Earthside - The Shadow Protocolby AcheronChaptersPrologue - Ties that BindDossier 1 - VICTORDossier 2 - SUNBURSTPrologue - Ties that BindThe dark crawled along like a beast hungry for those less fortunate to be inside as the sound of steps came closer and closer to an individual who stood silently in the shadows. With a flick of his wrist, he drew out a cigarette and lit it silently, the steps stopping beside him as a thick Russian accent spoke slowly and quietly. “You realize you coming here is bad omen, comrade. If the Union figures out-” The smoking individual took another couple of puffs before tossing it down and crushing it under his heel. He lifted his eyes, a flash of gold startling the Russian as an accent slippery as oil spoke to him. “Trust me, the less your government knows about this, the better off they are. If we can benefit even one country on this tortured rock, then we’ll have done our jobs.” “But, Canadian, why-” “There are ears everywhere, and we hear it all. War, famine, disease, and no one is doing anything because of this second Cold War. Western Alliance, United Neo-Soviet Republic, it’s all the same. However, that’s not the point. Do you have it?” The Russian reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small drive. Placing it squarely in the Canadian’s hand, he grasped it tightly, shaking his hands. “You know what you are doing. Dosvidanya, comrade.” The Canadian nodded silently, walking away as he dropped a small satchel on the ground, the Russian quickly collecting it before he went the opposite way. Turning a corner, the Canadian sighed, reaching a finger up to his ear. Tapping, he frowned as he heard a radio turn on. “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” --------====|/0|====-------- “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” “This is Command. Return to base immediately. We cannot-” “Say again? You’re bre...ng up… signal… no, no!...” The sound of white noise coupled with what the operator could only assume to be gunfire echoed as he replayed the message for his superior, a heavyset man with a balding head. Staring at the projector’s display on the wall, he stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. With a sigh, he walked around his desk, skirting the small space he was forced to work with. “How many agents does that make, Alex?” The operator looked at his superior, gulping before he replied. “Fourteen dead, sir. Two M.I.A., and four confirmed captured. We’re losing a lot of good people, and without recruiting, we’ll be barebones in a month at this rate.” Alex watched his superior sit down, wincing as he watched him crack his knuckles. “How many worlds have we lost agents on, Alex?” “Fifteen, sir. Since we discovered that variants of the Western Alliance could track our movements, we’ve been careful to keep our patrols to the worlds that require our assistance,” Alex replied, swallowing as he watched his superior sit down, twiddling his thumbs in deep thought. Pressing his palms to the desk, Alex’s superior brought up a holographic screen, photographs sliding past as he stared. Almost as quickly as he had started, he stopped on a particular photo, his eyes narrowing as he read the report associated with it. “Are you familiar with this colorful world, Alex?” “General Irons, sir?” Irons stared him square in the face, raising a single eyebrow. “Alex, are you familiar with this… ‘Equestria?’” His mouth twisted into a thoughtful expression as he mulled over the name, Alex sighing as he rubbed his forehead. “Yes, sir, I am. I was the one who took those photos.” Irons stood up straight, his eyes widening as he stared down his subordinate. “Alex, what can you tell me of that world?” --------====|/0|====-------- “By order of the princess, all subjects must be indoors by sundown or face punishment similar in severity to the sentence carried by theft – twenty lashes!” Guards, marching around in their off-gold armor, trotted around, their spears pointed at any civilian that did not comply. “Additionally, all fillies and colts of fighting age are to come with us immediately. There will be no time for goodbyes, but they will be remembered for their service to our glorious empire.” Several ponies stood off to the side, cloaks shielding them in the setting sun, the dusk overtaking the settlement quickly. Once, the hamlet they stood in was once called Ponyville, but that time had long since passed. They spoke in hushed whispers, crouching and moving slowly so as not to arouse suspicion. “If any one of your number is withholding from us any information about the insidious rebels that are terrorising this nation, you will be dealt with accordingly, a crime which carries the same sentence as murder – death by hanging. That is all.” With a shout, many guards descended upon the hapless village, dragging out young fillies and colts, clapping restraints on their hooves and heads, and marching them to waiting wagons on the outside of town. As the guards took up their positions, an explosion rang out, one of the carts tipping over before three cloaked figures jumped out, small knives strapped to their hooves that plunged deep into each guard they struck, leaping from enemy to enemy like a dark wave of pure destruction. “Defensive formation! These traitors do not get through, whatever the cost!” ---------====|/0|====-------- “I see. So, there was a nation known as Equestria on that world, but it’s been taken over by the Empire of the Dusk? Sounds like something that we should keep an eye on.” Irons lifted his palms from his deks, the screen disappearing as the video record stopped playing. “We lost two agents getting that footage. The Imperial Guards who took them saw to it that they were executed in broad daylight.” Alex placed a tablet in front of Irons, tapping a few buttons to show the records of the two agents that had lost their lives in the line of duty. “Agents Dominic and Hades. They were some of our best. Were their bodies retrieved for burial?” Alex sighed, looking away towards the door as he shook his head in the negative. “There weren’t any bodies to bury.” --------====|/0|====-------- “Team One, suppressive fire!” Gunfire rang out, golden armor clashing with urban camouflage, bodies of either fighting side starting to pile in the street where they all stood. Men stood where others had fallen, spears pushing into them, but fighting on regardless of who stood before them. Several humans lay dead on the ground, their blood mixing with the ponies they did battle with. “This is Team One! We’re at the Shadowgate! We’ll be through in two minutes! Agent Hades, Agent Dominic, we’re holding the fort! Get over here now, sirs!” Two agents stood amongst the pile of bodies that was accumulating in the square they stood in, ponies surrounding them as the gun smoke began to clear. Spears ringed around them, aimed close to their throats. “Dom, it’s been a pleasure serving with you.” “Likewise, Hades. Let’s send them to Hell, shall we?” With a smile, Dominic grabbed explosives from a pouch on his vest, priming the detonator as he gripped a grenade, Hades following suit. The guards pushed closer, Dominic and Hades yanking the pins before dropping the grenades at their own feet. “Agents! We can-” “Sorry, Team One. We won’t be going back with you. You have your orders, so follow them. It was an honor serving with you all-” --------====|/0|====-------- “They sacrificed themselves to allow our last remaining team of agents to arrive back. We’re down to around half a dozen agents, with no recruits to speak of. We’re scraping the bare bottom of the barrel here, and we’re pulling up nothing, sir.” Alex sat down in his chair after the footage stopped, having to turn away before Dominic and Hades rendered themselves into tiny chunks of flesh and blood, too little to gather and bury. “Then we have a problem, Alex. We are bound by the Coalition Agreement, and because of that, we have needed to act in all of these theaters of war. But with that last bout, we’ve lost. There’s no one to replace the agents we lost, because there’s no one that we can contact or recruit.” Irons stood up, pulling the badges off of his breast before setting them down on the table. Opening a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a hefty file folder, simply marked ‘Janus Contingency.’ Alex stood up quickly, his eyes going wide as he saw the folder. “Sir, you can’t be serious!” “I’m activating the Janus Contingency. We need to find capable individuals, ones who we can safely recruit without too much difficulty. I know of one, but he’ll be pretty hard to track down. First things first, though, transmit the Shadow Protocol-” “Sir, we don’t have it.” Irons stared at Alex, his icy gaze feeling like a laser burning through his skin. “What do you mean, ‘don’t have it?’ Didn’t Oilman-” “Oilman did not get to us in time. His emergency retrieval beacon was also destroyed. We can be certain that the version of Earth he was on has the most powerful program in existence somewhere on it.” Irons looked out the nearby window, light returning to the office as the videos stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he watched Alex come close, returning his gaze to the citadel of technology that spread before him. “Well, then. We’ll start with the universe he was in.” Irons turned to Alex, smiling as he returned to his chair. “Let’s get started, shall we?” Dossier 1 - VICTORAn alarm rang out, a young man’s hand slapping down to shut it up as he looked up at his ceiling, his groans falling on deafened ears. Standing up, he looked at his bedside table, where a usb drive sat, something he had received a few months before. The name attached to it made no sense to him – he did not know anyone calling themselves ‘Oilman’ - but he would take a look at it after he got something in his gullet. Light streamed in through the windows, the beginning of the dawn showing over the nearby hills. A Western Alliance flag flew in his yard, the mix of the former American and Canadian flags a welcome sight. “Well, start of another annoying day. Kind of glad to have today off.” As he walked towards his bedroom door, his stereo started up, his queue starting off with some alternative rock. Jamming along with the song that played, he tapped his phone, noticing that someone had left two messages. Pressing the replay switch, he stood by, pulling socks out of his dresser as the speaker played them back. “Message one. Message received - ‘Victor, we got your proposal in today. We’re very excited to begin working with the genius programmer who coded the operating system that the Western Alliance runs on.” He sighed. He hated doing programming, but it paid the bills, and it got the government to leave him alone. Most people had to worry about the government putting their hands in their pockets, but since he was in the government’s pocket, he barely had to worry about funds. Of course, he still worked. Last time he tried to sit at home without work, it almost drove him insane. “Message two. Message received - ‘This is a priority transmission. You do not know who I am, nor would you recognize the name of my organization. However, I felt a need to reach out and contact you as soon as possible. We’ve got a proposition for you, and we’d like to-” “Phone, skip and delete message.” “Message skipped. Message deleted. You have no new messages.” Victor smiled. He did not like to be bothered on his day off, and a message from someone who would not leave their name and number was not something worth his time. Grabbing his shoes, he slipped them on quickly, grabbing his wallet, keys and jacket, staring down at his pajamas. The forecast had called for slightly nippy weather, so he thought it would be a good idea to forgo regular clothing. Opening the front door, however, proved to be something else entirely. Two unmarked black vehicles sat parked in his driveway, stiff-necked suits staring him down as he left his house. Sighing, he ignored them as he walked past. “Victor Hernandez, sir. We need to talk with you immediately! It’s regarding-” “If it’s regarding any programming, this is my day off. You can go to hell for all I care today.” Raising his middle finger, he flipped off the suits, walking slowly away. The coffee shop would not be empty long at that time of morning, and he hated waiting in line for his coffee. “Sir, we’re not who you think we are. We need you to-” “I thought the finger would have told you to fuck off. Leave me alone. I already do my duty for this nation, and I don’t care what you say, I’m not going anywhere with you.” Leaving the suits behind, he smugly stared ahead, looking for the coffee shop sign. Spotting it quickly, his steps hastened. --------====|/0|====-------- The coffee shop was incredibly empty, save for the single barista on duty. He was always a hoot and a holler for Victor, having some incredible story to tell. If he remembered right, the barista’s name was… Ghost. Sitting down at the table he preferred, Ghost laughed as he saw his favorite customer from his vantage point. “Morning, Victor. Paper’s there for ya. I’ll get your morning dose of black gold here in a minute.” Victor smiled, picking up the paper. The headline was something stupid about the Western Alliance’s approach to the United Neo Soviet Republic, and how the Neos were supposedly ‘baby-killers’ and ‘heathen people-eaters.’ He had stopped paying attention to the news a while ago, when the last important thing that had been reported was the release of his government operating system. Ghost set down his coffee, dropping a single sugar cube into the cup of Victor’s morning wake-up fuel. “Thanks, Ghost. How’s life here?” “Can’t really complain. I’ve got about two hours until the morning rush for coffee and toasted bagels, so I’m pretty much ready to go. Oh, did you hear? Someone who the Neos claim was Western was discovered in downtown Moscow, a hole the size of a phone pole through his chest.” Victor stopped for a minute, raising an eyebrow as he drank his coffee. Continuing to look through the paper, he barely heard the door open again, the sound of clean and crisp shoes echoing through the quiet shop. “Victor Hernandez. We need to-” “Can’t a guy drink his coffee in peace? This is my day off, so once more, fuck off. You’re being rather annoying, and since you’re not wearing identification, you’re not government, so I don’t have to listen to you. Good day, and fuck off.” Victor finished his cup of coffee, leaving the money for the coffee, as well as a tip for Ghost’s trouble. He stopped when one of the suits gripped his shoulder. “Sir, this is urgent. If you don’t listen-” “If I don’t listen? You’re preventing me from going home, you are unlawfully detaining a citizen, and you are pretending to be government agents. Talk to me again, and since I have sufficient charges, I will be able to get you lot locked away. Have a good day.” --------====|/0|====-------- Victor entered his house, closing the front door quickly before any of the ‘suits’ decided they wanted to try following him inside for a chat. Locking his three deadbolts as fast as he could, he took a deep breath. If they had been real suits, they would have shown their identification as soon as they started talking. Tossing his keys into a bowl just out of view of the front windows, he walked into the kitchen, closing the blinds as he went. While he normally would leave his windows open, those suits had spooked him something good, and his paranoia was starting to trickle back in. “That’s the last blind. Well, if I’m going to check it anyways, might as well see what that thumb drive contains.” Slipping off his shoes, Victor walked into the bedroom, snatching the drive from the bedside table it rested on. Holding it up to his face, he scanned it carefully, looking for any other visual markings beside ‘Oilman’ printed on the front. Sighing, he left the bedroom, walking carefully towards the front room where his computer sat. His holographic television sat ready, the projector mounts aimed in a diagonal path to create any image necessary. Sitting down, he slowly plugged in the drive, becoming more and more nervous the more he thought about it. What if this drive is connected to those suits? What if this is their drive?! I can’t take that kind of heat! I’d lose most of my contracts! He swallowed down his fear and loaded the drive, letting his computer scan it for any programs out of the ordinary. As the drive continued to load and be scanned, he pulled the drawer out from his desk, pressing a switch inside to unlock a fake bottom. With the bottom sliding back, he reached in, bringing out his vintage M1911 handgun. While he was not entirely worried, it had always paid to be careful, as some people had sent ‘suits’ at him in the past to threaten him. “Okay, got