December 24th, 2022
Location: Lhasa, Tibet
Sergeant Greg "Blackout" Baker
Gear: Heckler & Koch G28 Rifle with suppressor and night vision attachments, Beretta M9, Combat Knife, Night Vision Goggles, Guile Suit, Communication Headset, 15 magazines of 20 rounds of ammo for the G28, 15 magazines of 15 rounds for the M9, Binoculars, Satellite Phone, Lock picks, Field Medical Kit, 40 Ft of climbing rope, 2 climbing axes, climbing gear, solar charger, water purifying chemicals, 5 days of standard rations, 7 days of emergency rations, lighter, blanket, 3 days worth of fresh water (if rationing).
Mission: Eliminate General Zhao Wei on his task to suppress the new Tibetan Freedom Movement.
Local Time 1800
"Why does this god forsaken general have to be so damn paranoid." I mutter. I have been on this guy for 8 days now, and it is starting to piss me off. An simple task command said, be done in 3 days they said, be back in the states in time for Christmas they said. Bull shit. This guy is so god damn paranoid it makes conspiracy theorists look sane. Never steps out side of his residence for more than an hour, and when he does he goes right into an armored vehicle while surrounded by body guards. And just when i think i have him, I notice something off about how he presents himself, he seems scared, and it looks like the bodyguards are forcing him to be outside. A body double. I have to hold my shot those extra few moments to make sure I'm not shooting his double. When I ask command about a body double, they reply with no Intel about him. Must be a new security measure he put in place.
"At this point, I'm fucking willing to take any opening i can to kill this bastard and go home." I mutter as i look down my scope. As paranoid as this guy is, from what command has told me, his wife is coming to pay him a visit within the hour, and when ever she is around, he always personally opens the car door for his wife to take her inside while his body guards get her luggage. This will probably be the best chance i get to kill him and go home. That is if command hasn't sent me bad intel. I lay in wait in my sniper perch on the mountain side, making sure that I will have a clean shot when it is time kill him. The only good thing about having to wait this long to kill General Zhao is that i have better knowledge of the paths the patrols take than command did. While my extraction won't be without exactly clean, it is as good as it is going to get.
Local Time 2359
I swear to god, when i get back I'm going to beat the shit out of who ever keeps giving me this intel. Six fucking hours and no sight of his wife, or her escort. She will be there within the hour my ass. What kind of sadistic fuck gets off of getting my hopes up only to see them slowly chipped away minute by minute. I'm to start by punching him in the gut, then strangling them like Bart Fucking Simpson. I think to myself as I watch my watch hit midnight.
"Merry fucking Christmas. Give me the god damn chance to shoot this prick and go home." I mutter as i take a bite out of a chocolate bar. Then, i notice a pair of headlights approaching the Generals residence.
"About fucking time." I say as I get into position.
Looking down my scope, i watch as the car approaches and goes though the security gate the the generals residence. 5 minutes later the car is clear to go though. I watch as the car pulls up to the front of the house, while i take aim at the front door. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally the door opens up, I watch as the Generals body guards exit the building first flanking both sides of the door, as i wait for the grand prick himself to appear. Finally, dressed in his uniform he walks out to the waiting car I wait to check his posture, appearance, and how he is carrying himself before i take the shot. I have to make sure this is the general an not that fucking body double. Just when I am sure that it is him, I notice him look back into the house. The general is still inside. As i look into the house though the open doorway I see him standing at the bottom of the staircase in a robe. Parted just so as to expose his chest.
"Fucking prick." I say as I aim and take 2 shots at him. A moment passes. Then another. And another. Finally both shots hit him center mass. He falls to the ground face first as his body guards rush to his side. I'm tempted to take another shot aimed at his head for good measure, But i decide against it. No need to waste any more time on this prick.
I grab my gear and slowly crawl backwards making sure to grab the bullet casing to make my escape. I don't think they will be able to easily find me considering it is the middle of the night, and even if they do find t where i was shooting from, it will take them at least half an hour to get to this spot. Making my way south towards Bhutan, i am careful to avoid the roads and away from open sky.
"Command, come in, this is Blackout do you read? Over." I say into my head set.
"This is Command. We read you Blackout, what is your situation? Over."
"Target neutralized, heading towards extraction point now."
"Confirm, team will be at the extraction point in 4 hours."
