Chapters Operation: Swordbreaker
Chapter One
Nathan Harper stood unmoving inside of the small platoon of soldiers that stood silently in the at-ease position, waiting for the announcement that would tell them the reason they had been ordered here.
Whatever it was, it was apparently important, during the walk to the auditorium, rumours had been quietly passed back and forth, most of the whispers mentioned something about so top-secret project and government conspiracy, they were ridiculous and lacked any real detail to them so Nathan decided it was best to ignore them. The facts and their own logic told them that this had something to do with The Black Tide, almost all of the 'important' announcements made in their compound had something to do with the Tide, the Company was tasked with assisting the effort to slow the Tide, or to lend a hand to any of the ongoing research to save humanity, or the few that claimed to be able to do both. Their Company was based in Kirghizia, near a city called Bishkek, their exact location however, was unknown to them for security reasons.
Suddenly one of the commanding officers, who's name Nathan didn't remember, called the platoon to attention, they all stamped their left foot on the ground as Commander Ellis stepped up to the podium.
"Good morning men! Are you feeling well today?" He asked
"Sir, yes sir" the platoon chorused back
"Good! Now I would like to begin by telling you all of how exceptionally well you have performed during our long deployment"
Commander Ellis was an older man, he had greeting hair that was cut to the exact regulations of the U.I.A.F as well as his moustache and goatee-like beard which both gave evidence of his former hair colour as they were only flecked with grey and showed the ginger of his youth. He was dressed as he always was, in his uniform, which was ironed and pressed to perfection.
The Commander was still talking "Because of that, High Command has authorized me to offer 27th platoon-your platoon-of the 57th Company-Our Company-an opportunity" with that the men visibly perked up, an opportunity to make a difference was one all men of the uniform wanted and dreamed of
"...unfortunately, I am not permitted to give you the details unless you accept right here right now" as quick as they gained it, the men lost almost all of their interest and excitement. In their line of work when you heard 'Not permitted to give you details' or something of the like, it usually meant 'Something extremely dangerous that will most likely result in your death but I don't want to scare you off by telling you.'
Nathan kept his eyes focused on the Commander, wondering what this was about but keeping his features emotionless and statue-like, a skill he had mastered through his service.
Ellis looked at the platoon, sweeping his eyes across all of the cold hardened faces before speaking
"Any volunteers?"
For a moment, no one moved, until slowly Nathan raised his fist into the air. His sense of duty driving his arm up, for years he had wanted something like this. To feel like he was actually making a difference, and even though he had no idea what he was getting himself into, his gut told him that this was the right course of action.
Commander Ellis looked at Harper, a flash of recognition flashing in his eyes.
"Fall out Corporal" Ellis said, Nathan turned on his heel, stamped his left foot, and marched out of his rank and up into the Commander. Nathan gave him a salute which Ellise returned.
"No one else then? Alright, the rest of you; dismissed! " the rest of the company turned on their heels to the right, and stamped their left foot and then broke formation. All of them going their separate ways, a few taking curious glances back at Nathan.
Ellise turned his attention back to the Corporal in front of him
"At ease" Nathan relaxed from his at-attention stance and allowed himself to actually look and the Commander
"Sir, If I may? What am I to be doing?"
"All in good time... It's Harper isn't it?"
"Yes sir"
"Alright, come with me" without another glance Ellise turned and walked off to the left, Nathan quick behind him, the Commander led him across the auditorium and to a lair of double doors on the far left side of the room. Walking though them revealed a long hallway with door lining the sides, offices and briefing rooms, Nathan guessed. His theory was confirmed as he was led up to one, Commander Ellise opened the door and the two soldiers entered into the briefing room.
The briefing room itself was akin to a theatre, several rows of comfortable-looking red chairs with small desks attached, the chairs placed in a slowly ascending manner. The lowest being closest to the 'stage' area of the room that was a raised platform with a single podium off to the side and a projection screen hanging from the ceiling.
What drew Nathan's attention though was the man standing next to the podium, as they approached the Corporal could make out his features. He was a stout older man in a brown suit and red bow-tie and had massive spectacles, bushy salt-and-pepper beard, and bald head.
The Commander walked up to the man and spoke
"Seems we only have one volunteer Doctor, but I assure you he's as good as anyone"
"Well, I trust your judgment Commander" the man replied, before walking off the platform and approaching Nathan and offering his hand
"Pleasure to meet you lad, I am Dr. Paul Velchiek, and you are?" Harper gripped the Doctors hand firmly and shook it
"Corporal Nathan Harper of the 57th Company at your service sir, a pleasure to meet you sir" as he let go of Nathan's hand the Doctor chuckled a bit
"Well at least you're polite" turning back to the platform the Doctor gestured to the front row of chairs "Have a seat, Corporal" he said. Nathan obeyed and watched as the man retook his position next to the podium. Commander Ellise simply stood to the side, his arms crossed and face devoid of any expression
"Now..." The Doctor rubbed his hands together "let's give you the briefing, shall we?" Looking down at Nathan he began to explain
"As you already know, our planet is in peril. Slowly being consumed by what is commonly called 'The Black Tide' what you may also may know is that there are several teams putting their efforts into projects to slow, stop, or destroy the Tide." Velchiek looked at Harper to make sure he was paying attention, after confirming that he was, the Doctor continued.
