Chapters Wake up...
Corporal Adrian Shephard, a name that most people will forget to remember. His name has been forgotten to human history, all his battles, his victories, his friends, family, comrades, and overall defeat. Everything he did to stop an alien invasion, had been clouded up by government conspiracies, and cover up operations. It had all been in vain. His guns, once hot and throwing lead, now lay cold, and untouched by him, nor anyone else. He still sits where he once sat talking to a mysterious figure in a blue suit and black suitcase aboard an escaping osprey. But now, there was no sound, no visual, no smell, taste, or feeling. Just the vacuum of the void.
He looks into the never ending darkness watching, listening for anything, but still after so long, he has finally given up hope to ever seeing Earth again. Not like he wanted to go back anyway, the way he figured, ‘a thermonuclear tactical ICBM warhead could not possibly close an interdimensional hole in time and space,’ and he was right. Two weeks after the Black Mesa incident, Earth had turned into a war zone, aliens from a planet called Zen, a boarder world that housed the fleeing race of the Vortigaunt, had begun a full scale invasion of Earth, thousands would die, maybe millions. After that, two months passed, and the Universal Union would invade, causing the Vortigaunt and the Humans to unite and attempt to ward off the attackers.
All of this was in vain, in seven hours, Earth was brought to it’s knees, and transformed into a slave planet. Only time would tell how long the Human race has to live. Adrian knew Earth's time was up, but he couldn’t help but stay loyal to his cause, his country, comrades, ideals, and cultures. Earth would always be his home, the soil he once stepped on, the blue oceans that stretched from one side to the other, the rocky mountains that pierced the clouds, the dry and expansive deserts, and the frozen and otherwise unlivable conditions of the tundras. He loved it all.
But now it only exists in memories, that are deep within his mind, resting their and keeping the marine thinking of home. Adrian had lost track of time, time didn’t apply to him anymore, nothing like that mattered to him. He just watched the darkness surround him. But he could feel, that change was coming, at some point that man in the blue suit would come back, and set him free. With his eyes closed he prayed to any god that would listen to his pleas,
“Please, if anyone or anything is listening, let me out of this hell, I’ve served my time, I want to leave this place, let me go somewhere, I don’t care where just let me live out my life, let me die.” He thought to himself.
After a while inside the void, Adrian would talk to himself about nothing. Conversations ranging from his situation, to, how much cheese could someone physically fit on a sandwich. He had grown restless, their was only so much a man could endure.
And finally after so many prayers, and pleads, he came back. Some people call him the Stalker, the Ghost, or G-man. But Adrian calls him, "Mr. Blue".
As Adrian slept, he awoke to light, after so long, he had finally seen something different, he was awe struck, almost tree months of darkness, just to be disrupted like that. He couldn’t speak, but he wanted to, he had before but now, his words just wouldn’t come out, like someone had pushed the mute button. A figure appeared from the rectangular source of light, briefcase in hand. He walked right up to Adrian and looked through the eye holes of his M40 Gasmask, and Adrian stared back.
“Good evening, Mr. Shephard. I’ve kept you here for a while, that information is obvious, but yet again, other matters have need of my attention. But this was done this deliberately, of coures. A certain friend of yours has captured the spotlight of my benefactors, the man in the orange suit.” He said with a smirk on his smug face.
“We have no need for you on Earth, the man known as Freeman will do just fine. But, for you I... we, have something special for you, a new mission. My employers have over looked your qualifications again, and they seem obligated to give you a second chance. But here’s a catch, this is an off world assignment, meaning you will not be returning to Earth, sadly.” Saying this G-Man turned around and opened his briefcase, pulled out a slip of paper, and read it over, while constantly glancing over at Shephard.
“Yes, quite, you are going to an interesting planet that has been recently given a, second glance. This, I know sounds rather, troublesome, but I assure you, it's not. Your mission details will be given to you, in due time, for you must find your mission and complete it, you'll know when you're done, ill find you.” He says putting the paper back away. He walks up to Adrian again, straightens his tie and smiles.
