I'm back with a new chapter for HVP, I apologise in advance for any slips in grammar/English, part of this was written around midnight with me listening to nothing but EDM, Linkin Park and rap, measures that keep me alert enough to function at midnight.

This one is a bit slower than the prologue, but (I hope) it'll set the score for later chapters.

OH! Also another note: I'll be writing this from a shifting third-person, if that makes sense. It'll be third-person, but written in two different "perceptions", with the understandings and knowledge of each character underlying the section. That's why Twilight's sections seem more descriptive than Shade's, and why she seems more analytical than Shade, as she's processing all these new experiences, while Shade is more straight-to-the-point (it'll be more evident in this chapter, you'll see what I mean). Hope that clears it up.

Enjoy!

One day later,
Task Force One-Four-One Headquarters, undisclosed location in the central United States.

The girl looked peaceful as she slept on the bed in one of the few wards located in the base's medical facilities. Her head had been bandaged up to cover the small gashes she received when she hit the hard floor of the cellar. She had yet to come around, but from what Chemo had said earlier, and the base doctors had confirmed, she had transitioned from being completely unconscious to being in a deep sleep. He had pointed out that her body was showing signs of extreme fatigue, like she had gone days without sleep, and now she was catching up on it. Thankfully, she had not been seriously abused by the rebels; they had only kept her restrained in order to keep her in the cellar.

Captain Mactavish had made the call into command, berating them for not telling them about the hostage. They had replied that the rebels never took or kept hostages; they either executed who they captured, or sent them back to where they came from in short order. Her presence there was against their standard methods of operation. During their brief stay in Rammstein Air Force Base, Ghost had taken the fingerprints of the girl and ran them against every known database that the Task Force had access to, which was practically every database out there. No results were returned, raising more questions about the girl.

Chemo, during his physical evaluation of the girl, had found a strange tattoo on her lower back. It consisted of a pink star, surrounded by smaller white stars. Ghost had a picture of that tattoo sent to command, in an effort to try and narrow down what it might mean. One of the guys had said that it looked cartoonish, like something a children's show would have. Whatever it was, it didn't resemble anything like the tattoos that various insurgents, criminals and terrorists wore. It just further added questions as to who she was and how she ended up in Ukraine.

Shade looked at the girl again, trying to figure out and answer the multiple questions in his mind, before leaving the room, leaving the girl by herself. Hopefully she would wake up soon and answer some of their questions.

The first thing Twilight noticed was that she was laying down on a soft surface, with a blanket covering her from the neck down. Slowly looking around, she saw that she was in a small, off-white coloured room, with various pieces of medical equipment taking up places on the walls. Maybe I just hit my head at the library and had a bad dream. She looked down at herself, and noticed her human form. Okay, maybe I just had a dream in a dream. That's possible, right? She felt around her body, her fingers brushing against the bandage wrapped around her head. The memories from before flooded back to her mind: the tool being thrust in her face; being held as a shield; the explosion; the strange looking human placing its limb on her, a concerned look on its face.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a human entered the room. It was dressed in what could be interpreted as a uniform, a strange pattern across the human's top and bottoms, a large red cross on the human's arm. This must be a doctor or nurse. As it walked to the end of her bed and picked up a chart, Twilight studied its features. She noticed straight away that her shape was similar to her own, meaning that this must be another female of the species. Her thoughts were confirmed when the doctor/nurse spoke.

"Well, did you have a nice rest?" The human spoke with a motherly tone in her voice, an attempt to make Twilight feel more comfortable around her. "Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Medical Specialist Second Class Myers. I've been assigned to keep an eye on you and watch your recovery."

Twilight had to give her some dues, she certainly felt more comfortable with her around. She thought for a second, and decided to see if she could answer some questions that had arrived in her mind.

"Thank you Medical Specialist Seco-" Twilight was cut off as Myers held her hand up to stop her.

"Please, just call me Nurse Myers, or Nurse. You don't need to call me my rank or anything, otherwise we'll be here all day." She chuckled, a smile forming on her face.

"Okay then, Nurse Myers. I have a few questions for you, you think you would be able to answer them for me?" Twilight asked, an expectant look forming on her face.

