Dr. Vector stood with his fellow BCD Doctors, all of them were in their hazmat suits as they looked through a window into one of the small labs near the airlock. Inside the lab three foals were scarfing down food as if they hadn’t eaten anything proper in weeks, which based on where they were found and the crude weapons they carried was a high possibility.

Dr. Vector had verbally reprimanded Dr. Atreus for bringing three possible carriers of unknown contagions that could contaminate the lab and lead to all their deaths. After the reprimand Dr. Vector had commended Atreus for aiding the foals as they surely would have died out in the forest, though he did make it clear he wished he’d taken them somewhere else and let the rest of the army deal with them.

Still the foals were now here and that meant they were the responsibility of the BCD till they were able to establish contact with the proper authorities.

Once the foals had gone through the decon shower in the lab’s airlock, that had been an interesting experience as the Doctors with them had forgotten to warn them about it do to the fact it wasn’t noticed by anyone who has worked in the BCD long enough.

After the foals had been calmed down and ensured they were in no danger they were quickly lead to the small lab. There Atreus had asked for permission to take blood samples from all three as well as mane samples. Those samples were now being rigorously screened for all contagions and till the Doctors knew what the foals were infected with, they had been outside so they were infected with something even if it was dormant, none of the BCD Doctors were removing their suits and the lab was going to remain sealed.

Even though they were carriers of any number of contagions Dr. Vector had ordered them fed on the ground they were very malnourished. Dr. Vector had to question why three foals had been choosing to survive out in the Everfree Forest when there was a perfectly good town nearby, granted the town had a large number of Unknown Subjects in it and the citizens were acting odd but still a towns a town.

When Dr. Cupcake had brought in the food the three foals seemed surprised that she was female but their surprised has been over shadowed by the food which they had started eating in a manner only a half starved individual could pull off.

Still their reaction to Dr. Cupcake as well as asking Dr. Atreus and his team if they were part of the “Caribou,” then that they chose to living in a highly dangerous forest rather than in town had Dr. Vector puzzled.

Dr. Vector had seen people choosing to take their chances in the wildernesses, sometime with nothing more than the clothes on their back as they fled towns and villages suffering from outbreaks of contagions. The BCD had to hunt down these people to ensure they weren’t infected once the quarantine was in place. Dr. Vector had been at the town personally and saw no signs of serious infection, all there was were those unknown subjects who seemed rather aggressive and had a problem with Dr. Cupcake.

Rubbing a gloved hand on the base of his suits gasmask where his chin was Dr. Vector started connecting dots. It was a lot like tracing the origin of an outbreak back to patience zero really. The town had an unknown number of Unknown Subjects; the town was very much on edge and the female citizen Dr. Vector had tried to speak too seemed afraid long before he spoke to her. There was also the fact only the females were unclothed and only some were afraid, those that had that black collar on.

The Unknown Subjects had thought Dr. Cupcake was trying to escape and asked who her owner was, that still threw Dr. Vector for a loop as he questioned how anyone could own another sentient being.

Then there was what these three foals asked Dr. Atreus. He could assume the Unknown Subjects were these Caribou the foals seemed to fear. The fact the foals would choose to living in the Everfree Forest rather than the town and were hiding from Dr. Atreus’ team till they knew none of them had any clue who the Caribou where.

It was all started to come together as one dot after the other connected. Something was wrong in Ponyville, something involving these Caribou and since the army and Royal Guard were nowhere to be seen to deal with it, it meant the problem must be everywhere in the country and the army is either trying to deal with it or was somehow defeated and is regrouping elsewhere.

Dr. Vector needed all the information he could get and luckily they had three foals here who could provide some information though there was still one course of action the BCD currently had. They needed a live subject from the town in order to get the full story. This meant tomorrow the Chemical Troopers were going back to Ponyville.

<<>>

Octavia sat on a bed in room the soldiers who brought her and her sister to this place called an infirmary. While she knew what an infirmary was she had never seen one like this before. The room was packed with all sorts of machines and devices she had never seen before, while she recognized the heart monitor everything else was a mystery to her.

After the Humvees had come to a stop in front of a building a mix of ponies and what Dusty had called Changelings came out in white lab coats to greet them. Octavia had been reluctant to leave the Staff Sergeant’s group but with some encouragement form Vinyl as well as the fact the Medic and injured member of the Staff Sergeant’s group was also being taken by this other group which meant Dusty was going with them to make sure everything would be ok Octavia had gone with them.

