Through the portal

Through the portal

Chapter 3

Technology

and purple eyes

I gazed in awe at the two Batponies. A mare and a stallion hovered only a few feet of the ground, both of them wearing the dark armor of the night guard. The mare threw a disgusted glance over her shoulder to look at Frank, who grabbed on her mane, before she threw him off of her back. They didn't even wait a single second afterwards before they flew off, leaving Frank and myself alone in the garage/hangar.

“That was.... something different.”, I sighed, while getting back to my feet.

“No kidding! Just how many different types of these Ponies are there?”, Frank huffed, while doing the same. Just before he had raised himself up completely, however, he noticed something that lay on the ground next to him.

“What's this?”, he murmured to himself and picked it up.

I walked over to him, curious as to what it might be that had caught his eye. Usually Frank would forget himself when he had the opportunity to use some high-tech. It sometimes even went to the point where I would have to hit him, just so he came along instead of waiting for the enemy while he examined some fascinating piece of hardware. What I saw, made my jaw drop. Frank held something that looked like the folded wing of a Pegasus, but it was a little bigger then those. Also were it's feathers indigo in color. I immediately to whom that wing belonged.

“What the hell....?”, I stuttered, when I noticed the clip that was used to attach the fake wing.

“Looks like some kind of prosthetic. Look, it can even be extended.”, he said in awe, as he extended it.

“Guess the Princesses did get their fair share of fighting so far....”, I sighed, looking back up at the now lifeless DX-39.

“Well... I'll better bring that back to her, and then see to Jane, before she snaps again. I want you to analyze these things. It would be a great advantage if we knew their weakness, and even better if we could use them.”, I ordered Frank, and he nodded.

“I don't know about using them Selina. It might very well be, that they have some kind of remote shutdown build in, if not a straight out remote control.”, Frank warned.

“I doubt the latter. Remember? You were able to move this one just fine, even so the pilot was dead. If they had a remote, I doubt they would have let the Ponies take it.”, I responded, making my way out of the hangar, while Frank was already hard at work. I knew however, that he was enjoying himself more then anything at that moment.

A few minutes later, I found myself utterly lost in the vast corridors of the bunker. They all looked the same to me, but soon my somepony came to my rescue. Just as I was about to turn another corner, I heard someone clear their throat right behind me. I had just came that way and there were no side corridors, so I was startled to say the least. Turning around I found Twilight Sparkle standing there, looking at me approvingly.

“Need help?”, she giggled.

“Well... yes. Can you show me how I can get to the Princesses? Frank found something that belongs to Princess Luna, and I'd like to give it back.”

“Sure, follow me.”, she said and trotted back the way I came from.

For a few moments a heavy silence filled the air between us. It was a feeling that I hated even more, when I considered that this was my favorite Pony.

“So you are kind of a fan of me, huh?”, Twilight finally broke the silence, without looking back at me.

“Yeah.... My comrades may laugh at me for it, but I really like the show.”

“I hope you realize by now that this is reality and not some TV show, made to sell toys that look like us to children. There may be similarities between us and the characters you know, but we are real, and they are not.”

“I understand Princess Twilight.”, I said jokingly. She stopped and turned around, a shocked look on her face, as if I had just used some kind of a swearword.

“Don't call me that! I'm Twilight Sparkle. Celestia made me an Alicorn without asking how I feel about the whole thing. I don't want that title in any way.”, Twilight reprimanded, and I shrank back a little. If looks were able to kill, I would have died then and there.

“OK, OK.... No need to give me the death-stare. I just wanted to break the ice there....”, I said, raising my hands in reflex. She seemed to relax at seeing that I didn't mean to offend her.

“OK, as long as you understand that I would have much rather kept my life nice and simple. The life as a librarian was a good one, but that of a Princess.... I just don't know.”, she continued trotting ahead.

“Well, I guess you do have many more responsibilities, now that you are an Alicorn. But can't Spike....”, I immediately knew I had hit a nerve, because she stopped once again and let her head hang.

“.... Spike.... he didn't make it here.”, she pressed out between grit teeth. Her anger and her sadness were more then obvious.

I closed the distance between us with a quick step and embraced her neck. At first it felt as if she wanted to pull away from me again, but that soon subsided. I had lost my brother fairly recently, so I knew how the lavender Alicorn in my arms must have felt at that moment.

“Pony-ville.... was one of the first settlements to fall.... Spike tried... He tried to fight them with his fire... but it wasn't enough....”, she cried into my shoulder, while I stroke her mane.  From how intense her sobbing got, I could tell that she had been keeping it all in, just like I was trying to put Michaels death aside, so I could make sure it was not in vain. But even so I was confident that I had made the right choice, I was wondering more and more if our presence here would really make a difference. After a short while, that felt like an eternity, we separated, and Twilight wiped her eyes with one of her wings.