“This is your time to redeem yourself Mr. Shephard, do not disappoint me, or your employers, they don't take easy, to failure.” He said turning around towards the light again. Adrian wasn’t sure how to react, he didn’t know weather to punch him, or thank him. The man turned his head around to Adrian and spoke for the last time,
“Wake up Mr. Shephard. Duty is calling you." Saying this, he walked in the doorway of light and disappeared from existence once again. But the light didn’t go away, instead it engulfed Adrian and moved him into a state of unconsciousness.
When Adrian awoke, he wasn’t staring into the void, he was staring into a beautiful blue sky.
Date: July-14-2015…
Location: Unknown…
POV: Cpl. Adrian Shephard…
Time:1735 hours…
I opened my eyes to the sounds of birds chirping around me, the heat of a sun beating down on my skin, the feeling of grass on the back of my exposed arms, and a rifle in my right hand. All of these feelings I haven’t felt for a very long time, and to be experiencing it once more, it forced mw into a state of bliss. It almost felt liberating, I felt like I was just released from jail, and had a 50 dollar bill in my pocket and a phone full of contacts. I was ready to get out there and begin exploring this new world. The birds, the sun, the sky, the grass, everything felt like home, but, not like home at the same time. It was strange, I hadn't even looked around, and already, I had a fairly good sense of what the place looks like.
I pushed myself up with the aid of my arms and looked around. I appeared to be on a hill. Behind me was a extremely thick forest, to the right of the hill was a river, and to left of the hill was an open field that seemed to stretch on for a while, before meeting the forest again. In front of me was what looked like a mid sized eastern european town, that connected to the river on the right. I saw a large farm off to the left of the town that connected to vast fields, that appeared to be growing trees, possibly apples. Off to the right of the town was a gigantic crystal castle that rose to the sky, flags hung from its balconies that made it look very extravagant.
But behind the village, was a far off mountain range with a large city impossibly built into the side of the tallest peak. It looked magnificent, it had tall buildings, castle towers, and walls that seemed to be protecting it. The whole structure was painted in white, blue, and yellow. It had to be the capital of this land,the colors,the placement,everything pointed to it. And a good chance that my, “mission” was their, waiting for me. But it’s not like I was going to my mission right away, the last place I want to be was back in the void, so until I have to go their, I will never go near it.
I pushed myself up and got onto my feet, for the first time in a long time, I was finally standing on my own two feet again, it felt good. I stretched, and put myself through a few PT exercises, it was time to get my blood flowing again. 50 push ups and 70 jumping jacks later I finally felt like I was back in my own skin again. The void was special, I didn’t need to eat or drink, or age, or degenerate, I was just suspended their. It was almost impossible, but it still happened. My muscles had not degenerated, I wasn’t malnourished, or tired, It was almost as if, my body hadn't moved from that last day in Black Mesa. My ammo had been replenished, somehow, but other than that everything was the same,even my cuts and wounds, which of course didn’t hurt anymore.
After I checked my body out and made sure everything was still their, I began to set up camp, I took off my ALICE backpack and rested it down on the ground, and began unloading the supplies that command issued for extensive recon operations. This consisted of things like tents, sleeping bags, blankets, to MRE’s and first aid equipment. By the time my camp site was complete, the sun had sunk lower into the sky, which ment night would be coming soon. So I collected rocks and medium sized logs to make a campfire with, after I arranged my fire ring and built of the triangle of wood I went back to my bag, and grabbed flint and steel, and a little brush, to catch the sparks.
2130 hours…
The fire raged, and the night sky was filled with stars. All though the fire wasn’t to big, it kept my immediate area bright. I sat on a rock that was big enough for me to sit on and watched the stars glisten above me. It felt strange to be here, on this planet away from home, the place I’ve been my entire life. But I guess, this place would have to do. I go over the info about this place, the sights, the sounds, the overall feel about this place, I calculate possible outcomes.
