Equestria Nova: Brave New World

by Al-1701

Chapter 6: Preparations Before the Storm

Wind Whistler exhaled a cleansing breath. She had compartmentalized her emotional reactions in favor of logical consideration. She could not endanger her fellow ponies or their new blark allies with a plan born out of pure emotion.

Wind Whistler let the information sink in. The gizmonks, what the ponies had at their disposal, everything laid out in front of her. She had the latter literally laid out in front of her with files scattered across the ground. She then began arranging it into possible scenarios for rescue. She might have failed to keep Paradise from being captured, but she would see her safe return.

No, Wind Whistler scolded herself in her mind. I need to keep my personal feelings out of this.

“Are you okay, Wind Whistler?” Gusty asked from behind her.

Wind Whistler swung around. Gusty stood at the doorway.

“I’m fine,” Wind Whistler answered quickly.

“Liar,” Gusty said sharply. “I’ve heard what others have said. You were an emotional wreck when you came back.”

Wind Whistler heaved a sigh. “I was emotionally distraught, but I have regained control.”

“So, you do feel,” Gusty said. “There were times I had my doubts.”

“Of course I feel,” Wind Whistler said probably with more indigence entering her tone than she intended. “I might in fact feel too much. I just refrain from expressing my emotions freely to letting them dominate my decision-making.”

“Sorry, it was supposed be a stupid little joke,” Gusty said.

Wind Whistler smiled. “I guess I do a good job of hiding them.”

“Can I come in?” Gusty asked.

“I suppose,” Wind Whistler said.

“Why are you down here?” Gusty asked.

“I needed a quiet place to gather my thoughts,” Wind Whistler said.

“Well, I want in,” Gusty said.

“Into what?” Wind Whistler asked.

Gusty frowned. “Don’t act dumb. I know we’re going to save Paradise and I want to be a part of it.”

“If—” Wind Whistler started to say.

“No ifs,” Gusty said. “I’m a part of it without discussion.”

Gusty walked into the room and sat down next to Wind Whistler. “My first month as a foul weather rescuer was during one of the worst storm seasons in recent memory. Storms were coming fast and hard, and we were being sent out constantly to rescue ponies on the water.

“One particularly bad night, a cargo ship was caught on the open ocean. The wind and rain were too much for the pegasi to fly through, so we had to go by boat. We got there just in time for one of the deckponies to be washed overboard.

“We tried to throw him a life preserver, but he was too far out and the waves were too dangerous to try to swim to him. We could only watch him disappear into the night. Even though we saved the rest of the crew, I see that speck of color bobbing in the waves every time I close my eyes.” Gusty turned to Wind Whistler. “On that night I swore I would never leave a pony behind again. No matter what is in my way, I will save them. So, when we save Paradise, I want to be there. I need to be there.”

Wind Whistler frowned. “This is a rescue mission, not a means to indulge emotional needs. We must use logic to determine the best course of action.”

“Ha!” Gusty forced her laugh. “Logic would dictate we leave Paradise to the gizmonks. We can live with one less librarian. Why endanger more ponies to rescue her?”

Wind Whistler paused to think. Gusty was right. Logic was cold and indifferent. It would ignore morality and sensibility. She could never bring herself to live such a life no matter how much she relied on logic.

Wind Whistler shrugged. “I guess I misspoke. After making the concession that we must save her for non-logical reasons, we must consider our options logically.”

“What is it with you and logic?” Gusty asked. “You need passion and desire to do something like this.”

“And I have them,” Wind Whistler said. “However, I will not let them cloud my judgment. We won’t help Paradise if we make a stupid decision.”

Gusty lowered her brow. “How do you know an emotional decision will be stupid?”

“Because I don’t trust my emotions,” Wind Whistler said. “I broke down when they took Paradise. I cried like I hadn’t since I was a little filly. I wanted to go down that whole and snap each and every one of those gizmonks necks with my own hooves. Yet, I got enough control of myself to know that wouldn’t help Paradise.”

Wind Whistler ground her teeth lightly. “I’m actually overly emotional. I get hurt easily. I get angry easily. I can’t even talk to the stallion without constantly worrying about saying I don’t mean or not mean in a way he could take it. I’ve learned to refrain from expressing what happens in my head. It’s what has allowed me to see through emergencies and be successful in life.”

“Hey, I got my own anger issues,” Gusty said. She let out a quiet laugh. “I can have major anger issues. I would have wanted to go after those things and clean their clocks right then and there too.”

