Forbidden Friendship

by Justin Daniels

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 6396

When a human and a sapient pony from another world begin to develop a friendship, things begin to get complicated for both parties. With both of their factions at war, however, these complications appear to be more life-threatening.

"Sure, I've done things in the past that I soon regretted later on… Hell, we all did at some point. Me? My worst regret was signing up for this damn job." -Justin Daniels: Rogue UER (Universal Explorers Recruit)

"Actually… I'm glad that you signed up for it… because you're different from the rest… and YOU could be Equestria's last hope, because of that!" -Twilight Sparkle: Faithful Student of Princess Celestia

In the year 2020, Equestria declared war on an alien species that began harvesting the resources from their planet without their consent. Unfortunate for them, however, the alien species were far more powerful than the ponies thought, and before they knew it, Equestria slowly started to become enslaved by the "humans" as they called themselves, and were eventually forced into slavery; forced to gather the resources themselves, if they wanted to live.

In 2025, the reality of the situation remained hidden by rumors of the creatures of the world being nothing more than filthy savages; simple-minded beasts with no sense of emotions. Justin Daniels, a lifelong fan of the UE (Universal Explorers) decided to sign up for their needs of a Technician.

Having been a Technician for as long as he could remember, Justin was approved by the UE, and quickly shipped to basic boot camp as an UER (Universal Explorers Recruit). The boot camp's location? Right there on the planet.

Little does he know, however, that his kind-hearted nature would soon build doubts into his mind, as he slowly realizes that there may be something more sinister to his idols than he thought… and his feelings only get worse once he realizes that a lavender-coated unicorn tries to talk to him… and though it was in a completely foreign language to him, he begins to wonder if, maybe, these "mindless animals" could be more sapient than he was told.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-05 06:06:38 UTC

Introduction: The Eagle Has Landed

VIDEO LOG BEGINS

(A young-looking white Caucasian man with bluish green eyes looks at the camera, and and sighs; a look of exhaustion on his face, with a weak smile. He then lightly chuckles, and begins to speak in a medium-pitched voice.)

Day One, and already I feel like crap... kinda like jet lag mixed with being spun around in the middle of the sun for a week, while the food in your stomach stays within it to rot your guts out. I guess traveling through universes will do that... might have to check the engines later, too, since they appeared to have a few occasional hiccups with the schedule, and I'm the only technician in this vessel with a bit of knowledge in engineering, as well... oh, well. At least I won't be sitting around like the "Jar Heads" around here... shit... I hope I don't have a nosy roommate here... one with anger issues, that is.

Anyways, I'm sure anyone who hears this is wondering who I am. Well, my real name is Justin Daniels, and I'm, as I said just a second ago, a technician. Of course, we're given code names here to keep our identities safe, so you can just call me Anonymous. Why? Well, because I couldn't think of another name at the time... though I kinda hoped "Dragonfire" or something like that would be good, but most of those names were taken, already. Ah well... my code name *can** be broken down to nicknames like "Anon" or "Mr. A", so that's not all too bad, at least... as long as they don't think the "A" means "Ass"! Now THAT would suck big time, because we can't change these names! ...Damn, the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to regret using that nickname! (Justin chuckles again, before placing his right hand over his forehead.) I should probably change the subject.*

Sorry if I sound a little hyper right now, but... I'm just so excited to actually be invited by the UE... as in, *THE** UE! The Universal Explorers! Sure, I'm just a recruit right now, but hopefully I can prove my stuff to them, and become one of the big dogs around here!*

So anyways, right now I'm being sent to boot camp which, coincidentally, happens to be on the same world we're gathering resources from! And guess what? It's *also** named Earth, according to the commander, Nicholas Wilson... though he prefers we address him as "Commander Wilson". I don't know why, but for some reason, I'm starting to wonder if he might be related to some sort of ball... I mean, just the shape of his head is round enough to prove my point, as well! (Justin chuckles at his last statement.) Oh, man... I hope he doesn't hear that!*

**(Justin lets out an audible gasp.)* Ooh! Looks like the planet's coming into view! I might have to end this Video Log here, then!*

...Wow, though! It looks... colorful, actually! Almost like it provides a healthy source of oxygen everywhere! The commander, however, told us that the climate in this world is, without a doubt, different from our world, and that a few soldiers have tried to breathe in this world's air... only to start choking as if they were in outer space. Yeah... not gonna test *that** statement!*

Well, I guess that's all I wanted to say, so... wish me luck, because the eagle has landed! Only... I'm technically the BRAINS of this eagle. Nothing more... nothing less

(An elderly-sounding British woman's voice speaks up.)

