Decision or Coincidence

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?!?!” I cried as I ran headlong threw the ancient, moss covered forest at the outskirts of town. The head and body of the beast chasing me was that of a lion, but the tail looked like it had come from a giant scorpion, and the wings.

This thing actually has wings!! I screamed in my head, as I dodged low hanging tree limbs and jumped over fallen logs in my escape.

Why did I accept that dare to come into this forest? Everyone always told me to stay out of here because it was haunted. I should have just stayed home and watched some TV.

After running for what seemed like an hour threw this dark, and seemingly endless forest, I found myself stumbling into a small open patch of land. Taking a quick scan of the area I was both shocked and relieved to find there were men there. Men in uniforms holding guns. Behind them was a large chain link fence topped with razor wire that ran along the perimeter of a small building. I had heard rumors of a secret government facility in the area, but since I was new in town I didn’t believe those rumors. Which is why I found myself running for my life threw a forest no one else from the town would enter.

Running frantically toward the two guards and screaming that something was chasing me must have startled these guys. I thought, as I found myself laying flat on my back after catching the stock of one of the men's weapons across my head. The man who had struck me was now leaning over me, and although his face was covered, his eyes were visible. In those eyes I could see a curt, devious smile. The guard leaning over me kept his gaze locked on me while I lay on the ground, dazed. The smile never left his eyes as he told the other guard to stay sharp. They now knew the Manticore was close by. The second guard quickly grabbed the radio attached to the front of his shoulder and called in reinforcements.

“What are you doing here? No one is allowed to be here without proper authorization.” Said the first guard while standing over me.

Immediately after the mans last word passed threw his lips the beast chasing me tore threw the bramble I had just come out of. With a noise that sounded like the trumpet of an elephant mixed with the roar of a lion, it charged the three of us. The second guard was already firing his weapon as the first guard brought his up. Both men were now fireing their rifles at the beast.

The creature stood no chance. Under the barrage of weapon's fire, it's mane and coat exploded in little puffs as pieces were torn off by the tiny projectiles. A moment later the creatures head dropped to the ground. With the head acting like an anchor, it's momentum flipped the now dead animal over and it skidded to a stop a few feet from the group of three.

By this time I had regained my senses and had gotten back to my feet. I was simply staring at the beast. The two men then whirled around to face me. Both leveled their weapons on me as the first guard asked me again what I was doing in the area.

As I opened my mouth to answer a group of ten more armed guards, all with masks covering their faces, came pouring out of the small building behind me. These other ten men trained their weapons on me as well.

One final man came out and slowly, purposefully walked up to the small group. This man was obviously in charge. He wore no mask and carried no rifle. Only a pistol was on his side. As he approached,his eyes never left me as he called to the other two guards and ask “What are your orders? No one is to be allowed past that tree line. Why is this boy standing here now?”

I began to answer the question myself since I never got the chance to answer the guards when they had asked. I was met with a stiff backhand that sent me sprawling to the ground. “WHAT THE HE...” Is all I got out before the group of ten surrounded me and drew down their weapons, making sure I knew I had better stay quiet.

The other two guards were now standing at attention in front of the officer in charge. They began telling him how the Manticore was right behind me and they had not yet had time to get any questions answered.

The officer tilted to one side to take a look at the animal on the ground behind them. “You know, we wanted it alive.” The statement was more accusatory than a simple fact. The two guards knew they would not be treated kindly for killing the animal.

“But sir, we had no choice. It would have killed us all.” Said the second guard.

At that the officer glared at the man and quietly scolded him. “I'm well aware of what this animal is capable of soldier. Or are you looking for a promotion to captain obvious?”

The comment made the first guard chuckle. The officer was not amused. He drug his glare to the first guard, who immediately went quiet. “Call in a clean-up crew to get that animal to the lab, I'm taking the boy for 'debriefing'.”

Upon hearing this, the two guards simply looked at one another, as one fumbled at his radio microphone to call in the cleaners.

I was still laying on the ground by the time the officer in charge got to me. He reached down, grabbed me under my arm, and swiftly yanked me to my feet before releasing my arm. “Don't try to run or we’ll shoot you in the back.”

“What is this?” I began to ask, but the officer cut me off and simply told me. “Shut up and be quiet, we're going downstairs.”

With that, the officer motioned me towards the building. I could see now it wasn't much more than a small room covering some stairs that lead underground.

Turning my head to look back I saw the ten guards following close behind, weapons at the ready. The officer took one last look around before following suit.

As we began descending the wide stairway I saw a group of men in white coats already heading up the stairs. Apparently the clean-up crew is just as quick to respond as the guards around this place. I thought to myself. What did I just get myself into?

Our trip threw the halls of the underground facility drug on. Before long my attention was caught by what looked like a large dog with a fluffy tail. It was lead on a tight leash by yet another of the masked, uniformed men. The coloring was like nothing I had ever seen before. An almost neon pink body with a darker pink tail. I paused for a better view, but was shoved from behind. One of the soldiers had rammed the side of his rifle into my back. When I recovered my balance and looked again, the pink dog was gone. As with the man leading it.