“Someone had to build those towns, which means they have standards, sophistication, intelligent life. So, I got that going for me.” I said to myself looking out over the village. “Good thing nobody is around me, that would suck if said someone found me right now.” I said out loud, slightly louder than normal. I waited three second, then got up off my rock, and looked around my campsite with my night-vision. Finding nothing, I returned to my rock, and sighed.
“Okay good, that's out of the way.” I said taking off my helmet and mask. The smell of fresh air was so relaxing, it had been awhile since I felt the cool night air hit my face. My head felt lighter now, without five pounds of kevlar on my head, and an extra two on my face. I felt content with my current situation, but I felt like something was missing. Saying that, the something finally came out clear.
“Oh! Right…” I got up and rushed over to the bag and opened a special compartment used for transporting top secret documents. I opened it and their at the bottom it rested, its metallic shine glistening off the moon. “My Ipod!”
I pulled it out and pushed the earbuds into my ears and turned it on. Few minutes went by, but eventually, my device came on and I turned on the first song that I saw.
"Perfect..." As the music played I tapped my foot along and watched the sky flicker on.
Date: July-14-2015…
Location: Royal Palace…
POV: Princess Celestia…
Time: 2300 hours…
I dream't soundly in my bed, dreaming of visions of brighter days for the equestrian Empire. I went over today's events, and dreamed about tomorrows. I felt that even if things were going great, times could change within an afternoon. But luckily for the Empire things had been going smoothly lately. I felt, almost contempt with today's current political status. Boarders were open with friendly nations, and Twilight was becoming a better teacher every day. I walked through a rift in space through the dream world. I watched as ponies slept soundly while my sister Luna finally went to work, in aiding ponies with their nightmares.
But something wasn't right, I felt like their was something else, I felt a disturbance. I heard what sounded like voices, speaking through unknown channels, random snippets of dialogue. I didn’t let it bother me, until it began getting louder. Soon, I started seeing things, lights began changing, and I couldn’t see Luna anymore. The otherwise peaceful nature of the dream realm was getting taken over by something. Blue hues were taken over by red, and orange flames, and the way it was spreading meant that it was coming from behind me. Quickly I turned around to see a fire, flames of rage and destruction.
There weren't anymore dreams, or stars or peacefulness, just the flames of a single entity, it burned the void and turned all into ash. I was terrified, I had never seen anything like this before. A single figure stood there before me, I needed to wake up, but that thing wouldn’t let me. It began to move towards me, it walked on two legs and wielding a short staff in its arms. As it came closer I saw into its eyes, or what I thought was it’s eyes, they glowed green over the red fire. Whatever it was, it was getting close, and I couldn’t move my hoofs, I tried to use magic, but my horn wouldn’t catch
It came right up to me it’s green eyes looked into my soul, as if it was sucking the life out of me. Behind the green light was what looked like a different pair of eyes, it's real eyes. It raised its left hand and pointed at me. It didn’t say anything, but it just looked at me. For a while it just stared as if trying to kill me with it's looks.
“See you soon.” It said before everything flashed to darkness. The next thing I knew I was awake, and it was time for morning. Beads of sweat were falling off my forehead, I was shaking in fear of what I had just saw. I didn’t know what it was, but I was sure it had to be found and stopped. After I had cleaned myself up and donned my chest plate and crown I left my bedroom with haste.
“I must gather the Princesses, I must need to know if they too had the same dream.” I burst into the main hall and raced over to the chair, I quickly raised the sun as the moon went down, and levitated a paper and pen over to me.
But before I could write anything down, the sound of pounding hoofs reached my ears, peaking my eyes over the parchment, I saw my sister Luna race into the room.
“Sister, we must speak at once!” She screamed at me. Alrighty then, that was easy.
More Friends...
