Operation Harvest

by Balkanboy

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Human, Dark
Length: 46175

Two rather large empires set their sites on the planet known as CL-78/15000

Equestria has come to the attention of two large empires at war with each other, both seeking to colonise the planet and utilise its resources for their own ends. Two different ships from the two factions have been dispatched to start the process of colonisation. The unsuspecting inhabitants of the planet don't realise it, but Equestria is about to change, and not necessarily for the better…

Rated Teen as later chapters will include some swearing and some light gore.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-13 20:17:12 UTC

Arrival

"Humanity is an unpredictable species.  They are devious and cunning, not to mention their brute force and insane determination; indeed, when provoked they attack with little to no regard for all and any life other than their own species, though they seem to be especially adept at killing each other.  In battle they do things only the mad and desperate would do, charging blindly into fire, dropping in using what are essentially large metal boxes and sacrificing many of themselves to save one man.  That is one admirable quality about them.  They seem to show loyalty and care for other members of their species somewhat, to an almost fanatical degree (see pg.1254 Syerig Massacre).  The worst position to catch a human in is when they are backed into a corner.  They completely ignore the fact that the only way they will survive is if they surrender and resolve to “Take as many of us with them”.  They take the smallest of chances (see pg. 321 Boarding Tactics) and act as though they have already won, never giving up and never faltering.  All in all, they are a very irrational, destructive species yet some how they continue to exist."     - An extract from the Antalyian species book, The Enemy from the Stars.

Arrival

Twilight looked down at Spike, the purple dragon curled up in his basket (cot? bed?).  He’d slept in again.  ‘Spike, time to get up,’ she said lightly, shaking him a bit to rouse the baby dragon from his sleep.  ‘Huh, what?’ he said before realising it was morning.  ‘Oh right, yeah, just a sec.’ He jumped up and stretched himself.  ‘I was having the best dream before you woke me you know…’

Twilight rolled her eyes.  ‘I’m sorry if I interrupted you,’ she stated slightly sarcastically, ‘but we’ve got work to do.  Don’t forget we have to write letters, daily, to the princess about friendship.’

‘You mean you’ve got to write a letter, well, come up with one at least,’ he said remembering that he was the one who would physically write it.  Twilight looked at him, ‘Come on Spike, I still need you.  Who else is going to help me carry these books to Rarity’s?’  She said gesturing to a pile of books in the corner of the room.   At the mention of Rarity’s name, Spike stacked all the books (there were a few dozen of them) in his arms and rushed down the stairs, followed by a loud crash and Spike calling out, ‘I’m okay!’  Twilight giggled to herself before following him down the stairs.  Spike had the books already piled in the back of a red cart and stood impatiently by the door.  ‘Come on Twilight, Rarity’s probably waiting for us!’

‘But Spike, neither of us have had breakfast ye-’ she was cut off as Spike pushed her out the door.  ‘No time Twilight!’  Spike slammed the door behind him and with that they left for the Carousel Boutique.

As they neared Rarity’s house, Twilight looked up to see a distant object flying by, leaving a white trail behind it.  It was too far to exact details, and the fact that it left behind a white trail of what looked like clouds was odd, but she remembered that the Wonderbolts left clouds behind (albeit darker versions) so she dismissed it as somepony just going about their daily business.  They knocked on the door which opened almost immediately by a sleep deprived rarity who ushered them in.  ‘Come in, come in!  Would you like anything, tea, biscuits?’ she said, quite quickly with an air of exhaustion about it.

‘Actually some diamo-,’ Spike was interrupted by Twilight as she kneed him and gave him the ‘don’t-you-realise-she’s-tired-you-shouldn’t-make-requests’ look, then he replied with the ‘but-I’m-hungry-and-I-haven’t-eaten-breakfast’ look followed by Twilight finally ending the ‘look-versation’ with a ‘That’s-your-fault-now-you’ll-just-have-to-wait’ look.

‘No I think we’ll be fine.  We just ate,’ said Twilight.  Rarity had almost drifted off, but she composed herself and moved on to the task at hand.  She went over to the cart and picked up a few of the books, a relieved smile forming on her face, the kind soldiers and Duke of Edinburgh participants usually get at the end of an expedition.  ‘I can’t thank you enough Twilight, I’ve been looking for these books everywhere!  I needed designs from Mare-golia after a customer requested it.'

‘No problem Rarity, you would do the same for me after all.’  Now that Twilight looked about she realised just how messy the room was.  All kinds of fabric were spread out across areas in the room, mannequins turned over, failed designs torn up and thrown in the general direction of the bin leaving litter everywhere.  If the bags under her eyes weren’t testament to her working through the night, this was more than enough proof.  They should probably leave so Rarity could get on with her work, she thought.  ‘Uh, well it was nice visiting Rarity, but, um, we have work to do, you know what with the princess and friendship.’ She pushed Spike out door while at the same time facing Rarity who was too tired to actually realise what was going on.  ‘I’ll see you later rarity!’

‘Huh, wha-? Oh yes, Twilight, of course.  Bye now,’ she replied,  almost nodding off yet again.

‘23% oxygen, 76% nitrogen and 1% non-specified,’ Second lieutenant Banna read aloud.  He looked up from the data pad he was holding to the room full of soldiers, all sitting in rows.  It wasn’t a very remarkable room, with grey walls, grey ceiling and even grey carpet. ‘It’s full of vegetation, assorted fauna and animals, a planet ripe for colonisation.’  He switched on the projector using a remote he had stashed in his jumpsuit’s pocket.  The screen showed a lush green and blue planet (which was what most colonised worlds looked like) in real time.  The side that was being shown was bathed in the light of the sun, so no indication of intelligent life as of yet.  ‘This, men, is for want of a better word, CL-78/15000.’  The men groaned.  Banna smiled.  ‘Well, until the new governor can come up with another name that’s what we have to call it.’  Normally, the lieutenant would have been giving the speech, but the officer had ‘lost his head’ in one of the previous missions, leaving Banna to do all the work.  He changed slides to another real time video, but this one was of another ship.  It was relatively big, although its apparent lack of weaponry meant that it wasn’t meant for ship-to-ship combat.  It had just enough to deal with most types of pirates and fighters.  Along its side a hollow circle with a thick line penetrating at a 180 degree angle from left to right was visible.  The soldiers’ faces became solemn, and Banna was no exception.  ‘The Anteeists are here as well, as some of you probably guessed, and if we can successfully fight them off the planet, CL-78… ‘He switched back to the view of the planet and stared at it momentarily, ‘…will hopefully become our new home.’  The soldiers were all murmuring in approval, and the new recruits were actually happy that they would be getting to fight but he had no doubts that they would realise the truth very soon…

Most ships would have six to twelve observatory decks, depending on the use.  The GNS. Sanctum had 7, and Banna was currently standing on the seventh deck located on the lower bow overlooking the planet.  Laptops and computers were scattered about being worked by a multitude of technicians, however the edges of the deck were clear to allow observers an unobstructed view.  Night had now fallen, and in a few places, although they were faint artificial lights were clearly visible to the naked eye.

So there are sentient beings on the planet, Banna thought.  He turned to one of the technicians.  ‘Those are settlements, right?’ he said pointing at the planet below.

‘Yeah, they’re settlements alright. We have close-ups if you want to see them.’  Sure, what the hell.

‘Bring ‘em up.’ The technician typed a few commands in and a picture appeared showing a small town from a birds-eye view.  Figures were present in areas of the picture, no doubt the dominant species of the planet.  The resolution of the pictures wasn’t that good (such is the life of a civilisation in a desperate war).  Humans, hopefully, he thought.  Being humans themselves, human behaviour would be easy to predict, and persuading them to join them would be comparatively easy than with aliens.  There weren’t that many sentient alien species in the known galaxy, and a lot of them were quite different to humans, both physically and psychologically.  If they weren’t human he had no clue how they would react.  The one reassuring thought he had was that if they had any problems they could put the locals down so easily it was almost unfair, but with some diplomacy (and some shock and awe) it probably wouldn’t come to that.

‘GMT ANNOUNCEMENT – THE TIME IS 22:00.’  Was it really that late? Space was always confusing.  Time would feel really slow when in all actuality it was going quickly and vice versa.  He’d best get some rest then, after all it was going to be a pretty big day tomorrow.  He’d hate to see the unlucky officer who had to supervise the recon team, because they’d be spending the night on the planet by themselves.  Jeray turned away from the panel, something which the technician didn’t notice, leaving him to prattle on about the planets geography.

Drop

DROP

‘ATTENTION ALL RECON TEAM MEMBERS PREPARE TO DROP.  ETA 3 MINUTES.’  The PSA speaker boomed over everything, even blocking out the sound of the fighter-bombers prepping for flight.  Banna had dropped only once, and when he had it had been straight into the middle of an Anteeist tank column thanks to Military Intelligence’s oh so brilliant minds.  He had gotten out largely unscathed, in no small part thanks to the late lieutenant, but ever since that day he had always gotten nervous about dropping, and would even go so far as to make sure he entered the hanger using the far entrance, just in case a squad was in need of a replacement officer.  This time he wasn’t dodging out of it.  As the only light infantry platoon there that was trained for landing via high-speed atmospheric entry was his platoon, he was going to have to drop in with them.  ‘T MINUS 3 MINUTES.’  I’d better get a move on, he thought.  Despite his predicament, he had still entered from the furthest entrance, partly through force of habit, and partly because he was hoping that, just maybe, someone else was going to replace him.  A light walk would probably calm his nerves down, yeah, that would do the trick.  He remembered that someone famous had said thinking about your fears were the only way to get over them- or was it facing them?  No, it must have been thinking about them.  Who in their right mind would actually face their fears? ‘T MINUS 2 MINUTES.’  One not-so-short sprint later an exhausted Banna reached the drop pod section.  It was to the extreme left of the hanger (or right if you were entering it from outside), and didn’t look that different to the rest of the hanger, bar the number of pods seemingly sitting about for no apparent reason.  In reality if someone observed closely, they would realise that they were prepped just above closed doors, ready to open when the command was given.  His was Pod 2-4, so he was looking for a pod two rows along and four pods down.  As it turned out, his pod was rather easy to find as it was the only unoccupied one there.  The announcer started the count down from ten to one just as he got himself into it.  His weapons had been placed in it already:  One standard issue rifle, one standard issue survival kit, one standard issue AT grenade (just in case) and one definitely-not standard rucksack with what seemed to be gems and various other valuables in them.  For diplomacy he presumed.  The Entire pod shook as the doors below opened and was slowly lowered down into the firing chamber, ready to drop onto the world below.  There was only a small window in front of him since glass wasn’t made for slamming into the ground at super high speeds, so his view was very, very limited.  It was also because if the soldiers could see the hell they were dropping into they would probably defecate themselves in fear.  Thank god he was jumping into a forest in the middle of the night then.  The sounds of the other drop pods being fired off weren’t exactly heard so much as they were felt by him in the sides of the drop pod. 2-4, that meant that he was going to be ninth to dro-  His train of thought was interrupted as he was suddenly met with an overwhelming amount of G-Force.

Twilight admired the stars from her balcony, a book resting by her side on the railings.  Apparently there was going to be a meteor shower in a few days, but the predictions were known to sometimes be off, so she had decided to stay up for the four nights prior just to make sure.

‘Twilight?’  Spike appeared at the balcony door.  ‘Don’t tell me your still doing that.’  Twilight turned her head.  ‘Go to sleep Spike, it’s way past your bed time,’ she said, not feeling up for an argument.

‘Huh, I should be saying the same thing...’  Spike left and disappeared under the covers of his basket and Twilight resumed watching the stars.  Just as she was about to nod off, she noticed a streak across the sky, almost instantly waking her.  1, 2, 3, after a little under half a minute she had counted around 20.  There had been so few of them compared to what she had been expecting, and had been so orderly compared to what usually happened coming one after the other, that they definitely could not have been the major meteor shower that had been predicted.  They were probably a precursor, bits that were at the front of the group, or something similar.  She yawned.  Spike was right, it was time to go to bed.  She turned and went inside, closing the doors behind her.

-

Brown.  What a crappy colour, and not just for the obvious reasons.  Banna had been vomiting for the last few minutes, and there was no sign that his gag reflexes would let up.  His vomit was brown, same colour as the ‘food’ served to them at breakfast, lunch and dinner, same colour as the muddy plains of Treyax, same colour as the dried blood of that boy-  Banna stopped himself.  It was best not to dwell on it, one shouldn’t dwell on those things.  He looked up to see 19 soldiers all staring at him, their expressions masked by their helmet’s visors and re-breathers.  He was sure he could hear someone snickering.  Standing up he put his helmet on and mentally shook himself.  ‘Okay, I’m going to have 5 fire sections, you four, here, you four here, you four there and you three come with me.  You all know what to do, but just in case you’ve forgotten, we are to mark the necessary places for the ship to drop the buildings onto.  Make sure your laser markers have a clear path, so no tree branches or brush above it.  Climb ‘em and cut ‘em if you have to.  After that we’ll establish a perimeter.  Any questions?’  One soldier raised his hand.  ‘Yes?’

‘Uh.. Sir what do we do if we encounter any natives?’  Banna shifted his weight to his other leg.

‘Do you really think anyone or anything for that matter would go into a big, dark forest in the middle of the night?’

‘No, sir...  but what if we do?’  Banna sighed.

‘Just don’t let them see you, you’ll be fine.  It’s not like anyone would be stupid enough to live in a forest like this anyway.’

The shadows of the trees cast by the moonlight could have unnerved anyone, but for someone like Zecorra whose home was the forest, they added beauty to the already magnificent biome.  Most ponies wouldn’t have thought of it in this way, but she had been attracted to the idea of a world where magic wasn’t required.  Maybe it was because it reminded her of home, even if it wasn’t one gigantic plain.  In the jungle, the only law was that the strongest survive, and to know that you were still alive (and therefore among the strongest) coupled with the fact that you had worked for it was immensely satisfying.  A cool breeze rolled across her face, rustling a few bushes off to her left.  It rustled again, but this time there was no breeze.  Maybe a small animal?  Then she heard voices.  Okay definitely not an animal.  They were getting louder, and had they been voices of a dialect she knew, maybe she would have gone to take a look, but there was something about these voices, something not right.  There were a lot of ‘Kh’s’ and the voices were low, a bit too low for somepony just going about their own business, then again there were monsters in this forest, so a hushed voice would be understandable.  She decided to wait and see what they were.  As she peered out from her make shift hiding place in a different bush, something emerged from the aforementioned spot.  Unfortunately for her, a cloud passed over the moon at this very moment and all she could make out was the outline.  This was still enough to scare her though.  The... the thing, was bipedal, and had all manner of things attached to its hide, most of them, she thought, seemed to be pouches, but she wasn’t sure of that.  Its hide hard and metallic in some places, yet in others it was loose.  Must be natural armour.  The head was something different altogether though.  It seemed to have, was that glass on its face?  There were two round short cylinders on each side of its nose which, coupled with its mouth was protruding out.  It was all metallic which confused her greatly.  What manner of beast was made of metal?  Last but not least it was holding a long sort of cylindrical device.  She knew she shouldn’t have come to this part of the forest.

Huh.  He had remembered hearing something here.  He looked left and right down what seemed to be a path about as wide as a single person.  It was probably nothing.  Then he saw a bag on the floor.  ‘What’s this doing here?’ he thought out loud.

‘Sorry, what was that sir?’ said one of the soldiers who was still behind the bush.

‘Nothing soldier.’  It was fairly simple, but who ever heard of a complex bag?  He opened it and saw there were a number of berries in it.  At first he was tempted to take one, but remembered that it could be poisonous to any off-worlders.  He sighed, rather loudly, and put it down.

The creature was about to leave when it spotted something on the floor.  Zeccora peered over to have a look, then realised that it was her bag!  She must have dropped it in her hurry to hide.  It picked the bag up and peered inside.  It said something out loud, seemingly to another one hidden in the undergrowth which responded before this one spoke again.  Wait a another one?  How many were there?  She expected it to take something, but it grunted in what seemed to be dissatisfaction.  Of course, why would a creature of metal care for food such as fruit?  It got up, looked around one last time, then left back the way it came.  She waited for a good minute before retrieving her bag and making her way home as fast as she could.

Banna walked back into the undergrowth before stopping and standing completely still, gesturing to his men to do the same.  He fixed his gaze on the path, waiting to see if anything would happen.  Sure enough, something did, a small animal, a bit over half the size of a human came out to get its bag, though none of the other soldiers could see it.  He recognised it as, was it a zebra?  He only knew this thanks to one of his friends from OTC.  His friend had come from a small moon on which they had zebras in the millions, something which was exploited by the general populace in the form of a planetary delicacy, which Banna had once tried (Didn’t taste that bad to be honest).  He wondered what it was doing here on an un-colonised planet, but when it picked up the bag then slung it on its back, something clicked in his brain and he realised what was going on.  Zebras were the dominant species.  He didn’t remember anything about zebras being sentient.  Wait a minute, slow down Banna, he thought to himself.  Just because a zebra can do a fancy trick doesn’t mean they suddenly had the brain power to think like humans.  He was known to jump to conclusions, but something like this?  This even surprised him.  He decided against his better judgement on telling anyone as the last thing he wanted to do was spend the rest of his time here lying on a sofa with someone asking him questions about his childhood.  Anyway, they had a job to do.  When the zebra was well out of sight, he got the team moving again towards the predetermined point on the map.

Discovery

Discovery

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her legs.  The sun had finally come up and it was time for a morning flight.  She stood up on the cloud which she had been resting on for the night and stretched her wings.  After making sure they were suitably ready, she dived off the cloud and careened head first towards the ground before lurching right and coming back up into the clouds.  As she practiced a few moves in the air she became aware of a presence in the distance.  It was just hovering in the air, albeit a considerable height above her.  She wasn’t sure whether it was close by and small, or really far away and really big.  Suddenly, something dropped off of the object and fell directly towards the ground with no sign of slowing down.  Eventually as all falling objects have to, it fell into the forest, although she wasn’t too sure of where exactly since the forest looked pretty much the same from any direction you looked at it.  When she looked back up for what she assumed was a Pegasus, it was gone.  I wonder what it dropped, she thought, maybe something valuable, no, why would someone drop something valuable on purpose?  Maybe it was dangerous, in which case she should probably tell someone where she was going.  Ah, she could handle herself fine.  She flew over the forest, surveying for any out of place objects and disturbed brush, but for some reason it was no longer there!  The forest looked the same as it always did, green and leafy. After circling about for a few minutes she was just about ready to give up when a glint caught her eye.  As she neared the origin of the glint, something started to dawn on her.  The leaves in that particular spot, they weren’t real!  As she got even closer, she could see it was a thick, fabricy mesh painted so that it looked like the roof of the forest.  Why would somepony, let alone anypony have something like this?  And more importantly, what was that glint?  She set down a little way away from the fake leaves and went for a stealthy approach.  She snuck through the undergrowth towards her target, but bumped her head on something.  Looking up, she saw a wire fence with vines and other vegetation growing on it.  Wait, no they weren’t real vines, they were just made to look like real vines.  She couldn’t see very well through the vegetation, so she simply flew above it.  When she got to the other side she was surprised to see 4 structures; 2 were what looked like simple rectangular houses made from some type of concrete or something while the the other two were bigger, one with large doors at what seemed to be its front, and one which looked more like a tower, the top of it going above the treeline.  The camo mesh was higher here to allow space for somepony to walk on the balcony at its top.  At least, she thought somepony.  Suddenly she heard voices.  Diving for cover behind a couple of barrels to the side of one of the buildings, she waited to see who or what had made all this.

‘You see Amax, this particular attachment here,’ he pointed to the taped magazines on his gun, ‘Means i can reload much faster than your average soldier.’  Amax stared at the other guard in disbelief, the gun’s newly polished skin shining sunlight in his eyes.

‘Dude its only tape.  Like that’s going to help’,’ he said resignedly.

‘Have you ever actually fought in combat?  Do you have any experience with this attachment?’ rebuked the guard.

‘No, but neither have you.’

‘Oh right.’

‘And stop calling it an attachment.  I doubt that taping two magazines together counts as ‘an attachment’ in the wider scheme of things Jimothy.’  They stopped abruptly.

‘What were we here for again?’  Amax tried thinking back to what the lieutenant had said.

‘Uh, think we have to move those barrels over there to the garage.  The tanks are currently running on fumes.’

‘We haven’t used the tanks since we’ve got here.’

‘You know what I mean!  Just help me with this!’  Amax got to the barrel first, and jumped back at what he saw.  ‘SHIT!’ he shouted in shock.

‘There’s no reason to get worked up over a couple heavy barrels...’

‘No, look!  What the hell is that?’ he said pointing to something behind the barrels.  Jimothy looked over, and was met with two pink eyes staring him directly in the face.

‘Looks like a horse.’

‘A what?’

‘A horse, you know, they had them on Chastm.’

‘Oh yeah,’ he resumed his casual care-free attitude.

‘I don’t remember them being blue.’

‘Or having wings.’

‘Or having pink eyes the size of my fist.’

‘Or being able to laugh...’

-

The cyan pegasus was rolling on the floor, laughing her flank off.  She had been scared of them at first, but when she saw their expressions at seeing her: priceless.  They didn’t seem to look to happy at being laughed at, which surprised her.  Not that they were unhappy, but that she could glean their expression from their faces.  They were very different but also similar to ponies in their behaviour, well some ponies she knew anyway, and their faces weren’t to different expression wise.  Kind of like a flat pony face.  They seemed to be wearing completely black clothing, with some, was it armour?  They had swords (and what looked like helmets) at their belts, and one of them was holding a thick long stick or something, so maybe they were like, royal guard or something.

‘You guys aren’t so bad after all.’

‘What did she say?’

Amax looked at him.

‘How the hell should I know?  Besides, what makes you think it’s a she?’

‘Well, uh, her frame...’ he started, slowly blushing.

‘What are you blushing about?’

‘My mama always said it was improper to talk about ladies in that wa-’

‘Well it’s not a lady it’s a horse!’  Amax looked back at it.  ‘Do you think we should bring it in?’

‘Dunno.  What’s the protocol for this kind of thing?’  Amax had to think hard about that one.

‘I remember that they usually kill the trespassers in the films, as for protocols, I have no clue.  Let’s just tell her to go away.’  The two of them turned to the pony with serious expressions on their faces, which made it laugh even more.  Amax tried first.  ‘Please could you just, go away, I don’t know what the officers will say.’  It just looked at him, obviously not understanding him then said something back.

‘You know I have no idea what your saying,’ she said.  The tall one just looked at her, obviously not understanding her.  Then the other one came over.  He pointed at her, then pointed at the gate, looking at her with a sort of respectful gaze.  So they wanted her to leave?  But she still wanted to know more!  She decided to indulge them and flew over the fence, again causing the tall one to jump backwards but instead of flying off, she resolved to stick around a bit more to see what would happen.  Perching herself on one of the trees, she looked over the fence and into the courtyard.  The tall one was trying to move the barrel, while the other one just stood there with a smug grin on his face.  Eventually he came over and the two of them moved it to the big doors.  One of them opened a door that was part of the larger door.  That was odd.  A door in a door?  Where was the sense in that?  They disappeared into the building, and after waiting for a few minutes, a different creature came out holding something in its hand.  It was a picture.

He stared at the picture, a nostalgic smile on his face.  It was of a small boy and his father playing in a room.  It was obvious it was the child’s room; toys everywhere, a small bed in the corner, food stains on the carpet, all the signs were there.  He heard a door open and quickly stashed the photo in one of his pouches, looking up to see who it was.

Banna pushed the door open and was surprised to see Thate standing to attention.  He looked around to see if anyone else was there.

‘Hey Thate, what are you doing out here?’  The soldier stared at him blankly before giving a smile.  Banna stared back.  ‘Uh, you enjoying the weather Thate?’  Again the soldier just gave him a blank look followed by a smile.  Banna stood looking at him nervously.  Being around Thate made everyone he knew nervous, although no one was really sure why.  He had been a soldier longer than him, yet he was still only a Lance-Corporal.  Most people assumed it was because of his reluctance to speak.  Ever.  In combat the only way you knew he was there was by seeing him because he would never sound off, but even then, he had this way of blending in with his surroundings wherever he went (although he never seemed to be able to blend into a crowd...).  Although this proved a small problem, this also meant that he had no trouble sneaking up on unsuspecting Anteeists, and he often acted as point man.  He also had this uncanny ability to appear in the most random places, seemingly for no reason.  ‘Well, it was nice speaking to you Thate.  See you around.’  Banna continued to the tower, worried about Thate.  He was the least known soldier in his platoon.  Only he actually acknowledged his existence, well him and that sniper.  But back to the task at hand.  He pushed the door open and entered into the room.  The ground floor of the tower was a mess hall, something which the other ‘camps’ hadn’t copied.  Then again, the other camps had actually gotten a mess hall dropped into their zones.  The 50 or so soldiers in his platoon were all there, and as a result, it was tighter than a misers’ pocket.  He had to wade through the mass of men to get to the stairs which were so conveniently located on the other side of the room, coming out covered in food and spittle.  Well that was fun.  Ascending the stairs, he climbed up two floors before reaching the ‘command centre’, if you could call it that.  It was more of a glorified version of the towers in airports, but with guns involved.  It was your stereotypical control tower, windows lining all the walls so as to grant the inhabitants a clear view.  There was also a door to allow anyone who wanted to to go out onto the balcony of the top floor.  One person was in the room, the sniper.  He was on his back adjusting some electronics under the panel of the main screen, and at first he thought he was too engrossed in his work to notice him but just as Banna was about to speak, the sniper stuck his hand out, gesturing to him to keep quiet.  After what seemed like forever (20 seconds) he stopped and turned his head to greet the officer.

‘Hey boss man!  Yeah, I was just getting this console working.’  He stood up and and sat on a nearby chair.  ‘Oh yes, and the Major wanted to speak with you.’

‘Yes I know, that’s why I’m here.’  Banna replied briskly.  The sniper flicked one of the switches, but when the computer failed to come on, he kicked it.  The screen flickered to life.

‘Sorry, you know, new circuitry and all.’ Banna walked up to the screen and moved the mouse to, clicking on the log-in picture.  He typed his details in, including his password which brought him to the loading page.  He pulled up a chair and sat down, keeping his eyes on the screen.  The sniper just sat there staring out the window.  Finally, the desktop started up with the Gleyan flag as the background; Three black pillars standing side by side on a velvety red background.  After a few more minutes of typing stuff in he finally managed to establish a video call with the Major.

‘Ah, Lieutenant Banna, I see you’ve finally managed to join us.’  Said the major.  Four more screens popped up, showing the other four lieutenants on the planet.  The major was sitting in the bridge of the ship currently orbiting the planet with the ship captain standing in the background looking quite impatient.

