The Eyes of Discord

The sound of fine leather shoes smacking against the solid stone floor marched quickly through the capitol building.

“Sir, I understand your concern, but I don’t see any reason to continue forward in a way that’s any different from how we’ve handled the site in the past.”

President Anderson was frustrated by the Captain Jackson.  And a frustrated President was typically someone that you wanted to avoid.  He began to open his mouth, and then bit back his words.  He reconstructed the sentence in his mind, making it less obvious that he was seriously ticked off.

“The portal’s existence is not something to take lightly, captain.”

The officer following him looked around nervously at the mention of the long kept secret.  Anderson ignored him, as far as he was concerned, after the incident two years ago, the world deserved to know all about it.  Anderson spun on a dime, catching Jackson off guard.

“We fought a war with the people on the other side of that thing Captain.”

The man stumbled back, surprised.

“Sir, with all due respect, shouldn’t we talk about this somewhere-”

“Shut up, and listen to me.”

Captain Jackson paled, regretting his words.  Anderson took a step closer to him.

“There is a nation on the other side of that portal.  Now, we did help them out, I’ll give you that.  But as far as I’m concerned, and as far as they are concerned, we are singularly responsible for wiping out at least two thousand of them.”

Anderson paused, letting his words sink in.

“They have every right to consider us an enemy.  We can all hope and pray that they’ll understand what happened, but if they don’t, then we have a serious problem.  We had every sci fi writers fantasy come true right in front of us.  As seriously screwed up of a first contact as possible.  Now, we’ve already found out that in general, they are weaker than us.  But they abilities that we are eons from even coming to understand.  As long as a doorway exists that might let us re-establish contact with them, then we need to be prepared to offer them our hand of greeting, ask forgiveness, and unfortunately, if it comes down to it, repel an assault.”

The President shook his head, taking a moment to clear his thoughts.

“We haven’t told the public everything, but we told them enough.  They know that their president ordered troops into another world intent on violence.  Half the world doubts its true, but they have the information.  We couldn’t have nailed Nickelson into the ground if they didn’t.  And we lost people in there too.  So as of right now, you could say that the relationship that exists between our worlds is rather uncomfortable.  You cut off contact, that’s fine and good, nothing you could do anyway.  But you make re-entry an option, and suddenly, you can have angry people on both sides ready to take shots at each other.  And I don’t like that idea one bit.”

Anderson turned around, and started moving again.

“Walk with me.”

The Captain obediently followed.  They strode through the corridors quickly.

“There was a reason that I invited you here though, Captain Jackson, other than to get angry with you.”

The President turned off, coming to stand in front of a large wooden door.

“Besides having worked in the… facility, beneath the pentagon for the past several years, you also are one of the most accomplished tacticians to graduate from West Point, and happen to be a brilliant operator and programmer in the line of unmanned vehicles.”

He pushed open the door, revealing a room containing Director Daniel Huston, General Quentin, and several other officers.

“If you don’t mind,” Anderson stated in a way that made it perfectly clear that if he in fact did mind, he should keep it to himself, “We would all love to talk to you about what’s been going on down there.”

“Of course, Mr. President.” The Captain said weakly.  As they strode into the room, Anderson locked the door behind them.

<(^)>

Princess Luna hummed to herself as she walked into the throne room.  It was still early in the morning, so the only other ponies there were a few resolute members of the Royal guard.  The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, indicating that her sister must have roused herself.  Hopefully today would turn out to be uneventful.  That would make a nice respite from the last several days.

The sunlight peeked through the stained glass windows, casting beautiful colors all across the interior of the castle.  Luna sighed, content with the peace of the scene around her.  Her appreciation was interrupted by the sound of hooves on the stone floor.  From the way the noise sounded, there had to be quite a few of them.  Luna glanced down the hallway from which the sound was originating.

Blueblood’s entourage was rapidly making its way to the throne room.  From the amount of bags the servants were carrying, Luna imagined that he would be leaving Canterlot for home very shortly.  She glanced over her shoulder, checking a clock.  It has half past six.  Interesting that Blueblood had roused himself so early.  Luna stood waiting for the other ponies, which were now very close.

Once they were within fifteen feet or so, she spoke.

“You’re up rather early Blueblood.  Intending to get a good start on the day?”

He smiled, almost mischievously.

“Yes, I intend to be on the first train home.  Which leaves at seven fifteen, so we had really best be on our way.  Thank you as always, for the banquets and what not.  I suppose that I’ll be seeing you again within the month.  Good bye.”

“Farewell then.” Luna said as she stepped to the side, letting him pass.