Date: July-15-2015…
Location: Outskirts of ponyville…
POV: Cpl. Adrian Shephard…
Time: 0900 hours…
The more time I spent following the filly through the wooded outskirts of ponyville, the more time I had to reflect on the life I’ve had leading up until this point. I was a Marine, a so called, “Jarhead.” A muscle that flexes its might against the tides of war. I have my M16, and my M16 has me, both of us have faced off against many foes in our time. I remember the first days of my brutal training back in Arizona. Fort Santego, the only military base in the world that specializes in training the elite Hazardous Environment Combat Unit. Also home to the one and only, Drill Sergeant Dwight T. Barnes. What a jerkoff… If he wasn’t quoting Full Metal Jacket, he was stealing inspiration from other Drill instructors, and making our lives on that base even more horrible than it had to be. All the other instructors like Sharpe, would mock him behind his back. Even Captain McSullivan of the Military Police hated him.
Regardless, he got there somehow, and I had to respect him for that. Hell, I had only made corporal, due to some freak accident, that even I still can’t figure out. Against a Drill Instructor, that ain’t nothing worth spitting at.
My fireteam however, for some reason really liked me. Kolbert, Montez, and Ricardo, all three certified morons, or mental hospital escapees. Seeings how I was their team leader and radio operator, that left, Kolbert in charge of the grenade launcher, Montez with his rifle, and Ricardo with his machine gun. All four of us, were an impeccable team. That is of course until we all got separated during Operation Black Mesa. We had trained for this scenario for weeks, but it went to the crapper as soon as those birds got within range of the facility.
To say I miss them, is an understatement, part of me wishes I had died on the osprey, so I could be with them in the life beyond. The other part wants me to carry on their legacy with my words and memories. Hell, who knows, they may not even be dead, if I survived, then maybe some of those crazy bastards did as well.
As the trees around us began to spread thin, an opening in the forest presented a singular tree that stood their with a building nailed into it with a walkway that trailed up the base all the way to a door. It jumped out of the sea of green with vibrant colors that stood out and made the structure look, out of place.
“Here we are Mr. Adrian, The Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse!” Applebloom exclaimed with her fore hooves stretched out in front of her as if presenting a gift to me. So far, I was impressed,
“So, you mean to tell me, you built this?” I asked pointing a finger at the treehouse.
“Well…” She began, kicking a bit of dirt around, “I kind of made it by myself, my friends, and my big sis helped build it a long time ago. But! I-I painted it!” I slowly clapped my hands together,
“Well, it’s very well made, good work.” I proclaimed. After saying this the fillies eyes lit up like light bulbs and her smile grew to the size of full watermelon slices.
“Here! Wait for one moment… I’ll get my friends!” Upon saying this she darted off towards the treehouse. Once her hoof steps trampled up the ramp and into the structure, and silence had surrounded me again, I began holding conversations with myself.
“Treehouse huh? I guess I could see myself building one as a kid, but maybe not like that one…” I began to pace around in circles. “Yeah no, my house would be kickass, it would have a reinforced base platform with struts on the corners that would be sunk into the ground and have concrete poured around it. Then I would have a ladder leading up to a porch, that of which would go all the way around it with fence like guard rails, and 50 cal. Machine guns on all four sides.” I said to myself dreaming away. “Yeah that would be the shit… but maybe a bit impossible, because not many trees grow in my neighborhood, let alone my own backyard.” I said finally coming to a stop.
“Eat a dick desert, eat a dick.” I said kicking the ground.
A few minutes went by and after much patience, the yellow filly returned to me with two more following behind her.
“Adrian, these are my friends, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo!” She exclaimed once again presenting them to me. I kneeled down and began to remove my mask. The two stared at me in wonder as my head gear slowly came off. There was an intense amount of awkwardness as I stood there as the two new arrivals gawked at me when the mask finally came off.
“So, you’re friends of applebloom huh?” I asked sitting down on the ground. The two others watched as I came to their level. I could tell they felt intimidated, because they backed off a little when I came to a rest on the ground. The orange one spoke up first in a quivering voice.
“Y-yeah, we’ve been friends for a long time. Practically as long as I can remember.” She said slowly growing closer to Applebloom whom was on her left.