"Roger that Command, Blackout out." I say into my headset as i make my way towards the extraction point.
Local Time: 0330
Almost there, just a little bit farther. I think to myself as i rappel down the side of a mountain towards a small dirt path that will take me to the extraction site. Soon, i will be on a heading home back to the states. I've had enough of Tibet to last a lifetime. I hit the rock face below me as i detach from the rope i had prepared earlier. Walking down the dirt path for a good 20 minutes i notice a blue light coming out of a cave on the side of the path. Odd... what could be glowing blue?
"Command, this is Blackout, do you copy?"
"We read you Blackout. What is the situation?"
"There is a weird blue light coming out of a cave on the local footpath. No idea what it is as I'm still a good 100 feet out. Should I investigate?"
"One moment please." Command replies as i wait squat on the side of the path. "The commander want's you to check it out, while maintaining radio contact."
"Copy that, moving towards the cave now." I say as I carefully move towards the cave. As I reach the entrance of the cave, i peer inside to check for hostiles. But it is empty, save for the source of the blue light coming from a pit about 60 ft inside.
"Command, I see a large pit inside the cave, with the light coming from something in the pit. Moving in now." I relay back to command as I make my way towards the pit. Testing the ground as i go towards the edge. Once at the edge of the pit, i peer down into it, inside the pit is what looks like water, but is glowing a bright electric blue. I relay this information back to command.
"Interesting. The commander wants you to get a sample of the liquid."
"Fine, but if i grow a third arm because of this I'm going to beat you with it." I reply back. Kneeling down, i grab an empty canteen of the stuff, and fill it with the strange liquid. As i go to stand up, the rock below me breaks off, and i fall into the liquid face first. Try to stand up, but i find no solid ground. I try to swim towards the surface, but no matter how hard I swim up, i seem to move farther away. It is like swimming in quick sand, in that the harder i struggle, the deeper i go. Eventually, my lungs start to burn as the oxygen in my lungs run out. I exhale the breath i was holding, and get a mouth full of the liquid. I can feel my self on the precipice of passing out, when i see a light. Out of desperation, I try swimming towards it. As my vision starts to fade, I reach the surface. I hold onto the side of the pit as i cough up what liquid was in my mouth and i gasp for air as i pull myself out. I roll onto my side as i take a few minutes to calm myself down as I regain my bearings.
Pulling myself a good 4 feet way from the pool of death, I sit up facing it. Immediately i notice it is no longer glowing, and now looks like normal water. Peering over the edge, it looks like it is no more than a 3 feet deep at first glance. I swear, if anyone finds out I almost drowned in 3 feet of water, I will be a laughing stock. Composing myself, I stand up and face out towards the cave entrance.
"Command, this is Blackout, sample collected." I say into my headset. I wait a moment. No reply. "Command this is Blackout, do you read me?" No reply. "Command this is Blackout, do you copy?" Nothing. I remove my headset to check to see it if was damaged from the water. Doing a quick check, everything seems to be working fine. I even test to see if my microphone is working, but nothing seems to be wrong. I turn my headset off, and on and try to reach Command. Still nothing. It was working in this cave just fine before, maybe it will work better outside.
I head out of the cave, and I try for another 5 minutes trying to reach command. Still getting no response, I pull out my satellite phone and try to call command. As pulled it out, displayed on the screen said not satellite in range. Which was odd, considering that the entire world has satellite coverage now. Something strange is going on, but I'm not sure what as of yet. Putting the phone away, I start following the path once again with the moonlight behind me. 30 minutes later and I should have arrived at the extraction point. But the path keeps going on. I try to radio command once again, but still get nothing. I close my eyes and look up into the air and sigh.
"Things are never easy on these ops are they?" I whisper. Opening my eyes, I look at the moon. Only... it is not the moon I know. The moon has what looks to be a shadow in the shape of a unicorn on it. Realizing this, I scan the sky for any recognizable constellation. But I see none.
"What the fuck. The fuck is going on. Where the hell is the sky I know? More importantly, where the fuck am I?" Don't panic, don't panic. Panicking leads to mistakes, and rash decisions. I must remain calm, and collected. I am in an unfamiliar environment, with an unfamiliar sky above me. You were trained for this. I must assess the situation. No communications, no navigational stars, possibly unknown wild life in the region, unknown civilizations possibly in the area, limited food, water, and ammunition. I need to survey the area, establish a base camp, in a dependable position with an access to fresh water, and a food source. Along with looking for signs of civilization, and making contact. Worse case scenario, I'm alone, in an unknown area, with limited supplies, and nothing to use as legal tender if I'm in an unknown world. Great.
