Chapters Time had passed since the Human and Pony War that struck the earth. With only three years in the past the scars are still slow on its healing. Many lives were lost and others were changed drastically. Racial differences rose drastically and economies shifted as well, but under the vigilance of the Alliance in joint operations with the remains of NATO and the movement of the herd, stability was reached somehow. The Alliance became one of the most powerful defense force as many nations such as Russia, China, United Kingdom, several nations in Europe, and many more in the effort to maintain peace and prevent another Human and Pony War.
New Hope City, built by the founders of the Alliance and those who followed them, became the capital to the Alliance. It neighbored Washington D.C. which was still being repaired by the damages caused by the HLA’s invasion and the U.S. Government was still in disarray. People in the country still didn’t trust the Alliance as it lead to fights in the western parts of the U.S.
In the middle of New Hope City, Justin and John looked at the statue of Snowy. It was built by her followers to honor her support to the herd and the achievement of the creation of the Super Pony Chamber and becoming the first alicorn.
“Man I can’t believe it’s been three years since the war had ended.” Justin said, fixing his hat. Now twenty two, Justin became the world’s youngest general along with John who meanwhile still isn't part of the military branch, but would help both humans and ponies to deal with their issues, and so far kept everything peaceful.
“A lot has changed though still some things stay the same.” John said softly.
“I'm surprised that Snowy's followers made this statue of her. Not to mention they made a church in her honor.”
John sighed as he snorted. “Don't mention me about that. I don’t need another head ache again.”
Justin shook his head. He remembered around a year ago Snowy's followers built the Church of Snowy where she is worshiped like a god. The very thought of that irritated them both. Justin hated her and knew she hated his guts. The two were bitter enemies from the beginning. She wanted to get rid of Justin and pull his human spirit out of his pegasus body.
The day was coming to its end. The sky turned orange while the streetlamps started to light one by one as the pegasi flew with lanterns over the city to navigate through the night sky. Ponies and humans started to gather around the statue. They were here to commemorate the three year anniversary. An elderly man stood from the crowd and walked with a slow pace towards them.
“If it wasn’t for you three, I can't imagine how the war would have gone. So why don’t you seem as happy as you should? It’s the anniversary of the Alliance's triumph.” The old man said.
“Let's just say Snowy didn't like us and we didn't like her opinions.” Justin said, narrowing his eyes at him.
“We are grateful, it's just that the war is still fresh in our minds. We all made progress towards peace, but there's still a lot of work ahead of us and we're just a little tired.” John added.
“Well I can't imagine how things would have been without you three. Snowy might had been racist, as all the herd extremists, but she did her part for war. Just as well as you did, even the smallest changes can cause great differences. Have you ever imagined what could have happened if you never showed up?”
Justin imagined a lot of outcomes of what would have happened if they hadn't showed up. One outcome included Washington being turned into a pile of rubble and ash from a cruise missile or nukes wiping out everything. For now they were glad that it's been peaceful for the past few years and wanted to keep it that way. Fireworks flew into the sky as the celebration began. There were colorful ones shaped as the Alliance's and Herd's logos.
“This is amazing.” Justin said, watching in awe.
“Yes,” John said softly as the old man looked at him.
“You are an alicorn of short words. You shouldn’t have past pains dull your emotions...”
As the fireworks go and memories of war come and go, we see another version of earth of decay and rust for a war that didn’t go as it should and choices that never were made. It was a parallel dimension where war never ended and got more brutal over the years. A different flag from the Alliance or HLA rose among the fires of fallen countries. It was of the Rebels, an army made of survivors and the remains of fallen armies an army made by the laws of survival of the fittest. It has control over eighty percent of the globe as any other race were exterminated, celebrating its march toward total annihilation of their foes as zeppelins and troopers marched through the scrap-fortified buildings.
Inside the flagship were Cortez El Conquistador, Adrian "gas mask man" Silverfox, the leader Max Silverfox, John, and lastly Justin.
“Smile comrades!” Max cheered as he went on. “We almost completely recovered the earth, and the rebels will be the only ones alive!”
“What’s there to smile about…?” Justin said in a low angered tone. Being the rebel's best sniper, he carried a gauss-tesla sniper rifle. It was said that he shot a man five miles away with the very rifle he carried and a lot of rebels feared him because of that. One thing is for sure is that if anyone were to defect then he would have his sights on their head, and he never misses.
“A bit of a cheer isn’t bad amigos.” Cortez said, looking at Justin and John. John didn’t answer. Cortez was well known for his expert skill on explosives and fire based weapons. Rumor has it that he burned down a city controlled by griffons with just his zeppelin. One thing is for sure, he was not sane and enjoyed smell of ashes.
“So what's our next move?” Justin asks. “We have most of the other species running or hiding from us.”
“We have been at this war for so long and it’s sad to retire once we win.” Max said with his arms crossed.
In a monotone and almost mechanic voice, the gasmask man spoke. “Do not claim victory yet. This war is not over. John, I told you this many times before but don’t lose hope, we will find a cure for your family.”
John is the most skilled member in the group in combat and martial arts. Being the most feared in the Rebels, recruits are terrified of him and veterans hide from him. He wasn’t like this before. Years ago when the species invaded their world, John’s family was turned into ponies and tried to attack him. Now they are contained in chambers so that one day John would find a cure for them.
“John, I know you are a killing machine, but among us you can still be human.” Max said. “Thinking in the past changes nothing. At least have some fun, we been on this three years.”
“Has it been that long?” John asked.
“Three years, one hundred and fifty seven days.” Justin answered. “And it’s like nothing has changed…”
“We are the best team of resistance fighters who ever walked on the face of the earth! I couldn’t imagine a better outcome!” Cortez said cheerfully. He focused more on the troops marching to the frontline. Cortez always a man of festivity and drunken desires for glory, power, becoming rich along with a love for fire and napalm.