"I'll answer the best I can, darling." The term instantly reminded her of her friend Rarity, and on closer inspection, the nurse's attitude somewhat matched that of Rarity's. Pushing the thoughts aside, she asked her first question.

"Well, what happened to me?"

"I don't know all the details, but I do know that you've been asleep for the past day and a half. From what I heard, the boys found you in a house they were raiding. One of them scared you so badly that when you tried to run away, you tripped, fell down and smacked your head into the ground. That's where you got that nasty cut on your head. Chemo had told me that you were showing signs of heavy fatigue, so he asked us to let you sleep off as much as you could. Other than that, you're physically fine." Myers looked down at the clipboard to double check her statement.

That explains the bandage on my head and why I feel like I've been asleep for days.

"Ok. Next one, where am I?"

"Well, there are a few parts of that I can't answer, because it's secret. What I can tell you is that you're in the hospital of a military base in the United States of America. I can't go into specifics with you, for security reasons." Twilight opened her mouth to contest, but the nurse continued. "I know that it doesn't exactly calm you down, but it's for the safety of everyone here." Twilight could understand that fact, but regardless of that she was determined to find out. Now just was not the time.

"Well, that makes sense, I guess." A word that the nurse had said earlier popped back into Twilight's mind, and she wanted to know what it meant. "Earlier you said that 'Chemo' said that I looked fatigued. Who or what is a 'Chemo'?" The nurse paused for a second, before she started giggling a bit.

"Oh, forgive me. I forgot for a second that you were a civilian and assumed you knew who that was. Chemo is the medic on the team that brought you back. I don't remember how he got that name though..." The last part struck out with Twilight.

"Wait, so his parents didn't name him?" She said, worry in her voice.

"Yes and no. Yes, his parents named him, but no, not Chemo. The team gave him that name after he joined, it's a nickname. Speaking of him, I need to go inform him that you're awake. If you have any issues, don't be afraid to call out." The nurse smiled at her again, then began to walk out. But she stopped suddenly, turning back around to Twilight. "Forgive me, but I never asked what your name is. What is it?"

Twilight panicked a bit, she was unsure if these humans had similar naming conventions to her home. Opting to place it safe, she answered.

"Twilight, my name is Twilight." The nurse smiled again.

"Such a pretty name, your parents picked well." She exited, leaving Twilight to herself once more, a multitude of thoughts and feelings rushing around her mind.

Shade was with Rook and Chemo at one of the base's instruction rooms, where operators came to learn the theory behind the tactics and tricks they were all taught and practised upon joining the Task Force. The three of them were discussing the effects of different breaching charges against the human body, Chemo explaining the percussive effects in detail to the two Australians.

"... so you see, the strip charge really only creates a loud bang, equivalent to a flashbang, just not as piercing. Instead of the high-pitched whine or whistling sound, you get a deeper boom with a lower resonance. And it's only the bang that disorientates at the greater range, there's no bright flash unless you happen to be focused on the door at the time, the odds of which can be unpredictable."

"But Chemo, say you did have an entire room of bad guys waiting for you at the door, the detonation would be enough to buy us a few seconds to either enter and start shooting, right?" Shade had asked, looking over some of the notes he had taken down.

"Again, that depends on the charge you use. If it's one of the frame or kicker charges, then yes, it will daze them enough to get a few extra seconds. But anything smaller will only be enough to open the door straight to a chest full of lead." Chemo stated, finishing with a sigh. "That's why it's common practise to combine an explosive breach with a flashbang or frag', because then you get that extra kick to knock them around, or thin the crowd out."

Rook looked up from the list of projected injuries that Chemo had brought with him, a thought popping in his head. He interrupted the medic with a cough and started drawing down a diagram of his explanation. "What you two realise is that you are breaching through doorways, a natural chokepoint and predicable entry for any assaulter. If you want to disorient them, you run a dynamic breach and blast through a perpendicular wall to where you would normally enter, situation permitting. Most of the times if the bad guys know you're coming, they are watching the door. Coming through the wall in a shower of timber or brick ahead of you is enough to both disorient them and possible incapacitate them." Rook turned his diagram to face the two men, their faces studying it intensely. Chemo spoke up first.