The walk had been filled with quiet conversation between the medic and the doctors who came to meet them, mostly about the nature of the injury to the stallion but a few words about Octavia and her sister.

After they had been settled Dusty had left but the medic stayed behind to keep an eye on things. One of the changelings had come over to take some of her blood and the earth pony mare had recoiled and the changeling backed off with a quick apology. Octavia got the feeling that her reaction had upset the changeling, she felt even more so when the changeling said he would have a pony come and examine her before leaving. After that the changelings seemed to give her and her sister a wide berth and only the ponies came near, though they seemed to frown at Octavia and her Sister. Octavia felt she had possible upset their hosts.

The exams had been quick, mostly just a few quick questions and drawing of blood. After that her and her sister had been given dark green jumpsuits and sturdy boots. The nurse who had brought them apologized that it was all they had. Octavia didn’t care as she happily put the clothes on; she had almost forgotten what it felt like to wear clothing.

After that the doctors gave them space, seeming to not really wanting to be around them and making a point to speak to the changelings and ask for their help in front of the two mares as if making a point.

It made no real sense to the mare and looking at her sister and her confused expression told her Vinyl had no clue what was going on either.
They after a while they had been asked if they wanted anything to eat and both had nodded. A nurse had been sent to grab something from a place the doctors called the “mess hall.” These ponies seemed to have a lot of placed named things the mare didn’t know. She spent her time looking around the room trying to figure out what everything was, in the end she gave up as it was all so alien to her.

The meal turned out to be grilled vegetable kabob with a side of apple sauce and water. It had been the most amazing meal either mare had eaten in a long time and she couldn’t stop thanking the doctors who looked at her strangely.

As Octavia finished her meal a stallion dressed in the same type of uniform the group that had been in Ponyville wore, though he carried himself differently than they had. With him was another changeling dressed in a dark suit though the jacket was open and he didn’t have a tie, when the changeling saw he seemed to frown at her for some reason and she could tell he was displeased with her for some reason.
When the medic noticed the stallion the door it was like something clicked in the room as she jumped to her feet. “Officer on deck!” she called and everyone stood and faced the stallion, their left hands going to the side of their foreheads in what Octavia could only assume was some form of salute.

The Stallion looked around the room before speaking. “At ease and continue on as if I’m not here.” He said in a calm voice that seemed to carry authority to it. At his words everypony went back to work. The stallion and changeling made their way over to Octavia and despite herself the earth pony found herself scooting away from the unicorn and she saw Vinyl tense.

The Stallion paused seeing her reaction and raised his hands in a soothing manner. “It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you two.” He said calmly, his voice no longer carrying the authority in it. Slowly he started to walk again and when he reached the bed beside Octavia’s he took a seat on it while the changeling remained standing. “I’m Colonel Brighter Days, I’m in charge of this garrison.” He told her.

Slowly Octavia nodded. “I’m….I’m Octavia and this is my sister Vinyl.” She said. “Um…thank you for saving us…”She said.

The Stallion nodded. “You don’t need to thank us, it’s our job. Based on what Staff Sergeant Trails told me Ponyville seems to be occupied by some rather unfriendly people.” He said. “I was wondering if you could maybe tell me a bit about what is going on as we seem to be cut off from the rest of the country right now so we don’t know what’s going on.”

Octavia swallowed. “You mean you don’t know about the Caribou or the invasion?” She asked.

The Colonel looked confused as did the changeling; both of them exchanged a look. “What invasion and who are the Caribou?” the stallion asked looking back at her.

“How can you not know?” She asked.

“We are currently experiencing communication issues so are a bit out of the loop. Perhaps you could fill us in so we know what to expect.” The Colonel said.

Octavia nodded and licked her lips before she began to tell the stallion everything she knew. About what happened to the Crystal Heart, how it made the stallions go crazy and join the Caribou. How their king defeated the Princesses and took them as his slaves. How the Caribou just walked into the nation as it was torn apart by anarchy as all the stallions fought the mares. How all the mares were stripped of all rights and enslaved. About how they were treated and how the nations was run now. She told him everything she knew, when her voice started to break Vinyl placed a comforting hand on her should to support her with a small squeeze ever now and then.

As she told the Colonel his face slowly grew darker and darker, as if a storm where brewing just beneath the surface and the same was true for the changeling beside him. As she spoke the doctors in the room slowly stopped working and watched her. Several of them had their hands clenched in fists as they shook with rage.

When she was finished she felt tears rolling down her face and the Colonel withdrew a small handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her.
“Thank you…”She said as she took it and dried her eyes. Vinyl wrapping her in a tight hug.

