Cognitive Dissonance

This isn't how it was supposed to go.

I kinda fucked up. Not too bad to warrant myself to my death. Er, perhaps myself getting caught instead of dying, if you consider who I'm up against...

Let me clarify.

As I've understood through recent personal experience, scouting an unknown area is a lot harder than it looks, when you're unfamiliar with the inhabitants of the land. I had been camping out in the forest of moss and wolves made out of timber, that attempted (I presume) to eat me, but they themselves didn't know the power of an AK47. It took me a couple of hours to clean up that particular... stand-off, you could call it? Well, whatever the right words are, I had... wounded myself a bit. They caught me off-guard in something relating to an ambush, and I had minor injuries, and a gash around my stomach area. I couldn't really sleep at all that night. I had to use salt to heal myself, without any painkillers, and I've been managing to get by.

Anyways, disregarding the hostile wildlife and my 'injury', the stake-out didn't go too bad. I just had to wait a number of days, a week to be exact, until I could implement the first part of many of the plan. I'm a patient guy, you see. And if I'm not, I'm much more patient than others. And that's saying something.

And I had to wait longer than I should have in the first place, because my 'superiors' and my comrades are a bit fucking incompetent. They aren't expert on the situation as a whole, and were in the dark as much as I was. But really, those were the only excuses they could come up with. Along with laziness, and the patronizing tone of 'You can do this all on your own', the selfish bastards. And when I state that they are incompetent, they were lost for days on end on what to do. They're incompetent and indecisive, like some people I need not mention. I would say 'retarded' as a bigger insult, but then I would be insulting everyone with a mental disability, associating with morons like them. Though I may be exaggerating a... lot. Hey, don't blame me, I'm stressed out enough as it is.

Um, digressing back to the point, I still had enough rations to last about another week. Though the only edible food I could find was small birds that were hard to spot. And water was really hard to come by, that wasn't saltwater. But I didn't starve or die of thirst. I would be complaining like a bitch if I didn't know what I... 'signed' up for. What I consider luckily enough for me, none of the sentient beings who are the local inhabitants of the... continent I presume (not the wolves of the forest) had ever walked through this area. At the time, I chalked it up to the fact that they were either terrified of the timber-wolves, or this place simply wasn't colonisable. Though I had many doubts. I found a run-down castle in the middle of the place, but it didn't look sturdy enough for me to search it, so I didn't bother.

But really, I didn't know what the inhabitants were at the time either. I wasn't filled in on any sort of information, not that anyone else knew. I was alone, as I was ordered to go in and find the item that we were looking for. They had found it at the top of some mountain in the far-distance that you could only make out from where I was. Where I observed there was a castle sticking out from the side. At least these people were perilous, which is something to note. The other being that, from where I was, it was usually always clear of clouds from the area beyond the forest. Perhaps the weather patterns are much kinder to these folk. At least it didn't rain once in the forest.

I had received my orders on Thursday around dusk. The order was to scout out the proceeding area, and plan-out to find the item from there. They didn't give me any other sort of limitations from there, that I could do whatever I wanted. But to not act hostile to the local inhabitants (don't be trigger-happy basically), and stay in full stealth as much as possible. And if I was caught... 'stealing' this item... I'm essentially fucked, and they won't help me at all. They'll disassociated far away from me as possible to. Which is always a nice thought to think about.

So, I made my move later at night. There was no going back from there. And... it was a rather interesting night to remember.

=====

Thursday 10:24pm

I really wished it wasn't fucking raining. It had to now, didn't it? Only my luck, after HQ has just sent me on a death wish to retrieve this 'item' they keep talking up as the most invaluable thing to have ever existed. It's purpose is one of classification, with so many asterisks that it wouldn't look out of place as a star constellation. Implying I was going to get caught. And I wouldn't be surprised if Nicholas placed a bet on me getting captured by the unknown.

I really hope he doesn't win that money. Infuriating prick.

The forest seems to end here. You can tell if you glance over the forestation. There was no sight of any moss, and it was more diverse in color. As in it actually had color that wasn't related to green pig shit. Still no beings yet, which is slightly calming, if it has any effect at all. I decided to rush up to the bushed ahead, that felt like it didn't have any prickles in it this time. I could... somewhat make out a homestead. All I see is a dim light, radiation from what looks to be a home covered in a lot of flora... carved out from the insides of a... hill, that one could mistake for a short tree at first glance. If this was indeed a tree, and if any of my comrades was residing here, it'd probably had already been sent in flames. Except for Anthony, who would of probably chopped it down all by himself. If you want to talk about trigger-happy people... A residence that is easily flammable.

