Crossing Borders

“What?” Seth Eclipse managed to say, after considerable pause. “What?!”

“Seth, I didn’t–” Damon began.

“You are sending me back to the place I’ve been trying to forget for the past five years?!”

“You are the only wo–”

“You truly thought I would willingly walk right up to the land of the ponies, ask to see their leader, hope they don’t kill me, be haunted by the bloody fact that I killed hundreds, maybe thousands of them, and still ask them if they want to be friends?!”

“Seth–”

“I nearly died there, remember! How do you think I will react to the first sight of a pony? For all I know, my instincts might just tell me to sink my teeth into its neck!” By this time, Seth was yelling like a madwolf. “And you thought I would blindly accept this? Why in wolven hell did you think I would go?” This time, Seth let Damon speak.

“Seth, I’m sorry. I know this was probably the last thing you wanted to hear today, but truly, I have given this premise of international peace much thought, even before the letter. I need to tell you a story. After the war, each leader of the Wolven Empire was given a book, passed down, ruler to ruler, president to president. It contained the history of the war and all before it. After the war, the remembrance of ponies or their nation died out with the miniscule population. The book held that memory, so if the Equestrians ever did make contact, we would have guidance. Seth, you and your brother are the only two wolves who know the ponies, let alone have been on their land.

“I thought the empire would have more time before anyone had to make a decision, but just in the slightest chance, I read the book. When I heard that two surviving members of the Wolfpack were found, I looked up your records. Seth, I know your battles, your strategies, your… losses. The book also mentioned your deep hatred for the war, and the cost of the lives, not just for the wolves, but the ponies as well. The war left a scar on your conscience; I hoped establishing peace would put a mend to that scar. If you want to walk out on this, I wouldn’t think anything of it.”

Surprising to both wolves, Seth was actually considering accepting the president's proposal.

Inside the wolf in question’s mind, Seth was listening to every voice that yelled at him.
‘Say no you idiot!’ one voice screamed.

‘This could be exactly what you need.’

‘What friend sends you back to a place where you once killed ponies?’

‘If he knows my past, why didn’t he send my brother?’

‘Exactly how am I going to contact the—Hold it! Why didn’t he contact my brother?!’

With that thought, all the rest fell silent.

“Why didn’t you contact my brother for this mission?” Seth questioned, feeling slightly idiotic for missing such a detail for so long.

“I did,” Damon began, a look of sorrow on his face. “He told me to send you. Dawn knew the war troubled you more than it ever did him. I argued against it, but he always made the point that if we were to restore peace between the two nations, it had to be you, for you were mortally wounded by a pony. You must forgive them, as they must forgive you of your deeds. You have already forgiven them, now, you must ask for their forgiveness.”

After several seconds, Seth finally spoke. “I'll go.”

“Thank you, Seth.”

“What’s the plan to get me into the nation?” Seth asked, wanting to know every detail.

“You will leave at 07:00 on a Chinook for some plains outside the mountain range of their capital known as Canterlot. From the plains, you will follow the railroad tracks until you reach the city. You then will infiltrate the castle without detection by any civilians. Once you enter the castle, you should be fine. The Princess is expecting you. This mission is highly top secret, so until told otherwise, this is a stealth op. I will be in contact with you via a radio that will be sent with you. Any questions?”

None were asked.

“Good, I'll see you at the Wolfpack Air Force base tomorrow morning. By then, I will have a few parting gifts already stocked for the trip. The rest of the day is yours. Enjoy your last day in the walls of the empire. It will be a while before you get back.”

“Thank you, Damon. If you don’t mind me asking, I would like one last request.”

“Anything,” Damon replied.

“I would like my brother to fly me out to Equestria tomorrow.”

“Done.”

The rest of the day consisted of office cleaning, box packing, trips to a storage unit, and stuffing assorted items into three military duffle bags. Some items included a few military vests, his official officer's suit, assorted snacks, a knife he was given a year into the war after one of his men was lost to an ambush, and a Barrett M107 Dawn gave him two years back for recreation. The necessities of the trip (tent, food, supplies, etc.) were going to be supplied by the military in a pallet-style care package.