"I come here representing one such project, Project: Harmonics to be exact. now what is 'Project: Harmonics'. you may ask? Well...." The Doctor looked at Nathan again "Tell me Mr. Harper, do you believe in alternate universes? That is to say, realities that exist parallel to our own?" Nathan had to think about that for a moment, the concept sounded like something out of one of those science fiction novels that his father had always tried to get him to read. Nathan had never thought about abstract concepts like aliens or alternate realities.
"Never given it much thought sir" the Corporal eventually said "but I suppose it's entirely possible." Velchiek raised an eyebrow at the soldier, muttering something about jarheads, before speaking again.
"Well... I am here to tell you that such realities do exist. And we have found some of them." This raised Nathan's eyebrows "The point of Project: Harmonics it to search for alternate worlds for Humanity to inhabit in the event that the Earth is lost to the Tide" a flood of emotion raced through the Corporal's mind. The information that alternate realities existed didn't surprise Nathan at all, it the grand scheme of things it didn't really effect the soldier. The thing that did was what Project: Harmonics was implying, that their was no hope, Earth was doomed, and they had to escape. Not comforting thoughts for a man who had spent his late twenties fighting the Tide in any way possible.
Naturally, Harper kept his feelings hidden and retained his professional facade as he spoke up
"...So where do I come in sir?" He asked, causing Doctor Velchiek to scowl slightly. "I'm getting to that" he said before continuing on
"Now, getting to the point, the objective of Project: Harmonics has, as of recently, succeeded. We have located a world that can potentially hold a Human population, however, there is one slight... Ah, speed bump if you would" there was silence for a few minutes before Nathan addressed the elephant in the room
"And what would this 'Speed bump' be sir?"
"Well... It appears that the world is already inhabited, by what appears to be sentient life-forms" the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small remote, he pointed it at the projection screen and clicked a button, the screen flared to life and did what it's name suggested and projected an image to the observing soldier. It showed an image of a world that looked very similar to Earth. The green grass and trees were immediately obvious. Deep blue skies with white cotton-puff clouds spanned overhead. It was picturesque, though it seemed oddly brighter than Nathan was used to seeing.
"Now this world, this world looks very like our own. Some species of plants are unknown to us, but we see many that look very similar to ones that we have here on Earth. We've seen animals that at least look like normal birds, squirrels and rabbits." Harper kept his attention fixed on the screen, a bit amazed at what the Doctor was claiming to have accomplished.
"Now, we were able to send some probes over and we've discovered that, while the atmosphere is very slightly higher on oxygen, perhaps 23% or so, and the gravity is very slightly less than here on Earth, and the environment seems to be totally and completely compatible with human life." The information was interesting, but not relevant to Nathan's current situation, but out of respect he let the Doctor ramble. Velchiek clicked the remote again and suddenly the image shifted, it took Nathan a few moments to figure out what he was looking at before he realized it was a top-down view of a large town, with winding streets and brightly-colored rooftops.
"This is an image of one of the towns we've managed to find. Now it's important to note that the population density is nowhere near that of the Earth, at least in the regions we've been able to see so far. Granted, that's only a small portion of this world, as there is something about this one that makes matching harmonics with it... well, tricky, to say the least. But it's entirely possible that we can co-exist with the inhabitants. But first, we need to learn more about them. Because, you see... they aren't exactly human." The Corporal raised his eyebrows as the Doctor clicked the remote again and suddenly he was being showed a video, the Doctor spoke over it as if he was narrating a nature documentary
"And here we see some lovely rolling hillsides, with a fairly large forest off to the west. As you can see, it's a pleasant day. Small insects buzz by, and there you can see a few rabbits grazing on the grass. And what's this coming up over the hillside? Why, it's a collection of this world's most highly developed inhabitants!"
Nathan stared as several multicoloured shapes appeared at the crest of the hill
"As you can see, they are-"
"Holy shit, ponies !" As soon as he said it the Corporal clamped his mouth shut and felt his face go red, he looked at the Commander to see him giving the soldier his infamous you-fucked-up-big-time-bitch look.
"Language soldier" he said softly and Harper nodded submissively
"Yes sir"
Doctor Velchiek cleared his throat to get the Corporals attention again
"Yes, well, ponies. Though, obviously nothing like what we'd find here on Earth. Note the bright colors. You'd never see a bright purple pony running around here on Earth, unless its owner had dyed its coat that color! Also, these ponies talk. They use tools. They build things. And that's not all. Look at what you see here. Here come more ponies... And not all of them are walking." Nathan stared in awe at the images shown, what he was seeing barley registered in his mind as he just stared dumbly. I mean, one of them had Wings for God's sake!
"Now" the Doctor said "We come to why we brought you here Mr. Harper, while we do have diplomacy and co-existence in mind, both me and High Command of the U.I.A.F agree that taking the world by force is an option we must consider should negotiations fail, that is where you come in Mr. Harper." With a click the Doctor turned of the projection screen and stared directly at Nathan
"Your task will be to go to this world, learn of their defences, their tactics and compromise them if necessary. While the Ponies do not appear overly dangerous or hostile, they are from an entirely different reality and thus we have no idea whatsoever what their combative abilities are, we aim to remedy that with this Operation"
Already the uncertainties were getting to Harper, there were too many variables, what if he was discovered? What would these 'Ponies' do to him? Torture him? Eat him? Turn him inside out and jack-off with with his intestines? The horrid possibilities were endless.