"All units are now to put on their ASMs as instructed, and are required to keep them on until further instructions are given! Remember, the environment of THIS Earth is not to be confused with the environment of OUR Earth. The oxygen in this world has already been proven to be far too volatile for human inhalation."

(Justin coughs a few times, before slipping a mask over his face; a mask that resembles an astronaut's mask, minus the helmet around it, and the size being slimmer horizontally, to cover just his face, with a large number of straps that wrap around the back of his head. Then he waves at the camera with his right hand while he reaches his left hand behind the camera. A split-second click soon follows.)

VIDEO LOG ENDS

Forbidden Friendship

Introduction | The Eagle Has Landed

Regardless of the fact that I'm just simply a technician, I still am required to wear the military-grade armor that they gave me. I look through the mirror in my dorm room, and examine my appearance carefully.

My hair, despite being almost completely shaved to half a centimeter long, is still dark brown, despite me being thirty two years old. My face, despite my age, also barely shows any wrinkles forming. I'm just lucky, I guess. At this day and age, there's normally a few people who at least show small signs of dullness and whiteness in their hair in a few spots... must have something to do with the large clouds of pollution that our Earth has in its orbit, while I'm still looking young and healthy! In fact, I could still run around like a hyperactive kid in a candy store... but I digress.

My stomach is very slim, and my arms aren't really that masculine... but hey, that's subject to change soon, right? Anyways, I'm wearing a sleeveless camouflage jacket, a pair of camouflage cargo pants, a pair of dark brown combat boots, and a small camouflage backpack that contains the important gear for when I'm out in the field fixing shit up... and half the junk sounds like it would come from a science-y movie... so I won't bore you with the details, despite my fascination for science.

I checked my backpack, and found both of my ASMs in their proper locations... that's "Air Supply Masks", in case you didn't know. Yeah, these people are strict when it comes to organization! Then again, if one of our ASMs get knocked out of whack, and there's a buddy of ours nearby, I guess they'll know where to look, so it ain't all that bad, I guess.

After taking a quick selfie with my phone's camera system, I place it back in my utility belt; within the pouch that I have for my miscellaneous junk. Please don't ask me what I put in it, because I couldn't, for the life of me, tell you everything that's in it... I've been a hoarder since birth, so... yeah... oh, and I ain't breaking any rules by having a phone at hand! Since there's no signals back to Earth through them, it's not like we'll be using them much anyways. Besides, I'm mostly just using mine for a series of Video Logs... which I will later use to document how things are up here, and all that. I can already see the amount of hits my video will be!

Anyways, I take the selfie to compare my muscles now with when the training is complete. That was one of my main goals when I signed up for this company... to build physique, and character... and since the ARMY wouldn't take me due to my... medical restrictions... I had no other option! Besides, this one is mostly just voluntary, so it's all good!

After a few more moments of making sure I'm ready, the doors to the halls open, and all the people start walking through; me included. In unison, we all head towards the main area, where we will be briefed on what to do.

As the flight comes to a halt, me and a few of the other jar heads (AKA Soldiers) are already in the main room, where we would all step out of our week-long flight, and into the new world. In this case, from Earth of our universe to Earth in another universe... it still kinda confuses me how NASA was able to develop this kind of technology in such a short time period! Apparently they've been keeping us civvies in the dark for a while, and secretly sending a few people (volunteers, no less) on hidden missions across space; building new towers to keep their signals strong, and getting new readings on unexplored planets; though all of them ended up being readings of common space-related situations. For example, they would get a pulse on their radars when they sensed movement on the planets... but the movement was mostly just the climates or chunks of rock from outer space nicking the planets' surfaces.

Then... it all changed when this planet came into the picture.

While Earth One; my home, was starting to run short on resources, this one is quite the polar opposite! In fact, it has endless caves and, from what a few people told me, a ton of diamonds that don't even need to be mined! That's right... apparently diamonds in this world can be dug up with a shovel!

That's not the only part, though! Apparently this world has something that none of the scientists would've ever expected... life! And not just life, either... creatures that had shockingly similar appearances to the ones back in our Earth! I can recall someone asking if we made it to the right one, or not... yeah, I got a good kick out of that.

