her, she speaks.

"Is this your first time in Equestria?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She laughs. "No need to be so formal; we're away from your boss."

You pause for a moment, before letting out a small chuckle. "If you say so."

The princess leads you to a booth positioned at the exit to the building. Inside, you find that it's almost exactly like your booth back at Grestin.

"This will be your station," she says. But before you can enter, she levitates a hat bearing the Equestrian emblem. "You'll have to wear this, though, since you are now technically working here, no matter how temporary."

Shrugging, you accept the hat and put it on. You'd still be recognized as an Arstotzkan worker by your uniform, at least.

"You should have some time to learn the regulations for our border," Celestia continues. Suddenly, her smile falls, and her mood turns serious. "While the regulations may be less strict, I will not tolerate any dangerous humans getting through. Understand?"

You're taken off guard by her sudden mood shift. "Yes, ma'am."

Just as suddenly as it appeared, her mild hostility disappeared completely. "Good. I trust you will do a good job, but still, good luck."

With that, she heads outside, before spreading her wings and taking flight. Now on your own, you situate yourself in the booth and start looking over everything you have available for work. For the most part, everything was pretty much identical to your previous station, only with a different seal on things. Finding the book of regulations, you quickly turn to the page detailing the rules of entry.

Celestia wasn't lying; the regulations really were a bit more slack than in Arstotzka. Probably the biggest difference is that their entry permits don't need to state the length or reason for entry.

The pages for the various countries were nearly identical to the ones in the Arstotzkan rule book, but that was to be expected. Much like your home country, returning Equestrian citizens required an ID card, though it had an image of their cutie mark rather than their face on it.

Convinced that everything was in order, you looked at your watch: just five more minutes until the checkpoint opened. Already, you could see a collection of ponies and humans beginning to assemble in a line just outside the portal.

Well, might as well get started, then.

"Next!"

First in line is an old man from none other than Arstotzka. After reminding yourself that they aren't the ones who need ID cards here, you make sure that everything checks out, then stamp his passport.

"Glory to- Er..." You try to remember what the book told you to say to successful entrants. "Welcome to Equestria."

You spy the faintest of smirks on the man's face. "I can see old habits die hard, eh?"

The two of you share a quick laugh before he moves on.

"Next!"

A pony was the next one in line, a stallion to be exact. When they caught sight of you, they froze for a second out of confusion, but quickly got over it and handed you his papers. You went through the process you've become oh so familiar with, and soon send him on his way.

"Next!"

You process another few entrants, before a familiar face walks into the booth, looking somewhat exhausted.

"Papers, please." At the sound of your voice, Twilight looks up at you, her eyes flashing with recognition and confusion.

"Why are you working here?" she asks while handing over her papers.

As you begin checking them, you answer simply. "I was chosen for an employee exchange program. I will be working here for..." Now that you think about it, they never gave you a specific date for when you'd head back home. "...for a little while."

Twilight speaks again while you do a final check on her passport. "Well, since you're here, if you want, I could show you around Ponyville later."

"I'll keep that in mind." With that, you hand back her papers, and she leaves the booth.

"Next!"

After another large stretch of approved visas, along with the occasional denied one, an orange pegasus mare entered your booth.

"Papers, please."

She wordlessly gives you her papers, while glancing around for some reason. You go through her documents, making sure everything checks out, and-

Hang on a sec. This was a first.

You look back and forth between the mare's ID card and her flank displayed in mirrors on either side of her, trying to match up the cutie marks. However, it seems that her actual mark differs from that of the card.

You weren't quite sure what this meant, but you knew that you couldn't just let it slide. "Your cutie mark does not match the one on your card."

The mare stops looking around and focuses on you, her pupils shrinking almost comically. "W- What? But how could-" She looks at her own mark as if confirming it, while you go ahead and stamp a denial on her passport.

However, when you begin handing her papers back to her and she sees the red stamp, her entire demeanor changes. Her face becomes angered, and she's bathed in a sickly green flame. When it dissipates, a weird pony-shaped bug thing is standing in her place. It lets out a hiss, before lunging right at you. The surprise of this sudden turn of events is almost enough to make you not react in time.

Almost.

Thinking quickly, you pull the lever to close the shutters to the booth, causing the bug to impact the outside of it. As it hisses in a combination of anger and pain, you hit the button to call the guards. A siren goes off briefly, and you can see a small group of guards head towards your booth while the line of waiting ponies and humans scattered, most of them ending up going back through the portal.

The guards take up position outside the booth, as the bug thing keeps pounding itself against the shutters, though it wasn't making any progress. One of the guards enters the booth, and quickly engages the bug in a brief scuffle before the bug is knocked out. Once that's done, the guard picks their unconscious body up and leaves the booth, taking it to a holding cell.

After packing up your things for the day, you flag down a guard as you leave the booth. "Where will I be sleeping while I'm here?"

The guard points outside, to a set of bare buildings not too far away from the checkpoint. "Those are the barracks for the guards here. It's also where you'll be staying."

You thank the guard, and head towards your temporary home. On the way there, you couldn't help but look at the nearby town, which looked a lot more colorful and vibrant than any town back in Arstotzka. Is this the 'Ponyville' that Twilight mare mentioned?

Well, that was something to worry about later. For now, you'll just think about what happened today, and question why you always seem to get involved in so many strange situations.


The day was cut short by a terrorist changeling attack