The Third

“Hunter, can you pass me the book next to you?” Maverick said, looking up from the book in front of him. Hunter picked up the book and threw it at Maverick, the book landing in his hoof. Maverick and Hunter were reading the books about humans in the library, trying to find out everything they could that the ponies knew about them.

“Surprisingly, most of the things that I’ve read have been correct, aside from a few smaller details.” Hunter said, giving the book in front of him an intriguing look.

“Yeah, it’s amazing how much these legends and myths are... true.” Maverick said as he opened the book Hunter had thrown to him.

“How are you two holding up?” Twilight asked as she walked down the stairs from her room. Her mane was in a mess, along with a strange looking doll balancing on her back.

“I think we should be the one asking you that question, you don’t look exactly... stable.” Maverick said, pointing at her mane and her shrunken pupils.

“I know... I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” Twilight said as she fixed her mane and threw the doll back upstairs. Twilight walked down to the soldiers sitting on the floor and looked at the book in front of Hunter.

“Anything useful?” Twilight asked as she walked over to Maverick.

“Not yet, most of it is just stories of rumored incidents and a few... surprisingly true statements about humans.” Maverick said, still looking into the book. Twilight walked over to the door after a light knock on it, along with a faint chattering coming from outside. Twilight opened the door to find Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie standing in front of the door.

“Hi! What’s up?” Twilight asked the five ponies.

“Are Maverick and Hunter here? I heard that they just came back from Canterlot not too long ago.” Applejack said, looking over Twilight.

“Yeah, they’re just inside reading some of the legends on humans. Come inside.” The five ponies followed Twilight into the house, the door shutting behind them.

“Hey girls. What are you doing over here?” Maverick asked, looking up from the book.

“Oh nothing. We just thought we could stop by and see how you two are doing.” Rainbow Dash said. Something in her voice seemed off and Maverick sighed.

“You want to know what went on with the princesses, don’t you?” Maverick asked, giving the five ponies a blank stare.

“Could you!? - That’d be awesome! - Yes, please!” The ponies erupted into excitement. Maverick looked at Hunter, who only stared at him and shrugged. Maverick sighed again and turned back to the five ponies, most of them still jumping up and down in excitement. Maverick and Hunter laughed to themselves slightly at the sight of the excited ponies.

“Alright, just have a seat somewhere and-” Maverick was cut off by the screams of a mare down the street. Maverick and Hunter exchanged glances and ran out into the night, the six ponies following them. Maverick was met by Rose, who bumped into him and latched onto him in spite of fear. Maverick looked up from the terrified mare shivering from fear and down the street; both him, Hunter, and the six ponies realizing what had happened. There was a unicorn standing at the end of the block, staring at Hunter and Maverick with glowing yellow eyes. It’s coat had been torn off in different areas, revealing a metal skeleton under the skin.

“Targets sighted, Maverick Blackburn and Hunter McNamara. Engaging targets.” The unicorn said, its voice having a robotic sound to it. Hunter glanced at Maverick, not sure of what was going on.

“What is that thing?” Twilight asked as the unicorn started to walk towards Hunter and Maverick. The unicorn had trouble walking, stumbling a little like Maverick and Hunter did when they first appeared in Equestria.

“The third...” Maverick said quietly to himself.

“Twilight, take Rose and get her somewhere safe. Hunter, come here.” Maverick said, prying Rose’s front legs off of him. Twilight used her magic to bring Rose over to her, Rose still cowering in fear. The other five ponies followed as Twilight carried Rose away, not sure what to do.

“Maverick, who is that?” Hunter asked as the unicorn walked closer.

“I don’t know, but it sure as hell isn’t friendly.” Maverick said. The unicorn used its magic to bring a sword out of its sheath that was slung around the unicorn’s body, the sword and the unicorn’s horn glowing with a yellow aura. Maverick kicked against Hunter and they both flew to the side, the sword landing in the dirt where Hunter was standing.