"Okay, I can continue down this path hoping to find a good defensive position, or i can go back to that cave and hunker down until day time then move out." Thinking about this for a while, i decide to head back to the cave and hunker down for the rest of the night. As I sit there, i pull out one of my rations, and a canteen of water, and have a basic meal. Afterwards, I fill the canteen up with water from the water, and put a some drops of the water purifying solution into it. Hoping to make it drinkable by morning. Satisfied with current situation i lay down to get some rest.
Local Time: ???
Earth Time: December 25th, 1100
As i rouse from my sleep, I check my watch to see the time is 1100. Looking outside, I see the sun has risen. Before I leave the cave, quickly wash my face, put on my ghillie suit, and head out. Once outside, it is confirmed that I am not in Tibet anymore, as surrounding the mountain is a lush forest, along with the sound of birds in the distance. At least there are birds where ever I am. So making arrows should be feasible if should I make a bow to conserve ammo.
I start moving down the path, towards the base of this mountain range with my G28 ready just in case. It takes me a good 2 hours to get to the base of the mountain. Along the way I notice familiar dotting the path, daisies, daffodils, and clovers. Which was odd if it was an entirely different world, meaning there is a decent chance I am on an alternate version of Earth. And if that is the case, there is a good chance anything I was taught will apply here. I became much more positive about this when I reached the forest. Looking at the trees, they appeared to be oak trees.
Making my way though the forest, I look for any signs of civilization. 6 hours in, and nothing. Not even a tree that has been cut my intelligent means. Which I found to be strange. As this path looks to have been worn down by repeated travel, so there should be some kind of civilization near by, but I have yet to see anythings. After another 2 hours, I hear something, not the usual sounds of wildlife, but the sound of wheels. Quickly scanning the region, I move off the side of the road and hide in a bush a good 20 feet way from the path as I wait to see what comes by. As I waited, I kept my G28 ready just in case what ever came by was hostile. 3 minutes later, and the cart finally rolled by. As it passed by, what looked like 2 upright walking dogs were pulling a large cart with 2 more following behind it. This cart had a large cage build into it, and inside where what looked to be 8 dirt caked horses inside. But a few things caught my eye, the dogs were carrying what looked like muskets, the horses were bound, and gagged, one of them horses had wings while another had a horn, and one was really young.
Slavers, and it looks like both parties are intelligent. Otherwise why would the horses be like that? As I watch the cart go by, I ask myself, should I get involved in something that doesn't involve myself when all i need to do is survive right now. But as I am thinking about this, the young horse somehow got it's gag off and started to yell at the dogs.
"Let us go! We don't want to work in your stupid mines!" the little horse said. Why does that horse sound like a 8 year old girl? I thought to my self
"Quite Pony, you will work whether you like it or not. Now shut up before I make you shut up." said one of the larger dogs behind the cart. Ah, they are ponies not horses.
"No, I won't work in your stupid diamond mine, you can't make me!"
"I told you to shut up!" said the dog creature as it pulled out a sword on it's waist and jabbed the young horse with it.
The sword went a good inch in, and the young horse let our a scream, the kind of scream that makes any parent within 100 feet stop what their doing to help the child that just seriously hurt itself. Okay, fuck these dogs pricks, they are going to fucking die. I thought to myself as I took aim toward at the head of the dog that stabbed the kid.
"I said shut up! Other wise your tongue is next." said the prick dog. When the young pony didn't stop yelling in pain, he grabbed the pony by the neck and went for her mouth.
At this moment, I pulled the trigger, and the skull of this prick dog exploded forward, splashing the ponies in the cart with its blood and brains. Quickly changing targets, I hit the second dog in the rear center mass twice, followed by the same with the two in the front pulling the cart. Dropping all 4 within 10 seconds. It took a few moments, but at the ponies in the cage realize what just happened, the what i hope are adults were screaming into their gag, while the young pony started crying in addition to screaming. At this point, I 7 shells that hit the forest floor before standing up and walking towards the cart.
