The Portgate

by Archival

Part 1, Chapter 8: Hello World

Try not to screw up. But if you do, blame it on the circumstances.

-Nathaniel Brooks, How to Succeed in Life

-Rainbow Dash-

The chirping of songbirds slowly pecked away at the thick haze, each burst of sound slowly waking the pegasus up from her sleep. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, blinking away the last remnants of her slumber. She laid in a daze for a moment as the bright morning light filtered through the trees, which was occasionally interrupted by the odd passing cloud. Her head soon became clearer, and she slid out of the sleeping bag and stretched her wings out. A soft yawn slid out of her mouth as she prepared her muscles for the day ahead.

"Good morning, Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight was pulling her saddlebags and her sleeping bag off the tree when Rainbow Dash turned towards her. Her magic made quick work of the hanging bags, but Rainbow Dash noticed that Applejack was already packed up and ready to embark on their search. Probably just Applejack waking up way too early, she thought.

"Morning, Twilight. What're we doin' today?"

"Well, we still have a half-league to travel. Then we'll set up a camp and look around for whatever made those noises. Sound good, Dash?"

Rainbow dash nodded as she secured a footing on the thick branches she had rested on, then fluttered her wings. She hovered around the limbs, easily packing up the bedroll despite having only hooves to do so. Many years of living with hooves meant that ponies had developed rather inventive ways to perform basic functions, and the straps of Rainbow Dash's gear were no exception. It wasn't long before she had completely prepared to embark, and the three set off through the woods.

The warm hues of autumn surrounded the ponies as they trekked, their ears graced with the comforting sounds of mother nature. As they continued, the trees and shrubs became denser and denser. They encountered more and more vegetation with each step into the forest, and soon their vision was almost completely obscured by the browns and yellows of the fall forest. Before long, the sun faded behind the foliage, turning the bright colors of fall into a darker shade. Soon, the first unsettling thoughts crawled their way into the ponies' minds.

Rainbow Dash had started the day with an optimistic outlook, in a sunny and happy forest. Now, however, as Twilight pushed aside branch after branch and Applejack struggled to keep her signature stetson on her head, she felt a little bit uneasy in the woods. The cragged trunks of the denser, wilder forest formed strange shadows in the background, and the cheerful birds chirps had been replaced by an almost sinister breeze that whistled and whooshed as it passed their ears and rustled the branches of the trees.

"I don't exactly like the looks of this place, Twi."

Applejack was the first to voice her concerns about the forest. She wasn't wrong to do so; though the Everfree was much more friendly in certain spots, it could also be quite untamed and dangerous in others. If they were going to encounter trouble anywhere, this part of the woods would be the place.

"Don't worry, Applejack. Everything will be fine. We'll beat up anything that-"

A snap from somewhere nearby quickly cut Rainbow Dash's bravado. The three ponies froze on the spot, completely silent and searching for the source of the noise. Nothing happened for a second - then a rustling sound came from their right, slowly getting louder and closer. Rainbow Dash began to tense her wings, prepared for a fight. Twilight readied her magic, and Applejack quietly assumed a fighting stance.

Suddenly, a brown, blurry mass burst out of the nearby bushes, zooming closer by the second. Twilight's reflexes were quick, however, and she sent a flurry of magical bolts flying towards the incoming creature. Several found their mark, and the injured creature collapsed to the forest floor, sending up a cloud of dirt. The ponies glanced at the canine form lying on the ground, its wooden body and green eyes sending a shock of fear through their hearts. None of them made a sound as they stared, mouths agape, at the body on the ground.

Timberwolf.

Far away yet terrifyingly close by, howls broke out across the woods and broke the silence. Though they were ready for a fight, all three ponies knew that there would be too many for them to keep at bay. Applejack glanced at Twilight, then Rainbow Dash, then Twilight before breathing out "Run!" in a panicked voice.

