Chapter 4
Unwilling Recruit
Jackie sat beside her sister on the comfortable leather seats, watching the world below retreating into indistinct shapes. So long as she didn’t think about anything, she could imagine this was just the flight back home after the convention. Her whole world didn’t have to change, she wasn’t a criminal. She hadn’t almost lost her sister through her own stupid mistakes. Up here, she could just sit comfortably and let all of that drift away.
Harley seemed to recognize her discomfort, because she made no move to wrest her out of her thoughts. For her part, Katie seemed even more disturbed by what she had experienced. She had her knees close to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and hadn’t even bothered to put on the headset that would muffle some of the noise. The interior of the helicopter wasn’t as loud as Jackie had expected, but it was still much louder than a plane.
Eventually she looked up, studying the stranger who had brought them here. Harley and her friend were sitting near the cockpit, letting their two passengers have the rest of the helicopter to themselves. Jackie couldn’t hear what they were saying. But Harley noticed her gaze, and put up a hand to her friend. She sat up a little straighter, then rose to her feet. She walked with surprising dexterity through the moving helicopter, sitting down in the empty chair beside Jackie. “You feeling better?”
Jackie didn’t answer, just staring down at her hands. “I never thought people in uniforms would be the bad guys,” she said, quietly enough that she wasn’t sure Harley would hear. “I’ve never been super patriotic or anything. Never waved flags around or any of that crap. But it seems wrong. They’re supposed to be the good guys. This isn’t the Matrix or some shit, is it?”
Instead of saying anything, Harley lifted the armrest up and out of the way between them. She felt Harley’s arm wrap around her, pulling Jackie in close to her body. She remained silent, holding Jackie close to her warmth and steady breathing. Something soft and constant in her upturned world. Jackie felt no desire to be anywhere else just then.
Harley did speak eventually, though Jackie couldn’t have said if it was ten minutes later or several hours. “Sometimes a pretty lie is better than the truth. Why don’t we just pretend it’s nothing like that, so you can stay happy.”
Jackie sat up a little, and Harley let her go. “It’s a little late for that. It was too late for that the moment we walked into a presentation designed to take our lives away.” She probably should’ve stopped right there, as accusatory as that already sounded, but just now she was furious enough not to care. “Why the fuck did you guys come if you knew anyone who was seen with you was going to get…” She struggled for a few seconds to put words to what she was thinking. “Taken away from their lives. Are you so desperate for new recruits that you’re trying to force us?”
Katie looked up from where she’d been sulking, apparently listening too. Her expression was still too shocked to read anything into what she might be feeling, though.
“Our visit is not what made you enemies of the state. We take very careful precautions not to involve anyone who doesn’t have to be. Think back carefully—don’t you remember getting distracted when you entered my booth? That was designed to keep away anyone who wasn’t already ‘tainted.’
“Then at the presentation, we set out good food in the other room, and used the same spell turned up to eleven. Unless you already had magic in your blood, you wouldn’t have heard a word I said. You would’ve gotten bored and walked away. You wouldn’t know how serious our position is, and you wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t care about you either. The fact you lasted through all that means you’re already in this fight whether you wanted to be or not. You’ve been exposed, you’re persona non-grata.”
But Jackie was hardly listening at that point. She did remember feeling that way, now that she was reminded. She had wanted to get away from Harley. But Katie hadn’t, and staying with Katie had been more important. She’d tried to get Katie to leave on both occasions, and her sister had refused. Plus, after seeing Harley, she had other motivations.
“I don’t think I belong here,” Jackie said, her voice low. “But I guess my sister does… which means I’ll stay. I wouldn’t make you go through this alone, Kat.” She took one of Katie’s hands in hers, squeezing in a way she hoped was reassuring.
Her sister nodded grimly. “I would’ve sent you away,” she said. “But it’s too late for that now. Your life is ruined too, and it’s my fault.”
“It’s Equestria’s fault,” Harley interrupted, speaking more forcefully. “For not leaving well enough alone. Or maybe it’s your own government’s fault for hunting their own people once they show any talent. Blame one of those sides, not each other. Nobody on this helicopter was involved in making those decisions.”
A voice squawked in over the radio, only a little distorted. “On landing vector approach for Unity. Please secure your seatbelts and remain in your seats until we come to a complete stop.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn,” Harley continued. “At least wait until you get the full picture before you start blaming ponies. There will be plenty to choose from once you get here. Until then… relax. You’ll only be new a few days, might as well enjoy them.”
Unity was something out of a dream—had it not been for the extreme difficulty of their arrival, Jackie might’ve even thought of it like one. A literal floating castle in the clouds, complete with a whole population of magical people. It was a school, but though a majority of its students were young, there were also a handful of adults and elderly in attendance as well, wearing the same uniforms and acting just as confused as anyone else.
Jackie learned the story of what they were doing on Earth. Believing something so insane did not come easy for her, but it wasn’t as though she had much other choice. Given the preponderance of the evidence, she was forced to accept the insane truth of it.