"Well, taking into account the debris that could be generated from the breach, you would most certainly injure, if not kill, whoever is immediately behind that wall. The rest could suffer from smaller injuries caused by the impact of the shrapnel on them."

"Rook, you forget to account for one thing," Shade started, a slightly negative tone in his voice. "Firstly, we risk compromising structural integrity when we breach a wall. Not to mention pipes and electrical wires that might be hidden in there. I don't particularly want to get sprayed or shocked before I go shoot a group of bad guys. Secondly, we'd only be able to do a breach like that if the building in question was both owned and operated by the enemy, or if the building had no real purpose. We can't go breaching through walls in buildings that are going to be reused, such as city skyscrapers and such. Sure bullet holes and doors can be patched and replaced, but it's a pain to rebuild walls. Thirdly, the amount of explosive needed to breach through a wall isn't exactly safe to detonate when you're standing about a meter and a half away. I don't want to die to my own explosives, and I'm sure the rest of us will agree with that."

Rook was about to retort when a woman dressed in Multicam-patterned medical scrubs entered the room. Chemo recognised her instantly as one of the nurses from medical, MS2 Cassidy Myers, and stood up to greet her.

"What's up Cass?" Shade said, smirking, before Chemo could open his mouth. It was no secret that Chemo had a thing for the nurse, maybe because she was the few people that Chemo could truly 'geek out' with, or the fact that the two of them were so closely matched as far as personality was concerned. If you never met the two of them before, and saw them talking, you could be forgiven for thinking that they were a couple.

"Nothing much Shady, just here to tell you that our guest has woken and appears to be fairly well." She replied with a smile, chuckling at Shade's reaction to her nickname for him, a nickname that he detested. "I figured since you were the crew that brought her in, you would want to know first. I'm going to go find John and let him know as well; if you intend on talking to her before the Captain starts planning to remove her, now's the chance to do so." She turned and walked out, heading towards the administration complex of the base. Chemo and Shade both looked at Rook, who did not appeared interested in talking to the new guest, and made their way to medical.

Twilight sat up in her bed, reading one of the few books she had managed to convince another nurse to retrieve for her. Right now she was reading a book detailing the many facets of human interaction and communication. She had glossed over a book regarding human fashion, as well as a book about recent history, the last thirty years of important events in the human world. Her progress in her current book was interrupted as two figures entered her room.

The two men, as the book had described them, were fairly different in appearance and stature. The first one wore a tan tee shirt, with the letters 'USAF' imprinted on the front, and grey camouflaged trousers. His shirt was tucked into his pants, a tan belt holding them up. The fashion book had briefly covered military clothing, and from what Twilight could tell, the clothing clearly spoke as items of a military uniform. The man's black coloured hair was cut very short, almost bald, in what Twilight recalled as a 'crew cut'. His well built frame was defined under his shirt and through his sleeves, his arms remind him of her friend Applejack's big brother, Big Macintosh, though he was shorter than the second man. His face was fairly rounded, but was not hard to look at or focus on. He must be a typical soldier or something, at a glance he reminds me of the palace guard.

The second man was different. He was not as stocky as the first man; he was taller and thinner, much taller in fact. His dark brown hair was longer, allowing a sense of personality to show. His face was longer and narrower, more defined than the first man. He wore a two-coloured long sleeve shirt, a forest-green filling his sleeves and the tops of his shoulders, while a darker green covered his torso. One of his sleeves bore what looked like a flag, below it the letter 'O' with a negative sign beside it. His pants featured more pockets than the first man, with a pair of kneepads sewn into the pants, the pattern on the pants made up of a number of brown, green and black blotches on a light green base.

He noticed Twilight looking him over, and smiled at her. Not a cheesy grin, just a small acknowledging smile, enough to say 'I saw you'. Twilight blushed as she realised this, and looked down at her sheets to cover it.

"So, from what I can see and tell, as well as gather from your chart," begun the first man, "is that you were suffering from major case fatigue due to intense physical exertion, as well as a few minor cuts due to a fall you had when we found you." He looked up from the clipboard he had read from. "What we don't know, and would like to find out, is how you ended up there, and where you're from." The man finished bluntly. His voice sounded a bit harsh, but had a slight drawl to it, similar to her friend Applejack, just not as severe.