a full magazine. Couple extra mags in the drawer. That’s… thirty-six bullets. Enough to take down a small army of suits. Hopefully those guys don’t have body armor if they decide that it’s better to invade my home.” The drive finished scanning, the contents displayed on the monitor. “Let’s see what we’ve got here- wait. Video files? That’s all? I was worried for nothing! Let’s see what they are, in any case.” Clicking on the video marked ‘Shadowgate’, Victor immediately regretted the decision, as his computer immediately shut down, displaying a strange symbol couple with a language script he had never seen before. Standing up, he backed up, not noticing the holo-projectors starting up. With a flash, something projected itself into the room, wind whipping around as if a hurricane itself was starting to form in his front room. Turning around, Victor faced what had originally been his holo-television transform itself into something wholly alien to his mind. “The Shadow Protocol has been activated. Repeat, non-agent activation of Shadow Protocol detected. Proceed with secondary contingency.” Victor shifted quickly to his desk, grabbing his handgun and training it on the obvious points of entry, including the front window. Turning to his computer, he noticed the drive laying on the desk, as if it had never been plugged in. Snatching it, he ran out of the room, searching drawers in his house until he found the two things he needed desperately: his custom tablet computer, and his mobile holo-projector setup. “Gotta get out. Have to get away. They’re coming for me, I know it! Can’t let them win. Can’t let them take me-” He returned to the front room, stopping when he saw the former holo-screen become as smooth as glass, like the surface of a pond. A single individual stood in front of the mirror, though what it was concerned Victor more. The individual was some sort of quadruped, who was tapping the side of the ‘wall’ with a hoof- hoof? - and making their side ripple, the ripples causing Victor’s side to ripple, as if the two sides were connected. Swallowing, Victor stepped forward, startled by his front door crashing down, radios and voices alerting him to the intruders in his home. Grabbing a backpack from near the front window, he packed everything away as quickly as he could, slinging the bag onto his back before aiming his handgun at the door to the study. As a ‘suit’ came around the corner, armed with a rifle that pulsed with an energy like Victor had never seen, he opened fire, pegging the suit in the chest, and knocking him down quickly. “You won’t take me alive, if you’re here to try to capture me! If you’re Soviet, then dosvidanya, suka!” Turning, he dived headfirst into the rippling ‘wall,’ feeling his entire body become engulfed by something that he knew was not supposed to be a part of his world. He could see the way he had ‘come in,’ the suits staring at the ‘wall’ and looking for him inside. Twisting around in the nonexistent air, he faced the other ‘wall,’ spying the quadriped staring at him with wide eyes- that was abnormal. From his experience, you could barley see the white parts of the eyes of horses, and that looked like a- “Horse?!” With a flash, Victor flew through the quadriped’s ‘wall’, sailing across the room and slamming into a bookshelf. Groaning, he tried to stand up, holding his side as he looked at the ‘wall’ beginning to shrink. “Well, there’s no way back now. Why are you staring at me? Go on, shoo!” “Uh, well, if you don’t mind me askin’, why are you staring at me? I have very important Crystaller duties to perform.” Victor stood up straight, bending over after he slammed his head directly into the low ceiling. Rubbing it, he glared at the quadriped in front of him, anger boiling in his throat. “Okay, new plan,” Victor muttered, aiming his handgun at the quadriped. “You’re going to tell me exactly where I am, and then you’re going to take me home.” The quadriped backed up, as if it recognized the implement in his hand. Victor, smiling, knelt down, pressing the gun’s barrel against the quadriped’s head. “P-please! I d-don’t know anything! I’m nothing important, just a f-former wizard!” Victor sighed, lowering the gun for a second. Pondering for a minute, he looked back down, raising an eyebrow before he began his questioning. “So, you recognized my handgun. That means you’ve had previous encounters with humanity. Either that or I’m lying on a slab somewhere in a comatose state.” “I-I’m s-sorry. I t-thought you were with Earthside-” Victor pushed his hand against the quadriped’s muzzle, raising an eyebrow before he continued. “What’s Earthside?” Dossier 2 - SUNBURSTVictor stared down the pony. In the last ten minutes, it had given an extremely condensed and ‘scrubbed’ version of what was going on, including who he was, and what he was. He sat there, trying not to look too uncomfortable, but Victor could recognize when someone, or somepony, in his new acquaintance’s case, was in the middle of a very awkward situation. “So, this side of that ‘wall’ - the one you called a Shadowgate – is called the Crystal Empire? And the nation to your south used to be called Equestria, but was taken over by something called the ‘Empire of the Dusk.’ You’re the Court Crystaller, in charge of raising, to an extent, and training the Heir Apparent of the Crystal Empire.” “That about sums it up, yes.” Victor waved his hand, his face a blank expression as he tried to process the info dump that was just foisted on him. “So that means that I am in another world entirely?” The unicorn – Sunburst, as he had said his name was – nodded, frowning as he heard a knock at the door. “Crystaller Sunburst, your presence is requested at the castle!” Sunburst held up his hoof, pressing it to Victor’s mouth. Leaving him, he trotted to the doorway, opening the door slightly. “Hello? Is there anything I can do for you-” “In the name of the Empire of the Dusk, you are to come with-” A single gunshot rang out, the guard collapsing as Victor stood behind Sunburst, handgun raised and ready to fire again. The unicorn stepped back, his orange mane in a mess as he sat still, shaking in fear as Victor stepped outside. “Well, then. You know what I can do. However-” “Earthside agent! Execute him immediately-” Victor dove back inside Sunburst’s house, kicking the doors shut and holding his feet against them in a hope that they would remain closed. “You said the Empire never bothered with this city, Sunburst! Anything else I should be aware of?!” “Come on, human! There is a trap door… around here somewhere.” Victor barred the door as best he could, stepping slowly backwards as he aimed his handgun at the door. “What a day for a pair of pajamas. Find that trap door. I’ve got the door covered.” Sunburst nodded, dragging rugs out from everywhere in a bid to find his hidden escape. The doors began to move, their hinges starting to shift as something attempted to rip the door off its foundations. Victor felt a chill go down his spine, his hands starting to shake slightly as he watched the doorway. “Found it! Human, get over here! I’ll go down first, as you have the firearm.” Victor nodded, crouching and creeping along to get as close to the trap door as he could without alerting whoever was still trying to rip the door off. “Sunburst, I hope you have a better idea than a hole in the ground.” Sunburst looked up at him from the ladder in the passage below the trap door, raising an eyebrow. “You ask as if I wasn’t prepared! Once we get down below, there is a motorized minecart we can take to the edge of the city! If Dusk Guards are already here, then this city is doomed, and we need to escape!” Victor sighed, keeping his gun trained on the door. The shaking stopped, just before the door was torn right off the foundation, the walls cracking and starting to buckle. “Sunburst, I don’t want to hurry you, but get down there now!” Victor stepped over to the hole, Sunburst having cleared the ladder. With a single movement, he dropped down, bending his knees as he landed to take the brunt of the impact. A small piece of rock fell past him as he looked up, the ceiling of Sunburst’s former home beginning to collapse. Leaping sideways, he dodged out of the way, the floor collapsing down the hole he had just been standing in. “Well, at least those were copies of books and scrolls. Replaceable.” Sunburst sat inside the minecart, the motor rumbling