She threw her leg over Wind Whistler’s shoulder. “But you can’t be scared of your feelings, or you’ll never get control of them.”

She drew Wind Whistler in closer. “Remember when I said I needed time to know if I wanted you as a friend. Well, I want you as a friend.”

“You wouldn’t want to be my friend to make me assign you,” Wind Whistler said.

“Perhaps, but not entirely,” Gusty said. “I’ve been looking for somepony who has to work to control their feelings and knows how hard it can be. I want somepony I can talk to about what’s frustrating me and knows how I feel. And I think that somepony is you.”

“Well, I am a good listener,” Wind Whistler said. “The truth is I would like somepony to talk about my feelings as well.”

“Then there you go,” Gusty said, patting Wind Whistler on the shoulder. She then started rubbing her hoof playfully in Wind Whistler’s head. “We’ll be great buddies.”

Wind Whistler winced as Gusty messed up her mane. “You do realize you’re doing this to your lieutenant governor, don’t you?”

Gusty stopped and let go of Wind Whistler. “Yeah. I need to remember that.”

Wind Whistler smirked. She grabbed Gusty and playfully rubbed her hoof in her mane. “Of course, you need to be disciplined for your disrespect of the office.”

Wind Whistler broke out laughing. Gusty laughed along with her.

Gusty pried herself out of Wind Whistler’s grasp. She laughed a bit more before she managed to say, “The first thing we need to do is teach you how to give a proper noogie.”

The two let out another fit of laughs.

Wind Whistler then remembered Paradise and stopped. “How can we sit here laughing when Paradise is alone and probably scared out there?”

“You can’t be all dour because you know somepony’s in trouble,” Gusty said. “You’d never have the time for joy. Paradise doesn’t want us to be moping around. She wants us getting ready to take action.”

Wind Whistler managed a small smile. “I guess you’re right.”

---

Paradise was happy her wing was being addressed. She was unhappy she was being treated like an unruly pet or zoo exhibit while they did it. At least they did not put her under. Though, having her muzzle tied, a couple of the loops on staffs around her neck and her legs tied together was still uncomfortable.

Several gizmonks came in and restrained her and menaced her with the staffs that made electricity at the end. One of them then started cleaning her sprained wing. Actually, he started plucking feathers around the injured area. Fortunately they were just the smaller fathers on the body of the wing that would grow back quickly and he only plucked enough to expose the scrapes.

Once the wing was plucked and cleaned, he dressed the wound. He used splints to keep the win open. This sent pain shooting into Paradise and she struggled against her restraints. He placed a pad on the scrapes and wrapped her wing in bandages, going between each primary feather.

He secured the bandage and stood up. He said something to the others and they undid her restraints. They exited the cage and closed the door behind them.

Paradise stood up and looked at their work. They knew how to dress a wounded wing at least. The beige bandage rolled to go between the primaries and spread out flat across the body. She could move the wing up and down, but not fold it. It also throbbed from being stuck in the open position.

Paradise again examined her neighbors as best she could. Many were just blurry masses of color. She had heard sounds from many of them. It was the strangest set of noises she had ever heard. She remembered what Dicker had said. Life on this planet represented life on hundreds of Earths. She could only imagine the worlds they came from just to be trapped in here. She wondered if any of the others were like her. Could they in fact be sapient, but these arrogant primates kept them as animals because they could not understand them?

Paradise looked to the locking mechanism of her cage. It was a standard padlock that needed a key. She was not going to get it open herself. They also came in as a group so she could not get away. Even if she could get out of the cage, she was grounded for the time being and had no idea where she was in relationship to Dream Valley. Her only hope of was rescue. Hopefully the colonists were already planning it.

---

North Star quickly flew down towards the castle. “I think I found them!” she shouted as she landed in the courtyard. “I think I found the gizmonks!”

Ponies came out of the apartments and gathered around her. They all spoke at once so it was hard to make what they were saying. Spearhead made his way to the front of the group. Everypony fell silent.

“What did you find exactly?” Spearhead asked.

“I found large machines making a lot of black smoke like Wind Whistler described,” North Star said. “They’re clearing a forest about twenty kilometers past the edge of the wasteland.”

Spearhead turned back to Rosetta. “Find Wind Whistler. I want to know what she’s thinking.”

---

Wind Whistler flicked her ear to a knock on the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s Rosetta,” Rosetta answered from the other side of the door. “We think we’ve found the gizmonks. Spearhead wants to know what you’re planning.”

“Come in,” Wind Whistler said.

The door pushed in and Rosetta walked in. She had a scowl on her face.