‘Uh... sorry sir, its just that what with the new circuitry and all...’

‘It’s okay Banna, better late than never, right?’  He said, his face looking indifferent to the situation.  The sniper stared on, an amused look on his face.  ‘Now, where was I, ah yes, your respective jobs.  I’ve already talked the others through their roles, so you are the only one left.  Seeing as your platoon is the lightest, you are to round up some men and scout the town on the edge of the forest.  I don’t suggest making contact, but if you do, the extra bag that was put in your pod should contain some things to use as bargaining tools.  Banna nodded, remembering the bag of gems and assorted goods from the night before.  That made him think of the zebra he had seen.

‘Sir, do we have any information on the dominant species of the planet?’  The major turned to the captain, who mumbled something.

‘No, Banna not yet.  The good captain,’ he said looking slightly annoyed, ‘has deemed it an unnecessary waste of rocket fuel, which is why it’s your job to go find out.  I think that’s all.  Oh yes, and look for any sources of uranium and other similar ‘heavy’ and radioactive substances if possible.  Any extra fuel for the reactors would be very handy.  Over and out.’ The Major’s window switched off, followed by the other lieutenants.

Rainbow Dash was bored. Apart from those two things, nothing had happened.  The quiet one just stood there, looking at the picture.  She got up and turned, readying herself for flight then took one last look back to see if anything had happened.  He wasn’t there anymore.  Where did he go?  She surveyed the entire premises, but she saw nothing.  Probably went inside, now come on Dash you’ve got to-

*cough*

‘WOAH!’ she fell out of the tree, straight into the arms of the quiet one who had a smile on his face, although this one was of genuine amusement.  Rainbow Dash didn’t react at first, too shocked to do anything but she soon realised what had happened and jumped out of his arms.

‘That was not cool man!’ she glared at him, but his smile didn’t falter.  In fact he started laughing.

She went red.  ‘What are you laughing at?’

He hadn’t laughed for some time.  The pony, it was a very curious thing, thinking it could watch the camp without anyone seeing her was kind of, for lack of a better word, naive.  She stood there, obviously angry at him for laughing.  He tried to adopt a neutral demeanour, but the whole incident had been sort of... odd.  In a funny way.  He finally stopped and fixed his gaze on her, which seemed to calm her down.  Now, she couldn’t stay here, it was against regulations, and he doubted he could trust her to leave herself.  He’d just have to accompany her to the edge of the forest.

First Impressions

Banna looked over the squad of five.  They had packed light, so they no longer had the heavy packs on, and they carried minimal ammo; two clips per person excluding the one already loaded and one grenade between all of them.  The one extra thing that they had all been issued were tazer guns just in case the locals got hostile, allowing them to preserve the idea of friendly relations.  ‘We all know what we’re doing, but I’m going to remind you one more time.  We are only here to scout, let me say that again, ONLY, to scout.  I don’t plan on having any encounters with the indigenous population, so keep it quiet and stay low.’  The black armour of the soldiers now had woodland camo painted on it to better blend in with the surrounding area.  Banna turned to the exit.  ‘Now, lets move out!’

Rainbow Dash glanced at the creature.  He wasn’t very talkative, but why would he be?  At first she wasn’t sure why he was making her come with him, but she soon guessed that he probably didn’t want her at the base and was ‘escorting’ her out of the forest.  She could have just flown off, but it’s not every day you get to see weird monsters, or aliens as she was slowly starting to believe and actually spend time with it.  It was currently looking around the forest, she assumed it was looking out for wild animals.  Well this was the everfree forest after all, can't be too careful around here, she thought.  So how was she supposed to communicate with him?  She wasn’t sure, but she knew someone who probably would.  Fluttershy could speak with animals, so why should speaking to an alien be any different?   These creatures were a little bit like monkeys, so they probably spoke some variation of monkey or something.  They walked into a clearing.

‘Hey, you wanna see a trick?’  she asked, a grin on her face.  He looked at her and shrugged.  Although he had meant that he didn’t know what she was saying, she took it as a yes.  Darting up into the air, she started doing all manner of maneuvers, spinning, revolutions, the whole package.  When she finished her final trick, she turned and flew straight towards him, and just as he thought she was going to fly into him, she stopped.  He was clapping and looked impressed with her.  She was naturally happy to accept any praise, especially if it was from an alien she had just met.

‘Thank you, thank you, I’m here all week.’ she started, showboating.

‘ROAR!’

Out of the shadows of the forest came a manticore, its fangs bearing, eyes bloodshot and claws unsheathed.

Rainbow Dash gasped and turned to fly off, but then remembered the alien.  He was still standing there, just eyeing the manticore.  The manticore threw itself at the alien, trailing saliva from its mouth as it charged.

‘For the love of Celestia, RUN!’ she shouted, still watching him.  He started fumbling at his belt and pulled something out of one of the pouches.  It was shaped like an ‘L’.  He raised the object towards the manticore, holding it firmly with both his... were they called claws?  Paws?

BANG

The gunshot echoed in the clearing.  A puff of blood was thrown out of the eye of the manticore, and it fell to a skidding halt on the ground.  Rainbow Dash just hovered above the alien, trying to piece together what happened.  He put the L shaped weapon, as it was apparent now, back in his pouch and turned to her.  Seeing that she was in shock, he pulled out a small flask, opened the top and handed it to her.  She didn’t do anything (and he had serious doubts about hooves being able to hold objects), so he raised the flask to her lips to allow her to drink it.  She took a sip, swallowed, then started coughing.  Whatever it was, it was strong, and tasted really, really bad, however it did help a bit, and she came back to her normal state of mind.

He was relieved to see the pony gather herself and put the flask back in its place on his utility belt: to the right of his grenades and left of his water flask.  He should probably introduce himself now.  Kneeling down, he pointed at himself and said , ‘Thate.’  This seemed to make the cyan pony forget about the whole ordeal as she turned to face him.

‘Thate,’ he said again, using one of his fingers to point at himself.  So he was called Thate!

‘I’m Rainbow Dash, best flier in all of Equestria!’ she flew up and did another trick for emphasis.  He looked confused, so she repeated her name, but this time without the fancy trick.  He repeated the name with surprising fluency and stood up.  Gesturing onwards, he started walking.

Maybe I can get more out of him, she thought.  The two of them continued towards Ponyville, Thate having memorised the maps that had been provided.  When they found a path, they (as in Thate) decided to follow it in the hopes of reaching a nearby settlement he recalled seeing on the maps he had ‘borrowed’ from the lieutenant.

Banna wiped the binoculars clean.  They had been watching the town for twenty minutes, from  one of the surrounding hills but still no sign of life.  He had thought he had heard music off in the distance, but checking it out was too risky.  Putting the binoculars back to his eyes, he inspected the windows but they were all drawn, and where the hell was that map he had been given?  The houses were all quite small, and he had no doubts that if tanks had to roll through here they would have no trouble driving right through them.  Suddenly, he noticed movement to the right, near a small cottage on the edge of the forest.   Swerving right, he stared into the distance, then went blank.   It was a blue pony.  With wings.  He lowered the binoculars.

‘Hey Barrus.’

‘Yes, sir?’

‘I want you to take these binoculars and tell me what you see over there.’

‘Uh, yes sir.’  The private took them from his hands and put them up to his face.  A moment later he had the same blank expression as the Lieutenant.  ‘It’s a, um, it’s a blue pony sir.  With wings sir.’  So he definitely wasn’t going crazy, that was good.  Taking them back, he took another look.  Thate was standing next to it, and it appeared that the horse was speaking to him.

‘I know you’ll just love Fluttershy!  She’s the kindest pony I know, which she should be cos she’s an element of harmony and...’  she chattered on, Thate walking along side her not really sure what she was saying and where they were going.  He had originally planned to leave her before the reached the tree line, but she had wanted him to come with her, pulling him (he still didn’t know how she could with hooves) and pleading with her eyes.  Eventually he gave in, deciding to humour her and perhaps gain some valuable information for the army.

‘...and this one time she helped this bear- oh we’re here!’  she abruptly stopped.  Thate looked at the cottage.  Rather quaint.  Rainbow Dash ran to the front door and started knocking wildly, Thate following close behind.  The door slowly opened and a yellow pony head stuck its head out to see who was there.

‘Oh, um, hey Rainbow Dash, what’s going on...’  Thate was blocked from her sight by Rainbow Dash who was currently bouncing up and down at her front door.

‘You’ll never guess what I found!’

‘I’m sure whatever it is, it must be really interes-,’ as that moment Rainbow Dash stepped aside, revealing Thate, who was currently smelling a flower he had picked up.  Fluttershy stood completely frozen.  Thate, who was rather busy paying attention to the flower finally noticed Fluttershy, smiled and gave a small wave.  Almost instantaneously she pulled a very suprised Rainbow Dash into the house and slammed the door behind her.

‘Quickly hide!’  whispered Fluttershy, looking out the window to see if Thate was still there, which he was, looking a bit confused as to what was going on.  ‘Find somewhere to hide Dash, the thing’s still there.’  A wave of realisation washed over Rainbow Dash’s face.

‘Uh, Fluttershy, you know the thing I wanted to show you...’

‘Sorry Rainbow Dash, but, um, I’m not sure if now is the best time, if that’s okay with you.’

‘Fluttershy that was the thing I wanted to show you.  I met it- him in the Everfree forest.  It doesn’t speak Equestrian, so I thought maybe you could speak to it.’  Fluttershy looked back at her.

‘What makes you think I could speak to it?’  she said gingerly.

‘Well, you seem to understand animals pretty well,’ responded Rainbow Dash.  Fluttershy closed the curtains.

‘I don’t know, I mean how do we know we can trust him?’ Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

‘He’s not that bad.  He did save me from a manticore after all.’  Fluttershy straightened herself.

‘Well he can’t be that bad then I suppose...  Was the manticore alright?’

‘He killed it.’

‘Wait, wha-’ she was interrupted as Rainbow Dash pushed her outside.  Thate stood looking at Fluttershy with the most disarming smile he had.  It wasn’t working very well.  Fluttershy stood timidly looking down at the ground, jumping at every little noise.

‘Well say hello then Fluttershy.’  Fluttershy looked up.

‘hello...’  Thate nodded and outstretched his hand to shake her hoof.  She wasn’t quite sure what to do, so she sort-of-nuzzled his hand, which he seemed to find ticklish.  Rainbow Dash nudged Fluttershy, hinting at her to get on with things.

‘Oh yes, um, do you, uh, understand me?’  Thate would have answered, but something had caught his eye.

Banna and his squad emerged from the undergrowth, 100 meters from where Thate and the horses were.  Obviously Thate had seen them, because he was currently standing completely still, saluting the second-lieutenant as he hustled towards him.  The ponies had realised what he was staring at, and turned to see the six-man squad coming towards them.  The yellow one stood frozen, again, staring at them, while the blue one just stood their, the expression on its face telling him that it was excited to see more of them.  Thate being here only reinforced the idea that he appeared when least expected.

‘Thate, do you think you could tell me what you’re doing here?’  He stood staring at him, silent as ever.

‘Thate, pelitu our areyn tah tasham?’  Fluttershy tried to understand, but she only knew how to understand animals, not interstellar travellers.  The creatures weren’t paying attention to them, and were currently communicating,or failing to communicate since Thate wasn’t responding, amongst themselves.

‘Um, excuse me,’ said Fluttershy. They glanced at her, but then continued speaking to Thate.  Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash.

‘I don’t think they understand me.’  Rainbow Dash looked up in thought.  Who else might be able to speak understand them...  Twilight!

‘Wait right here, I’m gonna go get Twilight!’  Rainbow Dash whizzed off, much to the suprise of everyone.  Fluttershy was scared again, since she had just been left with six aliens with no means of self defense.  She slowly turned to face them.

All eyes were on the cyan pony.  She had gone to tell something else they were there. SHIT.  Banna found it much simpler when you didn’t have to speak to the locals, and up until now that had started to look like more of a possibility.  He hadn’t brought the bag of valuables because he hadn’t expected to have to reveal themselves to meet up with Thate.  Goddammit Thate, why?  Well, he’d just have to grin and bear it.

‘Okay lads, take a five minute breather.’  Banna sat down and pulled a ration pack from his hard-case on his back and started eating.

‘But sir, it’ll probably be back with more.’ protested one of the soldiers.

‘Yeah well we’re gonna have to speak to them sooner or later, and I doubt letting the Major or the ship captain is going to help with the situation.’  The soldier resigned himself to admiring the scenery.  The area was very relaxing, and calmed Banna down a bit.  This would be great to call home, he thought.  Thate, however was not as calm, or as moved as them.  He had already learnt long ago that it was better not to get attached to a place.  Seeing one too many worlds burn has many psychological effects on a person, especially if it’s their home...  The yellow pony sat down next to the lieutenant when it- well she realised they weren’t going to harm her.  She was currently studying him and the food he was eating.

‘It’s lamb,’ he said to her.  She gave another smile (much like Thate, but, well, cuter) and looked down at the ground.

Twilight was heading towards Pinkie Pie’s annual summer picnic celebration when Rainbow Dash slammed into her and Spike sending them right into a tree trunk.  Twilight lifted her head, looking annoyed.  ‘Why must you always do that Rainbow Dash?’  Rainbow Dash stood up,

‘Heh, heh, yeah sorry Twilight.’  Her expression changed to a more serious one.  ‘Twilight there are a couple of aliens from the Everfree forest I need you to meet.’  Twilight stopped.

‘Uh... What?’  Rainbow Dash started becoming restless.

‘I met some aliens in the Everfree forest, and I need you to see if you can speak to them.’

‘What makes you think they’re aliens Dash?’  She was starting to look very irked.

‘Because they aren’t like anything on Equestria, now come on.’

‘Okay, but if you’re pranking me, I swear...’

‘You’ll what?  Bore me to death with one of your your egghead lectures?  Now move!’

The blue pony had only brought back a reptillian creature and one other pony which just so happened to have a horn on its head.  Strange...  Banna turned to the yellow pony, whose name Thate had said was ‘Fluttershy’ much to every one's surprise (and her apparent delight).  She was currently munching on a chocolate bar that he had given her to try and ease things a little, and who knows, maybe she was like, the mayors daughter or something.  It was always good to have friends in high places.  The reptile’s and purple pony’s mouthes was agape, staring at the group, but him in particular since he was the only one standing.  Right, what to do?

‘Any suggestions Thate?  you seem to be the expert here,’ he said looking at him.  Thate simply smiled (yet again).

‘Good idea.’  He turned to the purple pony and smiled.  She, as it looked like a she, approached him with extreme caution, while the blue one just laughed and pranced over to them.  She said something to the purple pony who nodded and started to concentrate, though on what he wasn’t sure.  Then her horn started to glow.  Glowing horns, great what was going to happen next, toothless crocodiles?  Wait, why did that thought even come into his head?  What kind of sane mind thinks of toothless reptiles as an example?  Suddenly, he felt a sensation in his brain.  It had felt like a wave of understanding had washed over him, causing the blue pony’s chatter to start making sense.  Every word she said felt like it was bypassing his ears and burrowing into his brain.

‘...well did it work Twilight?’  Twilight stared at him.

‘I hope so.  The affect won’t last for too long though, a week at most.’  The look on his face and his men’s faces gave away the fact that it had indeed, worked.  The men weren’t about to question why.  They were soldiers, all they were supposed to do were follow orders, not question them.  He however was an ex-engineer, now high ranking officer.

‘How is it that I can now understand you...’ he said in a dazed fashion.

‘Well, I opened your minds so that you can sort of, well feel the understanding of what we’re saying.’

‘...but how?’

‘Oh, with magic of course.’  That was it.  Years of warfare had obviously taken its toll on his mind.  There was no other logical explanation for this.

‘Right...’  He composed himself.  This was no time to break down, their relations with the dominant species were at stake.  ‘I am Second-Lieutenant Banna of the Gleyan army.  We, uh, come in peace?’  The word army hadn’t come through properly to her.  She had felt what he had understood about it, but rather hazily.  That meant that it wasn’t something that was present in Equestria.  The closest thing that she had felt to that was Celestia’s royal guards.

‘My name is Twilight Sparkles, and I am a student of Princess Celestia, the ruling power of this land...’

A princess eh?  That should be interesting.

‘...and if you don’t mind me asking, what is an army?’

Maybe they used a different word for it, like ‘militia’?

‘Well an army is the name of the, organisation, I suppose you could call it, who fights wars for a country.’

‘A war? You still have wars?’  All the humans present went silent.  What the hell kind of Utopian society was this?

‘Well... yeah, we still have wars.  Don’t you?’  The pony’s face looked deep in thought, as if trying to remember something.

‘Of course not!  We stopped fighting years ago, ponies were dying!’ replied Rainbow Dash in a shocked tone.

‘Of course people die.  They are wars after all.’  The ponies looked just a bit horrified, but twilight shook it off and continued.

‘So where in Equestria do you come from?’  So that was what this planet was called.  At least he assumed.

‘I don’t.’

‘Don’t what?’

‘Come from Equestria.’

‘Oh... so you must come from the wastelands then.’

‘Nor there either.  I come from Gleya.  Up their.’  He pointed upwards.  Twilight’s eyes widened, even more than they had before.

‘No way...’  She had so many questions for him!  How did they get here, why did they come here and so on.  First she had to write a letter to Celestia.  ‘Spike, take a scroll.’

‘On it!’ Spike pulled out some parchment from the bag he was carrying and started writing.  The whole time Rainbow Dash had been staring in amazement, the same went for Fluttershy.

‘Excuse me...’ said Fluttershy walking up to him.  He couldn’t help but smile.

‘Yes ma’am?’

‘I just wanted to thank you for the chocolate you gave me...’

‘It’s was no problem.  Where I come from, it’s customary to bring some type of gift when visiting somewhere.’

‘Oh, that’s nice.’  It was Rainbow Dash’s turn now.  She barraged him with an array of questions, mainly about where he was from and why they had come.

‘Well, Rainbow Dash, you see, I volunteered for the GCDF, or the ‘Gleyan Colonisation Defense Force’.  I am assigned to a colony which I have to, obviously, defend from threats, and I get to live there as an added bonus.  Only esteemed combat veterans get to actually volunteer.  Otherwise you need to be selected.’  He stood straight, looking proud.

‘So... you volunteered to fight?’ asked Fluttershy, still unsure of what he meant.

‘Oh hell no, no one volunteers to fight anymore.  I was conscripted.’  Usually, the highest rank a  conscripted soldiers could reach was sergeant since they were all NCO’s, but the army was in short supply of officers, and many conscripts were finding themselves getting promoted halfway through battles.

‘What’s a conscript?’ Fluttershy asked again.

‘A conscript is a person who is forced to become a soldier.’  he could see from her face that she didn’t like that prospect much.  ‘It’s not very nice, but it’s the only way sadly.’  Meanwhile, Barrus had taken out a beef stick which he had ‘borrowed’ from the ships stores.  He was about to take a bite when something poked him on his back.  Turning round he saw that it had been Rainbow Dash.

‘Uh, yes?’   he asked, rather hesitantly at first, as he still wasn’t too sure about being able to talk to ponies.

‘What is that?’ she said, pointing at the beef.  He raised an eyebrow.  How couldn’t they know what beef was?

‘Only the best snack ever invented, the beef stick.’ he held it up to emphasize his point.  Her face went from to curiosity to disgust.

‘Ugh, meat?  How could you eat that?  They were living creatures once!  How would you feel if someone killed you and ate you?’  Oh great, a die-hard vegetarian.

‘I doubt I’d care, since I would be dead, besides, it’s not like they protest or anything.’

‘Why not?’  What kind of stupid question was that?

‘Because cows don’t talk of course.’  She was now looking at him with a mixture of confusion and doubt.

‘What?  Of course they do!  What are you talking about?’  Barrus had just been about to take a bite when she said this.  Wait, so not only is this the magical fucking land of talking ponies, but this is the magical fucking land of talking cows as well? Banna approached them with Fluttershy close behind.

‘Hey Barrus, are you feeling okay?  You don’t look too-’

‘Apparently cows also talk here sir.’

‘-good.’  The only thing that was going through his mind at this point were the hordes of livestock they had brought with them.  They wouldn’t be seen as murderers, would they?  Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy who seemed to be indifferent to the conversation.

‘Fluttershy, they eat cows!’ she stated, as though she should be horrified by it.  Fluttershy didn’t seem to mind though, something which surprised her.

‘Well that’s okay.  Bears and lions have to eat meat and we don’t mind that, so why should we mind them eating meat?’ Rainbow Dash was stunned.

‘I...’ Barrus and Banna were relieved to see the issue be resolved so quickly.  Banna turned his attention to Twilight who was still writing the letter to the princess.

‘Wotcha doing there Twilight?’ she paced back and forth, with Spike ready to write next to her.

‘Oh just informing Celestia that you are here.’

‘Ah.’  She continued dictating to Spike.  ‘Say, do you think I could put perhaps put a message in or something?  Maybe, ‘I look forward to make your acquaintance’ or something?’  Twilight’s eyes brightened.

‘That’s a great idea!  You just dictate to Spike what you want to say, then you can sign it.’  Spike shifted focus from Twilight to him.

‘Oh okay, uh, well, *ahem, This is Second-Lieutenant Banna of the 357th division, officer of the Gleyan army writing to inform you that I look forward to meeting with you and discussing a possible alliance.’  Spike wrote with a fervor that only an experienced scribe or secretary could possess, then he handed it over to Banna and gave him the pen.

‘Just sign here.’  Banna did what every officer of the Gleyan army did when signing; he wrote three vertical lines down one after the other with a single horizontal line above it (kind of like three capital T’s but with less space in between), then signed his name right after.

‘Okay Spike, we’re all set.  Send it off.’ Spike threw the scroll into the air then burped on it, making it disintegrate then turn into a green puff of smoke before finally disappearing.  Banna was about to ask what the hell just happened but he had a feeling it was to do with magic, so he left it alone.  A minute later a letter appeared in response.

To my Dearest Student,

I am glad you have notified me about our guests, hopefully we can establish a growing friendship with them, as for you, I want you to become more acquainted with them, so that they can learn about us, and we can learn about them. And who knows, you might learn a thing or two from them.

Your Teacher

Princess Celestia

P.S.  To Second-Lieutenant Banna,

I would love to meet you personally at some point, but we are currently in diplomatic meetings with Coltarado and leaving now would be to shirk my duties.  They should, however, be over by tomorrow, so if you would like I could send a royal carriage to pick you up.  Until then, please feel free to explore Equestria and its inhabitants.

She had even gotten the title right.  Despite him telling them otherwise, most people just called him lieutenant, and while being called a rank higher than you actually are is flattering, Banna was a stickler for formalities.  Being called lieutenant made him feel like an impostor.  But enough of that, he had to leave and report what he had seen to the Major.  He turned to his squad who were currently busy petting a rabbit that seemed to belong to Fluttershy and was apparently called Angel.  He clapped his hands.

‘Well, it was enjoyable meeting you, but we have to get back to base.  My superiors are waiting for a report.’  The men got up and moved with slow, sluggish movements, like a child reluctant to leave the house.

‘Wait a minute, I’m coming with you.’  Twilight walked up to him.

‘And why is that?’ asked Banna.

‘You read the letter, besides, I am the princess's personal student, I’m practically the ambassador for our, uh, planet I suppose.’  An ambassador eh?  Command would love that.  Makes all the paper work that much easier.

‘Okay fine, but I must warn you, my superiors are no-nonsense, close minded men.  They don’t tend to believe anything till they get some proof.  And no small talk, it pisses them off.’

‘Okay, but did you have to phrase it using that word?’

‘What, 'it'?’

‘No the word,’ she hesitated before saying it, ‘piss.’  The men all gave her bewildered looks.

‘Yeah sure, uh, sorry about that.’  Mental note, he thought, no ‘bad’ words in front of the natives.

'We wanna come too!'  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy joined Twilight where she was standing.  Well, the more proof they had of talking horses, the more serious command would take them.

'The more the merrier.  Oh and Thate.'  The lance-corporal looked up at him.  'Please inform me before you go prancing off like that next time.'

Thate nodded.

OFC

OFC

(Over-all Field Command)

The trip to the base had been a very talkative one, even if it was a one sided conversation.  Rainbow Dash had been chattering on about her tricks and so on, then somehow managing to link that to a rock full of gems and a bunch of Amish people partying.  Most of the men found it quite amusing and listened intently.

‘...and they’re still trying to get their cutie marks.  Say, where are your cutie marks anyway?’  Cutie mark?  What the hell was a cutie mark?  Maybe he should have been listening to what she was saying.

‘Sorry?’

‘Your cutie marks, I haven’t seen any.’  Hang on a minute.  Those were those pictures on their flanks, weren’t they?

‘We don’t have cutie marks.’  He wondered if it was called the same thing for males.  Personally, he thought stud stamp would be the ideal name, but that was just his opinion...  Twilight chimed in.

‘No cutie marks?  Then how do you know what your special talent is?’  Is that what they were for?

‘From experience, besides, we aren’t limited to one special talent.  You could do anything well if you gave it enough work.’  That seemed to make enough sense to the ponies.  They finally reached the gates of the camp, stopping just outside.  All three ponies gasped as the bushes suddenly came to life, advancing towards them, rifles in hand, but the squad seemed to be unfazed.   The bushes topped in a semi circle around them, and one of them came forward.  It lifted up part of the bush (the ghillie suits face covering case you haven’t got it yet) to reveal the beaming face of the sniper.

‘Hey there Lieutenant.’  He took a look at the ponies, having no trouble at all with the information he was digesting.  ‘Are these the locals?’  Banna was suprised.  He didn’t think anyone would be able to adapt to this information so quickly.

‘Uh, yeah.  How did you know?’  The sniper gestured to his ears.

‘I heard female voices, so unless one of you is in actual fact a woman, they are the only beings that could have done that, that is, assuming you didn’t bring any media devices along.’

‘Your powers of deduction amaze me.’ Said Banna rather flatly.  The sniper turned to the other soldiers and told them to get back to their positions.  Then gestured to a hidden soldier to open the gates, which they did.  Then he turned to the ponies, walking up to Twilight since the others had been hiding behind her.  He stuck out a hand.

‘Hello.’  He said enthusiastically.  Twilight slowly extended her hoof and he shook it.  She didn’t know what he had said since the spell had only effected everyone in the immediate area, but most conversations tend to start with ‘hello’ or some variation, so she had hazarded a guess.

‘You speak Gleyan?’ he asked.  Twilight looked to Banna, who came forward.

‘They don’t speak Gleyan.  However, they do understand me and my squad and vice versa, so if you need anything ask one of us.’  The sniper looked unconvinced.

‘May I ask how exactly you can communicate with each other?’

‘She used magic to open our minds, thus allowing our understanding to be felt by the other person or thing.’  He looked dumbfounded.