“So what’s our next plan of attack?” Justin asked Max.
“Well to destroy the last line of defense to the ponies and take no prisoners.”
“And end the fun just like that?” Cortez said, looking at Max.
“We're trying to insure the victory for humanity Cortez, remember our objective here.” Justin said, getting in Cortez’s face.
Max looked over the horizon as the sun was setting. “We’re going to crush their defenses and win this war.”
“Once we finish this war we will focus on your family matters, John.” The gasmask man said, placing a hand on John’s shoulder.
“Sorry to interrupt the emotional moment but I just got a call on the radio.” Cortez interrupted, making a fist to what he heard on the radio. “The pony known as the prophet is rallying up the remaining ponies in the city to flee under the cover of the crystal ponies. If it wasn’t for that worm these beasts wouldn’t have the organization to fight back.”
“At least they are standing up for themselves…” John said softly.
“Let’s move boys, we have some abominations to kill.” Max said as they left to head to the battle.
At the same time the rebel forces marched towards the enemy, the crystal ponies were trying to finish their most important device. A gem capable of teleporting incredibly large amounts of material from point a to b. Its technology was achieved in smaller versions capable of teleporting entire squads or a large floating castle, but never large enough to be used to rally a whole army or in needed situation evac it completely in one jump. With the dire situations they were about to test it with the prophet's evac group, ironic is time as the church of the herd was realizing a similar experiment but using resonance energy, an energy source found from magic crystals that can be used for interdimentional travel, to see the bonds of the dimensions itself, in an attempt to use it to travel time, but there were things none of them predicted.
In both dimensions the project began as the main buildings of the herd and crystal ponies were powered by large machines, using the resonance energy, a newly discovered energy source from magic crystals that the ponies used for the machines. Then something happened, something that lied dormant dropped within time and space itself. A relic between both dimensions got powered by the resonance energy tying both dimensions and producing a cascade that send other relics of the same into activity, in the sky golden explosions all across the earth as worm holes tied both overlapping realties. For any anyone that saw the portals, they seemed like mirrors in the sky, reflecting the parallel universe.
Alarms ranged across the world as every living being in both worlds raised their heads. In an impossible event, two different timelines touched each other. It was a Paradox.
Back in the normal world an explosion caught Justin and John off guard and they look up at the sky. A bright gold glow mixed with sparks was noticed in the sky. The sparks went mad as a portal ripped out from in the sky not far from the city. The explosion sounded like a bomb went off as civilians started to panic.
"Look at the sky!" A pony screamed out as the humans and ponies ran in a panic.
"Please everyone, remain calm!" John called out. "For your own safety, return to your homes."
Some of them heard him as they started to leave while others had to be sent home by police officers. Justin was still looking to the portal with worry.
He looked to John, fixing his U.S. Marine hat and said, "We need to talk to Lance about this."
John nods and they went to the headquarters outside the base. A two-story military building next to an air base is the Alliance's HQ. Inside there were many rooms including the War Room where Justin, John, Isaac, were briefed every time just before a mission. There, Lance was watching the situation unfold from the large holographic images on the display.
"Sir!"
"I know what you are going to say." Lance stopped them as his kept his gaze on the images. "This is a first for me and I haven't seen anything like this before. By the looks of these things, they appear to be portals to another world."
"How is that possible sir?" John asks.
"I'm not sure. Some say that Snowy's followers were testing a new energy source which lead to this. For now we need to keep the citizens calm and figure out where that portal leads to. I need you two to get Isaac and check on the portal not far from the city. We'll have drones follow you and scan whatever is on the other side."
"Yes sir." John saluted along with Justin before they rushed out of the room and head to the airbase.
At a hanger, Isaac was working on his custom built Su-35 and arming the hard points with short range A-11 missiles and medium range AA-10 missiles. Over three years Isaac had trained in VR combat flight simulators to improve his skills. He even worked out modifying his fighters and improving their combat abilities and effectiveness. After attaching the missiles, checked on the flaps, then the vertical stabilizers, then the engines to see if all the parts are working properly.
"Isaac!" Justin called out. It caught Isaac’s attention and he looked towards them.
"What is it comrades?"
"We got a mission. We need to check out the portal near the edge of the city." Justin explained.
"Let’s see Snowy’s followers screw things up again." John added, growling in annoyance.
"I'll start up my fighter. And John, control your temper."
Isaac puts on his helmet as he hopped in the cockpit. He flipped a switch as the engines start up. Justin puts on a combat helmet and a combat vest as he hops on the left wing of the fighter. John remained where he was as he strapped on sword behind his back. Isaac moved to the runway as he got the command from the control tower, "You are cleared for takeoff."
Isaac pushed the throttle as the engines roared, the thrusters turning bright blue with the afterburners pushing the aircraft and takes off. Justin looks around, wondering what was taking him so long. John gallops on the runway and took off. He then landed on the right wing, his horseshoes magnetically hooked on the wing.
"Sorry, had to get my sword."
Isaac flew towards the portal as a squadron of three MQ-1C drones flew close behind. Isaac then pulled up as he flew through the portal. The gravity shifted as they entered the new world. It was a place that has withstood a long war. Suddenly they were greeted in hellfire of anti-air guns as the city ruins came alive with trenched positions fighting off some crystal structure that suddenly disappeared in a flash as the streets flashed with beams and explosions. The air is dense, filled on smoke and ionize oxygen. It was still breathable but hardly healthy.
"This place looks like a war zone." Justin said, covering his mouth.
"How can anything survive in this?" John asks.
One of the largest buildings in the area collapsed in a column of dust as a large explosion hit it. Whoever side were fighting it wasn’t a mere skirmish, it’s a war. Isaac pulls up above the clouds to avoid getting spotted. John looked down and spotted ponies fighting in the streets, but were also retreating.