"With... All do respect sir" Nathan said slowly "I'm no infiltrator, certainly no spy. Why me and not a better suited soldier?"
"It is exactly because you are untrained in this field is why you are perfect for it" Commander Ellise spoke up "While an Infiltrator might have more suited training for this sort of job, you have something others do not; genuineness, your going to be posing as a dutiful soldier with only mediocre combat skills, and since your already one of those, you don't need to work at it" the barest hint of a grin flashed behind the Commanders ginger beard, before he reverted back to his stony expression.
Nathan didn't know wether to be insulted or flattered, perhaps both. In reality he was a bit overwhelmed at the significance at what he was being told here, some of that must of shown on his face because the Doctor spoke up again
"This must be very overwhelming to you Mr. Harper, tell you what, I'll give you until tomorrow to give us your answer" as Velchiek walked off to the side, Ellise stepped forward.
"That means you're dismissed, soldier. Head back to your barracks and rest up. Report to my office at thirteen hundred hours tomorrow, and in the meantime, I ask you to not mention this to anyone. Run along now." Nathan stood up, saluted the Commander and exited the briefing room. Harpers journey to his barracks was filled with turbulent thoughts, his brain weighing the options and the implications.
The Corporal walked through his barracks door still lost in his own thoughts, until a familiar French-accented voice broke him out of his stupor
"So, you are part of big operation now, no?" Nathan jumped a bit and turned to see Nicholas sitting on his bunk, grinning at him
"Zat iz what everyone is saying anyway, iz it true? The Commander seemed more serious than usual, no?"
"Hey Nick, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything. Commanders orders" the Frenchman groaned in child-like frustration as Nathan climbed into the bunk above Nicholas
"Aw come on" he whined "Not even a little bit? Location? Who else is involved?" Nathan sighed
"No I can't Nick. where are the other guy's anyway?"
"Zhey are in zhe mess hall, I guess I won't be seeing you much will I?" Harper didn't answer immediately, instead, a smile slowly grew on his features
"No, I'm afraid you won't Nick, I think I'll be gone for a while"
Chapter 2- Pony Ops
Commander Ellise sat behind his desk, tapping away on the latest of Mac laptops when there was a knock on his door.
"Enter" he said, and the door opened to reveal Corporal Nathan Harper standing in the doorway, he stepped in and saluted his officer before speaking.
"Sir I've come to a decision" Nathan said, pausing to takes breath "I'm in." Ellise nodded and have one of his rare smiles before standing up and offering his hand to the Corporal, which he accepted.
"Good on you lad" the Commander said "Welcome to Operation: Swordbreaker." Dropping the NCO's hand Ellise regained his serious composure before sitting down and gesturing for Nathan to do the same.
"Now it's only fair that you know the full details of your mission" the officer paused for a moment "You already know what the... Natives, look like. The first step of this operation is to disguise you as one of them, so as to infiltrate there defences" Nathan blinked in confusion.
"And... How are we going to do that sir? I look nothing like a... Pony" Eliise nodded in agreement.
"Right you are Corporal, but luckily our good friend Dr. Velchiek has a way to remedy that, he as alluded to the fact that we currently posses the technology to... Remake your body into something that matches the native species."
"Sir.... Are you saying that your going to turn me into a Pony?"
"Why yes, yes I am." There was several minutes of silence as the two men just stared at each other, only broken when Nathan rubbed the area just above his right eyebrow, where he could feel a headache forming.
"Well I did sign up for this mission, when do we start sir?"
"Right now, follow me." The Commander stood up and lead Nathan down the hall, they met no one during their journey and eventually they entered a part of the compound that Nathan had not seen before and they came to a pair of double doors, pushing through them the two soldiers were assaulted by a bright white light, once his eyes adjusted Nathan could see that they were standing in a white tile, sterile-looking room, in the centre was a hospital operating table which was surrounded by an army of large machines in which blinked and beeped. Around those machines were several people in lab coats, none of them familiar to Nathan, standing next to the table though was Dr. Velchiek.
A smile could be seen on the good doctors face as the two soldiers approached, he reached out a hand to Nathan when he reached him.
"Good of you to join us Mr. Harper" the doctor said, shaking Nathan's hand "Welcome to the point of no return." With that happy thought, Velchiek dropped his hand and gestured towards the operating table.
"If you ready to get started, I'll have you remove your boots and your tunic before laying down" Nathan looked at the Commander with raised eyebrows and Ellise met it with a passive nod of confirmation. With mountains of uncertainty the Corporal slowly unbuttoned his tunic, slipping out of it and handing it to the Commander, then he knelt down and unlatched his combat boots, pulling them off his feet. Leaving Nathan only in a green t-shirt, combat pants, and wool socks.
"Up you come" Dr Velchiek said, patting the operating table, with yet another look at Ellise, Nathan claimed onto the table, the sterile paper crunching under him as the Corporal layed down and attempted to relax.
