Chapter 1
"I can't belief it has been already two years." Bradford stated as he, Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Shen were going down with the lift, to see whatever a scientist had discovered. X-COM was at the verge of becoming the biggest company selling the newest hardware.
Two years without any aliens, so the council decided as long as they had time to breath, they might as well try to see what they could do for the general community.
"I just hope this won't take too long." Dr. Vahlen stated. Dr. Shen shook his head. In his opinion his colleague spent way too much time inside the HQ. They finally had the chance to get some sunlight and the lead scientist barely used it.
They arrived at the last level and stepped out, walking down the hallway towards laboratory 10. They were already halfway through, when suddenly an alarm went through the entire base. A special sound of the alarm, nobody hoped to hear ever again: alien activity.
"Damn it!" Bradford immediately turned around and started running. Unfortunately the power shut down, meaning he would have to take the stairs. "Sir!" A man spoke through intercom. "There's a complete power shutdown on level 4! We also detected alien activity in lab 14! The Commander is in there!"
"WHAT?! Send a strike team down here. NOW!" Bradford took out his plasma pistol and started dashing towards the laboratory. It was time he would make up to the Commander what he owed her from operation Ashes and Temples.
"Sir! We detect a large energy signature next to the Commander. She doesn't respond to any of-"
"Everyone…"
"Commander?!" Multiple voices spoke through intercom.
"Thank you for everything." They heard her voice. "But this is goodbye."
"Commander?!"
"What are you talking about?!" Dr. Shen shouted, who had a hard time keeping up with Vahlen and Bradford.
"I'll never forget you…my friends."
The communication was cut off.
"S-Sir, the Commander's signature….it's…"
Bradford kicked the door open and pointed his pistol everywhere. His gaze stopped in front of some kind of purple energy, which resembled some kind of oval door. Dr. Vahlen, Shen and a bunch of X-COM personal from all sections arrived.
"What is this?" A security guard asked.
Dr. Vahlen used her tablet to run through a quick scan. "It's….I can't even get a clear reading."
Suddenly it was like the portal started vibrating. "Get away from there!" A woman shouted and immediately most of them took careful steps back. The three heads of X-COM didn't react quickly enough. The portal suddenly expanded and acted like a vacuum.
"AHH!" Bradford standing right in the middle of the room got sucked in. Dr. Shen had been holding on the doorframe, but wasn't strong enough to hold on and eventually got sucked inside as well. Dr. Vahlen held out longer on the other doorframe, but eventually her strength was leaving her hands and before anyone could help her, she disappeared through the energy with a scream.
The portal collapsed afterwards.
XIII
The sound of birds could be heard as the three humans groaned simultaneously. Bradford was the first one to get up to his feet, as he scanned their surroundings. They were on some kind of grass field, with a few trees here and there. The sky was clear blue and the air fresh.
"Where…where are we?" Dr. Shen asked, looking around. "Is this still earth? Another planet? Dimension?" He readjusted his glasses.
Dr. Vahlen was rubbing her forehead, a big headache building up inside her head. She looked around, just as confused as the other two humans with her. Her memories came back one by one, until she was at the verge of panicking. Knowing it wouldn't help any of them if she panicked, she started frantically typing on her tablet.
"No internet, no satellite connection…in case this is still earth, then we're in the middle of nowhere."
"Whatever this place is" Bradford double checked his pistol again "sitting around won't help us one bit. I think we can say for sure that the Commander went through this portal. Our objective is it to find her. I have a feeling she knows what the meaning of this is."
The trio was on their way in a random direction, hoping for the best. Dr. Vahlen decided to speak soon after they started walking. "She said...this is goodbye. Is it possible that she was the one who created the portal?"
"How?" Dr. Shen asked. "And are you actually suggesting that she is an alien?"
"Bradford's eye twitched. "It is too early to say." the female doctor replied. "She might as well have been abducted. But the way she said those words through intercom, it sounded like she was expecting this to happen for a long time."
Bradford couldn't deny this fact, as much as he didn't want to belief it.
The next ten minutes were spent in silence among each of them, until they found a dirt path. It gave them hope that they were actually still on earth. However after walking for one hour straight, Dr. Shen was getting tired, not really being the youngest anymore.
Bradford sighed as they needed to take a break for the doctor, who placed himself on the grass. Dr. Vahlen used the break in order to get some kind of connection to the X-COM satellites, but failed. Bradford looked around, searching for anything that might want to kill them. There was a forest coming up to the right, but the path continued both right and left. There was also a river nearby, the only water source.
"Okay you two, we'll continue down the river. It's the only water source we have for now."