“You didn't see anything. Keep moving.” The guard that had shoved me sneered.

Before I noticed it, the officer had made his way beside me and told me to stop. We were in front of a reinforced, steel door. The officer opened the door and motioned me inside with a tilt of his head. Inside the room was the typical movie style interrogation room. A small stainless steel table and a pair of chairs were the only furnishings. The entire back wall was a mirror. I knew more men would be watching me from the other side. Probably recording every move I made and word I spoke.

Stopping myself from stepping into the room I took this chance to request a break. Looking at the officer I pleaded “Can I use the restroom before we start this. I really have to go. I had needed to before that thing started chasing me. What did that guard call it? A manti-somthing?”

With a twitch from his eye and an irritated look, the officer stared at me for a moment."Your lucky there is one close by.” He looked at the closest guard, and told him to take me to the closest restroom. As the two of us began walking the officer looked to the rest of the soldiers. He told them to get back to their posts before entering the room himself.

While the guard directed me to the restroom he said in a hushed tone “There are going to be three possible outcomes when the Major is done 'talking' with you.” The guard opened another metal door, this one leading into the restroom. I did have to go, but only to pee. In an effort to buy myself some thinking time, I chose to go into a stall and pretend to use the commode over the urinal. “As I was saying,” The guard continued. “Your three outcomes in the end, will be this. One: you die, two: you go home with tracers and your home will be bugged, or three: you make yourself seem useful and maybe the Major will find you to be an asset.”

After asking if I was almost done, the guard continued in his hushed tone. “The later would be the best for you. I'm sure you don't want agents following you or your family around for the rest of your life. How long that is, is now up to the Major. If you hadn’t guessed that already.”

As I came out of the stall, I looked into the guards eyes. Eyes that knew how frail my position was. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“I didn't say anything, now move.” Was all he said, before ushering me back to the little interrogation room.

When we returned to the room, I turned to step inside and found the guards weapon at my back shoving me forward. I stumbled into the room. When I turned to glare at the guard I saw the man salute the Major before turning on his heels and walking out, closing the door behind him.

“Glad you could join me, young man.” Came the Majors voice. “I took the liberty of getting you a drink. I'm sure your run threw the forest out there has you parched.”

It was then that I actually realized how right the man was. Though I thought my dry mouth, and sandpaper tongue were caused more by the predicament I now found myself in.

“Thanks.” Was all I said as I sat down, across the table from the Major.

“Let me see your cell phone, son.” The Major said calmly. “And your I.D.”

I pulled out my cell, handed it to the Major then pulled out my wallet to get my I.D.

With a motion of his hand, the Major signaled the people behind the mirror. “Now, what were you doing out in those woods so late at night....?” The Major trailed off expecting me to provide my name. I wondered why the man didn’t just read it off my I.D.

“Kent, sir, and it was just a stupid dare from a few guys I work with. I'm kinda new to the area. I was just trying to make some friends. Bad move, I guess.”

With a raised eyebrow the Major offered an “Indeed.”

The door behind me opened. A man in a uniform, though with no mask over his face, came in. He swiftly collected my phone along with my I.D. before walked out without saying a word.

“He is going to run a background check on you, along with a few of your most used contacts.” The Major said as he noticed my questioning glances. “Tell me a bit about yourself. I'll know what is true or not in a few moments anyway, so there is no sense in lying to me. Who are your family? How close are you with your friends. What do you do for a living, for entertainment? Aside from taking midnight strolls in dangerous forests, that is.”

“Well, sir. I don't really do much aside from work. I do some gaming when I'm home, or watch TV. Like I said, I'm new to the area and don't really have any friends. My father passed away when I was young, and my mother lives about sixteen hundred miles from here. I don't have contact with anyone else from my family very often. As for work I'm a loader at a warehouse, sir. My life is less than exciting. Sometimes I wonder what it is that keeps me going. Y'know? Like, what's my purpose? Do I even have a purpose?” I had to force my mouth shut to stop my babbling.

The Major absorbed my words. I could see the intellect of the man working. Trying to determine the future of the young man who had been dropped into his lap. After some time in akward silence passed, the Major's hand went to his ear as he received a message from people on the other end.

“It seems you have a few traffic violations but nothing criminal in your background. Your family is widely spread out. You barely use your phone to do more than call your work, and it seems they pay you just enough to get by. Your bank account is very limited and has never contained more than eighteen hundred dollars.” The Major was repeating the message he had just received. “No one to call a close friend, no girlfriend, and even your mother you rarely speak with. Nor did you have an exceptional childhood. It would seem you lead a pretty pathetic life.” The Major continued before saying. “Do you like your life? Do you like scraping by to simply exist?”

I was taken aback. I had never thought of my life as pathetic. I was simply trying to get by. Never had I thought my life could be summed up and spat out in so few words. I had never been happy with my life, but having it all laid out in front of me like that depressed me noticeably. My shoulders slumped and my eyes fell away from the man in front of me. “No. When you put it like that, I guess it is a pretty pathetic life.”