“You must really think that I am pathetic.”, she mumbled, while trying to hide her face under her wing.

“No I don't. I understand you better then you might think. Yes you are a different Pony from what I have seen on the show, but I also know that you have lost someone close to you. And from the looks of it he was not the only one. You feel helpless and useless. You feel as if you should have been able to do something to save all of them, since you are an Alicorn now.... I have been there Twilight. If you try to bottle it up, you will only destroy yourself.”, I advised her, while kneeling to meet her eye-level.

“So what should I do? They are all gone.... My parents, Shining Armor.... Spike....”, she began sobbing again.

“I know you Ponies are usually peaceful lot, but I can only give you an advice one of my superiors once gave me, when I had lost a friend on a mission. He told me to turn all that sadness and self doubt into righteous fury, and to direct it against those who stand in my way. It may sound barbaric to you Twilight, but it has helped me get over it and make my enemies pay. You can't save them anymore, so all you can do now is revenge them. Throw everything you have at the enemy, and make them pay for what they did to your friends, your family and yourself. If this were peaceful times I would not recommend it, but during a war, this is the only way you can get over it eventually. Just don't let your rage consume you, because that is equally as bad.”

“But what if....”, she stuttered, unable to complete the sentence.

“If you fail? If you fall victim to the same corruption as Luna? If more Ponies die? Don't worry. Jane, Frank and I are here now. We will help you in any way we can, and if you would really get consumed by your rage, then I'll be there to knock some sense back into you. Would that be OK?”, I asked, half joking. To my surprise she began smiling and nodded.

“Yeah.... Selina... You really are good friend.”, she added, and we began walking side by side. Her last statement had left me speechless. She knew me for less then twenty-four hours, and called her friend, a good one at that. She didn't judge me or my ways. All Twilight did, was accept that we were different, but that we could still be friends. Maybe she was not so different from the Pony on the show after all.

Shortly after, we arrived at the door to the Princesses quarters. Twilight hesitated to go inside, and I noticed that she looked nervous. Thinking back to what she had said earlier, I could understand her predicament. Celestia had transformed her very being, without her consent. There was sure to be some bad blood between the two.

“You know, I can do this on my own. Besides, I am sure that Frank could need your help analyzing these machines. Since they seem to run on magic, I think he would appreciate your expertise.”, I said, trying to give her an excuse not to come inside with me.

“I guess your right.... I will sent Applejack to come pick you up when your done here. Since you don't know your way around the bunker yet, I thinks better if somepony stays by your side.”, she confirmed. I knelt down again, to look her in the eye. I knew exactly why she was going to send over Applejack, and it had nothing to do with me getting lost.

“Twilight, don't lie to me. I am not mad that you guys want to keep an eye on us, especially since we obviously are in some kind of top secret military installation. My kind has done some things to make you distrust us. It's only natural that you need some time to come to trust me and my team. No hard feelings.”, I assured her in a soft tone.

She blushed a little, obviously uncomfortable that I had seen through it so easily. But then, on the other hand, I would have done the same if I had been in her place.

“Well.... If you knew... then why didn't you say something beforehoof?”, she asked.

“I would do the same, simple as that. So now be on your way, I will have to go see Jane after this. She'll need her medication.” I smiled what I hoped to be a warm smile. Twilight nodded and began to trot away as soon as I had knocked on the door. It didn't take long until I was asked to come inside. From the voice it was definitely Princess Luna. The two of them sat exactly where they had been sitting the last time I was here. I began to wonder if this was their usual way to act when someone or somepony entered. Luna showed me her right side, just like last time. This time however, I noticed that she was moving her right wing ever so slightly. I have never been someone to beat around the bush, and so I didn't do so now either.

“Your highness, Princess Luna, I think you have lost something.”, I said, placing the prosthetic Frank had found on the floor in front of her. Both of them looked at it in shock.

“So you know?”, Celestia finally asked.

“I guess I know a bit. From what I can guess, Princess Luna got injured and lost her left wing. The question however is, if you have been injured as well, Princess Celestia.”, I deducted, watching her face distort into a grimace. The two immortal siblings looked at each other, then nodded. Again I felt as if I had missed an entire conversation, which started to piss me off. After a moment of silence, both of them stood up. Just then I could really realize how big the both them were. Twilight only reached up to my hip, as did the other Ponies I had encountered so far. These two however, could meet me at eye level with no problem. In fact, I even had to look up slightly as they stood before me.