As i approached the cart, the ponies inside went quiet. I can only imagine what they thought i was, as they saw what must have looked like a 6"4' walking bush with a gun walking towards them. Especially right after their 4 captors were quickly dispatched within just a few seconds. As a approached what i can assume to be the mother or sister of the young pony that is still screaming moved in-front of her. What were the young horses called again? Oh right, Colt for male and Filly for female. At this point I noticed, that under the dirt, all these ponies seemed to be technicolor, odd. Did they get caught in a raid at a dye factory?
As I reach the door at the back of the cart, I grab my knife, and reach into the cage with both hands. As i do so, the mother/sister of the filly recoils back, but I still grab her by the mane. She freezes up, as the knife approaches her, but instead of what she thought I might do, I cut the gag off of her after which I let go of her. Even with both the knife gone, she is still frozen with fear.
"You are safe now." I say as i start to work on the lock of the cage. The pony still seemed to be frozen with fear, for another 30 seconds before she found her voice again.
"W-w-who are you?" She asked with fear in her voice.
"Someone who thinks the only good slaver is a dead slaver." I say as I continue to work on this lock.
"W-what do you want?"
"Alcohol would be nice, but more importantly, I need to find shelter and food. Until I can find a way to get back home." The fuck is this lock, should have broken by now.
"I can provide shelter and food for you, it is the lease I can do for you saving us from those Diamond Dogs. Though my town of Hollow Shades is a good 2 days from here on hoof. It is a small town, but we should be able to help you. Though, we might need your help depending on how much damage was done by these dogs."
"Sounds good enough to me. Better than sleeping in a cave for days on end." I say as my lock picks breaks in the lock. "Stupid fucking lock. Gonna go Tomb Raider on this lock." I say as I go grab one of my climbing axes and jam the tip into the frame of the door. I move to the side, and pull. The metal groans as is is bent, but after a minute, the lock snaps and the door flies open hitting the side of the cage with a loud clang. "Alright, time to get you all free." I say as I start removing the bindings and gags from the ponies. They nervously thank me one by one, until they are all free. At which point, the pony I was talking to starts tending to the injured filly.
"So... uh... thanks again for saving us. Especially my little sister. My name is Rose Petal, and that is my little sister Aqua Lilly. What is your name?" she asks
I think to my self for a moment before responding, real name or call sign. "Call me Blackout." I say as i pull the hood of my ghille suit back.
"Good to meet you Blackout."
"So uh, what do you all do back in your town?" I ask
"Well, I'm one of the resident herbalist, I make healing balms with my little sister over there."
"What about the rest of the ponies with you?"
"Don't know. Never seen them before. They were probably either caught on the road, or from a different town."
"Interesting, is this a common occurrence?"
"No, not since the musket was invented around 30 years ago, with it disappearing almost entirely in the large cities with the program 50 to install electricity on a large scale.
So they do have electricity. But the combination of muskets and electricity is odd. Especially if the musket was only invented 30 years ago, and electricity on a large scale 30 years ago... I'm willing to guess that war is rare here. "Does your town Hollow Shades have electricity?"
"Yeah, but it is not used for much other than lighting up homes and some large machines. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, just wondering if it was anything like back home. I guess not. How is your sister's wound by the way?"
"It is not pretty, but i have managed to stop the bleeding, but what I really need is fresh water, bandages, and to stitch the wound close."
"I think I can help with those last bits." I say as i reach into my bag and pull out the basic medical kit, and a canteen of water, "Let me help."
"Thank you. Really, you have done so much already." she says as I start to clean the wound area. As I am cleaning the area, I notice that the color of the filly a pale blue, and she has a pearl white mane. Looking at her sister across from me, under the layer of dirt, she has a red coat, and a pink mane with a green stripe.
"So what is up with your colors, are they natural or do you dye them?" I ask as i am making sure the wound is clean before i stitch her up.
With a puff she says, "They are natural, why?"
"No reason. This might hurt little one. Try to endure it." I say as i thread the needle with thread, and start to sew the wound shut. She has a pained look on her face as I'm closing the wound, but I can tell she knows it will be better if she doesn't squirm. It takes a good 12 stitches, but the wound is closed to a satisfactory point. After which wrap the upper part of her leg with a bandage. "That should do it, the wound should stay closed long enough for us to reach your town if not longer."
"Thank you again. Can you help her onto my back?"