“I didn't ask you if you agreed with me. I asked you if you liked your life.” The Major’s voice was stern, commanding, and demanded my eyes and attention. “Now I will ask once more. Do you like existing, or do you want to do something with your life? Do you want to find that 'purpose' you spoke of a moment ago?”

In my mind I was still reeling at how disgusted I was with my own life, but I recognized that the Major wasn't asking me what I wanted to do with my life. He was making me an offer. After a short moment of contemplation I found my mouth moving before I meant it to.

“Yes, I do.” I heard myself say, in a tone I wasn't expecting. I expected to hear defiance at the man in front of me, for smearing my life. Instead I heard disgust. Disgust at my own life. At myself.

“That's good. Now, I'm not an unreasonable man. I would like nothing more than to let you go home and continue living your meager life, but you stumbled onto something you shouldn't have. How do I know you won’t just go back home and tell everyone you know at work, or even call the media to tell them what you have seen. I simply don't know what to do with you.” The Major’s tone was apathetic. “What should I do with you?” The question was directed at me though he made it seem as if he were simply thinking aloud.

This is what the guard was talking about. I realized. He is asking me to make myself useful. He is testing me to see if I'm even worth keeping alive.

“Sir, I don't have many skills, but I do come up with a lot of unorthodoxed ways of getting things done at work. Would you possibly be willing to allow me a position here? Maybe I can be helpful.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the Major's lip twitched slightly as he leaned forward. It was subtle, but the look on his face had become one of, not just victory but, of malice as well. The tone that came from the Major was one of feigned surprise. As if he had nothing that a man such as I could do for him. He knew already what I would be perfect for.

“What would I be able to find for you to do around here that I don't already have trained men for?”

“Sir, you pointed out how pathetic my life has been. I never thought of myself as 'existing', I always saw myself as just getting by. As I said before, I don't know what my purpose is, but I would be willing to find it here. Any task you assign me, I will work my hardest to achieve.” The forcefulness in my voice surprised me.

“Maybe we can find a good use for another man.” Said the Major as he motioned to the men behind the glass once again.

A moment later two armed guards, with their faces covered, entered the room. “These men will take you to a bunk. We will have a meal brought to you in a little while. Until we have a formal briefing for you we can not let you roam the facility.” The Major explained.

I got up, and began walking to the open doorway, a guard on either side. “Will I be receiving my cell phone and I.D. back also?” I asked as I turned to look at the Major before leaving.

“You will get those back when you actually need them.” The Major said. His tone told me I wouldn't be needing them for a long time.

Walking down the facility’s halls once again, with guards in tow directing me, I thought to myself, How deep does this rabbit hole go?

As I walked down the cold grey corridors of this secret facility, the armed guards keep watch of every move I made.

I don't mind. At this point I'm doing a lot of soul searching, and wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings anyway.I have no clue how long we walked.

The Major's words about my life stung. The more I reviewed everything, the more pathetic my life seemed. All the trials and tribulations I have dealt with have proved to mean nothing. I have nothing to show for all the hard work put into eking out my life. My tiny, one bedroom apartment with so little to furnish it. My beat up car that I seem to be working on every other week. My low paying job. My social life, if you can even call it that. They were all thrown in my face and I was finally forced to look at them in another light.

I guess I never really wanted to admit how sad my life really is. I'm not sure at what point it was, but I had given up on trying. On living. It truly was as the Major had said. I was simply existing. Fighting to exist. Not fighting to live. What a pointless battle.

I was brought out of my dazed walk when one of the guards wrenched me around by my arm. “I'm not joking around kid. Next time you had better stop when we tell you to.” He said with an angry glare, his face inches from my own.

“I'm sorry. I just...have a lot going threw my head at the moment. I'm not exactly in the right frame of mind.”

The guard pointed at yet another metal door. “This is going to be your bunk until the Major gives you orders otherwise.” His tone was full of irritation. “We are going to lock you in for a while until the Major ties up some loose ends with you. Your meal will be by soon.”

“So this is a jail cell then?” The question irritated the man more than I had imagined it would. It was still funny.

“It's a security precaution smart-ass. Now get in there. This isn't the place for some soft civi like you.” Growled the guard, as he pushed me in by my arm before closing the door. I could heard the loud ting of the lock's bolt sliding into place.

I wonder what this place is anyway. It seems really odd to have a secret military installation so close to a populated area. For that matter what was that guard talking about when he said this place isn't for a soft civi like me? Could it be that dangerous?

At that moment my mind began to race with thoughts of what kind of dangers I may have just volunteered myself to face. I stood there, rooted in place by imagined dangers for an unknown time. Everything was happening so fast. It was hard to absorb all the events and seemingly final decisions that had just taken place.

After awile, my eyes focused on the small room in which I was standing. I found the room to be little more than the jail cell I imagined. A bed with a small pad to sleep on was atop a small bench, built into the corner of the floor and wall on one side. Just looking at it made my back hurt as I thought about sleeping on the thing. The question of how many nights I would be sleeping on it made my head hurt even more.