The Doctor entered his vision, holding a face mask connected to a plastic tube.
"If all goes well you'll wake up in no time, you will feel strange but try and relax." Without waiting for a response the doctor strapped Nathan with the mask and the faint taste of sedatives entered the Corporals mouth before he lost consciousness.
~~*~~
Nathan opened his eyes. Too bright. He closed them again.
He felt nauseous, the room seemed to spin and jerk in random directions. He was definitely awake, however felt immensely tired at the same time, he could smell all sorts of things; disinfectant, soap bubbles, hospital smells. He could hear a multitude of sounds as well; beeps, whistles and pings, hospital noises.
Thus his blunt, soldiers logic told him that he was in a hospital, he didn't remember much, he wondered what sort of accident he had been in, or if anyone else had been hurt. Yet he didn't care either way.
They probably sedated me
Nathan opened his eyes again, this time it wasn't so bright. He tried opening his mouth to say something, his jaw didn't seem to want to function properly. Moving every which way except the way he wanted, eventually it obeyed and Nathan switched his focus to his tongue, but instead of forming proper English sentences the appendage lolled around in his mouth like it was attached to a mad man.
Suddenly one of the doctors entered his vision, he was a younger man with nice brown eyes and hair.
"You'll be pleased to know that the surgery was a success, just get some rest now while we finish up" Nathan mumbled something insane and his veins were pumped full of sedatives and the soldier fell into the misty swirly works of sleepy happy land.
~~*~~
Nathan slowly became aware of the fact that he was awake. He was in what looked like a hospital room. And he could kind of feel his body, but he couldn't really move it. That... was worrisome.
He blinked slowly and tried to look around, but her head didn't want to move properly. Plus, it felt way too heavy in the wrong places, and way too light in the others.
Slowly the memories of why he was here returned to Nathan, there was no accident but there was a surgery, he remembered the operation he had signed up for.
I'm a Pony now aren't I? he thought, no really caring about the implications of what that entailed, rather Nathan was content to simply stay still and be lazy.
Again the same doctor from last time entered his vision, smiling pleasantly.
"Welcome back Mr. Harper, how are you feeling?"
"Fine really, besides the fact that I don't think I can move and I can't feel the lower half of my body"
"Yeah, that would be the sensitives, don't worry when you wake up again you'll be off the sensitives, you might even be able to go for a walk."
"That's great... I've been wanting to get out of... Bed" unconsciousness claimed Nathan again, leaving him with the image of the doctors smiling face.
~~*~~
"So how long was I out exactly?" Nathan asked a bot annoyed.
"About a month and a half" Dr. Velchiek said "It took a while for to finish... Cooking I suppose... But everything should be fine now"
"...Should."
"Well we hope anyway, you can try getting up now."
"Well unstrap me first"
"Of course! These were only there to keep you from hurting yourself" Velchiek gestured towards the restraints and the brown-eyed doctor stepped forward from the observing medical staff and undid the straps holding Nathan down.
When the last strap was off his leg Nathan lifted his head a looked down at his new body, this was a mistake, as the familiar feeling of panic began to seep into the Corporals brain, closing his eyes Nathan recalled the classes given to all members of the U.I.A.F about dealing with stress, panic, and PTSD. With controlled actions Nathan breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, repeating the process for a minute before opening his eyes again and assessing the Equine body that was now his.
His coat was a light tannish brown, a pretty standard Pony colour and nothing like a garish brightly coloured beings the he saw on the video feed. His actual hooves were coal black and shiny, moving down he could see that his tail (I have a tail ) was a much darker brown, it complemented his coat nicely. Most notably was the mark on his flank, Nathan remembered seeing symbols on the flanks of the Ponies he had seen, his was the simple black silhouette of a longsword.
"Mr. Harper? Do you feel alright?" Velchiek asked.
"I think so" Nathan said "It's like I know this is my body but my mind doesn't want to accept it. Also... What's with the sword?"
"Disorientation is normal" the Brown-eyed Doctor said "Just take it slow, try moving your legs like you would move your old body."
"The sword mark is there simply because the general adult Pony populace seem to have one, what they signify are unknown but we gave you that as a reminder of your mission" Dr, Velchiek said.
Taking the advice of Brown-eyes Nathan lifted his right hoof, inspecting the naturally polished blackness that rivalled his parade boots, bringing it closer he brought to appendage up to his face and booped himself on the nose, after that he brought his two front hooves together in a soft hoof clap.
Giving a positive nod to the doctors they helped Nathan get out of bed, it took a few minutes but eventually he was standing, albeit shakily, on his four hooves. What was immediately obvious was that he was only as tall as a persons stomach, which was rather strange for a normally tall person.
He was still very wobbly, his brain was working on the assumption that it's host was still in a Human body, therefore trying to work off a Humans centre of gravity while the body itself was working of its own, it was quite disorientating but after closing his eyes and concentrating Nathan was able to balance himself out.
"Glad your greeting the hang of it" Dr. Velchiek said "Now, if there are no health concerns I would like to move forward with rehabilitation and training"
"Everything seems to check out" Brown Eyes said "But I suggest having something to eat first, and perhaps getting more familiar with his new body"
"Alright then!" Velchiek said "I suppose you'll want to see a mirror Mr. Harper?"