Albeit, none of the creatures were human-like in any way... but they did have quite the abundance of oddly-shaped ponies that roamed around in strange little communities. From the looks of it, though, those communities mostly consisted of human-made tents and stuff. They told us that these ponies were, despite their innocent looks, feudal and hostile upon seeing them for the first time, and made it clear that they weren't going to share their resources with us... by killing off a few of our men. I kinda doubted that, but by the looks of things, they had, and I kid you not, unicorns and pegasi! Freakin' creatures of MYTHOLOGY! And by the looks of things, the unicorns were able to levitate things with their horns, while the pegasi were able to fly. They also had other ponies who didn't have either. I'm guessing they were more skilled with the land, or some shit like that.

With that in mind, I still couldn't believe that none of our weapons were lethal in any way! Our assault rifles, our shotguns... Hell, even our grenades were all built for stunning! As for why, I couldn't tell. Then again... nobody was ever told that. I just figured it out by looking at the bullets that came in the clips of each magazine. Everyone else seemed to think otherwise. I even quietly smirked at the comments people made, saying "I can't wait ta kill somethin' with these things!"

I would think to myself, "Ha... good luck with *that** one, buddy!"* Of course, I was also glad not to have to use lethal force on any of these ponies. Feudal or not, they were almost kinda cute, actually! Key word, though... almost. Still, though, I wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of killing one of these creatures... maybe it's their unbelievably large eyes, or something. Anyways, moving on!

As soon as we land, the door to the airship slowly lowers to the ground level; revealing our campsite. Surprisingly, this campsite was stationed in the middle of a large jungle... or forest... whatever it is... with huge metal fences surrounding the borders of the tents!

A few soldiers were already there; either training with the drill sergeants yelling their brains out of their ears, running around the base in a line, or chatting with a few of their fellow jar heads. I won't go too far into details there.

Anyways, the group and I step out of the doorway, only to be greeted by a lady with black hair tied in a ponytail in the back who, apparently, is in charge of filling us in on what to do.

"Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to 'New Eden'! I'm Samantha Green, and I'm in charge of the intellectual ones of you... or in this case, one. I'm not much on formalities, though, so you can just call me Sam. Now, then... which one of you is Anonymous?"

I raise my right hand and say, "That's me."

She nods her head, and then replied, "Good... stay put. The rest of you jar heads are to report to your stations with the numbers you were given prior to your arrival. Don't keep the sergeant waiting, though! Not all of them are forgiving for tardiness... and by not all, I mean none of them are... so why are you all still here? Move!"

As the others departed, I watched as she walked up to me; eager for my first assignment.

"Anon, I presume?" She asks me without showing much emotion... but that's mostly because she was wearing the same kind of mask that I was, so it was practically impossible to know for sure.

Out of gut instinct, I loudly reply, "Reporting for duty, ma'am!"

She gives me a chuckle, before replying, "It's alright, kid! You ain't in the ARMY side of this operation, so you don't have to worry about me chewing you up, and spitting you out." Then she added, "Sure it may look like the ARMY, but in reality, this is a much... much nicer place than ya might think!"

With that, she walks me towards the large tent where the other eggheads like me would be hanging around. "Yeah," I think to myself, "I can get used to this!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Episode 1: "Basic" Training

VIDEO LOG BEGINS

(Justin clears his throat, and begins speaking; all while looking around the small, secluded room that he's in.)

Okay... where to begin? First off, I'd like to point out that the people here are kinda... how do I say this... well, it kinda makes me feel like I don't really fit in with this place.

No, it's not personality differences! There are a TON of awesome people here who smile and talk to me! It's just that... they kinda tower over me, y'know? Back on Earth, I was considered a little taller than average, but here? Here, I'm like a freakin' shrimp compared to these people! I mean... even the *women** appear stronger and taller than me! I literally have to look UP to speak to them... and every time, I keep praying that they don't snap me like a twig!*

Yeah, I'd hate to be the opposing forces right now... these people could probably kill them just by *looking** at them!*

Anyways, today I've been told to go talk with a fellow named Cole Johnson and his brother, Michael. They're a pair of polar-opposite siblings from Jamaica... the experience should be kick-ass, though! One of them is even a fellow egghead like me... who *STILL** towers over me! (Justin looks away from the camera and covers his face with his right hand; chuckling loudly.) THIS... is going to be a crazy day! And I've heard that Michael is a soldier... I guess he was hand-picked by Commander Wilson to show us the ropes, or something... after all, he is the highest ranked officer in the shooting ring; not even missing one target! Yeah... remind me NOT to screw around with that guy's skills...*

(Justin looks towards the entrance to the small room that he's in)

Well... it's morning, now! Time to rise and shine! I'm looking forward to seeing what this place has to offer!