“...Right.” Came a timid Sweetiebelle. Applebloom moved over to me and sat down beside my rifle on my right side.
“Girls, this here be Corporal Adrian Shephard, he’s a Marine from planet Earth,” She exclaimed excitedly. “Me and him just met a few hours ago back on the farm, he told me all about his world and what things are like back where he comes from, it’s really cool, tell them about it Adrian!” She happily said. I look down to see her face aglow and her eyes sparkling like prize diamonds in anticipation.
‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt to say everything I said, again.’ I thought to myself.
“Awe what the heck, i’ll tell you all about it, again,” I said.
1030 hours…
“And that’s how I got here, I think.” I said, finally ending my rant. The two ponies in front of me, eyes and mouths open wide, just stared. Applebloom hadn’t moved an inch, and neither did her smile. The sounds of the wildlife around us became the only sounds that I could hear at the moment, for the fillies weren’t moving a muscle. But, as if someone had pushed the unpause button on their TV remote, Sweetiebelle reanimated.
“That was interesting, your world sounds just like ours, but it’s not at the same time. And so many humans, how do you deal with them all? No wonder Applebloom was so excited.” She said breaking the silence.
“Right?” came a impressed Scootaloo. The two ponies began to talk amongst themselves for a moment, while I looked back at Applebloom, still smiling away.
“Is this what you intended of me?” I asked motioning toward the two talking fillies.
“Well of course! A new friend is always a good thing, especially now that they’ve gotten to know you.”
More Walking...
Date: July-15-2015…
Location: Few kilometers outside Sweet Apple Acres…
POV: Cpl. Adrian Shephard…
Time: 1242 hours…
“So, it’s Friday right?” I ask the three ponies that walked alongside me down the dirt path alongside the apple trees. We decided, as a group, to head down to ponyville and see some figure of authority known as, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, princess of Magic,” or something like that to figure out how I got here. To be honest, this was moving a bit fast for my taste, but, what could you do.
“Yeah, how did you know?” Came an impressed Scootaloo that bounced along to my right.
“Uh, lucky guess, I guess…” I answered back, “If that’s true, then shouldn’t you fillies be at school or something?” I ask looking down as Applebloom, who looked up at me with an inquisitive look. The three ponies remained quiet for a second until behind me Sweetiebelle spoke up.
“No actually, today we had off, for some reason, I didn’t pay attention,” She answered. Applebloom came after her rather quickly,
“It’s a holiday remember? I can’t remember what it’s for, but, were not at school I know that much,”
“I think it’s about friendship or something, I don’t know,” Came Scootaloo next to me.
“Okay then, glad that’s been cleared up. Now, another question, how much longer until we reach ponyville?” I asked right after Scootaloo stopped talking.
“A few more minutes, we’re nearly there, we just need to pass the barn house of Sweet Apple Acres then were home free,” Sweetiebelle answered with a squeak in her voice. The barn in the distance began getting closer, the dirt path began to show more wear as more foot traffic around the main center of the farm drew closer. Once we reached the front gate, tree cover of the orchard gave away to a spacious courtyard with a large white gate at the beginning of it.
“Come on Mr. Shephard, Applebloom’s sister should be around here somewhere!” Came Scootaloo as the three scattered off to find the aforementioned family. As they scattered the grounds I began to scout the area. The air seemed cleared, and quiet. The ground around me was worn and well treaded on. The fences now seemed just a slightly bit dirtier. Farm equipment was stacked together into neat piles and carts were lined up into rows against the right fence that lined the yard.
I moved over to the carts and examined them,
“So, no motors just horse drawn, interesting. Either this is a common thing on farms, or, these ponies haven’t grasped the concept of motorised carriages. Figured that much, these ponies seemed to understand basic building, or even advanced construction. But maybe not the implications of applying engines to carts. Oh well.” I talked amongst myself while hoofsteps rang out behind me.