Turning around I found a small desk, also built into the wall, on the opposite side of the room. It was the same material as the wall, but had been hollowed out underneath for your legs to fit under while working. Pushed in under it was a simple wooden chair. The desk was supplied with a paper pad and a few pens. Neither the pens or the pad had any indication of what branch of the government I seemed to have just joined. It was obviously a branch of the armed forces.

I sat down on the bed and found it to be more comfortable than I had expected. That small pleasant surprise was soon wiped away as I began to wonder to myself what exactly I may end up having to do around this place.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and reprimanded myself. This is going to be a huge change. This could be the best thing that has ever happened for me. Stop thinking like a victim and reinforce yourself for this change. It's not like you have a choice anyway.

With a quick clang, my cell was unlocked. When the door opened, a man walked in with a tray of food.

“Here. Eat fast. The Major wants to see you again. You have ten minutes.” Is all the man said before placing the tray on the desk and walking back out. He did not lock the door. I imagined there was probably a guard waiting for me on the other side. I ate quickly, and found the food bland and tasteless.

Once finished, I knocked on the door and was greeted by yet another pair of the masked guards. Looking at them I stepped out of the room, gathered my resolve, and decided this was the start of my new life. A life that I would make a difference with. A life I could be proud to call my own. A life I was going to make worth living.

After walking with the guards for about ten to fifteen minutes, they stopped me in front of a large set of double doors. These were not the same cold grey steel I had seen everywhere else in this complex. The doors I stood in front of now were ornately decorated, solid wood.

My mind, which had been focused since I left my bunk, began to wander as I stared at the carved door. It was somthing you would only see in a castle or maybe some large government's official building.

“I'm sure they dont have all night, buddy.” Said one of the guards, startling me out of my moment of admiration for this door.

“Yea.” Was all I offered the man before pushing one of the doors open and walking inside. The two guards did not follow.

“There he is. How's our newest recruite doing? Was your bunk comfortable and meal acceptable?” The Major greeted me as I walked into the room. It was large meeting room with a large screen at the back and a solid wood meeting table in the center. Embossing surrounded the edges with an elegant design of leafing vines.

The Major sat at the far chair, facing me as I walked in. Beside him sat three other men. Two wearing white coats and one wearing a uniform much like the Major's.

“Sit down, son.” Said the other man in uniform. “I'm interested to hear about what you think of this place and your chance to join us in our mission here.” I gave the Major a questioning look. He simply closed his eyes and nodded, motioning me to sit and tell the other man in uniform what was on my mind.

“Well sir, initially, I was simply running for my life when I stumbled upon this palce. I was just glad that thing wasn't chasing me anymore. Now though, I can only hope to make myself usefull here. I hope to turn my life into something I can be proud of. To be a part of something larger than myself, to achieve something substantial.”

The man in uniform gave me a quizical look “When you say 'that thing', do you know what it was?” He then looked back to the Major, as if to ask why he had not been informed of an event like this.

“No sir. I have no idea what it was really. I did hear one of the guards call it a manticore though, but that cant be. Those are just fables right? Fairytail creatures?”

The man in uniform kept a stalwart look on his face as he leaned toward the Major to speak. I could only make out when he said. “Are you sure we can use him? I mean, how do we know we can trust him?” The other two men, the two wearing white lab coats, sat there quietly. It was clear they were only there to supply information when asked for it. Not to offer suggestions as to what the next course of action would be.

The look on the Major's face was one of amusement. First he looked to the man in uniform, then he looked to me. “I have no doubt we can trust this young man for the task at hand. He wants to change his life. He wants to make himself usefull, and to prove himself. We are the only chance he has to do that. Isn't that right, soldier?"

The last words out of the Major's mouth stunned me. I had never thought I would become a soldier. Those words cemented the idea in my head that what I was to become a part of was something dangerous. While that thought was still rattling my brain, I heard. “Yes sir.” Come out of my mouth without pause. “Just tell me what you want done and where to start.” I added for a touch of finality. I did not want them to think I was getting cold feet, or that I would not be suitable for tasks. Whatever they would be, I was going to do my best to complete it.

The Major smiled slyly as he turned to the man in uniform. "There, you see? I think he is going to be perfect. Should we begin the briefing then?" His words were more of a statement than a question. The other man in uniform simply bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“Now then, what we are about to tell you is of the most delicate inormation. Under normal circumstanses we could not tell anyone like you about what we are doing here...These are hardly normal circumstances." The Major's words stopped as he stared at me. Making sure I understood the gravity of what was going on here.

“Remember that creature that was chasing you?” The Major asked.

“Of course, sir. How could I ever forget it. I have never been more scared in my life. Is that creature what all this is about?” I replied while motioning towards the general facility.

“Not quite. It is from another world. A place that may yield things to us on a grand scale. The things we could gain from this other world are beyond scope.” The Major's eyes went out of focus as he spoke. He was obviously convinced of the need to obtain somthing from this other world, but I simply sat there without responding. After all. How often do you learn of the existance of another world.

“Unfortunately, we are experiencing some resistance from the other side. Not only are we forced to contend with creatures like the manticore, and more formidable creatures as well. There is also a society on the other side who do not want to acknowledge our need of information. Things there could possibly be used to cure any number of ailments here that plague our society.” The other man in uniform finished for the Major.