(Justin reaches behind the camera, and a split-second click could be heard.)

VIDEO LOG ENDS

Forbidden Friendship

Episode 1 | "Basic" Training

As soon as I finish my Video Log, I quickly get dressed up in my gear, put my ASM on, and step out the door; only to be greeted by the "giant ring of fire in the sky" that we all know as... the sun. Shit, even with this damn ASM, I have to cover my eyes from that thing!

Groaning to myself, I continue my trek through this camp; admiring the scenery... that is... until I notice a crate slowly dropping from a helicopter's chain attachment. Out of curiosity, I turn towards the crate, as a group of jar heads open it up from the top; the sides just fall to the ground. My eyes widen at the sight of what its contents were... or in this case, was.

Inside a metal cage lies a lavender-coated unicorn. The unicorn doesn't really look like a pony from my Earth, though... in fact, if someone were to paint a picture of it, one could probably mistake it for some sort of cartoon character. The unicorn has, what appears to be, a tattoo of a pinkish purplish six-sided star on its... flanks? Is that what they're called? Anyways, it has one of those marks on each flank. It has purplish violet hair with a pink stripe that appears to go in a straight line from the roots... or is a hairstyle for a horse or pony called a "mane"? Eh, regardless of that, the same coloration is also on its tail.

At first, I don't think much about it... but then something unusual occurs to me. Is it... is it crying?

Technically, it is normal for some creatures to cry instinctively, but... well, they said that these ponies were just like mindless animals! They don't show remorse in their actions, and only care about their instincts... but this one... this one seems to contradict everything they told me!

Curiously, I stand there and wait for the soldiers to move away from it, before I walk up to it, and kneel down to get a closer look at it.

It stares at me with its unbelievably large eyes for what feels like an eternity. I tilt my head at it, and hum. "Strange... I didn't think wild animals would... cry like that. Are you okay?"

It stares at me for another moment, before its eyes lower to the ground; its face showing more misery than it would seem. Then... it metaphorically blows my mind with its next action. It starts speaking to me... and although I can't comprehend what it's saying, It shouldn't take a scientist to figure out that it was, quite literally, talking to me! Hell, I'm not even a scientist, but I can assure you... these are words coming out of its mouth! And from the sound of its voice, and the way how its eyelashes appear to be protruding from the sides, I'm guessing it's a female.

Before she could finish speaking, however, I hear a few guys behind me saying, "Hey! Get away from that thing!"

I quickly turn to them, and jump back; right as the unicorn starts shuffling her hooves towards the dirt; probably trying to get away. The second her hooves touch the metal bars, however, a nasty jolt of electricity forces her to pull her hooves back into the barred prison, while she crouches into a fetal position, and cries even more; shaking out of either pain, fear, misery, or a mixture of the three and more. My vote would probably be the latter, considering how messy her mane is.

The next thing I know, the jar heads that opened the crate that she came from were back around her cage; attaching levers made out of an electric-proof material... wasn't rubber, though it might've had rubber pads inside it. Perhaps it was a material from this world? Most likely... but I digress.

After seeing them carry her into the science lab, I soon realize that she's headed in the same direction that I am! With an amused hum, I follow suit; showing the soldiers who try to block me my passport, and then, with a victorious smile, I step into the room.

The very second that I step into the room, I'm greeted by Cole; a black Jamaican man with shaved black curly hair. He's wearing a white lab coat with black slacks and shoes. Underneath his lab coat is a light blue button-up shirt. On his eyes, he's wearing a pair of reading glasses. In his hands, he's holding a clipboard.

When he looks up at me as I enter the room, he smiles, before saying, "Ah, hey Anon!" At once, my memories take me back to yesterday. I quickly remember that we've already met yesterday during my tour with Sam... funny how he and I seem to like almost the exact same things which, in this case, is a mixture of Science and Algebra.

