Hollow Mask

"This is interesting," noted Hunter. She stood in a empty black plane, in front of her two alicorns, one lavender, one blue. Luna eyed him interested. Instead of looking like a pony, her mental self image was more like human. She looked like Celestia said the Librian had looked, only that her skin was cyan blue, her ears were on top of her head, definitely pony and she had a tail and wings. Upon entering the dream her first actions had been testing out her limbs with a mixture of excitement and curiosity.

"We don't have all night, Hunter," interrupted Twilight her inspection.

"Alright, alright. I will tell you as much as I can. I will not mention anything and may forget some important events or mix up some facts but I will try to stay as truthfully as I can," she explained. A big wall of text appeared in the plane.

The Incomplete, Mostly Incorrect and Slightly Censored History of Humanity

presented by Hunter

"Oh, wow," deadpanned Twilight.

The wall of text was replaced by a large map. It showed a bunch of countries and their respective borders. "Europa, around 1900 years after the beginning of our calendar. You will not know many names of these countries, though some might sound familiar. Most countries are ruled by some monarch or dictator. They all have contracts with each other, promising aid or assistance in form of troops in case of war. The the year is 1914. The archduke of Austria-Hungary visits Serbia in the summer. They get assassinated."

The image of a royal pair showed up, sitting in a wagon while several person approached through the crowd. One came close enough and used it's weapon to kill both.

"This action triggered a chain reaction. Fast forward two years. Most of all european countries are at war with each other. A war so large, that it encompasses the whole world. It ended it 1918. A total of 16 million casualties, from that 7 million were civilians. Later it was called the first World War. It was largely agreed that my country, germany, had lost the war."

She was interrupted by Luna, "You speak germane?"

Hunter blinked a few times before she answered, "Ja."

Luna let out an excited squeak, "Dann möchte ich vorerst nicht weiter stören, fahre mit deinem Vortrag fort." Twilight stared at the alicorn, she had not understood a word and was slightly surprised to hear the princess speaking something other than Equestrian. Luna noticed her look and explained, "Before Germaney was intergrated into Equestria, they were are flourishing country that I visited often. A country of poets and thinkers. Sadly their culture seems to have been lost in the last thousand years." She frowned slightly.

Hunter coughed sligthly, "You may not be so excited when you hear the next part.

"So. Next step. 1939. My country has been blamed for the war and forced to pay huge amounts of money. This led to the founding of a new political party, which told everyone that everything not german was evil. They took control of the government and started a new war. The most terrible war in human history. The second world war."

A new image appeared. It pictured a few pegasi and unicorns with weapons  watching over earth ponies. The earth ponies were malnourished and some looked like they were sick. Twilight would never forget the look on their faces; they had lost all hope.

"People were inprisoned and killed for who their parents were or how they looked like. It was organized murder. The image I showed you is a rough equivalent of what that would look like here. What I showed was part of a concentration camp, peoples were killed daily there, sometimes only for the excitement of the guards."

"The rest of the world was again at war. Bigger than the first. Today we still don't know how many really died. Most assumed the numbers lie between 50 and 80 million. While the europeans were in their little fights the United States of America developed a new weapon."

The image changed again, for Twilight's relief, she didn't know how much longer she could have endured the torture it showed. The new image showed a large harbour town from a distance. Twilight noticed that it was not just an image but a moving picture. She watched birds fly across the screen and trees move in the wind.

"6th August, 1945. The year in which the war ended. The most powerful weapon to that point was released."

The image on the screen was replaced by a blinding light. Twilight looked away for a few seconds, eventhough she knew she couldn't be blinded in a dream. When she looked back she saw a cloud in mushroom shape rising from where the city once was. She watched as fire raced through the city, destroying more than two-thirds in the span of seconds. The screen went black not short after that.

"80.000 people dead in the blink of an eye. This was one of the smaller ones we built. Not long after that the war ended. The world was divided into two factions, that fought a cold war. It was a fight behind the scenes. During this time, one side managed to control the power of a sun. The Tsar Bomb, a bomb that fused hydrogen atoms together and released a huge amount of energy."

The screen now showed a large empty landscape. It was mostly empty, devoid of any plants. Twilight and Luna wondered what would happen here, before they heard an almost inaudible rumbling in the sky. The screen expanded and now Twilight and Luna stood with Hunter in the landscape. They could feel the cold wind blowing over their fur and singing it's quiet song in the empty area.

"A plane delivered the bomb, that contained about 50 megatons of TNT, which is our measurement of detonation power. It flew as high as possible and the bomb was attached to a parachute, so they could escape. They made it barely. We are currently 50 kilometer from the point where it will detonate."

They waited. For a long time nobody said anything as they stared in the same direction Hunter was looking. Twilight wanted to ask when it would happen but remained silent.