"Justin, looks like they need our help." He said, looking at Justin.
"I got it!" Justin hops off as he dives down. Isaac tried to warn him but before he could say anything, the anti air guns took aim at Justin and started firing. Justin started dodging the explosive tracer rounds as he lands on the roof of a skyscraper. Some of the rounds tears through the left wing of a drone causing it to spiral out of control and crash into a building.
"Crazy kid, come on John!" Isaac yelled as he dived down into the fight. John detached from the fighter as he dives down towards the buildings. Somehow, the guns weren’t aiming at Isaac but aiming at John while the ponies on the ground were firing beam weapons at Isaac. As they dodged the gun fire, they noticed a group of armed zeppelins firing relentlessly on the ground.
Isaac got close to the building Justin is on as the pegasus hops on the fighter.
"Don’t ever fly into a fight we have nothing to do with!" Isaac yelled as he narrowed his eyes and pulls up. "Even though they took out one of our drones…"
The battle was clearly a the loss for the equines, but there were other species totally uncommon like zebras, deer, and other "evolved" hooved mammals. Lance watched from the cameras of the remaining drones, shocked to what he was seeing. From among the ponies and other animals, a bright cyan light covers them as a large ice walls shielding the troop’s retreat trying to regroup and evac.
"Looks like we know who to help. John, you are I are going to slow down the humans and Justin, try to see if you can find the leader of the fleeing party." Isaac order as he armed his machine gun. Some of the anti-air guns lowered and fire on the ice walls, shredding them quite fast as the humans advanced with some new walls being made in desperation. Isaac dives down and fires his machine gun at the humans, missing on purpose as it was a warning.
John's horn glows as he fire a wall of flame in front of the advancing human, blocking their path. The humans were caught off guard by this attack as they turned their guns to John and Isaac. Meanwhile, Justin lands on the ground as he follows the ponies. The ponies have strange weaponry as they trenched for the upcoming assault. Even if it was a losing battle they were quite organized, as zebras, deer, ponies, buffalos, unicorns and a few pegasi composed this group of what seemed an evacuation as more than half of the ponies there were civilians or wounded.
"Hey!" Justin called out as he jumped into the trench. "We’re here to help you!"
"You must be the evac team." Said a zebra carrying a strange weapon mounted on a saddle on his side.
"How are you holding up?" A deer asked to Justin. "We need to last until somepony responds to the evac. We can’t lose."
"Well we don’t have an evac team. What’s going on here?"
"The Rebels are pushing us out of the city by force." The zebra said as he went on. "They forced us out of every major battle we fought with them. Now this is what’s left of us, hoping for someone to help us."
Justin pulls out his radio and calls Isaac, "Isaac, we need covering fire. Apparently the humans here are targeting the animals and by the looks of it they are taking no prisoners."
"They fired at us so we have the right to defend ourselves. Justin, John, we’re cleared to engage."
"Guess we’ll need reinforcements." John said.
"Way ahead of you." Lance said over the radio. "I can see the fight coming from the drones. Back up will be there in a few minutes. Just slow them down for the time being!"
The rebels pass through the barriers and start to charge at the pony's positions as light vehicles, infantry, and zeppelins move towards them. Suddenly, Isaac dives down above the rebels and fires his machine gun. It caught them off guard as several junk fighters tail him. Junk fighters are mainly fighters built of scavenged parts, making them very cheap and produced in large quantities. Requiring nearly nonexistent training, but lack basic defensive measures and are relatively weak and fragile.
They took aim and fired their machine guns. Isaac turned upside down and pulled a U loop. One of the fighters tried to do the same thing but crashed into a building. Some zeppelins were packed with large amounts of machine gun nests within their structures and some larger guns like quad cannons, or rocket launchers. These are the main force for the rebels, the standard issue zeppelins.
They were built with multiple machine guns that were meant to protect the cockpit from air attacks and the cannons and rocket launchers on the side were built on it to suppress enemy ground forces and keep them down. The machine guns target Isaac right away before they start raining hot lead at him. Isaac easily dodges the rounds as he strafes the zeppelin in front of him.
"John, disable the zeppelins!" Isaac yelled over the radio as rounds as he heard rounds pound against his fighter. "Justin, take out the fighters!"
Justin flew high as he hung onto the canopy of the junk fighter. The pilot looks up, seeing Justin amd pulls out his pistol to try to shoot him. Justin jumped off and swung his bat in the mid-section of the fighter, hitting the engine. The engine caught on fire as Justin flew off to the next one, seeing the last fighter he struck explode. Meanwhile, John uses fire spells as he tries to hit the balloon on the zeppelins while dodging the gun fire that was being shot at him.
Those that got damaged regrouped to get repaired by their crew while more zeppelins took their place.
"Take one out and two more appear." John said in frustration.
It wasn’t looking good on the ground as the rebels started closing in on the fleeing ponies. They weren’t stopping even if their men fell from getting hit.
They knew they were outnumbered but they had to hold the line when suddenly a large shadow casts over the red sky. A familiar massive aircraft emerges from the portal slowly turning upright side up after adjusting from the shift in gravity. It was the Ark of the Sun, the day mission flying aircraft carrier. Zhu was holding on his captain chair as the planes and helicopters were secured with minimal damage.
"Perfect timing Zhu. Show them what happens when they mess with the Alliance!" Isaac called out.
"Will do. Just get the civilians ready for evac."
The Ark’s weapons were armed as UH-60 helicopters were getting prepped for takeoff. The ponies were surprised to see humans fight against humans as the Ark flies toward the zeppelins. Several junk fighters fly toward it when the Ark’s Type 1030 CIWSs (close in weapons system) start firing at them and destroy the fighter with ease.