"What my friend here means is that we would like to talk to you about what happened. Try to get an understanding about who you are and what happened, and try to get you back home." The second man's voice was distinctly different, a bit flatter yet softer than the first man. He spoke with a soft smile on his face. "That is, if you can actually remember anything that happened." Twilight pondered over what he had said, trying to think of the correct response. If I tell them I used to be a pony and was teleported here during an accident, they might think I'm crazy. Maybe I should feign partial amnesia; it'll give me more time to work out what to say.

"Well, all I remember was being in my home and then waking up in that house before you found me. I can't recall anything else." Twilight spoke softly, injecting a not-exactly-fake sense of sadness into her speech.

"Well, maybe you can tell us something easier to remember, like your name?" The second man asked.

"I, uh..." mumbled Twilight. She recalled her discussion with the nurse from earlier. "My name is Twilight. I know it sounds strange, but my parents were the eccentric poetic type." She smiled weakly at them, and they nodded in understanding. The first one spoke up.

"Well, if you remember anything at all, don't hesitate to call someone. If you need me, ask for Chemo." He turned and walked out of the room, leaving his companion alone with Twilight in the room. She watched as he dropped his head and sighed. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he started speaking.

"I apologise for his attitude. He can be a bit blunt at times, especially to newcomers and civilians. I guess it comes from his time in the PJs." He put his hands in his pockets as he looked back to Twilight. "Don't think that it's personal or anything. He sometimes distances himself from people he treats or saves, a self-preservation of sorts." Twilight could understand what he was talking about. At times, her brother Shining Armor would become distant from his closest friends if something bad had happened, or if they were scheduled to deploy to troubled lands. She knew he was trying to protect himself from the reality of military service.

"I can understand that, my brother used to do the same thing." She said without thinking, instantly wishing she could retract her words. The statement caught the man's attention.

"Really? What does your brother do?" He asked, genuine interest showing. Twilight searched for a way to generalise what her brother did as a job, avoiding ways that might generate follow-up questions.

"He helps protect the leaders of my country. He leads a group of guards, and is dedicated to his service. I haven't spoken to him for a while though." She put on a face that gave the impression that she did not wish to talk about it much more. The man seemed to get the hint, and changed topic.

"Oh, I forgot my manners completely. I'm Tom." He said, holding his hand towards Twilight. "Though, around this place, I go by the name of Shade." Twilight took his hand in hers, and he shook them. This must be some kind of greeting or gesture of respect. I wonder why he's called Shade?

"That's okay Tom, or Shade, it's nice to meet you. But, why do you call yourself Shade?"

"It's a name I earned during my time with the 2nd Commando Regiment, back at home in Australia. It's a long story, I'll have to tell you some time when you're free."

Shade looked at the girl a bit closer this time, and noticed that her expression looked a bit forced. She must be thinking about something else, maybe she's hiding something.

"Twilight, I'm going to level with you here. I've been a soldier for some time now, and I can tell when someone is hiding something. I get the impression that you're hiding something right now. Care to tell me?" Shade watched as the girl, Twilight, froze with a look of shock on her face. Her eyes darted from side to side, a typical tell of someone who has been busted and is trying to think of a lie, or an escape.

"Why, I'm not hiding anything–" Twilight started to show signs of panic "– why would think I'm hiding something? Do you not trust me? Why would you not trust me? Is it because I'm a girl? Do you not trust girls? Did a girl break up with you, is that why you don't trust gir–" Shade had to resort to covering the girl's mouth to get her to stop.

"Twilight, stop. The way you're acting does not help your case here, now I know for sure you're hiding something." He removed his hand and stepped back from Twilight. "Just tell me what it is, it'll be better for you if you tell me willingly, trust me."

"I... you'll think it's stupid and think that I'm crazy." Twilight muttered, loud enough for Shade to hear.

"You obviously haven't met Meat, Roach and Rook yet." He looked at the blank expression on Twilight's face. "More of my friends. Trust me, they're pretty crazy themselves. At this point, nothing you could say could surprise me." Twilight sighed, looked down and then looked back up at him.

"I'm not actually a human."

And that's the first "official" chapter to HVP, since the first was more of a prologue. I hope you guys enjoyed this, as always, review and fav/follow if you want. I'm not greedy.

TSO out!