as it idled. “Probably would have stayed standing if someone hadn’t ripped the door from its hinges.” Sunburst’s eyes widened, but he did not say anything. Victor sighed, clambering into the cart without a second thought. --------====|/0|====-------- The ride proved to be less than eventful, though shouting could be clearly heard through thin cave walls at certain spots. Victor kept his weapon ready, aiming behind them as Sunburst kept the cart on track. Victor turned around to say something, but was caught up in a vast view that spread before the two of them. Turning around, they could see the city they had been inside a minute ago, but smoke was rising from various areas, and burning flags could be seen waving, where their compatriots had been replaced by a flag with a purple sunburst. Sighing, Victor turned around, focusing on the path ahead. The end of the track came as a welcome sight, allowing Sunburst and Victor to stretch their legs. Lifting his backpack off, Victor set it down, checking the equipment inside. When he was convinced everything was intact, he slipped it back on, glancing over at his new companion. Walking over to him, he cleared his throat. “Sunburst, we need to talk.” The unicorn glanced at Victor with fear in his eyes, shying away as Victor sat down beside him. “W-what about?” “Earthside. That guard called me an Earthside agent, but I’ve never worked for, nor been a part of any organization called Earthside. Does that name mean anything to you?” Sunburst’s face twisted into a mask of confusion as Victor raised an eyebrow, his concern growing by Sunburst’s silence. “I-I can’t tell you much, I’m afraid. They preferred to stay anonymous in most dealings, but field agents were the ones who would directly interact with their ‘assets on the ground,’ whatever that means. All I know is, they consider themselves some kind of police agency that patrols… various ‘universes.’” “So the rise of the Empire of the Dusk was something they were actively trying to prevent, then?” Sunburst nodded sullenly, standing up and shaking before he walked slowly away. Victor, standing up and following suit, raised an eyebrow. “Yes, unfortunately. Their agents may have accidentally contributed to the spread of the Empire throughout the world.” Victor looked around, noticing the thick throng of trees around as they found themselves walking through a thick forest, a light breeze beginning to pick up. “So, from what you are saying, they’re a human organization that have taken it upon themselves to police reality itself?” “Exactly.” “If they’re human, why would they take an interest in your world? There’s nothing here that would really benefit humanity. I mean, if it was the Western Alliance, it would be to have a fallback point for evacuation. If it was the Neos, it would be to spread their modern brand of ‘glorious communism.’” Victor sighed, moving forward. Having to duck a few times was nothing compared to the uneasiness he felt through his gut. Something was following them, and whatever it was, it was not friendly. “That’s something I would very much like to ask one of them. Anypony can see that their intentions were less than noble.” Victor stopped for a minute, prompting Sunburst to turn around. With a shout, Victor swung his fist to his right, catching something and landing a good, solid hit. As they both stood there, another human stumbled out of the surrounding trees, clutching his jaw as he smiled, a tiny amount of blood trickling from his mouth. “Didn’t think Earthside would have the manpower to mount a recovery operation. What’s your name and callsign?” Victor and Sunburst looked at each other before staring at the human, whose face took on an expression of slow realization. “We’re not from Earthside. I didn’t even know Earthside existed until a few hours ago.” “Start from the beginning then. Who are you?” --------====|/0|====-------- The human – formerly Agent Hades, as Victor and Sunburst discovered – had been stranded in the Equestrian dimension, as he put it, when he and his fellow agent, Dominic, had dropped flashbang grenades in a bid to get away. He had been lucky, but Dominic had pulled out an actual grenade by accident, blowing himself up and accidentally protecting Hades, or James Wickton, as he preferred his real name to his callsign. “The Empire of the Dusk wasn’t a threat to our operations here initially. We were interested in Equestria because of the substandard steel we’d been getting from other universes. Earthside has a good manufacturing complex, but with substandard materials, it’s like polishing a turd. You can make it look shiny and chrome, but it’ll still be a turd.” He leaned back, his torn armor a testament to how long he had been out of contact with civilization. “So the town you and your team tried to liberate, what was its name?” Victor leaned forward as Sunburst asked his question, eager for the answer. Wickton sighed, looking up at the sky before he answered. “No point anymore. There’s no town there now. Imperial Guards burned it to the ground,” Wickton replied, fiddling with his hands. Victor began to grow bored of talking with Wickton, and reached inside his bag, retrieving the tablet and the holoprojector. Almost all at once, Wickton kicked him in the gut, snatching the tablet from his hands. “Urk! W-Wickton! Give me back my computer!” Wickton narrowed his eyes, only widening them when he saw the handgun in Victor’s hand. Sunburst tilted his head to the side, shrugging as best as a pony could. “Probably better to give him the tablet back, Wickton. He’s fairly proficient with that weapon.” Relenting, Wickton handed the tablet back, sitting down against a nearby tree. Victor continued setting up his equipment, hooking up the projector as he set up the four small points that would create the holo-display. Pulling out the usb drive, he clicked it into the tablet, loading up the computer as he did so. “So, Wickton, since you now understand how I came to be here, can you tell me what this file is? It shut down my last computer, and I’d rather not lose this tablet to it as well.” Wickton grunted, crawling over to see what Victor was talking about. Almost as soon as he saw the file name, he stood up, leaping away and standing behind a tree. “How?! How did you get that?! There’s no possible way!” “A few months ago, I found this in my mailbox with a note attached to it. I didn’t see anything the matter with it, so I kept it. Didn’t plug it in until today, and that’s how I ended up here. I told you this already. What’s so important about this file?” Victor had to step back as Wickton paced back and forth, muttering to himself as Sunburst and himself glanced at each other. Wickton turned back, stopping for a minute and taking a breath before he spoke. “That file is the governing process behind Earthside. You’ve gotten your hands on the single most advanced piece of code in the entirety of existence! That ‘Shadow Protocol’ is also known as the ‘Gatebuilder.’ Your holo-display must have been just powerful enough to produce a temporary gateway to this universe!” He walked away, staring up at the canopy of the forest, Sunburst and Victor left to themselves. Victor stood up, placing the tablet and the project back in his backpack. “So, what you’re saying is… is that I somehow got the entire reason Earthside exists in my mailbox.” Wickton turned around, nodding silently. Sunburst looked upwards, moving quickly to nudge Victor and Wickton to get their attention. “We’ve got a problem!” Victor looked up to see several flying ponies staring down at him, their armor similar to that of the guard he had shot. Backing up, he aimed his handgun again, preparing to bolt as soon as he could, Sunburst and Wickton preparing to do the same. “In the name of the Dusk Guard, you are sentenced to death!” Victor looked at Wickton, shrugging. Wickton raised an eyebrow, motioning at the guardsponies in front of them. “I’m a human, with a handgun, wearing pajamas, about to fight a battle with trained and deadly guards. There is nothing that could get weirder-” With that unfinished statement, a larger, lavender pony, complete with wings and a horn, landed directly in front of them, facing the guards. “If you all want to live, get behind me!” “I stand corrected.” Author's Note So, these early chapters introducing the characters are being called the "Dossiers," showing what each character is capable of, and leaving you to guess exactly why I chose them.