For the remainder of the day, Seth walked to the outskirts of the capital and continued into the tundra forests. Before the war, after training sessions he used to walk out in the woods to clear his mind on a frustrating day. Today, Seth just wanted to say his farewells to his land. He found a small cliff edge near the heart of the forest and lied down as he collected his thoughts.

‘Well, forget the simple day. By tomorrow, I’ll be off in a nation that I never thought I would see again. And to top it all off, for the first time in my life, I’ll be the lone wolf.’

For hours, Seth sat on the edge of the cliff, wondering what the next step was. Finally, as his watch chimed that it was 7:00 pm, Seth began his last trek back to the empire.

6:30 am

Seth was checking his bags for the third time that day, making sure he was ready for his new life. He was presently in an officer’s barracks at the Wolfpack Air Force base, where he spent the night due to the fact that he already locked down his house. The C.O. of the base was rather kind about the subject, and gratefully gave the veteran a place to stay. He had already made a run for the mess hall, wanting to use as much time as possible for preparation. As Seth was securing his bags once more, a knock came from the door.

“Yes?” Seth called out. The door opened to reveal his brother, a slight smile on his face.

“The tower’s calling for us down there, you ready?” Dawn asked, spying the three duffels. “Obviously you are,” he joked.

“Har har har,” Seth sarcastically laughed. “You ready to fly to the land of magic ponies?” he retorted.

“About as much as you are ready to go to the peace talks with their leader.”

“That little then,” the two laughed together, as brothers do.

“Well, we best be off. You don’t want to be late for your date,” Dawn called out as he left the room with one of Seth’s bags.

At the field of the base, a Chinook was waiting for the two wolves, being loaded with a pallet of what looked like everything a castaway dreams of. Also waiting for the brothers was none other than the president. As the two approached the helicopter, the wolf gestured for them to come over to him.

“Hello boys, nice to see you two up this early and still perky. You two ready for the flight?”

“Yes sir,” the brothers said in a casual unison.

“Well, I hope you do well out there Seth. And Dawn, get him there in one peace and unseen.”

“And how am I supposed to do that, you gave me the biggest copter built,” Dawn joked.

“I don’t know, fly casually. You’re the pilot.” A small snicker could be heard from Seth at the remark. “Well, so long you two. I hope to be seeing you back soon, Seth.”

“Goodbye, Damon.” Seth called as he entered the Chinook.

“I’ll try not to break this one this time,” Dawn joked as he too entered the helicopter.

Dawn walked straight for the cockpit, while Seth finished securing the supplies and closing the ramp. After finishing the final checks of the interior, Seth joined his brother. As he locked himself into the copilot's chair, he donned the headset previously resting on the control panel. Dawn had also finished his pre-flight checklist, and was about to contact the tower.

“W.P.A.F.B. tower, this is Wishbone Page oh niner niner on pad two, pre-flight check complete. Requesting permission for take-off,” Dawn called out.

“Uh, roger Wishbone Page oh niner niner, permission granted. Have a good day, and good luck to you.”

“Copy that. Thank you tower, we are taking off,” Dawn said signing off.

Soon after breaking contact, Seth felt the massive helicopter lerch off the landing pad towards the skies above. It hadn’t been the first time Seth had flown, although it was the first he was in the cockpit. To be honest, he didn’t know what half the buttons did anyway. For the first half hour, Seth just stared out the window, looking over the peaceful lands as they came and left, while Dawn, who was used to the sights, pulled out a map and was plotting the course for the mission.

After about yet another half an hour, Dawn finally spoke up.

“Wanna know the plan?”

“I thought I made the plans, remember?” Seth gibed.

“Yeah, but the last one nearly got you killed, remember that?” he retorted.

Not wanting to remember that day, Seth changed the subject back to it’s origin.

“Ok, let’s hear it”

“In about another hour, we will be over the coast of Equestria. At that point, we will gain altitude into the cloud line. We just need to stay out of visual sight. To our knowledge, they don't have radar. After the better part of an hour, we will be over the drop point. If the coast is clear, we will land, if not you will make a jump.”