“Quite frankly, we are in a stalemate. There is only one known way into their world. This forest is the link. They have the area secured on their side, so we don't have any way to make regualr trips to and from their world.The same goes for our side. We keep it well secured. What we need is someone like you, someone who has not been hardened into a soldier. Somehow they know when we send a soldier over, and why they are there. What we want from you is for you to infiltrate their world and gather intel. We need you to figure out a way to get them to trust you.” The Major sat back in his chair, finished speaking for a moment.

The Major then looked to the two men in white lab coats. “Tell him about the device and the world's differences.”

One of the men began telling me about how they have found a way to open a portal to the other world with some sort of device. The technicallities of it were lost on me so he finished with. “Basically we can only open the portal in the middle of this forest, and only once every two weeks. We are unsure as to why. Also once open, it stays open for fourteen hours here, but one hour there. We have yet to find a way to shut it once we open it. It has always closed on its own after fourteen hours.”

Now it was the other mans turn. He looked at me and in a steady voice explained. “There is a time warp between worlds. In our world two weeks will go by, while in their world only one day will go by. That means you can not stay there long. We do not know if you will age at a regular pace there or if you will age fourteen times faster, but we do not want to push our luck.” The man finished with a stern look at me to emphasize the possible damage that simply spending an extended time in their world could do to ones body.

Now the other man in uniform stiffened up as he began speaking again. “We have sent men threw before. Some have come back. Some have not. We have, as you experienced with the manticore, brought some from their side back as well.”

“Is that what I saw in the halls on the way to the intterogation room before?”

The uniformed man sent a quick look to the Major. The Major showed no expression as he simply asked me. “What did you see in the halls?”

“Well, I'm not sure what it was. It looked like a big dog. I only caught a glimps of it, but its colors were amazing. A pink body with a darker pink tail. Only it's colors were too pink. I guess if it was from another world that would probably explain it.” I didn’t want to hold back any information, and wanted to alliviate their fears of mistrust in me.

“Well that doesn't matter now. Your in, and nothing is going to change that.” The Major began. “What you saw was no dog. It was one of their 'people'. What we need to do now, and quickly, is to devise a way to get you on their good side so you can move about in their world in order to gather some much needed intel. The problem is, they are suspisious of everyone we send over. They almost immideately send them back once they find them. While the portal is still open.”

“Do you understand what we need you to do here?” Asked the man in the uniform. “This mission could be the begining of fruition or the end of all our efforts here.”

“Yes sir, I understand, but wouldn't the easiest way to gain their trust be sending their people back?”

“Thats a good idea, but we cant. We need to continue studying them.” Said the Major in a dismissive tone.

“What about sending me back with that pink one I saw. We can make it seem as if I was a prisoner making an escape, and simply took her with me.” I offered, thinking it was a pretty good idea.

The other man in uniform spoke up at that point. “What makes you think that will make them trust you. They may think of the same scenerio, and still be suspicious. They would then send you back anyway. If they didn’t decide to keep you as a prisoner.”

I shruged at that as I offered “So shoot me.”

“This is not a joke. What would be the use of sending a dead man threw the portal with one of them?” Said the Major in an irritated but intriged tone, wanting to know what was really on my mind.

“I don’t mean shoot to kill. Just to emphasize the idea of my making a prison break. Have me shot in the leg, or arm. Have a guard escourting the pink one somewhere near the portal, and at the right moment I come around a corner, knocking the guard over. I grab the pink one and as we run to the portal. The guard shoots me in my escape. Simple.” The idea came so easy to my head that it surprised me as I spoke it.

“I like it.” Said the other man in uniform. “It's believeable.”

“Yes, it is.” Said the Major. “Have you ever been shot before? Do you have any idea how much that will hurt?”

That thought had yet to cross my mind. The idea was simple. In the reality of it, I was supposed to get shot!

Am I seriously suggesting this?

“No sir, I've never been shot and have no idea what to expect. Either way it is probably the best way to go about the task needing to be done though. I would be willing to do something else. I don't simply want to get shot. That part had not really occured to me about how I would have a bullet wound to deal with.” I said with a certain amount of finality.

“Very well.” The Major looked to the man in uniform. “Start making preparations for the pink one's 'escourt', I will make the plans with our new recruite here on how to go about this and where to go.”

It's all about to really hit the fan, and I'm the one in the middle of it all. "What am I going to accomplish with all this?" I said under my breath. "I just wanted to do something important with my life."

The next week and a half was spent in training. The operation in this facility was well funded. Every type of person who could have possibly been needed to run any kind of operation was here. It seems as though I spent my share of time with each of them for training. Some trained me in observation skills, others in social skills. I even received first aid training since I would be going in wounded. Not to mention the countless times we rehearsed what would be my prisoner escape plan. That part left me sore enough.

The plan changed a few times until we figured it was as good as it could get. In the end the decision to come across the pink one and her guard basically stayed the same. My role as a prisoner became one of a disobedient soldier who disagreed with what was going on.

