Falling Into the Unknown

I methodically cleaned my Sa-58, clearing out the gunk that had accumulated in the rifling of the barrel after the repeated use over the past few weeks. Essentially, there was almost none, but I didn’t want to take chances. Replacing the parts came easy: I had done this dozens of times over the two years since I had acquired the rifle. Cleaning my G18 took a bit longer: I never did it more than a few times a year, and I had to pause to recall just how to strip it a few times.

Finally, however, it was done. I sat down on the cot inside of the tent, glad to have the chance to be here.

The camp I had arrived at three nights ago had swelled from a group of half a dozen tents to over eight hundred. Thousands of guard ponies were inside of it, cleaning armor, repairing weapons, and generally making ready for combat. They tended to stay away from my tent, having heard that I was there, but I didn’t mind. So far, the only ponies to come and visit me had been Azure and Amber (they had two tents about ten feet from mine) and a few random guards who had walked into the wrong tent.

From what I had heard, the assault would take place at some point tomorrow. With around twenty-four hours to wait, all I tended to do was go to the eating area to mess around on my laptop. I still had all of my belongings with me, and, somehow, they had not managed to suffer irreplaceable damage over the past month. Had it been a month already? No, it had been a bit longer, say, about a month and a half.

The camp was excited, or at least from what I could tell. Quite a few of them hated the Changelings, although for what reasons I couldn’t possibly tell, seeing as how many of them had not been at Canterlot. Those who had tended to be a bit more respectful of them, even going so far as to proclaim to all the morons (IE, the ones who thought they would simply roll over when attacked) that what they were doing was extremely dangerous. As if they had me fooled.

I had a very high chance of being killed in the raid. I knew that, and could accept that. Actually, I would accept virtually anything at this point: Five dragons coming in and blowing the hive up wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. I was ready to accept death if I could simply kill the bitch that had put me through all of this:

Chrysalis.

She probably thought that we would be instantly invaded the moment the portal opened. Right now, Celestia had cast a spell on the portal that would alter them if anything came through, and had staffed the site with hundreds of guards. Not that the guards would be about to do much if the Russian Army came through the portal, but they might at least pause them long enough for me to get there and sort everything out.

Doing what had become my drill, I grabbed my laptop and headed down to the mess hall, the only place in the camp to get half-decent food. My laptop still had over twenty hours’ worth of battery on it, so I definitely wouldn’t run out any time soon. The reason I placed my games and did my stuff on the laptop in public was simple: Everyone paid attention. It allowed me to easily listen in on what everyone – or everypony in this case; even though I still thought that the change of phrase was ridiculous – was saying, and helped the rumors about me grow. Some days, I would laugh my ass off at the rumors that Amber and Azure had heard about me.

As I walked out of my tent, nearby ponies stared at me. Even though they were guards, and supposed to be ‘trained’, half of them didn’t even seem like they could subdue a criminal who WANTED to be caught. They seemed to freeze up the moment they encountered any difficulty, and half the time I found them simply sitting around, instead of doing something useful.

Like train for a gigantic battle they might die in.

It’s official: I hate most of them. They’re lazy, incompetent, and some of them are arrogant to the point of being obsessive about it. They take the slightest criticism as a sign that ‘that guy is an enemy, ignore him’. The only ones who seemed slightly capable were the ones from the larger cities and Canterlot: They, at least, had some experience in fighting.

I swear to god, most of them were worse than children.

As I walked to the mess, I could see some of them simply ignoring me. Those were, as I discovered when talking, the ones who had either seen me before, or were too experienced to let me know that they were eyeing me. Along with the regular guards, there were some Lunar guards as well, including some real Batponies. Surprisingly enough, they tended to score the highest when I watched the guards fight at the area of the camp designated for that.

The mess hall was massive, with room to seat over six hundred ponies. And by that, I meant it was literally gargantuan, nearly half the size of a football field. The kitchens alone extended into the back for quite a ways: Although, because only the Batponies (As I learned by asking) were able to eat meat (they were Omnivorous, something that made me laugh the first time I heard it), they didn’t need many heaters or freezers.

I simply grabbed a tray, got handed a roll and some stuff that MIGHT have once been some type of vegetable matter, and an apple, and sat down on a random bench. Ponies around me scooted away, keeping a five foot clearing around ‘the creature’, as many called me.

Predictably, however, some came and sat by me. Not surprisingly, the first to do so was a Batpony. I had found out the first time that many respected me for my fighting, and most of them seemed well-trained compared to many of the normal guards. This time, it was a recognizable face.

“Hello, Maddox.” It said in a deep male voice.

I sighed. “Light Shade, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Tyler?”

“The moment you stop calling me Light Shade and just call me Shade, I’ll be sure to switch.” Shade said, smiling and revealing the small set of fangs that all Batponies seemed to have, before sitting down two feet across from me.

“Ok, Shade. What are they saying about me this time?” I asked. Over the past couple of days, he had become an amusing source of information about what the camp was saying. After all, nothing will ever beat a source on the inside.

“Oh, just that you eat ponies, and that you were Discord’s creation.” Shade replied with another grin.

“What? I only eat annoying ponies.” I mentioned, heaping my words with a heavy amount of sarcasm. “As for Discord: How could he create something as beautiful as me?”

“By being himself: You look like the unholy love-child between a Minotaur and a Diamond Dog. Where Celestia found you, I do not know.” Shade said, shaking his head.

I snorted. “I’ve told you: Another world.”

“And I’ve told you: You’re insane.”

“You and Azure seem to share the same opinion.” I deadpanned. “Doesn’t the portal that Celestia found convince you?”

“It could be a portal to Tartarus: Celestia only knows that something as ugly as you belongs there.”

“Your eyes are like a pair of gigantic lemons, and your head is a melon. Your argument is invalid.” I said, enjoying the trade of insults. Unlike many of the others guards, Shade had been one who never seemed to get offended at his jokes, and visa-versa. So, their ‘arguments’, if you could call them that, were a fun time for both of them.

“You’re the one who claims that he is from another world.” Shade retorted.

“You’re the one who is FROM another world.” I offered.

“Fair enough.” Shade said, turning serious. “If you’re from another world, as you likely are, that portal is your best chance of going home. Don’t you want to take it?”

“Only once I put a bullet in Chrysalis’s ugly head.” I said.

Shade shook his head slowly, taking a large sip of water from his cup. Finally, he spoke. “You really hate her, don’t you?”

“She fucked with the wrong Human.” I replied. “When you piss me off, you don’t ever come back from it.”

“So I’ve heard: Around fifty confirmed Changeling kills by your weapons, and that’s only the ones that were proven.” Shade carefully said. “Are all Humans as dangerous as you?”

“No, unless you give one of them a gun. Then they might be half of me.” I said. “If you’re in the army on our planet, then you’re ahead of me. That’s about it.”

“How does a ‘Collage student’, as you described yourself, become like that?”

“Too much time on my hands.” I said, taking a bite out of the apple.

“Do you still have that ‘laptop’ that you showed me yesterday?” Shade asked, obviously excited.

“Sure do. What do you want to see now?” I said, bringing it up and opening it as he went to my side of the table.

Shade paused in thought before replying. “How about that flying game?”

“Sure.” I said, opening up Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

After two hours of having every single pony in the area stare at us, I finally closed the laptop, excused myself, and walked back to my tent. Plopping down on my bed, I lay there, content to rest during my time before the battle.

Because, I knew, tomorrow would be a long day.