That snapped the other two ponies out of their stupor, and they began to blindly dash through the forest at full gallop. The dense foliage scratched and tore at their coats, but they still zipped through the branches and twigs at full speed. The calls of the timberwolf pack followed them as they were pursued, a faraway whine that slowly but surely closed in on the ponies. None of the three ponies knew where they were running; their minds were addled by the rush of pure adrenaline, and only two thoughts managed to remain with them as they ran.

Stay together.

Escape.

-Castaways-

Another hunk of meat gone, a hundred more to go.

Thankfully, the acidic hydra blood had mostly drained out of the chunks after they were blown apart. It was important to err on the side of caution, though, and Leah wore rubber gloves and an apron as she carried the bits of flesh away to the designated "let it rot over there" pile. Spots of yellow and black grass marked the places where they had landed, the vegetation corroded and poisoned by the toxic liquid.

She flung the heavy chunk onto the pile, where it landed with a satisfying "thwack". With a quick burst of air out of her nose, Leah turned around and began to walk over to Andrew, who was picking around the main body of the hydra.

"Hey Andrew, what're you doing?" she asked.

"Well, I was thinking...you see these heads?"

"Yeah?"

"They would make a good decoration, you know? We could hang it on a wall, to commemorate-"

"No, wait! We could have it on a wooden spike outside, as a warning."

"Well, who do we even have to warn?"

"I don't know. I guess the wildlife?"

Andrew opened his mouth to voice his argument against the idea, but a distant howl broke their conversation. The two snapped their heads towards the source of the sound, listening as it died down far away. Several more called back in response, some of them too nearby for comfort.

"Oh, crap. Come on, Leah, we gotta wake up Noah!"

Andrew grabbed Leah by the wrist and ran towards the house, almost dragging her behind him. He kicked the door open, quickly grabbing his gun off of a nearby table and tossing another to Leah. She ran over to the back room, sliding a magazine into the stock of her bullpup as she shook Noah awake.

"Is something happening?" he asked as he tossed his covers off. His training allowed him to immediately snap to attention at the drop of a hat, even from deep sleep.

"Something's howling, and I don't like it. Grab a gun and get ready, the howls came from the west side."

As Leah ran back outside to put on her chest rig, Noah hopped to his feet and ran towards the shoddy closet in the back corner of the room. He threw it open and reached inside, searching for a weapon. Five feet high and three wide, the wooden closet didn't disappoint him as he pulled out a menacing black weapon with a large, circular magazine.

Noah took two drum magazines with him as he hurried outside, turning on the holographic sight as he regrouped with Andrew and Leah. He took his place behind the wooden barricades they had hastily set up just a few days ago, kneeling behind the crude wall of bailed-together logs and branches. They were meant to provide protection from projectiles, but they had turned out to be unnecessary in the critter-inhabited woods. The barricades would be of little use against anything that didn't shoot anything - and so far, nothing seemed to do so.

Far away, the calls of what sounded like wolves grew louder and closer. The three humans scanned the trees and bushes, their sights lined up and ready to fire at whatever would burst through. A distant rustling sound faintly emanated from the woods, and it wasn't long before shrubbery began to rustle and shift in the background of the treeline. Noah gripped his weapon tighter, anxiously waiting for the threat to show itself...

The first creature was running at full gallop towards the house when it had materialized from behind the bushes, its purple coat covered with blood-red cuts and bits of leaves and branches. A blue one with a rainbow mane soon followed, then an orange one on its heels. Their appearance was so very alien to Noah and Andrew, yet so familiar...

"DON'T SHOOT!"

"What do you mean, don't shoot?! They're sprinting at us!"

The creatures were still about a hundred meters away, but they were closing in fast. Leah didn't have much time to explain what she was thinking.

"Bags! They're intelligent! Don't shoot!"

Noah and Andrew looked and noticed the saddlebags each of the aliens were wearing. On top of that, the orange one was wearing...a cowboy hat?

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

To the right of the aliens, some sort of brown canine burst out of the bushes, its predatorial green eyes glowing menacingly.

Then another burst out, headed straight for the three creatures.

Then two more.

Then ten more.