The role was obviously going to be suspicious to those on the other side. That is why the Major said I would be perfect for the task. Since I did not have the training of a soldier, I would not have the presence or demeanor of one.

Tomorrow is supposed to be when it happens. I have been running the plan threw my head over and over again. It seemed to fit pretty well and was pretty believable. However I was still dreading the idea of taking a bullet.

I had received my own room and was free to go anywhere with a level one or two clearance. I didn't explore the place much. With the training and everything else going on I mostly stayed in my room unless called for a task. I was simply laying in bed thinking. Preparing myself for tomorrow.

A knock at my door brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality. It was the Major. He came in, sat down at the desk in my room and began going over the mission.

“First thing I want you to keep in mind is this. Don't try to do too much. Be cautious but whenever you can, be sure you get any vital information about the place you are taken to. We know it is a small town, but other than that we don't have much to go on. We need to know roughly the population of that area. Along with any kind of military forces they may have around.” The Major kept going seemingly excited about the upcoming mission. “Make sure to try and find out what kind of major industry they have also. Anything found that they need, or want will be of use as well.”

For the past week and a half I watched as the Major seemed to become more and more excited. We had to wait for the machine to charge up again since they had just had a portal close the day before I arrived. The man seemed like this was a new leap in the front of this entire ordeal. I was surprised, and pleased, that I could be the cornerstone of something so big. If this was as big as the Major said it was.

I have to say. The ideas the Major had sounded great. The solution to the worlds overpopulation and hunger could be right here. We could be responsible for bringing it to mankind. We could be heroes for the entire world.

“Hey, HEY. Pay attention. This is important.” The Major barked at me.

“I'm sorry sir. I was just thinking about how you said we could be heroes for the entire world.” I replied. The Major only smiled. That same smile he had only shown one other time.

It still nagged at the back of my mind. That smile. There was more to it than just a smile. There was more to this whole operation than what I was let in on. I expected as much since I really had no clearance for secrets anyway. The whole thing seemed off though. It was hard to explain. The amount of military presence seemed to take the credibility out of the ideas the Major had supplied as being the only thing he was after here. Then again, after the manticore incident I could understand. Even though, I simply couldn't shake the unease I was feeling about the man.

“Alright then. Get some rest. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Just remember, you will be there for eight days. That's going to be two months here. We don't know what kind of help you may receive, if any. That means be sure and take care of any wounds ASAP.” The Major finished as he walked out, leaving me to my thoughts.

The following day I awoke to a knock on my door. It was a guard sent by the Major. He wanted to see me first thing.

“Ah. There you are.” The Major said as I was shown into his office. “I know we had a little chat about your mission last night. I just want to make sure you know what you may be in for.”

“Yes, sir.” I began, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “First thing on the other side is to take care of my wounds and take note of how the native creature I take with me reacts, once back.”

“Yes, yes. You know what your supposed to do. What Im asking is if you know what your getting into.” The Major said as he cut me off.

“I don't understand, sir. What am I missing?”

“You will be in an alien world. With alien creatures who have abilities that are mostly unknown to us.” The Major said bluntly.

“Sir. You have informed me about the natives and I have seen one already. I understand the risk that if I am found out to be a fraud I could be killed.” I replied quickly, not wanting him to think I would lose my nerve.

“Good. As long as your in the right frame of mind when you go into this. We're starting the machine now. Prepare yourself. Meet me back here in five hours.” said the Major.

As I walked out I started walking toward the chow hall. I wanted to make sure I had a decent meal before going into that other world. Who knows what options of meals I will have there. All I did while eating was think. After I finished eating I sat there for the remaining time. Thinking.

When I met up with the Major, again, he simply told me he wanted to be close when my mission began.

I walked with the Major to the designated area. Then at the his que I bound into a dead run and rounded the next corner. Just as planned there was the guard. I was barely able to catch a glimpse of the man before crashing into him. I didn't even see if the pink native was with him.

As I rolled over and jumped to my feet I took note of the pink creature. I didn't have time to evaluate anything in that instant and instead simply grabbed the creature around it's middle and picked it up before I was running again. It somehow looked different from the first time I had seen it in the hallway two weeks ago.

“C'mon, we're getting out of here.” The words were almost a scream as I made my way around the next few turns. Heading directly for the portal room. As the seconds ticked by, my brain finally analyzed the difference I was seeing. The pink fluffy hair and tail had been replaced by long, strait, pink hair. I simply imagined it was the fact that it had been here for the past couple weeks and had not been able to do anything about its appearance.

“Let me go!” The pink thing squealed. “Put me down!” It's voice was surprisingly cute, and obviously female. More surprising to me was that the thing spoke English. While I ran with it, it's legs were kicking out in the air as if it were running, but I was not about to let it down.

“Be quiet! I’m going to help you. They opened the portal some time ago. We only have one chance to get you back. Stop fighting me!” I screamed as I ran with the pink thing in my arms.

When my words sunk into the creatures head there was a realization in her eyes. Her eyes sparkled at this, and at that moment her hair and tail immediately poofed out like a can of spring snakes. Her hair and tail were now just as fluffy as the first time I saw her. It was bewildering.