"Of course" one of the nurses wheeled out a full length mirror and placed it in front of Nathan. He looked at the creature reflected back at him, his eyes were the same light blue that they were previously, tan coat that he had seen earlier and dark brown mane that matched his tail, the mane was longer that his Human hair, but as far as he could tell it still was within the parameters of military dress.
Priorities straight as ever he scolded himself, looking at his new face revealed unfamiliar features, although the expression it wore was certainly familiar though.
Turning away from the mirror Nathan was already becoming more coordinated with his new body.
"I am ready to proceed sir." He said.
"Good, but first some food."
~~*~~
Nathan stared down at the tray of food, slight annoyance and disappointment showing on his Pony face.
"So... No meat?" He asked.
"I'm afraid not" Dr. Velchiek said sympathetically "Ponies are vegetarians you see, better get into the habit" The Corporal looked at Commander Ellise who had arrived with the food, unlike the doctor there was no sympathy in his eyes.
"Eat Corporal" with a sigh Nathan looked back down at his serving of carrots and celery, broccoli, and cauliflower. He also had an apple and a cup of water.
Deciding that the apple would be the most simple, Nathan reach out with both hooves and gripped the apple before bringing it up to his mouth, and taking a large bite, after chewing and swallowing he would carefully turn the fruit and take another bite, once he got the hang of it Nathan finished off the apple in no time.
The vegetables proved even simpler, adopting a technique of grabbing them with his mouth and for thing them in as he chewed proved efficient and surprisingly clean. The only thing left was the cup of water, after staring at it for a minute Nathan came up with a solution.
He used his hooves on either side to raise the plastic glass of water. Then he clamped on to it with his teeth, then shifted his hooves around to the bottom, and then pushed up. Cool water poured into his mouth, and Nathan successfully downed the entire glass before carefully placing it down, his meal over.
"Good work! You seem to be mastering your new body splendidly!" Velchiek praised "With this much progress rehabilitation and re-training should take no time at all!" The Doctor was positive, but one glance at the Commander told Nathan that he didn't share Velcheik's attitude.
"We'll see" he said softly.
~~*~~
Training was hard, even by the standard of the U.I.A.F, Nathan had to literally learn to walk again, and from walking then came running, jumping, climbing, writing, handling objects, and of course; combat skills.
Running was the easiest, it took a few tries but Nathan eventually created a pattern to follow and it resulted in a fast gallop that even the Commander was satisfied with.
Jumping was horrible for the longest time, falling on his furry face time over time over time, constantly being motivated by the instructors assigned to him, not to mention the Commander himself, who's voice boomed across the gym without effort. With such great support it was only a matter of time before Nathan stuck the landing and mastered jumping about ten meters.
Manipulating things with his mouth and hooves took a lot longer. As the days went by, though, he rapidly started to learn how to use his hooves in ways he'd never thought of. For example, when it came to drinking, he was now able to balance the glass neatly with one hoof while tipping it back with the other.
It was fighting and combat skills that took the longest, wether that was because they wanted to focus on it was not of import, what was important was the difficulty in which it took to fire a pistol with hooves, the trainers eventually compromised by giving Nathan a attachment for his hoof that was essentially a hook to pull the trigger, after that it took no time to regain his old accuracy, unfortunately the Commander bluntly stated that he wouldn't be provided with such an attachment because they didn't know if the natives even had pistols, let alone devices for firing them.
Nathan was also put through a sword fighting class, why was beyond him but he didn't question it, no matter how bad a sword tasted in his mouth.
Finally he was instructed on everything they knew about Ponyland, from mannerisms to their currency and it was during this final briefing that the Commander gave Nathan his first major objective.
Clicking a remote revealed an image of what looked like a castle placed on the side of a large mountain.
"We think this is the natives capital of sorts, your first objective is to make your way there and discover their military base of operations. It is also relevant to tell you know if the communicative implants placed in your body, these will allow you to contact me when small windows are opened by the people here at Harmonics, understood?"
Nathan should have been upset about the implants, but he really wasn't, his sense of duty and excitement for the coming mission overwhelming any other feeling.
"Yes sir" he said patriotically.
~~*~~
The day of the window seemed to arrive in no time, inside Nathan's nerves were having a field day, but he forced them down and kept a stoic expression on his Pony face.
Nathan stood in front of the portal listening to the machine hum and beep as the prepared for his transportation, suddenly behind him Dr. Velchiek spoke loudly.
"This is it! Prepare yourself!" The humming increased and Nathan had to close his eyes from the light created by the event horizon, squinting through he saw the picturesque green rolling hills that was his arrival point.
"Go now before the window closes!" Steeling his courage, Nathan walked through the event horizon into what would be either a new world or a new battlefield.
Chapter 3- Reconnaissance
Chapter 3 - Reconnaissance
Nathan passed through the barrier with tentative steps, a strange tingling sensation passing through his equine body as he crossed the event horizon and into Ponyland. Nathan came out on what looked like a dirt road that stretched on for several kilometres in either direction, disappearing behind a hill after the first few kilometres.
Nathan heard what sounded like a radio tuning in, and suddenly Commander Ellise's voice spoke softly to him.