‘Magic sir.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Whatever you say sir.’  He walked into the camp rather briskly, signalling to them to follow him.  Banna dismissed the recon squad and then followed the sniper with the ponies close behind.  As they made their way to the tower, Rainbow Dash noticed some familiar faces.

------------

Nicki Minaj - Your Love

Amax went first, slamming down the card onto the table that had been set out by the barracks.

‘Flush!’ He started reeling in all his gains.  Jimothy gave an evil smile, and placed his cards down in a very delicate manner.

‘Royal flush.’  Amax sat there looking very, very vexed as Jimothy rerouted the money to his side of the table.  There were some cheers from the dozen or so men surrounding them as they patted (more of a smack really) Jimothy on the back and so on.  Amax looked around the crowd, trying to get his mind off the fact that he had just lost this months pay, and stopped on one very out of place face.  Holy shit, it was that blue horse thing!  No one else had noticed her since they were too busy begging Jimothy for some of his hard(ly) earned cash.  He got up, largely ignored by everyone and walked over to the cyan pony who had disappeared behind one of the soldiers.  Pushing his way through he was astounded to see the Lieutenant speaking to a purple one, with a horn on its- her forehead.  He looked to his right and saw the cyan pony, who was currently trying to work out what had just happened, and why everyone was crowded around ‘the shorter one’.

‘Devious sunnuvabitch’s poker face is too good for me.  I’ll get him next time though.’  He said out loud to catch her attention. She turned her head to him.

------------

‘I remember you,’ she said.  He obviously didn’t understand her.  ‘Hey Twilight!  Can you do that spell thing again?’  Twilight looked to Banna.  He shrugged and said okay.  Once again, her horn started to glow, catching the attention of everyone outside who stared in disbelief at the purple pony with a horn which just happened to be glowing really, really brightly.  The glow dissipated and Twilight slumped to the floor, gasping for air.  Banna helped her up.

‘I really shouldn’t do that a lot... It’s very tiring...’  Twilight managed to say between breaths of air.  He nodded and allowed her to lean against him to the tower.  The soldiers were all wondering what had happened.  Then Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

‘Sooo, what do you do for fun ‘round here.’ Amax was so stunned that he went straight past utter disbelief all the way back to mild acceptance.

‘Uhh, cards, I suppose, there’s also, um, Baseketball, that’s a good one too.’ he stubled over his words.

‘Well there’s always radio.’ said Jimothy who had joined them, wads of money stuffed in his ammo pouches.  She had heard the word radio quite literally in the Gleyan language.

‘What’s a ra-, radeo?’ The men laughed as she made contorted her face trying to say the word.

‘A radio.  Kinda like this box which can pick up transmissions and make them into sound.  It’s pretty primitive in this day and age, but it’s the least complex and most practical of all communication types.  Great way to get free entertainment.’  As if by cue, someone in the back switched on the radio that had been sitting on the table then started changing channels.

“khkhkhkhkhkhkhk- And then I said- khkhkhkhkhkhkh- OoOoOh BaBy I NeEd YOUUUUU- khkhkhkhkhk-ary Billic reporting live from the front,’ The soldier stopped.  Sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard clearly over the presenters voice.  ‘I’m standing here with Captain Ven Hala in Beyrin Pass where the seventh Anteeist offensive is kicking off.  Captain do you think you could enlighten us as to what is going on?-

-Well, I can’t give away any specific details since you never know who’s listening, but I can tell you that the 157th has been resolute in its defence of-’

‘That’s code for ‘we fucked up good’,’ commented one of the soldier.

‘-but men aren’t inexhaustible.  They had to face against the increasing number of Anteeists pouring forth with no end in sight, and the fuckers used napalm by the shiploads.  Our new fortifications have been adjusted to deal with the threat-’

‘They’re gonna put some cannon fodder up front.’ commented another.

‘-so we should be able to hold them off next time.-

-What has the casualty count been so far?

-Ah yes, well we’ve been lucky in that respect.  40,000 dead and a further 10,000 wounded on the first day.  Casualties haven’t been this low since the start of the war-’

‘Change the fucking channel, it’s depressing!’ the soldier started tuning it again.  Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand a thing being said on the radio since the magic didn’t affect the presenter, but she was mesmerised none the less.

‘The things magic can do.’  Amax looked at her.

‘Magic?’

‘Yeah, magic.  You know, the radio.’  Amax started to laugh.

‘Magic doesn’t exist.  The radio runs on electricity.’

‘What do you mean magic doesn’t-’  She was interrupted by Banna.

‘Sorry ladies, but we’re gonna have to get a move on.  OFC is a bitc- I mean they’re not very nice when they’re left in the dark for too long.’  The three ponies left with Banna, the sound of the radio playing them out.

‘And that’s why I’ve been telling you idiots to save your goddamn money, wait until spaceport queues are down, because the price goes down during off-peak cycles-every idiot should know that, then book a ticket as soon as you can to the farthest low population density planet. They might not be as luxurious the cities, as well as vulnerability to Anteeist invasion, which is unlikely since they are in the same economic downturn as we are, meaning they don’t have enough resources for an invasion, but there should be towns and enough sustainability such as natural resources-meaning jobs, and of course, a spaceport.

Anyways let’s take some calls, I wanna’ know what you think about the Gleyan government implementing primitive communist style totalitarian rule.

342-1120, what’s your opinion on Gleyan totalitarian rule?

“You’re an Anteeist conspirator, you’ve been exposed, we know you work for the-”

“God damnit I’m not an Anteeist spy! When are you dumbasses gonna realise it? Lemme tell you if I was a spy I would’ve been detained years ago. Anyways.

512-1090, what’s your excuse?

“Hey I’m ghost let’s have butt-sex at the back of the space ship baby buns-”

“GOD DAMNIT WOULD YOU GET OFF OF MY FUCKEN’ BROADCAST YOU FRUITY BASTARD SUNUVA-” .’

A cacophony of cans being smashed could be heard.

------------

‘Banna, I see you’re back from your scouting mission.’  The Major looked expectantly at him.

‘Ah, yes sir.  We have discovered that the indigenous species is in fact not human, sir.’  The ship captain,  standing in the exact same position as last time looked intrigued.

‘Not human Second-lieutenant?’ the captain asked.  Banna sighed.  This was going to be very... embarrassing.

‘Yes sir, they’re...’ he hesitated for a moment. ‘They’re ponies sir.  Multi-coloured ponies sir.’  The two senior officers started laughing, and the crew in the back ground had noticeable smiles on their faces.  Twilight failed to see how it was funny, but she stayed silent.  After wiping a few tears from his eyes, the major resumed his serious expression.

‘Do you have anything to back this up?’

‘The squad members saw it too sir.’ The officers looked at eachother.

‘Banna, I’m going to need you and everyone who went with you to report to camp five for an immediate psych evaluation.’  Banna was becoming irritable.

‘You don’t believe me do you sir?  Ladies, if you would so kindly step out into the front of the panel.’  Three ponies walked onto the screen, quite timidly at first.  The looks of the faces on the ship crew members all changed to wonder as they emerged.  ‘Sir these three ponies are Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.’  The major started stroking his beard.

‘Well I never...  Do they speak Gleyan?’

‘No sir.  But they do understand us, and we them, although it only seems to work after Twilight does... whatever it is she does.  Dunno how it works, but basically her horn glows and we suddenly understand them.’  The major didn’t really care for details too much, all he needed to know was that nothing was going wrong.  The ponies shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to act.  They couldn’t understand a word of what the major was saying, but it was apparent that he was his superior.  Must be their prince or whatever they call their leader, thought Twilight.

‘Is there a particular reason that you brought these, ponies, along?’

‘Well Twilight, the purple one, is the Equestrian ambassador.  The rest sort of just, tagged along’  The major’s eyes lit up.  A diplomatic figure, always good for this kind of work.

‘Banna, what’s going on?’ Asked Twilight.

‘It’s a standard debriefing.  I’m just filling the Major in on the details of our expedition.  Don’t worry about it, it’ll be over before you know it.’  The major was quite obviously impressed at Banna being able to speak to the equine being.

‘It seems to me, Banna, that you know the locals quite well.’  Banna scratched the back of his head.

‘Uh... better than the other men I suppose.  And it seems I’ve been invited by their princess to enter a diplomatic discussion tomorrow.’  The major was surprised by the last comment.

‘Invited?  Well in that case I have no choice but to promote you.’  Banna’s eyes widened.

‘Sir?’  The major smiled.

‘Banna, since you were the first, high ranking officer to meet the locals and the added bonus of you being invited by a major diplomatic figure to a meeting all within the space of, what, half a day, it only makes sense for me to make you our PR officer.  Congratulations, you get to go listen to politicians drone on about current affairs.’  Banna was literally speechless.  Pay rise!  A bigger lot of land to live on, not to mention that he wasn’t going to have to fight.   He wasn’t one of those officers who felt too responsible for their men to leave, partly because more than half his platoon was made up of replacements he had just met en route, and partly because after what he had seen, it was safe to say that he wanted to retire as soon as possible.  ‘Though you’ll still be needed right on the front lines.  We’ll need all the help we can get.’  Oh well, at least it was quiet.  Come to the think of it, where were the Anteeists?  He would have expected a transmission, maybe some spy places or anything by now.  Eh, it’s only been a few days since the arrival, it’s not like they would meet instantly.  Still...  ‘Your title is the same, but with the word ‘ambassador’ stuck on the end.  I think that is all for now.  Captain do you have anything you want to say?’  The ship captain checked his report.

‘One more thing Banna, apparently our recon planes spotted open Carberium mines in the mountains.  Securing these would be most invaluable.’  The screen switched off, and Banna let out a breath of air in relief.

‘What was that about?’ asked rainbow Dash, Fluttershy standing behind her poking a phone with her hoof to see if it would do anything.

‘Well, I’ve been promoted to Second-Lieutenant Ambassador Banna.  I’ll be handling most diplomatic meetings from now on.’

‘Well that’s great!  We should celebrate, and I know just the place.’ said Twilight.  Celebrating sounded good.  The princess had asked him to get to know the locals, and going out and about would do just that.

‘Well then, lead the way.  Just no alcohol please, I’m trying to lay off that stuff.’

‘There is no alcohol in Equestria, well none for drinking. It’s illegal.’  Twilight responded.  Well that was great.  Every AA members dream, or hell depending on who you asked.  Most of the men weren’t going to be too happy, but at least he could rest assured knowing that his platoon wasn’t going to go and get absolutely pissed while he was away.  Actually no, they’d probably bootleg it.  He’d seen some of the stuff on Thate.  It was made of solvents, toilet cleaner and some other ingredients he’d rather not know about.  Twilight and the ponies left with Banna close behind.  As they were leaving the encampment, Banna stopped.  He should probably bring some more people along, just in case.  In case of what he didn’t know, everyone here seemed to be a pacifist, but you could never be too cautious.

‘Hey, Amax, Jimothy.’  He called out.  The private and the corporal stood at attention.

‘Sir!’

‘You two seemed to know Rainbow Dash.’  The two of them looked at each other guiltily.

‘We, uh, met earlier today.’  Banna raised his eyebrow.

‘I see... Well, since that is the case, you two are to accompany me to where ever it is they’re taking us.’  They looked confused.

‘Taking us, sir?’

‘I’ve just been promoted, and Miss Sparkle thought it would be a good idea to celebrate.  I don’t trust any place I’ve been in for less than a week, so I need some back-up.’  The two soldiers looked happy.  Celebrating, now that was something.  The Gleyan army didn’t do nearly enough celebrating.  ‘No alcohol though, it’s illegal.’  Amax looked less jovial, but Jimothy didn’t seem to care.

‘Let’s get to it then sir.’  The six humans and ponies left for Ponyville.

‘SHIT!’  The lieutenant stumbled backwards, much to the amusement of the other squad members and ponies.  ‘Thate, I didn’t see you there.’  Once again, Thate had materialised almost as if out of thin air right behind the officer.  They were on the outskirts of Ponyville, and the sun was setting, giving it a more peaceful feel than usual.

‘Sugarcube Corner is the place in Ponyville to satisfy your sweet tooth.’ stated Twilight.

‘Can’t wait to see what Pinkie’ll do...’ commented Rainbow Dash.  Banna cocked his head.

‘Sorry, what was that?’  He wasn’t sure what she had meant, and he had heard that used before once, a long time ago.  Needless to say it had all ended in disaster.

‘Oh, well our friend Pinkie Pie works there, and she’s really, really big on parties.  Expect a surprise party when you least expect it.’  That sounded great, now if only he didn’t have to sit at camp filling out reports and sorting letters...

Meanwhile above the planet

‘This is OFC, is the C-site ready, over’

‘Uh, roger that OFC, we’re clearing the last of the trees right now.  Over.’

‘Good.  Civilians are being prepped for transport.  Gunships will be accompanying the last wave over.’

‘Affirmative, we’ll get started on the colony buildings, over.’

‘Roger that.  OFC requests an hourly sitrep from you, over.’

‘Will do, over’

‘One more thing, watch out for Anteeist scouting teams, over.’

‘Roger that, over and out.’

‘Over and out.’

Diplomacy

DIPLOMACY

The streets were empty, most of the pony’s sound in there homes, though there were still a few stragglers.  Fluttershy had left earlier saying she had to tend to a few Wrens that had sprained their wings.  As the group moved towards Sugarcube corner, they started garnering attention from the ponies who were still out and about.  They were met with a mixture of fear and awe as a few of the ponies decided to come closer for a better look at the four humans.  The soldiers  almost instantly straightened themselves, trying to look smart and orderly for the small crowd(an unnatural instinct drilled into them at boot-camp.  Don’t wanna make the army look bad do you?).  One of the ponies called something out, and although he didn’t understand it, he was pretty sure it was gathering the other inhabitants of the town.  They were so busy paying attention to the crowd that they hadn’t realised they had reached bakery and Amax walked straight into the door.  Actually he walked into the wall just above the door.

‘Watch your head, the doors are a bit small for you.’  As Amax rubbed his head, the other members of their make-shift squad followed the two ponies into the cafe, flashbacks of his days engineering mining equipment entering Banna’s mind.

‘Hello and welcome to-’  Mrs. Cake stopped when she saw Banna and the rest of the squad.

‘-Sugarcube corner...’ she trailed off.  Before Twilight or Rainbow Dash could speak, Pinkie Pie came bouncing down the stairs.

‘Hey guys!  Watcha doing?’ She seemed almost impervious to the soldiers, acknowledging their existence only by moving round them.

‘Oh... hey Pinkie Pie.  I just came to get some cupcakes.’

‘Why?’

‘We’re uh, we’re celebr-’

‘Celebrating!?  You’ve come to the right place!’  She disappeared back up the stairs, then popped back.  ‘What are we celebrating?’

‘Second-Lieutenant Banna was promoted.’

‘Hurray!’ she bounced back up.  Jimothy had stopped paying attention and was browsing the cakes with Thate.

‘What was that about?’ asked Banna, eager to know what had happened.  Oh wait. ‘Was that Pinkie Pie?’  Twilight nodded.  Pinkie Pie came downstairs carrying a bundle of... something.  Without a word she left the store and disappeared into the encroaching darkness.  They all turned back to the counter.

‘Could I get some cupcakes please,’ asked Twilight.  Mrs. Cake’s saleswoman mode kicked in.  Monsters or no monsters, she’d be damned before she lost a sale.

‘How many would you like, dear?’  Twilight turned momentarily to count the group.

‘A bakers dozen please.’ Mrs. Cake gathered up 13 cupcakes and placed them in a box.

‘That’ll be nine bits dear.’ Mrs. Cake gave a friendly, saleswoman smile as Twilight dug into her saddle-pack for money and emerged with the aforementioned amount and put it on the counter.  ‘Enjoy!’ she called after them as they left the building.  The crowds had dispersed, mainly because they weren’t willing to stay too long, but also because it had been getting dark.  Twilight handed the box to Banna once they were outside who took a whiff of the contents.

‘Wow, this smells really good.’  The other three soldiers gathered round, staring into the box, mesmerised by the aroma.  Rainbow Dash walked over to them and waved her hoof in front of their faces, garnering no reactions aside from Thate who snapped out of it for just a second before going back into the trance they all seemed to be stuck in.

‘You all act like you’ve never had a cupcake before,’ she joked.

‘Something like that...’ mumbled Amax, reaching out for one only to have his hand slapped away by Jimothy.  Although they had eaten baked goods before, the rationing system had minimised that, and being in the military meant you got even less (Especially if you were in the thick of it).  In short, they hadn’t seen a cake for the past four years.  Banna shook himself.

‘Right lads, we’ve got to get a move on.’ He closed the box and started speaking in his most formal voice.  ‘Ms. Sparkle, I thank you sincerely for this gift, and I will repay you, I promise, but we must return to our base.’  Jimothy and Amax looked less then pleased, while Thate kept his (mostly) neutral demeanour.

‘What, at this time of night?  Oh no!  There are way too many monsters roaming the Everfree Forest to go venturing at night.’

‘I am sure we will be able to handle whatever it is this forest throws at us.’

‘But you must be tired after having to make the same journey to and back three times now.’  Amax and Jimothy had realised now was the time to press the advantage and went on the offensive.

‘Yeah, sir, my aim isn’t too good at night.  Too dark.’ Stated Jimothy

‘And I don’t think I can stay on my two feet any longer sir,’ added Amax.  Thate gave a yawn which seemed a little too loud to have been a real one.  Banna rolled his eyes.

‘Okay fine, we can stay.’  Amax and Jimothy both fist pumped and Thate smiled.  ‘But where?  The houses don’t seem big enough to fit in comfortably.’  Rainbow Dash had an idea.

‘You could stay at AJ’s farm.’

‘Who?’

‘Applejack.  She runs the local apple farm here.  Their barn is definitely big enough for you, plus the hay is rather comfortable.’  Wow, hay.  That was five star accommodations for a man on the front.  The thing is, he wasn’t on the front.  He would have picked the bed back in the barracks, but the men insisted on acting like little children, so now they had to stay.  Well, it was better than freezing your arse off in a pit somewhere.  His eyelids started getting heavier.  Come to think of it, that bed of hay didn’t sound so bad.  In the corner of his eye he spotted something, an array of lights to the mountains far east.  Gazing at it he realised something.  It was a castle!  How could he have missed it?  Twilight followed his gaze.

‘That’s Canterlot castle, home to the two princesses Celestia and Luna.  They rule over the land from there.  I used to live there you know.’  It rivalled some of the fortresses he had seen on his tours of duty.

‘So that’s where I’m supposed to be going tomorrow?’  Twilight nodded enthusiastically.  The view must be nice from there.  There must be a balcony that the drop ship can land at with a castle like that.  Within a few minutes they had reached Sweet Apple Acres and could see the rows of apple trees stretching off into the distance, the darkness giving it the effect of going on forever.  The barn had some lamps still on around it to try and ward away any nocturnal predators.  The barn seemed large enough to accommodate them, though nobody had doubted that.

‘Just go inside, Rainbow Dash and I will go speak to Applejack about it.’

‘We will? I mean, yeah, we will.’  The two ponies walked towards the farm house while the men made themselves comfortable in the barn.  It was the usual stereotypical barn, with a second floor (more of a platform really) and an assortment of farming tools and equipment.  To their right, hay was spread out along the floor.

‘Finally,’ said Amax as he jumped onto the stack.  ‘This is quite soft.  Better than those poor excuses for beds.’ He moved about trying to find the most comfortable position to lie in and  Jimothy followed suite.  Banna looked around for Thate, then realised he had gone up to the platform and was hanging around near the large window.

‘You gonna keep watch or something?’  Thate nodded.  Okay, time to hit the hay.  Despite the joke being really, really poor, he chuckled at it nonetheless and set about looking for his own stack of hay.

------------

‘So Twilight, how exactly do we tell Applejack she has four aliens spending the night in her barn?’ Asked Rainbow Dash as she caught up with her.

‘I don’t know.  Maybe we should just leave the details about them being aliens out.  Say we have friends over.’  They both agreed and continued to the farmhouse.  Twilight knocked on the door and waited for Applejack to answer.  They heard the shuffling of hoofsteps and someone wondering out loud as to whoever it could be.  The door swung open revealing Applejack, her hat off her head.

‘Why howdy there Twilight, Rainbow Dash.  How are you both this fine night?’

‘Oh we’re fine.  Hey do you think you could do me a favour?’

‘Why sure Twilight, what is it?’

‘I have some friends over from Canterlot and they need somewhere to stay.  Do you think they could spend the night in your barn?’  Applejack looked at her quizzically.

‘Uh, okay, yeah, it’s just that...’

‘What?  Is something wrong?’

‘Well you told me that, aside from the princesses, you didn’t have any friends back in Canterlot.’  Oh right.  She forgot about that.  Luckily Rainbow Dash thought of something.

‘Uh, that’s because they’re not her friends, they’re my friends!’  She said, slightly unsure of herself.

‘Your friends?’

‘Yeah, that’s right.  My friends.  What you think I don’t have other friends?’ she answered more confidently this time.

‘Okay, so why did Twilight say they were her friends?’

‘It’s a kind of my friend is your friend, type, thing?’  Applejack stared at her for a moment.

‘Makes sense to me.  Sure they can stay.  Lemme just go say hello...’ she tried to leave but Twilight barred her exit.

‘Oh no that’s okay they’ve had a long day getting here.  It’s best we let them rest.’

‘Whatever you say.  Well I’m gonna go to bed now.  See you tomorrow.’

‘Okay girls, I see you tomorrow.’ Applejack closed the door and the two ponies left.

‘We should probably get to the barn early tomorrow in case we have to explain things to Applejack.  I’ll put my cloud near the barn’ Said Rainbow Dash.

‘Yeah, good idea.  Well, see you tomorrow.’  She started angling towards her tree house.

‘Yeah, see you tomorrow Twilight.’  Hopefully tomorrow would pass without too much incident.

------------

Banna stretched himself, a feeling of ease pass through his spine as he heard the cracks in his back.

‘Your becoming an old man,’ commented a half awake Amax, his hair ruffled.

‘That’s not how your supposed to talk to your superiors,’ Banna stood up. ‘Besides, I’m only 25, and your what, 15?’ He retorted.

‘Actually it’s 22 sir.’  Amax pulled out his flask and poured some on his hands, splashing it on his face.  Banna looked around for any sign of Twilight or Rainbow Dash.  Nothing.  There was however the box of cupcakes from yesterday.  God knows why they hadn’t eaten it the day before, but at least it gave him something to do while he waited.

‘Anyone want some cupcakes?’ He asked aloud.  They all turned their heads.  ‘Well?’  Advancing on the officer, they each took their share (three each plus one for Banna) and made off to different corners of the room to eat.  As he chewed, he remembered he had to go to Canterlot castle today.  Better freshen up.  ‘Hey anyone got any anti-perspirant?’

‘Why would we have deodorant sir...’

‘Oh right, sorry.’  Stupid question.  Thate was still in the same spot he had been yesterday, looking out the large window.  He tensed.  Banna turned to Amax and Jimothy.  ‘Quickly!  Hide!’  They dropped the cupcake wrappers and dived into the haystacks, concealing themselves as best they could.  Thate moved into the shadows and Banna kneeled behind a few crates at the back of the barn.  He could see Amax and Jimothy’s eyes peering out expectantly for something to happen.  Sure enough, they heard the beat of hooves outside.

------------

‘You got any ideas for today Applebloom?’  Asked Sweetiebelle.  The filly furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, then shook her head.  They had tried everything from administration to zoology with no success whatsoever.  Scootaloo sat up.  ‘We could always try... no wait we’ve done that.  How about... no we’ve done that too.’  Was there anything left to do?  Applebloom looked around.  There was no one visible on the farm.  Looking up, she saw a few pegasi flying about.  That gave her an idea.

‘Hey girls, you know I just realised we’ve only been thinking small.’  The other two fillies looked at her confused.

‘Whaddaya mean?’ They asked.

‘We-e-e-ll, what I mean is, we should start thinking outside the box.’

‘You mean like we’ve been checking in the wrong places?’  Applebloom stopped for a moment.  She had heard the phrase from her sister, so she wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘But we already looked everywhere we can.’ Commented Scootaloo.

‘That’s it!’ Exclaimed Applebloom, standing up.  ‘If we’ve looked everywhere we can, we should look somewhere we can’t!’

‘How would we do that?  We can’t look there, that’s why it’s in the name.’  Critisized Sweetiebelle.

‘Okay maybe not impossible, but really, really hard or unlikely.  Where do we know that is hard to get to?’  The three fillies looked at each other browsing their memories for any hard-to-reach locations.  At exactly the same time, a smile spread across all of their faces.

‘SPACE!’  They shouted.

‘Wait, what is there to see in space?’ asked Scootaloo.

‘Hmm... Aliens!’

‘ALIEN HUNTING CUTIE MARKS YEAH!’

‘So where should we start?’  They heard a rustling coming from the barn.

‘The barn!’  They started creeping towards the barn door.

------------

Rainbow Dash yawned.  That was a good nap.  Now to stretch my wings a bit.  She stretched her wings and yawned once more in unison. Just as she was about to jump she heard someone cry something about alien hunting.  Almost immediately she shifted her gaze to the barn.  Sure enough, there were the Cutie mark crusaders snooping about the farm.  Oh thank Celestia, it was only them.  For a moment there she thought they were talking about- they’re entering the barn.  They’re entering the barn.  She dived off her cloud.

------------

They were still here goddamn it.  Banna checked his watch.  It hadn’t been adjusted, so it was still set to Gleya 3/5 time.  It was currently four o’clock in the morning there.  He was sure the fleet was having a fun early morning fighting off yet another attack on the plane- Oh bugger she was going for the hay stacks.  He could see Amax’s pleading eyes through the hay, but the small ponies hadn’t seemed to realise it.  They were too busy jumping about, obviously excited about something.  The white one sat down on Amax, the soldier making a distinctive grunting noise.  She jumped up.  Crap, they were going to find him.  Hang on a second, what were they doing?  They were here for diplomacy, they didn’t need to hide, after all, the princess had asked him to make friends with the locals.  He took a deep breath and stepped out.  Stupid idea.

They hadn’t noticed him as they were too busy trying to solve the case of the hard, grunting hay stack.

‘Um, hello?’  They turned, a look of horror on their faces, then as quickly as the expression had come, it changed and was replaced with joy.  Wow, they must really like me, he thought at first.  The yellow one dashed off left.  The white one dashed off right.  Hang on, what’s going on.  The orange one ran straight towards him.  He was unsure of what to do.  His instinct told him they were flanking him and that he should whip out his pistol and start shooting everything that moved.  His instinct also told him that the sound of sprinklers were in fact the sound of gunships flying over head, so he wasn’t about to trust them.  The orange one lunged straight into his chest, causing him to stumble backwards and trip over the yellow one who had positioned herself right behind his leg.  As soon as he hit the ground, the white one tossed a net over him.  He tried moving but they all sat on top of him.  That and the net meant that his movement was severely restricted.  They had got him.  He started laughing which greatly confused the fillies.  They had just caught him, why was he laughing?  Three campaigns and a space battle survived, yet somehow he had been taken down by three children.  Rainbow Dash appeared at the barn door.  It was worse than she thought.