“You have guessed right. We were both hurt during the defense of Canterlot. Luna lost one of her wings, and got taken away by officers of the royal guard in an instant. I myself however....”, Celestia explained, looking downwards. It was then, that I saw that her horn was aglow. The light golden shimmer that surrounded it, was also seen around both of her front legs and both of her wings.

“These limbs are fake. We can only use move them if we use our magic to do so. That's why we usually sit in front of everypony that enters the room. That way Luna can hide her left wing, which you can easily spot for what it is if you give a closer inspection, and I can hide my crippled body from our subjects. Please keep that knowledge to yourself. It would only cause a disturbance if it became known that these invaders almost killed the both of us.”, Celestia said in a regal, yet firm tone of voice.

“I don't know. I think it's bad to keep your troops in the dark... I mean.... they will find out eventually. For now, I will keep your secret, but you can't run away from it forever. This is a war. The time might come pretty soon, when your Ponies ask you to defend them, and then what?”, I said sharply.

“They will never know. This installation is deep within Mount Unicornia. The possibility that we are attacked here is very low.”, Luna added, looking uncomfortable.

“Low, but not non-existent, am I right? If your soldiers go into a battle, they should know all the details.”, I argued.

“It was your people who taught us the concept of a “need-to-know” basis. I think it is best they don't know, and they don't need to know until the time comes.”, Celestia said sternly. She obviously didn't trust me farther then she could throw me without magic.

Luna looked as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't get herself to speak with her big sister present. Apparently the younger Alicorn did not agree with her sister on this, but was too afraid to say so. I didn't think it was out of fear of her sisters reaction, or that she could be banished to the moon once more, but more out of consideration for Celestias feelings on the matter. I decided that there was no use arguing about any longer, so I moved on to the next topic on my agenda.

“So Princess.... Did you know that these machines use magical talented Ponies as batteries?”, I asked bluntly, wanting to see her reaction.

“I did not. We assumed they were using some kind of more advanced generators, then what your people have provided us with.”, she said, refusing to meet my eye. She did know, and we both knew it.

“I must thank you that you freed my niece. No hard feelings for happened.”, Luna said, looking me directly in the eye. I could tell she meant me slapping her, and didn't want to bring that up around Celestia.

“Sure, anytime.”, I waved it off.

“So, can you save the other Ponies that may still be trapped inside those wrecks?”, Celestia asked, oblivious to what Luna had just said.

“I don't know. I will have to ask Frank, just give me a moment.”, I answered as I pressed my  right index finger against the ear-piece of my radio.

“Hey Frank, Selina here.”

“What is it Selina?”

“Any news on other Ponies trapped inside of the other DX?”

“There should be others inside, but the one I activated earlier was the one that had taken the least damage. The chests of the others are practically crushed in. I don't think there are any survivors, and even if there were, we would have no way of getting them out. At least without.... HEY GET OFFF ME!”, I heard Frank swear.

“Hey Frank what's wrong?”, I asked, fearing that there might have been a surviving Pilot, but then I heard two other voices out of the radio, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

“Who are you talking to? Lemme see!”

“Rainbow Dash! Get off of him! He can't do his work, with you sitting on his head!”, I heard Twilight scold her friend.

“Argh... Off with you! OK well Selina... As I was saying... Selina? Why the heck are you laughing?”, Frank asked indigently. I couldn't help myself, but had broken out in full out laughter, with my finger still on the radio, when I imagined Rainbow Dash sitting on Franks head. The Princesses in turn, looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

“Sorry Frank. So you were saying?”

“Well....”, he cleared his throat, and I could only imagine that he was blushing hard. “As I said, there would be no way for us to get them out, unless you wanted them in pieces. Even if they are still alive, there is just no way to release them, so we would have to blast the entire chest of these things open. I surely don't have to tell you what kind of injuries that would cause.”

“Nope, you don't have too. Thanks Frank keep up the good. Oh and Frank?”

“Yes, Selina?”

“You do NOT have permission to use your sidearm, am I making myself clear?”

“But... Aww alright. I won't shoot her.... Not even a warning shot?”

“Not even a warning shot.”

“Frank out.”

He was obviously not to happy how Rainbow Dash had just treated him, so I just wanted to make sure that he didn't get any funny ideas. Not being as murderous as Jane when she didn't get her medicine, Frank was still prone to violence if someone annoyed him too much. It was one of the reasons he was still stuck with the rank of Lieutenant, even so he was in the army for longer then any of us combined....

“So?”, Celestia inquired.