"Corporal? Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear sir, send message."
"Alright good, the connection works, we're going to close the portal you just came through and see if we can't keep sending signals through the smaller natural rifts." There was was a small thunderous sound and the gateway behind Nathan closed, the event horizon collapsing in on itself.
There was silence for another few minutes before the Commander's voice could be heard again.
"Come in Corporal Harper, you still there?"
"Yes sir, loud as always."
"Good it still works, we shall should be able to communicate for about four hours before the rift closes, our call sign is 'Sunray' and yours is 'Swordbreaker'. We'll be utilizing field radio etiquette, understand?"
"Sir, yes sir."
"Good, now look around, describe your surroundings." The soldier turned his body around where he stood, scanning the area and it's many features.
"I'm standing on a dirt road" Nathan said "On each side there's just a series of fields and hills covered in grass, in one direction the hills block my view, in the other..." The NCO squinted. "Sir, I can see the castle we discussed during my briefing in the distance" through the clouds and a fine layer of mist the distinct shape of the castle city could be seen.
"Good, head that way. Make sure to make note of the landscape and such as you go, anything to assist the movement of troops or equipment, I shall notify you before the rift closes."
"Yes sir."
~~*~~
The trek was a long and boring one. After he got over the fact that he was in a new world, the constant pace over the dirt road with little to nothing to look at had lost it's its excitement two kilometres ago. Despite his boredom, Nathan was observing, he noticed some more mountains in the distance, as well as some temperate forests. Additionally, the road bore signs of previous travel, with faint hoof marks and wheel tracks being present.
After almost an hour of trotting (Man that sounds weird , he thought to himself) Nathan crested a hill and was met with the sight of a substantially large town at the base of the hill. It stood between Nathan and the mountain that the castle was attached to. The town itself resembled a nineteenth century English settlement, with its dark wooden and stone buildings with black shingles and chimneys. On the far side of the town was a set of what looked like train tracks that lead into a dark tunnel that appeared to go up the mountain.
"Sunray, this is Swordbreaker, over." There was a brief pause before Ellise responded
"This is Sunray, go ahead."
"There is a large town set at the foot of the mountain that the castle is on, on that far side is what appears to be a set of train tracks that lead up to the castle. The town itself was definitely made by intelligent life, the houses are complex and well made but with natural materials instead of metal, over."
"Interesting. All right, head to the town and make first contact, ask around about the castle and other things that may be useful, retain radio silence while inside the town, over."
"Roger that. Swordbreaker out." Nathan took another look at the entire town before trotting down the hill and towards the the town. He reached the entrance to find the street empty, at least it was like that for a while, before but it wasn't empty for long, because just then a Pony walked out of a separate street on to the main one.
The Pony had a beige coat and a dark brown mane, he also wore a scarf and had what looked to be bags on his sides, his flank mark was interesting, a sword pointing straight up with a pair of wings protruding from its sides.
Upon seeing the equine, Nathan immediately broke into a sweat, despite all of his briefings, training sessions, and so on, nothing could prepare him for the first contact. Trying to act natural, Nathan continued walking in the direction he had already been travelling, somewhat hoping that the pony would ignore him. No such luck was present because the pony did in fact notice the Corporal and fell into step next to him, a small smile on his face.
"Good evening," he said pleasantly.
"A-and to you too." Nathan managed to sputter out.
"I haven't seen you around here before, what brings you to Trottingham?" The Pony had a faint accent, but it was there and it sounded vaguely familiar.
"I'm a traveler, been around seeing more of the world, and that brought me here."
"Fair enough, I can understand the desire to travel. I'm Steel Rider, by the way. What's your name?" Nathan experienced another brief moment of panic as he realized he didn't have a name for himself, he couldn't use his real name, that was out of the question.
"S-Swordbreaker!" He said nervously, mentally slapping himself for his unoriginality, thankfully Steel Rider didn't seem to think much of it.
"Nice to meet you Swordbreaker, let me be the first to welcome you to Trottingham." Steel gave that easy coming grin again that easily got a smile out of Nathan.
"Say, you have a place to stay yet?"
"Uh... Well no." Steel Riders grin widened.
"Well it's your lucky day! You can dine and stay with me and my parents tonight!"
"Oh! I couldn't!" The soldier was honestly surprised by the Pony's kind offer, but he couldn't get too comfortable or close - he had an objective.
"Oh but you can! And I will not take no for an answer!" The beige Pony shoved Nathan down a side street.
"No really! I can find an inn or something!"
"Sorry! I can't hear you over the sound of you being eternally grateful for my hospitality!"
"I wouldn't want to impose!"
"You might not want to, but I want you to!"
"But we only just met!"
"So why don't we get to know each other over dinner? We'll go to my place!" Nathan eventually gave up and gave in to the whims and shoves of the scarf-sporting Steel Rider.
"I need an adult." Nathan weakly said.
Chapter 4- Dining with the Enemy
Chapter 4- Dining With The Enemy
Swordbreaker had long since given up trying to convince Steel Rider of his not wanting to impose on him and his family, but the Pony easily deflected his arguments with his quick and easy clever stubbornness. Eventually Nathan just had to admit he was getting fed tonight, which in itself wasn't a bad thing, after months of the hard, uninteresting, military cafeteria food, the promise of a home cooked meal was alluring.