Wind Whistler frowned. “I thought you would be happier we have something to go on.”

“I am happy about that,” Rosetta said. “It’s you I’m unhappy about.”

“What have I done to offend you?” Wind Whistler asked.

“You’re in my way,” Rosetta answered in annoyance.

Wind Whistler furrowed her brow. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Spearhead and I have a long history,” Rosetta said. “I was a homeless orphan in lower Canterlot. While everypony saw nothing but a low-class street urchin, he saw my real potential. He took me in and raised me as his daughter. He taught me to refine my translation magic. I’ve done everything I can to please him. Yet, when I can reap the benefits for all my loyalty and hard work, he favors you.”

“I’m only trying to make this colony as successful as it can be,” Wind Whistler said. “It’s not my fault Spearhead has looked at my efforts favorably.”

Rosetta gave a short grunt. “Well, Spearhead wants to pick your brain, so get up there.”

Wind Whistler stood up and walked towards the door. She stopped as a thought crossed her mind and looked back at Rosetta. Rosetta glared at her.

“Please don’t take any of this personally,” Wind Whistler said. “I never meant to upstage you.”

“I know,” Rosetta said. “I’m more mad at myself for not being what he needs right now.”

---

Wind Whistler stepped into the room with Rosetta right behind her. Spearhead sat behind a table with a map spread out on it. Dicker stood on a stool next to him.

Spearhead looked up. “Rosetta, if you please.”

“Right,” Rosetta said.

A green aura surrounded Rosetta’s horn before fading away.

“Much better,” Spearhead said.

“Now that we can understand each other, let’s get down to business,” Dicker said.

Dicker pointed at the map. “The clearing machines your scout saw are probably from the same city as the slaving machine.” He tapped a depression in a plain. “Their city is right here.”

Wind Whistler walked up to the map.

“And where was your city?” Spearhead asked.

“We were right here on the edge of the Land of Nightmares.” Dicker pointed to just outside of the border.

“Are the gizmonks a threat to us here?” Wind Whistler asked.

“We’re about as safe as you can be from them here,” Dicker said. “They give the Land of Nightmares a wide berth. I’m surprised they came so close to attack Scrapsburg.”

Spearhead looked to Wind Whistler. “So, what is your plan for retrieving Paradise and our new blark allies?”

Wind Whistler exhaled a cleansing breath. “These gizmonks have no ethical or moral code we would recognize. Therefore, we should not expect them to negotiate in good faith.”

“Then you suggest a rescue by force?” Spearhead asked rhetorically.

“I suggest we offer an olive branch with one pastern and hide a dagger in the other,” Wind Whistler said. “If they’re willing to give them up, that’s great. However, we will be ready to rescue them by force if they refuse.”

Spearhead smirked. “I continue to like the way you think.”

“We’ll have two teams,” Wind Whistler said. “A diplomatic mission will go to the gizmonks to try to negotiate for Paradise and blarks’ release. A strike team will take up position just out of sight to await the result of negotiations. If things go south, they will move in and free Paradise and the blarks as well as create a distraction for the diplomatic mission to escape.”

“Very well thought out,” Spearhead said. “Though, this will still have tremendous risk. Who do you suggest for the teams?”

“The diplomatic mission will be you, governor, and I, a translator, and Fizzy and Gusty for protection,” Wind Whistler said. “The strike team is a little more complicated. I’ve found ponies who should be able to get in, free their prisoners, and get out with enough fanfare to cover the diplomatic mission.

“The first part of the strike team is the hilt or its support ponies. They will also have a translator. Masquerade and Whizzer will serve as advanced scouts. Stargazer can use his illusion magic to provide cover. Truly will be needed for her medical expertise since Paradise is injured as well as serving as the field medic for the team. Since we’re dealing with technology, Fan Belt will also come to deal with any technical issues.

“Then comes the blade of the dagger which will be unicorns with more offensive magic. Buttons’ superior levitation powers, Skiflier’s ability to manipulate gravity, Ribbon’s telepathic magic, Powder’s freezing magic, and Sparkler’s spark magic and knowledge of explosives make them prime candidates.”

“How would the strike team know what’s happening with the diplomatic team?” Rosetta asked.

Wind Whistler paused. She had not thought of that.

“Echo will join the strike team for support,” Spearhead said. “Her magic will allow her to know what is happening with the diplomatic team. She might also compliment Stargazer’s illusions.”

“Thank you for filling that hole in my plan, Governor Spearhead,” Wind Whistler said. “While I would prefer to iron out this plan more, we must act immediately. By sunrise tomorrow, Paradise and the blarks could be anywhere.”

