Author's Note
So, this is a rewrite of the Prologue.
It's much longer. Fixed the Reagan mistake. Don't know if the pacing is better, but I'm proud of this. I am.
Hope you guys enjoy it.
Prologue
9th November, 1989
Countries had secrets. This was no surprise. Their secrets ranged from big to tiny, dangerous to mild, and funny to terrifying. The United States of America was no exception. Secret arms deals, classified documents, undisclosed weapons tests, and untold methods of gathering information were among their secrets. When most people thought of the secrets of America, they thought of absurd conspiracies. Such as how they framed Lee Harvey Oswald, how the moon landing was faked, and how lizard people ran the government. But the biggest secret of the US was right in the nation’s capitol.
A black car drove down Route 110, Virginia at 10 AM. Inside was a Secret Service agent waiting to arrive at his destination. The destination? The Pentagon.
The Pentagon was one of the most important buildings in the world. It was the headquarters of the Department of Defense of the United States. From an aerial view, the complex looked like a pentagon. Five sides, five floors, and five rings made it one of the largest office spaces in the world. Because of its vastness, there were five entrances into the Pentagon on all sides. However, there was an entrance that was unknown to the general public. It was only for people with the highest level of security clearance. Luckily, our agent had enough clearance.
The car drove through a highly guarded underground tunnel going beneath the Pentagon. Finally, the vehicle stopped at a secure door. The backside passenger door opened and out stepped the Secret Service agent.
He donned a traditional black suit with sunglasses, looking like any agent in the Secret Service. A distinguishing feature of his was his height, which was at least 7 foot 3. His hair was jet black, and hidden beneath the sunglasses were chocolatey brown eyes. He was in his early thirties, and he looked quite good.
The agent stepped forward to a security guard and handed papers to him. After examining them, the security guard let the agent through.
The security at this entrance was the heaviest and most advanced in the world. There were 100 guards, thick steel doors, security cameras watching 24/7, and countless motion detectors. Why was security so high? Well, the biggest secret of the United States was behind these steel doors, and they did not want anyone to know. They also didn’t want Soviet spies to slip through here.
What exactly was the secret behind these doors? Well, you’re about to find out.
The agent reached a security checkpoint. The guard examined the papers thoroughly.
“Name?” he asked.
“James Pierce,” said the agent.
“Date of Birth?”
“January 20th, 1958.”
“Rank?”
“Lieutenant,”
“State your reason for going through.”
“You’ll find it here,” James handed the guard a telegram that had been sent via a secure wire.
The guard examined the telegram, and a slight look of surprise cracked his face before it went back to being serious.
“Alright,” he said, “You can go.”
The guard radioed the door operator to open the door. As the large metal door began to open, he gave James a pat-down inspection just to be safe.
Finally, James was nearly there. Just one more inspection and he could get going.
James had a small flashback to his high school days. He had been having an argument with a classmate of his about the government. This particular classmate had been a conspiracy theorist and had been convinced that the government was hiding the existence of aliens from all of them.
He remembered saying, “That’s insane. There’s no way in hell that they’re hiding aliens. But if you’re right, I’ll go ahead and marry one of them.”
This memory made him chuckle. If that man came here right now, he would scream, “Hallelujah! I was right! Who’s your fiance?”
But he wasn’t entirely correct. The US government was hiding aliens, but they were not hiding the existence of little green men with weirdly shaped heads. The aliens that they were hiding were far stranger. They were familiar but at the same time, different.
The final checkpoint had James go through a metal detector and an x-ray machine to be sure he wasn’t carrying anything he wasn’t supposed to.
The final door opened, and James stepped into the room. It was large, probably the size of a large suburban house. It was filled with heavy machinery on the sides. But the most remarkable thing inside the room was a portal to another world.
The portal was a part of the wall, forming an arc from the floor to the ceiling. Cables ran around it, giving it the energy needed to stay open. Several engineers monitored the portal to make sure it didn’t break down. It looked like something from a sci-fi film, but instead of seeing it through a screen, it was right before him.
James walked forward and passed the threshold of the portal. There was always a strange feeling he had when he went through it. It felt as though an electric current had passed through his body. Everyone who’d gone through that he’d met said they felt the same feeling. The scientists said they felt this was because we were traveling into another universe or some complicated explanation he didn’t understand.