The portal room came into view as I rounded the next corner. “There it is, we have to hurry.” I could hardly get the words out considering how winded I was from not only the run but carrying the creature as well.

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE OR I'LL SHOOT” Came a guard's voice from far down the hallway behind us.

That's when it happened. Just as we entered the portal room, a single shot rang out from behind and was coupled with a feeling hotter than anything I had ever felt before in my life.

The bullet tore threw my left thigh just before planting it. When my foot hit the ground, pain flared threw my body like fire, from the wound. The pink one and I crashed to the ground.

“AAAHHH FUUCK!!!” Screaming, I let the native go and grasp both hands tightly around my thigh, blood oozing out of the wound and soaking my jeans.

“What was that? Oh my gosh what happened to your leg? Are you alright?” Came the pink creatures voice. It spoke so fast, I had difficulties separating the words in my head, threw the pain in my leg.

“Go! The portal is right there. I'll be right behind you.” I screamed threw the tears of pain burning my eyes as I tried to get back up.

To my surprise the pink creature didn't run. Instead it came around me and helped push me up onto my good leg. Together we hobbled the rest of the way towards the strangely glowing portal.

It was set between a pair of tesla coils, maybe six feet apart. Fingers of electricity extended a few inches from the rings before the milky white portal took the rest of space in between, making it look like a doorway into a cloud.

As the guard ran into the room, the pink creature and I threw ourselves into the portal.

Time seemed to stretch. The pain in my thigh disappeared. I seemed to be floating in pure bliss. Time lost meaning. How long I was there I cant say. It seemed like eternity. My body was in extacy and I no longer cared about anything. My mind was more relaxed than I can ever remember. The white all around me was intoxicating, but somewhere in the back of my mind something was nagging at me. I had forgotten about something while I swam on in bliss.

Colors rushed into my vision. Dazzling colors. All tinged in dark shadows, but still more dazzling than any I had seen before in my life. I was laying on my back in a forest full of trees and flowers I had never seen before.

Then the pain returned. My leg felt like it was on fire. I sat up and clutched my wounded thigh tightly in my grasp out of more instinct than from any first aid training I had. I had to stop the bleeding though, and soon.

I began pulling my belt off to tie it around my thigh. I paid no attention to anything around me. The pain in my thigh, and the need to stop the bleeding was the only thing I could think of.

“HELLO! IS ANYPONY OUT THERE?? WE NEED HELP!” I heard the pink creature yelling into the forest we found ourselves in.

Did she just say, anypony? I was amused at the strange word. It took my mind away from the pain a bit to listen to the creature speak. I guess the natives are, ponies?

“ZECORA! ARE YOU AROUND?” Yelled the pink pony.

I heard the footsteps of several beings rushing towards us. I was sitting on the ground, and the pink pony was standing a few feet from me, still yelling for 'anypony' to come help us.

The heavy sounds of horse hooves pounding the ground grew louder as the beings approached. When they pushed past some bushes I saw four stout looking ponies, wearing golden armor, galloping towards us. What I saw behind them made me rub my eyes and blink several times in an attempt to refresh my vision. I thought for sure I was hallucinating. Following the armored ponies were three unicorns, wearing robes.

As they came into close range the four armored ponies all suddenly flared out wings, showing themselves to be pegasi, and took to low flight. They all began circling me. Two of the unicorns walked slowly up to me as the third went to the pink pony.

“Don't move or we will be forced to restrain you.” Came a voice from one of the pegasi above me.

“Yes. Please don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be.” A voice from one of the unicorns followed quickly.

I turned to look in the direction of the pink pony. The other unicorn was ushering her away from me at a quick trot. She turned her head around to look at me. She had a sad look in her eyes. She did not want to be taken away just yet, but had no choice apparently.

When I looked back, the two remaining unicorns were simply watching me. The same goes for the pegasi above me who had stopped circling and merely hovered.

“Get up, we're taking you to see the Princess.” Came a voice from above.

“Not real sure if you can tell this but,” I pointed to my bloodied leg. “I cant exactly walk right now.”

One of the pegasi looked down to the forward most unicorn questioningly. The unicorn then told the pegasus. “Go get a carriage team, and make sure it's a secure carriage.” He then regarded myself. “Regardless of your condition, we are taking you to see the Princess.”

With the pain in my leg, throbbing and the loss of blood, I felt light headed. Since I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to at the moment, I simply laid on my back after making sure my belt was tightly fastened around my thigh above the wound.

“Guess I get to meet the Princess.” I said to myself as I was forced to wait for the secure carriage. Great way to start my mission. Been here all of five minutes and I've already been captured.

I didn't have to wait long for the carriage, and pegasus to return. I'm not really sure how long the wait was though. The pain in my leg took most all of my focus to block out as I keep groaning constantly. When the carriage did arrive, the unicorn in charge told me to get inside. My leg told me otherwise, but regardless of the pain, I tried to get up and hobble over to the carriage. I made it without too much effort though. Getting inside was a different challenge.