Swordbreaker managed to convince Steel to let him walk alongside him instead of being pushed uncomfortably, they came to a corner and Sword noticed a house that was slightly larger than the ones near it, sporting a yard with a charming oak tree in the front. The house itself, while it was a two-floor building rather than the usual one-floor layout, it shared the dark-shingled, mahogany-wooded style that Trottingham had.
Steel Rider lead his guest over to the house, pushing the front door open unceremoniously and calling out.
"Mother! I'm home! And we have a guest!" While Steel strode confidently into his own house, Nathan inched inside, already feeling the inherent sense that he didn't belong as he always did when entering someone else's house, Steel Rider noticed his hesitation and that grin of his spread onto his face yet again.
"Come on in, don't be shy!" As slick as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, the Pony wrapped his leg around Swordbreakers shoulders and pulled him into his lair, closing the door behind him.
Inside the house was made of the same mahogany wood as the outside, but was covered in a lush, thick carpet that ran through the hall, Steel Rider quickly took off his scarf and saddle bags, removing the latter just as a mare stuck her head out of the kitchen, she was clearly Steel Riders mother.
She had a beige coat like her son, although a few shades lighter, her mane was a darker beige, bordering brown and put into a motherly looking braid, her eyes where a pleasant orange.
"Steely, you must stop simply dragging random Ponies off the street and into our homes, at least without telling me." She said.
"So sorry mother, but Swordbreaker here had no where to stay and he's been travelling long."
"I suppose that's alright" the mare turned her warm smile to Sword "It's always nice to have guests, it's good to meet you p, Swordbreaker was it?" Sword decided to keep it safe and simply act respectful.
"Yes ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you too and thank you for taking me in." The mare gave off a giggle.
"Knows his manners this one, it's no trouble dear, and just call me Honey Heart 'ma'am' makes me sound like such an old thing." Honey Heart looked back at Steel Rider.
"Why don't you go show Swordbreaker the washroom? Let him clean up for dinner, I've made a good hearty stew for tonight." Her son nodded and gestured for Swordbreaker to follow him. The Pony brought him down to a smaller room with a low-lying basin with a built in water pump, Nathan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the primitive plumbing implement, he wondered if the pump was a standard for the level of technology that the Ponies possessed.
Never the less, they took turns pumping water into the basin and washing their hooves clean of dirt before heading into the kitchen, inside was a simple table with three bowls placed on it, one of which already had steaming stew inside, Honey Heart was ladling some into the remaining bowls, expertly holding the spoon in her mouth.
"Sit down you two, and tuck in." She said, placing the pot and ladle on the counter, Steel Rider eagerly sat down and quickly began shoving stew into his mouth, Swordbreaker was more slow about it, despite having practiced using utensils like this he still didn't want to spill hot stew on himself. As he had practiced, Nathan used his forearms oddly Human like flexibility to grip the spoon in a joint towards his hoof, almost like he was holding it with his wrist.
Honey Heart sat down as Swordbreaker spooned some stew into his mouth, savouring the delicious taste of the vegetables.
"So Steely said you have been traveling a while dear, are you heading anywhere particular?" Nathan paused in his eating to think about that, during his briefing they had theorized that the castle was the capital of the land however they didn't know that for sure, he decided to play it safe.
"Well I'm thinking of heading to the capital." Swordbreaker said calmly, hoping it didn't turn out that Pony society didn't include capital cities.
"Canterlot huh? Well it's a glamorous city after all, are you just sight seeing?" Honey asked, but Nathan almost missed her question because he was too busy keeping all signs of giggling of his face, the name 'Canterlot' was almost too much for him. He managed to keep a thinking face on as he calmed down.
After which Nathan considered the risk of stating his intention to enlist, one of the more prominent risks would be that the Ponies had no organized military force to speak of, so his words would seem like madness. Or maybe their military was a corrupt group and those who desired to join them where outcasts, or maybe they would report him to the government and he would be kidnapped and questioned! Or maybe...
"Well... I'm thinking of enlisting." Swordbreaker said with a shy smile, this got Steel a Rider to look up from his gorging, a wide smile coming to his features while Honey Heart's warm smile was lost and replaced with a slightly worried and disapproving frown.
"A fellow future cadet eh?" He said happily "I want to join up too! Adventure, respect, rank, not to mention a cool uniform! What's not to love!" Nathan genuinely smiled at that, he sounded like most new recruits while an over glorified idea of military life, he was in for a rude awakening. Swordbreaker looked at Honey Heart again, still with that somber frown on her face.
"Mrs. Heart? Is something the matter?" She looked up from her stew-which she had barely touched-and gave Swordbreaker a weak smile.
"Oh it's nothing, I just don't think that the Royal Guard is the best path for Steely." The conversation broke off into an awkward, tense silence. Obviously this was a touchy topic between them, Sword cleared his his throat to break the tension.
"But enough about me, what do you do Mrs. Heart?" He asked, her warm smile returned filling Swordbreaker with a strange feeling of home and safety.
"It's just Honey, dear." She said "I mix Honey and sell it in a shop, some are sweeter, some are thicker, but all are made with love." The mare had a ethereally happy expression as she talked, clearly she was very passionate and into her work.
