Umbra

I awoke to the chirping of birds. The sun blazing on through the tree tops was beating down on my face and worked its way into my eyes.

“Fucking hell, what time is it?” I groggily choked out. I heard only more birds as my response. Now a bit on edge, I stirred my body up to a sitting position before opening my eyes. The bright and sunny morning blinded me momentarily as I waited for my eyes to adjust. Finally, I looked around the wooden platform to find it void of any occupants.

“Mike? Where the fuck did you go?” I said to myself standing with a groan. Several joints popped loudly in protest. I reached down and grabbed my bag before looking around once more. The beautiful sun rays bounced around the forest lighting up everything brilliantly. The trees that once looked dark and foreboding now gleamed all shades of red from the sun. The bright green leaves reflected sunlight all around me while the tall, green grass blew in a small breeze.

This place really is quite beautiful…

I stood up and donned my pack before grabbing my rifles. I slung the long rifle over my back and let the smaller one hang on my chest. I waltzed over to the large vine connected to the tree and slid down. I worked my way through the woods before arriving at the small clearing right before the little pony town. As I looked on I saw all the activity from the previous day was gone. It was almost like the place was dead.

Working up the courage to move forward, I jogged across the clearing and toward a small cottage on the side of town. I ran through the loosely forested path and looked at the various flowers lining the trail. There were all types of animal prints across the path, I spotted everything from deer to foxes and even something bigger. I jogged forward to a small, well maintained bridge crossing a small stream before starting up the hill. Finally, I made it up the hill and promptly knocked on the door three times.

“Just a minute!” I heard a nasally voice call out. After a few moments I heard the clopping of hooves and a rainbow maned pegasus opened the door. As soon as she noticed me she lowered her body and let out a growl. I only had time to stare in shock as she leapt toward me, knocking me flat on my back.

“OOF! What the FUCK!?” I shouted as I flipped her over and pinned her to the dirt.

“Let me up so I can kick your flank some more!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she wriggled and thrashed under me. She managed to free one of her hooves and gave me one hell of a right hook.

I let out a loud grunt as I was pushed off to the side of her. I stared at her as I stood up and backed away. She rose to her hooves and took a step toward me. I really didn’t want to fight her, both for my safety and hers. Slowly I brought up my hand and grabbed the handle of my knife, I didn’t even need to draw it for her to tense up.

“I don’t want to fight you, but I will if I have to. The choice is yours.” I told her slowly and clearly, if she attacked the results would be deserved. If she didn’t, maybe we could resolve this peacefully.

“I...I...Fine…” She said defeatedly. I let go of the blade and walked toward her. She tensed up a bit but, thankfully, didn’t attack. I put out my hand and looked her dead in the eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry about you getting hurt and Hamus can tell you how much I reamed him out for it...Assuming I can find him. So I just want to apologize for the rashness of his actions. Friends?” I asked with the most whole hearted smile I could muster.

“Friends...Just don’t make me have to kick your flank again!” She said jokingly as she placed her hoof in my palm. Her laugh must be contagious because I quickly started laughing too.

“So, I came here to see if Hamus was here. I haven’t seen him…” I said as I looked around for my big, humanoid friend.

“Hamus? He’s inside, come on, I’ll take you to him.” She said with a small ounce of spite.

“Wait, he’s inside? Why didn’t you attack him? He’s the one who punched you!” I shouted confusedly.

“Fluttershy wouldn’t let me get back at him…” She said with clear distain.

We walked into Fluttershys cottage and sure enough Hamus was here. I looked on as he gorged himself with massive stacks of pancakes and waffles. Just looking at it made my stomach growl for the sweet, sugary foods.

“Well, well, well, It’s about time I found you.” I shouted with mock happiness. Hamus stopped eating and slowly turned toward me, syrup still dripping from his lip.

“Hey! Don’t blame me! I tried to wake you!” He shouted defensively before shoving another of the sugary cakes into his mouth. I rolled my eyes and waltzed over to the table before sitting in front of the biggest plate of pancakes I could find. I stared in wonderment before scarfing down all I could. By the end of it all I felt like I would burst from the sheer amount of food.

“Well, I’m glad you both enjoyed them.” I heard a small voice say to my right. Looking over I saw the shy, butter yellow pegasus carrying a large stack of plates to the sink. I quickly stood up and grabbed the remaining dishes and brought them over as well. I tried to offer my aid in doing the dishes but she turned me down and said that we should go see Twilight, thankfully Rainbow Dash decided to join us.