“Ok then, lets hope for a cloudy day and a ghost town landing site,” Seth replied, not wishing to be forced out of a helicopter at such heights. Being in research, he was never forced to do any paratrooper training, plus, an average fear of heights made him feel somewhat uneasy. Though to be honest, it wasn’t the height that worried him; it was the sudden and violent stop that comes with hitting the ground at high velocities should something go wrong.

After another few minutes in silence, Seth was preparing himself to ask the question he needed to say all this time. And that time was now.

“Dawn?” Seth asked.

“What’s up?” Dawn answered through the headset.

“Why did you recomend me?”

“What?” This took the wolf by surprise, not seeing his brother even knowing of the fact.

“You recommended me for negotiations instead of yourself, why? Damon told me you said the war affected me more than you, which might be true, but I still have nightmares of that place.”

“I do too, of losing you. I relive that night when you were hit. Every time it feels as real as it did then.”

“Then why send me off to that same place?” Seth asked, getting more and more confused.

“I… I’m not strong.”

“What?” Seth asked, even more confused.

“I’m not strong. It was the day of our last mission.”

“Dawn, you know that wasn’t–”

“We were at the the town hall,” Dawn continued, obviously ignoring Seth’s attempt to stop what he started. “We had just secured the building when I saw you stabbed. The pony who hit you was just backing away. I… I lost myself. I charged in, not caring how gruesome its death was, how bloody it was. I almost lost you to… them. I never got over it, to this day. I will not negotiate peace with the creatures that nearly took my only brother and family away from me.”

Silence filled the cabin. After several minutes, Seth spoke up.

“I… didn’t know. I’m sorry, I had to bring it up.”

“Don’t be,” Dawn said, in a surprisingly light tone. “You needed to know eventually, why I never talked about the war often.”

“And you are fine sending me in to be the diplomat?”

“Yes. It needs to be done. You are the wisest wolf I know. Thats why you hated the war the most. Thats why you need to lead us to peace.”

“Thank you,” Seth acknowledged, finally somewhat reassured.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Due to the fact they had to fly to such heights to be undetected, both wolves had little chance to get a view of the new land. Seth was mostly checking what supplies he was given, while Dawn was grabbing some much needed rest while the auto-pilot took over the flight. Five minutes before they reached the LZ, Seth kicked Dawn in the arm to wake him up.

“Five more minutes… just let me sleep…” Dawn said drowsily.

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll throw you out of this tin can in five minutes,” Seth threatened.

“Fine, fine. I’ll get up,” Dawn muttered as he began checking the navigation panel. “You ready back there?”

“All set back here. Are we landing, or am I just dropping in?” Seth joked, hoping his statement wouldn’t be literal.

“I can't tell from here. Why don’t you pop the hatch and see what you can.”

“Will do,” Seth called, before securing himself to the base of the hull with a cable. After doing so, he pulled the opening lever to the back ramp and began his recon. From the ramp, Seth could, with slight difficulty from the cloud cover, see most of the fields below. From this view, you couldn’t see any war damage from back when he was last here. Although, Seth could spy a group of farmers, working on their harvest for the year.

“Well…” Seth muttered under his breath.

“Well what?” Dawn replied, surprising his brother, not knowing he was still wearing the headset.

“We got farmers about five, six miles from the LZ.”

“Well then, our goodbye will have to be cut short. You better strap up for a jump.”

“Yeah… I know,” Seth sighed, not wanting to think about the jump.

After some time of getting the tight paratrooper vest onto his brother, Dawn, who had once again activated the auto-pilot, began the crash course of parachuting.

“Basically, you will take a running jump out of the back of the helicopter. Normally, after ten seconds, you would pull your shoot, but since this is a stealth mission, you won't deploy until you are about 30 meters from ground level. Because you are new at this, the parachute will self deploy. All you have to do is cause enough drag on the way down. Basically, look like a snow angel in the sky.” This remark earned Dawn a slight chuckle. “Got it? Good. You’re all set for the jump, just run when ready.”

“Goodbye, Dawn.”

“Goodbye, Seth. It’s been one hell of a life with you.”

“Same goes for you.”

“Good luck.”

And with that, Seth made the dash for the sky.

Author's Note

The next chapter is on it's way! Hope you enjoy.