The Mark 30 "Bluntforce" Automatic Shotgun was designed to provide for devastating amounts of close-range firepower. Firing special 16-gauge rimless shells at a cyclic rate of 410 rounds per minute, the Bluntforce weighs 11.2 pounds and has an overall length of 46 inches. Though its muzzle brake and recoil dampening systems negate much of its kick, only experienced shooters can accurately wield its destructive power.

Noah flipped the fire selector to the three-rectangle setting and pulled the trigger, sending a series of loud booms across the meadow. He held it down as #00 buckshot flew out of the gun, zooming past the colorful aliens and into the wolf creatures. Instead of blood, splinters broke off of the wolves as each tiny pellet shredded the wooden predators. Andrew soon followed, taking care not to hit the fleeing aliens. Leah slowly and cautiously made her shots at the strange dog-beasts as well, aiming for the center of mass just like how Noah had told her. One by one, the brown wolves fell, their eyes dimming out as they collapsed to the ground.

The orange creature was the first to fall; one of the canines had caught up to it and pounced onto its prey, taking it down to the ground. Just as it was about to take a chunk out of its victim, Andrew turned and blew its jaw off, then the rest of its skull. Fragments of thick logs and branches chipped off where the bullets struck the wolves, some of which flew into the downed alien. Andrew turned his attention to protecting the injured creature, his rifle cracks and Noah's shotgun blasts almost completely drowned out the softer pops of Leah's weapon.

Leah had switched from her rifle to a smaller, more controllable submachine gun, and she was able to shoot the incoming beasts at a faster and more accurate rate than before. Though it wasn't as powerful as the other firearms, the 10mm rounds were still deadly enough to quickly dispatch each incoming wolf. She aimed for the wolves that were hunting down the blue alien, taking down the closest ones first.

Suddenly, one of the beasts swerved horizontally and headed directly for his target, catching Leah off guard. She let off a panicked burst from her weapon just as the blue creature leaped off the ground, its side limbs extending as if to fly. Although Leah had hit the wooden canine, the recoil pulled her muzzle up, causing a bullet to graze the blue alien's side and send it plummeting to the ground.

Noah cursed as his shotgun's deafening booms was replaced by a dry click. The wolves were slowly gaining ground, and they would soon reach the house. He slid his last drum into his gun as the empty one clanked on the packed earth, pulling the lever back as he watched the last escaping alien turn around and plant its limbs in the dirt. Noah pointed the shotgun at the never-ending horde of wolves - and paused in awe as he watched the thing's head protrusion began to seemingly glow with a bright purple aura. A second later, it pointed the horn at the wooden beasts, a fierce look of determination in its huge eyes.

An almost ethereal arc of purple light burst out from the alien's horn, quickly spreading across the meadow and into the wolves. It swept up the predators off their feet and flung them back into the trees with such force that most of the beasts shattered on impact with the thick trunks, turning them into kindling. The three human defenders watched in awe as the pulse of what appeared to be raw energy destroyed almost all of the canines, sending the rest of them hastily retreating back into the woods.

As the arc faded away along with the rest of the wolves, Leah vaulted over the barricades as the purple alien collapsed to the ground, exhausted by the enormous effort her attack had taken. She quickly slung her weapon back over her shoulders as her sneakers trampled the tall grasses in a mad dash to save the injured creatures.

"Leah, what are you doing?!" Andrew yelled.

"Saving these things!"

"What the hell do you mean, saving them?"

"They're intelligent creatures, Andrew! We can't just leave them injured!"

"Get back here!"

"No!"

She quickly stopped besides one of the hurt aliens and knelt down, barely registering what it resembled. As she scooped the orange creature up in her arms, Noah cursed and jogged over to assist the blue one, dropping his bulky gun as he beckoned for Andrew to follow.

"You can't be serious, Noah!"

"For God's sake, just help me!"

Andrew sighed as he threw his rifle down and ran towards the purple creature. Within two minutes, all three of the humans had managed to lay the three aliens down on the ground, inside their ramshackle home. As the lights cast a different light onto the injured beings, Noah finally noticed the glaring detail that they had all ignored - and choked on his spit as he gasped in shock.