I nod as i lift the filly onto the back of her sister. She is heavier than she looks, she has to be a good 60 pounds, and the fact her sister doesn't even grunt with the added weight is a testament to her strength.
"Shall we head to Hollow Shades then?"
"Yeah, I'll lead the way."
Author's Note
Let me know what you think of the rewrite. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Next chapter we will arrive at Hollow Shades
Note: Town is 20000-100000 people, city is 100000-300000 people
We parted ways with the other ponies I saved before heading north, apparently their destinations were to the east while ours was to the north. During our first day journey to Hollow Shades, I was able to gather some important information about this world I have found myself in. Firstly, the country I have found myself in is called Equestria, and have existed for almost 1000 years now. The ruler is known as Princess Celestia who rules from the capital city of Canterlot, and is an Alicorn, which i learned is an immortal being that is a mix of a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth pony There is legitimate magic in the world, with unicorns and alicorns using magic like levitation and fireball, pegasi using magic to manipulate weather, and Earth ponies are basically low power druids. And that they use what are known at bits as currency, with it broken down into 4 denominations, copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Represented at c, s, g, and p respectively. with 10c = 1s, 10s = 1g, and 10g = 1p.
When i asked about the muskets in particular, Rose told me that while they have been around for some years now, they are out of date compared to what the is currently being used by the small army that equestria has. Which is how I learned that there are early bolt action guns being produced, but due to how much more complex they are compared to the muskets they have, it is rare to see a bolt action rifle in the public, or even the local guard. When I inquired about if the rifles had a name, she told me they Macintosh Muskets, and Lilia-Rifles. I even asked if they had any kind of armored vehicles, to which i learned there were some early prototypes made about 5 years ago. And they way she described them, they sounded similar to early tanks, like the Renault FT tanks.
When i asked for the names of some of the major cities I honestly thought she was joking, but sadly she wasn't. She told me the 11 major cities other than canterlot were Vanhoover, Bales, Winnyapolis, Tall Tales, Los Pegasus, Rockville, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Princessyn, and St. Peterhoof. When Rose Petal told me this, I stopped and let out a loud sigh. I told her when we get to Hollow Shades, I want to see a map that proves to me she isn't just making those city names up.
When asked about what Hollow Shades is like, she told me it is a it was a nice town with around 70 thousand ponies living in the town, with another 20 thousand or so in the rest of the province. She said the town was a small logging village long ago that relied on trade via the river the town initial settlers founded the town on. And over time, the village grew into the town it is today, and while the timber industry remains a large part of the town's economy, the village grew in conjunction with Manehatten as trade of goods from Griffonia became popular in Canterlot, as Hollow Shades is the closest town to Canterlot with a major river connection to Manehatten, with the city of Bales being closer to Canterlot, but farther from Manehatten reducing the amount of times a captain could make a round trip in a month. Which caused merchants to set up in the town to buy goods from the boat captains to then travel to Canterlot to sell their goods.
When asking about recent events, she told me about how the Griffon Empire just fell apart less than 3 years ago. Which brought up the question of what the current year was. To which she replied that it was the year 994 ALB.
"What does ALB stand for? I can assume it stands for a major event in world history, as we did a similar things back home."
"ALB stands for After Lunar Banishment." Rose replied after a moment of hesitation.
"And what was the Lunar Banishment?"
"Do you want the long or the short version?"
"Short will do for now."
"Well, basically, Princess Celestia's sister Luna went mad and became Nightmare Moon and tried to plunge the world into eternal night. Her followers another race of ponies known as the Thestrals sided with Luna since there prefer to be awake during the night. During which, she fought Celestia over the old Castle of the Two Sisters. In the end, Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to the moon. After which, here image appeared on the moon."
"Brutal. Banishing your own sister to the moon. What about the other race of ponies, the Thestrals? And what makes them different from the other races?"
"Well, they are still discriminated against by the majority of society since they sided with nightmare moon. Which is honestly pretty sad, since they tend to be introverted and usually avoid cities and prefer the wilderness, mountains, and caves. As to what makes them different from the other races, well, honestly they are like pegasi, only they have bat wings, fluffier ears, fangs, and good night vision. So it makes it easy to spot them it they aren't wearing a cloak."
"That is honestly really sad. How can ponies discriminate against an entire race generations after something like that occurred?" Then again, I can think of several examples back home, but not an almost 1000 year grudge.