"Hey, Cole!" I nervously reply to the six foot three man that, despite being a scientist, also would appear to be bulky in the arms... and by bulk, I mean muscle. Seriously, this guy would probably be the nerd version of "The Incredible Hulk", or something like that! Again, though, I digress.

"So, you ready to learn a little bit about what you'll be doing during your stay here?" He asks, to which I nod eagerly. "Great! First off," he looks to his left; facing a six foot three Jamaican man standing on the other side of the room, "'ey, Michael! We've got company, mon! Come and talk to 'em!" Seriously... that accent is... kick-ass!

Michael, the six foot three Jamaican man with short trimmed locks, walks up to me, and smiles, before stretching his right hand out. "You must be Anon, huh? Great to meet ya, mon! Follow me, please!"

I nod and follow him into the door across the room; towards the far-right corner of the entrance. On the other side of that door is a hallway with several different doors that lead to different rooms... each of which considered as "Examination Rooms".

As we walk through, I look to my right, and notice one of the doors to one of the rooms is open. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see what's inside, and my heart starts to grow heavy.

Inside a cage within the open room is a small white... baby unicorn. Is it considered filly? Maybe a foal? Eh, whatever it is, it has a pure white coat with a light purple mane. It appears to be looking down; almost hopelessly. This action only confuses me even more. "What the Hell is going on here? I thought they said they don't show emotions like that!" I think to myself.

Before my curiosity gets the better end of me, I quickly avert my eyes from the filly, right as she looks up at me. At least... I think it's a she. I'm not sure. The eyelashes practically said "feminine", but then again, it could be the other way around in this place... eh, whatever. Regardless of their history, I still can't stand seeing the look on the filly's face.

When we reach the end of the hallway, I notice a few different diagrams of ponies posted on the walls; some I quickly turn my head away from, due to them leading to certain areas that I... could've lived without seeing. I won't go into detail about that experience.

Anyways, as it turns out, Michael and Cole are, surprisingly, as skeptical about this whole ordeal as I am. Hell, Michael even called me out by telling me that it's okay to have my doubts... because believe it or not, he also had his doubts the first time he joined. Of course, whenever Commander Wilson stepped into the room, Michael suddenly started pointing at different areas of the ponies that I should know about... like how the horn of a unicorn is its source of magic, how the strength of an earth pony; the ones without wings or horns, are naturally stronger, and how the pegasi fly with their wings... basically all the shit that I read from the story books. At least it got Commander Wilson off of our asses.

Then, once he left the room, Michael passed me a card, telling me to meet him at the mess hall in 0100 hours... or in military time, I guess that's one. I gave him a look that practically said "what's going on?", but he whispered, "I'll explain later, mon. There's much we need to discuss." Giving him a brief nod, he dismissed me from the room, while loitered around the camp for the next hour; occasionally noticing the same lavender unicorn being transferred to-and-fro. Each time I saw her being moved, however, the more curious I became. Not giving it a second thought, I decided to follow the soldiers wherever they were taking her.

And that brings me up to where I am now. Apparently she was taken to, what a few passing people called, the "Containment Room", where they would leave her in her cage to... I don't know... rot, or something? Regardless, anyone was allowed in there... but because of there being a unicorn in there, I ended up being the only human around. I don't really see what all the fuss is about, to be honest. These guys just tend to avoid unicorns the most.

I stare at the ceiling for a little while; my ASM no longer blocking my face, before I look down at her, and realize that she's staring at me. When my eyesight reaches her, however, she quickly averts her eyes from me, and rests her belly on the cold steel floor of the cage she was in.

At this point, I can no longer take it. I slowly walk up to her, and crouch to one knee; getting her worried attention. I would smile at her, but in her current state, I doubt if that would be a good idea. So, I wave my hand, and try to talk to her again.

"Um... hello?" I say, to which she raises an eyebrow, before imitating my movement, and saying something that I can't quite understand. I tilt my head and reach my right ear closer to her; trying to figure out what she said.

"Sill-nah." she says, before looking around, and saying more... words? "Ki nu veil co van die nu ca Sam?"

I raise an eyebrow at her, before scratching the back of my head. "Did she just say... Sam?!"

I reply with, "Sorry, but I don't understand what you just said." Then she sighs, before placing her right hoof over her face. After that, there's a small moment of silence, before she clears her throat. The next thing causes my jaw to drop.