James was now in the US embassy of Equestria. Equestria was a nation on the planet Equus. What were the inhabitants of Equestria? Ponies. Cute, cuddly, pastel-colored ponies that had magic. If James told that old conspiracy theorist classmate of his about this, he would get arrested for leaking classified information. But his classmate would probably laugh his way to the moon before that happened.
Most ponies were around 5 feet, 2 inches in height. They had large eyes, hooves that were the same color as their hides, and their hides, manes, and tails had a variety of colors that spanned the entire spectrum of visible light. Plus, all of them had some form of magic. They looked like something straight out of a children’s cartoon. James had seen an ad for some toys called ‘My Little Pony’ that bore a striking resemblance to the ponies of Equestria (He’d heard the CIA was looking into it).
There were three different breeds of ponies. First were the earth ponies. These ponies could make plants grow faster and were mainly agriculturists or farmers. Then there were pegasus ponies. Pegasi had wings. They were too small to enable pegasi to fly but with magic, they were sky-high. They could manipulate and walk on clouds. They could also control the weather, thus, they managed Equestria’s weather. Finally, there were unicorn ponies. Unicorn ponies had horns, which they used to perform spells. These spells ranged from simple telekinesis to teleportation and energy blasts. They were considered the most powerful of the three pony breeds.
The environment on the other side of the portal was different. It was as though someone turned up the saturation by 100%. Everything was so bright. When James first arrived here, he’d thought his eyes would never recover from the brightness. After many visits though, his eyes had adjusted, and he could go outside the chancellery without blinding himself.
The US embassy was one of the largest in the world (Or worlds?). It covered 50 acres of land and employed 3000 people. The complex itself evoked a sense of security and modernity. Actually, the embassy had been built to be very secure. Why? Although this was the land of cute ponies, there were creatures the US government considered highly dangerous. Creatures from myths, legends, fairytales, and folklore. Fantasy creatures.
It was all very confusing, but James didn’t try to ponder on the things that didn’t make sense in this world. (Scientists did, and they were banging their heads on whiteboards after hours)
James passed several embassy staff before he finally exited the compound. He was now on the city street.
The embassy was located in Equestria’s capitol, Canterlot. When James had first seen a picture of Canterlot and he realized that was the city he was in, he’d almost had a heart attack. Part of the city was suspended on the side of a plateau near a mountain. The rest of it was on the plateau itself. He’d been told that they had used magic to construct the city one thousand years ago and that it was perfectly safe. (He was sure the US Government didn’t trust this statement. They had built the embassy on solid land, after all)
The city was the most beautiful place James had ever set foot in. The buildings were all pearly white, with ornate purple and gold roofs. It was wildly different from the architecture of cities on Earth (Eg. Washington D.C) Street vendors milled about selling their wares as unicorn aristocrats took walks and pegasi flew in the cloudless sky.
James was taking in the incredible scene (while breathing in the freshest air ever) when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Jaaaaames,” said a familiar voice, “How are ya?”
James turned to be greeted by his fellow agent and friend, Noah Hallows. Noah had green eyes that were the color of emeralds. They had a mischievous glint (Noah was a jokester, after all, and he made really good jokes). His hair was light brown and messy. Noah was much more casual than other agents, and James liked that. It was interesting to talk to him (Even though he had a strange obsession with this thing called anime). He was also much shorter than James. He was 5 foot 8 and had to stand on his toes to put his hand on James’ shoulder.
“Hey, Noah,” He said, “I got an urgent telegram. I need to get to Canterlot Medical Centre now.”
“I know,” his friend said. Noah looked at his watch, “The car should be coming… now.”
A black car rolled up to the two of them. They promptly got into the back, as the vehicle sped off.
There were seldom cars in Equestria. The only ones either belonged to the military or embassy staff, so there was little traffic to care about, other than ponies on the road. Snobbish unicorn nobles gave dirty looks at them as they passed. James was positive that they would kick all the embassy staff out of the country if they could. But, thankfully, Princess Celestia was much more open-minded than them and allowed the United States to build an embassy.
“Hey,” Noah came next to James, “Are you nervous?”
“About what?” he asked.