“The gizmonks have labor camps all over the region,” Dicker said. “They’re all heavily guarded, so our best chance to rescue our citizens is before they’re processed and shipped out.”

“Then what’s our first move?” Rosetta asked.

“Going straight to their city might be seen as aggressive,” Spearhead said. “I suggest we make contact with this timber crew first. Let your team know what we’re planning and then prepare to head out.”

“Yes, governor,” both Wind Whistler and Rosetta said at the same time while bowing their heads.

---

Buttons stepped into the infirmary. The sterile smell of iodine and rubbing alcohol washed over her. Everything was white. The medical symbol, a red cross with pink hearts in the spaces, decorated the cabinet doors, like a patient would not know they were in a medical facility if one door was blank.

Truly stood at a counter in the back. She hummed a sweet, merry tune to herself as she worked on something.

She was wearing the full nurse’s uniform. Her white cap sat on top of her mane which was tied in a tight bun. She wore a long-sleeved dress the same shade of pink as her mane with the skirt going all the way around her waist. It actually looked more natural with her standing on her hind legs like a biped. She wore a white apron over the dress though all buttons could see of it was the straps crossing over her back and the large bow on the back of her waist.

Buttons walked around the examination bed. She could see Truly was polishing medical equipment laid out in neatly on a cloth. She held an obsidian scalpel in her pastern and rubbed it with a cloth draped over other hoof.

Button cleared her throat. She wanted to get Truly’s attention without startling her with a sharp instrument in her grasp.

Truly stopped humming and looked up to her. “Oh, hi there, Buttons honey,” she said in her Mustangian drawl.

Truly set down the scalpel so it was in line with the others.

“Did you hear about the rescue mission?” Buttons asked.

“Wind Whistler told me a few minutes ago,” Truly said. “That’s why I’m organizing and cleaning all the instruments. I like to leave a clean and orderly examination room before I leave.”

“I’m surprised she asked you over Glory,” Buttons said.

“Glory is a surgeon better suited to the operating room,” Truly said, putting the cloth down and smoothing it out. “I have field training she doesn’t.”

Truly dropped onto her front hooves. The skirt of her dress lay flat on top and went almost straight down in front of her hind legs. It looked so odd on a pony, but it was to protect the hindquarters. At least, that was what a nurse had told Buttons when she repaired one of her uniforms and offered to alter the skirt to a more conventional style.

“I can’t believe they want to throw me into this to tell you the truth,” Buttons said. “I’m a seamstress and a tailor, not a soldier. Yes my levitation magic is a lot more powerful than your average unicorn’s, but I don’t have any combat training.”

“You could refuse,” Truly suggested.

“And look like a coward?” Buttons scoffed. “I’d never live it down.”

“You act like this is a suicide mission,” Truly said. “If we can’t save our own from this gadgape things, we should just pack up and go home when the mirror reopens.”

“They’re called gizmonks,” Buttons said flatly. “It’s just I didn’t sign up for this. I wanted to share fashion and sewing techniques with a new wrold, not launch my governor into an evil obelisk and rescue a pony from a bunch of technology-obsessed primates.”

Truly placed her pastern gently on Buttons’ shoulder. “None of us signed up for this, but we’re in it now, and we have to save Paradise from those gizmonks. We need your power on this one.”

Buttons heaved a sigh. “All right, but I really hope this is it for the heroics.”

---

Galaxy stepped into the castle’s conservatory in time for a tiny planet to pass through her nose. She immediately realized it was an illusion her twin brother was making.

A miniature solar system with a yellow sun in the center filled the open space. Sitting off to the side was a unicorn stallion with a medium blue coat and a mane streaked dark blue, blue, white, and purple. He looked to Galaxy with his eyes that looked like cut sapphires. A blue aura surrounded his horn and illuminated the corner.

“Stargazer,” Galaxy said. “There’s been a problem. A pony has been captured, and we need your help.”

The solar system quickly collapsed to nothing and aura around his horn faded. Stargazer stood up and walked towards Galaxy. The hollow echoes of his hooffalls resounded around them. Stargazer had a scowl on his face like he always did when pulled from his train of thought.

“I can refine the model later,” Stargazer said. “What’s happened?”

“Paradise has been captured, and we’re forming a rescue party,” Galaxy said. “Wind Whistler believes your magic will be of use.”

Stargazer smirked the way he did when he was going to have a chance to show off. He was showmen. Either he was hold up in some corner like this refining his act or on stage giving the show of the century.