------------

‘Girls!  Get off him!’She walked over to Banna, glaring at them, but they didn’t budge.

‘But Rainbow Dash, we caught this alien sneakin’ around in the barn!  He’s obviously up to no good.’  Stated Applebloom.

‘He and his friends were spending the night here because your sister allowed them to.’ She responded slightly angrily.  They looked confused.

‘Friends?’  At that moment, Amax and Jimothy revealed themselves, standing up.  Thate appeared next to the crusaders in his usual mysterious fashion.  The three of them fell off Banna, allowing him to break free of the net.

‘Are you alright sir?’

‘Yeah I’m fine.  They did a fine job of taking me down.  You could learn something from them men.’  Rainbow Dash simply stared at him in disbelief.

‘You mean you don’t mind?’

‘Of course not.  They’re just children.  I’ve met children who’ve done more reckless things.’  He glanced at Amax. ‘So, we’re going to have to move out now.  I believe we have an engagement with the princess.’

‘Oh right.  You might want to talk to Twilight about that.  See if she can get you the royal chariot or something.’  He was going to take the drop ship, but royal chariot sounded good.  It was very far away though, he wasn’t sure just how it was going to get them there quickly.

‘So where does Twilight live exactly?’

‘She lives in a library towards the centre of town.  Come on I’ll show ya.’  She turned and walked out the barn door.  The squad followed her out.  As they progressed towards the exit, Rainbow Dash heard a familiar voice coming round the barn.

‘Ah should probably check on the guests Big Mac.  Don’t worry ah’m sure they won’t be too cranky.  City folk don’t mind wakin’ up too early do they?’  Applejack trotted round the corner, staring at something out of sight, presumably Big Mac.  Then she made the mistake of turning her head.  Banna and the men stared back at the orange pony, whose mouth was so wide it was practically on the floor.  Rainbow Dash gave a nervous chuckle.

‘Uh, hey Applejack.  I was, um, just taking my friends to see Twilight.’  Applejack slowly turned her head to Rainbow Dash.

‘These are your friends...’ She said slowly and drowsily.  Rainbow Dash pawed at the ground nervously.

‘Yeah.’

‘You mind telling me how you... met?’

‘Oh, well it’s a long story actually, and we have somewhere to be so maybe another time?’  Said Rainbow Dash, attempting to push the four men away towards the town.  Applejack returned to her usual self.

‘Now wait just a darn minute, you can’t go takin’ them into town!  People’ll get scared!’  She called after her, running to block the road.

‘Oh come on Applejack, they have a meeting with the princess.  They can’t be late for that!’

‘The princess?  She knows them?’  Asked Applejack inquisitively as the group continued onwards past her.

‘We-e-ell not exactly, but she knows of them.  Now come on, they need to get to Canterlot.’

Applejack didn’t look too happy.

‘Alright fine, but you’d better tell me what’s goin’ on ‘round here.’

In town a huge crowd gathered.  Yesterday only a few of the townsfolk had been awake, now it was late morning and everyone was up and about.  Some kept there distance while others came close to see what all the fuss was about.  A few even tried to touch them.  The soldiers waved at a few of the younger ones and kept close to Rainbow Dash.  The cutie mark crusaders followed them in the hopes of finding out a different skill that only these off-worlders could provide.  They reached Twilight’s house after a good 20 minutes of attempting to get through the crowd.  She lives in a tree?  Banna thought.  Right outside her house were two pegasi standing next to a golden chariot.  Something told him that was the royal chariot.  It didn’t look like it could fit all of them.  There would only be enough space for another one person after he got in plus a pony, or two if they didn’t mind the squeeze.  Twilight was visible on the balcony.

‘Hey Twilight!’  Called Rainbow Dash.  ‘I brought them here!’

‘I can see that!’  She called back.  ‘I’ll be down in a second!’  She disappeared off into the house and reappeared at the door looking very nervous.  ‘So how is everything?’  She noticed Applejack behind Banna.  ‘I see you met Applejack,’ she said slightly exasperated.

‘Yeah, she was surprised to see us.  I think she’s gotten over it, but I don’t know.’  Twilight looked a little relieved, though she was still in high-stress mode.  Banna looked at the chariot.  ‘Is this the royal-’

‘-chariot, yes it is.  The princess sent it over earlier today.  She also wanted you to know that there would be a few ambassadors left over from the meetings.’

‘How did you know that?’  She held out a letter.

‘Well, you’d better get a move on, it’s rude to keep the princess waiting.’  She used her magic to pull Banna towards the chariot as she got in.  Banna waved his hands and told her to stop.

‘I need someone else to come with me, for, uh, moral support and, um, decision making.’  Twilight thought for a second.

‘Sure, I’m certain the princess will be pleased.’  The real reason he didn’t want to go alone was because, as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t trust any of it.  It had nothing to do with the ponies themselves, they seemed great, rather it was the lack of Anteeists that got to him.  What was to say that they hadn’t got to the pony leaders first and were setting up a trap for high officials.  Then it struck him.  He had been promoted for this exact reason.  The Major and ship Captain didn’t want to risk themselves walking into a potential trap, so they sent him instead.  If he died, it was just another officer lost among the many millions of officers already dead.  Just another number in a list...  Well, can’t say he hadn’t expected this.  Not all officers were big fluffy marshmallows who cared about their men.  He shook himself.  No time to ponder.  Now, who would be the best candidate?  He looked at the three men.  Thate was handy in a scrape, but that was about it really.  He didn’t talk much, so he wasn’t going to get any help in that respect.  Next was Jimothy.  He talked quite a bit, sometimes too much.  He didn’t really have the experience he was looking for though, therefore the obvious choice was Amax.  Amax and him had fought alongside each other ever since the boy had joined.  He was fairly similar to Jimothy in terms of speech, but at least he knew when to keep his mouth shut.  There might be a problem with following orders though...

‘Amax, your up.’  Amax feigned surprise, as though he knew he was going to get picked.

‘I feel very honoured that you picked me over these two fine soldiers sir,’ he said sarcastically, jogging over to the chariot.

‘Thate, Jimothy,’ he said more seriously.  ‘Get back to base.  See if you can ready a dropship to collect me from the castle.’  He pulled out a notepad, scribbled a few lines down, signed it then handed it to Thate.  ‘Give this to the commanding officer if they don’t believe you.’  The two soldiers saluted then made off home.  He jumped in the chariot and looked at Twilight.  ‘I think we should get moving don’t you?’

‘Now hold on just one minute!’ Applejack ran up to the chariot and got in, squeezing herself in next to Twilight.  ‘I ain’t leaving mah friend with some aliens ah just met today.’

‘Oh Applejack, you don’t have to...’

‘Oh hush Twi, I’d never forgive mahself if anything happened to you when I could have stopped it.’  Banna stared at the two of them.

‘The more the merrier I suppose,’ he said.  ‘Now, let’s go.’  Twilight nodded to the pegasi, and they started flying upwards, the chariot in tow.  At first they seemed to be having trouble lifting the two humans, but that was only momentary, and they were soon on their way much to the amazement of the two soldiers.

Banna enjoyed the cool breeze on his face.  It was very refreshing, away from all the hustle and bustle of the crowds and officers.  Behind them he could see a cloud following them at an unusually fast pace.

‘So, Banna, where do you come from?’  Asked Twilight.  Applejack just stared at him in case he tried, as she put it, ‘somethin’ funny’.  Twilight had once more casted the understanding spell for Applejack to listen.  Banna drifted to thoughts of home.

‘I come from Gleya III, tens of thousands of light years away.’  Twilight was getting more interested.

‘So there are three versions of your home?’  Banna laughed.

‘Not exactly.  There are seven planets in the solar system, Gleya.  I come from the third one, the only fully inhabitable one other than the first and fourth.’

‘So what’s it like?’

‘Pretty much like here I guess, though not necessarily the same fauna or animals.  Of course, it’s different depending on how far north or south you are or what continent you’re on, just like any habitable planet.  I came from just north of the equator from a place called Sinobia.  It’s very mountainous in the area, and us such, the cities aren’t as developed or well spread there which is a relief because we get some fresh air.  Me and my brother used to play soldiers in the woods.  The stories of the war inspired us, and dad used to write home about his experiences.  When I was younger I always thought it was ‘cool’ how he was fighting, but as I got older I started to miss him.  I haven’t been home for... ten years now.’  Applejack couldn’t help but look a bit sorry for him.

‘Why not?’  She asked, wondering why anypony would want to be away from home for a whole decade.

‘Well, there was a siege on.  While I was growing up it wasn’t too bad, but it slowly increased in fervour.  We could hear the explosions from the nearby cities, and once or twice a stray missile would slam into a neighbouring house.  Eventually mother made us leave for a different solar system to live with some distant relatives of ours.  There was no siege which was a nice change, but now we lived in a city.  Not as big as the ones in Gleya, but still pretty crowded.  We got by, but as soon as I reached the age of 18, I was conscripted.’

‘That’s horrible!’ Commented Twilight.

‘At least it wasn’t Gleya I.’  The two soldiers looked at each other in agreement then shivered.  What could be so bad about Gleya I?  She thought.

‘What’s wrong with Gleya I?’  They both looked at her with a sense of dread.

‘Large scale orbital bombardments...’

‘Frequent commando incursions...’

‘Whole fleets blocking out the sun...’

‘It’s practically a war zone there all the time on all sides of the planet.’  The ponies could barely imagine what a small skirmish was like let alone a massive battle.  They’d just have to take his word for it.

‘Well enough about me, if I’m going to properly negotiate with your country I need to know more about it.’  Stated Banna, looking at Twilight expectantly.

‘Oh, well, where to begin...  Equestria is the largest nation on this planet, and is growing in size all the time.’

‘Growing in size?  Are you on a conquest?’

‘Oh Celestia no!’ She spoke, taken aback, ‘Smaller nations join us.  As time has passed, many ponies and indeed other races have come to see that it is pointless to remain separate.  Together who knows what we could accomplish?  Most of the nations that haven’t joined are different species, like the griffon kingdoms-’

‘Wait, there are MORE sentient species on this planet!?’  Twilight looked startled.

‘Well yes, of course.  Why, is there something wrong?’

‘Sorry, no, it’s just that from my, uh, species, experience only one race can be dominant on a planet.  Another sentient species just doesn’t develop or is killed off.  At least it was like that.  Now there seems to be more tolerance and less xenophobia.’

‘Oh.’  Twilight wasn’t really sure how to answer to that.

‘Hey Twilight, ah don’t mean to interrupt yer conversation there, but we’re here.’  Banna stared at the city below, the streets filled with ponies of all kinds going about their business.  Kind of like back home, he thought.  He shifted his attention to the castle in front if him.  It truly was magnificent, turrets and battlements towering high above the city with banners and flags waving proudly in the breeze.  One balcony, focused about halfway up seemed to be the biggest of them all, and the chariot was headed straight for it.  Just for a second he thought he saw a small flash of pink from it.  Probably just his brain playing tricks on him.  They landed with a brief thud, causing everyone to jolt.  The guards unsaddled and left for the lower recesses.

‘That’s odd.’  Said Twilight watching them leave.

‘What?’  He asked.

‘The guards don’t normally leave guests alone in the castle, especially when meeting with the princesses.’  That didn’t sound too good.  There was that cloud again.

‘Hey Twilight, you know that cloud over there?’

‘Yeah I know, Rainbow Dash has been following us.’  Actually he was going to ask if the weather tended to follow people around.  ‘It’s okay Dash you can come out now!’  Her head popped out from behind. She was visibly unhappy that she had blown her cover.

‘You knew I was there?’

‘You stick out like a sore hoof Rainbow.  Ya think we wouldn’t notice a cloud followin’ us around on a clear day?’  Said Applejack.

‘If it’s any consolation, I wasn’t expecting it,’ said Amax who truly had not noticed the cloud following them.

‘Yeah well your not exactly hard to scare.’  She responded.  Amax was not amused.

The only way off the balcony (other than base jumping) was through the large doors which Banna presumed led to a hall of some kind, probably for the meeting he was going to attend.

‘Come on, let’s go.’  Banna and Amax pushed the doors open which were surprisingly heavy.  It was almost pitch black in the hall.  Banna couldn’t see one foot inside.  Then...

‘SURPRISE!’

Banna and Amax jumped back, reaching for their firearms.  The lights came on to reveal the room full of ponies, all assembled around tables and chairs, streamers and confetti falling, a large banner with something he couldn’t understand written on it and, most notably, two ponies significantly larger than the others, one blue and one white (Probably Celestia and Luna, he thought) with a horn and wings sitting at a round table towards the front.  He was dumbstruck.  Pinkie Pie bobbed up to him happily, a party hat on her head.

‘Wereyousurprised?Ihopeyouweresurprised,IwasworriedyoumightnotbesurprisedbecauseyousawmeonthebalconythenIwasworriedaboutthehotsaucebeingto-’

‘PINKIE!’  They all looked at Twilight and she blushed.  ‘Uh, I mean Pinkie Pie, don’t you think we should let Banna and Amax meet the princesses?’

‘Oh silly me!  Of course they should!  This way.’  She trotted off into the crowd, some how appearing next to the princesses.  Music started playing.  It was the kind of music they have in restaurants, not so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself speak but not too quiet that no one noticed it.  Banna could clearly see a unicorn with a blue mane and shades standing next to a turntable looking fairly bored.  The ponies had not known what to expect from the visitors but still attempted to make his acquaintance, he couldn’t understand them though so Twilight had to apologise for him and Amax as they made their way through the crowd.  Eventually they got to the table that the two princesses were sitting at.  It was a bit bigger than the other tables, but the table was still just a little too small for his legs to fit under when sitting down on the chair (which oddly enough was the right size).  Both him and Amax stood to attention and saluted the princesses while the ponies accompanying them bowed.   There was something about the princesses that gave him a feeling of awe.  Their gentle smiles, the wavy manes, the elegance, he felt compelled to bow.  The only thing that stopped him was that bowing was a sign of surrender in the Gleyan army, done only to officers and Gleya's Chairman.  Had he been a civilian he just might have.  That and he liked to pretend he was a 'free spirit'.  Princess Celestia said something, but he couldn’t understand.  She then turned to Twilight and said something to her.

‘No.  I, uh, don’t know the spell.’  She looked a bit disappointed in herself.  Celestia said something else then stood up.  All the ponies went silent, even the music stopped.  Celestia’s horn start to glow in the same fashion as Twilight’s when she cast the ‘understanding’ spell but the air seemed to change.  It felt much heavier and that everything was getting sucked towards here.  Her eyes started to glow and her hair turned into pure white energy.  Banna felt his consciousness faltering, and judging from everyone elses twitching, hanging faces, it seemed everyone felt the same way.

‘AGGHH CRAP!’  Amax screamed, clutching his head and fell to his knees.  Banna wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong, then he felt it.

‘AH, FU-!’ His brain felt like it was expanding, burning and imploding violently at the same time.  Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone.  He looked around.  The ponies didn’t seem to have had quite the same reaction since they were all staring at them.  Princess Luna approached the two of them and helped them up.  Amax looked at Banna.

‘You got any idea what just happened sir?’

‘Not a bloody clue.’  He could hear murmurs from the crowd.

What’s wrong with them? Why did they scream... only two days ago...

Wait a minute.  He could understand them.

‘You hear that sir?’

‘Yes I do...’

‘I hope that the spell didn’t cause you too much pain gentlecolts,’ said a very tired Celestia.  She was panting and had to be held up by Twilight and a guard.  ‘I didn’t know how magic would react to you.’

‘Why didn’t it hurt when Twilight did it?’  She smiled weakly.

‘She only opened your minds.  It is one way of doing things, but it makes you more susceptible to reading a persons mind.  I fused the language into yours and your friends minds.’

‘Friends?’

‘You have friends in the Everfree Forest correct?’

‘Uh, yeah, how did you know that?’

‘Your mind was open remember?’  The two of them went wide eyed and had the same look of OH SHIT on their faces.

‘Don’t worry, my sister and I only saw what was on the surface.’  She said, seeing their faces.  They remained unchanged.  ‘Just what was on your mind right now.’  Although Banna calmed down, Amax still looked a bit distraught.

‘Thank you for the, uh, compliment.’ Said Luna shyly to Amax.  He blushed rather profusely.

‘Oh right, uh...’  Banna wasn’t entirely sure what she meant.

‘When did you compliment her?’  He asked.

‘Oh I sort of, um, thought it...’

‘Ah.  Now, our heads hurt because of the language infusion, correct?’

‘No, that was from me closing your minds.’  Made sense.  She looked around the crowd.  They were all engrossed with what was going on.  ‘I’m sure parties are supposed to have music playing.’  The music abruptly started, the DJ still looking fairly bored.  ‘Ms. Scratch, maybe something a little more... lively?’  Vinyl smiled ferociously and changed records.  A very loud dance beat came on, and the ponies all seemed to liven up, going off to dance.  It really was a catchy tune, and for a second he forgot all about the meeting and almost danced off into the crowd.  ‘Second-Lieutenant Banna and Lance Corporal Amax, I think it would be better to discuss things elsewhere.’

‘Uh, sure ma’am.’  Banna, Amax, Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Applejack followed the two princesses to a set of doors somewhere on the left side of the hall.  As they neared it Pinkie Pie came out of the blue with sweets, chocolates and two ponies in tow.

‘Fluttershy?  Rarity?  What’re you doing here?’  Asked Applejack.

‘Pinkie Pie here told us she was hosting a party for some newcomers to Equestria,’ said Rarity.  ‘Fluttershy told me they were from the Everfree forest, but I didn’t expect anything quite like, uh, them.’

‘So it was Pinkie Pie’s idea?’ Asked Amax.  She immediately pounced on him, clinging onto him aorund his shoulders.

‘Yes!Wereyousurprised?IhopeyouweresurprisedIwasworriedyouwouldn’tbebecauseIthinkyousawmeonthebalconythenthereweresomered-’

‘Y-yes! Yes we were both very surprised.’  She squeed in delight and jumped off him. They continued onwards through the doors and beyond into the halls.  The winding passaged seemed to go on forever, and the stairs were a pain in the neck.  By the end of it they were gasping for air at the top of a spiral staircase in front of a door.  The ponies didn’t show any sign of fatigue.

‘Are you okay?’  Asked Luna.

‘Oh we’re fine your majesty *pant* we’re more of *pant* long distance runners,’

‘Already tired?  I thought you guys were supposed to be tough!’ Berated Rainbow Dash.

‘Hey, why don’t you try carrying *pant* our gear *pant* next time,’  Amax answered.

‘Besides, I don’t see *pant* you beating me in a fight anytime soon,’ retorted Banna.

‘Is that a challenge?’ She asked, quickly.

‘Not really, no-’

‘Challenge accepted!’  Banna facepalmed.  ‘Come on then, I’ll take you on...’  She got into a fighting stance, punching at the air.

‘Rainbow Dash, I don’t think now is the best time,’ said Twilight gesturing to the two princesses.

‘Okay fine, but don’t think you’ve gotten out of it.’  That was going to be an annoyance.

‘Okay girls, sorry but you aren’t going to be able to sit in on the meeting.’ Said Twilight apologetically.

‘What!  Why?  What if he tries something funny?’  Banna rolled his eyes.

‘I’m not going to ‘try’ anything funny.’  Rainbow Dash still wasn’t convinced, but she stayed outside with the other four mares.  Banna, Amax, Luna, Celestia and Twilight entered the chambers and shut the door.  All five mares stuck their heads against the door to listen in on the conversation, but it was all muffled.

‘It’s pointless, we’ll just have to ask Twilight.’  Resolved Rainbow Dash.  Applejack started thinking.

‘Hey Rarity?’

‘Yes dear?’

‘D’ya think ya could cast a spell to make us hear better?’

‘Oh, of course!’  Her horn glowed for a few seconds giving all the mares the temporary power of super-pony hearing.  They started listening again.

------------

The room wasn’t too big, just right for their parties size.  In the middle there was a table with an assortment of papers signed and sealed, all looking very important.  To the left of the room there was a balcony, the doors wide open revealing the city streets below.  It wasn’t quite dark yet, but he could see the sun setting.  The remaining walls had shelves laden with books.  Celestia, Luna and Twilight sat at one end of the table while Banna and Amax sat at the other end.

‘So, how was your journey here?’ Asked Celestia, looking intently at him.

‘It was very comfortable thank you.  You didn’t have to send it, I could have made my way here just as easily.’

‘Nonsense!  You are a guest here, it is only right.  So, we should get down to business.  What brings you here?’  War.  Disease.  Famine.  Fear.

‘We have come looking for a place to live, and if you are willing to trade, resources.’

‘A place to live?  Did something happen to your home?’  It’s currently being contested between two armies who destroy anything that gets in the middle of them.

‘Not quite.  There’s a siege on right now, but that’s not the real reason we’re here.  We’re here to ensure that Gleya lives on.  Should every other bastion of ours fall somehow, this will be a safe haven for our weary forces.  It’s also so that the veterans have somewhere nice to retire to without being bombed at home.  Lastly, we’re here for resources, so if you have anything to trade, we’re willing.’

‘I see... but what would we have that you could possibly want?’  There was a beeping sound from Banna’s satchel.

‘Sorry, just one second.’  He pulled out the data pad and started finding his way to the messages.  Twilight left her seat and scrambled to his side, eager to see what he was holding.

‘What is it?’ She asked, full engrossed by the digital screen, the screens lighting casting a green hue onto her face.  He glanced at her.

‘It’s a data pad.  I use it to communicate with my officers outside of combat and maybe play the odd game or two.’

‘Game?’  Banna pressed on an icon and the screen faded to black then became alive with colours followed by a title screen saying ‘Pocket Governor’ and a ‘tap to continue’.  An airy song started playing and everyone in the room started focusing on the pad.

‘Maybe I can show you later,’ he said, seeing the looks from Amax and the curious ones of Luna and Celestia.  He reached the message that had been sent and opened it up.  ‘And here we go!  Aha, in answer to your last question there are quite a few things you have, most importantly carrberium.’  They looked confused.  ‘The metal you have in abundance up in the mountains north-east of here.’  They realised what he was talking about.

‘Dost thou- I mean do you mean the equinitium?’ Asked Luna.

‘I suppose so.’  It was probably the same thing.  ‘Will that be a problem?’

‘Oh no, that will be fine.  I’m sure we will be able to work something out.’ Said Celestia, concentrating on something.

‘Just out of interest, why do you want the equinitium?’ Asked Twilight, eager to find out more.  He could guess why she was wondering.  Only very advanced civilisations could extract the metal because of how tough it was.  Even for them it was still a pretty hard process (though mass production meant that didn’t matter so much); the heat-drills used required a lot of energy and had to be shut down for an hour after only ten minutes of use to cool down.

‘You can’t use it can you?’

‘Only the most powerful of magic users can try.’  There it was again.  Magic.  He was going to have to ask about that sooner or later because, while he wasn’t too bothered about the details, he was pretty sure that answering every question command asked him with ‘magic’ would raise a bit of suspicion.

‘That’s because your technology isn’t advanced enough.  We, on the other hand have the tools to use it.’

‘Just out of interest, what do you use it for?’ Asked Celestia, looking more serious than before.  Probably better not to answer tanks, battleships, cruisers, forts, bunkers, stormtroopers, drop-pods, etc.

‘Oh, ships, buildings, drills, anything which needs to be strong and sturdy.’  She sat in silence, still in thought, then snapped out of it.

‘Then I don’t think we will have a problem.  You will have to give me some time to think about what we would want in return.’

‘Of course.  I have the list here,’ he held up his data pad, ‘If you would like to see it.’

‘That would be helpful thank you.’  She turned to Luna.  ‘Now’s your chance Luna, you’ve been wanting to get more involved in state affairs.’  She looked at Celestia, wide-eyed, obviously thankful for the opportunity.

‘Do you really mean it?’  She nodded.  Luna got up and went to Banna.

‘Second-lieutenant Banna, I shall handle the list.’  She thrust out her hoof.  He handed it to her in a resignated fashion.  She took it and made for the door, but then Banna noticed something.  He couldn’t read any of the script from the papers lying around.

‘Wait a second.’  Luna stopped dead in her tracks.  ‘Can you read that?’ She looked down at it.

‘Oh, uh, no...’  Just as he thought.

‘Amax, go and assist her please.’  Amax stared out the window, daydreaming.  ‘Amax!’  he fell off his chair.

‘Yeah, right sure I’ll do it.  What did I have to do again?’  Luna stifled a laugh which earned her a glare fromm Celestia.

‘Go and translate the list for her.’  Amax saluted and left the room with Luna, taking the oad from her.  ‘And don’t break it!’  He called out after them.

‘Well, there are still some unresolved issues with Coltorado, and I think we should continue this after the list has been checked.  Shall we call it a day?’

Banna nodded.

‘Yeah, I feel exhausted.’  The chariot must given him some variation of jet lag.

‘I have prepared two rooms for you and your associate to sleep in.’  Woah, no one said anything about spending the night here, but then again, a luxury bed wouldn’t be so bad. ‘Twilight, I think you remember where the guest rooms are.’

‘Of course princess.  I will show him the way.’  She said quite quickly

‘Thank you Twilight, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to tend to the other ambassadors.’  Celestia left the room followed by Banna and Twilight.

The sound of clops on the stone work echoed through the corridors.

‘Aren’t you going to go to the party?  It’s still on you know,’  Asked Twilight staring at Banna’s utility belt.

‘No, I’m too tired.  Going to need a bit of rest.’  She nodded her head in understanding.  They walked on a bit more in silence, passing a few guards.  They all gave Banna looks, some of them in fear, some of them in awe, and some of them in aggression (he wondered why).

‘Hey, what’s this?’

‘Wha- hey no, don’t touch tha-’

‘khkhkhkhkh- Tah khufra meshin -khkhkhkhkhkhk- Roger that, we’re engaging now -khkhkhkhkhkhkhk- OhOhOh aNd ThAt’S wHeN I tOoK He- khkhkhkhkh- So, I wanna talk about carberrium, thaaaaats right! Now if you’ve been listening to what I’ve been sayin’ recently, there have been reports  -which have now been CONFIRMED!- from our military, that they have found a large carberrium mines on a planet not too far from here. Now what this means is, that carberrium will either plummet or flourish as people will both sell out and invest in it. I mean, if it hits hard, over half the network will go in debt! I mean what the hell are the Gleyan forces doin’ up there? It’s ridiculous! Over half of the entire god damn solar network is involved with carberrium investments! I wanna hear what your sorry arses have to say about this outrage!