"Holy crap, you need some water?" Leah asked.

"Oh my God, look at- COUGH -the aliens, they're, they're freaking HORSES!"

"What?"

"Real messed up horses, but look! One of them - IT'S A UNICORN! WHAT THE F-"

"What are you- Jesus Christ, they really are!"

As Leah stared at the three small horses lying on the ground, Andrew silently crossed himself with shaky hands. "Ay Dios Mio," he muttered.

Wherever God was, he sure had a sense of humor.

-William-

William glared at the displays on his desk with a liter can of energy drink in his left hand, his right hand busy switching between the various cameras that monitored the surface. He had been told by the higher-ups to maintain a sense of professionalism and dignity, but as he watched the incoming influx of military personnel and equipment that evening he couldn't help but down the rest of his drink, sliding the empty aluminum can to the side. Coffee would have been the more "professional" drink of choice, but William would need the slightly sketchy cans of bittersweet "Voltmax Extra Strength" for him to get through the coming weeks.

Thankfully, the media hadn't reared their heads yet. It would have been a nightmare, dealing with white camera vans and reporters clogging up the two-lane road into the compound. He already had enough on his plate, what with the whole "rebuilding the billion-dollar Portgate in three months" business he had to deal with. Saving the three castaways would probably be a bonus, too - if they weren't dead already.

Tiredly, William reached into the cooler he had rolled in next to his chair and opened another can of energy drink. He was taking a large draft from the can when the door was nearly kicked open by a man in a lab coat.

"GOOD NEWS, SIR!"

William was coughing and spluttering as the man excitedly handed him a sheaf of papers in a manila folder. He managed to compose himself enough to open it and look at the data charts inside of it - and began to choke and cough again.

"What - cough - does this mean?"

"Well, sir, about twenty minutes ago, our sensors recorded a huge spike of...something. We aren't quite sure what it is, but it definitely came from the other side of the Portgate. The energy signatures, though a little bit off, were an almost perfect match to the incident's, but this one was much stronger and more pronounced."

"And?"

"And that means that our calibration and testing runs are going to take half as long! Before, we would have to manually adjust the Portgate's target coordinates to account for minute shifts in dimensional drift. Now, however, the energy spike has just given us a sort of anchor with which we can find and maintain a wormhole with better accuracy and stability."

"Anything else?"

"No, sir. That's all I have. You'll get a more formal report later, once we've fully analyzed the data."

"Alright. Thank you for this report. It's good to hear some good news every now and then."

As the man nodded and hurried back out the door, William sighed and leaned back in his swivel chair. He rubbed his face and sighed in a state of both elation and annoyance. Sure, the three months was cut down to two, but that meant more work for him to manage. He was already overworked and overstressed; he didn't know how much more he could take. Ironically, the only things that kept him going at that point was the fear of getting fired and a faint hope for a peaceful retirement. Not exactly the most motivating encouragements.

Author's Note:

As always, comments, criticisms, suggestions and feedback are always helpful, so leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Comments

[JDunk1971]

My first thought regarding the Bluntforce and this line:
[quote"DON'T SHOOT!"]Led me to this song:

[HolidaySpree]

I'm actually enjoying this story. Please write more!

[Empty Shelf]

I'm sorry, why are they running from Timberwolves? Let's forget that Twilight could easily turn the lot of them to kindling with no effort. Why doesn't she just teleport them away? Or hell, they have wings. They can just fly away...

And then the human characters get to rescue the ponies from their horribly contrived doom.

[Crescent Glaive]

7995328 panic and the fact that the timberwolves had the advantage with the ambush and the ponies not being able to see them in the woods well enough i presume

Also, it's likely a bit hard to hit something with magic if you don't know where the target is

[Arzoo]

7995328

Never mind it being the number one most obnoxiously cliche human meets ponies situation.

[IcePhoenix85]

"GOOD NEWS, SIR!"

Am I the only one who read this in Professor Farnsworth's voice?

[VcSaJen]

Leah sure have instant reaction.