Stargazer chuckled. “I compliment Wind Whistler on her judgment.”

An aura surrounded his horn. Stargazers materialized around them, filling the room.

“With me around—” A Stargazer to Galaxy’s side said, or rather it was Stargazer actually throwing his voice into it.

“—there’s always an army on hoof,” another Stargazer finished the thought.

Show off, Galaxy thought lightly.

---

Sparkler carefully placed another tin of guncotton into a saddlebag. Finally there was a crisis where their explosives and weapons worked. The saddlebags were filled with tins of guncotton, cans of gunpowder, and rounds for rifles.

“Those gizmonks will see one pyrotechnic display if they don’t give up Paradise quietly,” Sparkler murmured to herself. “And they’ll see it up close and personal.”

Powder walked into the storeroom Sparkler had turned into temporary armory. The unicorn mare had a purple coat and a white mane streaked with red. She leaned on the doorway. “I see you’ve wasted no time preparing.”

“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this,” Sparkler said. “I’m a demolitions expert, but I rarely got to practice my craft in Equestria.”

“So, you’re ready to practice your craft against living creatures?” Powder asked.

“I’m not going to put a bomb on one of them if that’s what you’re asking,” Sparkler said. “However, they tore through the blark’s city for slave labor. I don’t see why we can’t shred their wallpaper a little saving Paradise.”

Sparkler rested her hooves on the table. “What do you bring to the table?”

“Freezing magic,” Powder said.

An aura surrounded her horn and ice formed in the air around her head.

“Neat, or should I say cool,” Sparkler joked.

Powder rolled her eyes. “You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that one.”

---

Masquerade pulled another cloak out of the box. She set it down behind a wide-brimmed hat. Both had a snowfield camouflage pattern like the other sets.

A streak of pink and a meld from purple to green above it passed in front of Masquerade with a rush of wind. One of the hats and cloaks were suddenly gone.

Masquerade looked to where the streak had gone. Whizzer hovered just above the ballroom floor. She had been a crystal pony like Masquerade, but her blue eyes now looked like sapphires. She had a pink coat so she looked like a pink streak when she was flying at top speed. Her mane was streaked dark purple, blue, green, and aqua.

“Are these what we’re wearing because they look kind of drab if you ask me, but I guess that’s the point since we don’t want to be seen, do we?” Whizzer said so fast her words practically melded into one another.

“Yes,” Masquerade said. “That’s the point of camouflage.”

Masquerade had to agree it was much more drab that she was use to. She typically made costumes and outfits for balls and other kinds of parties. However, she appreciated camouflage as well. She liked to conceal her identity until she was ready to reveal herself, and camouflage was just another method of doing it.

“They really did think of everything,” a female voice said.

Masquerade turned around. Moondancer held a cloak and hat in her magic. Her coat was white and seemed even more brilliant against her win red mane that was streaked with lavender.

“I insisted,” Masquerade said. “You never know when something like this can be of use.”

“Can you believe they want us on the rescue mission?” Whizzer said. “I hope this means I get to fly fast. I’m the fastest flier out there, even beating Rainbow Dash, but I’ve never managed a sonic rainboom. I wonder why that is. Is it because I don’t have a full rainbow mane?”

“You certainly talk fast,” Moondancer said, sounding like she was emphasizing every word compared to the almost constant stream of syllables that came out of Whizzer’s mouth.

---

Wind Whistler watched Ribbon. The unicorn mare had a blue coat and white ribbon tied in a bow around the reddish-orange streak in her otherwise vibrant yellow mane. Ribbon exhaled a cleansing breath.

“Do you know what you’re asking of me?” Ribbon asked in a low, soft voice. “Even ignoring the ethical issues, reading minds is stressful enough. Reading an alien mind of a species I had never even heard of is like entering a dark room. There’s no telling what going on in there.”

“I know this will be hard on you,” Wind Whistler said. “However, we might need to know what they know, and you’re the only unicorn with telepathic magic here.

“As for ethics,” Wind Whistler continued, “we are on the brink of war. If they refuse to release Paradise and the other captives, we will immediately enter armed conflict to rescue them. If we need to take information from their minds to save Paradise and the blarks, then it’s just another action on the battlefield.”

Wind Whistler sighed. “These gizmonks are dangerous. They’re more dangerous than anything in Equestria. If we let them just have Paradise, we will open the door for them to have their way with us.”

“Then why not just attack?” Ribbon asked. “If they’re that dangerous, why enter the belly of the beast?”