"Fire at the zeppelin." Zhu ordered as the Ark’s side cannons fire a 200mm tungsten round into a zeppelin, tearing right through it and hitting a building that was under the rebel’s control. The zeppelins got into formation as they fired their machine guns and cannons at the Ark. The round bounced of the Arks tempered hull as the ark side guns and SAMs fires at the zeppelins. "Get in front of the zeppelins. We’re gonna test our new prototype."
The Ark turns slightly as it got in front of the zeppelins. A hatch below the Ark opens as it reveals a large cannon with rifle like teeth on it. Justin froze in awe when he saw it.
"Is that…A rail gun?!"
The rail gun glows with electricity as it powers up almost immediately.
"Sir, we’re locked on target." The weapons officer said to Zhu.
"Fire."
A loud boom came from the rail gun as a wave of magnetic energy shot out from the cannon as the tungsten round tore through several columns of zeppelins like it was nothing. What’s more was the after effect from the EMP burst from the rounds disabled anything electrical near the burst. Luckily Isaac was out of the range of the burst but several junk fighters weren't as they stalled in the air. Most of the remaining turrets, and zeppelins were unaffected by the EMP cause their weapons worked without any complex circuitry, except a few guided missiles systems that went offline. Still they were helpless as the slick metal beast relentlessly tore through the zeppelin fleet.
"Evac helicopters, you are cleared for takeoff." Zhu said as he helicopters take off and fly towards the ponies. The remaining zeppelins started retreating as the ponies started boarding the helicopters. A lot of them weren’t very welcoming to see humans working alongside ponies, but they calmed down when they see that some ponies with high ranks in the Alliance. The helicopters took off as they went back to the Ark.
"Justin, John, let’s head back to the Ark." Isaac said as they followed the helicopters.
The Ponies, deer, and zebras examine the uniforms that the humans and ponies in the Alliance wear. They were curious yet cautious as they noticed the weapons they used. They are much more advance compared to the rebel’s. The ponies in the group also carried strange weapons that looked very advance. A pony was wearing a robe to conceal the large weapon it carried.
Soon Isaac flew in and landed on the runway with Justin and John on the back of the fighter. He parked next to an F-18A as he shut off the engines, hopping out of the cockpit. The zebra approached them along with the pony just as Justin and John got off the fighter.
“We thank you for your assistance.” The zebra said.
“You're welcome comrade.” Isaac said. “Might I ask what that was about?”
“The humans have been in a long war. This skirmish will be a short victory for what is to come. The rebels are the force you've just seen and the one you should worry about. They rose from fallen armies and will stop at nothing to win.”
“Well lucky for you we are heading back to our world.” Isaac said. “It’s safe there.”
“Well my companion here thanks you for the help too.”
The cloaked figure remained still. Isaac and John looked at it, wondering who the pony was.
Isaac spoke with his arms crossed as he noticed the concealed weapon it carried. “I'd do a better job at hiding that weapon of yours. I can see it bulging out of your coat.”
“Of all the possible knights in the world, it had to be you.” The pony spoke. It sounded feminine and very familiar.
“Your voice sounds familiar.”
“Well then let me refresh your memory.”
From within the shadows of the robe, the pony pulls something out and places it in front of Isaac. It’s a battered doll that’s slightly discolored but still recognizable. It’s a red pegasus in a valiant pose, as if it’s about to take off. It even has a dragon cutie mark that’s exactly like John’s. With that, the three knew right away who the clocked figure was.
“Snowy?!” Isaac bellowed, his eyes widened in shock.
“You’re alive?!” John said. He couldn’t believe that he was seeing her alive. Justin was speechless and didn’t know what to say.
“Yes, tossed from different dimensions, scorched from war but I’m fine.” Snowy took off her cloak, revealing her fur covered in fur and ash. Her wings are badly burnt as if she jumped into a fire.
“But how?” Isaac asks.
“I guess it was just too much energy. Being flung out of reality and landing in the nearest dimention completely drained. My wings are burnt badly but I did my best to save this world.” Snowy explained as she whispered, “Thank you for coming…”
Isaac looks at her wings and says, “It doesn’t look that bad. The medics can help you with that. In the mean time you should get some rest.”
“I will, but you have no idea what you are facing.” Snowy said as she put her cloak back on. “The rebellion is a strong army among lowlife and violent men. You are not fighting an army like the HLA in the Human Pony War.”
“We’ve noticed.” John said. “They don’t show much mercy.”
“Dah, they didn’t even care if their own men were killed.” Isaac added.
“Let’s focus on the refugees for now. We’ll have to see what the other nations have planned.”
The speakers turn on as everyone hears the navigator of the Ark. He controls the ships direction as long the direction is what Zhu orders.
“All personal strap down all aircraft and equipment. We are flying through the portal. I repeat, strap down all aircraft and equipment.”
Everyone prepared for the shift as they weighed anchor on every equipment and plane. Even Isaac’s Flanker was anchored down as everyone held onto anything they could grab. The ark flies through the portal and the shift of gravity was felt right away. They were now upside down as the ark starts to level itself. The refugees fell, but a lot were grabbed by workers who were prepared.
The turbulence shook the ark and the fighters as everyone held on tight.
“Hey Zhu!” Isaac yelled at the cameras “Level the ship already!”
“Give it a moment. This isn’t stunt plane damn it.”
The crew within the hanger started complaining which annoyed Zhu. Lucky for them the ark finally leveled itself. Isaac sighed with relief as he let go of the wing of his fighter while Justin and John hovered over him. They were lucky to have wings.
“Zhu, get us back to the base. We need to debrief with Lance.” Justin explained. “Also bring the refugees somewhere safe.”
“Roger.”
The ark flies towards the airbase as medical crew, both human and pony, are on standby. The ark deploys its landing gear and lands in the middle of the base. The hanger bay’s blast door open as medics and doctors rush in to help tend to the refugees. Justin, John, and Isaac escort Snowy inside the base so they can meet with Lance. She is a strong mare, refusing help from the doctors no matter how much they asked whether they were human or pony.