“You know what I’m talking about,”
Oh, James thought, that. James had been called to Equestria because of urgent business, but what was it? Well, it was business that every man would deal with one day. Well, almost every man. Some did, and some didn’t. Some men spent their lives single or jumped from one woman to another. Others found love, got married, and became…
Fathers.
James still couldn’t believe it at times. It felt like a dream, yet it wasn’t. Had it been 3 years ago? God, it felt like he’d only met her yesterday.
He had accompanied the President while he oversaw American troops training with Equestrian troops on that day. The ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, had also been present. At some point, he wandered off and ran into an Equestrian soldier. He rarely talked to ponies. He was supposed to guard the President, not make small talk with the locals. But, he was glad he decided to chat with this one.
She had a very snarky conversation with him, and unlike most ponies, seemed to think that humans could be just as funny, kind, and interesting as ponies. She did not think that humans were depraved creatures who would destroy all of equinity (A lot of ponies were speciest. Specieism is the Equus version of racism) Later, she introduced herself as Spear Point.
They chatted until the end of the training. After that, James sent her letters every month. They met from time to time, and it was nice. James knew that what they were doing together was technically not allowed, but he couldn’t stop himself. He tried to convince himself that they were simply friends (That was a lie)
Eventually, it coalesced into something bigger, and now, he was on his way to the hospital to meet his wife.
“James,”
James turned to his friend, “Yeah?”
“Have you decided on a name yet?”
“No, Spear said we would decide once they were born,”
“Wait,” Noah adjusted his position in his seat, “Didn’t you say it was a boy?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” James turned to peer out the window, “Spear said that she was ok if our son bore my surname.”
“Have you given Spear Point a pet name?” Noah slid to James, “Have you started calling her Speary?”
“Noah what the–”
The two launched into a ridiculous argument after that. It continued until the car reached the hospital.
The Canterlot Royal Medical Centre was different from other buildings in the city. Sure, on the outside it matched the architecture with the rest of the Canterlot. Tall towers with spiraling gold and purple roofs. Pristine white walls without a speck of dust. It looked like a structure that came from a fantasy book for children. But, the real differences were inside.
Inside, was Equestria’s finest hospital. Equipped with the best doctors, nurses, and beds (They prided themselves on their beds) everypony wished to go get treatment from this place. It was affordable for all the ponies of Equestria, so many of them flocked to Canterlot to receive medicine from there.
The Centre had been made even better with human technology. Before, most doctors were unicorns who were experts in healing spells. There were scarcely any unicorns in Equestria who could perform these spells, so healthcare had been an expensive affair. However, with human technology, healthcare had become increasingly cheap. The price was projected to go down even more in the coming decades.
The Embassy vehicle arrived in front of the main entrance. Out stepped James and Noah. They thanked the driver and headed inside.
The lobby of the CRMC was crowded. At least 40 ponies were inside the room. It had a smell of sterilization like most hospitals. James could see ponies with an assortment of ailments such as fevers, broken limbs, and sprains.
The two agents headed to the reception desk. Behind the desk was a white mare. The receptionist. James and Noah walked up to her.
“I’m here to see Spear Point,” James said, “I was called. They said her water broke.”
“Oh, yes,” the Receptionist said, “You should hurry. She’s gone into labor!"
"Don't worry, I know which room she's in,"
The two men hurried off to the elevator. Upon entering, James pressed the button for the fifth floor. It seemed to take an eternity. After a minute or so, the elevator dinged, and the door opened.
James ran like hell. He flew down the hallway passing several doctors and nurses. He finally reached the room where his wife was staying. He knew it was the room because of the many humans outside of it. Doctors and scientists were chatting away until they noticed he was there.
“Oh, hey, James,” one of them said, “Your wife is in labor. They aren’t letting anyone in.”
“Shit,” James cursed out loud, “Is she alright?”
“Yeah,” the doctor said, “One more thing. Your boss is here.”
“My boss?”
“More like your boss’ boss.”
My boss’ boss? Who could that be? James thought for a moment before he froze. He couldn’t mean… He made time to attend this? James looked over and realized there was a man in a black suit standing at the edge of the crowd of scientists. It was one of his coworkers.
“Karl,” he came up to his fellow agent, “Is he, here?”
“Didn’t Noah tell you?” Karl looked surprised.
Noah came panting behind them. He bent over to catch his breath before he stood straight.