"Yeah, I agree with you there. Though, a majority of Hollow Shades population would shun me if they found out. Only reason I don't discriminate against them is I was saved by one when I got lost in the forest when i was just a filly. Never found out what their name was, but it left a lasting impression on me. To the point where my shop, which is on the outskirts of town is secretly open to any Thestrals that happen to be in need of aid during the night. They can just come in, grab what they need, and leave bits in a hidden slot at the counter."
"I'm guessing the discrimination must be very bad then?" What is this, the South during the era of segregation?
"It really depends on where in equestira you are, but the absolute worse story of discrimination was 130 years ago, when a Thestral named Scarlet Shadow was beaten nearly to death in Detrot. Resulting in mass protests though out all major cities. Since that incident, Celestia had to issue anti-discrimination laws and start re-education programs to try and reform the worse offenders. And Detrot became almost entirely populated by Thestrals."
"Wow, just... wow." Almost sounds like brain washing, but for a decent cause. "So what happened to that thestral?"
"Oh, she got a statue in the center of Detrot, a street in every major city renamed after her, and a stipend of 10,000 bits a year for the rest of her life, and her children's life."
"Let me guess, if there is a thestral population in a city, they live on the street named after her, and non thestrals tend to be weary in those areas."
"How did you know?"
"Similar situation to something that happened back home. I won't get into the nitty-gritty, but instead of being beaten nearly to death, he was killed fighting for his civil rights. Years after, when those civil rights were given to his people, his birthday became a federal holiday, and is remembered as a hero for his people."
"Oh." She said looking a bit depressed. I guess that was a bit much for her.
The rest of that day we walked in relative silence, as we made our way north. Then went off the side of the road and made camp for the night. I checked Aqua Lilly's rear leg to see how it was doing, and to change the bandage if needed. Looking it over, it looked okay, and seemed like it would start healing soon. Satisfied, I pulled out an MRE for dinner, and asked if Rose and Aqua wanted the less... meaty part of the MRE. But they declined, as they found a berry bush as I was setting up a small fire for the night. I had taken off my ghillie suit fully by this point, and had put it away. The night was uneventful, but i woke up once in the middle of it and i felt like something was watching us, slowly, i grabbed my riffle, and flipped down my night vision goggles. Only to see something dart way a good 60 ft outside the camp. I was on guard for a while after that, but i eventually felt comfortable enough to fall back asleep.
Waking up, i took down camp, and made sure to put out any remaining cinders and cover where the ashes were with dirt. Then we continued on our way. By the time we reached Hollow Shades, it around midnight based on how long it had been dark. I followed Rose into the town, which was only had the main roads lit by light posts, so it was easy for me to follow in the shadows as to not spook anyone. around 10 minutes in, we arrived at Rose's home which acted as her place of business on the bottom floor.
Entering her house, the aroma of strong herbal plants hit me, and opened up my nostrils more then that Vick VapoRub i used as a kid during allergy season. I coughed for a moment as i adjusted to the smell. Role let out a small giggle as she said, "Always gets them as they first walk in." while heading up the stairs. Following her, to the second floor, through another door, we entered a neat kitchen living room combo, that a door to the restroom, and 3 bedrooms.
"I'm going to put Aqua to bed, then go pass out in my room. You can take the other room, or the couch. Then take Aqua to the hospital in the morning to get her leg looked at." She said clearly trying to force herself to stay awake.
"Sounds good. Goodnight." I said. As i opened the door to the third bedroom. Inside it was a simple bed but with no sheets on it, a dresser, nightstand, and a small window that looked out into an ally between her house and the one next door. Setting my bag to the side of the bed, leaned the riffle up against the dresser, and put my pistol in the top drawer of the night stand. Finally, kicking my boots off, and placing my helmet on the night stand i lay down in the first real bed in over 2 weeks, and promptly pass the fuck out.
Only to be awoken what seems like an hour later by the sound of wood creaking, Opening my eyes, i notice right away that it is clearly day time, and looking at my watch, it is around noon. Must have been running on empty for a while. Swinging out of bed, i grab my pistol, holster it and head out into the main room. And see Rose eating lunch in the kitchen, and Aqua sitting on the couch using a coloring book, with fresh bandages on her leg.