At Lance’s office, he was shock to see Snowy. He had thought that she was dead.
“But how?”
“We have no idea how she is alive.” Justin replied as he put his U.S. Marine hat back on.
Snowy giggles and joked in a tired voice. “Alicorns can go through a lot of punishment. Feel free to put John into those suicide missions you have.”
John ignored the comment and noticed Snowy’s posture. “I think you should get some rest.”
“The last time slept was…four days ago. There’s no rest when you’re on the brink of death.”
“Well you are safe here so you should really get some rest.”
“Yeah, I-” She collapsed on the floor as her zebra assistant rushes up to her.
“Snowy!”
“We need a medic over here!” Justin called out as unicorn in military fatigues rushes up to them.
“Her adrenaline must have kept her up this whole time.” The zebra thought.
“I’ll take her to the medical station.” The unicorn said as she picked up Snowy. “You brought in a lot of wounded.”
“Again thank you for the help. We wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for you.”
“No problem,” Justin said as John bowed. “My name is Justin and this is John.”
“This place must be a Garden of Eden compared to what you’ve been through all these years.” John said as he raised his head.
“Well the air here feels fresh. This is just too beautiful to be honest. Though, I should warn you that the rebels are going to retaliate.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be prepared to defend ourselves against them.”
“Thank you and tread carefully. Desperate times can drive others mad. If you ever need any advice I’m at your service.” The zebra bows and leaves.
“For the mean time I’m going to fix my fighter and get more ammo.” Isaac said. “I think we might be in for something big.”
Justin hovers in front of Isaac with his front legs crossed. “You think? This is an inedible war we are going to face since the Human Pony War. This might even be worse compared to fighting the HLA. You heard what the zebra said about the rebels.”
“I know. That’s why we must be prepared. Right John?”
“I think so. The world has been rebuilding everything from the economic structure to the military.”
They remembered that a lot of the nations affected badly from the war were still rebuilding their nations. Russia is one of them but still has a working military. Many other nations like the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, had their militaries scattered but still held within the Alliance. The herd during the years had formed communities along many nations. They try to shelter ponies and also became a prominent research institution as well as a pseudo-religion about preserving and helping the ponykind, while still under the roots of the previous war. Half of the ponies have grown more open minded about humans during the years.
As for the United States, the situation is pretty much gone back the ways before Pre-American civil war in terms of geographical and political means. Over the years the once abandoned government of the United States slowly tries to recover and bring back the governmental rules through the nation but some states have yet to decide if they want to rejoin the "Union." So far most States, East of the Mississippi River have rejoin the Union, while other states particularly The Republic of Texas continues to be seceded from the Union and become its own govern nation, though still has ties with the Alliance. In the west coast California has joined itself with Washington, Oregon. Nevada has join into a conglomerate, as the state that felt neglected by the Union during the Pony crisis and relied on each other to sustained themselves and has yet to vote whether or not to return to the Union mostly from spite. As for the Rockies states like Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, they pretty much went into complete isolation and have cut themselves off from the world save for Chilean Mountain region who still has most control over ICBMs networks still have loyalty to the Union.
Alaska and Hawaii also has yet to decide to rejoin to Union since they are mostly isolated from the country. While at the same time, tensions between the Alliance and the Union government is stressed since the Union fears them and also angry that they yet to share their technology, mostly military with them the rest of the world since they are in the American soil and such. So basically the United States is a divided country of mess and uncertainty.
In Lance's office, Lance sits on his chair as he looks at the others.
“Men, we're not ready for a war. Things are still unstable in the states and in the recovering countries.”
“Well whether or not we're ready, I'm afraid it’s inevitable.” John said and sighs. “Right now we should warn the world government the threat.”
“I know. It's just that I don't know how the other nations are going to react.”
4. The rebels first scouting mission
In the paradox world, Max was furious. In over three years this was first failed mission the rebels ever had.
“Can anyone tell me what happened down there?! We had them!”
“We were caught off guard sir.” A rebel replied. “A human in a fighter jet, a pegasus, and an alicorn jumped us by surprise. What's worse was that a massive flying ship took out half of our zeppelins.”
“Unacceptable!” Max bellowed. “We are the mightiest army in the world. No one shall oppose us. I want this new enemy found and crushed.”
“I think I might know.” Justin said with his arms crossed. “They might be from the other world.”
“You mean the mirrored world that I’m still getting reports of?”
“Yes, it’s possible that the enemy is from the other world.”
“Do we know anything about this world?” Max asked. “Are there any armies where our cannons can fire at?”
“I’m not sure, but what we just encountered could mean that we might be facing a powerful army.”
Max stood up and looked over the horizon with anger. He then looks back at Justin.
“Rally the troops and get a scout team through that portal. I’ll have Cortez check on the portals in Europe and Adrian check the ones in Asia. Be sure to get John ready.”
Rebel scouts hastily move through the portals earlier during the beginning when they opened. They used smaller zeppelins that have less firepower so they could be used mainly for scout missions. The zeppelins designs made them be able to handle the shift in gravity when they fly through the portals compared to what the ark went through. Cortez and Adrian went to their positions, unseen while Justin and John went through the portal where the ark went through, close to ground zero, the area where the portals started.
Inside the zeppelin’s deck, John and Justin prepared to land somewhere away from New Hope City.
“Looks like we were not spotted.” Justin said as he looked through the window.
“Don’t worry, once we bring in the main army we’ll wipe this place off the map.”
“First we need to know what we are facing.” Justin said as he was exiting the bridge.
“Well get your friend ready. He freaks me out…” the rebel said as he grabs an assault rifle.
“Come on John, let’s go.”
John gets up without a word and only picks up a dagger.
“From what we’ve seen there’s a half built city up ahead. We should be able to get pass it unnoticed. The filth of colored equines seem to live alongside the humans. It sickens me.”