612-X45, what the hell do you have to say about this crap?

“HEY GHOST! I wanted to tell you something REALLY important!”

Oh god, here we, we got this god damned armless pervert, yeh, eh? What the hell could you possibly want?

“Well, you know how I haven’t got arms, and that I’m entitled to Gleyan credit life benefits? I’ve actually managed to accumulate 50,000 credits worth of prosthetics as well as support drugs! And then I can sell off these arms on the inverse market for twice as much! It’s capitalism at its fine-”

You piece ah’ crap. YOU GOD DAMN EXPLOITATIVE, ARMLESS-PEEPIN’-TOM-ANAL-BUTTERING-FINGER-FU- khkhkhkhkh- isn’t that right?  In other news, the seventh offensive has finally reached a stalemate, with both sides locked in vicious close quarters combat.  The main battle is taking place on Amrioc where our brave men hold back tides of the red armoured menace.  Sadly our on the scene reporter, Biral Tanner was killed yesterday in a chemical attack, and so we have no further information on the event.  Our condolences to his family, this is Station 7, signing off.’

Desert Raiders

DESERT RAIDERS

5 minutes prior to the surprise...

Ponies.  Wearing clothes.  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.  Roger wiped the lens of the binoculars several times, but to no avail.  Either the desert heat was playing tricks on his mind or there was a town over there seemingly built by creatures lacking the necessary appendages to actually perform such a task.  Of course, there was always the possibility of Gleyan hallucinatory weapons...   He placed the binoculars back in his pack and turned to the eight men assembled behind him, their orangey-red coloured armour making them hard to spot even at close range in the dusty, arid desert.

'There's a “town” up ahead, now, it could be a Skyrgi trap, so stay fucking alert, and if it is a trap, well, there isn't much we can hide behind, so we'll jump in the nearest building and hole up until the strike team arrives. Got it?’  They all nodded, completely silent.  The squad advanced towards the town, using whatever brush and rock they could find to stay concealed which seemed to work as all the ponies were completely oblivious to them.  There was muttering on the squad comms.

‘Shit’s insane...’

‘...think they have a bar?’

‘...children in the vicinity...’

‘...those eyes...’  Roger noted the multicoloured nature of the ponies, and the tattoos on their flanks.  They all seemed to be pulling their own carts and the majority of males seemed to be wearing wide brimmed hats.  He glanced up at the sun.  It was probably hot for anyone who didn’t have a cooling system built into their armour.  Like the Gleyans.  In terms of the individual soldier, the Gleyans were at a severe disadvantage in so many ways, he almost felt sorry for them.  Almost.  He gestured towards a ditch behind one of the buildings and the entire squad formed up in it keeping low, the fences keeping the hidden.  Now he had a moment to think.  He could just gather some intel on them or he could interact with them, though that might not be such a good idea.  Who knows how they would react?  Although the Anteeist soldiers would prove more than a match for the ponies who were dwarfed by them, they still outnumbered them so if they had guns and got scared there was the possibility of losing a man, and he didn’t want to waste lives needlessly.  There were still Gleyans about, one’s who knew how to fight, and he would need every able bodied man if it came to that.  Fuck it, he was going in.  It’s not like they would be able to put up that much of a fight, right?

The robberies had really messed things up for the people of Appleloosa, but finally, after a week of turmoil and pony-hunts, despite the large amount of light pockets, the town was running smoothly, no problems at all.  Braeburn watched over the townspeople as they went about their lives, filling carts, going to the store, going to work, the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life on the frontier.  He was sure that nothing could go wrong.

‘Sheriff Braeburn, sir!’ shouted a small colt running up to him.  ‘Ms. Rake said that she spotted some critters out in her ditch again.’  Her again?

‘Well wah doesn’t she just get ‘em out herself?’

‘She says there are a lot of them, and that she’d feel safer if a “big, strong stallion” came to help her.’  Oh Celestia, the amount of times she needed him to do something for her...  come to think of it, why the hell did she even have that ditch?

‘Okay, ahm comin.’  He knew the way to her house like the back of his hoof, he could even do it blindfolded if he had to.  As soon as his hoof made contact with the door it swung open, a cream mare unicrorn standing in it’s place wearing a frilly red dress and a (darker) red feather boa.

‘Why hello Braeburn, have you come to check on lil’ ol’ me?’  Braeburn rolled his eyes.

‘You asked me here ‘bout some critters?’

‘Oh yes, follow me.’  She batted her eyes at him then went back inside.  Braeburn hesitated, but then went inside after her.  She led him through the living room to the kitchen.  ‘Right there.’  She pointed at the ditch, (which he could have found himself anyway).  He took a look, but he couldn’t see any- wait.  There was something moving in it.

‘Ms. Rake, I think you should stay in here.’

‘Oh don’t go alone!  Why do ah... accompany you?’  Inching closer to him with every word.

‘Please miss, now is not the time.’

‘At least stay for some tea.’

‘No thank you ma’am, ah have other matters to attend to after this.’

‘Like what?’  He was at a loss for words.  He had literally nothing else to do today.  Truth be told, he just didn’t want to be alone with her.  Who knew what she would try?

‘Uh, I, er, have to, um, help the townsfolk pack carts!’  She looked unconvinced.

‘Well ahm sure they can wait.  You’ve been workin’ all day, a little rest isn’t out of the question.’  She was getting closer again.  He started blushing.

‘I,um,err, I have to go check on the ditch!’  He almost lept out the back door into her garden, glad to be out of that situation, then looked around.  There was the usual cabbage patch to the left and the tool shed next to it.  The ditch was at the far back of the garden.  He could clearly hear scuffling in it and what seemed to be speech.  Probably some children.

‘Wait for me!’ Ms. Rake came outside, holding a (true to her name) rake.  ‘If they give you any trouble, jus’ use this.’  He took the rake from her, holding it with his hoof (magic!) then advanced towards it.

‘I’m going up.  Just keep me covered and we should be fine.’  Roger slung the gun around his arm and climbed up and out.

The two ponies stared in shock as the thing came out of the ditch, evidently unaware of them.  Its hide looked like a fabricy leather, yet very thick.  It had various metal accessories in what seemed to be pockets and pouches, but its face was the most striking thing.  It was completely still and emotionless, metal and lifeless.  Last but not least were the eyes, or rather, eye since there was only one lense stretching across its face, which reflected its surroundings perfectly like a mirror.

‘That ain’t no critter...’  With Braeburn’s remark, the monster grabbed the stick it had  on its back and pointed it straight at him.  He just stared at it, unsure of what it was supposed to do.

They don’t seem to be reacting to the gun.  That can only mean...

‘Men, come on out.  They’re no threat to us.’  The squad clambered out of the hole.

‘How do you know sir?’  Roger stared at the ponies, who seemed to be terrified by them, yet fairly unreactive to the gun.

'I don't think they've ever seen one of these before' Roger waved his rifle in front of the two ponies, who ignored it.  'See? That means they probably don't have any.'  The soldier nodded.

‘Now, anyone know how we’re supposed to act in this kind of situation?’

‘Why do you think its wavin’ that stick aroun’?’ Asked Ms. Rake with a whisper.  Braeburn shrugged.

‘Maybe it’s trying to communicate?’  The creatures conversed among themselves and looked at the ponies now and again.  He felt Ms. Rake’s hooves around his.  He looked at her questioningly.

‘Ahm scared.’  This was one advance that he wasn’t going to get out of.

‘Fine, jus’ stay close.’

‘Oh don’t worry. I will.’

‘I think the female one is scared!’  All heads turned to look at her, and sure enough she had herself wrapped around his hoof.  ‘Just like the crater eh?’ The men started laughing with the exception of Roger who wasn’t particularly amused by his reference.

‘Ignore them, there’s work to be done.  Any ideas on how we can communicate with them?’  Despite having eight brains at his disposal not counting his own, there was only so much that a soldier, born and bred, could think of.  This was the one advantage the Gleyans had.  The conscript would have experience from other areas of work, and while it didn’t really help them if they worked in a grocery store, a xenologist or biochemist would have knowledge that could save his or his squads arses in awkward situations.

‘I suppose we could do the obvious.’  Said one soldier.

‘Oh yeah?  And what’s that?’

‘We could try talking to them.’  Well it was better than nothing.  Roger sighed, then approached the ponies, slowly, kneeling six feet away from them.

'Hello, do you understand what I'm saying?'

‘What’s it saying?’

‘Be damned if ah know,’ responded Braeburn.  There was an echoey voice coming from it, sort of a series of kh’s and grunts.  ‘We should probably- woah.’  Suddenly he felt faint, his head starting to feel a bit heavy.

‘Ah don’ feel too good...’ trailed off Ms. Rake.  Just as she was about to fall, Braeburn caught her.  ‘Oh, my hero!’  She had done it again.  Better learn to be more vigilant.  Looking up at the creatures he could see they were all holding their... claws, he assumed, up to their heads.

‘Hey, sir I feel a bit faint...’  The soldiers started to sway a little, the feeling of nausea even overcoming Roger making him fall to his knees.  Damn this armour’s heavy...  His head started to feel like it was sucking the world around him into it, and he didn’t like it.  The stimulant packs built into the armour kicked in and he was back on his feet.

‘Did everyone feel that?’  They all nodded.  From the looks of the ponies it seemed that even they had felt it.  ‘The hell was that anyway?’  There was silence.

‘Um, well it was probably magic of some kind.’  That voice didn’t sound male.

‘Which one of you said that?’  Asked Roger, surveying the men.

‘It was me...’  turning slowly, Roger stared at the two ponies in bewilderment.  The female was pawing at the ground nervously, standing behind the male.

‘You spoke?’  She nodded.  Interesting...  He was quite aware of her speaking the exact same language as before, but somehow he now understood it.  ‘So, why exactly do I understand you?’

‘Mah guess would be a knowledge spell.’  He could guess what that meant, but the bit about it being a spell didn’t seem right.

‘Sorry, did you mean a spell as in, like,  magic?’  She looked at him like he was stupid.

‘Well obviously, what else d’ya think it could be?’  Oh, I don’t know, very advanced technology?

‘Here’s the funny thing, magic doesn’t exist, so how exactly could it have been a spell?’  The two ponies jaws opened then closed a number of times looking very shocked.

‘Ya don’t think magic exists?’ Asked the male.

‘There isn’t any proof for its existence, so yes, I don’t.’  The rake suddenly started to glow a cream colour and lift up into the air.

‘Then how do ya think I’m doin’ this?’ Asked the female looking quite smug.  He had to admit he was quite impressed, though still not convinced.

‘Some form of gravity manipulation device, maybe magnets.’

‘A gravah-what now?’

‘Never mind, the point is, there is no magic.  You’re obviously using some other means to get it done.’  She was about to retort but then thought better of it.  There was no point arguing now.

Crap, where are my manners, ‘My name is Roger Vox, officer of the Anteeist crusader force.’  He stuck his hand out.  Braeburn placed his hoof in his hand and he shook it.

‘Ahm, uh, Braeburn, sheriff of Appleoosa.’  Roger looked around.

‘This town, I’m assuming?’

‘Yes that’s right.’  An authority figure, that was very good.  Friends in high places, as his father used to tell him.  Roger turned to the female.

‘And you are?’  She curtsied.

‘Ahm Ms. Rake, Brie Rake.’

‘Nice to meet you Ms. Rake.’  He pulled a tablet and switched it on, a live satellite feed coming on.  ‘Now, we are...’ he scrolled out and moved along the screen.  It was focusing on the desert they had landed in with grass plains and forest visible to the right of the screen.

‘Here.’ He pressed on the town on the map.  A box opened up and he typed the name into it.  Braeburn and Brie had never seen anything like it, magical or otherwise.

‘If there’s no magic, how does that work?’ She asked.  Now he was looking at her like she was the stupid one.

‘Electricity of course.  Don’t you have electricity?’  She nodded.  Electricity was a fairly new invention and was still in the testing stages.  The hydro-electric dam in Ponyville, for example, was part of a larger experiment to find its uses, though research had been slow.  Not many ponies cared for an alternative to magic because they didn’t need one.  The one thing they did have were electric lamps and lights because nopony wants to have to cast an illumination spell for extended periods of time, and a candle doesn’t always do the job, though these were only in places where there was a source of electricity nearby (again, Ponyville) and even that was limited to the rich.

‘Could ah ask a question?’  Brie asked.

‘You just did.’  Roger put the tablet away.

‘Well, is it okay if I ask where ya’ll come from?  You don’t come from underground do ya?’

‘The underground? what makes you think that?’  She raised her eyebrow.  ‘Oh right, the ditch, no we don’t.  Is there something wrong with the underground?’  her gaze shifted left and right.

‘Well ah hear tell that there’s somethin’ funny goin’ on in the mines.  Cindy said there’s been raiders digging under the town, stealing stuff from neighbours and more importantly the bank.’  Roger’s interest was peaked.  ‘At first ah ignored her, then whadaya know, the bank’s been robbed!  Stole every last bit.’  She looked rather sad.  ‘I was saving up fer somethin’ nice.’  Braeburn also looked partially downtrodden.  Should he?  No he shouldn’t... well maybe this one time.  It was better than surveillance and scouting missions, plus, it would win favour for him and his men.

‘If you want, we could go investigate these mines, maybe get a few of your bits back.’  The men all huh-ed in surprise while Braeburn looked pleased.

‘Ya would? That would be a great help.’

‘Yeah, sure, we’ll do it.’

‘We don’t have much we could pay ya with right now, but maybe if you-’

‘No payment necessary, we’ll do it for free.’  The men were even more confused.

‘But sir, why-’

‘I said we’re doing it for free.’

‘That’s very kind of you, but you don’t have to.  It could be dangerous.’  Said Brie.  Now even Roger was laughing.

‘Dangerous she says!’  After a good minute of chuckles and guffaws, Roger wiped a tear from his eye.

‘We’re trained for much worse than this, so I doubt a few raiders half our size will be much of a problem.’  She was inclined to agree.  Roger took the tablet out again.  ‘Just show me where it is on the map and we’ll be all set.’  He looked at it and after a minute of scrutiny pointed to a few hills nor-north west of the town.  It was only seven kilometers away, and when he looked up he could see the tops of them   ‘When we get back we’ll have the money.’  He turned and motioned to the men to move.  They got in line and started hustling to the hills.

‘Sheriff Braeburn!’  The colt came running round the corner in much the same fashion as before.  ‘There’s a cart that’s...  What is that?’  He said, pointing at the Anteeists running off into the distance.

‘Oh, nothing.  Just some friends helpin’ us out.’  The colt stare wide eyed at them.  Braeburn patted him on the back.  ‘Now, what about that cart...’

‘I’m sorry princess, but aren’t we supposed to be checking the list?’  Amax hastened after Luna as she made her way back to the hall.  She stopped right outside the doors and looked at him.

‘Thou art- You are called Lance-Corporal Amax, right?’

‘Just Amax is fine.’

‘Well, Amax, I haven’t been to a party in a thousand years, quite literally, so I am going to go enjoy it.  Besides, it’s your party, you should be attending it.  Also, please, call me Luna.’  She continued on straight through the doors and into the crowd beyond.  Dance music was blasting loudly and many of the ponies were, naturally,  dancing.  Luna went towards the snack bar straight for the punch.

‘Have you ever had punch before Amax?’  He could barely remember.

‘I don’t think so.’  She poured a glass of punch and thrust it in his face.

‘Try some, it’s improved so much since I was last here.’  He took a sip and a smile formed across his face.

‘This, this is good.  Very good.’  She clapped her hooves together in glee.  Grabbing as much as she could, she went off to the royal table.  Amax shrugged and also grabbed a few things; cakes, pastries and sweets and made his way to her.  He sat down next to her and placed the things on the table.  ‘So is there a reason we’re doing this?’  She stayed focused on the pile.

‘Well, I have a lot of catching up to do.  These treats look like a good place to start don’t you think?’  He wasn’t about to argue against eating free food.

‘Well in that case, where should we start.’

‘That’s the spirit!  I’m thinking those fudge cakes over there.’

‘No no, if you truly want to catch up you should start with something simple, that way all the really fancy stuff tastes even better.’  They kept debating over which one to start with before settling for some cupcakes.  High up, in one of the many balconies lining the hall, Celestia watched and smiled.

‘You see the entrance?’

‘Yeah I see it.  It’s completely dar- No wait, there’s light.  Looks like someone’s coming.’  Roger listened to the radio chatter, sitting fairly close to the mines entrance behind a rock.  He was relying on his men to be his eyes.  A faint trotting could be heard getting closer and there was a noticeable change in the brightness of the evening.  A shifty looking unicorn in a tweed hat came out holding a lantern in one hoof.

‘I have a clear shot.’

‘Negative!  Negative, we do this quietly!’

‘Wuzzat?’ The pony held the lantern up towards Roger’s direction.  ‘Who’s there?  Ya’d better come out or there’ll be trouble fer ya!’

‘Sir he’s coming straight for you!’  Roger hugged the cover tighter and stayed completely still.  Just as he expected him to appear over the rock he heard a thwack followed by a very distinct thud and a shatter of glass.  Everything seemed much darker.

‘Problem solved.’  Roger peeked over the rock and saw Sefrin, the machine gunner standing over the pony, sword in hand.

‘You killed him?’

‘Course not.  Smacked him across the back of the head.’  He nodded and the squad emerged from their hiding places.

‘Since you seem to be so keen on getting into the action, Sefrin find a vantage point and watch the entrance, the rest of you on me.’  He grumbled as he sheathed his sword, making his way to higher ground.  The squad went into the mines, weapons raised, with Roger at the lead.

The heavy footfalls of the Anteeist soldiers echoed throughout the mines and accompanying caverns.  Every so often a soldier would trip over a rock and curse to himself before continuing onwards.

‘These mines are like a bloody labyrinth!  Someone could get lost in here,’ Said the one at the back.

‘Keep it down, they’ll hear us!’ Said the one at the front.

‘What, you think they can’t hear us coming?  We’re as loud as a Khlyton in a blood rage.’  There was a scuffling from further down causing every soldier to stop and stand still.  Roger listened as hard as he could and was rewarded with the sound of two ponies (he presumed) speaking.

‘...don’t think so.’

‘Well who else could that be thundering down the... Oh no.’

‘What is it?’

‘I think we’ve been found out.’

‘What makes you think that?’  There was silence.

‘Hey Malcolm, ya there!?’ The shout permeated through the air, ringing in their ears.  The soldiers looked around at each other wondering what to do.

‘Hey Fryll,’ said one of the Anteeists.

‘Yeah?’ Fryll responded, raising his weapon.

‘You imitate the major all the time!  Try that other ponies accent!’  Although they couldn’t see it under the helmet, he had a look of horror on his face while Major Vox glared at him.

‘Maaalcoooolm!’ The shout came again.  Fryll removed his helmet and wiped the hair on his face back over his head, then, getting into a stance, he called back at them.

‘I’m, uh, Ahm here!  Just coming,’ *cough, ‘ah mean comin’ back from mah patrol.’  There was more silence.

‘Oh okay.  You got someone with ya?’  They called out.  He looked to the Major who shook his head.

‘No ahm alone.’

‘Right.’  They continued onwards, more quietly this time.

‘Wait a minute.’  They froze again.

‘What is it Marcus?’

‘That weren’t no Equestrian.’  Shit.

‘What do you- oh. Ooooh.’  There was the sound of galloping.  ‘Everyone get ready we’ve been found!’  Roger sighed.  This was going to be harder now that they’d lost the element of surprise.

‘Okay men, no point being quiet about things, proceed in your usual fashion.’  They hustled down the mine and came into a large cave filled with mining equipment, mine carts and rails leading off to different caves, though only one path wasn’t blocked off.  In the middle of the ‘room’ the bits were piled (rather conveniently) in a single minecart, the light from the soldiers head-torches glinting off of it. ‘Find something to hide behind...’  The squad members hid behind whatever they could, while Roger himself went towards the cart, reaching out for it...

‘Dontcha touch that cart!’  He looked around but couldn’t see anyone.  He reached out again.  ‘Ah said, don’t touch that cart!’  The voice echoed off of the mines walls, making it almost impossible to pinpoint its source.

‘May I ask why?’ He said out loud.  There was muttering.

‘Cos it’s ours!’

‘That’s funny, cos I remember the townspeople specifically saying that they had been robbed,’ He surveyed his surroundings for anything living, ‘and that it had been a few raiders from this very mine.’

‘Don’t know no raiders here.  Sorry.’

‘Hmm... I remember them saying that they were a bunch of pussies who were too cowardly to-’

‘Now hold up one second.  They said WHAT!?’  Roger smiled.

‘They said you were too chicken shit and dumb-fucked and ended up getting yourself hold up in a mine.  Your trapped, so come out or shut your mouths, the whining is annoying.’  He wasn’t sure but he thought he could hear the sound of something boiling.

‘WELL YOU CAN GO TELL THOSE BASTARDS TO EAT SHIT AND DIE!  IF THEY WANT THEIR BITS THEY’RE GONNA HAVE TO GET IT THEMSELVES!  WE AIN’T NEVER GIVIN’ UP, Calling us pussies, the nerve...’  There was a whole load of muttering from the back of the cave.  They talked the talk, but he doubted they would put up that much resistance.  He looked at the money.  Scratch that, maybe they would.

‘It just so happens that we’re here to get it for them, so if it’s all the same to you I will be taking this money back to its owners.  Dzak, get the cart.’  Dzak stood up and went to the cart and started pushing it back the way they had come.

‘I’m warnin’ you, don’t take that cart!’  The voice sounded a little hesitant.  Roger scoffed.

‘Ignore him, he’s no threat.’

‘Y-you asked for it.’  Roger turned to see what amusing feat they would attempt, but instead of the charge he was expecting, a bolt of green whizzed right past his head and into Dzak who shook uncontrollably and fell to the floor, twitching.  Almost instantly all the soldiers dived into cover.  Bolts started flying above their heads randomly dissipating into the walls and equipment with a fizzing sound.  Fryll called out to Dzak, ‘Hey Dzak, you okay?’  No response.  ‘Come on Dzak, wake up.’  He lay there, still as ever.  Fryll picked up a rock and dashed it at his helmet.  ‘Dzak, get up!’  Again, nothing.  Fryll’s face turned from panic to rage, and he cocked his rifle.  ‘Those fuckers asked for it!  Light ‘em up!’  Despite not getting the okay from the Major, the soldiers -rather unhappy about a fellow squad member being killed by a few cowardly bandits-  all rose and fired fully automatically at the ponies, who stopped firing the beams as soon as the first bullet impacted with the wall.  Chunks of stone and debris flew up and dust lingered in the air, creating a smoke screen of sorts.  The screams of the ponies weren’t heard under the thunderous cracks of the assault rilfes, and a grenade who no one seemed to remember throwing exploded.  After what seemed like forever, they stopped firing and reloaded, but this time waited for their major.

‘You shouldn’t have done that Fryll.’  Fryll looked just as determined.

‘I’m sorry sir, but they got Dzak!’  He wasn’t actually telling Fryll off for his actions.  He shared his sentimentality's; no alien was going to kill one of his own without some kind of retaliation.

‘You’re lucky I was going to give the order anyway.’  There was groaning from the direction of the ponies, which all the soldiers reacted to, lifting their weapons.  ‘Hold!,’ shouted Roger, lifting his arm to signal them not to do anything.

‘Help, me...’  Oh here we go again.  Just like those civilians in the crater.  Fryll walked up to the source of the voice, a pony wearing yet another wide brimmed hat, his stomach a mess.

‘Shut up.’ BANG.  The pony’s brains splattered across the floor, his face a mess.  Looking around, they could see at least a dozen ponies lying about, bullet holes riddled in all of them.   A few of them were still alive, all of whom were brought to an abrupt end by the soldiers.  Roger looked around for the weapons they could have been using, but thbere was nothing there.  The dust hadn’t fully cleared, and so they still couldn’t see further into the mine which is why it came as a surprise when a pony bolted out of the shadows and straight out towards the entrance.  They were going to pursue him, but he waved them off.

‘Sefrin will take care of him.’  As they walked back with the cart in tow and Dzak’s body on it, there were a few short cracks followed by a long one which caused a few of the soldiers to jump.  Fryll walked along side the cart, unable to look at his friend.

‘We fought in three campaigns you know, me and him, we were invincible.  No Skyrgi could put a bullet in us or a shell on us, and here he is, killed by a few pussy-arse bandits.  He always thought he would go out fighting someday, but like this...’ He fell silent again.

*cough *cough

‘...feel like shit man...’  Everyone turned wide eyed to Dzak.  He set his head upright, eyes adjusting to the light shining in down from the entrance.  ‘Why are you all looking at me like that?  And how did I get in this cart?’

‘Your alive!?’

‘But how!?’  He looked quite confused.

‘Of course I’m alive, why would I be dead?’

‘You got shot!’  He thought back to the incident.

‘Oh yeah.  Forgot about that.  I was having the loveliest dream you know, grass n’ trees, quaint houses, a large castle, some other stuff.’  Roger looked around at the squad members back at Dzak.

‘Hey Fryll.’

‘Yes sir?’

‘Did you check his heartbeat?’  He laughed.

‘Well of cou- Oh yeah.  Um, no...’  Roger nodded.

‘Maybe next time you should think before you decide to kill a dozen of the indigenous species on this planet, potentially straining our relations with them.’  Fryll started shifting left to right, a nervous habit of his.

‘But sir, you were-’ Roger shot a glare at him.  He didn’t want him pointing out his mistakes, especially when they were hypothetical ones.  They emerged from the mine, the sun setting in the west, giving the whole place a gloomy feel.

‘We’ll just have to burn the bodies.  Call up the base and get a civilian disposal unit on the job.  Oh, and call for a dropship, because there is no way we are moving that much money in a single run.’  Fryll nodded and radioed the base using his short range walkie.  Meanwhile, Roger walked up to the escapee unicorn that was now lying on the floor bleeding.  The blood stained his coat, making it hard to make out his colour, in fact there was so much blood it probably wasn’t just his, and his stomach was in ribbons thanks to the explosive nature of Sefrin’s machine guns bullets.  He could see pure terror in his eyes, the pupils dilated and darting madly left and right as if trying to find a way out.  He had seen this before many times, and not just in soldiers and criminals...

‘Where were the weapons you were using, huh?  You hiding them pony?’  The pony retched out blood on his boots, though Roger didn’t really care.  He’d been knee deep in blood both figuratively and literally.

‘I don’t know... any weapons...’  Roger leaned down, bringing his face closer to the ponies who tryed to crawl away, but his smashed ribs and broken bones wouldn’t let him.

‘Come on dipshit, we know you shot our friend with something, now where is it?’  The pony thought as hard as he could, straining himself.