After awhile the fillies returned to me looking rather confused, “Uh Adrian, I can’t find any of my family. I’ve looked almost everywhere I could look, but yet nopony is here.” Applebloom said in a distraught tone. Quickly I consulted the carts again. Something about that area, seemed off. More specifically the grounds around it. On the end of the line there was a space where a cart could fit into, yet wasn't there. The ground in the space where the cart should have been, had a pair of tracks, that, after I followed led out of the farm towards ponyville.
“Applebloom, your sister, does she cater for big events, like holidays,” I asked the filly once I returned to the confused ground of ponies.
“Yeah, she does… why do you ask?” She came back.
“Because I believe I know where your sister is,” Saying that, I pointed over towards the village in the distance, “She’s more than likely inside the village selling food. Or something.”
1254 hours…
Finally Ponyville was within arms reach. The only true form of bustling civilization I’ve seen in a long time. The “town” I last saw was Sacramento on leave back in California. Though this “ponyville” would never compare, it would do just fine, for the time being.
“Well, that’s certainly something…” I muttered underneath my breath.
“OH yeah!” Came a voice from below me, it was Scootaloo.
“The Friendship Summit!” She followed up with. The two other fillies faces lit up as all their eyes met with each other. Suddenly a cheer erupted from around me.
“That’s why we have off!” Applebloom said in between cheers.
This was all going way too fast. I needed some answers before we went any further.
“Okay, okay hold on… Just… What’s the Friendship Summit?” I asked putting away my rifle, and standing in front of them, facing away from the town. The three calmed down and looked up at me.
“Oh yeah, I forgot, yer’ not from around here, right.” Came a still semi excited Applebloom.
“Well, you see Mr. Adrian, the Friendship summit is the celebration that honors princess Twilight Sparkle. It celebrates her crowning, when she got her wings and ascended to princesshood.” Sweetiebelle came from the back of the group, making her way up in front of me.
“Yeah that’s right. Every year ponies from all around Equestria come to Ponyville and party their tails off! Next to Hearth's Warming Eve, and Nightmare Night, this is one of the greatest holidays ever! But… there's a challenge.” Scootaloo said putting her hoof up.
“Yeah? And what would that be?” I ask crossing my arms.
“We need to out party last year's summit!” Cheared all three of them at once.
“Oh, uh that’s... interesting,” Suddenly I didn’t think going to ponyville was a good idea.
Author's Note
Sorry for the wait...
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Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Less Than Desirable Consequences Part 2
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Centripetal Attraction Part 1
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Centripetal Attraction Part 2
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Centripetal Attraction Part 3
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Centripetal Attraction Part 4
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Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Friends...
Date: July-15-2015…
Location: Outskirts of ponyville…
POV: Cpl. Adrian Shephard…
Time: 0700 hours…
“Okay so, if I had one superpower, what would it be…” I asked myself as I walked down the one dirt path towards the large farm I saw off in the distance back on the hill. The sun once again was out bright and early, and clouds were nowhere to be seen, luckily the morning wasn’t as hot as I was expecting. But, like every summer day, it would get hotter later in the afternoon, which would get bothersome. I choose to keep my full kit on, including mask, to hide my identity. Luckily due to the advanced nature of my equipment, my filters were self cleaning, and they only activated when toxins were identified. If none were present, air passage was just allowed through. Plus the mask doubled as my HUD. All systems were reading green, my suits battery was at full, and my health was at 100 percent. Ammunition for my M4A1 was reading full, so I was content for the time being.
I had left my campsite early in the morning before the sun came up. I figured if I was gonna get anywhere in this new world I was gonna have to meet the locals eventually. So, instead of them coming to me, I would go to them instead.
“Superpower, super… power… Hmmm,” I thought to myself. To keep my mind flowing with thought I constantly kept asking myself random questions. It helps me focus on things, strangely enough, my eyes darted from left to right watching the hills on either side of me, along with the occasional tree.