An alien universe had sent seeds of magic through to their home, which took root in the minds of some humans who saw them. Katie was one such, along with many fans of the show they’d created. Various organizations across the globe took issue with this (for reasons Jackie didn’t fully grasp), and were taking steps to contain the spread of magic. That was why her sister’s life had been forfeit, and her own was now lost by proxy.
It seemed positively absurd, except that she saw more than one aircraft bringing stretchers loaded down with the injured. It was impossible to object to the claim that lethal force was being employed when she was forced to see reminders of it on a daily basis.
Even harder to accept was the stupid “pony” thing—the other universe really was Equestria, and the natives from there had a fundamentally alien worldview. They spoke in strange ways, didn’t seem to fully grasp the reality of the dangers on the ground, and often acted innocent in ways that might’ve made Jackie laugh if her own fate wasn’t tied to theirs.
So not only was Jackie forced to spend time with people who liked her sister’s stupid pony show, but that stupid pony show was real. Why couldn’t it have been Harry Potter? she found herself thinking, more times than one. Or hell, even the Matrix. At least the first one was cool.
Worst of all, she didn’t even get to spend more time with Harley. There were other interesting people living in Unity, but none had that comforting mix of strength, confidence, and world-weariness. No one else was interesting enough to be worth going after.
Well, she told herself that. And not that it had anything to do with the reminder of high school, and what had happened the last time word got around she was dating girls instead of guys. For as sweet and innocent as the ponies could be, most of the people in Unity were just humans wearing dumb costumes.
Harley was some kind of field agent, which meant she spent most of her time out rescuing people who’d been in Katie’s position. She put herself in danger on a near-constant basis, and Jackie was far too untrained (not to mention unwilling) to come along. The best Jackie could hope for was to catch her in Unity’s rooftop bar to share a mug of cider.
Unfortunately for Jackie, it seemed Harley had wandering eyes. Catching her alone was difficult, and she could always sense her attention wandering to anyone else who happened to be around.
At least Jackie could be there for her young sister. She was no use to the ponies, and didn’t really care about their cold war. But her sister did, and she seemed determined to throw herself into danger. Or, as it soon turned out, throw herself off the clouds.
It was just typical that her sister could fly. Soon enough she had herself a pair of fake wings like many of the others, and the new uniforms and elevated standing of having found her “tribe.”
Jackie had been living in Unity for about a month on the evening she finally caught Harley alone for a conversation on the grounds. She’d just come back from some mission or another, but just like she always did Harley was willing to wander off and spend a little time together.
Not a date, or anything so formal. “I don’t get what’s so important about making us more infected,” Jackie was saying, as they wandered through the orchards. The “Earth Pony” tribes tended to these, so they were almost completely deserted as soon as the sun went down. “Shouldn’t we be rewarded for not having powers as long as possible? Katie seems ecstatic, but I don’t know if she should be.”
Wherever Harley had been, it had been somewhere with lots of music and not very dressed people, because she had several different shades of body-paint on her arms and face, and a skirt Jackie’s own mother never would’ve approved of. Not the boring, identical uniforms everyone in Unity was always wearing, like the castoffs of an old auto shop. One of many things that’s not fair about her.
Harley stopped beside one of the many trees—this one was a mango, apparently, with its succulent-smelling fruit dangling swollen from its branches. Magic kept every tree in the orchards always producing, and always in season despite a climate probably ill-suited to most of them.
“Jackie, I…” She lowered her voice, moving in close. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching, but Jackie knew full well there never would be. Even her own sister was almost never up at night anymore. “Look, I probably shouldn’t say this, but they’re thinking long-term. Not knowing doesn’t make the problem go away. Pretending you’re still human can’t work forever—the only thing it could possibly do is keep you from gaining experience, and make you more helpless if we ever have to evacuate.”
Jackie folded her arms. “Why would we ever need to do that? We’re living in a magical floating castle in the clouds. If the bad guys could find us they already would have.”
Harley took Jackie’s hand, interlocking fingers and dragging her further through the trees. “That’s completely stupid. But if you really want to try and stay normal, I bet I could get you out. You’ll still be on wanted lists and stuff, but if you wanna hide forever, you still could.”
Jackie let Harley pull her through the darkness, though she wasn’t sure where they were going anymore. The only thing Jackie knew for sure was this way was the edge of Unity, where a low wall was the only bit of warning before the fathomless abyss. Most of Unity’s students kept well away from the edge, except for the “Pegasus” tribe. Jackie wasn’t a Pegasus, though she didn’t see any reason to be afraid of the edge. So long as she didn’t climb the wall, she wouldn’t fall.
“I don’t want to leave my sister behind,” Jackie muttered, not resisting as Harley pulled her along. She hopped up onto the wall beside her, looking down at the vast expanse of open sky. Few in Unity ever saw this view. Of course, there were parts of the school that had proper walls, like some ancient defensive fortress, but those higher walls didn’t surround the orchard. “And I don’t much like the idea of living the rest of my days in Honduras or Russia or somewhere. You should hear me try and speak Spanish, it’s a joke.”