What felt like hours later the bomb detonated. All sound fell silent, like the calm before a storm, and a blinding dot of light appeared in the distance. It burned brighter than the sun above and was clearly visible for about two seconds. The light consumed everything the three could see. Twilight felt the heat traveling through the air, burning slightly on her fur. The light slowly dimmed as it was encompassed by a large mushroom-shaped cloud that slowly rose from the ground. It penetrated the cloud layer easily and grew and grew. The light had now finally faded away completely but the clouds still spread. The two alicorns could see a shockwave racing over the land towards them, burning everything in the empty landscape that was in it's way. Instinctively Twilight raised a hoof to protect her face but she knew that against such power, it was pointless. The shockwave burned over them but never really reached them. Minutes later the clouds finally rested to the ground and Twilight could see the sky again. She watched in awe at the still rising and expanding mushroom cloud. She had never seen such huge amounts of energy raging freely and destroying everything in its reach.

Their surroundings went black and the air, that had felt burning hot, cooled off. For the two alicorns it was almost as if they had been put in the freezer.

"After that not much happened. The cold war ended as one side could no longer support it with money and troops. We invented the computer, landed on the moon, invented the internet. A large network of computers all sharing information. You could upload and download almost anything. When I left, the world was at the edge of another war. I don't think there is a going back to my world, which is why I'd like to stay."

Hunter turned to the two stunned ponies and noted with a strange curiosity their shock and awe. They had seen in the abyss that was the human soul. She grinned. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar feminine voice.

"You should also not forget that you now have a Job, Hunter."

The two ponies and the half-pony turned to the source of the voice. The Librarian stood a few meters away, inspecting them with her cold blue eyes. "How did you get here and what do you want?" asked the pegasus.

"I have a new assignment for you. There is a... hmm... problem somewhere else and I wanted to tell you a few details. And if you really want to know how I did get here, there is an explanation that is short and easy. If you would know it, so much would be clear to you. I think I won't tell you."

Twilight heard a growling from her left side. She looked and saw Hunter with a sword. It was a long double-handed broadsword. It's blade was colored in a dull grey, like cast iron or lead. She now wore a light leather armor and focused only on the Librarian.

"Oh, really? You want to fight me?" asked Olivia while snickering, "Good, if you want."

"WAIT!" yelled Luna, "Give me a second!" Her horn glowed up and a few seconds later Discord appeared on her right.

"Luna, what is the matter?" asked the draconequus.

"You want to watch a dream-fight between two nemesis'?" queried the blue Alicorn to Twilight's astonishment.

Discord didn't answerd but instead summoned a large couch which all three sat on and two large boxes with popcorn. He immediately began crunching it down. Luna smiled slightly while Twilight frowned. The blue alicorn accompanied Discord in the act of munching popcorn.

The Librarian and Hunter looked at the three for a second before returning to their fight. Olivia summoned a small light and silvery shortsword but remained in her suit. The two combatants nodded at eachother before engaging in the fight. "I see mine is as long as yours," commented Hunter to which Olivia responded with a smile.

Their swords were moving at unimaginable speeds, transforming into grey and sliver blurs. Sparks were flying in every direction as the swords connected their blades over and over again. After a few seconds they slowed down and Twilight could observer their fighting style.

Olivia prefered a passive approach. She deflected Hunter's attacks and immediately searched for an opening in his defence. She choose no armor, so she could react faster in case Hunter managed to breach her defences.

Hunter on the other hoof was more aggressive. She used the weight of the weapon and her own to blow heavy strikes again and again to whittle down the defences of her opponent. She used lighter armor that was still mobile but provided slight protection against near-misses and weak blows.

The fight went on longer and longer but noone could claim victory. Hunter retreated, "I see we are equally matched." The sword disappeared. She summoned something that looked like two boxes put on top of eachother. The upper box was smaller and a long handle reached out from it. The front side of the lower box was angled back at almost 45 degrees and the top front was rounded. It was painted in grey and green colors. Hunter jumped in and the thing rumbled to live. It moved on large metallic chains that were hidden behind metal covers. The handle on top moved around to point straight at the librarian. A second later the air vibrated as the handle and the area were Olivia had stood exploded.

"Hey, that's unfair," scowled Olivia when she appeared a few meters beside the explosion crater. She created something that looked like what Hunter had created, only that it was slightly smaller and it's turret was round and flat to the front.

The two vehicles started circling eachother, firing bullet after bullet only to ricochet off their respective armor. After what felt like hours, Olivia managed to damage Hunter's box. The bullet wedged itself between the turret and the hull, blocking any further movement of the former. The same moment the now useless tank dissappeared. Hunter stood infront of Olivia's vehicle, both hands in the air, the left holding a little white flag.

Olivia appeared in the hatch to the turret and laughed, "Ha, can't beat me! Shall we talk business now?"

Hunter frowned, "I have to remind you that this will not be our last battle."

The Librarian snickered, "Yeah, yeah. Never give up, eh?" - her face returned to a more serious look - "I have a job for you, Hunter."

"I'm confused now. Luna, you said they would kill eachother," interrupted Discord. He laid in the couch, looking bored.

"Never said that, only told you they would battle. Although it could have been more epic, I agree," responded the blue alicorn, "I would say we end this experience here."

The dream collapsed into itself and Twilight woke up in her bed. She sprung up and raced from her guest room in Hunter's. When she entered, she saw the Librarian, waiting for Hunter to get fully awake.

"Now, tell me, what Job have you found for me?" asked the pegasus. She sat up and stared angrily at the human.

"Oh... it's out of this world," smirked Olivia, "Literally! And I have a nice present for you, too!"