“Hunter, it has a telekinesis unit installed, whatever you do, do not let it get ahold of you!” Maverick yelled as Hunter got up. Maverick charged at the unicorn and dashed to the side as the unicorn swung the sword at him. Maverick twisted into the air and extended his back legs, the collision between his hooves and the unicorn’s skull making a loud ‘clunk’ sound. The unicorn stumbled back and tripped over Hunter, who was laying on the ground. Maverick jumped over Hunter and landed next to the unicorn, placing his front hoof on its neck. The unicorn’s horn glowed and Maverick’s back hooves were pulled behind him, both of them with a yellow aura around them. Maverick was flung into the tree behind him, almost snapping it in half. Hunter jumped into the air and the unicorn rolled sideways, Hunter’s front hoof making a large hole in the dirt where the unicorn was.

The unicorn stood up and grabbed onto the sword with telekinesis, bringing it back to him. Maverick tackled the unicorn, only have a hoof come back into his face. Maverick landed back on the ground, rolling and getting up as fast as he could. The unicorn threw the sword at Hunter, who lifted his hoof up and brought it down, the sword implanting itself into the dirt in front of him. Hunter grabbed the sword with his mouth and swung his head, the sword flying back at the sender. The unicorn stopped the sword in front of it with magic, only to have the sword brought forward into its eye by Maverick’s hoof. The metal eye shattered and the unicorn stumbled backwards, pulling the tip of the sword out with magic and pointing it back at Maverick and Hunter.

The unicorn’s head jerked forward slightly as a rock made contact with the back of his head. The unicorn diverted his attention away from Maverick and Hunter and looked behind him. The six ponies, Rose, and a number of other ponies of Ponyville were standing in a group away from the three soldiers, staring angrily at the unicorn. He looked back at Hunter and Maverick, both of them waiting for the unicorn to make a move. The unicorn shook its head and dashed to the side, heading for the Everfree forest. Hunter and Maverick watched as the unicorn rushed into the trees, disappearing from the moonlight. Hunter and Maverick let out a sigh and they walked over to the group of ponies.

“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah... we’re fine. Everything is fine, there’s nothing to worry about, everybody just go back to your houses.” Maverick said, looking up at the group. They all exchanged glances and hesitantly walked back to their shops and houses for the night. As the group dispersed, the six ponies that had been at Twilight Sparkle’s caught up to the two soldiers as they walked to look at the forest.

“Maverick, do you know what that thing was? It looked mechanical!” Twilight asked as she stopped next to Hunter and Maverick.

“That was a stealth unit, a soldier combined with mechanical parts to the point where they are barely recognizable as humans under their deceiving shell. I actually recognize that one... he had a wife and children. Unfortunately, the military doesn’t care who they experiment on, as long as the experiments are successful...” Maverick said, staring off into the distance.

“Do you think that was what Celestia was talking about? The third?” Twilight asked, turning her head to Maverick.

“Wait, what are you talking about, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, a slight touch of fear coming over her that Celestia had to intervene with something. Maverick sighed and turned to the six ponies and Hunter.

“Let’s get back to the library, I’ll explain everything there.” Maverick said.

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Zulu came to a stop at a small clearing in the Everfree forest, the sword slightly falling out of its sheath around the stealth unit's body. Zulu walked to the middle of the clearing and he spoke out loud.

“Activating inter-dimensional unit number three, transport machine ‘Umbra’ one. Interference shield, deploy.” A bright white orb formed around Zulu, flowing around as if it were fire.

“Engage inter-dimension transport.” The orb around Zulu turned red, followed by a flash of light. Zulu was gone from the forest, heading for Umbra.

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“We’re getting feedback from the inter-dimensional unit in chamber five!” One of the soldiers shouted.

“It’s Zulu, don’t be alarmed.” The general said calmly. There was a loud pop in the chamber next door and the sound of footsteps afterwards. The general walked to the door and opened it, Zulu standing in the middle of the room.

“How is he, sir?” The soldiers asked over the speakers.