After a long and boring walk to the edge of town we could finally see everything this town had to offer. There were flower shops and small gardens littered all over with many ponies lingering about. Looking further down the road I saw a big building right in the center of town, it’s brown roof and bright pink windows really made it stand out...If the building already didn’t tower over every other building. I’d say it was some type of town hall or governmental building. Next to it was a small fountain shaped like a horse, I spied ponies tossing coins into it so I figured it was a type of wishing fountain.

And finally I spotted a big tree off to the side of the town. It had windows and a door but I couldn’t place what it would be...A sanctuary maybe? As we walked down the center of town I noticed more buildings tucked away, restaurants, clothing shops, food markets, and a big building that looked like a little girl puked all over it. the structure and design screamed, “This is a place for girls! Guys keep away!!” But who knows, that was just an option.

I slowly noticed that everyone of the ponies milling about the town stopped what they were doing and stared at the three of us. I watched them and was ready for some form of attack, but it never came. The ponies just...Stared. No screams of panic, no surprize attacks, no anything. We made it through the town without so much as a peep. The tree looking house thing appeared to be our destination.

Rainbow didn’t even bother to knock, she just threw the door open with a wood splintering bang.

“TWILIGHT!? YOU HERE!?” She shouted into the surprisingly large tree. Somehow the damn thing looked bigger on the inside.

“Just a minute!!” I heard the tell-tale voice of Twilight call from another room. We all came in and picked a nice spot to stand on while we waited for the perky pony turned librarian to arrive.

“So, what do you think this is about?” I asked Hamus casually. He shrugged his shoulders and gave a grunt.

“Could be anything. Maybe she has a job for us.” He said jokingly, letting a small laugh escape him.

“Now, how can I help you? Oh! Umbra and Hamus, I didn’t expect to see you here so early!” She said with a look of surprize, it was really kind of adorable.

“Eh, we’re early risers. Anyway, we heard that you wanted to see us?” I asked casually.

“I did. I received this scroll last night after you two left the hospital and thought you’d want to see it.” She said as she levitated out a scroll from one of the many bookshelves here. I looked at it for a few seconds while making sounds of confirmation. I rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Twilight.

“Well, that was enlightening.” I said plainly, Hamus was just as confused as Twilight as to what I meant.

“Enlightening? Enlightening how?” Hamus asked me with the look of confusion still plastered across his face.

“Well you see, I’d be able to tell you...Assuming I could actually read what it said.” I said with a shit eating grin on my face. Her face slowly contorted to confusion before turning to shock.

“You can’t read!?!” She shouted shockingly.

“Not that pony scribble. It seriously looked like someone just threw random shit at a page and called it writing.” I said defensively. She looked even more shocked before levitating over a piece of paper and a quill. I took both from her aura and knew what she wanted. I slowly scratched out a small line that stuck with me throughout the years.

You reap what you sow, Umbra. Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt.

I handed the small slip of paper over to the purple unicorn and watched as she slowly stared at it. She tucked it inside another book and placed it seemingly at random on the shelf.

“I’ll have to analyze that when I get the time, maybe I can even break the writing barrier between us.” She said before losing herself in thought.

“So, about this letter…” I said slowly, trying to bring the unicorn back to the present. She brought the letter back out from hiding.

“Ah, right. The letter said,

Dear humans,
It’s come to my understanding that neither of you are truly citizens of this land, so I would like to extend that situation unto you. Please come to me in Canterlot post haste.

I would also like to ask what exactly Princess Luna saw inside of Hamus’ mind. She seems deeply disturbed by it. I implore you to get here as soon as physically possible to get these matters squared away.

Sincerly,
Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S I would also like to ask you to keep an eye on the hu…

“WOOPS! Not supposed to read that part…” Twilight said bashfully. I looked at Hamus and gave a half smile, I’d like to see them do anything but keep an eye on us.

Hamus

The walk through town was interesting to say the least. This town...Ponyville I think I heard Fluttershy call it, is truly a wonder. It seems like many different races live here. I’ve seen three different types of ponies, eagle-lion things, and even some sentient animals all living together. It’s a wonder the human race was never capable of such a feat.

“...What about you Hamus?” I heard Twilight ask from the side. What were we talking about? And when did she start talking for that matter?

“Uh…” Is all I let out as a lost look crossed my face. She rolled her eyes at me but reiterated her words anyway.

“I asked, how are you liking ponyville?” She said a bit snappily. Guess there’s always a few bad apples in the bunch…

“So far it seems...Secure. Not anything like back home, that’s for sure.” I said wistfully. If all of Equestria is like this then I wouldn’t have minded living here.