“Because—” Wind Whistler paused as she chose her next words carefully. “—if this does come to war, I want to know we at least gave peace a chance. Even if it means putting myself in danger, my conscience needs it.”

Ribbon exhaled another cleansing breath. Wind Whistler knew what Ribbon had to be feeling. She did the exact same thing to settle the storms that clouded her mind from time to time.

“I will go with the rescue party,” Ribbon said.

“Thank you, Ribbon,” Wind Whistler replied.

Wind Whistler flicked her ear to a soft cough to clear a throat. She turned back to Shady standing in the doorway. Shady rubbed her pastern on her opposite leg and looked down at the floor.

“Can I help you, Shady?” Wind Whistler asked.

“I…uh…” Shady drew out her words like she was still searching for the next one. She looked up to Wind Whistler. “I…I want to come on the rescue mission.”

“Are you sure?” Wind Whistler asked. “It’s almost a certainty this will dangerous.”

“I know,” Shady said looking back down, “and I’m not really sure to tell you the truth. It’s just I always want to prove I can be brave, but I’ve never found the courage when I need it. I really want to save Paradise, so please let me join you before I change my mind.”

Wind Whistler smiled, but kept it small. “Of course, you can join us. You can accompany the diplomatic mission.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Ribbon asked.

Wind Whistler turned back to Ribbon. Ribbon had a dour look on her face.

“Shady and I are from the same town, so I’ve seen her many ‘failures courage’ personally,” Ribbon said coldly. “She says she can be brave, but she always caves under pressure and becomes a liability. I don’t need to read her mind to know she’s within a whisper and losing it right now.”

Wind Whistler scowled. “That was in Equestria. This is a new world where we can make new beginnings.”

Ribbon shrugged. “I’m just glad she’ll be your responsibility.”

Ribbon stood up and walked past Wind Whistler. She walked to the doorway and Shady backed up and to the side. Ribbon glared at her, and Shady shrank away from her. Ribbon turned away from her and disappeared out of the doorway.

Shady looked down and rubbed her pastern on her leg. She heaved a sigh.

“There’s an old, pre-Equestrian saying,” Wind Whistler said. “I believe it was ‘Fools have no fear. Heroes persevere despite their fear.’”

Shady looked up. “Do you think I have what it takes to be a hero?” she asked meekly.

“As I said, this world has the potential for new beginnings,” Wind Whistler said. “You just need to take the opportunities when they come.”

Shady managed a small grin. “Thanks for standing up for me, Wind Whistler.”

Wind Whistler stood up and walked to the doorway. “Think nothing of it. I still wish to be your friend.”

Shady looked down and her smile dropped into a frown. She rubbed her pastern on her peg. Wind Whistler was surprised her leg still had its full coat from all the rubbing.

“You mean it?” Shady asked. “You’re not just taking pity on me?”

“Absolutely not,” Wind Whistler said. She placed her pastern on Shady’s shoulder. “I believe in you, Shady.”

Shady looked up. “What if I do cave under pressure and become a liability?”

“What if you’re the one who gets us out of there?” Wind Whistler asked in response. “Again, this is a world of new beginnings. The old Shady never went through the mirror. The new Shady is here, and it’s up to you to determine who she is.”

Shady smiled again, but it was broader smile. “Thank you, Wind Whistler. I’m glad to have you as a friend.”

Wind Whistler smiled. “The feeling is mutual.”

Wind Whistler put her hoof down and walked into the hall. “Come on. The others are waiting.”

---

Spearhead shook out his body to shake the snow off of it. The gray hats and cloaks kept the falling snow off their bodies, but the wet flakes were sticking to the fabric so fast it he could practically feel them accumulate.

Spearhead and his group trudged through the forest towards the clearing machines despite the deteriorating weather. He actually welcomed the snow storm. Hopefully it was also falling on the gizmonk’s city to conceal their strike team currently making their way to its outskirts.

The forest was unlike anything Spearhead had seen in Equestria. The trees were tall conifers with relatively slender trunks. The branches and needles were high above the ground, and there was almost no underbrush between their crowded trunks. He was use to the open fields and plains of Equestria and the thick underbrush and stout trees of the Everfree forest.

The snow added to the alien feel. Falling snow had the softest sound that was barely audible. It was unlike the pattering of rain, but more like a soft white noise in the background that filled the air and muffled other noises. Their hoof prints sounded eerily clear with more distant sounds being non-existent.

“Why are you so anxious all the time?” Fizzy asked. Spearhead assumed she was talking to Shady.

