Four ponies were staying over at friends house, there was a blue alicorn named Dawn Blast, a red pegasus named Dusk Blast, a light bluish unicorn named Sugar Heart and an orange pegasus named Gearshift. Gearshift was about to unveil her newest creation to her friends, as her specialty was inventing new technology. She motioned to a machine, shrouded by a cloth with a pile of comics next to it. The other three ponies looked upto her as she cleared her throat.
“Now, I present to you, the super comic reader!”
And then, with a pull of the sheet, she reveals her newest invention, which a appears to be a simple slide projector, as Sugar Heart raises a hoof to point out.
“Uh, Shifty? Thats just a slide projector.”
Gearshift shakes her head, looking back to Sugar Heart.
“Maybe to the untrained eye, but with it’s state of the art thermonuclear reactor, it can project comics with unparalleled detail for a one in a lifetime experience!”
Dusk speaks up, a bit put off by Gearshifts device.
“You put a nuclear reactor in that thing? Are you crazy!”
Gearshift rolls her eyes to Dusk.
“The chances of anything going wrong are minimal.”
Sugar speaks up impatiently.
“So can we read comics already?”
Gearshift nods, Dusk quietens down her concern as Gearshift continues.
“I brought some comics from my personal collection.“
As Gearshift places a comic on the machine, switching it on, the machine projects a dark void on the wall. The void begins to spiral, sucking in everything not bolted down to the floor with the four ponies hanging on for dear life. The first to go is Dusk, who tries to fly away only to be sucked into the void.
After a few moments of darkness, Dusk is thrown into some kind of pile. After regaining her surroundings, she recognizes that she’s in a pile of garbage, her friends are no where to be found as she climbs out, she appeared to be in some kind of back ally. She mutters something under her breath, cleaning off her face with her hooves.
“Damnit Gearshift....”
She stepped out of the alleyway to see where she was, she seemed to be in some kind of big city, however it wasn’t one she recognized. She reached for a news paper out of a trashcan, it seemed to indicate she was in a place called Bucklyn Neigh York, even stranger, the date was 1943? That couldn’t be right, that was at least 70 years ago. Upon further reading, it seemed that she was in a country called Amareica, which was at war with Germaneigh and Neighpon. Wandering around town, she bumps into a group of three colts. Each looking to her disgruntledly.
“Watch where you’re going you stupid mare.”
Dusk eyerolls at the insult.
“Yesh, whatever.”
The colt steps up to Dusk, looking her in the eye.
“Yous gettin smart with me? Cause I don’t do smart.”
Dusk deadpans to the group, mildly annoyed.
“Clearly you don’t...”
The two other colts then quickly grab Dusks hooves, holding her down as the other kicks Dusks rib cage.
“You think yous gonna be funny with me? Yous got another thing coming!”
While Dusk tried to mask the pain, she couldn’t hide that the colts kicks hurt. However she heard another colts voice yell out.
“Get away from her you punks!”
She could see a farmilar brown earth pony past one of the colts holding her down. The other two colts let her go to go deal with the other Colt, however after her beating she lacked the energy to get up. The brown earth colt looks to the three other colts as one of them speaks up to him.
“Look yous didn’t see nothing okay, so why don’t you just keeps on walkin for you end up on the ground like this idiot.”
The brown colt looks over them, visually not impressed.
“Big talk from someone who beat up a unarmed mare three to one.”
One of the colts reaches for a pistol, however the brown colt grabs the other colt, forcing the weapon out of the colts wrist, effectively disarming him before pinning him on the ground.
“Just get out of my sight, now.”
The three colt then promptly scram, Dusk looked up as her savior approached her, falling unconcious from her beating before she was able to say anything.
When she awoke, Dusk found that she was on a couch, her ribs had been bandaged up and the brown earth colt wasn’t far, waving to the waking Dusk. As she awoke, she realized why he seemed farmilar, it was Buckshot, a friend of hers. She spoke up, somewhat surprised.
“Buckshot? What’re you doing here?”
Buckshot smirks to Dusk, amused by her.
“Well for starters I live here, this is my appartment. You’re here because you probably went picking a fight with some jerks again.”
Dusk sighs to Buckshot.
“Hey, they started it, they attacked me. Besides I could have taken them, they just got a lucky shot in on me.”
Buckshot continues, speaking back up.
“Anyways, keep in mind that soon I’m not gonna be here to finish your fights. I’m shipping out soon to go fight the war.”
Dusk blinked, confused by this.
“What? I need your help getting us home.”
