• Published 27th Apr 2019
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The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds - Kamahido



Twilight accidently brings a human from Earth to Equestria. Will he be able to coexist with the equine inhabitants of this new land?

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Chapter 12 - Planning for Success

Arc and Rose look around the lab for a time. He glances at the wall safe and groans.

“I really hope he didn’t put them in there.”

Rose calls out from the adjoining office. “It’s not likely. After all, Rieper was probably working on this when the soldiers came to get him.”

“Well that’s a thought.”

Looking around he taps his chin thoughtfully.

“Now where would he have kept them.”

“Nearby for reference purposes I would imagine.”

Arc turns and spies something in a corner on top of the machine’s outer plating. Walking over to it he spies a set of large pieces of paper.

“Found them!”

Rose hurries out of the office and over to him. “Strange place to put them.”

Arc grins as he picks up the plans. “Not really. After all, everything else here was a work in progress. These parts were the outer shell, so they weren’t going to be broken down any further.”

“The only parts that couldn’t be taken apart any further.”

“Exactly.”

“Now the only question is whom drew these.”

Arc holds the plans out. “Care for a look?”

Rose nods. “That I would.”

Looking over the first few pages, Rose frowns as she speaks.

“These must be the one’s Mio used to build the machine initially.”

“How can you tell?”


“Because these plans don’t appear to be workable as-is.”

“You mean...?”

Rose nods. “Yes. This machine, as drawn here, will not function.”

Arc sighs. “Well, I guess it would have been asking too much to have the plans sitting out here in the open. You got all the data from these more or less worthless designs.”

“Every page is now saved to my memory banks.”

“Good.”

“Our next move?”

“The next logical place to store them would be the vault.”

“I’m still not sure how we’re going to do this part.”

“You’ll see.”

Leaving the office they head down the corridor together. However as they round a corner a familiar voice rings out.

“Don’t move.”

Stopping, Arc and Rose turn to look at one another momentarily before they are pushed roughly through a nearby door. Their assailant quickly follows and shuts the door behind them before locking it and turning on the lights. Arc gasps as they do so.

“Stingray?!”

Stingray frowns as she adjusts a pair of strange looking glasses. “Yeah. Now shut off those copycat cloaks. They’re not working on me.”

Turning to Rose, Arc nods. The pair decloak and look to Stingray. Arc is the first to speak.

“What do you want?”

“Answers!”

“Regarding...?”

Stingray clenches a fist angrily. “You can start with why my sister was with you and your pals in the back of a police car, child-sized, AND NAKED?!”

“Okay, admittedly that did look bad, yes.”

“Looks?! All I see is a sick pedophile and another female he’s manipulated!”

Rose shakes her head. “I assure you that I am here of my own free will, miss.”

Stingray rolls her eyes. “HA! You just THINK that you are!”

She points at Arc before continuing.

“He’s got you wrapped around his finger so well that you don’t even question his motives!”

Arc attempts to diffuse the situation. “Okay, let’s stay on topic here please. Hammer is just fine, Stingray. She was just helping us get in here to look for something.”

“She’s A.W.O.L. though!”

“Kinda, yes. But Hammer has her reasons.”

Rose nods. “Right. She just wanted to fight for a brighter future elsewhere.”

“What do you thing we’re doing HERE?!”

Arc narrows his eyes. “You tell me.”

Stingray scoffs. “HA! Do you REALLY think that I’d tell you anything, pea-brain?!”

“Was kinda hoping so, yes. After all, if you knew the truth you might be less inclined to stick around.”

“Your lies won’t work on me, Arc! Now then, I want you to give me one reason why I shouldn’t just call for security to take you in right now!”

“Hammer and Mio.”

“They’re here too?!”

Rose shakes her head. “No, they’re back at our base of operations.”

Arc nods. “Right. We don’t come back from this and things might not go so well for them.”

Stingray narrows her eyes. “You’re bluffing.”

Arc shrugs. “Find out then.”

There is a tense silence as Stingray weighs her options. Eventually she speaks.

“What do you want from me?”

“Just a bit of silence.”

“You want me to turn my back on something?!”

Rose smiles nervously. “Not exactly. We just want you to not say anything about what happened here today.”

Arc rolls his eyes. “I think that’s about the same thing.”

“Maybe. But all we need to do is be allowed to walk away.”

Stingray laughs. “You think you can just waltz around down here and no one will stop you two?!”

Arc shrugs. “Kinda.”

“It’s not like you can just walk out of here anyways!”

Why not?”

Rose giggles. “Right. We walked in, didn’t we?”

“You must’ve had help!”

Rose shakes her head. “Nope. It was all just us.”

Arc folds his arms over his chest. “Right. So what’s it going to be?”

“I suppose... THIS!”

Taking a mighty swing at Arc, Rose moves to block it. However he steps past her to meet Stingray head-on. Holding up a palm Arc effortlessly catches her fist. Closing his fist around it, Arc swings the young woman around to slam her into a concrete wall behind him. Dazed, she attempts to attack again but finds a hand around her neck as she is pressed hard against the wall. The sudden movement causes Arc’s hood to fly back exposing his pale face and blood red eyes. Stingray gasps and speaks with what little air she can get.