"Mein Gott." Vahlen facepalmed. She could think of at least a hundred reasons why drinking water from a river was a bad idea nowadays, but it was the only option they had. She decided to hold out until she couldn't bear it anymore.
"Phew, my old bones aren't what they're used to be." Bradford helped Dr. Shen up. "Just hold tight doctor and remember. We either go on or die."
"That's reassuring." Dr. Vahlen said in a sarcastic matter.
"It's better to face the facts." the central officer stated and moved on.
Dr. Shen searched through his pockets, looking if left anything useful inside of them, but found nothing worth mentionable. As time passed, Dr. Vahlen found it harder and harder to resist complaining. In the end, the only reason she didn't do so, was because Bradford probably would have shot her, if she complained too much. The man was on a short fuse at the moment.
Another half an hour later, the trio was climbing up a hill, hoping to get a good view of their surroundings.
"Come on, you two. We're almost there." Bradford assured.
"I...didn't...sign...up...for...this..." Vahlen panted.
Dr. Shen was even too tired to complain. He was supporting himself on his knees and was wiping the sweat away from his forehead.
Bradford was the first one to arrive up there and stretched himself. "Come on you two. Looks like we're lucky. There's a farm down there." This inspired the two doctors to use the rest of their energy reserves and increase their pace. Finally on top, the two couldn't help, but collapse on the ground once again.
Bradford shook his head, but smiled none the less.
After getting her breath back, the German scientist spoke up. "This looks like...an apple farm? I've never heard of one."
"Well this is unusual" Dr. Shen walked up "But...I have to admit. I could use an apple or two."
"Maybe we could ask if we can have some and use their phone. Though, I don't see any cables nearby." Bradford said.
"I still can't connect to anything. Ughn, of all farms we could end up, it had to be the one farthest away from civilization." Vahlen complained.
"It's better than nothing. Let's go."
"Slave driver." Vahlen muttered under her breath. The three walked down the hill, carefully trying to avoid tripping over their own legs. When they finally arrived down, the trio walked towards a path and walked towards the house.
"These people really must live in the past." the German woman said.
"It wouldn't surprise me, if they missed the invasion completely." the chef engineer said smiling a little over his own joke. Bradford put his pistol away, before further approaching the house. The smell of apples was all over the air.
Bradford prepared himself for eventual complications, like the people speaking a language he didn't know. Good thing this would be the least of his problems. Before he could knock on the door, there was a voice behind.
"Can ah help ya...folks?" A voice asked carefully. The trio turned around. Bradford was about to say something, but the words where stuck inside his throat. In front of him was an orange horse, wearing a Stetson. Its eyes were big and green, but the horse itself was pretty small. On both sides of her flanks was a tattoo of three apples.
"What are ya lookin' at? Never seen a pony in yer life?"
"It talks!" Dr. Vahlen exclaimed.
"Hey, who ya calling "it"? That's mighty rude of ya!" The pony exclaimed.
"I guess...that confirms it. We're not on our planet anymore." Dr. Shen stated as calmly and slowly as possible.
"Watcha talking 'bout? Y'all not making any sense!"
Bradford rubbed his forehead. "This is getting more complicated by the minute."
"Well, why don't ya all come in and tell mah yer story? We're pretty used to strange things happening around these parts, ya know?"
The trio of humans looked at each other. "I think this is the best solution for now. And my old bones could use some rest." Dr. Shen admitted.
"Alright, come in. By the way, the name's Applejack. What are yours?"
"You can call me Dr. Shen. This is Doctor Vahlen and this is Central Officer Bradford."
"What officer now? Whatever. Just get insight and we'll get to talk."
The inside looked pretty much how humans would decorate their houses. Except the photos of ponies hanging around.
"Sorry, if ah'm a little rude here, but ah'm on a tight schedule today. So, what's yer story? Oh yeah, take a seat, wherever ya want."
Bradford took place in a way too small chair, while the two doctors took place on the couch. "Well miss... Applejack...You see, this might be hard to belief, but we're actually from another planet."
"Another planet? Now that's something. But nothing new."
The three humans looked stunned at the orange pony in front of them. "It's not?" Dr. Vahlen asked. "Well, it's a long story. The short version is, mah friend once traveled into another world. Actually she already did it three times."
"Three times?" Dr. Shen asked, crossing his fingers and leaning forward. "Yeah. The first two were on purpose, but the third time was a total accident. She actually just returned a few hours ago. Ah can tell ya, we were all worried sick. Ah'm gonna give that gal a good smack over the head after the party."
