PonySide

by Puzzle Piece

Chapter Four: Pick a Side, Any Side

Gadrik stood by the window, looking out toward the town a mile or so to the north. He could just make out the vague outline of the buildings against the backdrop of the night sky thanks to the faint glow of the few lights still burning at this late hour. In his mind, he was ignoring the view and concentrating on planning their next move.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were busy preparing a meal for the four of them in the kitchen behind him. He could hear their hushed chatter under the clanking of plates and cutlery. The Corporal was standing stock still in the middle of the room. He hadn’t moved or said anything for many minutes and some of the animals had become bold enough to try climbing up the plating of his suit.

“It will just be another minute,” Fluttershy called, her head popping into view momentarily. She had warmed up to them considerably since the weapons had all been lowered and was now speaking to them in a normal tone instead of the whispers she’d used when they’d first met. “And I think I’ve decided that you can stay here. Dash and I are just discussing certain, uh, minor concerns.”

“What kind of concerns?” Gadrik asked, only half listening.

“Just that I don’t have any beds large enough for your, um, friend there. Don’t worry, though. I’m sure we’ll work something out.” She ducked back into the kitchen.

“Mhm,” he grunted and then muttered under his breath. “That’s certainly hospitable of it.”

The MAX shifted slightly, causing all of the animals to scatter again. “It’s her, sir. Not it.”

The Major turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Can’t you tell by their voices, sir?” the Corporal asked. “They’re both female.”

Fluttershy entered the room carrying a small table. As she set it up and Rainbow Dash brought out a tray of food, the Major leaned closer to the Corporal and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“They’re alien animals. They could have strange voices. How would you even know for sure if they’re female?”

The Corporal made an exaggeratedly obvious gesture at Fluttershy, who was facing away from them at the moment. The yellow plot was unobstructed and Gadrik got all of the answers he cared to find in one glance.

Maybe the Corporal isn’t as green as I thought he was, the Major mused as Rainbow drew up some chairs.

“Sure,” he said, trying to put that image out of his head. “But they’re just animals. Why treat them so…human?”

“Well, they talk, for one. And they build structures and have society and…”

“I don’t care,” Gadrik said, waving a dismissive hand. “Just don’t get too comfortable around them. We still know next to nothing about them.”

“It’s ready,” Fluttershy announced.

Gadrik took the seat that was offered to him and sat down. He propped his TRAC-5 against the backrest and hung his helmet over the barrel. Rainbow sat down opposite him. Fluttershy scooped a helping of salad onto Gadrik’s plate and then passed the bowl to Rainbow. The Major glanced back at the Corporal. The MAX took a step toward the table but stopped. He made an apologetic gesture to Fluttershy.

"Uh, give me a second.” He then addressed the Major. “Sir, permission to disarm?”

“Sure, sure. Not like you can eat in that thing.”

The Corporal nodded and widened his stance. There was a series of whirs and hisses and the popping of several seals as the chest piece and forward plating moved aside. The facemask swung upward from the neck guard, which split away, freeing the Corporal’s head. Next the legs and arms unlocked and the plating on their front opened up, allowing the MAX suit’s pilot to step out. He slipped his hands free of the gauntlets and flexed his fingers.

“Gets a bit stuffy in there, you know?” he commented, his voice remarkably gentle after the harshness of the MAX’s synthetic translation.

The two ponies were visibly surprised by this transformation. The shell of armor the Corporal had left behind stood menacingly behind this lean, unimposing young man whose smile slid into place as casually as a well worn glove. His black and red jumpsuit was tight-fitted and had no plating or weapons. When he seated himself across from Fluttershy, they were still gapping at him.

“So he’s not a giant robot?” Rainbow asked.

“What?” the Major replied, missing the source of their confusion.

The Corporal looked back at the suit and then burst out laughing.

“No, no, no. It’s just armor.”

“Why do you need armor that looks so scary?” Fluttershy asked meekly. She looked fearfully up at the facemask that now glowered down at them all from near the ceiling.

“We have scary enemies,” the Corporal said, dropping his tone seriously.