“We need to see for ourselves.” Justin said as he pushes the rebel aside and takes the lead.
There was a police frontier post controlling the entrance. Just a normal quiet day in the frontier since most of the ponies and humans were more focused in the holes that appeared in the skies and the news about certain a cultural leader found alive. Justin looked around to find another way around the posts. He didn't want to kill them as they might alert their allies. As they see, they notice how clean the air is and notice some technology they haven’t seen before.
“Something smells different here.” A rebel said.
“It’s rather clean.” Justin added.
“We should take it. Ya know, kill everyone and relocate here...”
Justin grabs the rebel and glares at him. “It's not that simple. We can't just invade an area without finding out what we are dealing with. You saw what the enemy had with that flying ship.”
“Yes sir…”
“Where’s the tesla coils? All I see is cables connected to those tall posts.” Another rebel added.
“I guess they use a different power source.” Justin said. “Look around and don't cause suspicion. This is a recon mission, not a raid.”
John simply comes out of the bush and casually walks down the street while Justin hid his rifle and follows him. They were heading down to the suburbs as they see children, colts, and fillys playing at the park.
"This is unsettling. So unprotected and weak."
"No, this is something we haven't seen in our lifetime." John finally spoke. "This is something our fathers and grandfathers have yet to see."
"Yeah, a land without war." Justin said with his hands in his pockets.
"A land without conflict is boring. Where's the fun if you can't blow things up?"
"I swear you are one step closer to having a bullet in your brain."
"Is there something wrong?" A human in a police officers uniform walked up to them, overhearing their conversation.
"Nothing is wrong sir." John said. The cop looked at them for a moment before leaving. The rebels sighed in relief, thinking that they were caught.
"We have to report this to Max!" One of the rebels yelled to John.
"Maybe..."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Tell me this, just because this place is peaceful does it really mean it's defenseless?"
"That still doesn't explain that ship that took out our zeppelins." Justin added.
"There's a very old saying. "if you strive for peace, prepare for war." If this land is this peaceful, how prepared they are for war?"
"They did a surprise attack so we should the same. We sweep in, take stuff before they can even react."
Justin sighed and shook his head while John remained silent. The two knew that they didn't stand a chance if this new enemy caught them. They do have strength in numbers and carry a large amount of fire power. The new enemy on the other hand has technology backing them up. The Ark of the Sun was pretty much twenty raider class zeppelins in one.
The rebels didn't care about their odds against this new enemy. They just wanted to raid them, kill them, and steal their technology to their own advantage.
"First we scout and then we raid." Justin ordered as the rebels sighed.
They continued scouting through the town. They were surprised to see how advanced this new enemy is. Combining magic with science, a small squadron of a two F-16 U.S. Airforce fighter jets and two pegasi in grey flight suits flew over them. Unicorns were even using spells to help humans and other ponies for daily tasks. This disgusted the rebels, having to watch humans and ponies along side each other, but their technology still worried Justin.
"We might be in over our head." Justin said, rubbing his chin.
"Do we have any other option?" One of the rebels said to him. "If we don't do something, they will establish strong relations with the griffons, dogs, even the crystal pony scum. We cant let them help each other."
"Right and you know what we do to keep them from doing that? Make their lives miserable and turn against each other."
At the base, Isaac was working on a Su-24M Fencer. He had just got it back after one mission he used years ago during the Human Pony War. Since it wasn't maintained by crew, he had to do it himself which he didn't mind. His father and grandfather worked on their own aircraft for generations all the way back to the first dogfighters. Of course he had to check on his main fighter. After the last mission, the flanker took a beating from the zeppelin machine guns.
The wings were riddled with holes and the left flap on his left wing had jammed from one of the rounds hitting the controls. He was lucky to have come back in one piece though he knew you can only be lucky for so long. Remembering when he lost his Su-37 terminator by the tail gunner of a Tu-95 bomber and got wounded in the process. It only made him more aggressive and determined to be a more difficult target to kill. Though it will still cost money to repair the Flanker back into combat ready condition, knowing the new enemy might try to attack them at any moment so it had to be quick.
While thinking through his thoughts, he didn't know that Justin was watching him from the hanger door. He didn't want to bother Isaac while he was working. Isaac does have plenty more aircraft which are mainly Russian fighters like the Su-25, Tu-95, and a Mig-31 though his Su-35 is his main fighter. Snowy's zebra companion was walking around the refugee camp, helping anyone that needed it and giving advice. Though the workers and soldiers were on edge from the recent operation so some didn't want to be bothered by a zebra giving them annoying advice.
John and Lyra were treating the refugees. Even though she was retired from flying, she became a JSDF medic. What surprised them was the new species that also have similar intelligence like the humans and ponies. Among the refugees were buffalo, deer, and zebras.
"I never knew there was other species that can talk." Lyra said as she bandaged up a male deer.
"Your world likely never needed to balance itself." The deer said. "When something breaks balance nature tries to rebalanced itself, but Sometimes it's not enough. I mean look at our world. We failed to stabilize it..."
"You should be blaming the humans in your world. Our world is fine." Lyra explained. "Humans and ponies have been at peace in our world for years."
"Can that really be the truth?"
"Years ago, the humans and ponies used to be at war until a group formed what is called the Alliance to end the war from getting any worse. This alicorn here helped into ending the war."
John didn't noticed while he was mending another deer's wound with a bandage. Lyra finished up bandaging up the deer. A lot of medics were treating wounded refugees since a lot of them were badly injured. The humans from the other world were showing no mercy to the refugees.
"That's very noble though you know that a fraction of the human population was human right?"
"Yes, a lot of the ponies in the Alliance were once human." Lyra sighed. "A lot of them never knew who they once were and just didn't care about it. Some were lucky and kept their memories."
"Is there hate over that?"