‘Uh, do you mean the... green shots?’  Roger raised his hands.

‘There we go, where are they?’  The pony slowly moved his hoof to his head, the sound of bones cracking causing him to flinch a little.  At first Roger wasn’t sure what the hell the pony was doing, but then he realised.  It was his horn, just like Brie at the town.  Magic did exist after all.  Then the pony did something unexpected.  He hugged Roger (his leg to be more precise).  Roger looked down at him, an eyebrow raised.

‘Please... it hurts... can you help me?  Please?’  The pony stared straight into his eyes.  It was at this point that Roger realised the ponies age.  He was no Equine expert, but those eyes seemed a bit young.  Roger sighed and spoke more softly.

‘I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do for you.  We don’t have the equipment to help you here, and we won’t be able to get you back in time.’  Roger signalled the medic to come over to them.  ‘Give him something for the pain.’  The medic looked him over then pulled out a small syringe and jabbed it in him, injecting the painkiller into the blood still circulating in his system.  That seemed to do the trick as the pony seemed less tense.  Roger pulled out his pistol and checked his clip: every bullet was in there.  He looked down at the pony.  ‘I’m sorry.’ He said.  The unicorn nodded and closed his eyes, a single tear falling down the side of his cheek.  Roger put the gun to the boys forehead and pulled the trigger.

When he looked up he saw the entire squad gathered around him, watching the scene.  They seemed pretty indifferent.  Dzak went first.

‘What was with all that drama sir?  All you had to do was kill him.’  Roger shook his head.

‘He was child, Dzak.’  Sefrin was taken aback.

‘But sir,’ he started. ‘You had no problem with kids when we were in the-’

THWACK

In one quick motion Roger had gotten up, pulled the helmet off of his head and pistol whipped him across the face.

‘You piece of shit. If you even DARE to mention that massacre infront of me again I'll rip your fucking guts straight from your chest. DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME?!'  The soldier clutched at his bleeding nose and nodded.  Roger pushed the helmet into his free hand and started walking off in no particular direction.  ‘And get me a drink, I’ve run out of water.’

(Author's notes:  With the holidays coming up, I'm going to attempt to start publishing chapters weekly.  There should [hopefully] be updates every weekend on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, that way if I don't have it ready on Friday it won't be a case of I'm late, it will be a case of it'll come tomorrow or on Sunday.)

Requisition

REQUISITION

‘This is OFC, respond, over.’

‘Roger that OFC, this is C-78-15000 base, we read you over.’

‘Governor still hasn’t changed the name yet eh? Over.’

‘Heh, nope.  Over.’

‘Well we’ve been getting reports, and apparently the planet already has a name.  Over.’

‘Wait what?’

‘...’

‘Please repeat.’

‘...’

‘Dammit why aren’t you responding?’

‘You didn’t say over, over.’

‘Oh for the love of...  please repeat that over.’

‘The planet already has a name.  It’s Equestru or Equestree or something, over.’

‘I’ll be sure to tell the governor, over.’

‘Roger.  Have civilian transports arrived safely?  Over.’

‘All present and accounted for, over.’

‘Is the colony finished? over.’

‘Roger that, all essential buildings have been constructed and we are currently working on bunkers over.’

‘The Major suggests that you get started on that planned extension over.’

‘Are we having guests?  Over.’

‘We should be receiving a battalion, over.’

‘We’re not expected to fight are we?  Over.’

‘Negative, it’s just a precaution.  Report in 7 hours, standard Gleyan 1/1 time, over.’

‘Affirmative, over and out.’

‘Over and out.’

The sniper looked about himself from atop the tower, peering round the anti-air emplacement next to him.  Other than the work crews, there didn’t seem to be anyone around, which was odd considering it was only 9:00.  He watched them cut large swathes into the forest using industrial bulldozers and some chemical weapons where needed.  Now and again it would get interesting; a dangerous creature indigenous to the planet would venture out and would be either scared away or put down by the guards, but for the most part nothing happened.  Turning away from them he watched the entrance to the compound to his right.  The brush was too thick to see through, and as a result even less was visible making it even more boring.  He finally turned his gaze towards the sky, the moonlight glinting off of his armour.  He looked back up, this time with his helmet on and watched for any sign of movement.  Far off in the distance he could see silhouettes of pegasi flying around what seemed to be a city made of clouds.  He briefly wondered what would happen if one of the ships flew through it, then dismissed the thought.  Then something caught his eye.  Far above was a black spec leaving a white trail behind it, something which animals didn’t do.  Picking up the radio, he broadcasted on all the Gleyan airway frequencies.

‘All jets in vicinity of home base please identify.’  There was only the crackle of static.  ‘I repeat, please identify.’ This wasn’t looking good.  Walking up to one of the other guards who was currently taking a mid-day nap, he knocked on his helmet.

‘Wa... Huh?’

‘Wake up sunshine, we have a problem.’  Grumbling, the soldier stood up, taking his helmet off and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

‘What is it?’  The sniper pointed up at the object.  He took out his binoculars and zoomed in on it.  Sighing, he turned to the assortment of men sitting about the AA gun.  ‘Set the gun up, we’ve got a spy drone to destroy.’  They got up quickly, eager to do something, anything at all.  After half a minute of set up they fired a salvo of missiles straight at the target.  At first it seemed to ignore them, but as they got closer it started its evasive manoeuvres.  Left, right, left, up, down, it was dodging every one.  Just as they thought it was all over, it’s rear lit up, hit by a missile it hadn’t managed to shake off.  It fell, leaving a trail of smoke as it plummeted.  The AA officer slapped one of the men on the back in congratulations, then quickly returned to his bored state.  ‘Well, back to my nap I suppose.’

}------------{

‘There’s too many of them!  We need reinfor-’  The feed cut off.  That was the eighth battalion of the day.  Ven turned from the tactical map to the slit in the bunker’s wall and peered out over the burning city.  Their positioning on the mountain gave him a clear(ish) view of the battle, though the smoke was a real pain in the arse.  The line was holding firm, but the situation wasn’t looking good.  More than 8,000 men had been killed, wounded or gone missing in the last four hours alone, not including the 1,500 captured.  He became aware of a flashing light behind him and to his horror, looking back at the tactical map, he could see nigh on a thousand yellow dots appearing, each representing the individual Anteeist soldier, and all converging on the salient the men had themselves stuck in on the left flank, a row of bombed out buildings and make shift trenches.  Any other day he would have pulled them out of there to a better position, but this wasn’t any other day.  Their morale had gone to shit, and if any part of the line broke, they would all break, no doubt about it.   The attendants and officers all had a noticeable look of fear on their faces.  Mentally slapping himself awake, he went to his private console, right next to the map and contacted the 1795th Conscript battalion.  They were new, fresh out of boot-camp.  He really didn’t want to do this to them, but he had no other choice.

‘Lieutenant-Colonel, respond.’  For a few moments there was just static, but soon enough a response followed.

‘Ready and willing general.’

‘I need you to advance on the salient and support the remnants of the 267th battalion.  I’m uploading the latest map updates now.’  He played around with the console and sent what was basically a screenshot of the tactical map they had to the battalion commander.  When the Lieutenant-colonel next spoke he sounded desperate.

‘You, uh, you want us to move there sir?’  Ven sighed.

‘Yes soldier.’

‘But, um, isn’t there another way?  Maybe an airstrike?’

‘That would only be buying us time.  We need to fix this problem for good.  I will contact you for your next set of orders once you have successfully repelled the attack.  Good luck.’

‘But sir it-’ he cut him off then focused the virtual map on the green dots of the 1795th battalion.  A counter hovered alongside the force as they moved displaying the number of soldiers still alive based on their heartbeat: 371 men.  If they could get there fast enough they would have a fighting chance.  Going back to the salient he watched the dwindling numbers of the 267th decrease.  They were spread ridiculously thin, with only 97 men left... now 96 across an area of 700 metres.  The yellow dots were slowly disappearing, but that didn’t have much of an impact on the overall assaulting force.  He smiled grimly to himself as a large cluster of them bunched together all disappeared almost at once, most likely hit by a shell.  Serves them right for doing something stupid like that.  He had been focusing on the salient for too long.  He scrolled back to the middle and right flank and watched the dots blink out of existence.  The line was holding, and the artillery were pounding the no-mans land, displaying a remarkable aptitude for area denial.  Still, the situation could have been better, but for now it would have to do.  The console started flashing, bathing him in an unearthly green.  It was a video call.  Answering it, a frame opened up, an officer coming into view.

‘Gleyan 1543rd heavy battalion ready for action, sir.  The dropships have just finished bringing the last of us.’  Oh yes, thank the one, yes, a new regiment, and their numbers, 1,000 exactly, this was what he needed.  He checked their distance from the salient, about three kilometers, even better.

‘L.C. you must move up to the salient immediately.  The line is in danger of breaking and they need relief now.’  He uploaded another map screenshot to the soldier.  The officer didn’t seem too disconcerted.

‘Anyone going to support us?’

‘Those 371 men advancing on the salient are the 1795th conscript battalion.  They’re fresh, so don’t expect anything special.’  The soldier nodded.

‘Don’t worry sir, we’ll take ‘em.’  Ven returned to the right flank and redirected a few ‘extra’ platoons to the frontline.  After a few minutes of resource management, focused airstrikes and general frontline logistics, his adjutant interrupted him.

‘Sir, the 1795th have made it to the salient.’  Hopefully they could buy the heavy battalion some time.

‘Good, bring them up.’  The room was suddenly filled with the sounds of artillery and gunfire, a few of the more experienced officers, so to speak, reaching for their guns in shock.

‘Fuck!  Sir they won’t stop coming!  It’s an onslaught!’ The officer was screaming into his mic, his voice very shaky.

‘Just hold them off for as long as you can.  There are a thousand men coming to reinforce you in about an hours time.’

‘I don’t thi- Oh god, medic!  Stay with me Gregir- I don’t think we’re going to make it that long sir!’  There was a very distinct sound of someone screaming.

‘Well you’ll just have to.  If it’s any consolation, there’s an airfuel strike inbound, eta four minutes.’  More screaming.

‘Piece o-, fine, but sir I seriously think you’re about to have another wiped out battalion on your hands.’  Unfortunately the plan didn’t require them to ‘make it’.  All they had to do was make sure no Anteeist got through, wiped out or not.  They were effectively cannon fodder, it’s just that they were too green to fully realise it.  Well, there wasn’t much he could do for them now.  The fleet was tangled up fighting the Anteeists, keeping the supply lines open, and all the air support was either up there or providing overwatch for men further down the line who probably needed it more than they did.  He had heard that the bulk of the offensive, around 3 million men, were charging over a small patch of dirt about 70 kilometers east, but he wasn’t sure, you couldn’t be sure about anything the state this battle was in.  He felt sorry for the poor bastards who would have to stop that wave.

‘Major, call me if it’s urgent.’  The adjutant nodded and set back to work.  Ven left the bunker through a door and came out onto a balcony on the front of it.  The cold wind whipped about him, his nose turning numb.  He pulled out his high powered binoculars (Which was more like a telescope) and focused on the right flank.  He could see the tracers fly both ways, shells exploding continuously all around the Gleyan line.  Now and again there would be a large puff of blood as a shell met its mark causing him to wince.  Shifting attention to the ‘middle’ of the line he could see that they were doing quite well.  An Anteeist retreat was underway there and the men were obviously happy as he could see from their raised arms and what looked like smiling faces.  They didn’t seem like they were going to return...  His adjutant opened the door and stuck his head out.

‘Sir, battalions 195th, 654th, 832nd and the 12th signal battalion are reporting a fullscale Anteeist rout on their front.  Ven nodded.

‘Good.  Get the 654th to move to the right flank, they’re going to need the help.’

‘What about the salient sir?’

‘I can’t commit too many men to the job major, or the whole line will start to break.  Besides, they’ve already got a full strength battalion coming to their rescue.’  The major nodded and left.  He looked at the salient and saw that he could in fact see nothing.  The dust and debris kicked up, alongside the smoke from a burning building, was making it impossible to see in there.  He doubted the soldiers could see themselves.  It really was turning into one big shit storm.

}------------{

‘So what you’re saying is, you were banished to the moon for a thousand years, and you forgave your sister?’ Asked Amax, his hand resting on his stomach.  Luna nodded sleepily.

‘Yes, of course.  She didn’t want to do it, but it was the only way.  Besides, it was kind of... peaceful up there.’  He look sceptically at her.

‘You enjoyed it?’

‘Not exactly, though it did give me time to think.’

‘About what?’  She was silent in thought.

‘Well apart from thinking of how I was going to get back at her,’ Amax laughed, ‘I thought about, well, everything.  Nightmare Moon hated it though.  She obviously didn’t like the idea of her host having freewill.’  Amax looked around at the ponies.  The party had moved onto the slow songs (why there were slow songs being played at a promotion party he didn’t know) and the DJ was taking a break, sitting on the far end of the hall.  She was surrounded by ponies, presumably fans.  Spotting him staring, she waved with her hoof, to which he waved back rather hesitantly.  It felt weird waving to something without hands.  He resumed his conversation with Luna.

‘Well I know a few people who could take a lesson from that.’ She looked happily at him.

‘You do?  Perhaps you could write a friendship report!  I’m sure Celestia would be ever so pleased to see that we’re teaching something to you and your friends!’

‘A friendship re...’ He had no idea how to react to that.  It was a very interesting concept, though for the life of him he couldn’t really see the point in one.  Maybe a psych evaluation thing?  ‘That sounds, um, interesting, but I don’t think I’ll have the time.’  She looked at him in pity.

‘Don’t you get to rest?  Any time to have fun?’’  Ooer, think quickly.

‘I, er, ha, no I don’t, lot’s of um, marching, yes and drills, especially the drills.  It’s, phew, hard work.  Hell I don’t even know what fun is!’  He smiled and brushed his head for dramatisation.

‘Oh, you’re just like me when I came back, unaware of what fun is.  It is a most glorious thing, filled with happy thoughts and warm feelings.  Come, I must show you its wonders!’  What had he gotten himself into...  She stood up and started to walk then stopped.  ‘Um, I’m afraid I don’t know what exactly we could do for fun.  There seem to be no stalls or games of any sort.’  There was a shimmer of light in Amax’s eye.

‘I have an idea,’ he said pulling out his deck of cards.  ‘Ever heard of a game called blackjack?’  She sat back down, staring at the cards in curiosity.

‘Blackjack?  What is this, blackjack?’  Amax smiled.

‘Let’s just say it’s a very fun game.’  As he dealt cards, she nuzzled them, wondering what to make of it.

‘But how can 52 cards be fun?  And they all look exactly the same!’  Amax turned two of the cards over.  ‘Oh.’

‘Now, this game requires a bit of skill and some common sense, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.  Now you see, this eight means that...’

Luna slammed her last two cards down onto the table.  ‘I win again!’  While she sat looking very pleased with herself Amax just stared at the table in shock.  Jimothy beating him at card games he could understand, but a pony who had just learnt what cards were, how was it possible?  He put the cards down resignatedly.

‘Wow, again...’

‘Oh, don’t look so sad.  My sister tells me I’m a fast learner.  Besides, I’m sure you’ll get better if you practice enough!’  He pulled all the cards back to him and stacked them into a pile.

‘I wish I had the time...’ He mumbled.  Luna started looking around for something to do, then remembered the list.

‘We should probably get back to work now.’  Amax had completely forgotten about that, and wished she hadn’t reminded him.

‘Oh right, the list.’  They were silent for a minute, the sound of music and chatter filling their heads.  Amax took the pad out of his satchel and turned it on.  It brought him to the main menu.  Luna sidled up next to him and looked at the screen.

‘What’s that?  She asked, pointing to a picture of a camera, the caption saying ‘films’.

‘Oh that?  That’s where the films and video clips are.’  She looked questioningly at him.

‘What’s a film?’  Oh this was going to be good.

‘Well, they’re moving pictures.’

‘Like a divination spell?’  The hell was that?

‘Uh, I suppose so.  Just watch.’ He clicked on the icon and scrolled down the list to find a suitable film, one that didn’t contain blood, violence, swear words or all three at the same time.  It wasn’t easy.  ‘I’m not sure if I have a, oh wait here you go.  This one’s a montage of failed robberies.’  As they watched, they both laughed at the mishaps of the would be robbers, and Amax wondered just how the hell it was that he came across videos like it.

The smoldering remains of the spy plane were scattered about the field, but luckily for the Gleyans, its data drives were still intact.  There had been some ponies around, but they had left as soon as the soldiers arrived, still scared of them.

‘So, anything interesting?’ Asked a lieutenant who’s name the sniper didn’t really care to remember.

‘Well,’ said the sniper ripping out the drive, ‘If there is, it’ll be on this.’  He tossed it to the officer who caught it clumsily and glared at him.

‘Then there’s no time to lose,’ he turned to the assembled work force. ‘Everyone, you know what to do.  Clean this mess up and search for scavengable parts.’  He walked back to the jeep and got in.  ‘Hey sniper, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be driving this.’

‘Yes sir!’  Rolling his eyes, the sniper ran up to the jeep and got in the drivers seat.  ‘Where to,’ he said grinning.

‘Now’s not the time soldier.’  He was no fun.  At least Banna would play along.

‘Yes sir.’

Banna couldn’t get any sleep with the loud music resonating through the castle.  He had slept through thunders storms, artillery and orbital bombardments, but a funky beat was too much for him.  Sighing very heavily, he got up and put his jumpsuit on.  He started putting on the armour but then thought better of it.  He was in a friendly bastion, he would be fine.  It’s not like anyone was going to try and fight him.  Regardless, he adorned his bullet proof vest and strapped his utility belt round himself.  Pushing open the door, he peered outside.  On his left was a guard who seemed to be sleeping while standing.  Been there, done that, he thought.  Turning right to where he thought the music was coming from, he passed row upon row of corridor and hall, but didn’t seem any closer to finding the great hall.  He happened upon some doors that looked like the entrance to the great hall; gold adorned doors with ornate markings, and the music was coming from there.  He pushed it open and found that it was a balcony beneath the great hall.  He walked out onto it and looked up.  There was light shining brightly from it, the source probably the party and many ponies were leaning on the railings, looking out across the city.  He did the same.  Canterlot looked a lot nicer at night, the bright lights having a mesmerising effect on him.  Far off in the distance he thought he could see Ponyville, and beyond it, the Everfree forest stretching out into the horizon.  He felt an extra strong gust of wind, but paid it no heed.

‘Beautiful sight, is it not?’  Banna jumped at the voice and turned to see who it was.  Celestia was standing right there with a letter hovering in the air, a pen scratching words onto the paper.

‘Uhm, yes, it is.  Reminds me of home.’  She joined him, watching the city.

‘Oh?  And where is this home of yours?’  He sighed and looked up to the stars.

‘About 15 quadrillion kilometers away from here.’

‘Wow.  That’s a long way away.’

‘Tell me about it.  The further away I go, the worse it gets.’  She cocked her head up.

‘It?’ He sighed again, a much longer sigh than before.

‘Sometimes I wake up at night in cold sweats for seemingly no reason.  Others I start to shake regardless of the weather or the situation.’

‘What do you mean, shake?’

‘I shiver.  Then there are the flashbacks.  Every so often I will be walking, or talking, or doing some other simple task, I see something that reminds me of home and BAM!  I have a flashback.  It wouldn’t be much of a problem, except I stop moving at all when I have them, and it can be for minutes at a time.’  Celestia looked quite concerned.

‘Do you know what’s wrong?’  Banna took a long look at the stars.

‘My doctor tells me it’s home sickness.’  Celestia finished writing the letter and sent it off in the usual fashion; a green flame ignited and it turned to ash then was blown away in the wind to an unsuspecting dragon or pony.

‘Well why don’t you go back home?  Don’t they let you go home in the army?’  He laughed.

‘Only in a body bag.  The way this war is going I don’t think any of us will ever see our families and home again, least of all me.’  She looked a little taken aback.

‘Is it really that bad?’  He nodded.  They resumed looking out across the city.  ‘So why did you say least of all you?’  He seemed distant.

‘Hm?’

‘You said that were the one least likely to see your home and friends.  Why?’  Banna tried not to think about that.

‘Oh, well, my home...’  He found it hard to finish the sentence.  ‘is... gone.’  She wasn’t sure what he meant.

‘Gone?’  He nodded, a lump forming in his throat.

‘Yep, it’s gone, nothing else to say on the matter.’  He fell silent, and luckily for him, Celestia thought it better not to pursue the topic.  ‘This is my way out.’  She looked at him, wondering what he meant.  ‘I had the choice to keep fighting or join the Gleyan Colonisation Force.  And I chose the GCF.  That’s why I’m here.’

‘To colonise our world?’

‘Nope.  To find a new home.’  She put a hoof on his shoulder, something that wasn’t exactly that easy considering he was considerably larger than most ponies.

‘Well you’ll like it here.  It’s peaceful and the ponies are all very nice.’  He smiled faintly.

‘Yeah, they’re good peop- uh, I mean ponies that live round here.’ He stood up straight.  ‘I think I should go find Amax.  Do you know how I could get to the great hall?’  She giggled ever so slightly.

‘Yes, of course.  Come with me, I will show you the way.’  They walked back inside, Celestia shutting the doors behind her with her magic.  I’m never going to get used to that... thought Banna.

}------------{

Ven sat in the back of the APC staring at his helmet.  It had glossy blue inscriptions and decorations covering it denoting him as a war hero, but he couldn’t understand why.  What kind of war hero would lose a battle at one of the most important times in the offensive?  If he truly was a war hero, that line would have held and the salient would not have been ploughed through.  Exactly 1,483 men had died in that pit, and now the number would forever be etched into his skull alongside everyone else he had gotten killed.  There had been no wounded as they had all been executed; the Anteeists didn’t take many prisoners during an attack because it would slow them down.  He looked around at the soldiers in the APC with him.  Two guards and his adjutant.  The guards stared ahead with blank expressions, not moving a muscle in their faces except to blink, almost like dolls.  He wondered if they blamed him for the break in the line.  Maybe that was why they were expressionless, they hated him.

‘Sir,’ said his adjutant, ‘You did the best you could.’  Was it really that obvious how he was feeling?  He looked at his reflection in his helmets visor and realised just how red his eyes were.

‘No, if I was doing the best I could someone, anyone would be alive.’  The adjutant shook his head.

‘There was nothing you could do sir.  None of us expected stormtroopers.’  Ven didn’t feel any better.

‘Yes, but I could have sent more men.  You said yourself back there that we could’ve sent the free battalions to assist the left flank.’

‘Sir you know full well that if you had done that they would have spotted the weakness in the lines and pressed the advantage, now stop wallowing in despair and sit up straight.  There’s a war on you know.’  He brushed some of the dust and debris off of his shoulders.  ‘Besides, you’re the only general higher than a brigadier still alive now.  Everyone got killed in that commando raid.’  That was something Ven still didn’t quite understand.  The generals were supposed to be well protected , yet despite that and the generals being spread out across the battlefield, they had all been killed simultaneously as though it had been planned.  It was all very suspicious.  The only thing he wanted to know was why not him?  His position hadn’t been unassailable, far from it.  He had learnt just before they had left that for four kilometers in front of the bunker it was completely devoid of any kind of patrol or camp because the soldiers had assumed they were to retreat all the way behind the mountain.  A bumbling idiot could have gotten to him, so why did they leave him alone?  He’d have to think about it later, he had a speech to write.

‘Jerry, take a pen, I need to prepare something for the meeting with the council.’  The adjutant nodded and took out his data pad and the accompanying stylus.

‘So, Field Marshall sir, what would you like to say?’  Ven raised his eye, and the two guards glanced at the assistant officer.

‘Field Marshall?  What do you mean?’

‘Well, Field Marshall Beyr is incapacitated so-’

‘WHAT!?’  The adjutant flinched, not expecting that reaction.  Ven’s mind reeled.  While he had been told all the generals had been killed, he didn’t think they meant the Field Marshall as well, the most protected figure after the Chairman himself, maybe even more.  The officer wasn’t even present on the planet.  He was supposed to be a tens of thousands of kilometers away in a semi-indestructible battleship surrounded by destroyers.  ‘How exactly is it that this happened?’  Jerry blinked.

‘Oh, he choked on a cake.’  Ven looked at him, his expression blank.  That was it?  No legendary last stand?  No prestigious death by assassin? Just muffled by a muffin?

‘I see.  So you’re assuming I’m going to be the new Field Marshall?’

‘But of course.  Look at the history of the army sir, if there is an officer missing, the next capable soldier is bumped up to the next rank.  You’re the capable officer sir.  Everyone else is dead, and while their assistants and advisers can cover their roles, they definitely can’t take the reigns of the Field Marshall, it’s simply to big and carries too much responsibility on them.  Why do you think they chose to be assistants rather than try for the promotion?’

‘You don’t get to choose whether you’re an assistant or not Jerry.’  He chuckled.

‘Whatever you say sir...’  Ven looked out of one of the small windows, the dust covered glass making the outside world a pain to look at.

‘What’s to stop them from bringing a different Field Marshall in from another campaign?’

‘Sir, may I remind you that there are thousands of different theatres of operation and none of them look like they’re about to end soon, this one included.  I think it’s safe to assume you’re next.’  His logic was sound.

‘Well that’s just great.  Now I have to serve an extra 10 years.’  Well, no use complaining.  ‘Now then, as I was saying, Dear friends, no wait, they won’t like that, change that to My lords...’  In the drivers compartment, the two soldiers sat, one driving, the other staring out the window idly.

‘Whozzat talking in the back?’  Asked the driver.  The idle soldier opened up a small sliding hatch behind him and looked into the back.

‘It’s the general.  I think he’s giving a speech.’  He said flatly.

‘What, to two people?  These higher up types are weird,  I tell you.’  They continued on in silence, the sound of the General’s voice lingering in, and the driver couldn’t take it anymore.

‘Hey, switch on the radio will you?  I’m getting tired of hearing his voice.’  The idle soldier complied, tuning the radio to his favourite station.

‘khkhkhkhkhkhkhkhk- ...God damn it what else is there? Here we go - It appears that Gleyan governments across the system are seizing planetary resources for the war effort. Well that’s just great, then what the hell are we supposed to do now big brother government? Let me tell you if they take things too far – which they already have for Christ’s sake! – we’re gonna’ see some major uprisings and don’t you forget it! I’m prognosticating it and you better believe your fruity effeminate arse it’s gonna’ happen! Not only that, but we’re seeing an increase in resources being route-sorry re-routed from domestic, constructive and defensive sectors to the military sectors.