“Like those VNS or whatever you called them earlier?” Rainbow asked.

“The NC and the VS,” the Major growled. “Two separate groups. One wants to blow a hole in the order and unity of the Republic. The other wants to wipe out anyone who isn’t one of their cultist fanatics.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy said.

“It is,” Gadrik agreed. “And we fight against them to protect our country, the Terran Republic, from those who’ve forgotten where their loyalties are supposed to lie.”

“Forgotten their loyalties?” Rainbow asked, skeptically.

“Yes,” Gadrik said, settling back in his chair for a long story. “Hundreds of years back, the Republic unified humanity during a desperate part of our history. The world was being destroyed by constant warfare. The Republic rose up and put an end to the fighting. The peace lasted for centuries. Down the road a ways, an expedition was launched to explore deeper into space than ever before. But something went wrong and we were stranded with no way back to our home world.”

“Tensions were high but the officers of the Republic kept order…for a time. A group of rebels began to grow restless and openly challenged the rules of the Republic, even to armed conflict. Added to that, the scientists of the expedition, more cultists of technology than anything else, got it into their heads that only those who followed their twisted take on the future were worthy of life. So they attacked both the rebels and the Republic.”

“The rebels officially separated themselves from the Republic and took the name the New Conglomerate, a name which clearly reflects their founding ideals of personal interest over the good of the group. Not wanting to be left out, the tech cult named themselves the Vanu Sovereignty after their so-called alien deity. And so the table was set for a war and it wasn’t long before it broke out in full force across the face of our new planetary home, Auraxis. It’s been countless years now since it began. No one pays attention to the beginning anymore but one thing is for certain. Both of them, the NC and the VS, have forgotten that it was because of the unity of the Republic that any of us are alive today.”

“Wow,” Rainbow said when the narrative was finished. “After all that time and they just turn on you? Doesn’t sound like any kind of loyalty I’ve ever heard of. Who needs friends like those?”

“Exactly,” Gadrik nodded. “We’ll do whatever has to be done to put down this rebellion so that the Republic can return to the peace it was created to provide. And we’ll never quit until we do. No true Terran will ever forget the lesson here that these rebels have taught us. We are strong together and loyal to each other, come hell or high water.”

“Loyalty until death.” the Corporal intoned solemnly. “Strength in unity.”

Gadrik nodded to him and the other continued eating.

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked, indicating the Corporal.

“A national motto. It’s been around since the founding of the Republic.”

“Loyalty until death, huh?” Rainbow said, trying out the sound of the phrase. “You know, that’s the kind of commitment I can get behind. Though it is a bit dark to say it like that, it says exactly what it means. No cutting corners, no grey area. Just sticking together to the end. I like it.”

“Do you?” Gadrik sounded amused. “That’s good to hear.” He glanced at the Corporal and pointed at Rainbow. “If the rest of these ponies have got their priorities in line as well as this one, I might just grow to like this place.”

As they continued their meal, Rainbow mulled over the story she’d just heard. When they’d cleared away the dishes, she decided she’d share a story with them. And she knew the perfect one.

“You know, our country wasn’t always united,” she began. “This might not be the right season for this story, but I think you’ll still appreciate it.”

Her audience was captive in the small cottage but they turned to her with genuine interest.

“You see, we used to be divided into separate tribes…”

She went on telling the story of the first Hearth’s Warming. The humans settled back and got comfortable as she spoke, both thoroughly enthralled by the tale. The telling went on into the night and when they finally drifted off to sleep, they all felt a certain shared understanding with their new companions.

~*~*~

Despite the limited information at her disposal, it took Katie a long time to catch Nathan up on their situation. At first, he was hung up on their hostess’s unusual appearance. After he’d finally gotten his head around the concept, he’d begun to slowly ask questions and build a model of this world in his mind that he could wrap logic around. His unending clarifying questions and reiterations would have begun to irritate her if she had not been a dedicated scholar herself. Eventually, Twilight became his prime conversation partner and Katie was able to sit back.

“So you say we are on Earth,” he said, with highly animated gestures. “But that it is some sort of alternate version of the one we know?”

Twilight nodded.