Prologue - Ties that BindThe dark crawled along like a beast hungry for those less fortunate to be inside as the sound of steps came closer and closer to an individual who stood silently in the shadows. With a flick of his wrist, he drew out a cigarette and lit it silently, the steps stopping beside him as a thick Russian accent spoke slowly and quietly. “You realize you coming here is bad omen, comrade. If the Union figures out-” The smoking individual took another couple of puffs before tossing it down and crushing it under his heel. He lifted his eyes, a flash of gold startling the Russian as an accent slippery as oil spoke to him. “Trust me, the less your government knows about this, the better off they are. If we can benefit even one country on this tortured rock, then we’ll have done our jobs.” “But, Canadian, why-” “There are ears everywhere, and we hear it all. War, famine, disease, and no one is doing anything because of this second Cold War. Western Alliance, United Neo-Soviet Republic, it’s all the same. However, that’s not the point. Do you have it?” The Russian reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small drive. Placing it squarely in the Canadian’s hand, he grasped it tightly, shaking his hands. “You know what you are doing. Dosvidanya, comrade.” The Canadian nodded silently, walking away as he dropped a small satchel on the ground, the Russian quickly collecting it before he went the opposite way. Turning a corner, the Canadian sighed, reaching a finger up to his ear. Tapping, he frowned as he heard a radio turn on. “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” --------====|/0|====-------- “This is Oilman. Package is secure.” “This is Command. Return to base immediately. We cannot-” “Say again? You’re bre...ng up… signal… no, no!...” The sound of white noise coupled with what the operator could only assume to be gunfire echoed as he replayed the message for his superior, a heavyset man with a balding head. Staring at the projector’s display on the wall, he stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. With a sigh, he walked around his desk, skirting the small space he was forced to work with. “How many agents does that make, Alex?” The operator looked at his superior, gulping before he replied. “Fourteen dead, sir. Two M.I.A., and four confirmed captured. We’re losing a lot of good people, and without recruiting, we’ll be barebones in a month at this rate.” Alex watched his superior sit down, wincing as he watched him crack his knuckles. “How many worlds have we lost agents on, Alex?” “Fifteen, sir. Since we discovered that variants of the Western Alliance could track our movements, we’ve been careful to keep our patrols to the worlds that require our assistance,” Alex replied, swallowing as he watched his superior sit down, twiddling his thumbs in deep thought. Pressing his palms to the desk, Alex’s superior brought up a holographic screen, photographs sliding past as he stared. Almost as quickly as he had started, he stopped on a particular photo, his eyes narrowing as he read the report associated with it. “Are you familiar with this colorful world, Alex?” “General Irons, sir?” Irons stared him square in the face, raising a single eyebrow. “Alex, are you familiar with this… ‘Equestria?’” His mouth twisted into a thoughtful expression as he mulled over the name, Alex sighing as he rubbed his forehead. “Yes, sir, I am. I was the one who took those photos.” Irons stood up straight, his eyes widening as he stared down his subordinate. “Alex, what can you tell me of that world?” --------====|/0|====-------- “By order of the princess, all subjects must be indoors by sundown or face punishment similar in severity to the sentence carried by theft – twenty lashes!” Guards, marching around in their off-gold armor, trotted around, their spears pointed at any civilian that did not comply. “Additionally, all fillies and colts of fighting age are to come with us immediately. There will be no time for goodbyes, but they will be remembered for their service to our glorious empire.” Several ponies stood off to the side, cloaks shielding them in the setting sun, the dusk overtaking the settlement quickly. Once, the hamlet they stood in was once called Ponyville, but that time had long since passed. They spoke in hushed whispers, crouching and moving slowly so as not to arouse suspicion. “If any one of your number is withholding from us any information about the insidious rebels that are terrorising this nation, you will be dealt with accordingly, a crime which carries the same sentence as murder – death by hanging. That is all.” With a shout, many guards descended upon the hapless village, dragging out young fillies and colts, clapping restraints on their hooves and heads, and marching them to waiting wagons on the outside of town. As the guards took up their positions, an explosion rang out, one of the carts tipping over before three cloaked figures jumped out, small knives strapped to their hooves that plunged deep into each guard they struck, leaping from enemy to enemy like a dark wave of pure destruction. “Defensive formation! These traitors do not get through, whatever the cost!” ---------====|/0|====-------- “I see. So, there was a nation known as Equestria on that world, but it’s been taken over by the Empire of the Dusk? Sounds like something that we should keep an eye on.” Irons lifted his palms from his deks, the screen disappearing as the video record stopped playing. “We lost two agents getting that footage. The Imperial Guards who took them saw to it that they were executed in broad daylight.” Alex placed a tablet in front of Irons, tapping a few buttons to show the records of the two agents that had lost their lives in the line of duty. “Agents Dominic and Hades. They were some of our best. Were their bodies retrieved for burial?” Alex sighed, looking away towards the door as he shook his head in the negative. “There weren’t any bodies to bury.” --------====|/0|====-------- “Team One, suppressive fire!” Gunfire rang out, golden armor clashing with urban camouflage, bodies of either fighting side starting to pile in the street where they all stood. Men stood where others had fallen, spears pushing into them, but fighting on regardless of who stood before them. Several humans lay dead on the ground, their blood mixing with the ponies they did battle with. “This is Team One! We’re at the Shadowgate! We’ll be through in two minutes! Agent Hades, Agent Dominic, we’re holding the fort! Get over here now, sirs!” Two agents stood amongst the pile of bodies that was accumulating in the square they stood in, ponies surrounding them as the gun smoke began to clear. Spears ringed around them, aimed close to their throats. “Dom, it’s been a pleasure serving with you.” “Likewise, Hades. Let’s send them to Hell, shall we?” With a smile, Dominic grabbed explosives from a pouch on his vest, priming the detonator as he gripped a grenade, Hades following suit. The guards pushed closer, Dominic and Hades yanking the pins before dropping the grenades at their own feet. “Agents! We can-” “Sorry, Team One. We won’t be going back with you. You have your orders, so follow them. It was an honor serving with you all-” --------====|/0|====-------- “They sacrificed themselves to allow our last remaining team of agents to arrive back. We’re down to around half a dozen agents, with no recruits to speak of. We’re scraping the bare bottom of the barrel here, and we’re pulling up nothing, sir.” Alex sat down in his chair after the footage stopped, having to turn away before Dominic and Hades rendered themselves into tiny chunks of flesh and blood, too little to gather and bury. “Then we have a problem, Alex. We are bound by the Coalition Agreement, and because of that, we have needed to act in all of these theaters of war. But with that last bout, we’ve lost. There’s no one to replace the agents we lost, because there’s no one that we can contact or recruit.” Irons stood up, pulling the badges off of his breast before setting them down on the table. Opening a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a hefty file folder, simply marked ‘Janus Contingency.’ Alex stood up quickly, his eyes going wide as he saw the folder. “Sir, you can’t be serious!” “I’m activating the Janus Contingency. We need to find capable individuals, ones who we can safely recruit without too much difficulty. I know of one, but he’ll be pretty hard to track down. First things first, though, transmit the Shadow Protocol-” “Sir, we don’t have it.” Irons stared at Alex, his icy gaze feeling like a laser burning through his skin. “What do you mean, ‘don’t have it?’ Didn’t Oilman-” “Oilman did not get to us in time. His emergency retrieval beacon was also destroyed. We can be certain that the version of Earth he was on has the most powerful program in existence somewhere on it.” Irons looked out the nearby window, light returning to the office as the videos stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he watched Alex come close, returning his gaze to the citadel of technology that spread before him. “Well, then. We’ll start with the universe he was in.” Irons turned to Alex, smiling as he returned to his chair. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Dossier 1 - VICTORAn alarm rang out, a young man’s hand slapping down to shut it up as he looked up at his ceiling, his groans falling on deafened ears. Standing up, he looked at his bedside table, where a usb drive sat, something he had received a few months before. The name attached to it made no sense to him – he did not know anyone calling themselves ‘Oilman’ - but he would take a look at it after he got something in his gullet. Light streamed in through the windows, the beginning of the dawn showing over the nearby hills. A Western Alliance flag flew in his yard, the mix of the former American and Canadian flags a welcome sight. “Well, start of another annoying day. Kind of glad to have today off.” As he walked towards his bedroom door, his stereo started up, his queue starting off with some alternative rock. Jamming along with the song that played, he tapped his phone, noticing that someone had left two messages. Pressing the replay switch, he stood by, pulling socks out of his dresser as the speaker played them back. “Message one. Message received - ‘Victor, we got your proposal in today. We’re very excited to begin working with the genius programmer who coded the operating system that the Western Alliance runs on.” He sighed. He hated doing programming, but it paid the bills, and it got the government to leave him alone. Most people had to worry about the government putting their hands in their pockets, but since he was in the government’s pocket, he barely had to worry about funds. Of course, he still worked. Last time he tried to sit at home without work, it almost drove him insane. “Message two. Message received - ‘This is a priority transmission. You do not know who I am, nor would you recognize the name of my organization. However, I felt a need to reach out and contact you as soon as possible. We’ve got a proposition for you, and we’d like to-” “Phone, skip and delete message.” “Message skipped. Message deleted. You have no new messages.” Victor smiled. He did not like to be bothered on his day off, and a message from someone who would not leave their name and number was not something worth his time. Grabbing his shoes, he slipped them on quickly, grabbing his wallet, keys and jacket, staring down at his pajamas. The forecast had called for slightly nippy weather, so he thought it would be a good idea to forgo regular clothing. Opening the front door, however, proved to be something else entirely. Two unmarked black vehicles sat parked in his driveway, stiff-necked suits staring him down as he left his house. Sighing, he ignored them as he walked past. “Victor Hernandez, sir. We need to talk with you immediately! It’s regarding-” “If it’s regarding any programming, this is my day off. You can go to hell for all I care today.” Raising his middle finger, he flipped off the suits, walking slowly away. The coffee shop would not be empty long at that time of morning, and he hated waiting in line for his coffee. “Sir, we’re not who you think we are. We need you to-” “I thought the finger would have told you to fuck off. Leave me alone. I already do my duty for this nation, and I don’t care what you say, I’m not going anywhere with you.” Leaving the suits behind, he smugly stared ahead, looking for the coffee shop sign. Spotting it quickly, his steps hastened. --------====|/0|====-------- The coffee shop was incredibly empty, save for the single barista on duty. He was always a hoot and a holler for Victor, having some incredible story to tell. If he remembered right, the barista’s name was… Ghost. Sitting down at the table he preferred, Ghost laughed as he saw his favorite customer from his vantage point. “Morning, Victor. Paper’s there for ya. I’ll get your morning dose of black gold here in a minute.” Victor smiled, picking up the paper. The headline was something stupid about the Western Alliance’s approach to the United Neo Soviet Republic, and how the Neos were supposedly ‘baby-killers’ and ‘heathen people-eaters.’ He had stopped paying attention to the news a while ago, when the last important thing that had been reported was the release of his government operating system. Ghost set down his coffee, dropping a single sugar cube into the cup of Victor’s morning wake-up fuel. “Thanks, Ghost. How’s life here?” “Can’t really complain. I’ve got about two hours until the morning rush for coffee and toasted bagels, so I’m pretty much ready to go. Oh, did you hear? Someone who the Neos claim was Western was discovered in downtown Moscow, a hole the size of a phone pole through his chest.” Victor stopped for a minute, raising an eyebrow as he drank his coffee. Continuing to look through the paper, he barely heard the door open again, the sound of clean and crisp shoes echoing through the quiet shop. “Victor Hernandez. We need to-” “Can’t a guy drink his coffee in peace? This is my day off, so once more, fuck off. You’re being rather annoying, and since you’re not wearing identification, you’re not government, so I don’t have to listen to you. Good day, and fuck off.” Victor finished his cup of coffee, leaving the money for the coffee, as well as a tip for Ghost’s trouble. He stopped when one of the suits gripped his shoulder. “Sir, this is urgent. If you don’t listen-” “If I don’t listen? You’re preventing me from going home, you are unlawfully detaining a citizen, and you are pretending to be government agents. Talk to me again, and since I have sufficient charges, I will be able to get you lot locked away. Have a good day.” --------====|/0|====-------- Victor entered his house, closing the front door quickly before any of the ‘suits’ decided they wanted to try following him inside for a chat. Locking his three deadbolts as fast as he could, he took a deep breath. If they had been real suits, they would have shown their identification as soon as they started talking. Tossing his keys into a bowl just out of view of the front windows, he walked into the kitchen, closing the blinds as he went. While he normally would leave his windows open, those suits had spooked him something good, and his paranoia was starting to trickle back in. “That’s the last blind. Well, if I’m going to check it anyways, might as well see what that thumb drive contains.” Slipping off his shoes, Victor walked into the bedroom, snatching the drive from the bedside table it rested on. Holding it up to his face, he scanned it carefully, looking for any other visual markings beside ‘Oilman’ printed on the front. Sighing, he left the bedroom, walking carefully towards the front room where his computer sat. His holographic television sat ready, the projector mounts aimed in a diagonal path to create any image necessary. Sitting down, he slowly plugged in the drive, becoming more and more nervous the more he thought about it. What if this drive is connected to those suits? What if this is their drive?! I can’t take that kind of heat! I’d lose most of my contracts! He swallowed down his fear and loaded the drive, letting his computer scan it for any programs out of the ordinary. As the drive continued to load and be scanned, he pulled the drawer out from his desk, pressing a switch inside to unlock a fake bottom. With the bottom sliding back, he reached in, bringing out his vintage M1911 handgun. While he was not entirely worried, it had always paid to be careful, as some people had sent ‘suits’ at him in the past to threaten him. “Okay, got a full magazine. Couple extra mags in the drawer. That’s… thirty-six