Buckshot bursts into laughter.
“What? Did they kick you so hard you forgot where you live? Anyways I am home, your place isn’t far.”
Dusk pauses, Buckshot seemed to be acting as though he lived here which was strange, considering that they were nowhere near home. She decided to hold off on any further mentions of ‘home’ until she knew what was wrong with him.
“Anyways I’m going overseas for the war in a few days, so I thought we could spend a day together before I leave. You know, to remember and whatnot.”
Dusk head shakes.
“No, I’ll go with you, someones got to keep you alive.”
Buckshot looks down to Dusk.
“I’m not the one bandaged up right now am I? Besides in your condition you’d never pass for enlistment. Lets just spend the rest of the day enjoying the time we’ve got alright?”
Dusk sighed, she could tell Buckshot was going and there was nothing she could do about it. Hopefully if she at least spent the day with him she might learn some specifics about where to find him. The two spent the rest of the day at Buckshots apartment. Enjoying their day together while they had one together.
A couple weeks later, Dusk was waiting in line for general enlistment, she had really hoped to have been home back in Epona by now. However, she couldn’t focus on going home while she knew Buckshot was off fighting some god forsaken war. She still hadn’t figured much out about how she’d gotten there or how she was going to get home. She’d learned at the least that she seemed to have an ID and Amareican citizenship. Which was odd since she had never lived or been there before. Her thoughts however were interrupted as her name was called out, stepping up as the military recruiter looks her over. He looked over her forums, about to stamp her with unfit for service. Dusk mentally cursed, she’d been trying to get enlisted since Buckshot left but no recruiter would take her.
“Look, I need to get overseas, can’t you just let me join? I’ve got a friend fighting and I need to make sure he lives to come home.”
The colt looks down at Dusk, finishing the stamp before speaking to her.
“Best thing I can do for him is make sure he’s got a friend to come home to, next.”
Dusk walks away, rejected. However another colt stops her. He seemed to have some kind of white coat on, he adjusted a pair of glasses as he speaks to her.
“May we speak in my office?”
Dusk blinks, surprised that someone wanted to speak to her privately after being turned away by the recruiter. Nonetheless she followed him into his office, he sat behind his desk, looking at her.
“So, you say you wish to join the army to help your friend no?”
Dusk nods.
“Yeah, I need to make sure he lives to come home with me.”
The colt continues.
“You realize there’s the very real possibility that you may witness him being horrifically killed, or he may witness the same from you.”
Dusk nods, somberly.
“Yes... But if I don’t go, and he doesn’t come back, I’m gonna spend the rest of my life wondering if I could of made a difference, if I could have got him through this thing to see home again...”
The colt clasps his hooves together.
“I may... be able to pull some strings on the condition that you assist me with an experiment. I get you into the army and assigned to his unit, you be my lab-rat first. Seems fair no?”
The colt presses some paperwork towards Dusk over his Dusk.
“I’m afraid I cannot disclose what I’m going to do to you until you’ve agreed, however I can say that it would be in your interests to accept.”
Dusk sighs, signing the document.
“As if I have a choice...”
The doctor nods.
“Excellent, while I prepare the experiment, you will report for two weeks of basic, you’ll be briefed shortly before the experiment. You will understand then.”
Dusk shrugged to the doctor.
“Fine, I’ll deal with not knowing what you’re going to do to me for now.”
Dusk got up, leaving his office.
A couple weeks later, Dusk rode in the backseat of a car, next to her was a mare in officers uniform. In front was a driver and in the passengers side was the doctor. The mare officer spoke up to Dusk.
“As your military handler, I hope you understand that you will be under my command.”
Dusk nodded to her, speaking back up.
“So... Is this gonna hurt or what?”
The doctor then answers Dusk.
“We will be injecting you with the first batch of the super soldier serum. You’ll probably have to tell whoever the next batch of recruits are if it hurts. Assuming it goes as predicted and there are no complications”
Dusk gulped slightly at the possibility of ‘complications’, deciding not to ask any more questions, the mare sitting next to her reassures her by patting her on the shoulder.
“The possibility of critical failure is fairly low for an untested formula...”
Dusk sighs at this.
“Very reassuring.... I’m just going to be quiet until you guys poke the needle into me.”
Eventually the car stops, parking outside a seemingly indiscreet antique shop. Dusk looks up, somewhat confused.
“Are you guys sure this is the right place?”
The officer mare nods silently, pulling Dusk outside and into the shop. The group is greeted by a elderly mare who waves pleasantly, speaking up from behind the counter.