“And this world has magic, you say?” he pressed on, his enthusiasm building. “A power that draws on a source completely separate from electromagnetic, gravitational or nuclear forces?”

“Yes, although defining that source has been a question debated by the greatest mages since well before Equestria was founded.” Twilight telekinetically picked up a pair of books from the stacks that she’d gathered on the subjects they’d covered while they’d talked. “In fact, while these volumes have been the most influential in understanding magical principles and advancing magical theory, they are also the most fiercely criticized.

Nathan looked over at Katie, the eagerness of his expression making him look like an exited child. She giggled at him. It had been fun watching him grow accustomed to talking to the Alicorn Princess. He was now sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her as she flipped through the pages of the various books around them. Katie rested against the bed, holding her applicator loosely in her hand. She’d finished repairing the damage to her body, though her hair would have to grow back on its own. Now she just smiled at the two of them, their heads close together, discussing the inner workings of a whole universe.

“This is amazing, Katie!” Nathan exclaimed, waving her over.

She sighed with amusement and pushed herself to her feet. She looked at the passage he was indicating and saw an intricately drawn Unicorn in robes and an absurd beard that trailed past his hooves.

“It says here that this Starswirl the Bearded was one of the greatest Unicorns in history. It lists his notable contributions to magical society and some of the major events he influenced throughout Equestria. Think about it, a whole history of magic to explore and unlock secrets from!”

“That’s fascinating,” she conceded. “But I don’t think we have the time to be studying old mages.”

“Time? We’ll make the time. For crying out loud, we’re in a different world, Katie!” He turned back to the book, reading feverishly. “We have all the time we could ever need.”

“Still,” she said, easing the book away from him. “I think we should concentrate on finding the way home. We have no idea how long it will take. Might as well get started now, don’t you think?”

“Katie, there is no rush at all,” he said calmly. “Don’t you understand what we have here? We’re in a position to unlock secrets of power we’ve never thought to tap into before. This could be as revolutionary as contact with Vanu! And it’s ours to seize!” He waited for her to realize the magnitude of his words but she only shook her head sadly.

“I know this is tempting, but what good will it all be if we can’t share it with anyone else? We need to get back to the others. They’re still fighting, remember? We can’t just leave them.”

“Bah!” He swatted his hand dismissively. “Forget the war. It’ll carry on with or without us.”

“War?” Twilight cut in. “What war?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” Katie said hastily.

“Is that how you two ended up in that state?” Twilight pressed. “You were in a war?”

“There’s no reason for you to concern yourself with…” Katie tried to say but Nathan put a hand on her arm, silencing her.

“Yes, Twilight,” Nathan confirmed. “We were in a war before we ended up here. We are soldiers.”

“What kind of war? Who are you fighting? And…why?”

“A war of principles,” Nathan said, folding his hands in front of him and choosing his words carefully. “Our people are at a crossroads in their evolution. New discoveries have fueled advances in technology the likes of which haven’t been seen in nearly a thousand years. But not everyone sees this era of enlightenment the same way. Some reject the truths our new knowledge has revealed. They cling to old ideas that are as dead as the thinkers that hatched them.”

“It began with patient teachings. We thought to instruct others so that they could find their way to the right path. But they became enmeshed in petty squabbles and refused to listen to us. So we had no choice but to show them with force what they had failed to heed in peace. Thus our war began. Three factions have fought for control for decades now. The original governing body, the Terran Republic, who refuse to relinquish power even in light of the undeniable truth of our words. The New Conglomerate, a rabble of fools from the beginning, without any vision for the future beyond an outdated and vague ideal of freedom that they don’t begin to fully understand.”

Nathan paused to gather his words. Twilight glanced at Katie, who nodded solemnly to confirm her views on the narration. When he spoke again, there was passion in Nathan’s voice.

“But the third faction, the one to which we belong and the one that holds forth the truth as a beacon that will guide humanity to its rightful future, is the Vanu Sovereignty. We have vowed to carry our race out of the grip of incompetent leaders who cannot see the path that must be taken. And while it is unfortunate that it should require force for them to know the truth, quite simply, it has come down to who is willing to adapt to survive. It’s the way life has existed for eons and nothing has changed about that system. Either, they will accept the will of Vanu or they will perish. It is a foregone conclusion that we are meant to outlast them.”