“Frank does not see any chance of getting possible survivors out of there. We do have a small amount of explosives with us, but using those would ultimately kill or cripple the Ponies we try to save.”, I explained, turning around to them again.

“Then I think we have nothing more to discuss right now. Please keep up your good work, and don't make me regret taking you in.”, Celestia threatened. I didn't hold it against her. As I had told Twilight earlier, there was bound to be mistrust against humans.

“In fact, I do have another question your highness.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”, she asked, eyebrows raised.

“Do you have any video material of these machines? It would really help us to asses just what we are up against. I mean.... they are obviously quite strong and must have amazing defensive capabilities if they were able to injure the both of you, but it would help up a great deal.”

Again the two sisters did their “telepathic” thing, and I could only barely contain my anger at being left out yet again. Even more so since I was sure that I was the subject of the conversation....

“I will escort you to our control room. There you can watch our only recording of these things at work. It was Twilight Sparkle who secured it. It's footage of the attack on Pony-ville.”, Luna said, taking a step into my direction.

“I don't think so. I will have to be somewhere else before I can watch it. Jane needs her medication, or she will loose it again, so could we make a stop there first?”, I asked firmly.

“I don't see why not. In fact I am quite curious to meet this “Jane”.”, the indigo Alicorn said, stepping out of the door and beckoning me to follow.

Outside Applejack was already waiting for me, but the Princess assured her that she would not be needed for the rest of the day. The farm-pony seemed a little disappointed, but obeyed a direct order from Luna. From her body language I could tell that she wanted to speak to me alone about something. I was proven right, shortly after we had started walking and had turned the first corner.

“I am very sorry for my sisters behavior. She isn't usually that harsh.”, Luna apologized on Celestias behalf.

“Don't sweat in Princess. I know what's going on. Your sister doesn't trust us yet, and I can't blame her for it. You on the other hand don't seem to have the same problem.”

“It is true that my sister has become quite distrusting, due to past events. But you have saved Twilight Sparkle, and for that I thank you. You risked your own life in doing so, and that is more then enough reason for me to trust you.”, she said, looking ahead.

“I am honored your highness.”

“And please... just call me Luna. I have never been one for ceremony, and if we were to loose this war, I would be just another dead pony anyway.”, she said coldly.

I was shocked to see that the younger of the two Princesses, was actually the more reasonable and pragmatic one.

“Very well... Luna it is. I'm Selina, no need for my rank either. I usually only insisted that my subordinates address me with it, when higher ranking officers were around anyway.”, I said, extending my hand. She looked at it for a moment, before she stopped and took it with one of her hooves. As we continued walking, she continued speaking.

“Celestia has not told you everything. We are not far from an absolute defeat in this war. This bunker is the only refuge we have left. All other towns are in ruins. Even Canterlot is nothing more then a ghost-city now. Shortly after you arrived here, they attacked once again, and our shield finally fell. My sister, our guards and a few thousand Ponies were able to escape into this bunker that we had prepared beforehoof. At this point it looks like Equestria has fallen. The Chrystal Empire didn't even last half as long as we did, since most of their population consist of Earth Ponies. The Griffin Empire was destroyed in a single day. The dragon kingdom was able to hold out  for about year, before their ships came and bombarded them from the orbit. The Canine Coalition is currently in hiding, just as we are. Their homeland has been completely taken by the enemy, and there are only a few hundred that hide in the caves all over Equestria. From what I know, not a single Dragon, Griffin or Chrystal Pony survived....”, she elaborated, while I struggled to take it all in.

So Equestria was the only land that was still fighting? All others had already been defeated? By how it sounded the attack had come too fast, to get any kind of organized defense going. From what Luna explained, she herself had confirmed the destruction of the Griffins and Dragons, since the Ponies had wanted to turn to them for help. According to her, the Dragons were the most successful in their defensive attempts, and their land was full of destroyed machines. I figured as much, since a fully grown dragon would be hard to take down, even if you were piloting a DX. The orbital bombardment would have been my first choice, had I been in command of such an attack against an entire kingdom of Dragons.....

Finally we reached the quarters that Rarity and Fluttershy shared with Jane. Rarity was standing guard outside the door, obviously not wanting to be inside, when the violent creature awoke.

“Hey there Rarity. So hows Jane?”, I asked, trying to break the ice.

“She is awake, and has asked for you in fact. Didn't Applebloom tell you? I asked her to inform you about an hour ago.”, the white Unicorn said. She looked bad. There were rings under her eyes, her mane was unkempt and there were specks of dirt on her coat. This Pony definitely needed some rest, and a shower.