Harley sat down beside her on the wall, wrapping one arm around her. They didn’t move, didn’t say anything for some time. Far below, Jackie could see a veritable sea of clouds. It always seemed thick around Unity, thick enough that she still hadn’t got a good look at the ground to know exactly where the castle was located. Assuming it wasn’t just on the move all the time.
Jackie never could’ve guessed at just how much of her life was going to be ruined by coming to Unity. If only she’d taken her sister home and skipped the “free panel,” they’d be home right now, safe. Oblivious to the terrible fate their own government had in store for them. But for all that she’d given up, at least spending time with Harley was nice. So maybe not all bad.
“I know somewhere else you could go,” Harley said quietly, running one hand through her hair. Jackie wasn’t sure if it was a few minutes later, or an hour. Neither of them seemed in a hurry to rush off to bed. “Not like those places. Somewhere as nice as what you’re used to, where you could speak the language. Somewhere you’d never be running away.”
“Really?” Jackie asked, sitting up a little straighter. “That sounds awesome.”
Harley laughed. “You say that because you don’t know the details. It’s a deal with the devil, honey. More So than usual with me.” She grinned, and Jackie was sure she saw sharp teeth in Harley’s mouth. But was that just a leftover from her latest disguise, or… she could never be sure. “Less than one in ten of the ponies can deal with the stress of your world, did you know that? It’s really hard for them to see this war. You all are tougher than they are—maybe half of you can handle sticking around to help in some way or another. Still, that’s half of everybody we rescue who aren’t here or in any of our bases around the world. Where do you think they go?”
Jackie’s eyebrows went up. “Well? Where?”
“The only safe place to put them,” Harley answered, her hot breath on Jackie’s ear as she whispered into it. “My home. Where they’ll be stuck at least until the war is over.”
Jackie’s eyes widened. “You can do that? Send humans like us through to…” She thought about it for a moment, considering. “Sounds inconvenient. Dealing with a species that’s a different size—though if you’re as big as real horses, I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. We’d be way small.”
“Other way around,” Harley said. “Think… a big ‘ole cat. Or an average-sized dog. From here, I mean. Dogs there are… very small.”
“You’re kidding me.” Jackie reached up, one hand briefly on Harley’s face. “If I could see what you really looked like, you could sit right here on my lap?”
Harley chuckled, looking away. “Y-yeah. Something like that. I’m smaller than most. Coming here was the first time I’d ever been the same size as everypony else.”
“You’re fucking with me,” Jackie said. “This whole thing is a joke. You’re trying to see how gullible I am. That’s not fair.”
“Am not.” Harley spun around, straddling Jackie’s lap. The sudden weight was enough that she nearly fell over the edge—would have, if she hadn’t caught herself with one hand at the last moment. The thrill wasn’t entirely unwelcome. “And I can still fit on your lap.” She wrapped her arms around Jackie, pulling her close for a kiss. Unfortunately, that also meant unbalancing her already precarious perch.
Together, they tumbled into the abyss.
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Hold on. Harley, the expert extraction agent, just sent herself and an innocent human into an unsurvivable plummet? Which will either require a Pegasus rescue or land them in worse trouble? The expert did that?
*slow clap*
Yikes! That's the kind of cliffhanger you usually see at the end of every Goosebumps passage. Good Godsss.
Go away to Eques, the most surefire solution more ponies should be taking advantage of but aren't. Surely they know it's only a facade, a guise at this point. It can always be restored even with better wisdom obtained, but your own life cannot.
9086096
My money is on it being intentional. Why is to be determined, but she did it in purpose.
well... that is the surefire way to make her wake up from the illusion she put herself in...
Smooth. Quite so if it turns into a nice catch and romantic flight by Harley. Much less so if someone else has to do the rescuing.
You know, despite this particular type of con-story being a mixed bag, this one is turning out to be refreshingly fun.
Well done.
... And I totally agree... makes much more sense that Harley intended to get them falling. Let's see... panic? Involuntary magic reflex? Survival instincts? Assumption that Jackie has been in denial or intentionally hiding it and wanted to force the issue.... politely? Maybe surprise adds flavor? Whatever the case, totally loving Harley.
9085134
Been too long since I read the sequel, what happened to them again? Death by bombardment, giant lich dragon or in the field?
Y'know, I can't help but feel, even though it says otherwise, like I'm missing out on something by reading this story before the sequel. This chapter, and some of the one before it, just glosses over things to an extent that it feels rushed, or like it already expects you to know a lot of what it's talking about.
9202132
You should go and read Friendly Fire first. Despite trying to make this as easy to understand as possible, I think I fail several times.
9202155
Ah, well, okay then. Thanks for the heads up, I think I'll go do just that then! After all, even as confusing as reading things out of order can be, I love your work
Dawww.
Im normally not one for romance but this is nice.
If i remember correctly Harley was VERY confident in being able to call what species and abilities people would end up with. She already knows. And... well... we do as well.