“He seems to be alright aside from a shattered eye and a few scratches and cuts. Get out here and extract the footage from his eyes, lets have a look at where Zulu ended up.” The general said. A group of soldiers came through the door and walked behind Zulu, opening a hatch on the back of his head and plugging in a flash drive. The red light on the end of the flash drive turned green after a moment and the soldiers took the flash drive back into the room they came out of.

“Did you complete your mission, Zulu?” The general asked the stealth unit in front of him.

“Indigenous population became an obstacle, Zulu followed your orders to not engage and Zulu had to retreat. Alpha unit Maverick Blackburn and Beta unit Hunter McNamara are still alive.” Zulu said. The general sighed and inspected Zulu’s shattered eye.

“Umm... sir? You’re going to want to have a look at this.” One of the soldiers said over the speakers. The general walked through the door and over to the terminal the soldiers were standing around, staring at the screen in amazement.

“What is it?” The general asked as he leaned forward to look at the monitor.

“Here, I re-winded it to before Zulu left the base.” The soldier clicked on the play button. From Zulu’s perspective, he was standing in the room as the machine activated, but the footage grew a little fuzzy as the machine grew in power, and eventually lost contact as he was transported through dimensions.

“Is that it? That’s what you wanted to show me?” The general asked.

“Just wait, sir. There’s a whole lot more.” The soldier skipped ahead and Zulu was laying down in the Everfree forest, staring into the woods. The general leaned in closer, a feeling of confusion and excitement coming over him. Zulu stood up and looked around at the forest around him, scanning the area. While the general had been astonished before because the machine worked, he was even more so at the sight when Zulu glanced downwards. His hands were hooves and Zulu inspected himself even further. If he had the ability to talk outside of responses and mechanical activations, he would’ve been shouting in confusion and horror at what had happened to him.

“He’s... a pony?” The general asked, staring at the screen with wide eyes. The footage continued to Zulu running through the forest from strange beasts, the sound of sticks brushing against each other and cracking behind him. He came out into a clearing after running through the woods for a while, a town across the field. Zulu glanced back at the forest, the strange looking wolves staring at him and slowly backing into the forest. The soldier at the terminal fast forwarded again, this time stopping at the battle with Hunter and Maverick. The sword was blocking one of the eyes, but was soon shattered as Maverick forced it into Zulu. The footage on the right side of the screen went blank. Zulu stumbled back and pulled the sword out of his eye, putting it in its sheath as he looked back at the group of ponies. Zulu looked back at Maverick and Hunter and the general paused the footage, the two soldiers staring at the camera.

“Do you think that is them?” One of the soldiers asked, looking back at the general.

“Zulu’s orders were to engage Maverick and Hunter and them only. There’s no doubt in my mind that they are still alive. Though I am quite shocked they are... ponies. Search the footage further and try to find out anything else about this world. Report to me if you find anything.” The soldiers nodded their heads and turned back to the monitor, rewinding back to Zulu’s entrance into Equestria. The general walked back out to Zulu, who was trying to fix his eye as he fiddled around with it.

“Leave that be, Zulu, we’ll get it fixed. Did you happen to find anything... peculiar, other than the indigenous population?” The general asked.

“Zulu was able to find copious amounts of gem stones, foreign foods, and land while Zulu was exploring the area. Zulu is also... unsure about the indigenous population, they were ponies that were able to talk and use some sort of magic. Zulu was also transformed into a unicorn upon arrival, a horn sticking out of his head. Zulu was able to access a portion of their world’s magic, but only what seemed to be some sort of telekinesis spell. What are Zulu’s next orders?” The general was unsure about what Zulu was telling him, but it was also hard to deny because of the footage from Zulu’s vision. The general looked back up at the stealth unit in front of him.

“Once your eye is fixed, you are to go back to the world and keep an eye on Maverick and Hunter. Do not engage them or the indigenous population, we don’t want any unneeded attention.” Zulu nodded and replied with a ‘Yes, sir’, lifting his mechanical arm and saluting the general. Next Chapter: Uncertain Truth Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 13 Minutes