Nathan finished speaking and waited patiently for Twilight to absorb his words. She frowned in deep thought, glancing between them from time to time.

“I’m not so sure I want to get involved in such a heated conflict, especially one over ideology,” Twilight said at last. “I suppose I can accept that you are soldiers, but I must still insist that, as a Princess of Equestria, I will not tolerate any acts of violence while you are here.”

Nathan held up a hand to show that she needn’t say any more.

“I quite understand. I assure you that we have no intention of causing trouble. In fact, with the war in another world, I am happy to leave it there. The only concern I wish to pursue now is this magic.”

“Nathan!” Katie objected.

“Katie, we have to find out what we can while we have the chance. Our understanding of Vanu was limited in the beginning because we couldn’t get our hands on more information. We have books filled with knowledge at our fingertips this time. You can’t just let this opportunity slip away.”

“It isn’t about missing an opportunity. It’s about being able to do something with it. No one will benefit from our discoveries if we don’t go back. What good will it be if we learn everything there is to learn and never share it with our colleagues?”

Nathan did not meet her eyes as he responded. Instead, he picked up one of the books again and began reading.

“If the price of knowledge is that I can never go home, I will gladly pay it.”

Katie would have responded but a yawn drowned out her words.

“Look you two,” Twilight said. “I’ll teach you what you want to know. Sharing knowledge is one of the greatest joys in the world after all. And what to do about going home is your choice to make. But none of that can happen if we’re not well rested. It’s late and we’ve all had a long day. Why don’t you get some sleep and we’ll make a better plan tomorrow morning?”

Nathan reluctantly put the book aside and nodded. Katie felt her eyes responding to the suggestion of sleep, becoming harder to open each time she blinked. Twilight brought out a pair of cushions like the one Katie had woken up on and wished them sweet dreams. Katie and Nathan said their good nights to each other as well, though they were slightly more curt than normal. Katie would have dwelt on it longer if she hadn’t fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

~*~*~

If Mathew thought his sleep had been refreshing when he and Trevor had been knocked out of the sky, he woke that morning thinking he’d landed in the middle of heaven. For the first time since he could remember, his mind wasn’t turned on like a light switch. It stirred sluggishly into action, watching the slants of early dawn light filter in through gaps in the wooden walls, and listening to the birds outside the barn, the wind in the rafters, the creak of a door hinge…

Mat came more awake then, realizing that the wind wouldn’t be making footfalls below him. He opened his eyes but didn’t move for fear of making noise. He saw that Trevor was still asleep.

“That’s strange,” said a voice from below. “I thought I closed that hatch up yesterday.”

Mat looked over and had to suppress a groan when he saw the hatch leading up to the loft they were in was hanging open. They had been so tired last night that they’d forgotten to close it. Footsteps on the ladder followed. Mat reached over to his pack and silently pulled out his NC4 Mag-Shot pistol. He pushed himself up on an elbow and leveled it at the hatch and waited. As he listened to the tapping on the ladder’s rungs, he noticed that there were a lot of them, as if two people were climbing up. He pulled the hammer back and held his breath.

A head popped through the opening and swiveled curiously until it found Mat. There was a gasp that sounded closer to a squeak and the head disappeared. Mat lay where he was. He shook his head, sure that he wasn’t fully awake yet. He had to have been mistaken about what he thought he saw. He could hear whoever it was running out of the barn, shouting about monsters.

“Damn!” He shook his head, in disappointment this time. He reached out and kicked Trevor. “Wake up. We’ve been found.”

Trevor rolled over and scrabbled to his feet, reaching for his Brawler. By the time he’d managed to get a hold of it, Mat had already pulled on his armor and was strapping on his pack. Mat helped Trevor get his gear in order and they cautiously dropped down from the loft and crept toward the barn door. They peered out into the yard just in time to see the front door slam at the house.