"Note... pad." she manages to pronounce.

With my jaw dropped, I let out a gasp, before asking, "Wait... did you just say... 'Notepad'?!" She tilts her head in confusion, before I plant my right palm over my face, and sigh. Then I nod my head, and run up to the nearest desk, and grab an unused notepad from it; along with a pen. After that, I walk up to her, and carefully hand both of the items to her.

She places the blunt end of the pen in her mouth, before scratching the tip of it on the notepad. Again, though, the next action causes my jaw to drop.

On the paper, it reads, "Hello. Do you work with the one you call 'Sam'?"

After a moment of processing what I just learned, I nod my head, and motion for her to pass me the notepad. She does so, and awaits my response.

"Yes, I work with Sam... how do you know her, if you don't mind me asking?"

"She was the one who helped me escape last time."

"Last time?"

"Yes. She saw past our appearances, along with the lies your world has spread about us, and made it clear that many of the humans don't even know that we are just as smart as them!"

I gasp at that statement, before taking a few deeper breaths. Then, I continue writing to her.

"Oh my gosh... so was it a lie that y'all took the lives of a few humans?"

She flinches at that statement, before writing a slightly longer note.

"Not quite... our princess retaliated to a group of humans who started attacking us at will... calling us, according to what Sam transcribed, 'filthy fucking animals'. Had it not been for Princess Celestia's intervention, they would've killed us, and probably would've eaten us, since humans are omnivores!"

I ponder at that statement, before slowly shaking my head in a mixture of disgust and disappointment.

"It sounded awful! I hope those guys rot in Hell for trying something so cruel... though I doubt if they would've eaten you. Back in my world, we have unintelligent ponies, and even they aren't eaten... well, maybe there's some people out there that would, but most of the time, they are frowned upon."

Her eyes widen at that statement.

"Wait... so humans don't eat ponies?!"

I shake my head, and weakly smile. Then she sighs out of, what I guess would be, relief, before weakly smiling right back.

"That's a relief! Here I was worried that they would eat me once they finish using me."

I raise an eyebrow at that last one.

"Wait a minute... what do you mean 'using you'? What do they use you for?"

Her smile turns to a pained look, almost like she's thinking of bad memories. Before she could write her response, however, I quickly take the notepad and write again.

"Sorry! You don't have to reply to that! Sometimes, it's better not to bring back bad memories... let's start over!"

She raises an eyebrow at my statement, before I continue.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am! My name is Justin Daniels, and I'm an engineer... but my code name is 'Anonymous'... my friends call me 'Anon'."

She smiles, and is about to respond, when her eyes widen, her mouth lets out a gasp, and then she pushes the notepad back to me, before motioning me to get back.

I don't hesitate at all, and nod my head, before I quickly sit back on the bench I was in prior, hide the notepad, and watch as the door to the room opens; revealing Commander Wilson.

His eyes wander around a few times, before they focus on the unicorn. Then he glares at her, before spitting in her direction. "Damned filthy animals... all of you." Then he walks up to the cage, and grins menacingly, before drawing a tazer from his utility belt, and flicking with the switch a few times. Then he turns to me, and asks, "Ya wanna see something funny?"

I quickly look from him to the unicorn, before shaking my head nervously. "S-sorry, sir... but I have somewhere I need to be. My co-worker Cole asked me to meet them in the Mess Hall, since I missed out on lunch." I don't want to add Michael in the picture, since he's a soldier, and works directly under Commander Wilson's nose.

Commander Wilson shrugs his shoulders, before replying, "Suit yourself." Then he turns towards the unicorn again, and comments, "Just gotta teach this one a lesson when it comes to knowing your place, and staying in your cage." With that, I quickly walk out the room and close the door; just in time to hear her screams of pain and agony echo through the halls; sending chills down my spine.

Then I think to myself, "Shit... I'm sorry, whoever you are... I don't know what's going on..." Then I look up towards the Mess Hall, where I notice a few soldiers walking towards it; showing their identities to the guards who stepped in front of the door. "I sure hope Cole and Michael know something, though..." With high hopes of getting some answers to this whole operation, I walk towards the Mess Hall, ready for whatever lies ahead.