“Yeah, sorry,” Noah apologized, “The President wants to talk with you.”
“Where is he?”
“He should be in the empty room right over there,” Noah pointed at a door that led to a hospital room, “You should go now.”
James was aching to be with Spear. But, if the President wished to talk to him, he had to go. He walked up to the door and entered.
The room looked like a nondescript hospital room. Two beds with teal covers lay empty, with the hospital curtains of both beds open. The curtains of the window were drawn partially, making the room dim. A small ray of light came from the window. The part that wasn’t covered by the curtains. In that ray of light, stood President George H. W. Bush.
President Bush was a fairly tall man. Standing at 6 feet and 2 inches, he wasn’t as tall as James, but he was certainly taller than most people. His hair was brown, turning a silverish gray. The President was 65 years old after all. The President turned toward James and he got a good look at his face. The President’s face was wrinkly, but only slightly. He smiled, wrinkling the corners of his eyes in the process, which had an odd twinkle in them.
“Mr. Pierce,” President Bush came forward, “It’s good to see you.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” James said politely.
“Ok,” the President turned to a corner of the room, “You can leave now.”
James turned around and realized that another secret service agent was in the room. The agent left without a word, closing the door behind him quietly.
James swiveled back to the President, “What did you want to talk about sir?”
“Your child, Mr. Pierce,” the President said.
James internally gulped, “What about him, sir?”
“I first heard about you and that girl Spear in 87,” President Bush began, “Ronald told me about you two. At the time, I thought nothing of it. But then, right after I got elected, I heard that she got pregnant.”
“Yes sir,” James said, “It was an accident.”
“Well, I think it was a happy accident,”
“How?”
“Mr. Pierce, I think your son can help us understand magic much more,” President Bush said.
James was confused, “How will my son do that?”
“His mother is a unicorn,” He came to James’ side and looked into his eyes, “He might be able to use magic like a unicorn.”
“We don’t know that,” James backed up slightly, “The ultrasound scans showed that he looked completely human. For all we know, he could be void of magic.”
“Don’t you remember the scan done by those unicorn mages?” President Bush asked, “It showed that magic is present in him.”
“He might not be able to manipulate it as unicorns can,”
“Alright, alright,” the older man sighed, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
The door to the room opened and Noah came inside.
“James, Spear wants to see you,” he turned to Bush, “Hello Mr. President.”
“Hello Agent Hallows,” Bush said. He turned to James, “Let’s go, shall we?”
“Yes,” James answered.
The three men walked out of the room. Outside, the doctors and secret service men all stood at attention. James went to the door that led straight to his wife. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Nervousness? Excitement? Maybe something else? He didn’t know. One thing he was certain of was that he was going to see his wife and his beautiful son. No matter what his son looked like, James would love him.
James opened the door to be greeted by several human and pony doctors. Sitting on the hospital bed was Spear Point.
Spear Point was a beautiful pony, at least in his opinion. Her coat was the color of the clear sky on a hot day. Her mane and tail looked like smooth cotton candy. It was not chewy. He knew. Her eyes were the color of mint ice cream, and they sparkled with enthusiasm when they landed on him.
“James!” Spear cried with joy, “Come here!”
James rushed to her side and hugged her. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he could finally relax.
“So, where’s our kid?” he asked, “Wait, I mean foal. A kid is a baby goat according to you.”
“He’s over there,” Spear pointed to one corner of the room where a few doctors were huddled up, “The doctors are checking up on him. They’ll be done in a few minutes.”
“So, have you decided on a name?” James looked at her expectantly.
“Yes,” Spear held James’ hands, “I think we should name him Sword.”
“Hmm,” James rubbed his chin, “It’s a very pony name, but I like it. Oh, I know! He can have my surname, so his name can be Sword Pierce.”
“I love it!” Spear kissed James on the cheek, “Let’s wait for the doctors to be done.”
James and Spear talked for a bit about what their son might do when he grew up. Finally, the doctors finished their checkup on Sword, and they came over to the two to give them their child.
"Oh my god," James said as the doctor gave his son to Spear, "He looks so cute!"
“Your child is perfectly healthy Mr. Pierce,” the doctor said, “He looks slightly different than most humans, but that’s simply because he’s a hybrid.”