Swordbreaker looked at Steel "What about you Steel? What do you like to do?" The colt gave his easy grin.
"Well usually I help mother in the shop, but in my spare time I like to practice my special talent."
"And what might that be?"
"Sword fighting of course!" Steel exclaimed excitedly "It's my true passion! Actually... Is that your talent too? That's what I guessed from your Cutie Mark." Nathan raised a mental eyebrow at the name 'Cutie Mark' logically he deduced that Steel Rider was was referring to the mark on his flank. Steel Riders mark was that of a winged sword, Swordbreaker himself had an image of a simple sword, and Nathan had noticed Honey Hearts Cutie Mark; a Jar of honey that had a heart surrounding it.
Nathan just went with it "Yep, that's right, I've been practicing the art since I was a colt." Not a complete lie, Nathan had been trained extensively in sword fighting while a Pony.
"Maybe we can spar sometime?" Steel said, Swordbreaker smiled and they lapsed into silence again but a more comfortable silence. Soon they emptied their bowls of stew, Honey Heart taking their dishes and placing them on the counter, Steel Rider and Swordbreaker nursing cups of tea that Honey had made for them.
"Your welcome to stay the night Sword." Honey said from the sink "We have a guest room, you can stay here until tomorrow and catch the morning train to Canterlot."
"Oh I wouldn't want to impose further on you Mrs. Heart."
"Nonsense! Your our guest for tonight."
"But Mrs. Heart.."
"It's Honey Heart dear."
"I should really..."
"Steely dear? Show Swordbreaker to the guest room."
"Of course mother." The stallion got up and started pushing Sword out of the kitchen and down the hall.
"Are you two always like this?" Swordbreaker asked in defeat.
"Pretty much, you get used to it." Sword sighed and allowed Steel to push him down the hall and into a small room to the side, in the room was a bedside table with a candle and a decently sized one-man bed.
"You'll be comfortable in here, if you need anything just ask." Steel turned to leave before Swordbreaker stopped him.
"Wait!" Steel Rider looked back at him "Thank you, for offering me a place to stay I mean." That easy grin came back to the beige Ponies face.
"Anything for a friend Sword, goodnight." He said, before gently closing the door.
Nathan sighed and headed over to the bed, blowing out the candle he slipped into the bed, staring at the dark ceiling.
"Sunray, this is Swordbreaker, over." He said softly, there was a pause before he got his response.
"This is Sunray, go ahead corporal." Commander Ellise's voice came from the darkness.
"I've entered the town, which is called 'Trottingham' and made contact with some of the natives, they have kindly offered me a place to stay before I continue to the castle, which has been confirmed as the capital, called 'Canterlot' I plan on utilizing a train to arrive at Canterlot and enlist in the Ponies armed forces, apparently called 'Royal Guards.' "
"Furthermore, I have made note of the technology level of the Ponies, as I said they mentioned a train so they at least have steam powered vehicles, but it seems other public utilities such as plumbing are rather unadvanced, using water pumps both public and in house pumps, I don't know about weapon technology but I have evidence that supports the fact that the Ponies still utilize swords."
"Good work Corporal, you've done well, continue on with your objective. However you are advised to avoid such informal interactions with the natives."
"Sir?" Nathan asked, a bit confused.
"You heard me, unless necessary do not interact with the natives, do not form attachment, and do not draw attention to yourself, they are potential enemies of the U.I.A.F and you will treat them as such."
"...Yes sir." Nathan said submissively, not willing to argue with his CO.
"Good, now the rift will close for at least twelve hours, we will notify you when it opens again so we can communicate again."
"Yes sir, understood."
"Good, Sunray out." The link was broken and Nathan was left alone to stare into the darkness, he thought about the Commanders words, about not forming attachments. It seemed extreme, from what he was told the main plan was to negotiate with the Ponies without conflict, this operation was simply a precaution put into action by the paranoid High Command of the U.I.A.F, to label the Ponies as enemies or even potential enemies was close minded and frankly wrong.
But Nathan was bound to his orders, however Ellise had no way of telling how much contact Nathan was having right? Besides it would appear suspicious to the Ponies if he avoided all contact, especially seeing as they appeared to be a friendly bunch.
What Commander Ellise didn't know couldn't hurt him right?
There had been radio silence for a while now, the higher-ups ordering such a silence for no apparent reason, naturally this order was followed until something was deemed important enough to break it.
That important something happened right now:
"…Commander Ellis?, this is Doctor Velchiek"
There was a brief silence which was broken by a response.
"Paul? Is that you? Haven't heard from you in a while, how are things?"
"Spectacular, Harmonics has been a complete success, we've found a world habitable by Human life!"
"Really?!? That's fantastic!"
"Yes but…there's a problem"
"…What is it?"
"It's inhabited…by sentient beings"
"…Damn"
"I know, we are already prepping the Ascent lab for our volunteer, a woman
called Erin Olsen but enough of that, you know what you have to do"
"Yes I know" there was a crackle of static as the Commander sighed "I'll gather up some choice men from my division, how soon can you be here?"
"Within a few days"
"Good, see you there"
There was another crackle of static, this time signifying the radio channel entering its perpetual silence once more.