A few things to note is that there were no signs of any electricity cables, which is very confusing. How are they powering any sort of lamps then? Or air conditioning? Heaters, in this case of the cold weather that's annoying me. Second, I can't make out any smoke, which probably rules out any fire place (which would have burnt the wooden place anyways)... Thirdly, there appears to be a miniature farmstead around the presiding tree... and a small cave... Aside from peaking my curiosity a bit, this will make staying in stealth a bit more difficult. Fourth, there was a lake surrounding it, where the only access is from the bridge, or circling all the way around it, which is too risky, as I don't know what's on the other side.

Making sure I couldn't see anyone or anything coming from any direction, I quickly ducked over to a skinny, small 'tree' that didn't really cover me all that well from the rain, and probably from sight, but if it wasn't raining, or near-pitch black dark, I might have been sighted quite quickly and easily. Now, the only reason that I'm scouting this... homestead is to see what sentient beings reside here, to... get a feel of the place. And to plan out my 'enemies' if they become that (which they inevitably will), much more easier. And to observe the behaviors if they are indeed hostile or... non-hostile. As long as I can understand their language, and they're not speaking some foreign-shit, it might make life more frustrating for me.

I swiftly ran over the bridge as quietly as I could, vaulted over the small brown fence (where there is a small land area that wasn't the lake), where I took a quick glance at the house door and windows, noting they were both pretty small, and slowly made my way around the house. I was too far down to glance through the windows. I prefer to do it in a safer position, mind you. And due to the fact that this is pitch black darkness, I couldn't see that there was a backyard area here. But the light was radiating from inside to the backyard, so I really need to be careful here. But I decided to freeze from behind the corner, as I heard two voices, too indistinguishable for me to make anything out. Other than one sounded different from the other.

Then, I heard the front door swing open, where I could hear that the two entities walking out of the home. Sensing my chance, I quickly ducked around the corner and down from the window. Taking a proper look, the backyard seems to be... polished, but a bit muddy. Great, mud. Just what I needed if I need a quick getaway.

I paused myself before I peeked in, as I decided to listen in on the conversation, which I could make out a bit better. "Are you sure you want to fly in the rain?" A soft-ish voice asked in concern. Wait, fly?

"Don't worry about it," A brash voice replied. "I can fly in the rain with my eyes closed!" The egotism dropping from the female's mouth. The word 'fly' was dropped once more, which made me think. The had the ability to fly? I ruled out the possibility that they were humans, in an instant. I also considered the fact that the home looked a tad too short for any normal-sized human to live in.

Hesitantly, I took a quick glance inside, looking around for a few second. I'm making out the fact that this place homed a lot of small animals. An animal enthusiast, it appears to me. 'Cause there's a lot of different animals here. The place also appeared to be a small cottage, persian rugs, a kitchen area, a fire place (with no fucking smoke coming out of it?!). It's filled with runways, holes and perches. I ducked back against the wall, making sure any animal didn't spot me. Jeez, a shit-ton of animals reside in this place. Perhaps the owner does... no, probably not. Not with a friend. Unless they're both in on it. Ugh. I shiver at the thought.

"Well... okay then." A hesitant voice replied. "S-see you tomorrow Rainbow Dash." R-Rainbow? Dash? The hell kind of name is that? I took another slow peek, spotting a silhouette figure outside the front door, unable to really make anything out. I ducked back against the wall with a sigh, listening in again.

"Cya Fluttershy!" Flutter... shy? I couldn't process that, as a big 'swoosh' sound flew over my head, instincts kicking in and I ducked to the right inside a bush. When I peaked out, a rainbow trail was followed from another silhouette figure.

What the fuck am I dealing with here? My logic (science) can't explain any of this. I peaked out of the bush again, where I could see the inside of the home from a distance. Looks cozy. Too much for an individual like me. Too realistic I should state.

What person would call their daughter 'Fluttershy'? That's stupid, and probably traumatic to the child. Well, I decided to peak out of the bush again...

"Are you hungry enough Angel?" The female, who is a butter-colored pony that has wings, a pink hair-do and tail, with some ass-tattoo on her back leg, looked down at a bunny, which nodded. I slowly went back inside the bush again.

What am I supposed to think about that? A land inhabited by... colorful ponies? That has pegasi? That has enough magical capability to fly? That has mythical beings that we humans only dream about ever existing? Where this land appears to have no industrial capabilities of any sort (from first glance however)? Where... they rely on magic, that would explain the fire place with no sign of any smoke, or the place being set on fire?

Still makes more sense than Mass Effect 3, I'll give it that (yet that shouldn't be a near-impossible task to feat). But... it boggles my mind, that what may most likely become my future enemies, are aliens that don't really seem to be any threat at face-value, until they show off the magical prowess. As long as they don't have plasma weapons...