In the daylight, i could see that the living area a large green rug in the center of the room under a large wooden table, one of those old radios you would see in antique stores in the corner with the logo of a company called Lokia emblazonment on the front in white letters with a blue background. The kitchen also looked like one of those found in the early 1910's, but with some more modern equipment like a toaster, and a icebox.
"Morning Rose, I'm guessing you already took Aqua to the Hospital?"
"Yes. I got the doctor there to take a look at her leg. He asked what had happened to her, and i told him the story of how we were captured by diamond dog slavers and hauled away in the middle of the night, and how one of them stabbed Aqua before we were rescued. Hearing that story, he ran a small battery of tests to make sure that Aqua was fine. Which she was thanks to you stitching her up. He said if it weren't for the stitches, there might have been lasting damage to her leg. At most she will end up with a scar."
"That is good to hear."
"I also ran into one of my friend Silver Sword who is the local captain of the guard for this section of the town who had gotten notice 3 days ago about us missing. She was so worried about what happened to us, and seeing the bandage on Aqua only made her more upset. When we told her the story about what happened, she looked so angry, but relieved at the same time. She said she is glad that I was safe, and that she is going to let the mayor and other captains know of what has occurred, as well as send a letter to Canterlot informing them about the slavers. She did ask if she could meet you, to thank you for saving us. But I told her i would have to ask if it was okay with you first."
"I appreciate you checking with me to see if it is alright. I want to be cautious with how many others meet me. If the way that ponies react to thestrals is anything to go by, i bet they would try to run me out of town as some kind of monster."
"Oh come now. They are not that bad." She said waiving her hoof
"Shall i refer to the thestral situation? Or did that slip your mind?"
"Fair enough." she replied. "Any ways, i need to go and open the store. Can't keep it closed all day. Shall I let Silver know that you are fine with meeting her the next time i see her?"
"Yeah, just give me a 5 minute warning before she comes up." I reply as i walk over to the ice kitchen and rummage around in the cupboards. "Mine if i make myself something to eat? nd turn on the radio" I ask.
"Go ahead, just don't clean the place out. As for the radio, just don't make it too loud."
"Thanks." As I'm rummaging though the cupboards, i spot bread, butter, and jam. Score. grabbing the bread, i pop two slices into the toaster and grab a place while I wait for it to darken to a nice golden brown. Then put a nice amount of butter on both, followed by a jam. I then walk over to the couch and sit down to enjoy the first real taste of home since i got to this crazy place.
With the moment of peace i have, I think of how i have probably broken several international laws from the moment I saved Rose. Hell, I just hope it doesn't come down to the point where i become the representative for Humanity. It doesn't tend to turn out well for people like that in stories. Putting that aside for the moment, walked over the the radio in the corner of the room and turned it on. Turing the nod to go though the channels, most of it was news, or classical musics. Some where interesting, like one being broad cast in French, another in German, and even one in Italian, but the one that caught my attention the most was one being broad cast in Russian. Now, my Russian is a bit rusty, but from what I could make out, It sounded like it they were speaking about the ideology that Caramel Marks' founded, and the the Steel Stallion spreading the word to other ponies in the Severnaya region. After not making the connection for a good 5 minutes, i realized they were talking about communism. And from the way they were talking, it looks like they will try to revolt from the country of Equestria.
The more i learn about this world, the more i come to believe I'm in this world's equivalent of 1910's. All that is missing is trench warfare. Changing the channel, I find the broad cast talking about how the protests of the followers of Caramel Marks' ideology have started to escalate in Severnaya. With the most recent one being the biggest one yet. So far they have been peaceful, but there is apparently talk among the leading members about rising up and declaring their own state in the Severnaya region. Sounds like the October Revolution pony version.
The rest of the day was uneventful, with it spend mostly listening to the radio and comparing it to events back home to further narrow down an equivalent date back home. Closer to the end of the day, Rose came back up stairs and walked up to me.
"Hey Blackout, remember my friend Silver Sword I told you about."
"Yes, what of her?"
"Well, you also told me to give you a 5 minute warning before bringing her up to meet you."
"She is down stairs isn't she."
"Yeah, Just came up here to give you a heads up."
"Thanks," Well, this will make or break my prediction on if this world is Xenophobic or not.
Author's Note
That wraps up part 1 of Hollow Shades, Part 2 should be coming within a week or two.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.