“Do you need some help?” Asked one of the unicorns.

“If it's not to much trouble. This carriage is a bit to high for me right now.” I was trying to stay polite. I didn't want to irritated them, the pain made me curt anyway.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt a tingle across my entire body and my weight lift from my legs. A faint blue glow surrounded me as I began to float. Threw that hazy glow it seemed everything went a new shade of blue. The sensation of weightlessness combined with my blue vision was entrancing. I was set gently onto a seat in the carriage with such ease it seemed as if I weighed nothing at all.

The carriage was not the prisoner transport I was expecting. It did have a lock on the door and bars on the windows, but the seat was comfortable and the inside was welcoming. It seemed odd to me. Why would this carriage be so nice if it was used for prisoners.

The unicorns and pegasi all stayed in the forest as the carriage took off. While I rode inside the carriage I began wondering what was going to happen and how long it would take. I only had eight days to get back to the portal. It was still hard to believe that would be two months in my world.

As we cleared the edge of the forest, I was in for a shock. To my surprise the carriage leapt into the air. I was not prepared for this. I was expecting a quiet ride, not a flight.

After the initial shock was gone, it became a rather comfortable flight. Seeing the clouds passing the windows was very calming. The throbbing pain in my leg was very distracting though.

I was surprised when the carriage set down after the short flight. I would imagine it was no more than thirty to fourty five minutes. Then again, if there was a portal to another world that I had to deal with, I would have facilities near as well.

When I arrived, there was a team of stout ponies and a few unicorns waiting. One of the unicorns opened the door with its magic and I was told to step out.

I grabbed the door frame and attempted to slowly lower myself to the ground. In my attempt I ended up putting to much pressure on my leg and collapsed.

“AAAHH SHIT!” I clenched my thigh, and my teeth after I hit the ground. When I looked up I saw a trail of blood on the side of the carriage. I chuckled a little as I told the unicorns. “You may want to get someone to clean that up.” I pointed at the blood on and in the carriage.

“Your badly injured! We need to get that wound taken care of.” One of the unicorns said hastily.

Another of the unicorns quickly adding. “You don't need to worry about that carriage.”

“Go get us something to carry this prisoner with.” The unicorn in the back of the group told one of the stout ponies. It was hard to determine at first who was in charge since so few of these ponies actually wore uniforms, or cloths for that matter. After a few moments it was clear. The unicorn in the back was giving the orders.

When the stout pony returned with an item resembling a stretcher, the unicorn in back told him then to send word to the princess. “Were taking him to block one.” Was the entire message.

With help from the unicorns magic I was placed on the device and the stout ponies carried me inside. The unicorns kept a close eye on me. I imagined they were making sure I was not going to try anything to harm the ponies carrying me.

It was only a few moments between the time I was shown to my cell before there was another unicorn with me. This one had bandage wraps and told me to remove my garment. I didn't imagine I had much choice. Even if I tried to refuse he could just use his magic to take my pants off.

I squirmed out of my jeans trying to keep it as painless as possible. It didn't work. I unfastened the belt around my thigh. As soon as I did, pain erupted and blood began seeping threw the torn jeans and soaking me in a dark crimson. The color stark against the background around me. When the top of my jeans slid over the torn flesh of my thigh, it sent ripples of pain threw my body and I began sweating feverishly. It was now that I saw for the first time how bad my leg looked.

“This is bad. This is really bad.” The unicorn began saying in a frantic voice. This didn't help me. I was already woozy from the loss of blood. As quick as I could manage with my fumbling fingers and fuzzy mind, I replaced the belt above the wound, and tightened it as much as I could stand. The bleeding slowed to a slight trickle.

Seeing the meat of my leg hanging out was very concerning.

“I-I don't know what to do about this.” The unicorn was mumbling to itself. “I was just going to wrap the wound, but this is far to bad to just wrap it.” He spoke so quickly I barley understood him. Maybe it was just my addled mind.

Just then a beautiful pony, or horse, came into my cell. It was obviously female, and was very large compared to the rest of the ponies. It was nearly twice the size of any other pony I had seen. Had I been able to stand, we would have been roughly eye level.

“Princess Celestia!” The unicorn gasped as it turned to the sound of hoofs approaching, and saw the waving multi hued mane of the pearl colored pony, before bowing. This princess had both, the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus, along with a gold crown that matched her large gold neck piece and the radiant image of the sun on her flank. She also wore small armored hoof protectors of a gold color as well. Even without hearing the unicorn call out the identity of this pony, it was obviously of extreme rank in this world.

I was sitting on the floor in a pool of my blood. My mind extremely fuzzy from the blood loss by now, but even so I still saw the beauty of this creature as I looked upon it.

Before she said anything, my mouth opened. “So pretty. Are you an angel?”

The world spun and slowly grew darker and darker. This is crazy. Am I going to die here, in this world of brilliant colors? I guess my life was a total waste after all. I failed my mission Major. I'm sorry.

I slumped over, my head hit the floor as the rest of the light faded from my view. The last thing I saw was the gold armor plating over the hooves of this, Princess Celestia.