Bradford put a hand under his chin. "We arrived here ourselves only a couple of hours ago. It might be connected."
"Really? Well darn toothin. Looks like Twi messed up again. She probably took ya three with her. She's the best there is at magic, but sometimes it just goes wrong."
"Magic." Dr. Vahlen repeated in a deadpan tone.
"APPLEJACK!"
The trio of humans was startled by the sudden scream, while the owner of the house facehoofed. "Oh no."
The door was slammed open and from one moment to the other a pink pony was standing in front of AJ, somehow holding a megaphone with her hoof. "YOU ARE LATE FOR THE PARTY!" Applejack was thrown against the wall, as if they were in some kind of cartoon. AJ groaned in pain as she shoved the light stand away and got up.
"Pinkie Pie, ah'm coming, but ah have some guests."
"Guests? *GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSP*!" Pinkie jumped in mid-air and disappeared to the outside while still being in mid-air.
"What was..." Bradford trailed off.
"Ah, that's just Pinkie Pie. Just don't ask, y'all gonna get used to her." AJ dusted her legs off and shook herself. "Anyways, ah'm mighty sorry, but ah hafta get going. Why don't y'all come along? Ah'm pretty sure mah friend can help ya."
The three humans looked at each other. "I guess this is the best shot we have. And we might actually find out what happened to the Commander." Bradford said.
Dr. Shen nodded. "I agree. Her "friend" might know something about the Commander's disappearance. And even if not, we might be able to go and come back with reinforcements."
Dr. Vahlen sighed. "As much as this goes against my philosophy, I guess we have no other choice."
"Alright! Ah need to get to the barn first. Just wait for me outside."
XIII
As it turned out, Applejack came out with a cart loaded with apple cider. She offered each of them a bottle, but only Dr. Shen accepted the offer. Bradford wasn't really thirsty and as for Vahlen, she was just overcautious.
"Mmm! This is really good. I think I'll never be able to drink apple cider from the supermarket again."
"That's the quality of the Apple Family for ya." AJ said, proudly holding up her head.
When the town came into view, the first thing that stood out where all the colors of the houses. It looked like straight out of a children book. The citizens also appeared in all kinds of colors. There were some pegasi, like from the greek mythology. Dr. Vahlen noted their wings were actually too small to carry the ponies. Then there were normal ponies like Applejack and...unicorns. One of them was more interested in the humans, than the others. It was mint green, had a white streak in her mane and a lyre on each side of her flank.
"OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE HUMANS!" The unicorn screeched.
"Humans?" a random pony asked.
"But they're just a myth." another pony said.
"Well they do resemble humans from those children books."
"Lyra has to know best."
The humans sweatdropped. Something was wrong, when a unicorn said that you're just a myth.
"Easy there sugercube." Applejack stepped Bradford and the now dubbed Lyra. "Give them some air, will ya? Those fellas just arrived here in these parts."
A small crowd of ponies gathered within seconds around the group, accompanied by murmurs like "alien invasion". None of the humans missed the irony in that part.
"Get out of the way!" A pony shouted. "Make place for the Princesses!" The same voice shouted. Excited whispering started and the ponies in front of the humans got out of the way, slowly.
"Don't ya worry. The Princesses are all real nice." Applejack assured the three humans.
"So is this...the capital?" Dr. Vahlen asked. She actually doubted it, but with Princesses around it was the logical conclusion. "Nah, mah friend is one of them and when they heard she was back, hoo wee." Applejack smiled at the memory. "She's also the friend ah spoke of."
She didn't get any further, because the pony princesses were now approaching. One of them actually had the size of a horse. Dr. Vahlen's tablet wasn't really made for any scans, but it had a few things installed on it. She got some high energy readings, especially from the white and the black one. The white princess had a calm smile on her face, while the black one looked at them in doubt, while the pink one was curious. As for the lavender colored one, who also was the smallest of the four, she was...shocked.
"Dr. Vahlen?! Dr. Shen?! Bradford?!" she exclaimed, causing everyone and -pony looking at her.
"You...know our names?" Bradford asked, his hand slowly getting towards his plasma pistol. The Princess facehoofed. "Don't tell me you actually followed me?"
"Followed you?!" Dr. Vahlen exclaimed.
Bradford's grip tightened on his pistol.
"Urrgh, I hoped I could avoid this." she said, before her horn started glowing in purple light. Soon her entire body followed until only a silhouette could be seen. The silhouette rapidly changed and soon took on the form of a human. The light vanished and a woman in X-COM uniform appeared in front of the audience.
"Commander?!" the three humans exclaimed.