“Just what conditions were you living in back home?” I heard her ask cooly. I guess she didn’t want to miss me talking about home.

“They were...Uh...What’s the word? Umbra, help me out here…” I said looking to Umbra, he gave me a smart grin before saying.

“I believe the word you’re looking for is complete. Fucking. Shit.” He said dramatically before bursting out into giggles. I join in as Twilight looked on in shock.

“Why would you insult your homeland like that!?!”

“Why wouldn’t we?” I said defensively. “Look at where you come from, it’s complete fucking peace and harmony twenty-four seven. You have friends that can complain about having a nine to five job or not having enough food to last the month. You have friends that actually come home every night. YOU can actually come home every night! You don’t have to worry about managing supply runs. You don’t have to worry about your rotation on the wall. You don’t have to sit and watch your friends die in your arms every fucking day. Do you have any idea the amount of people I’ve lost? That we’ve lost? Don’t you DARE say that we’re disrespecting our so called home. That place, no, that HELL was a death trap. Hell, When I first met Umbra he was about to die! So no Twilight, I am NOT disrespecting that barren, godless, shithole.” As I finished, I noticed the look on Twilights face showed utter horror and something else...Almost like...Hate? The deafening silence surrounding us got the better of me and I noticed the sheer amount of ponies staring at me with complete shock. Parents were covering their children’s ears, how ever futile.

“I...How…” Is all Twilight managed to stumble out. Her face was a mixture of so many emotions. Love, hate, empathy, apathy, fear, curiosity, the look says more than words ever could. With a sigh, I let the apology flow.

“Look, I’m sorry I blew up like that but...It’s not something I like to talk about.” I said as I hung my head in shame. I looked around to still see ponies staring at me, as if judging what I’ll do next. I raised my head and turned toward the crowd, getting some of them to flinch or gasp. “I’m sorry everyone. The subject of my home is not a pleasant one and definitely not one for the children, please forgive my vulgar words and attitude.”

The crowd stared at me for a second longer before mumbled words of acceptance rang through the air, some even smiled at me, however slight. Looking back, Twilight was staring at me with a shocked expression while Nate looked a little smug.

“Nice going Hamus, never thought you’d turn out to be the “Hearts and Minds” type of guy.” Nate said unreservedly. Twilight shook her head and stared at me with conflicted eyes.

“Yes, well we really do need to talk about this, it’s a four and a half hour train ride, we’ll have the time.” She said as she trotted off. Guessing I didn’t get a choice in the matter, I followed on.

After five-ish minutes of walking, we made it to the Ponyville train station. Ponies were milling about getting tickets and luggage squared away as the train pulled in. The train was a steam train by design but had a few large rings in the front. I couldn’t fathom why they were there but shrugged it off. The rest of the train looked like...Well...A train, except with more color. The cabins and caboose were painted an eye blazing yellow with pink borders around the windows and doors.

Twilight pressed on through the crowd, most moving out of her way, the rest moving out of ours. Twilight walked up to the conductor and had a few words with him.

“So, what do you think is going to happen at the castle?” Nate asked me quietly while leaning toward me.

“Not sure. Hopefully we just hear what she has to say and move on with no fuss.” I replied back. Twilight seemed to be trying to convince the conductor that we’re friendly, but he wasn’t buying it.

“Well, lets hope. However, I hope I’m not the only one kinda wanting a fight.” He said to me with a small laugh.

“No shit, I’d love to see what one of their guards can do. Might come in useful.” I said with a deep chuckle. Judging by the looks of Twilight and the conductor, they heard me. Twilight went on to spew more illegible words before the conductor sighed and gave her three pieces of paper. She trotted over to us with a smug look as the conductor went back onto the train.

“ALL ABOARD!” We heard as the train let out an ear splitting whistle. We quickly filed onto the train, most of the other ponies eyeing us warily and keeping their distance. We followed Twilight to one of the rearmost cabins. We looked over our room, just a simple train car. Two uncomfortable benches facing each other with an end table in between.

“Now, about our conversation.” Twilight said as she laid down in her seat, taking up the entire thing.

I sighed as I sat in the rock hard seat. I took a deep breath and looked to Nate. He looked a bit scared but overall seemed ready to comply. I guessed it was time to share our story.

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, lets start with your real names.” Twilight said solidly, great…

“Uhh...Umbra? What do you think? Should we do it?” I asked as I looked to Nate, he was deep in thought as he contemplated this question.

“Well, I doubt there’s much they can do with our names here. Back home was more of an issue but here? I think it’ll be fine.” He said a little unsurely. Then he stayed silent and looked to me, fucking dick.