And so much for the fucking mask I'm wearing. I don't really see any reason to keep it on. I mean, I'm the only one of my race among all of these... ponies... that looked like it came out of a discount-Disney child's show. They're going to recognized me pretty quickly. Unless they are incompetent themselves...

Watching over the behavior patterns of this 'Fluttershy', it appears she has a personality of kindness, and empathy towards 'harmless' animals (until they go into full bat-shit crazy and start attacking you, trust me I know, I've seen the movies), but also naive. Apparently she is taking orders from a small harmless bunny, that can easily be kicked over this small hill. She eventually, after a few minutes, said her good-nights to her small animals, and maid her way upstairs, to her sleeping quarters. I decided against sneaking in there, even if she may seem completely harmless after minutes of observation. Looks can always been deceiving. And I shouldn't really underestimate her.

But it was really easy for a hired-mercenary to assassinate her without any problems, swiftly and quickly. I'm not saying I would have done it (if you had asked a rhetorical question), just stating a fact. This place isn't in any kind of conflict, it appears. And I wonder where that 'Rainbow Dash' flew off to. A home in the clouds? This isn't Columbia, but this place does have explanatory magic. Like... Columbia. Nevermind.

With a small inner-conflict raging inside of my head, I decided to scout out the rest of what looks like a small settlement of a village. Seems like a peaceful place, from the hill I was kneeling down from. If only something were to disturb this place and possibly change the attitude of the local populous from what seems to be peaceful and harmonious...

An interesting scenario that wouldn't be impossible to achieve.

One of my earlier suspicions has been confirmed. This place is very technologically disadvantaged when compared to my race. 'Behind', would also be a acceptable term. These are ll made of little wooden houses, that all seem polish and 'wonderful' to reside in. As in, it looks comfy. But they all seem small, aside from one or two homes that has a second story. One thing to note that there was a town hall-esque area, which might be the center of this village, if you just walk straight from east to west. At least none of these places were made of Mandalorian steel. I shudder inside this tiny-sized bush. Damn, that would have definitely been a red flag the first second I cropped up here.

Nearby the town hall, is actually a big fuck-off tree, that looks to be carved out to make way for a homestead. Ugh. Magical ponies are somewhat efficient, I suppose. Even if living inside of a tree has many, many downsides. Thinking about it, this place is very prone to an invasion, and they don't seem the slightest prepared. Mainly because that small area that seems to resemble a market place, doesn't have a weapons store. But a lot of food stores...

Everyone in town appears to be dead asleep at this time. So, I might as well sneak in. The first place was the town hall. It wasn't all that hard, just shoot the door open with a silencer pistol. They'll... thinking back on it, they'll obviously notice... eh, they won't know it's me. Peaking in, there was no figure inside. Applying a fancy roll, this place really seems like a town hall. Got two flags an everything. Bookcases. A desk, a chair... information. Not really all that spacious. Though this place would be relatively achieved without great effort to spy on the ponies here, considering the big windows that make up half the damn ceiling... that's sphere-shaped.

Flipping through the papers here, there's a whole lot of nothing resembling any crucial info. There's a number of some foreign nation visiting soon where the word 'Yak' was dropped, something related to a Princess (hopefully not a Dreamworks' princess), a second Princess (that lives in a tree...), something about the 'Elements of Harmony' (an odd name for a malicious and secret weapon, in a non-guarded area), and something related to a figure entitled 'Discord'. I couldn't really make out the rest of the words, as they are in some fancy bullshit font that's too incoherent for me to understand, only key words came out to me.

Pony princesses... unless they're unicorns (that would be a nightmare to deal with), it shouldn't be that difficult to capture, potentially take hostage over the items that I may need. Getting out the castle would be a problem... for another day.

Making sure there weren't any traces of me left, after I had scouted out the rest of this unnecessary place, I closed the window, and moved back into the bushes. At least the rain was clearing out a little. Still a nuisance. Like the flu, that eventually goes away.

Well, the big tree is where I really need to be careful now. A 'Princess' resides there. How convenient. Judging from the outside area, it's completely unguarded (go figure, morons). I only had rushed up to the bushed next to the front door, where I... opened the door. This place doesn't lock their doors? Holy shit, this is so much easier. But this door has and upper and lower part, for whatever reason. Just in case, I opened both windows. There wasn't anyone inside from first glance. Opening both, swiftly moving inside and closing them silently behind me, this place appears to be a library.

Well, this shouldn't be hard to steal a number of books that would provide me with key information, right?