She watched as he walked by, his small platoon of servants and guards in tow.  As she watched, one of the ponies in the rear stumbled, nearly falling face first on the ground.  Shaking himself off, he quickly recovered, and started to follow after the others.  As he did so, a single paper popped from his overstuffed pack, floating gently to the floor.  Seeing as he didn’t notice Luna snatched the paper up, waving it at the group.

“Blueblood!  You’ve…”

Her voice trailed off as her eyes fell upon the markings on the page.  She stood stock still for a moment unable to accept the image.  Her gaze gradually moved back to the unicorn noble who stood looking back at her, a look of concern on his face.

“Blueblood…” She began. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I can assure you,” he hastily started, “It’s merely a note of mine, nothing import-”

“Oh, apparently it was important.” Her gaze was icy, “Important enough to cost a pony his life!”

She threw the page to the ground, and the room held its collective breath as it half floated half slid across the floor.  It came to rest on the red carpet in the centre of the room.  A full diagram for an experimental firearm.  Signed by Colonel Alex Williams.

“SEIZE HIM!” The enraged princess barked, her hoof jutting out towards the noble.  A pair of guards sprang from where they had been standing at attention, bent on capturing the wayward unicorn.  As quickly as they had jumped, the froze, slowly backing away from the white colored mare that had leapt in front of Blueblood, a large dagger in each hoof.  The look on her face immediately conveyed that she probably knew how to use them better than both of the guards put together.

“SURRENDER YOURSELF, LORD BLUEBLOOD, PERHAPS THEN YOU CAN EXPLAIN ALL THAT HATH BEEN OCCURING HERE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS.”

The Royal Canterlot voice echoed throughout the castle, alerting nearby guards to the presence of a danger.  Almost immediately, two more pairs of pegasi troops burst through the main doors, their mouths clutched tightly on their swords and spears.

“As kind as you’ve been to me throughout all these years,” Blueblood let out, beginning to run towards the exit, surrounded by his crew, “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to refuse that offer!”

The four guards braced themselves, but were caught off guard as the red haired mare threw a small glass jar towards them.  The container broke on the floor, releasing a puff of blue fumes into the air.  Five seconds later, the smoke had cleared, and the guards lay coughing on the floor, wiping blue powder from their faces.  As for Blueblood and his lot, they were already past, barrelling out into the courtyard.

Luna spread her large Alicorn wings, flapping them as hard as she could.  She shot out into the courtyard, where the escapees where going not unnoticed, but unheeded, as none of the guards out here knew what had just been committed.

“STOP THEM!”

She roared, her own horn beginning to glow, preparing to release a magical salvo on the fleeing ponies.  Nothing to injure, but she wouldn’t mind knocking most of them out of their senses.  The half dozen guards around the perimeter of the courtyard hesitated for a brief second, confused, before charging down towards the fleeing party.  Luna fired a glowing magical projectile, intent on stunning the fleeing noble.  To her frustration, the shot missed, and hit one of his guards.  The pony stumbled, and skidded across the ground, knocked out.

By now, the first of the Canterlot guards had reached the dissidents.  The armoured Pegasus soldier stuck his hoof straight out in front of him, resolved to stop the advancing group.  The white mare from before sprang out of the pack, rolling to the guards side.  The Pegasus, surprised by the sudden move, swivelled to face her.  There was a flash of sun light, reflected off a swinging blade.  And then red spattered the courtyard.

The mare flicked her dagger back to her side, continuing on with the rest of the group.  Luna stared at the blood that ran from the fallen soldier.  Another murder, another act of violence that would not be undone.  That could never be undone.  What sentient creatures would do to members of their own race never ceased to shock her.

“BLUEBLOOD!” Came, her cry, “STOP THIS MADNESS!  NO SCHEME FOR POWER IS WORTH THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD!”

The royal voice boomed throughout the courtyard, resonating and echoing.  It seemed as though two dozen voices had all laid out the same demand.  And for but a second, the noblecolt hesitated.  One hoof wavered in its resolve to continue forward.  And then, he was gone, out the gate with the rest of his followers.

Luna alighted on the ground, standing before the open gate.  Security was rarely a major priority at the castle.  The main gate was almost always left open.  A platoon of guards rushed up behind her.  Its captain stared at the princess, searching her for reasons.

“What is your command, my Princess?”

Luna sighed.  So much for the hope of a peaceful day.

“I want you to send word to the Northern Province to arrest Lord Blueblood if he sets foot within its boundaries.”

She paused for a moment, thinking.

“Actually, send word to all the provinces that he is to be arrested on sight, and that he may use violent force if confronted.”