“Well, guess I’m going first...Mike Daniels, security force.” I said carefully, trying to cope with the number one rule of ours being blatantly tossed out the window.

“And I’m Nathanial Cor. Most just call me Nate.” Nate said with a bow.

“Well, glad to finally meet you two. now, next question, Where are you from?”

“We’re from a small camp on the outskirts of Iowa.” James said sorrowfully.

“And what exactly was this “Camp” Like?”

“It was…” I started but quietly trailed off, leaving the ambiguity to linger a moment longer. “Well...It worked. People were as happy as they could be, people were as safe as they could be; It worked.”

“What did they have to fear? It sounds to me like you were surviving a war.” Twilight asked innocently.

“Well, we were.” Nate started. “About sixty years before our camp started there was an...Uprising of sorts. The military had everyone in every state under Martial Law. Basically, that took away most of our rights which made people quite angry. Riots started springing up here and there and soldiers started firing. I don’t know if they were aiming to scare or wound but people started dying. After the “Conflict of Marina” people started getting fed up with the military. They armed themselves and started doing hit and run attacks on any patrols they could find. Eventually the military stepped up their game and brought in jets and tanks. People did what they could but many of them didn’t make it…

People started to spring up in underground camps, sewers, metros, electrical service tunnels, caves, anything people could squeeze into and hide. Some camps grew in numbers and arms and started to make a push to the surface. Lots of camps made some sort of foothold and established a surface camp, but many didn’t. Ours was lucky enough to have a forest nearby to hide in, though not without rules of our own. In order to stay hidden we had to limit the amount of light we had, suppress all our weapons, could only wear blending colors, and had to take care of the surrounding trees and flora to keep our camp concealed.”

“Why all the fighting though? That’s what I’m not understanding, why would your guard attack civilians and withhold their rights?”

“Because of the “Big Blast”. Imagine an explosion big enough to wipe equestria off the map. People were getting scared and weren’t prepared so they panicked. The military stepped in to help them, and it worked...For a bit…” I said with a sideways glance to Twilight. I’ve been staring out of the window for the past few minutes, I really hated talking about home.

“Why would anypony want to make an explosion that big!?!” She shouted out in shock.

“To assert dominance? To kill as many as he could? To make a statement? I’m not sure. But I do know that we shouldn’t worry too much about it anymore…” Nate said sadly.

Suddenly we were both thrown forward as the train slammed on the brakes, letting an ear splitting screech echo through the cabin. I looked out of the window to see us in the middle of a large green plain. Flowers of all shapes and sizes were sprinkled across the grass, bringing some life to the endless green.

“Why are we stopped?” I asked Twilight as she looked out of the window in confusion.

“I’m not sure. This isn’t anywhere near Canterlot!” She said with a hint of fear in her voice. I looked out the window to see a large group of bird-horse things land around the train. Their front half looked like an eagle while their back half looked like a pony’s. They were clad in garb that screamed unfriendly, their blackened armor seemed to suck in sunlight and give no reflection while their swords sat under their wings. They looked like a Scimitar in design but not quite the same. The blade had more of a curve to it and the handguard was made to shelter the whole hand...Claw.

Some were wearing a thick black cloth about their head, covering all but their eyes and beaks. While others had on a metal skull cap, leaving most of their face open. they slowly worked toward the train while speaking some language that I didn’t understand.

“این قطار در حال حاضر ملزم به پرداخت یک راهداری از 300 بیت های برای عبور بی خطر!” One of them yelled toward the engine. He was a stocky...Thing, being larger than most around him. His eyes were horribly scarred, leaving his hazel eyes to have a sheen over them. I didn’t like these things at all.

“Twilight, what are we dealing with here?” I asked timidly, as to not scare the mare.

“A band of bandits, and I believe they’re demanding a toll.” She said with a shakiness to her.

“And just what exactly are they?”

“Hippogriffs, they’re half eagle and half pony.” Totally called it. I looked over to Nate and saw him staring unfocustly at his feet.

“Hey Nate, your choice.” I said to him to get him to rejoin us. He slowly looked up to me and out to the Hippogriffs. One of them was hanging off the side of the train trying to frighten the civilians inside.

“Fucking bandits...Let’s do this quick.” He said as he charged his rifle, letting the echo of metal on metal ring out. I quickly took my sub2000 out of my pack and unfolded it. I placed in a magazine and pulled the charging handle back.

“Let’s rock.”

Author's Note

Sorry for such a long delay guys, I ran into a bad issue of melted GPU and finally got it fixed. I can't promise when the next chapter will be out but I'll try to make it soon.