"Well I'm not sure." Lyra looked around the camp. "Some nations still don't trust them because of the issues of the ponies destablizing their governments."
Though the United States was divided, several nations suffered issues from the ponies after the Human Pony War. Nations that had fallen to the herd lost control of their governments. A lot of the Asian nations were the most affected except China due to it's military guarding the capital and sea ports. The HLA also did damage to other nations like the European nations with propaganda and raids into towns that were suspected of humans siding with ponies. Some nations even follow the HLA's beliefs and refuse to side with the Alliance even today.
Today, only a couple of nations and military groups follow the Alliance and are doing what they can to help restore what they can of the fallen nations. For the Alliance, New Hope City is their symbol of peace between the species.
Over at a local bar within the city, John watches the television with curiosity.
"Anything interesting?" A rebel asked.
"Football. It actually still exists here."
"Huh. I forgot that existed. I only saw old movies."
John sipped a bit from his cup as he looked around bar. It was a lot cleaner then it was back in their world. No dirt, mud, metal tables, blood, it was all clean. The drinks tasted a lot better then the cheap bland stuff that the rebels would make for their bars.
"We should take some bottles to sell home." A rebel suggested.
"Buy a couple with your gold then." John said, not looking interested.
"Nah, we'll just take it all once we take over."
"Take over? What are you talking about?" A earth pony asked, over hearing the rebel.
"Human superiority. Not like a bunch of horses will oppose us cause we are the evolved species around here and you are just waste of air."
"Hey!" A man in his early forties called out. "We don't tolerate that around here!"
"I'm standing up for humanity you idiot! Sharing this world with farm animals is so low. I bet they don't even use the bathroom and don't get my started with the smell of their coats. This isn't natural and they should be purged."
John sighed in annoyance as a group of angry people surround the rebels.
"I swear that guy wants to get beaten..." Justin said as he puts his hoodie over his head.
"Let him be a fool." John said as he kept sipping on his drink.
"I think you should leave sir." The bartender said to the rebel.
"Whatever..."
The rebel left the bar so he wouldn't blow their cover. The crowds of people and ponies glared at him as he left. Justin and John looked at each other for a moment as Justin secretly grabbed several bottles of whiskey.
"Plan B?" Justin muttered.
John sighed as he knew this was going to happen and nods. Justin stuffed a cloth into the opening of some bottles and tucked them away in his pocket. They left some gold on the counter as hey left. Outside, the rest of the rebels were waiting for them as Justin pulled out a bottle and lights the cloth and tosses it. It shatters as the liquid ignites inside the bar.
People and ponies inside the bar screamed as they rushed out. The rebels left the scene as they stumble upon a church. It was mainly filled with ponies while some were wearing cyan cloaks.
"That's a creepy church." A rebel said as they read the title on the church's door.
"The Church of Snowy? They worship that mare?" Justin asked, shocked to see this.
"Burn this monstrosity!"
Justin hands some bottles to some rebels as they lit them and threw them at the church. They shatter and ignite against the walls as the ponies inside rush out to try to put out the fire. The rebels look for a moment before they left the scene within the crowds of panicing people and ponies getting away from the fire.
"The humans are attacking us again!" One of the ponies of the church yelled. "We knew that they were evil!"
The fire department came as well as the police as they control the fire at the Church and the bar. Arguing between the humans and ponies started to become brawls as the cops try to stop them. At the base, the reports started spreading quick as the herd mobilize with MPs (Military Police) to help stop the fighting. John and Justin rushed to the scene while Isaac didn't notice situation. He had just put in the new flap and adjust it to see if it functioning properly.
All there was left was to patch up the holes and see if the engines were not badly damaged. The cost of the flankers weren't cheap as it cost a lot of money to simply repair the damages and the more advance the fighters are the more costly they became. Only a few aces can pilot the most expensive aircraft as they cost a lot in maintenance. That was common routine for the young ace. Complete the mission, get back to base and get paid, pay for the repairs.
Though bombers, helicopters, drones and other military vehicles vary on their costs. Fighters today are high in demand for their use and even some aces became mercenaries for their talents and roles.
Suddenly, Isaac heard a loud knock at the door.
"What s it? I'm very busy."
"A bar and church got set on fire and ponies are saying humans are the cause. It just became a riot!" A soldier explained outside.
Isaac dropped his tools as he rushed outside. He could see the faint smoke coming from the city as he rushed to a packed jeep as he heads to the city. Minutes later he gets to the scene and skids to a stop. He sees Snowy's followers fighting with some of the customers from the bar while some were armed, ready for another Human Pony War if it escalates. Isaac stops the hummer and hops out while John lands beside him.
"Where's Justin?" Isaac asked as John points up as they see him restraining a pegasus. "Ok, we need to put out he fires and calm the followers down before things get bloody."
"I got the fires, you calm down the crowd."
Isaac rushes to the hummer and pulls out the megaphone. John flew to the church roof and begins to summon his ice spell.
"Everyone calm down!"
"It's the humans fault! We shouldn't even live near them!" A earth pony yelled.
"We are dealing with the problem right now. I need everyone to calm down! Can anyone tell me who the people looked like?"
"Well they were human that's all we know." The pony explained as John put out the fire while the ice supports the building. Isaac lowers his megaphone as he walks up to the pony.
"Be more specific please."
"Well they were a bunch of punks. One seemed Asian I think along a young one..."
"What about clothing. What were they wearing?"
"Well common clothing, a bit dirty."
Isaac thought for a moment. This had to be intentional, but why attack both places?
"Someone wanted up us to fight each other."
"Is the HLA coming back?!" The pony said, looking scared.
"I don't think it's the HLA." Isaac shook his head as he thought, "Could it be the humans from the other world?"
"Still it could just be humans being humans."
"For now I need everyone and everypony to go back to their normal lives. The Alliance will figure this out."