bullets. Enough to take down a small army of suits. Hopefully those guys don’t have body armor if they decide that it’s better to invade my home.” The drive finished scanning, the contents displayed on the monitor. “Let’s see what we’ve got here- wait. Video files? That’s all? I was worried for nothing! Let’s see what they are, in any case.” Clicking on the video marked ‘Shadowgate’, Victor immediately regretted the decision, as his computer immediately shut down, displaying a strange symbol couple with a language script he had never seen before. Standing up, he backed up, not noticing the holo-projectors starting up. With a flash, something projected itself into the room, wind whipping around as if a hurricane itself was starting to form in his front room. Turning around, Victor faced what had originally been his holo-television transform itself into something wholly alien to his mind. “The Shadow Protocol has been activated. Repeat, non-agent activation of Shadow Protocol detected. Proceed with secondary contingency.” Victor shifted quickly to his desk, grabbing his handgun and training it on the obvious points of entry, including the front window. Turning to his computer, he noticed the drive laying on the desk, as if it had never been plugged in. Snatching it, he ran out of the room, searching drawers in his house until he found the two things he needed desperately: his custom tablet computer, and his mobile holo-projector setup. “Gotta get out. Have to get away. They’re coming for me, I know it! Can’t let them win. Can’t let them take me-” He returned to the front room, stopping when he saw the former holo-screen become as smooth as glass, like the surface of a pond. A single individual stood in front of the mirror, though what it was concerned Victor more. The individual was some sort of quadruped, who was tapping the side of the ‘wall’ with a hoof- hoof? - and making their side ripple, the ripples causing Victor’s side to ripple, as if the two sides were connected. Swallowing, Victor stepped forward, startled by his front door crashing down, radios and voices alerting him to the intruders in his home. Grabbing a backpack from near the front window, he packed everything away as quickly as he could, slinging the bag onto his back before aiming his handgun at the door to the study. As a ‘suit’ came around the corner, armed with a rifle that pulsed with an energy like Victor had never seen, he opened fire, pegging the suit in the chest, and knocking him down quickly. “You won’t take me alive, if you’re here to try to capture me! If you’re Soviet, then dosvidanya, suka!” Turning, he dived headfirst into the rippling ‘wall,’ feeling his entire body become engulfed by something that he knew was not supposed to be a part of his world. He could see the way he had ‘come in,’ the suits staring at the ‘wall’ and looking for him inside. Twisting around in the nonexistent air, he faced the other ‘wall,’ spying the quadriped staring at him with wide eyes- that was abnormal. From his experience, you could barley see the white parts of the eyes of horses, and that looked like a- “Horse?!” With a flash, Victor flew through the quadriped’s ‘wall’, sailing across the room and slamming into a bookshelf. Groaning, he tried to stand up, holding his side as he looked at the ‘wall’ beginning to shrink. “Well, there’s no way back now. Why are you staring at me? Go on, shoo!” “Uh, well, if you don’t mind me askin’, why are you staring at me? I have very important Crystaller duties to perform.” Victor stood up straight, bending over after he slammed his head directly into the low ceiling. Rubbing it, he glared at the quadriped in front of him, anger boiling in his throat. “Okay, new plan,” Victor muttered, aiming his handgun at the quadriped. “You’re going to tell me exactly where I am, and then you’re going to take me home.” The quadriped backed up, as if it recognized the implement in his hand. Victor, smiling, knelt down, pressing the gun’s barrel against the quadriped’s head. “P-please! I d-don’t know anything! I’m nothing important, just a f-former wizard!” Victor sighed, lowering the gun for a second. Pondering for a minute, he looked back down, raising an eyebrow before he began his questioning. “So, you recognized my handgun. That means you’ve had previous encounters with humanity. Either that or I’m lying on a slab somewhere in a comatose state.” “I-I’m s-sorry. I t-thought you were with Earthside-” Victor pushed his hand against the quadriped’s muzzle, raising an eyebrow before he continued. “What’s Earthside?”
Dossier 2 - SUNBURSTVictor stared down the pony. In the last ten minutes, it had given an extremely condensed and ‘scrubbed’ version of what was going on, including who he was, and what he was. He sat there, trying not to look too uncomfortable, but Victor could recognize when someone, or somepony, in his new acquaintance’s case, was in the middle of a very awkward situation. “So, this side of that ‘wall’ - the one you called a Shadowgate – is called the Crystal Empire? And the nation to your south used to be called Equestria, but was taken over by something called the ‘Empire of the Dusk.’ You’re the Court Crystaller, in charge of raising, to an extent, and training the Heir Apparent of the Crystal Empire.” “That about sums it up, yes.” Victor waved his hand, his face a blank expression as he tried to process the info dump that was just foisted on him. “So that means that I am in another world entirely?” The unicorn – Sunburst, as he had said his name was – nodded, frowning as he heard a knock at the door. “Crystaller Sunburst, your presence is requested at the castle!” Sunburst held up his hoof, pressing it to Victor’s mouth. Leaving him, he trotted to the doorway, opening the door slightly. “Hello? Is there anything I can do for you-” “In the name of the Empire of the Dusk, you are to come with-” A single gunshot rang out, the guard collapsing as Victor stood behind Sunburst, handgun raised and ready to fire again. The unicorn stepped back, his orange mane in a mess as he sat still, shaking in fear as Victor stepped outside. “Well, then. You know what I can do. However-” “Earthside agent! Execute him immediately-” Victor dove back inside Sunburst’s house, kicking the doors shut and holding his feet against them in a hope that they would remain closed. “You said the Empire never bothered with this city, Sunburst! Anything else I should be aware of?!” “Come on, human! There is a trap door… around here somewhere.” Victor barred the door as best he could, stepping slowly backwards as he aimed his handgun at the door. “What a day for a pair of pajamas. Find that trap door. I’ve got the door covered.” Sunburst nodded, dragging rugs out from everywhere in a bid to find his hidden escape. The doors began to move, their hinges starting to shift as something attempted to rip the door off its foundations. Victor felt a chill go down his spine, his hands starting to shake slightly as he watched the doorway. “Found it! Human, get over here! I’ll go down first, as you have the firearm.” Victor nodded, crouching and creeping along to get as close to the trap door as he could without alerting whoever was still trying to rip the door off. “Sunburst, I hope you have a better idea than a hole in the ground.” Sunburst looked up at him from the ladder in the passage below the trap door, raising an eyebrow. “You ask as if I wasn’t prepared! Once we get down below, there is a motorized minecart we can take to the edge of the city! If Dusk Guards are already here, then this city is doomed, and we need to escape!” Victor sighed, keeping his gun trained on the door. The shaking stopped, just before the door was torn right off the foundation, the walls cracking and starting to buckle. “Sunburst, I don’t want to hurry you, but get down there now!” Victor stepped over to the hole, Sunburst having cleared the ladder. With a single movement, he dropped down, bending his knees as he landed to take the brunt of the impact. A small piece of rock fell past him as he looked up, the ceiling of Sunburst’s former home beginning to collapse. Leaping sideways, he dodged out of the way, the floor collapsing down the hole he had just been standing in. “Well, at least those were copies of books and scrolls. Replaceable.” Sunburst sat inside the minecart, the motor rumbling as it idled. “Probably would have stayed standing if