She watched as the group continued to run through the city, drawing bewildered glances from the citizens of Canterlot.

“We can’t risk a conflict in the city streets; more ponies may be injured.  Get me as many pegasi as you can muster, and put all soldiers in Canterlot on high alert.  Send word to the station to hold all trains until ordered otherwise.  You three;”

She motioned at three of the pegasi.

“Track them from above; don’t let them out of your sight.  I will send more to join you.”

The three winged ponies rocketed skyward, quickly vanishing from sight behind a bank of clouds.

“That will be all for now captain.”

“Yes your majesty.”

He bowed, and quickly ran to carry out his orders.  Luna surveyed the remainder of the platoon.

“Has the fallen member of Bluebloods company been secured?”

“Yes, but he is still unconscious for the time being.” The guards looked at her, their confusion from minutes earlier now gone, replaced with resolve and discipline.

“Good, perhaps he will be able to enlighten us about a few valuable pieces of information.”

Her eyes drifted to farther back in the courtyard, where a team was loading the body of the slain guard onto a stretcher.  As he was taken away, one of his hooves slid over the side, dangling lifeless from the body.

“How old was he?”

The Princess of the night asked quietly.  The guards where quiet.  Finally, one of the older stallions edged forward.

“Nineteen, your highness.”

The Princess slowly nodded.  Another young life, full of opportunities, gone.

“What a shame.”

Without another word, she strode into the castle.  As the main door to the massive structure closed behind her, the first alarm bells began to sound.

<(^)>

“Tower, this is Foxtrot leader, requesting permission to land on runway one nine, over.”

“Copy that Foxtrot Leader, this is tower, you are cleared to land on runway one nine, welcome to Andrews.”

The formation of F-16 falcons descended upon the Andrews air force base, a few miles away from the capitol city of Washington D.C.  A soft drizzle spattered the tarmac, giving the place a somewhat gray appearance.  As the planes touched down on the runway, small puffs of steam rose from their tires.

The leader of the squadron turned his plane off of the runway and started to make his way to the hangers.

“Foxtrot four this is Foxtrot leader, you still awake back there rookie?”

After a moment’s hesitation, the newest member of Foxtrot squadron piped back.

“Sorry sir, I was conked out and only caught the last couple words.  Can you repeat that please?”

The captain of the squadron smiled slightly, glad that the team still seemed to have a good sense of humor.  It had been a long flight from California.  Technically, the supersonic F-16s could have made the flight in less than two hours, but sonic booms had a tendency to annoy everyone within forty miles of the source, and hence, travel at or above Mach 1 were used sparingly.

Across the base, James Thalin watched as the new fighters drew nearer.  They were part of the plan to reallocate and downsize the nation’s military.  The pilots of the old F-16s would soon begin the transition to flying F-35s.  All of the older generations of fighter aircraft would be scrapped or sold within the year.

James sat underneath of his F-22 raptor, safely tucked in its hanger, out of the rain.  He could see the “fighting falcons” through the half open hanger doors.  Aaron Lizon, one of the base’s colonels, hurried into the building, escaping the falling droplets of water.  Aaron’s own fighter, another raptor, was parked behind James.

As he drew nearer to the relaxing pilot, Aaron greeted him.

“Having a nice day there James?”

James glanced at Aaron, dampened by the drizzle.

“Nice as I can on a day like today.  Don’t have much to do.”

“Well, I don’t know, you can check by Peter’s room later.  Heard that he just picked up the new Xbox or something, and a bunch of guys are all screwing around with it.”

“I might swing by.” James leaned back, still interested in the F-16s. “New squadron finally got here, by the looks of it.”

Aaron glanced out behind him, looking over the new F-16s.

“Yeah, I haven’t had much time to look over all their info yet.  Foxtrot squad I think… Captain Timothy Sgrader, Arthur Davis… I think… there’s one named Anthony Williams too, I can’t remember the rest.”

“Anthony Williams?”

James’ head rotated faster than an owl, locking onto Aaron.

“You sure about that?”

“Pretty darn sure.” Aaron scratched his head. “I’ve got the list somewhere.  Why are you so surprised?”

“No reason just…  Didn’t expect him to be in the air force.  Probably isn’t even the same guy.  Talk to you later Aaron!”

James stood up, and started running towards the hanger where the F-16s where starting to park.

“Ok.” Aaron called after him, confused. “But you had better show up at Peter’s later, I can’t wait to kick your butt in Half Life T-”

The James was out of the hanger before he could finish the sentence, running headlong for the new arrivals.