“I just am,” Shady replied. “I can’t seem to do anything right.”

“That’s because you’re always thinking of how things can go wrong,” Gusty said. “You need to picture how things can go right and then do it.”

Spearhead resisted the urge to express his frustration with the three mares Wind Whistler brought along for their ‘protection.’ He could think of literally hundreds of better candidates for guards. He feared she let her personal feelings for them affect her judgment.

“Would you all stop jabbering?” Rosetta snapped at them. “This is a potentially hostile contact situation, not a hen club.”

“What crawled in your mane and died?” Gusty asked sarcastically.

Spearhead could always count on Rosetta to say what he wanted to, but could not.

Wind Whistler walked abreast with Spearhead. He glanced to her while still facing forward. She stared forward with a neutral expression. It made Spearhead doubt his assumption about her letting her feelings have weight. She had been in such an emotional state just hours before, but she was now cool and focused.

“An interesting bunch you have chosen as our guards,” Spearhead said.

“I trust them,” Wind Whistler replied.

A high-pitched, raspy whine suddenly pierced the tranquility. They stopped as it echoed off the trunks around them. Then, as soon as it came, it wound down to nothing. More whines made their presence known clearly coming from ahead of them.

Shady swallowed. “What’s that?”

“Sounds like sawing,” Spearhead answered.

“The clearing machines?” Wind Whistler asked.

“Has to be,” Spearhead said.

“Then there’s no turning back.” Wind Whistler walked forward.

Spearhead followed. The forest had seemed to go on forever. However, he could see empty air ahead of them. The whines grew louder and clearer. They were clearly approaching a border.

They came to a drop off. Spearhead then saw them.

Colossal, gunmetal gun machines the size of buildings sat where the forest now ended. Black smoke streamed from pipes on their sides. They closed their massive claws on the trees and sliced them with massive chain saws that cut through the whole trunk in a single swing. The claw then lifted the whole tree back into the machine that pulled it in. Claws brought out logs stripped of their branches from the back and deposited them on stacks on flatbeds. Flatbeds full of logs pulled away from the machines so empty ones could take their place.

Spearhead looked past them. An expanse of stumps extended behind them to the horizon.

“This is incredible,” Gusty said in a gasp.

“It’s brutal and efficient,” Rosetta added.

“Just like that machine in Scrapsburg,” Wind Whistler said coldly.

“Do you think these are the gizmonks?” Spearhead said.

“Almost certain,” Wind Whistler answered.

Spearhead turned back to Rosetta. “A translation matrix, if you please.”

An aura surrounded Rosetta’s horn and then faded.

Spearhead faced forward. The drop down was almost ten meters. In a flash of red, he was at the bottom. Gusty, Fizzy, and Rosetta appeared in flashes around him. Wind Whistler landed ahead of them.

Spearhead turned back to Shady on the ridge. She looked down at them.

“How is she supposed to get down get down here?” Rosetta asked irritably.

“We improvise,” Spearhead said.

He concentrated on a nearby tree. He used his levitation magic to bend it towards the ridge. He then added to its momentum. The frozen ground held the roots hard, but eventually gave to let the tree continue to topple.

Shady jumped back as the tree hit the ridge.

“Come down the tree,” Spearhead said.

Shady gingerly stepped on to the trunk. She slowly and carefully made her way down the trunk. She jumped off and down to the ground.

“That was a lot of work to bring down one pony,” Rosetta grumbled.

“Shut up, Rosetta,” Gusty snapped.

“Enough!” Spearhead shouted. He turned to them and all five mares stared at him. “Save your fight for the gizmonks.”

Spearhead walked past them towards the nearest machine. The cab of the machine had tinted windows hiding their interior.

“I want to talk!” Spearhead shouted as loud as he could.

After a couple seconds, the door on the side of the cab opened. A creature stepped out and jumped to the ground. It was a primate, but more monkey than ape like the witches were. It was a lanky creature standing at well over a meter and a half tall and covered in a coarse, brown coat. It loomed over Spearhead, something few things in Equestria could.

However, it was the machinery covering its body that took Spearhead by surprise. The right arm and right side of the chest were covered by a mechanical limb. Both legs were also covered by mechanical legs. The right half of the head was covered by a helmet with a camera lens over the eye. All of these mechanical parts were covered in chrome casings that could use a polish with black corrugated material over the inside of the joints. The creature’s movements caused clicks and soft hisses of hydraulics.

Will wonders never cease on this world? Spearhead thought.

The creature’s natural eye glared at him and the aperture of the lens tightened as he, or perhaps she, scowled.