The early morning sun was barely above the horizon, throwing golden light over the ground and the sides of the buildings. Besides the soft call of birds and subtle muttering of the leaves in the orchard, the entire farmstead was silent.

“What do we do?” Mat asked in an unnecessary whisper. “Just wait here until they come back?”

“Maybe that would be best,” Trevor mused. “They know we’re here. If we let them know we don’t want any trouble, they might be willing to trust us.”

“And if they want trouble?” he asked.

Trevor locked a shell into the Brawler’s under barrel attachment. “Then we deal with them.”

They moved into the doorway, in plain view of the house and waited. Only seconds later, the door opened and two figures walked out.

“Now what’s all this nonsense about monsters in the barn?” said the larger one to the smaller one.

The larger one wore a wide brimmed hat. The smaller one, which Mat recognized as the one that had found them, wore a large pink bow. Mat could tell it was the same creature but he was less sure about his head being on straight.

“What the hell?” Trevor said slowly.

He glanced at Mat uncertainly. Though they could clearly understand the speech of the others, they also knew they were looking at small, colorful horses. The larger one was orange coated with a blonde mane and the smaller one had a yellow cream coat and red mane. They approached the barn, having not yet noticed the two humans. When they were almost on top of them, Mat shifted slightly and the movement was enough to bring the two horses to a halt.

“Woah Nelly!” the one with the hat said, almost rearing up in surprise. The mare looked at the filly and then back to the humans. “I-I guess there is somethin’ in the barn. Get behind me, Apple Bloom.”

Trevor was motionless. He seemed to be having trouble processing the situation. Mat decided to take charge.

“Hello there,” he said crouching down to their level and making sure to keep his AF-19 Mercenary lowered.

“Um, hi?” the mare replied.

Mat took a second to get past his own mixed feelings about starting a conversation with an animal.

“We didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, gesturing at the filly, which was hiding behind the mare’s leg and peering out at him fearfully.

“And what did ya mean by hidin’ up in our loft?” the mare asked indignantly. “What in the hay are ya’ll anyway?”

“We’re humans.”

“Humans,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Seems like I heard that word once before. Can’t recall where though. So what were ya doin’ here?”

Mat looked over at Trevor, who managed to get past his confusion at last.

“We’re just trying to find our way home. We didn’t want to disturb you in the middle of the night.”

“Shucks, that’s actually thoughtful of ya.” She pushed her hat up and extended a forehoof. “I’m Applejack and this here’s ma sister Apple Bloom. Who might ya’ll be?”

Mat took Applejack’s hoof and shook it awkwardly. “I’m Mathew Hadley, Trooper for the NC. This is my buddy, Trevor.”

Trevor put his Brawler aside to shake the hoof as well. “Trevor Orin, NC Guardsman.”

“Guardsman? Trooper?” Applejack repeated. “Ya’ll sound like soldiers.” Her eyes wandered to their weapons.

“We are,” Trevor said. “But since you didn’t even know we were human on sight, I think we can assume our war isn’t anywhere near here.”

“What war would that be?”

“No need for you to be worried about any of that,” Trevor said. “Just as long as there aren’t any TR or VS around.”

“Ah’m not following most of this,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “What are all these letters yer talkin’ about. Yer NC and don’t like VS or TS?”

“TR,” Mat corrected.

“Right, them. Who are they?”

“If you’re that curious, I suppose we could tell you. But we’re gonna give you the whole story to be sure you don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Apple Bloom, why don’t ya go about the rest of yer chores,” Applejack said suddenly.

“Aww, Applejack!” the filly complained. “It’s just gettin’ interestin’!”

“Get along little filly,” Applejack said, shooing her away. “Ya dragged me out here ta deal with this but that don’t excuse ya from the rest of yer mornin’ work.”

Apple Bloom trudged away, grumbling.

“Now, ya’ll were sayin’?”

“It’s been a while since this all started but I’ll see if I can get everything.” Trevor cleared his throat. “It started out with this big expedition. We were looking into some signal or other from way out in space. The Terran Republic wanted to find out what it was and put this huge fleet together. Now, that might be good and all, but there were some who knew there was more to it than that and major profits to be made on the side. So our employers signed on a couple big groups to go as well. As it turned out, no one knew what they were getting into. As soon as we were underway, we ran into trouble. Dozens of ships were lost before we even left the system, and as soon as we got through, the rift closed.”