“What the...?! You’re not... Arc?! Who...?!”

Arc interrupts her. “Never mind who I am. Just know that I’m making you an offer!”

“An... offer...?”

“Continue on with your day as if you knew nothing of me and my associate’s presence here in Damocles Base.”

“But... I can’t...!”

“Believe me when I say that Hammer and Mio are both safe and sound. And they will remain so as long as I get what I want.”

“Which... is...?”

“Your silence!”

Releasing her, Arc allows Stingray to fall to the floor. She coughs and gasps for breath as Arc looks down at her.

“Now then... do we have a deal?”

Stingray slowly stands. Getting her footing, she glares at Arc silently. After a few moments she rears back to deliver a powerful kick to the side of Arc’s head. However he effortlessly slaps it away causing the young woman to fall to the floor again. She seethes as Arc kneels down to her level.

“I could do this all day, Stingray. However you wouldn’t be able to even lay a finger on me.”

“How... is this POSSIBLE?!”

“I’ve become... more. More than you can imagine. More than you can comprehend.”

He puts a finger under her chin before finishing his statement.

“And more than you can handle.”

Stingray pulls her head away from Arc’s hand violently as he stands again and looks down at her.

“But I know you’ll do what I say, Stingray. That you’ll keep your mouth shut about this meeting.”

“Really?! And what makes you so sure of that?!”

“Because it’ll lead to some very... embarrassing questions from your commanding officer.”

“Questions?”

Rose nods as she counts on her fingers. “How we got into the base. Who or what we are. And my personal favorite... why you were unable to stop us.”

Arc smirks. “What do you think they’ll say about such failure?”

Rose shrugs. “Better yet, what will they do?”

Stingray turns to look away as she seethes. “Just... get out of my sight!”

Arc nods. “Gladly. Oh, and Stingray?”

“What?!”

“Take a lesson from your sisters.”

“Huh?”

“Get out of this place. Leave The Organization... and never return.”

“Why would I...?!”

Arc turns away and walks toward the door. “Because the next time we meet I may not be so... forgiving.

Putting up his hood again, Arc cloaks along with Rose. They open the door and shut the lights off behind them. Continuing down the corridor Rose whispers to Arc.

“Think she’ll listen to your warning?”

“The part about staying quiet about us or leaving?”

“Both.”

“She’ll keep our visit to herself. Diva would just punish her for letting us go anyways.”

“And the other?”

Arc sighs. “She probably won’t leave.”

“But why not?! Stingray has nothing else keeping her here with Hammer and Mio gone!”

“There’s one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“A home.”

“Huh?”

“Anywhere else she went would just leave her feeling lost and alone. She needs The Organization to give her life purpose.”

“But Hammer and Mio were able to...!”

Arc cuts her off. “Because they found something better. Something... worth fighting for.”

Coming to the vault sometime later they stop as the hallway begins to curve. Rose turns to Arc.

“Are you sure about this next part?”

Arc nods. “If what Mio said in her letter to Hammer was correct, then yes.”

“Do you believe her?”

“Hammer did, so I will as well.”

“And if this doesn’t work?”

“We go out the way we came and try to make do with the blueprints we have.”

“But that won’t be enough to recreate the machine!”

“They’ll still be a chance something could be done with what we have. If we get caught though there will be no hope for Shelly. “

“You mean...?”

Arc clenches a fist. “We won’t be caught here! I won’t allow it!”

“And if we are?”

“Then I’ll use every ounce of my strength, magic, and Crimson powers to get you back to the surface.”

“While you do what?! Go down with the ship?!”

“In a matter of speaking. I’ll hold them off while you make a run for it.”

“I wouldn’t leave you like that, Arc.”

Arc leans against the wall. “Then let us hope it doesn’t come to such things.”

Two hours later the sound of footsteps ring out from down the corridor. Rounding a corner, Mustang passes the pair. They fall into step behind him as he walks up to the officer in charge.

“Anything to report?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. I’m here for my daily inspection.”

Nodding, the commander pulls a badge from his pocket as he and the general walk over to their respective keypads. Inserting them, their pads light up green and the vault door swings open. As it does so General Mustang puts his badge back onto his chest as he slowly walks inside. Pressing a button on a nearby control panel the door swings shut behind him. Arc and Rose stand just inside the vault door and watch to see what door he enters. Opening the third door on the left, Mustang pulls the solid steel door open and enters. Arc and Rose quickly and quietly run over to it and slip inside before it closes. Seeing numerous large drawers, presumably containing blueprints, they look around as Mustang walks over to a computer terminal. Inserting his badge, it grants him access. The sound of clickity-clacks fills the room from the keystrokes of the general. Arc and Rose watch on as he works. A few minutes later he leaves the room. Arc watches as he enters another room across the corridor and motions to Rose.

“Let’s get started!”

They begin opening drawers one by one. A few minutes later Rose calls out.

“Here they are!”

Arc hurries over to her as she unrolls the prints and looks them over.

“What the...?”

“Rose?”

“These designs... they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before!”