“Mhmm... She shouldn't be awake just yet. Usually that would knock her out for at least one day. And Rarity dear, go and get some rest. I think you deserve it, I will take over to watch over Jane from here, OK?”, I said trying to pat her head, but she shrank away from my hand, looking at Luna confusedly. The Princess nodded to reassure her, that I was not dangerous and indeed authorized to give her orders. I didn't feel like commanding Ponies to do anything, anytime soon but it gave me a warm feeling that Luna put that much trust in me.

Reluctantly she let me touch her mane. I could feel that it was damp from sweat and pretty grimy. She definitely needed that shower.

“So Rarity, I'll go inside and make sure she doesn't kill you, OK? After that is taken care off, I want you to take a shower, get something to eat and go to bed straight away. Jane is not dangerous as long as she has her medicine. You will see.”, I said, stepping into the room, without waiting for her reaction. Luna followed closely behind me.

Jane was sitting at the table, taking her rifle apart and cleaning it. I was surprised to say the least, to see that she was up and about.

“So you finally decide to drop by, huh? That Pony outside won't let me leave the room and seems to be pretty afraid of me. Did I do “it” again?”, she asked without looking up. I knew her well enough by that point to know that she only cleaned her weapon to distract herself from her guilt. She didn't say it, but she wanted to know if she had killed somepony.

“Yep, you did. But don't worry, I stopped you before you could hurt anypony.”, I reassured her and she finally looked up. What I saw, almost made me flinch. Her eyes were glowing in some kind of dark purple light, which I had never seen before. I knew that something had been done to them, when she was experimented on, but I had never seen them like this.

“You noticed I see. They've been like this ever since I woke up, and I don't know why. All I know is, that they are driving me crazy. I can suddenly see so much more then before....”, Jane said, holding a hand in front of her eyes to shield them from view.

Suddenly Luna rushed past me, and forced Janes hands apart with her magic. The shock in her eyes was evident. Other then Jane and myself, she knew exactly what was going on.

She started to ask question after question. I thought it pointless, since I had tried to get Jane to talk about it, and had never gotten much out of her. Luna however seemed to know something, and that ultimately made Jane talk....

“Do you hear voices?”

“Yes... but... how do you know?”

“It doesn't matter right now. What do they say?”

“They want me to kill someone.”

“What about your emotions? Any surges there?”

“I feel extreme anger, despair and sometimes jealous... I don't know why though...”

“Let me guess. You can see very far, your reaction time is very fast and you can see through walls if you want to.”

“How... how do you know?”

“Nightmare Moon.....”

And then Luna finally began to explain. After she had been purified by the Elements of Harmony, some shreds of Nightmare Moon had remained at the ancient castle of the royal Pony-sisters. Nothing too big. Only a few strands of hair from Nightmare Moons coat, and a few feathers from her wings. Nonetheless, those were full of her twisted magic. Luna knew the effects of her twisted magic, and recognized it in Janes eyes. According to her, there had been sightings of humans near the Ever-Free-Forest, shortly after her purification.

They had never really bothered to investigate the matter, until Luna had gone to the ancient castle one night. She had done so out of a whim, wanting to see her old home again. On arrival she had not found a single remnant of Nightmare Moon. The place was as clean as could be. There wasn't even a speck of dust in the ancient throne-room.....

It all began to make to me. They had gathered each and every particle that had held bits of Nightmare Moons magic, after having heard about it from the Ponies. They had then gathered “volunteers” and tried to make them into super soldiers.... It disgusted me. Jane was the only survivor of these gruesome experiments, and that made it even worse in my eyes. After Lunas words had sunken in, she lowered her head.

“I am sorry... but there is more.”, she said.

“What could be worse then being infected with some demons remnants?”, Jane asked. I had told her about Nightmare Moon back in our world.

“Your lifespan... It will be shortened by her twisted magic, and there is no way we can get rid of it. We don't have the Elements of Harmony anymore, since they were taken by the enemy. By the looks of it, you will only live for about another five to six years....”, the indigo Alicorn explained, letting her head hang.

Jane on the other hand began smiling, which confused me a little.

“Great! Then I have more time then I thought. More time to try and convince Selina here, that I am the right girl for her.”, she laughed.

“I told you before, that I just don't swing that way!”, I scolded her.

“Well if you would prefer Frank... No but seriously... The scientists at home gave me only another six months, so five to six years don't sound too bad.”, she joked. I had never known this and was a little taken aback by it.

I did not have any time to ask her about it though, because in that moment a shrill alarm sounded off throughout the bunker. I knew that something was wrong....