When I enter the room, I notice a few odd things that seem out of place. For starters, a large number of the lights are off, and there's a mixture of people of different classes all sitting in one table... and a large number of extra chairs are sitting around that table from other ones. Sitting on the center of that table, however, was what surprised me the most out of it all... Sam.

When she notices me, she smiles and says, "Oh! Anon! So glad you could join us! Please... grab a seat, we have much to discuss."

I nod my reply, before quickly grabbing a chair, and carrying it up towards the large group of people. When I make it close enough, I place it down, and sit between Cole and Michael; both of whom appear to be wearing camouflage gear... along with everyone else, for that matter! There's something different about their gear, though... they appear to also be wearing some sort of red diamond necklaces around their necks... and the diamonds of the necklaces appear to be... glowing?

She clears her throat, and asks, "So, I take it you've met Twilight already?"

I tilt my head, before counter-asking, "I'm sorry... who?"

She sighs and places her right hand over her face. "Right, sorry... your record stated that you weren't that good with names." Then she rubs her chin in thought. "The lavender unicorn with a cutie mark that represents a six-sided star?"

Now I scratch my head, and reply, "I saw a purplish unicorn with a six-sided star drawn on her... flank?"

She smiles, before nodding her head. "Great... and please tell me she found a way to communicate with you?"

I slowly nod my head; now becoming slightly aware of the situation at hand. "What's going on here, exactly? How did you know she was intelligent? Are they all intelligent like her? Why is the UE even doing this to-"

She motions for Cole and Michael to cover my mouth, before cutting in. "Whoa there, slick! One step at a time!" Then she chuckles lightly. "I'll go on ahead and answer your first two questions... then I'll explain the third one to you once you're ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?" I ask; now growing frighteningly nervous about just what the Hell I've gotten myself into.

She sighs, before motioning for Cole and Michael to release me from their grips. "Listen... we're gonna be gone on a week-long scouting trip, and we'll need you to get used to the layout of this place. Then, once you're familiar with it, meet us at the front gates exactly seven days from now."

I then decide to ask her, "But... what happens if I don't?"

She shrugs her shoulders, before replying, "Then we'll just let you walk away, and we won't bother you!" Then she points at the entrance, which the front guards open by her motion. "There's the door."

I scratch the back of my head before asking, "So wait... do I get, like, some sort of heads-up on what's going on?"

The group stands up and leaves; until only Sam and I are the only ones in. She smiles and slips a card in my hand, replying, "We're just gonna be gone to a week-long trip... that's all you need to know." With that, she leaves with the others; leaving me there to stare aimlessly at nothing in general. Then her voice calls out, "Oh! But I highly recommend you get started with your studies! You wouldn't want to know what happens when you fail to make it there on time!"

Finally, when my senses come back to reality, I look down at the card she handed me. Then, I feel a surge of extreme worry about what it says on the card.

"We're sending Michael to your tent tonight... he'll pick you up and take you with us. Don't tell the commander, though... or else."

I looked from the card towards the front entrance. All I could see was Sam's back, as she closed the door behind her. Curiously, I flipped the card over, and noticed a few more words that must've been written a while earlier. I end up having to squint my eyes to read it, though, as it is all written in small text to fit on the whole card.

"To keep you out of the dark, here's a little brief run-through. You know this camp? It wasn't always a camp, just so you know. About a year back, it was a town inhabited by the ponies of this world... and according to Twilight Sparkle, the town was called 'Ponyville'. Kinda bland, I know... but if you want to know more about it, I'd suggest writing to her. Don't worry... if she knows you're with me, then she'll trust you. Just... watch yourself, if she starts asking questions. While she won't pose a threat herself, she has a habit of trying to know everything about anything, and could get in a rant that might unintentionally risk both of your lives... but despite that, she's a good person to get to know. And by the way... she's also close to the rulers of this place, so treat her with respect!"

I gulp after reading that last sentence. If she knows about the rulers of this place, then I'd better not say anything that could potentially piss her off.

Then I look at the part about New Eden... and instantly, I start feeling a pang of guilt in my heart. This place... was a whole town?! Then... then those ponies in those rooms... they must've been the original inhabitants!

"Well... at least I know who to ask for more answers, now." I tell myself before looking back at the card... more specifically, at this "Twilight Sparkle" person. Then, after taking a deep breath, I fold the card and place it in my utility belt, before double-checking my ASM, and heading out the door.

TO BE CONTINUED