The Colonel took several breaths before speaking. “I don’t understand how this could have happened and we not hear anything about it. Something like this would have been all over the radio, the TV, hell MNet would have been exploding with reports and orders from High Command.” He said and rubbed his eyes as if he was tired. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

After Octavia got her emotions back under control she looked at the stallion with confusion. “Radio? TV? MNet?” She asked. “What are those?”
The Colonel blinked at her. “How do you not know what those are, everyone knows what those are.” He said. Octavia could only shrug light. “Radio is….well basically sending sound through the air and TV is much the same thing only with sound and images.” He said trying to find the words to explain something he seemed to find so common he didn’t need to think about it. “MNet is the Military network, it’s like the Civilian Network but only the military is allowed to use it.” He said.

“Network?” Octavia asked.

“You know, computers? You have to know what a computer is; you can’t go through life without running into one these days even if it’s just a calculator.” The Stallion said with confusion.

Octavia could only shake her head and the stallion looked at the changeling with him who looked equally confused before looking back at her. “Do you know anything about the Equestrian Defense Force?” he asked and Octavia shook her head. “Tell me is there a group of buildings between Ponyville and Canterlot?” He asked.

Octavia shook her head. “No there is nothing between Ponyville and Canterlot except open ground. There may have been before but nothing for as long as I have lived in Ponyville.”

The stallion blinked. “Tell me Octavia how long have the Caribou been in control over Equestria?”
“A little over a year, why?” She asked.

“That’s….not possible…we’ve only been having communication issues for about twelve hours, before that everything was fine” He said shaking his head. “None of this makes any sense” he said and rubbed his eyes once more. “wait Sergeant Trails said you didn’t know what a changeling was, how is that possible when they invaded Canterlot about fifty years ago during the wedding of Princess Cadence and Guard Captain Shining Armor.” He said looking at her.

Octavia blinked then shook her head. “No, there was no invasion of any kind.” He said.

“Are you sure?” The Colonel asked.

Octavia nodded. “Yes, I was there as a cellist during the ceremony, it was very lovely and there was no invasion.”

The Colonel looked at the changeling beside him. “Well then Yarnil it seems we know why you can’t Contact anyone besides the changelings in this town, they don’t exist.” He said, the changeling shifted uncomfortably and for a moment he looked very afraid before it vanished so fast Octavia wasn’t sure she actually saw it.

The Stallion looked at her and nodded his head, “Thank you for your time Miss Octavia, if you would like I can have one of our therapist speak to you later. If not that is fine.” He said and stood. “It was a pleasure to meet the both of you.” He nodded once more before turning on his heels and heading for the door the changeling right on his heels.

Octavia leaned into Vinyl who held her and stroked her hair to comfort her. Speaking about everything the Caribou had down out loud and made her realize just how much they had done to Equestria and how they had destroyed the lives of so many. Quietly she started to cry in her sister arms, not noticing as the unicorn silently shed tears as well. The Doctors in the room gave the two their space as they let out their emotions.

Outside the room Colonel Brighter Days walked with purpose back towards his officer, Operative Yarnil by his side.

“So then Colonel what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Well if what Miss Octavia said is true then we are some place where there is no EDF which means we are alone in a country that is under the control of a hostile force who luckily hasn’t noticed us yet.” He said.

Yarnil nodded. “Yes I was there so I know that.” He said. “I asked what the plan was, we are just a single garrison versus potentially hundreds of thousands enemy soldiers not to mentions those who now help them.”

The Colonel nodded as his mind digested the information he had just received and he didn’t speak again till they reached his office. “Well the way I see it we can sit tight and wait for the EDF to realize we are gone and send a force to rescue us.” He said as they walked into his office and he went around his desk and sat. “We have enough food here in town to last us over a year, longer if we ration it and as long as we don’t do anything else to make these Caribou aware of us it should be some time before they find us.”

Yarnil nodded. “True or…”

The Colonel smiled at the M.I.D Operative. “Or we declare war on a nation of rapists and show them what a couple hundred soldiers can do.”

Author's Note

I apologize for the way this cshoter looks. It was uploaded from mu cell phone by copying it from a email draft as thebwifi network dienst like my laptop so don't let me upload.

Anyways this chapter we learn what the BCD is planing and how they are both reacting and treating the CMC. Ponyville is going to have an interesting day tomorrow.

And Hope Garrison has learned what is going on and now they have a decision to make.