“Can I get you young fellows anything?”
The doctor speaks up in response.
“I would like to see the old bookshelf please.”
The elderly mare nods, placing her hoof under the counter for a minute before slowly walking over to a large bookshelf that practically takes up the entire back wall. She pulls down a book, at which point the bookshelf begins to move, opening backwards like a pair of doors. Behind the bookshelf is a hallway filled with military uniformed armed guards. The group heads inside, the elderly shopkeeper waving as the doors close behind them. Once they got to the end of the hallway, there was an open pony sized capsule in the middle of the room, surrounded by computers, armed guards and lab-coat wearing scientists. The doctor looks to Dusk, motioning her over to the capsule.
“Alright, it’s time for the procedure... Just get into the capsule and we’ll do the rest.”
Dusk reluctantly steps over to the capsule, hesitating for a moment before climbing in and laying down on her back. The capsule slowly closed around her, sealing before rotating upright. She felt several slight pricks as needles poked into her, then a severe pain as they began the super soldier injection. She screamed out in pain, causing the officer mare to shout.
“Kill the experiment!”
As one of the scientists reaches for the shut off lever. Dusk gives a pained yell back at her.
“NOOO! I CAN DO THIS! I HAVE TO!”
Dusk, enduring the pain manages to last until the injection finished, the capsule opened up, causing Dusk to stumble out. The doctor quickly steps over to Dusks side.
“Quick, can you stand?”
Dusk nods, regaining her balance as she replies.
“Yeah. That just took it out of me is all.”
The officer smiles.
“Alright... Lets get her uniformed up for the papers! I want her on the front page of every paper.”
A couple of army guards wheel in a box. The officer places a hoof on top.
“This will be your uniform.”
She opens the box, revealing an outfit with a blue base and red and white striped waist, red gloves and boots, complete with a white, capital A on the forehead of the mask.
“Well what do you think.”
Dusk shakes her head.
“I thought you people wanted a soldier? Not a poster boy. Couldn’t I have just gotten something I don’t know, armored or camouflaged?”
The officer gives a slight laugh.
“With your new physical conditioning you won’t need ether and this outfit will easily put the fear of Amareica into your and our enemies! Now go ahead an put it on.”
Dusk sighed, putting on the outfit. Once she had managed to get the uniform on she stretched, breaking the thing in slightly.
“You know, it’s not that bad once you get into it.”
However before Dusk could say anything else, a gunshot rang out through the room. She quickly whipped her head around to see that the doctor had been shot and a colt had made a dash to get out of the room. She quickly ran over to the doctors side. Despite his bleeding wound he points to the escaping spy and tells Dusk.
“Don’t worry about me, It just grazed me a little so go catch that spy!”
Dusk nods, giving chase. The super soldier formula had given her stamina a significant boost so she was able to easily chase him out through the store entrance. Watching as he commandeered a car for his escape. She spread her wings and gave chase, pursuing him overhead and jumping on top of his vehicle. The spy fires a few gunshots through the roof of the car before Dusk swings around to kick him through the drivers side window. However as the spy makes a hard right turn the car flips through the street eventually coming to a stop upside down. Dusk climbed out of the wreckage, mostly unharmed. The spy was not in as good of shape though as he drags himself out of the wreckage. Dusk walks over to him and rolls him over, asking him
“Who do you work for?”
The spy laughs.
“Foolish Amareican, Ze’ Reichdale prepares for every possibility, even death to avoid capture! Hail Hydra!”
At that point, the spy bites down hard, eventually foaming at the mouth. It seems he’d used a tooth based cyanide capsule. As Dusk looked up, she noticed that a crowd had gathered near the street, cheering loudly at her victory. The crowd parts slightly as an army jeep pulls up to her, with a couple of soldiers and an officer from the experiment getting out..
“Well done soldier, I’m sure we can find a place for you in the war.”
Dusk looks to the officer, asking him something.
“Is the doc gonna be alright?”
The officer shakes his head.
“I’m afraid his injuries are worse then he thought... Or maybe he knew and wanted us to do the right thing and make sure nothing made it back to the enemy. Anyways what matters is the best way to honor him is to send you out to fight the enemy on their turf.”
With this said, Dusk bites down on her lip, it seemed she was going to war where she would be able to find Buckshot...
Author's Note
I realize it's a bit short, but it just seemed like a good place to stop. Besides the story will be continued in issue #2 Characters Dawn Blast and Gearshift belong to http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Cosmic+Mind and he approved their use.