"The Alliance is stretched thin. It wont be able of protect everypony."
The MPs took care at calming down the riot as the fire was put out. Isaac puts the megaphone away as Justin lands in front of him.
"So figured out what caused this mess?" Justin asked.
"I think so. but I need more info. Whoever did this was trying to get both sides to fight with one another. You and John search the rest of the city and find anyone that may be suspicious."
"Roger!" John opens his wings and flies off while Justin slowly nods and takes off.
"See anything?" Justin asked as he looked down.
"In a town over several thousand people and ponies?"
Of course he was right. There was just to many to find who did it. For all they knew the culprits are already long gone. Justin sighed and lowered his head.
"Let's head back..."
Justin flies down and lands. He shook his head and Isaac knew they couldn't find them. It was just to hectic to find the people who caused it.
"Damn, they must have fled when the panic started." Isaac said with his arms crossed.
"Until then probably have the witnesses give a drawn sketch of the suspects and have the local police looked into it." John said, landing beside him.
"Right, the MPs should handle that along with the police."
Justin yawns as a brick flies over his head. He ducks and sees a unicorn from the church throwing another one at him.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Justin yelled as he flew off.
"Go away you traitor!"
"We need to talk to Snowy about this..." Isaac shook his head in annoyance. This situation was getting out of hand as it is. he was really focused on wanting to get his fighter combat ready again. "John, go help out the refugees if you can. I have to fix up my fighter. "
"Yes sir," John did a quick salute as he flew off to the camp.
Back at the base, Lance was looking at the video feeds coming from the drones with Robert and Zhu.
"I don't believe this...Who knew there would be other worlds. Though it looks like this world went through a big war that left it into a waste land." Robert said, looking in awe at the images coming from the drones.
"Well I guess the multi universe theory based on choice seems to be plausible here." Zhu added.
"This doesn't explain the rifts appearing." Lance looked at the others as Robert hands him a folder.
"Well maybe this can help. The fellows from MI6 managed to get some info on Snowy's followers on their recent activity."
It showed photos of large crystals generating power to some of buildings Snowy's followers have control.
"What am I looking at?"
"Apparently they call it Resonance Energy. It's some type of powerful magic crystal though we don't know the source yet. By the looks of it can be more powerful then ten nuclear reactors. Based on the amount I've heard it generates it can easily power both the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy combined."
"I still don't see how can something like this can tear a hole into reality." Zhu said.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Lance said as he keeps looking at the photos which really bothered him. Who knows what the new energy source was used for or where it came from. "I know I'm going to regret this but we are going to have to ask Snowy permission to have the crystal studied."
"Your kidding right?" Robert looks at Lance in disbelief. "Asking the profit of the anti humanity movement permission? Knowing what's happening right now her followers are already putting propaganda to make us look bad."
"Not to mention I doubt she would let us anywhere near it." Zhu added.
Lance knew they were right. The Church of Snowy wouldn't just simply agree to side with the Alliance. Only twenty percent works with the Alliance on operations though they only work with ponies since working with humans is forbidden in the church. They also work with the anti human propaganda that was seen on posters in the pony districts of New Hope City. Sixty percent was supporting on arcane and magic which was more powerful then the Alliance's.
Then there was the last twenty percent which were the researchers within the church. They are the worshipers of the church who stay in the church, believing that Snowy is a god while researching on new magic based technology.
Lance sighed and looked at the others.
"I know, but we don't have much of a choice. The new enemy we encountered might try to attack us at any moment. We need to know more about this new energy source and rescue anymore refugees before the enemy retaliates."
"I suggest air patrols over the portals." Zhu suggested.
"Exactly, let's be ready for anything."
At the rebel base, Justin and John explained their discovery to Max.
"This new enemy will learn to not get on our way. Start to regroup our army! Get Cortez and his flame fleet ready, and tell my other general we need the new production line upgrades today!"
"Hold on Max!" Justin yelled. "We can't just jump the gun. You heard about the giant flying ship that took out our zeppelins right? We need to take it slow like raiding towns away from cities."
"Then we will let the flames of rebellion burn them from the inside. We'll send supplies to insurgents from within the other world. Then we will begin our march in Asia."
Justin huffed and shook his head.
"You always love to burn stuff do you? I guess this explains why you are friends with Cortez."
Cortez is the one in charge of most raids in the rebels. He is well known for his skills in flame based weapons. Most of his raids are known to have left cities in flames and ashes. He has never failed a raid mission for any reason.
"I don't care. I just want things done and get results. Cortez knows how to get things done right. And where's John? He should be here telling me how to crush this pile of idealists."
John meanwhile remained silent in all of this as he watches everyone readying things. Soldiers arming up their weapons and preparing the zeppelins. The roar of one of the factories can be heard not far from the base. It billowed smoke into the sky as it started making rounds within. Zeppelins are arming two sets of quads cannons and miniguns as they rotated them to switch the turrets active guns.
Large barrels of water were hauled into the zeppelins to control the overheating. There's even spare tubes, and caravans of ammunition.
A large amount of steam fills the room as a hulking two meter tall general enter. Wearing a gasmask welded onto its face. The voice is distorted through the mask to an almost mechanic tone.
"Gentlemen, I have the tesla defense system running efficiently. Anything that gets to close will get fried. We should be able to attach them to the larger zeppelins."
"Yeah, we can attach them to the medium class zeppelins or the battle class." Justin said.
"Excellent," Max said as he fixed the collar of his trench coat and leaves. "Attach them right now. If you excuse me, i need to start rallying this army."
Justin sighed as he looked at the gasmasked man.
"Sometimes I feel like Max shoots first before thinking."
"I love him as a father, but he is so blind for revenge against the world that he forgets we do this for peace..."
Up in the sky, Alliance drones watched what was going on. The Alliance Intel division knew what was happening. War is coming.