“Well, we can figure this mess out back in Equestria. Right now I need you to make copies of these that we can print out back home.”

Rose puts a hand on the blueprints. “Maybe we should take these though.”

“But then they’d know we’d been in here.”

“I know. However... I really don’t like the thought of them having this kind of technology.”

Arc sighs. “Neither do I. However even if we did take these, they could probably make another set by loading their backups.”

“Backups?”

“Something this important can’t just have one hard copy. They most likely have others as well as digital copies squirreled away elsewhere. Maybe even offsite.”

Rose bows her head. “So we’d be risking them figuring it out for no real advantage on our part?”

“Exactly.”

“Very well. I’ll get to scanning these then.”

Looking over every page slowly, Rose copies it to her memory banks before rolling up the blueprint and looking to Arc.

“I’m done.”

“Good. Now all we need to do is wait for the bus.”

Rose looks over, confused, as she puts away the papers. “Bus?”

Arc peeks out the door as he whispers. “The one that’s going to get us out of here.”

“The general?”

“Yup. We followed him in here, we can follow him out.”

Rose smiles “Clever.”

Sometime later General Mustang returns to the corridor. Walking slowly, he heads toward the massive vault door. Pressing a few buttons, he waits patiently as the door opens. Arc and Rose follow him out as he motions for the solider to once again lock down the vault as he passes. The pair continue following the general all the way back to the main lift. Stepping onto it, Mustang motions for the operator to take him up. Frowning, Arc doesn’t take his eyes off the general as he stands there patiently waiting to reach the top. Arriving, the general walks over to the main door and motions for it to be opened just enough for him to step outside. Hurrying to get through before it closes, Arc and Rose are forced to stick extra close to Mustang. However as the door begins to close behind them, the general suddenly turns to face the cloaked individuals. Smirking, he gives a two-fingered salute before making his way toward the bridge. Arc grabs Rose and pulls her toward the side of the building and behind a stack of crates. Sitting down, they decloak and lean back to catch their breath. Rose is the first to speak.

“That... was close!”

“Agreed.”

“Do you think he saw us?”

“Definitely.”

“We need to get out of here now then!”

“Yeah. Ready to go back into stasis?”

Rose nods. “I am, yes.”

Closing her eyes and laying on the ground Rose shuts herself down. Arc casts the Matter Compacting Spell on her as he removes the box from his ring. Carefully picking her up and laying the android back into place, he closes it and stores the box safely in his ring again. Taking a deep breath, Arc turns into a mist and drifts up. Catching a gust of wind blowing over the lake he allows it to carry him high overhead. Seeing the general looking over the soldiers in the guard shacks he muses to himself.

“Maybe he was saluting the guard operating the elevator.”

Drifting for a time, he makes his way to the now familiar beach. Descending through the bare branches of the trees, Arc spies Ember along with his squad at their normal campsite. Returning to his normal form he turns to them. Ember is the first to speak as she hurries toward him.

“Everything okay?!”

Arc nods as he offers her a thumbs up. “Mission accomplished.”

Xenos looks around. “And Rose?!”

Arc pats his ring. “Safely ‘sleeping’ in her box.”

Viktor looks at the ring. “Any issues with that?”

“Nope. She woke up as if nothing had happened. But let’s pack up our supplies and get out of here.”

Max chuckles as he begins disassembling a magic rifle. “Sure glad we didn’t need these, sir.”

Ember shudders. “Not this time anyways.”

Xenos clenches a fist as he holds up what appears to be some kind of very large projectile weapon. “A shame too. I was looking forward to taking that place apart piece by piece.”

Arc frowns. “Maybe next time. Uh... what is that thing?”

“This? It’s an expanded kinetic force rifle.”

Viktor chuckles. “The pony equivalent of a rocket launcher but with magically enhanced payloads, sir.”

Hugh calls out from his spot nearby. “I was kinda looking forward to using them to take out the defenses as well.”

Arc sighs. “Well, I’m glad we got this done quietly.”

Ember smirks. “But was are going to level that place at some point, right?”

“Hopefully not.”

Xenos raises an eyebrow. “Sir?”

“I can’t see Earth taking extra-terrestrials blowing up a military base very well. However I want to get Rose back to Equestria so she can turn over what we found to Auriel and her mother.”

He rubs his hands together and walks over to the fire before continuing.

“That... and it’s crazy cold out here!”

Ember grins as she joins him. “Glad someone else noticed!”

Xenos laughs as he turns to pack up. “Guess we just have thicker skin.”

Hugh nods. “Or thicker coats.”

Ember narrows her eyes as she gestures toward the water. “Wanna test that theory by going for a winter swim?”

“Um... we’ll pass.”

Arc smirks. “Smart choice.”

Max groans. “Come on, guys. Let’s get a move on.”

Meanwhile, General Mustang looks out over the water toward the smoke rising from Arc’s campfire. Smiling, he muses to himself.

“Well done, my boy. In and out without so much as a peep from the security system. You’re getting better every time you do it.”

Turning, he begins walking back toward the base.

“But I look forward to your next visit with unbridled anticipation, Arc.”

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