“Oh, the ability to see and feel heart beats, definitely. Cause, considering my line of work, it could help in situations like this, or tight corridors, and lots of rooms. But I guess it’s not like anyone in my old squad would believe me if I said I could see people, that nobody else can see, you know until it’s too late. Hell, if I could prove it I might get sent to some lab, and have experiments run on me, like some kind of Deadpool experiments… make me live forever, er something…” I said waving my hand around in circles. “Or maybe… invisibility…” I thought.
“Nah… cause if it was only my body that turns invisible, than my equipment and clothing would have to go… and I wouldn’t feel like walking around in the nude inside an enemy compound. Now if it was anything I was wearing, and me, then things would be different. Wait, I thought we had something like that in development… or something. Ah whatever.” I said to myself.
This constant cycle of thinking, talking, and walking kept my spirits up. Soon, about a half an hour had passed, and the trees were beginning to thicken, and grow apples. Soon a white fence appeared keeping path walkers away from the trees, so I knew I had finally reached the farm. It looked to have just been painted, it’s paint, untouched by even the wind. It almost looked like a scene from a post card.
“So… I was right… apples huh? Wonder if they make cider here, like good cider, none of that frozen shit, good hot cider. That reminds me of that one apple orchard back in california… you wouldn’t think apples could grow their but, somehow some way, there were. I went there one day while I was on leave with a few of my teammates and we picked apples nearly the whole day… Then we found out that their was a worm infestation, and our apples were taken to find out where the worms were coming from. I never saw those apples again…” I said outloud while I watched the trees role by.
“Kolbert was pissed, he was gonna use half of our apples in a katapult he was building back at his house. I guess his objective was to launch them over in the field behind the school and hit targets… or kids... but then again, this is Kolbert were talking about here. He could’ve made grenades out of the damn things, and hid them back at the farm for people to find, that sick genius.” I said to myself as I threw my rifle over my back, and let it rest by it’s strap behind my right arm.
Soon the trees began to thicken even more, and finally they turned into rows. They were evenly spaced out, making them seem like they were copy and pasted into existence. The shadows of the leaves that hung over the path, made the path extra cool and darker, much darker. I started to feel uneasy, as if I wasn’t alone, like something was watching me. The darker it got, and the more sparse the light became made walking by myself seem very unlikely, I was being followed. I just knew it. Suddenly the snapping of a twig made my entire body fling into action. In a single motion, I grabbed my rifle, turned around and aimed it at the noise, and of course it looked like nothing was their.
“Yeah, okay…” I said as I moved slowly toward the source of the twig. Each foot step precisely made, avoiding sources of noise, like leaves, and sticks. Making my way to the white fence, I peaked over it, to see a small branch snapped in half. It wasn’t small enough for a squirrel to break, but not big enough not to break in the first place. Which means, the animal, or alien that broke it isn’t too small, and not to big. Jumping the fence, I quickly aimed my gun around the other side of the tree. Completely circling the tree, I found myself on the other side of the fence looking at the tree from the south side.
“Okay, where did you go… I know the branch couldn’t have fallen, because it’s broken in the center, and only a foot can do that.” I turned around to see the trees of the orchard lapping on for miles, rolling over the hills. Maybe whatever it was, had run off.
“Hiding in the trees, huh… You’re fast, i'll give you that, but you're not smart enough to out think me,” I said out loud so that, whatever was in the tree, could hear me clear as daylight, “Look, if you come in peace, then you have nothing to worry about, I won't hurt you if you won't hurt me.” Saying this I turned the safety back on and held up my hand, with my rifle pointing upwards towards the cloudless sky. To be honest with myself, if whatever hadn’t moved I would have probably kept on going.
Slowly but surely, a little, equine head poked out of the branches. It had yellow fur, and a curly red mane. It looked terrified, so making her feel better, I slowly put down my gun, and removed my helmet and mask. My face once again being exposed to the elements, the cool whispering wind, the smell of tree sap, and apples was strong as the wind blew in new air from the forest. It felt really good.
“See, I'm not gonna hurt ya, trust me, the last thing I would want to do right now is hurt you.” Without the robotic hue that my mask gave my voice, the horse came out all little more and smiled. I would be lying if I didn’t think the little tree pony was cute. The way her head just seemed to pop out of the leaves, was almost funny.