someone hadn’t ripped the door from its hinges.” Sunburst’s eyes widened, but he did not say anything. Victor sighed, clambering into the cart without a second thought. --------====|/0|====-------- The ride proved to be less than eventful, though shouting could be clearly heard through thin cave walls at certain spots. Victor kept his weapon ready, aiming behind them as Sunburst kept the cart on track. Victor turned around to say something, but was caught up in a vast view that spread before the two of them. Turning around, they could see the city they had been inside a minute ago, but smoke was rising from various areas, and burning flags could be seen waving, where their compatriots had been replaced by a flag with a purple sunburst. Sighing, Victor turned around, focusing on the path ahead. The end of the track came as a welcome sight, allowing Sunburst and Victor to stretch their legs. Lifting his backpack off, Victor set it down, checking the equipment inside. When he was convinced everything was intact, he slipped it back on, glancing over at his new companion. Walking over to him, he cleared his throat. “Sunburst, we need to talk.” The unicorn glanced at Victor with fear in his eyes, shying away as Victor sat down beside him. “W-what about?” “Earthside. That guard called me an Earthside agent, but I’ve never worked for, nor been a part of any organization called Earthside. Does that name mean anything to you?” Sunburst’s face twisted into a mask of confusion as Victor raised an eyebrow, his concern growing by Sunburst’s silence. “I-I can’t tell you much, I’m afraid. They preferred to stay anonymous in most dealings, but field agents were the ones who would directly interact with their ‘assets on the ground,’ whatever that means. All I know is, they consider themselves some kind of police agency that patrols… various ‘universes.’” “So the rise of the Empire of the Dusk was something they were actively trying to prevent, then?” Sunburst nodded sullenly, standing up and shaking before he walked slowly away. Victor, standing up and following suit, raised an eyebrow. “Yes, unfortunately. Their agents may have accidentally contributed to the spread of the Empire throughout the world.” Victor looked around, noticing the thick throng of trees around as they found themselves walking through a thick forest, a light breeze beginning to pick up. “So, from what you are saying, they’re a human organization that have taken it upon themselves to police reality itself?” “Exactly.” “If they’re human, why would they take an interest in your world? There’s nothing here that would really benefit humanity. I mean, if it was the Western Alliance, it would be to have a fallback point for evacuation. If it was the Neos, it would be to spread their modern brand of ‘glorious communism.’” Victor sighed, moving forward. Having to duck a few times was nothing compared to the uneasiness he felt through his gut. Something was following them, and whatever it was, it was not friendly. “That’s something I would very much like to ask one of them. Anypony can see that their intentions were less than noble.” Victor stopped for a minute, prompting Sunburst to turn around. With a shout, Victor swung his fist to his right, catching something and landing a good, solid hit. As they both stood there, another human stumbled out of the surrounding trees, clutching his jaw as he smiled, a tiny amount of blood trickling from his mouth. “Didn’t think Earthside would have the manpower to mount a recovery operation. What’s your name and callsign?” Victor and Sunburst looked at each other before staring at the human, whose face took on an expression of slow realization. “We’re not from Earthside. I didn’t even know Earthside existed until a few hours ago.” “Start from the beginning then. Who are you?” --------====|/0|====-------- The human – formerly Agent Hades, as Victor and Sunburst discovered – had been stranded in the Equestrian dimension, as he put it, when he and his fellow agent, Dominic, had dropped flashbang grenades in a bid to get away. He had been lucky, but Dominic had pulled out an actual grenade by accident, blowing himself up and accidentally protecting Hades, or James Wickton, as he preferred his real name to his callsign. “The Empire of the Dusk wasn’t a threat to our operations here initially. We were interested in Equestria because of the substandard steel we’d been getting from other universes. Earthside has a good manufacturing complex, but with substandard materials, it’s like polishing a turd. You can make it look shiny and chrome, but it’ll still be a turd.” He leaned back, his torn armor a testament to how long he had been out of contact with civilization. “So the town you and your team tried to liberate, what was its name?” Victor leaned forward as Sunburst asked his question, eager for the answer. Wickton sighed, looking up at the sky before he answered. “No point anymore. There’s no town there now. Imperial Guards burned it to the ground,” Wickton replied, fiddling with his hands. Victor began to grow bored of talking with Wickton, and reached inside his bag, retrieving the tablet and the holoprojector. Almost all at once, Wickton kicked him in the gut, snatching the tablet from his hands. “Urk! W-Wickton! Give me back my computer!” Wickton narrowed his eyes, only widening them when he saw the handgun in Victor’s hand. Sunburst tilted his head to the side, shrugging as best as a pony could. “Probably better to give him the tablet back, Wickton. He’s fairly proficient with that weapon.” Relenting, Wickton handed the tablet back, sitting down against a nearby tree. Victor continued setting up his equipment, hooking up the projector as he set up the four small points that would create the holo-display. Pulling out the usb drive, he clicked it into the tablet, loading up the computer as he did so. “So, Wickton, since you now understand how I came to be here, can you tell me what this file is? It shut down my last computer, and I’d rather not lose this tablet to it as well.” Wickton grunted, crawling over to see what Victor was talking about. Almost as soon as he saw the file name, he stood up, leaping away and standing behind a tree. “How?! How did you get that?! There’s no possible way!” “A few months ago, I found this in my mailbox with a note attached to it. I didn’t see anything the matter with it, so I kept it. Didn’t plug it in until today, and that’s how I ended up here. I told you this already. What’s so important about this file?” Victor had to step back as Wickton paced back and forth, muttering to himself as Sunburst and himself glanced at each other. Wickton turned back, stopping for a minute and taking a breath before he spoke. “That file is the governing process behind Earthside. You’ve gotten your hands on the single most advanced piece of code in the entirety of existence! That ‘Shadow Protocol’ is also known as the ‘Gatebuilder.’ Your holo-display must have been just powerful enough to produce a temporary gateway to this universe!” He walked away, staring up at the canopy of the forest, Sunburst and Victor left to themselves. Victor stood up, placing the tablet and the project back in his backpack. “So, what you’re saying is… is that I somehow got the entire reason Earthside exists in my mailbox.” Wickton turned around, nodding silently. Sunburst looked upwards, moving quickly to nudge Victor and Wickton to get their attention. “We’ve got a problem!” Victor looked up to see several flying ponies staring down at him, their armor similar to that of the guard he had shot. Backing up, he aimed his handgun again, preparing to bolt as soon as he could, Sunburst and Wickton preparing to do the same. “In the name of the Dusk Guard, you are sentenced to death!” Victor looked at Wickton, shrugging. Wickton raised an eyebrow, motioning at the guardsponies in front of them. “I’m a human, with a handgun, wearing pajamas, about to fight a battle with trained and deadly guards. There is nothing that could get weirder-” With that unfinished statement, a larger, lavender pony, complete with wings and a horn, landed directly in front of them, facing the guards. “If you all want to live, get behind me!” “I stand corrected.” Author's Note So, these early chapters introducing the characters are being called the "Dossiers," showing what each character is capable of, and leaving you to guess exactly why I chose them.