Uh-oh, not only that, but employees won’t even earn a wage from it! I mean what the fuck is this?! – Excuse my fancy – but I mean, we’re going back to communism now? Cause’ that’s what it is, old – style totalitarian communism. And they even think that communism is too harsh a label for it, they like to brand it ‘Capunism’ – ‘Oh well you can’t really call it communism we actually call it Capunism because meh meh meh meh meh’ SHADDAP!!! I don’t believe this, uh, ladies and gentlemen. I just can’t.

Hahaha! But that don’t matter for me baby! See, I’m from Saxet baby, the best planet in the system! This isn’t gonna’ affect us, are you kidding me? This is why I love being a Capitalist, I’M MAKING MONEY BABY! IT’S WHAT I DO!

Anyways I wanna take your calls over this horrible overthrowing of communities such as your own big brother government, and don’t call up unless you have some kind of sustenance, ya’ know? Something with something to say based of intellectual thinking! Anyways...”

“1434 – 09, what’s your opinion on this horrific enslavement being put out by our governments?”

“You’re a racist, Mr. Ghost. You really are – a – hambone! You’ve been supporting Tina Gaelin, you’re a fan of R.D! Mr. Ghoooooo-“

“AWW-WHAT-THE-THE-THE-THEY’RE SINGING A SONG ABOUT ME! THEY’RE SINGING A GOD DAMN SONG I MEAN GOD’ SAKES!-“-khkhkhkhkhkhk’

Mines Part.1

MINES

(Part 1)

This wasn’t possible, was it?  Maybe the scans had gotten it wrong.  The ship captain stared at the screen, not quite sure what to make of the readings.

‘This is... quite a groundbreaking discovery.’  The analyst who normally sat at the console was waiting for the captain to leave.  The captain turned to him.  ‘Do you know what this means?’  He shook his head.  This particular analyst, as luck would have it, had a poor imagination and a very blunt mind.  ‘It means that something down there possesses a very, very powerful gravitational device.  We must tell the major!’  He turned round abruptly and left the bridge through a set of blast doors.  The hall was packed with soldiers and crew members going about their tasks, some getting ready for planetfall, others just going to do simple system checks.  As he made his way through the crowd, he wondered how the major would take the news.

Banna stood on the balcony of the great hall with Amax next to him.  The moon was lowering itself in the sky in a very... artificial way if it could be described as such.  It seemed to speed up as it went which confused the two of them greatly.  The six ponies whom they had met earlier, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were present and gazing at the moon.  Then Celestia came.  She walked right past them towards the edge of the balcony and stopped.  She lingered there, eyes closed, causing Banna to conceive the idea of her calling them to the balcony to watch her jump.  At this thought Celestia smiled briefly.  Bugger, she can’t still read my mind can she?

‘Only what you allow others to hear’  Yeah, she’s in my mind.  They waited a bit more and just as he started losing his attention, it happened.  Celestia slowly started to rise, her wings carrying her upwards for a few metres, then by herself with no apparent explanation.  She became encased in a white glow and within a few seconds there was a burst of energy causing his digital watch and his tablet to go haywire.  He looked about and saw that the ponies weren’t at all shocked, but seemed happy.  The sun started rising, blinding anyone unfortunate enough to have been staring at it such as Banna.  He wiped his eyes and continued watching albeit with fairly blotchy vision.  It came over the horizon, garnering cheers from the crowd, noticeably quicker than normal and Banna realised exactly what was going on.

‘No.  Nope, I don’t believe it.’  He said out loud to no one in particular, but no one could hear him.  Amax was fairly thrilled by what was going on and was cheering with the crowd.  ‘Why’re you cheering?’ He called.

‘She just raised the sun!’  He called back.

‘First of all we it could be a trick, and second of all that’s not what I asked.’  Amax glanced at him.

‘Come on sir it’s only a but of fun, besides, how can you prove that she didn’t raise the sun?’  Was he serious?  Did any of the things they taught him in school actually stay there?

‘You’re kidding me right?  If you really need proof, then let me just ask the captain how exactly today’s orbit went.’  His tablet started to beep again and he pulled it out, the option to accept a video call present.  ‘And there you go.’  He answered it.  There was a corporal sitting at a console.  His large form blocked out a view of everything behind him save for the edges.

‘khk- Second-Lieutenant Banna-’

‘That’s Ambassador Second Lieutenant Banna to you...’

‘Roger that sir, but we-’

‘Can I ask you a question corporal?’There was a look of annoyance on his face.

‘Sorry sir I don’t think yo-’

‘How was today’s orbit?  Anything unusual?’

‘Actually that’s what I was calling to talk to you about sir.  Somehow the planet accelerated in its rotation.’  Banna’s smug face soon turned to disbelief and partial embarrassment as he realised that everyone, or rather everypony was watching.  ‘The major would like you to find out what piece of technology it is that they used to do it.’  The corporal stopped and leaned over to someone out of sight before coming back on screen with what seemed to be a fax.  ‘He also says he will give them anything for it.’  Banna was silent, looking down at the floor.

‘Yes corporal, I will do that.’

‘Right, over and out.’  The screen went back to the menu and Banna switched it off then put it back in his satchel.  Banna looked around at the assembled crowd who were more amazed with the other human on the flat glass than with him, though some of the more venerable unicorns didn’t seem to find it that awe inspiring.  Banna clapped his hands together.

‘So, uh, anyone know where I could find a gravity well or...’  The crowd didn’t seem to respond.

‘No?’  At that moment a dropship emerged from the edge of the balcony with the side door open and Jimothy standing there, using the side gun as a rest.  The noise was almost deafening and the sudden force from the propulsion systems toppled a few of the ponies.  The crowd moved behind Banna, unsure of whether it was a dragon or some other mythical creature.  Celestia stood her ground, and looked at it in interest; she wasn’t about to show herself as a leader who was easily impresses.  Banna smiled, they were just in time.  He and Banna walked to the dropship, putting their helmets on and turned to face the crowd.  ‘Maybe another time then!’  He got in and strapped himself to one of the sides.  Just as Jimothy and Amax were about to wrench the door shut, a blur of blue swooped in and hit the to his right.  Rainbow Dash lat sprawled on the floor, groaning.

‘Couldn’t you make this outta softer stuff?’  She mumbled as she got up.  The rest of the Mane six clambered in and looked about the hold in awe.

‘Well I think this place needs a little sprucing up.’

‘Would you mind if I took a look at this... flying contraption?’

‘I hope he doesn’t mind us riding him, uh, if it is a him...’  Banna’s brain went into overload at having had to work harder than it usually did.  His instinct once again kicked in and told him to kill the intruders, but his gut said to order them off while the very last vestige of sanity that hadn’t drained away in him said simply, ‘Chocolate waffles,’ which made him doubt whether he actually had any sanity left.  The fact that he had to fight the desire to grab a plate of waffles and the desire to kill and/or kick the ponies off the ship meant he was no longer concentrating on any of the current events, and when he came back to his senses all six ponies were seated rather awkwardly on the side chairs, and they were all staring at him.

‘Um, Mr.Banna, are you okay?’ Asked Fluttershy who was in the seat directly in front of him.

‘Yeah, you seemed spaced out just there!’ Stated Rainbow Dash very loudly to the right of him.

‘Maybe you’re sick?’ Asked Twilight to his left.  He took a deep breath.

‘No, no I’m not sick thank you.  Hey, where’s Rarity?’  It was at that moment he noticed just how much frillier everything had become.  Shades of (light) green and (light) brown coated the walls.  ‘What did you do...’  Rarity looked up from her fashion magazine.

‘Hm?  Oh well the place looked awfully dreary with all that grey and black, so I decided to give it a “lighter” tone.  A natural feel looks good, don’t you think?’  Despite Banna not liking it at all, he had to admit, it looked much livelier than before, though that had been for a reason.

‘Hey Amax,’ He called.  Amax and Pinkie Pie stuck their heads round the entrance to the cockpit.  ‘Where are we going?’

‘The Captain called, said he wants us to go to the mines and check them out.  Mark a few positions for the drills and so on.’  Well, some work will put his mind at rest.  He stared idly out the window while the girls all chatted about how cool it was to be flying, though Rainbow Dash didn’t seem at all impressed and boasted that if this was the best they had then she could fly much, much fast than everything they had.  If only she knew, he thought.  He watched the rolling plains and streams go by, and eventually the mountain range, a dry, desert like expanse of land.  They got bigger and bigger until the ship could no longer go above them and had to go round them.  It was, after all, built for low atmospheric travel.  He sat back into his seat and listened to the girls idle talk.

‘This reminds me of that time in Appleloosa.’ Said Twilight reminiscently.

‘Yeah,’ responded Rainbow Dash.  ‘Hey Applejack, how is that cousin of yours anyway?’  Applejack looked up from the sick bag she had her muzzle stuck in.

‘Oh he’s... fine if ah remember correctly...’  She hurled into the bag, everyone on the ship screwing their face up in disgust.  Flying obviously wasn’t for her.  He resumed looking out the window, and when he was it, his jaw dropped.  There were huge open carberrium fields stretching out across the mountains, some of them in their natural state, and others in ore form.

‘I’ve only ever read about it in books, but now that I see it...’  Said Twilight.  Rainbow Dash seemed to be unpleasable.

‘Pshaw, big deal, I see that all the time.’  They all turned to her.

‘You do?’  Asked Rarity.

‘Well, uh, yeah when I go to stretch my wings.’ She sounded more nervous this time because of the sudden attention.

‘But, it’s so far away...’ Commented Fluttershy.

‘Hey, when you have these babies,’ she motioned to her wings, ‘Nothings far away.’  Banna couldn’t see it, but Amax motioned to the pilot, who just so happened to be Thate, that there was a good spot to land to their right; on the edge of a valley where the Carberrium jutted out of the sides in massive columns, dwarfing the dropship.  They set down a little away from it to avoid an accidental crash.  The propulsion systems kicked up dust as they came closer to the ground until finally the engines were disengaged.  Rainbow Dash had wanted to get out long before that but Banna had stopped her for ‘safety reasons’.  Banna pulled the sliding doors open and stepped out onto the black, soily earth.  He kneeled and scooped up some then realised it was soot.

‘What the hell?’  Twilight walked up to him.

‘What’s wrong?’  He let it slide off his hand.

‘Why is there soot here?  Is there a volcano near here?’  He looked at the group questioningly.  Applejack shook her head.

‘Ain’t no volcano near here, but there is a mighty fierce dragon up there.’  She pointed a hoove at one of the parrallel mountains.  It was huge, bigger than the one they were next to and right at the top he could see irregular puffs of smoke rising.

‘Dragon eh?’  Well this day kept getting weirder and weirder.  ‘Amax radio the Major, tell him that we’re going to need the air forces help with a local beast.’  The soldier nodded and went back into the ship.

‘This is Ambassador escort, over...’ His voice droned on as he tried using first the short range, then the long range radio.  Banna walked towards the mountain side and noticed something; a large cave.  It was pitch black inside, though he got the feeling it went on for a long time.

‘Hello!?’ he shouted out, an echo responding.

‘What are you doing!’ Said Twilight quickly, ‘There could be a monster in there!’  Banna chuckled.

‘Nothing we can’t handle I’m sure.’  Twilight frowned.

‘Some of them are pretty big, I don’t think you’d be able to do much.’  Rainbow Dash chimed in.

‘I’m pretty sure they could take ‘em, after all, Thate took down a manticore!’  The girls looked rather surprised and maybe a little concerned, except Pinkie who was still in the cockpit trying to figure out how to make the thing fly, a problem which Thate was only just solving: He came round the side of the ship holding Pinkie Pie the wrong way up.  As always, she was smiling even if she was being held upside down.  Thate set her down on all fours then saluted Banna.

‘Here he is,’ Rainbow Dash rushed off to him.  ‘Tell ‘em how you stopped that manticore Thate!’  He looked at the girls with some intrigue as they clustered round him, but said nothing.

‘Well aren’t you going to speak darling?’ Asked Rarity.  Thate looked directly at Rarity then froze.  He didn’t move a muscle, just staring into her eyes causing her to feel a little uneasy.  ‘Is something wrong dear?’  He didn’t react in any way.  She reached out a hoof and touched him.  With a dull thud he fell to the floor, his eyes now closed.  Banna and Amax who was now watching the spectacle ran up to him, while Fluttershy’s kind instinct kicked in.

‘Holy shit, Thate, wake up.’  Amax started slapping his cheeks.  ‘Come on man, this no time to play dead.’

Finally got that pink one out of there.  I should probably put her with the others.

‘Hey, do you have balloons where you come from?  What’s your favourite colour?  What’s your favourite food...’  Thate enjoyed it just as much as he hated it.  It reminded him of his daughter, always asking questions.  He set her down, taking care not to hurt her.  Rainbow Dash rushed up to him.

‘Here he is.  Tell ‘em how you stopped that manticore Thate!’  That probably wasn’t such a good idea.  They were like children, so innocent in their ways, and this might just corrupt their minds.  After a few seconds silence the purple maned one, Rarity spoke.

‘Well aren’t you going to speak darling?’ He turned to inspect her, staring straight into her ey-

‘Lavenia?  Lavenia is that you?  W- why can’t I see you?’

‘You know why Thate.’

‘Please, come back to me, I can’t do this alone.’

‘I’m sorry Thate, but I can’t, not now, not ever.  You didn’t save me.’

‘I was too late, I-I-I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t-’

‘I know Thate, I know, but you have to accept it.  I’m not coming back, ever.’

‘Well, are the children there?  Could I speak to them?’

‘No, darling, they aren’t, but I have a feeling you’ll be hearing from them soon enough...’

‘Are you there?’  No reply.  Then Thate felt something warm against his arm, the heat rushing up to all parts of his body then everything went black.  He briefly heard the sounds of a scuffle.

‘Wake up Thate,  wake up!’   He resisted it, but then he heard a piercing scream, one that sounded eerily familiar.

Rarity’s high pitched scream threw some of the diamond dogs off long enough for Banna to draw his sword and Amax, his bayonet, but the biggest one seemed only annoyed by her. It charged straight at her on two feet, ready to silence the source of the sound.

‘Oh no you don’t!’ Shouted Rainbow Dash.  She careened into the side of the diamond dog, throwing him off balance then started hitting him with her hooves.  He was, however, larger than Banna, so if it was hurting the diamond dog, they couldn’t tell.  He maintained his look of anger and simply brushed Rainbow Dash off of him like a breadcrumb.

‘Stupid ponies don’t know how to fight!’ He shouted dumbly.  He continued on towards Rarity, who was frozen in place by fear.  Just because she managed to defeat a whole pack of diamond dogs through voice alone, it didn’t mean she wasn’t traumatised at least a little.  She shut her eyes.

Well this is the end.  I only wish I had time to say goodbye to the girls She waited for the beast to strike, but the blow never came.  Opening one eye, then the second, she saw Thate standing in front of her.  It seemed he had punched the beast with an uppercut and left his fist there.  Then blood started dripping down its neck, and when Thate pulled his arm back she could in fact see he had stabbed him with a wrist blade. Wiping it on a patch of the diamond dogs fur, he walked back to the ship and pulled a rifle out of it.  Banna and Amax were doing fairly well, but there were twenty or so diamond dogs, a lot of them bigger than them.  They weren’t going to last much longer without intervention.  Aiming in, Thate fired a few short controlled burst into the horde.  Almost instantly, half of them dropped, blood spraying onto their comrades causing them to go into a frenzy.  Thate pulled his pistol out and threw it to Banna who immediately started popping heads.  Amax was left with his bayonet, and was content with whacking one of them over the head repeatedly.  The remaining dogs decided it wasn’t worth it and started legging it.  Thate finished them off with master precision, using only one bullet for each diamond dog.  As soon as they were sure no one was coming, Banna sat down, panting.

‘Well that was *pant unexpected.’  He looked around for the girls, and apart from Rarity and Rainbow Dash, there was no one there.  He stood up immediately. ‘Shit!  Amax, grab a weapon, I think they took the-’

‘Woah, hold yer horses officer, we’re alright,’ Applejack said, as they emerged from behind  the ship.  When they saw the bodies, they all turned pale, excluding Rarity who already was.

‘You killed them...’ Said Fluttershy who sounded like she was on the verge of crying and Pinkie Pie’s hair had deflated and become straight.  The rest of them covered their eyes with their hooves or looked away.  Banna pulled out an old brown cloth of his and wiped his blade clean then stuffed it back in the ammo pouch.

‘Well we had to.  It was them or us, and I’d prefer if it wasn’t us,’ He responded while sheathing his blade.  There was no answer from any of them.

‘Hey sir, we’ve got a live one!’  Amax called.  He smacked the diamond dog over the head.  ‘Don’t run or you’ll be killed like the rest of them.’  It couldn’t have run if it wanted to.  Its leg was wounded, a bullet hole clearly visible in its foreleg.

‘Holed him for me,’ said Banna, ‘Let’s see what information we can get out of him.’  Amax complied and hoisted the diamond dog up, however its weight meant that he only succeeded in getting him to sit straight.  Banna sat directly opposite him, using one of the diamond dogs flat headed helmets as a seat.  ‘So, why did you and your friends attack us?’  It sniffed at the air then growled at him.

‘You are on our sacred lands!’ It snarled, staring him right in the eyes.  Banna looked around at the scenery.  It was pretty bleak, aside from the carberrium which temporarily blinded him every time he looked at it.

‘What, this?  What’s so special about this place?’

‘This is Yerlaf-det Hetzem, and no outsiders are allowed to set foot here.’

‘Ye- what now?’  He turned to the ponies.  ‘Anyone know what that means?’  They all turned to Twilight who was looking quite sheepish.

‘Well, I studied a bit of the language of the diamond dogs.’  Banna gestured to the diamond dog.

‘In that case, do you know what that means?’

‘Um, well it quite literally means “Valley-the Shiny”.  They love everything that’s shiny which explains why this is sacred ground, after all, it’s very shiny.’  Banna nodded then returned his attention to the dog.

‘How many are there of you?’

‘More than enough to kill you,’ he spat at him.  Banna rolled his eyes then, in an unexpected change of approach, he punched the diamond dog square in the face.

‘Look dick-‘ead, I’m not going to ask you again so tell me or you won’t be seeing anything shiny anytime soon.’  The ponies all gaped in horror at his actions; torturing a defenceless being.  The diamond dog looked scared and was about to give in when Fluttershy interrupted.

‘What do you think you’re doing to that poor creature?’  Banna glanced at her nonchalantly.

‘I’m working.  Well dog?  Has your mind been suitably refreshed?’  It nodded quickly.

‘There are maybe 3000 of us in the caves, but more will come if they need help.  Please, don’t hurt my eyes!’  Banna nodded and patted him on the head.

‘Good boy, now get out of here.’  Amax released him and the dog limped as fast as it could into the darkness.  ‘I’m glad I didn’t have to be more persuasive with him.  He doesn’t seem too ba-’  Fluttershy’s eyes burned with a fiery rage as she faced him, her dilated pupils stretching to their limit.  She was staring at him, and he didn’t like it one bit.  For some reason he found himself unable to turn his gaze, as though his mind had become fixated on her eyes.

‘How could you do something like that, beating an innocent animal, you should be ashamed of yourself!  You’re like a little colt, don’t know right from wrong, apologise for your behaviour!’  Banna felt a strange inclination to agree, to just surrender and say sorry for everything, but he fought it.  When a soldier goes out to fight, he leaves his morals at the door, and Banna threw his away a long time ago.  Still, he decided it was probably better just to say sorry, if only for diplomatic relations.

‘I suppose you’re right.  I’m sorry for interrogating that diamond dog so violently and it won’t happen again...’  She nodded, satisfied and turned around.  ‘...while you’re around,’ he mumbled, too quiet for her to hear.

Oh great, Meyr again.  Roger tried to cross the landing pad using as much cover as he could to hide behind -jets, dropships, people- but he could not escape the watchful eye of Lieutenant Meyr.  The officer walked briskly towards him, and Roger increased his pace to a light jog.  Unfortunately Meyr caught up with him forcing Roger to put on a smile.

‘Major Vox,’ Meyr said.  Roger nodded.

‘Meyr, always a... pleasure speaking with you.’

‘That’s good, because we have a lot to talk about sir.’  Roger groaned and kept walking.

‘I don’t think we do soldier.’  Meyr caught up with him.

‘Oh but indeed we do sir, namely why you went on a scouting mission?’

‘What, an officer can’t go out onto the field from time to time?’

‘Not when he’s the highest officer present he doesn’t.’

‘Come on man, don’t you ever get bored sitting behind a desk?  Don’t you ever have the urge to go out and see what the world is like?’  Meyr was quite indifferent.

‘No sir quite the contrary, in fact exciting things happen here all the time!’

‘Hm, I’m sure the world of logistics is riveting,’ He said especially flatly.  ‘Now is there a point to this conversation?’

‘Yes, sir it’s that if you keep going out on these ‘expeditions’ as you called them you’re going to be... how should I put this, your service will no longer be required.’  Roger stopped dead in his tracks, Meyr bumping into him.

‘What was that officer?’

‘Well sir, if an officer makes a complaint you will be forced to renounce your position, and a more suitable individual will be chosen to take your place.’  He looked rather pleased with himself.  Roger turned round very slowly.

‘Is that a threat lieutenant?’ The Major asked, his voice so sharp it could cut a man’s throat, though the junior officer didn’t seem to notice this.

‘No sir, of course not, I am merely reminding you that incompetence is-’  He was cut off as he found a tightly clenched fist around his throat and then was lifted above the ground, the good major’s adrenaline packs kicking into gear.  Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the scene.

‘Let me make something clear lieutenant, if you so much as look at my chevrons with any kind of lust or longing, the next time you go to sleep it might just be for good.  Do you understand me?’  The officer clawed at his neck, and nodded.  Roger released him and continued walking.  Time for some exciting drills...

‘Sir!’  He stopped again.  That was the voice of Thryin and, being the oldest soldier there after him, probably the only person who would disturb him in a bad mood.  Thryin ran up to him holding a clipboard in his hand.  ‘Sorry to disturb you sir, but we’ve got a new set of orders.’  He handed it to him and bowed slightly.  ‘They want us to go to those carberrium fields we found and start drilling.’

‘Thank god, I thought I was going to be stuck at base doing push ups with the recruits all day.’  He looked at the requisition sheet:  “30 men with appropriate gear, two heat-drills, fusion cores, fission cores and one APC, transport to be provided by the fleet.”  ‘An APC?  What, are we expecting some trouble?’  Thyrin shrugged.

‘I don’t know sir, but you know how the Gleyans are.  Crafty buggers.’  He gave it back to him, and walked back to the dropship, approaching the pilot who was sitting on a box using a multi-media device he didn’t recognise.

‘Pilot!’  He called, the pilot standing at attention.  ‘We’re going on another run.  I suggest you refill the ship, and fit it with some clamps, we’ve got an APC to carry,’ and with that, he left for the barracks to pick 30 grunts whose deaths would make no difference to the overall operation.

(Author's note: Please comment, your criticism [and your satisfaction] is the bread and butter of a fic, it lets me know if I'm doing anything wrong.  Finally, Happy Hearth's warming)

Mines Part. 2

MINES

(Part 2)

The miner’s shouts echoed in the great valley sending a few loose rocks tumbling down the sides.

‘Right!  Yeah!  No no to the right I’m saying you’re right!’  The huge drill was being slowly turned left to face the carberrium wall, its mechanisms kicking into gear.  The six ponies watched from their vantage point on a hill as it started to spin and develop an increasing glow of red until finally it was too bright to look at.  It broke through the thin layer of rock and impacted with the carberrium.  From there its speed was drastically reduced, and the noise it made was unbearable; a high pitched screeching sound permeated the air.

‘I suggest we get to the offices!’ Shouted Banna over the drill.

‘Offices?’ asked Twilight.  ‘What are you talking about?  There aren’t any offices...’  When she turned to face him she could see that, only 100 metres from where they were a dropship was setting what seemed to be two large metal containers, one on top of the other.  It was amazing what the off worlders could do.  First flying without wings or magic, then drilling through undrillable rock, now this?  It was like its own form of magic, a special kind that didn’t actually use any magic.  ‘Oh, er right.’  They all followed Banna and Amax to the offices and he knocked on the door.  It slid open, a miner sticking his head out.  His grey overalls mixed in with the grey walls of the inside.

‘Good day sir.’ He moved aside to let them in.  They stepped inside, and when the miner saw the six ponies his mouth dropped.

‘Something wrong?’ Asked Amax while he placed his helmet on the desk.  He shook his head and walked back to his seat, mouth still agape.

‘This place is absolutely dreary.  Everything I’ve seen from, where did you say?  Gleya was it? It has all been so dreadfully bland!  You really should put some colour into these things.’  Stated Rarity who was poking one of the foamy sound proof walls.  The door shut and it became almost silent, though the vibrations of the drill could still be felt.  Banna turned to the six ponies and gave them a humourless smile.

‘Well, now for the real work.  I’m going to have to write a few reports to my CO, then I’ll be waiting for the enemy to do something, which they probably won’t because they never do.  I’d suggest you all rest or a read a book, in fact, here.’  He pulled out his data pad and found a suitable ‘film’.  ‘You can all watch something.  This one is called the ‘News’, and it’s about important things that happen in the galaxy.  This one is a few days, old.  I haven’t watched it yet, so shout if there’s anything wrong.’  He propped it up against a stack of books on his desk, then sat down, ready to write.  All the ponies assembled around the slate and watched it.  At first it was black, then it started, a man sitting behind a desk coming into view.  He was wearing a simple suit with a red scarf around his neck.

‘Good alltime, this is Station 21, presenting live from orbit around Treyax.  In local news, a 50 trillion Credit heist was stopped as police smashed through the barricades in the factory they were holed up in using a tanker.’

A shot of the factory was shown, its chimneys and towers bigger than anything the ponies had seen, bar a mountain.  It then cut to a line of 13 or so people with their hands bound.  Each was wearing a flak jacket and tattered clothing.

‘The culprits were given 20 different life sentences and no parole.  Also, in local news, the galaxies largest cake was made...’

Pinkie Pie’s head perked up.

‘with a diameter of two kilometers.  Is that crazy or what?’

The girls all looked rather amazed at the landscape picture and nodded appreciatively while Pinkie jumped up and started bouncing again in a very, VERY excited fashion.

‘Wow,that’sareallybigcake!Banna,doyouthinkyoucouldtakemetoseethecakeIwouldbeyourbestfriendforeverpleasepleasepleaseI’llthrowyouapartyforeverydayofyourlifeandthensomethoughthatmightbepointlessbecauseyou’dbedeadahwellatleastpeoplewillrememberyou!’  Banna looked at her, wondering what the hell she had just said.  After working it out, he answered.

‘Sorry, but Treyax is too close to occupied territory.  Besides, I can’t leave, I’m in the army.’  She looked slightly downtrodden.

‘Oh, okay.  That’s fine I guess.’  Although she was about as bearable as a migraine, she was growing on him and seeing her sad didn’t exactly make him feel good.