“Howdy their Mr, uh, mah names Applebloom! What’s your name?” She said. To hear it speak was honestly interesting, but to hear it speak english, was another thing. But then again, I’ve seen some pretty strange shit in my time, especially back at Black Mesa.
“Oh, my name? My name is Adrian Shephard, Corporal Adrian Shephard, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I said back. “I assume you live here on this farm?” I ask pointing towards the roof of a barn off in the distance. She looks over and nodded quickly.
“Yes sir, that their be Sweet Apple Acres. The greatest apple orchard this side of Equestria.” When Applebloom said, ‘in all of Equestria’ she lifted one of her hoofs through the tree, and when this happened, she began to wiggle, and the branch she was on snapped.
‘Oh shit!’ I thought as I watched the filly tumble out of the tree. Quickly, I dug my boots into the ground and pushed off with my arms wide open, attempting to catch the falling pony. As she successfully fell into my arms, I pivoted my body in such away, so that instead of slamming into the tree, I instead fell onto my back, with Applebloom, on top, so I didn’t fall on her. I hit the ground with an audible thud as my head slammed to the dirt, luckily the fall wasn’t higher, otherwise I’d be risking a concussion. The little horse was a bit heavier than I thought, for when I hit the ground, all the air in my lungs, got knocked out of me.
I felt like someone had gut punched me with a 18 wheeler. Now here I lay, staring at the sky, dazed and confused. I lifted my left arm into the air and gave a thumbs up, and with my first new breath I said,
“I'm, good… Applebloom you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m alright, thanks for catching me Adrian.” I heard her say, hearing that I let my arm flop back down to the ground. I saw her face appear in front of me and cover up my vision as her orange eyes and red mane covered up the sky.
“You okay to walk Mr. Shephard, you hit the ground pretty hard.” She asks with a confused look on her face. I shook my head yes, and smiled.
“Trust me, I’ve done much worse, now, if you wouldn’t mind…” I said moving around a bit,
“Oh, right, guess I'm not helping right now am I…” She said, before she jumped off my chest, leaving me gasping for air. Regaining my composure. I walked back over to gather my helmet, gas mask, and rifle. After re connecting my mask to the rest of the PCV I came back over to Applebloom who had been watching me this whole time.
“Why do you wear that there, mask?” She asked as I got close. To be quite honest, security reasons, was I gonna tell her that… nope.
“Uh, it… looks cool?” I said shrugging my shoulders. She tilted her head then began circling me, then when she came full circle, she nodded.
“Yeah okay.” She said back. “So where are you from Adrian, and what are you, I’ve never seen anything like you before?” She asked sitting down on her hind legs. I took a knee to get down close to her again.
I knew this time would have to come adventually. So, the likelyhood of them knowing what I was, was very unlikely, so I told her the truth.
“So, yer not from Equestria huh? So that means, you’re an Alien?” She said getting up off her hind legs and getting closer to my mask.
“Yeah, I guess you can say that, but to me, you're the alien, and regarding how I got here, I have no clue, and I will probably never know for sure.” I said sitting on the ground, cross leg style.
We sat there in the summer sun, underneath that apple tree for a good hour talking about our worlds, and how different they are. She told me about the Princesses counsel, and I told her about the United Nations, she told me about magic, and I told her about technology. By the time 0835 rolled around, we had talked about almost everything, even the fact that I was a Marine. At first she was uneasy about me being a “killing machine”, but I guess she warmed up to it cause she never mentioned it again.
I was just about to ask where her parents were when she hit me with an idea she cooked up.
“Hey! you know what? We're friends right?” She asked bumping my left arm.
“Uh, yeah… yeah I guess we are.” I said back straightening up in my seat.
“How about we do what friends do, and introduce each others friends, come on, follow me!” She said getting up and taking off through the apple trees.
"Oh great… here we go." I said getting up off the ground and quickly following her into the rows of trees.