“At that point, everyone was in a panic. Most of the higher ups kept their heads well enough to get everything settled, but it didn’t last long. There was some in-fighting and the TR started throwing orders around. They acted like everyone was on their payroll, and even backed it up with force. And that didn’t sit well with the rest of us. We may have been one big group on paper when the expedition set out. But really, we were just going the same direction in the same boat. It didn’t take long for them to overstep their bounds one regulation too far and really rile us up. I guess it was inevitable, when you look back at it.” Trevor paused to shake his head sadly.

“The Republic types always thought of themselves at the big boss, in charge of everyone. No matter what it was, no matter how personal, it was their business to control it. And they’d lie right to our faces and say it was ‘for our safety’. I’ll take dangerous freedom over safe slavery any day. We got tired of it and now we’ve got real leaders, ones that give us the facts straight and let us handle ourselves.”

“Of course, it didn’t stay that simple. The TR couldn’t leave well enough alone and they out right attacked us. We started to defend ourselves but then this whole group of scientists, who’d been riding piggy back with the TR this whole time, decided they wanted to be on their own side. So they named themselves the Vanu Sovereignty and attacked us both. Now it’s been New Conglomerate verse Terran Republic verse Vanu Sovereignty for years in one long three way stalemate.”

“Sorry to say, that’s as pretty as our story gets,” Trevor said in conclusion.

“Land sakes,” Applejack exclaimed softly. “That’s a rough ride, no mistake.”

“It sure has been. And it never gets better!” Trevor said, throwing his hands wide in exasperation. “They just won’t except that we want to live our own lives away from their overbearing control freaks they call leaders. I say is it too much to ask for the freedom to make an honest, simple living?”

“I’m mighty sorry ya had ta put up with so much.” Applejack inclined her head sympathetically. “Tell ya what. Ya’ll can forget about the trouble this mornin’ seein’ as it was just a misunderstandin’.”

“Thank you kindly,” Mat said, touching the rim of his helmet.

“I’ve got some chores ta take care of before the mornin’ is though, but if ya need any help with anythin’, don’t hesitate ta ask.” Applejack turned to head back toward the house. “And yer welcome ta stay here ‘til ya get set ta head home too. Just let us know before dinner so we can set a place for the two of ya.”

Mat and Trevor waved at her and then found a place to sit down inside the barn.

“Can you believe that?” Mat asked. “I mean, just out of the blue, we’ve got these little horse things on our side.”

“Man, I don’t even know what it is I’m trying to believe yet.” Trevor said, grinning over at Mat. “The only question I want answered right now is what was in those apples we ate last night?”

They both burst out laughing.

Comments

[Aunoraux]

I hate to say it, but the more I think about it, RD would be imprisoned within a week for working for the TR.
(RD's more NC than TR. She's got a far too self-reliant, "lone wolf" style personality to just step in line without asking questions. Hell, even after Twilight's proven that what she knows is correct, Rainbow still questions it until Twi goes into lecture mode, and finally breaks it down into layman's terms.)

RD is loyal, but not a blind follower like military doctrine demands.
She's quick and intelligent, but she wouldn't fit in with the VS for LOTS of obvious reasons.

But she's loyal in a "friends who are closer to me than family" way, which is how the NC operate.
The members of the Conglomerate value freedom, so they allow their troops to do whatever they like however they like to get the job done within the resource restraints they're given. They'll sacrifice themselves for their friends (IE, "Hey you! Stick that sticky grenade to me when I tell you and I'll run around the corner!") and they will also allow each other to team kill one another without getting terribly upset about it. Mistakes happen, live and let live.

Quick to action and personal improvisation on a whim definitely fits Rainbow more than military indoctrination or a lust for knowledge.

Now, Pinkie on the other hand is EXACTLY the type to just say "Okie dokie lokie!" to any order given to her without a care in the world about anything as silly as details or ramifications.