James examined his son and realized the doctor was right. His son was different. James could only describe his son as looking cartoonish. It wasn’t the same style of cartoonish that the ponies of Equestria had, but it was cartoonish nonetheless.
Noah took one look at Sword and stepped back. He turned to James excitedly and said, “Your son looks like an anime character!”
“What?” James was taken aback, “What the hell is anime?”
“I’ve told you about anime a million times James,” Noah looked offended, “It’s basically Japanese animation. Like Akira. I showed you that film, remember?”
“Oh,” James remembered being told about that film by Noah. He’d said it was really good.
“Well, there’s one more thing-” the doctor was cut off when a nurse burst through the door.
“Princess Celestia is arriving!” she yelled.
Everyone in the room shot up. “When?” the doctor asked.
“Right now!” the nurse stepped aside, and Princess Celestia came inside.
James had met Princess Celestia many times before. Almost all those times, he had simply been a background character to her, nothing more. Now, in the past few months, he’d been the center of her attention in several meetings. Honestly, it was overwhelming for him. He had no trouble believing that Princess Celestia was a god. There were many skeptics that he’d met. None of them thought that Princess Celestia could be a god. All of them were wrong. They just hadn’t stood face-to-face with her.
Princess Celestia towered over everyone in the room at 8 feet. Her coat was a pearly white that reminded him of clouds. Her eyes were a deep purple, like amethysts on steroids. She wore beautiful golden royal regalia on her hooves and neck, and a tiara on her head. Her mane and tail were indescribable. They were ethereal, shifting their color every second, and flowing in an invisible wind.
“Hello, Mr. Pierce,” Princess Celestia said in a Canadian accent, “How are you?”
“I’m good, your Majesty,” James bowed, “My wife gave birth only 10 minutes ago. Our baby’s here.”
The Princess stepped forward and gazed upon Sword. She cast a motherly smile, as she held out her hoof to boop his nose. Suddenly, she jerked back. A look of shock donned her face. What happened? James turned to his son, and he froze.
His son’s eyes were black. And he didn’t mean the pupils. The white of his eyes was black. His son had no visible pupils. All he could see in both eyes were white dots which were probably his iris’. James had a strange feeling when he looked into those eyes. He couldn’t explain it. It was like he was looking into a void.
“Ah, yes,” the doctor came forward, “I was about to mention that. This is highly unusual, your Majesty. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Princess Celestia’s expression was unreadable. She peered down at Sword, examining him. Finally, she spoke.
“I’ve seen a pony with eyes like this,” she said softly, “A long time ago.”
James tilted his head. It sounded as though Princess Celestia regretted something. But what?
President Bush came and stood right next to Sword, “Well then, what was this pony like?”
“He was very powerful,” Princess Celestia looked at James, “He was a unicorn. Highly adept in magic.”
“Do we know if my son can manipulate magic?” James asked.
“I can sense ambient magic from him,” Princess Celestia leaned in closer to Sword, “But I am not sure if he can manipulate magic. This is the first hybrid between a pony and another creature I’ve seen in my lifetime. We will have to wait and see.”
President Bush gazed upon Sword. He looked right at the Princess, “Well, I believe it would be best if he was raised on Earth.”
Princess Celestia’s nostrils slightly flared, “And why would that be, President Bush? I don’t think it would be wise to raise him in a country with protests every single day.”
“Would it be better to raise him in a nation that loathes him?” Bush snapped, “Last I heard, Specieism is still a big problem.”
“Racism is still a problem in America,” Celestia retorted.
“He’s not black,” President Bush stated, “He’ll be fine. All we have to do is put one of those illusion spells on him to make his eyes look ordinary. He can live a normal life until we find out whether or not he has magic.”
Princess Celestia thought for a moment. She turned over to Spear and asked, “What do you wish to do?”
James looked at Spear. If she didn’t want Sword to be raised in the US, that was fine with him. It was her decision on what should be done. Spear Point looked like she was in deep thought. Finally, she looked up and said, “I think it would be for the best to raise him in the States. He’ll fit in there more.”
President Bush turned to Celestia, “It’s settled then.”
“Yes, it is,” Princess Celestia looked at Sword one last time, “When the boy grows up, we should tell him about Equestria.”
“Absolutely,” Spear said, “I’m sure that when he grows up, he’s going to change the world.”