“Are you a gizmonk?” Spearhead asked.

“Who wants to know?” the creature asked. The low pitch of the voice suggested male.

“I am Colonel Spearhead, military governor of the Equestria Nova colony,” Spearhead replied. “I and my party wish to open a dialogue with the gizmonks over their unintentional detainment of one of my citizens.”

The creature glowered for a couple seconds. He turned back to the cab and climbed in.

The creature got into the cab and picked up a receiver before he closed the door. Spearhead stood there staring at the door waiting for something to happen. He built magic in his horn just in case. It was not enough to summon an aura, but enough that he could call on his powers in an instant should something the creature being planning something behind the tinted glass.

The door opened and the creature faced Spearhead. “We are the gizmonks, and my superiors did say a pony-like creature had been accidently collected. One of the flatbed drivers will take you to our city. I assume you want to meet our king immediately to talk about freeing your citizen.”

“Thank you,” Spearhead said.

He turned back to the mares. “One of the flatbeds will take us to their city so we may discuss Paradise’s release.”

---

Wind Whistler watched the landscape go by as the flatbed drove through the stump littered waste. It was a depressing site. Ponies only cleared forests like this to build communities and farms. Trees harvested for timber were harvested to thin the forests instead of clearing them so they recovered faster.

The flatbed jolted to jar her out of her train of thought. She faced forward. They drove down a path of dirt in the snow.

“It should take us about an hour to reach Gizmas City,” the gizmonk driver said. “You’ll have to discuss your friend’s release with King MacGyver.”

“Thanks for the lift,” Gusty said.

“I was headed home with this timber anyway,” the driver replied.

Wind Whistler felt a bit disarmed. She was ready to hate these gizmonks with every fiber of her being. Yet this driver seemed friendly and nothing like the heartless monster that had to be driving that slaving machine.

Perhaps these gizmonks are not all bad, she thought. Though, this species still captures and exploits slave labor.

She was tempted to bring up the issue of slaves and labor camps, but this was not the right time. Better to take advantage of this glimpse into their better nature.

“It’s amazing how fast we’ve been clearing away this forest,” the driver said gleefully. “We should have the whole thing cleared by the end of spring.”

“What do you plan to do with the land?” Wind Whistler asked.

“We’ll be able to start strip mining once the trees are gone,” the driver said. “Timber is good to sell to the less advanced races, but it’s the metal ore under the forest we really need.”

“How will you restore everything when you’re done?” Gusty asked.

The driver wheezed a laugh and slapped his mechanical hand on the steering wheel. “Restore? That’s a good one. What do we look like? Dell Dwellers? There are plenty of forests elsewhere. We just move on to the next one.”

Wind Whistler swallowed. Her defenses were back up even stronger than before. Sure this driver was friendly, but he was just as depraved as the gizmonk driving the slaving machine had to be. He did not care about the devastation they will leave behind. His gregarious nature now had a macabre atmosphere to it that was choking her in the crowded cab.

Wind Whistler faced forward. There was now no doubt in her mind they were heading into a nest of scorpions; big, depraved, half-mechanical scorpions. Welcome to Hub Earth, she thought gravely. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Comments

[Metroid Prime]

this is crossover with Terra Nova

[Al-1701]

3363990 No. But it does get the idea from the same place for the name.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Monkeys of Borg.. I hate them already...
creatmultimedia.com/img/76.jpg

[Al-1701]

3393678 Galaxy shows up in Chapter 2.

The Hurricane subplot will be very small going forward. Both characters have more important matters to attend to, but they will have a slowly growing relationship. Also, as the story goes along, we learn Wind Whistler is actually very emotional, but keeps her expression of those emotions controlled.

[ColdGoldLazarus]

King MacGyver? Brilliant!
Nice introductions to the strike team, and I like that Truly isn't as obnoxious here. Also:

Galaxy stepped into the castle’s conservatory in time for a tiny planet to pass through her nose.

This line had me laughing out loud.

The Gusty scene, while pretty well-done, bugged me for some reason, though I can't really place why. The conversation between Rosetta and Whistler was rather interesting; lends some depth to what would otherwise just be a "generic rival" character. And while I do like the bit with Shady, I actually found myself agreeing with Spearhead that she and Fizzy may not have been the best choices as 'protection.' :shrug:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next update!

[ColdGoldLazarus]

3393901 Yep, I noticed!

Ah, okay; that makes sense. Like I said, I'll wait and see.

[Leave a Whisper]

OMG King MacGuyver! XD