‘Tell you what, if you want I could find out more information about it, maybe get a few pictures and videos.  If you’re lucky I could get you a piece.’  She beamed.

‘You could do that!?’

‘Sure.  That’s the beauty of mail order for you.’  She launched herself on him and hugged so hard it was draining the blood from his head.

‘Ohthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!’  He plucked her off of his neck and set her down.

‘Yeah sure, anytime.  Now keep watching, I’ve got work to do.’  She returned to her position and resumed watching with her carefree expression.

‘...ecause they didn’t look where they were going.  Now, for the last item of the report, the battle analysis.  Over to you Hurel.’

Again the camera cut scenes, this time to a man wearing the same torso armour as Banna, something the ponies noted.  He was standing in a ruined building, the weather very dreary.

‘Thanks Brob.  This is Beyrin Pass, the site of an especially vicious battle.  The front  stretched for 250 kilometers with heavy casualties on both sides.’

He started walking and left the building coming out into what seemed to be a make shift military medical station.  The wounded soldiers couldn’t be seen, probably all inside because of the cold.  Men ran to and fro, mainly fro, which the girls found fascinating to watch, especially Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie who hadn’t been to the base and therefore hadn’t seen a lot of them in one place.  Gunfire was prominent and jets raced overhead, the roars causing even the miner to look up from his work.

‘As you can see, the army is in full retreat, and this little medical station is one of the last to pack up and leave.  In fact, just up the path there...’

The camera panned right to show a hill, soldiers running up it and an absolutely gigantic column of smoke coming into view behind it, the ponies gasping at the sight.

‘...soldiers are holding off an advance by the Anteeists.  They can’t retreat because they know that, if they break all the wounded here are going to be killed.’

Banna started taking notice.

‘Hey, Jim, if you could just, yeah, just so you folks at home can get a shot at what it looks like.’

He jogged up the path and adorned a helmet that he had tied to his belt.  The camera was angled towards the ground now so they could see just how muddy it was.  Some of the soldiers were stuck in it and their friends were dragging them out of the pits before they could be swallowed by it.  The sounds were getting louder now, the hill’s cover becoming less and less.

‘And here...’

Banna switched the pad off before they could see anything potentially damaging.

‘What did you do that for?  It was getting to the good bit!’  Complained Rainbow Dash.

‘Sorry, but you can’t see that scene, it’s too violent.’

‘Aw come on!  It must be something awesome, like a comic or one of the Wonderbolt's shows.’  He sighed.

‘Look, you would have seen a large plain and lots of explosions and fighting and it would all be very sad so you can’t see it.’  Fluttershy made herself smaller.

‘That doesn’t sound very nice,’ She said hiding behind the desk at his rather tame description.

‘It isn’t.  In fact it’s very scary, you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t handle!’ Boasted Rainbow Dash, the others raising their eyebrows at her.  Banna started removing his armour.  It was getting very hot in the small office.

‘I doubt it.  You’d be killed, so please if the opportunity arises don’t try.’

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yes.  It’s too dangerous.’

‘Well how about I prove it to you?  I’ll fight you right now.  You challenged me remember?’  He looked at her in disbelief.

‘No, you don’t want to do that, besides, I didn’t challenge you, you jus-’  She hooved him straight in the crotch, Banna keeling over in surprise.  He was completely silent and lay on the floor clutching at his wound.  Amax got up instantly and helped Banna to his seat, the soldier’s face a picture of empathy.  Rainbow Dash laughed mockingly.

‘Come on, I thought you were too tough for me.’  She waited for him to respond, or attack or something, but he did nothing.  Nothing at all.  Instead he sat there breathing in and out slowly, taking care not to move the slightest inch with his eyes closed.  Finally, after a minute of silence he said one thing.

‘Bugger.’  The cyan Pegasus was getting impatient.

‘Come on, what’s wrong, why won’t you do anything?’  She came closer but Banna stuck his hand up and muttered something incomprehensible.

‘You hit him in his privates,’ Pointed out Amax.

‘What do you mean privates?’  Twilight whispered something to her and Rainbow Dash turned red, then looked quite guilty.  ‘Oh.  Uh, I’m sorry about that...’ She said quietly.  Banna pointed at the desk.

‘What’s that?’ Asked Amax, ‘You want a pen, no, your data pad!  No? Oh, your armour.’  He picked up the heap and handed it to Banna who very gently put it on, taking special care with his crotch covering.  He took a few more deep breaths then spoke.

‘You are... forgiven...’  She was a little bit more cheered up, but him still being in pain made her feel bad.

‘Well at least we know I can take one of you, right?’ She said coming closer again trying to brighten the mood.

‘Don’t!  ...come any closer, I might do something I’ll regret later.’  All the ponies looked around awkwardly, trying to find something to occupy their minds with.

The drill seemed to be very unprotected.  He expected at least a platoon, but now that Roger thought about it, why would they bother on a planet where there was very little threat of attack?

‘Hey Ryfin,’ he radioed to the APC, ‘Take Sefrin and go down there.  See if you can do something about that drill.’

‘Copy that.’  Sefrin got up from behind some carberrium and got into the APC using a side door.  The APC drove down the side of the valley using the least steepest part, its friction wheels keeping it from sliding down.  He went back to watching the unarmed miners.  There were 20 that weren’t inside the drill , or the offices that had been dropped off and absolutely no visible soldiers.  The dropship was unoccupied.  They didn’t see or hear the APC coming, their attention focused entirely on the drill and making it run.  ‘Sir, they’re unarmed, what should we do?’  He wasn’t in the mood for prisoners.  Prisoners meant paperwork, something which he wasn’t fond of.  How would he be able to go out onto the field if he was swamped with as menial a task as writing?

‘No, no prisoners.  Kill them, let ‘em run, I don’t care.’

‘Roger that.’  The personnel carrier made its way to the excavation site.

Banna had gotten back to his report while Amax entertained the guests trying not to mention the fighting.

‘You see, the ship is mechanical, so that’s not alive even though people call them birds...’

‘Got it,’ nodded Fluttershy.

‘...and it doesn’t have a gender despite pilot’s inclinations to call them “she”.’

‘So we call the flying machine over there a she?’  Suggested Pinkie Pie.

‘I suppose you could refer to it as that, yes.’

‘Interesting... but how does it work?’  Twilight asked.

‘I don’t know anything about that, though I can tell you that it uses a mixture of rotors and rocket fuel.’

‘Rocket fuel?’

‘A flammable solid and liquid oxidiser.’

‘My my, I see you’ve been learning big words Amax,’ observed Banna looking up from his report.

‘Yes well I do do things in my spare time,’ he retorted, ‘anyway, where were we, ah yes.  Basically we don’t use animals for most of the things we do...’

‘Or magic.’

‘...yes that to...’

‘You eat them,’  Rainbow Dash pointed out.

‘...there’s that as well.’

‘So, you ever eaten any animals Amax?’ She asked, genuinely interested.  The other girls wanted to know as well.

‘W-well of course.’

‘What kinds?’

‘Oh, all kinds, chicken, beef, lamb, khlyton-’

‘Have you ever eaten pony?’

‘What? No we don’t tend to eat horses or related species, though I think the lieutenant over there has eaten zebra.’  Banna coughed at the last part very loudly.  They all gasped.

‘You have!?’ They said in unison giving him wide eyed looks.

‘Thank you Amax, for that nice bit of information.  I think there’s a few toilets that need cleaning back at the camp, and I’m sure Canterlot must have some to not to mention the thousands of helmets that need a good polishing.  How about I offer your services to the princesses when we go back?’  He abruptly stopped his stifled laughed and became quiet.  ‘In answer to your questions, yes I have eaten zebra, but it was a long time ago and where I come from zebras don’t speak.’  They didn’t answer him, but they did give him suspicious looks apart from Fluttershy who still stuck by her ethos of ‘that’s the way the world works’.  ‘Well I can see you- woah.  What was that?’  They all looked at eachother.

‘Uh, what was what?’ Asked Applejack.

‘Can’t you feel that?’

‘I don’t feel anything.’ Said Amax.

‘Exactly.’

‘I don’t see ho-’  His features hardened.  ‘How long has it been sir?’

‘About seven minutes since they started the drill.’  They nodded to each other and grabbed their weapons, Banna limping slightly to the door.  As soon as Amax opened the door he shut it again.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘We have a situation sir.’

‘What did you see?’

‘It’s an Anteeist APC sir.’  So much for no fighting.

‘Ah shit,’ Twilight flinched at this, ‘We have to get out of here.’  He looked around for another exit.  There was one exactly opposite to the entrance which they all left through including the miner.  Outside the dull drone of the APC’s engines were they only sound, broken only when it fired its gun.  The offices obstructed their view of the drill and subsequently the armoured carrier.  Banna peeked his head round and could see that the APC was firing at the drill which was still pretty much intact (It was, after all, made from carberrium) though the dents in its sides were becoming more noticeable, and it wouldn’t be long before it caught fire and was destroyed for good.  It had its own little fusion reactor, so if it went, everything in a few miles would go with it too, however he noticed that they were shooting solely at where the motor itself was in the hull of the drill, so obviously they knew what they were doing.  It had left the dropship alone, maybe hoping to secure and perhaps strip it for spare parts.  The other thing he noticed was that the cave they had looked at earlier was only 30 metres away from them.  All the ponies looked very scared, and Fluttershy was clinging to Rainbow Dash (though it looked suspiciously the other way round).

‘Right, we’re going to have to make a break for the cave.  On the count of three.’  They all made a show of readying themselves.

‘One.’  Rarity checked her mane out of nervous habit.

‘Two.’  Applejack steeled herself and looked quite determined.

‘Three!’  Banna sprinted to the cave, the ponies overtaking him and Amax thanks to their biological build.  They made it into the shadows and were for the most part safe from the view of the APC which hadn’t seemed to notice them.  ‘Everyone alright?’  He looked up and about.  Everyone seemed to be present.

‘Hey where’s Twilight?’  Asked Applejack looking around the cave vigilantly.  Banna poked his head outside the cave and sure enough there was Twilight still standing behind the offices.  He motioned to her to come but she did nothing, frozen in fear.  The other ponies realised what was going on and tried helping him convince her, but she didn’t respond.

‘We’ve got to do something!’ Said Rarity looking quite flustered, still maintaining her composure despite the situation.  ‘Rainbow why don’t you go get her?  You’re the fastest one here, it would be one second here and back.’

‘R-right, sure.’  She started flapping her wings and lifted herself into the air, then there was a large explosion.  They had destroyed the motor.  Rainbow Dash fell back down to the ground, unable to use her wings.

‘What in the hay is wrong Dash, ya scared?’ The apple farmer asked, picking her up off the floor.

‘I don’t know, they won’t work!’  She said desperately, her wings twitching, but never moving like they should have been.  Banna knew what it was.  She was scared, just like a lot of fresh recruits are.  She wouldn’t be able to use her wings now unless she got over her fear.

‘Hey Amax.’  He said.

‘Yes, sir?’

‘Make sure they find all my remains.’  Amax looked quite confused until Banna ran out of the cave towards Twilight.

‘On our left, soldier!’  Sefrin turned the turret to face the figure running over to the offices and fired on him, but he had turned to late and it was behind the steel offices.  ‘Shoot through the structure, it must be something important if he’s stupid enough to get back out of the cave.’

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Banna put his helmet on, its mufflers lessening the sound of the turret firing.

‘Twilight, come on we have to go!’  He pulled at her, but she was cemented in place by her own fear. She wasn’t going anywhere.  Think Banna think...

‘Hey Twilight.’

‘Yes?’ She responded very quietly.

‘You can do magic?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can you start a fire?’

‘Well of course I can, it’s a very simple spell,’ she suddenly said more confidently, then she returned to her meek self.

‘I need you to do something for me.  It’ll save us both.’

‘What, what is it?’  The wall suddenly blew open sending them to the ground.  He pulled her back up and moved her behind a part that hadn’t been blown open.

‘I need you to start a fire in the fuel compartment! It’s the-’ A rock went flying, launched by one of the more on target shots by the APC and hit him in the head, the man crumpling.

‘Banna!’  Anger washed over her face and she started searching for the fuel compartment he had mentioned.  Using a spell she had learned a long time ago, she prodded at the APC until she found a tank full of a liquid.  That must be the fuel she thought.  Readying herself, her horn started to glow.  First nothing happened, then...

KRAK!

The APC erupted into flames, the back half completely obliterated by the exploding munitions leaving the charred remains of a chair and some crates in its wake.  Twilight shifted attention to Banna.

‘Banna are you alright!?’ He groaned and sat up while the others appeared.

‘Of course I’m alright.  Helmet remember?’ He knocked at it and took it off, smiling.  ‘Now about that APC.’

‘It’s destroyed,’ she stated obviously and sat down on her flank looking at it.

‘Yes I noticed.  Good job, we would have been dead otherwise.’  All the girls rushed up to Twilight, hugging her.

‘That was awesome!  We should do that more often!’

‘Oh I’m just glad you’re alright dear.’

‘Yes, that was very scary...’

‘We should celebrate this!’  Amax walked up more casually to her.

‘I saw that.  I don’t know what you did, but it would be great to have you in our platoon.’  She smiled and thanked him, assuming it was a compliment.

‘I couldn’t imagine doing that everyday it was so-’

THUD

‘What was that?’

THUD

‘Hang on, that’s from the APC,’ said Banna getting his rifle off the floor.

THUD

The hatch of the drivers compartment came flying off its hinges and a burning figure jumped out flailing.  It screamed and started rolling on the floor, desperately trying to put out the fire.  Sometimes Anteeist armour protected the user too well.

‘OHGODPLEASEHELPMEAGGHHHH!’  Banna and Amax watched the burning man casually as though it were a daily occurrence but the mares were horrified by the sight unable to comprehend it; a being burning to death because of Twilight.  The flames suddenly went out, and Banna turned to see Rarity’s horn glowing brightly.  The Anteeist stopped rolling and looked about at his body.  Parts of his flesh had melted and joined with the armour, and most of his exposed skin was charred and black.  He pulled his helmet off, his face singed but for the most part unblemished and got up, reaching for his gun.  It was no longer in his holster, so he went for his knife.  When he tried to touch it he recoiled at the heat, then trying again he pulled it out of his sheath, a look of immense pain on his face.

‘Iuoth pyresh martyli!’  he shouted, launching himself at Banna who fired his rifle, the bullet going clean through his crispy flesh and (the now) soft armour he was wearing.  He turned to Rarity.

‘This is why you don’t put them out!  They’ll just try to kill you!’

‘I don’t understand, why would he do that after I saved him?’ She stammered, shocked by what she had seen.

‘Because he’s an Anteeist, they’re all no good rat shitheads who just want to take our land and enslave us all,’ he replyed hotly.  She looked even sadder and started to cry alongside Twilight who was having a nervous break down.  Fluttershy glared at him (that was new) before tending to her friends albeit very shakily.

‘There, there, it’s okay...’

‘I did that, don’t you see?  I set the APC on fire...’  Banna was used to soldiers breaking down in combat, but this was different.  They weren’t used to the concept of war, in fact he doubted most of them fully understood what it was.  He would have to deal with them now rather than later.  He put a hand on the weeping fashionista’s shoulder.

‘I’m sorry about having a go at you just then.  I was a bit agitated, what with being attacked and all.’  She brought her face out of her hooves.

‘I just don’t understand, why would he try and kill us after I saved him?’

‘You have to understand, he’s an Anteeist.  They don’t give up, and they never, ever get taken prisoner.  It’s just what they’re like.’  Her crying was reduced to a whimper and she stood straight.  A lady was not supposed to slouch.  Banna moved onto Twilight who was babbling that it was her fault and if she had run no one would have gotten hurt.  ‘It was the only thing you could do Twilight.  They would have killed us otherwise’

‘But if I had run with you there wouldn’t be anypo- any one hurt!’

‘Look at it like this, if they were left alive they probably would have gone around Equestria terrorising ponies.  You actually saved quite a few ponies come to think of it.’  She sniffled.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah sure, those APC’s are tough.  They would have killed at least 100 ponies before anything could be done, so you just saved 100 ponies!  You’re actually a hero.’  She smiled a little.

‘I suppose I am...’

‘So stop beating yourself up.  You did the right thing.’  She got off her flank and hugged him tightly.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘Oh, er, you’re welcome.’  All the other girls joined in hugging him.  Banna was starting to become a little scared.  ‘Hey Amax, a little help?’

No no no no NO.  This was a disaster.  How the hell had it even been destroyed anyway?  There had been no sign of any anti tank weaponry, in fact it seemed to have just spontaneously combusted.  When Ryfin had emerged from the cockpit he had readied the rifle to put the poor bastard out of his misery when he was put out by what seemed to be pony magic.  The soldier had proven himself to be a true Anteeist by resuming his attack, not letting himself get taken prisoner and getting killed.  He would have to remember to put him in for a medal.

‘Everyone, we’re getting back to the ship.  Move out.’  There were a few responses and his platoon withdrew from the area.  Roger stayed and watched.  The Gleyans seemed to have made some kind of relationship with ponies, and judging from the hugging they definitely weren’t enemies.  He chuckled a bit as the other soldier and the surviving miner got out two cameras and started taking pictures but stopped when he remembered that they were the ones that had killed Sefrin and Ryfin, though how was still a mystery.  Well, that was for later.  Now they would have to find another drilling spot since this attack would almost definitely mean an increase in the Gleyan’s defences.  Roger put his binoculars away and turned back to the ship.  He’d be getting his revenge later, and those ponies were on the list.

Council

Ven twiddled his thumbs as he waited outside the relay room.  He had given the speech to them (over the comms), about why they should consider reinforcing his campaign and now they were conversing with various officers and adjutants including his over the matter.  They hadn’t stated whether he was going to be the Field Marshall or not, but he didn’t really care.  It was all pointless anyway.  He had tried listening through the doors, but they had been soundproofed for this exact reason.  The hall he was sitting in was completely deserted, all of the men enjoying their hard fought rest somewhere else.  His men had been pulled back from the front to recover from their losses and some reserves were moved up to hold back the onslaught.  There was the sound of footsteps from down the hall, though no one appeared.  Looking back down to the ground he examined the cracks, bored of waiting.  He really hoped they’d be finished soon, there were things he had to do.

He had seriously messed up this time.  Sure sometimes he got things wrong but this, this was ridiculous.  He had picked a colonial campaign for General Ven to oversee as Field Marshall instead of the seventh offensive on Amrioc by accident, and now the council was lecturing him over the comms on why they thought it was ridiculous.  Why had he gotten it wrong?  Simple.  A single digit.  Amrioc was CL - 68/15000.  The colony was CL - 78/15000.  Confound those tiny buttons, they’ve messed everything up.

‘...which is why we don’t send them on recon anymore!  So why exactly do you think we should do that, because this isn’t a game, no, this is a real war where people are killed and land lost and money wasted.  Why should we waste men on this tiny little backwater planet?  He looked about desperately and grabbed the nearest data pad.

‘Because sir...’  He started scrolling through the data base.  ‘...because...’

‘Yes?’  He found the planet and clicked on it.

‘Because of the carberrium sir.’  He smiled triumphantly staring at the figures on the screen.

‘What is so special about that?’

‘Well there’s a lot of it sir.’  He looked again at the figures.  Holy crap that was a lot in one place, and so easily accessible.

‘Just a second, we’re taking a look.’  There was ruffling and some loud pangs over the speakers.  ‘That is, woah, that IS a lot of carberrium.’  Mumbling and some shouts commenced, Jerry listening all the while.  After a few minutes he received an answer.  ‘The council and I have discussed it and we have come to the conclusion that Field Marshall Ven is to secure and commence industrialisation of the planet as soon as possible.’  He couldn’t believe it.  He had expected them just to dismiss it as an unimportant but not unreasonable claim and not have him executed by firing squad for wasting time and in turn lives.

‘Thank you sir.’

‘Don’t thank us, you just brought an important strategic position to light.’  Without any warning they signed off.  He wiped some sweat off his brow and left the room.  As soon he got outside Ven got up.

‘Well?’

‘There’s good news and bad news sir.’

‘Of course there is...’

‘The good news is that you are a Field Marshall now.’  He threw his hands up half heartedly.

‘Hooray for me,’ he said flatly.

‘The bad news is that it’s not on Amrioc, it’s on a colony.’  Ven blinked.

‘Bad news?  That’s great news!’

‘I’m afraid I don’t follow sir.’  He gave him one of those ‘really?’ looks.

‘The fighting will be minimal, there’ll be less to worry about.’  He walked off towards his quarters, seemingly care free.  ‘Brief the lads and pack your bags Jerry, we’re going on holiday.’

}------------{

Everyone had been pretty quiet on the trip back to Canterlot and Banna was glad for it, though he would have preferred it if the reasons had been different.  Pinkie Pie’s hair had gone back to normal but she just stared out the window.  Amax was sitting up front with Thate (who it turned out had fallen asleep in the dropship during their little skirmish) while the girls all sat around him, Twilight and Rarity to his sides.  Rainbow Dash was keeping her distance from Banna who still hadn’t fully gotten over the hoof in the balls and was scared that he might just do something stupid, like hit her.  He checked his tablet for messages, and strangely enough there was one.  It said that the reinforcements would be arriving tomorrow and to ensure that the compound had been finished by then.  he put it away and looked out the window.  Down below he saw a star studded caravan sitting under a tree which held his gaze for a little bit but not that long.  He refocused on the landscape and looked out to the horizon.

‘Mr. Banna?’ Asked Fluttershy, tugging at his armour.

‘Hm?’ He turned his head.

‘Are you going to live here?’  he nodded.

‘Yeah, this is my home now.’

‘Well in that case, where are you going to live?  Will it be in the Everfree Forest?’

‘Probably, yes.’

‘Oh I see...’  He looked around at the other mares who shrugged.

‘Is something wrong?’

'Well... it's not that there's anything wrong with living in the forest... but isn't it very dangerous there?’

‘I’m pretty sure I can handle danger, besides there’s good chance they’ve already ki-  I mean suppressed the bigger predators in the area,’ he said quickly.   Flutterhsy looked away for a moment, then looked back with a worried expression.

‘Y-your not going to...do what you did to the diamond dogs... are you?’

‘Probably not, though I can’t say for sure.  Most of them will be taken for study then probably released back into the wild.’

‘I suppose that’s alright then.’  She stood looking at the flooring of the ship.  ‘What about about your accommodations, are they alright?’

‘Yeah they’re good enough, besides the construction workers have been busy, I’m sure they’ve built a whole new section while I was away.’

‘Already?’ Asked Twilight.

‘Yeah, ‘course.’

‘Why would they need to make another section?’

‘We’re expecting a regiment if I remember correctly, though I may be a little off.’

‘Why are there more coming?’ Rainbow Dash yawned, the jet lag taking its toll.

‘Precautions and we need more than just a few platoons to defend a whole colony.’

‘But I thought you weren’t going to fight, apart from what just happened now of course.’

‘True, but it’s all about the illusion.’

‘What do ya mean?’ Applejack joined in.  He stretched and sat back in his seat.

‘You sure do have a lot of questions...  Well I mean if we look tough they’ll think we are tough and leave us alone.  If we look weak they’ll attack, and we can’t have that.’

‘Makes sense,’ agreed the cyan pegasus who was now falling asleep.  Come to think of it he was tired too.  Closing his eyes, he focused on home and all that was dear to him.  It was the only way to keep the nightmares out.

‘I’m not sure about the Gleyans Luna,’ said Celestia, taking a sip of tea.  Luna gave her a questioning look.

‘What do you mean?’  Celestia placed the tea back in its tray.

‘I just can’t shake this feeling that they want the Equinitium for... war.’  She dropped her cup abruptly.

‘War!?  What makes you think that?’  One of the Pegasi servants came and swept the mess up.

‘Well they are fighting, and it only makes sense that they would use such a precious metal to carry it out.’  Luna admitted she was right.

‘But they don’t seem bad, Amax is a very nice Gleyan.’

‘Just because someone seems nice, doesn’t mean they are nice, although they do seem rather sincere.  It’s not them I’m worried about, rather it’s their superiors.  If they’re the “hot-headed” kind of rulers, we might have a problem.’  She nodded.

‘I agree, though with any luck we should be fine.’

‘Yes, with any luck...’

Amax roused Banna from his sleep, shaking him on the arm.

‘We’re here sir.’  He got up slowly.

‘Right, where are the ponies,’ he replyed drowsily.

‘ They've gone on ahead sir, to see the princesses, though Pinkie Pie is still trying to figure out the controls.’  She was sitting up front pressing every button there was until Thate picked her up again and set her down outside.  He stared at her, though not aggressively or curiously, just stared.  She seemed to get the message and bounced to Amax.

‘Ah.’  He dismounted the ship which had been parked on the great halls balcony and walked inside.  All signs of the party were completely gone, despite it only have been on the previous night.  ‘They clean up fast here don’t they.’

‘Yep.’

‘Reminds me of that song.’

‘Which song sir?’

‘You know, the one that Jeray came up with?’  Amax’s face lit up.

‘Oh yeah, that was a good one.’  Pinkie Pie jumped onto his head.

‘Which song?  You know a song?  Why don’t you sing it!’  They looked about the room.  There were a few guards and servants idling about, though beyond that nothing.

‘I dunno...’

‘Come on, there’s barely anyone around, and I feel booored, just one song.’  The two soldiers looked at eachother and smiled.

‘Well maybe just one song.  Amax, if you’ll do the honours...’

‘Yes sir,’ he coughed a bit and readied his voice.  ‘Ooooooooh!’

Who fights battles day and night,

Who routed the men of the 3-5-9th,

Who took the tops of hill 7-7?

The lads of camp Pak-Ot-Derven.

Finer men, you’ll never see,

Those brave lads who fought ‘side me,

Not a single inch was giv-en way,

We fought like hell all through the day,

‘Surrender!’ Did we hear them cry,

‘Never!’ Did we respond,

With a kick ‘n a clap and a rat-a-tat-tat,

We fought them back to sod,

Who drinks heav’ly day and night,

Who ne-ver gives up without a fight,

Whose made up of convicted felons?

The lads of camp Pak-Ot-Derven.

The two of them laughed and Pinkie Pie joined in for the sake of it.

‘Of course he’s dead now,’ stated Amax.  Banna adopted a nostalgic demeanour.

‘Yeah...’  Clearing his throat Amax continued to sing in a sadder tone of voice.

And while never an-y dull nights,

I’d prefer if ‘twas my last fight,

Many a friend did I see, lose,

In my gut I feel so chewed,

Forever shall I feel like this,

My heart so hea’y, my brains like piss,

From when I lay my weary head,

Till the moment I am dead.

All the ponies in the room were staring including the mane six and the two princesses who had just entered halfway through the song were staring, tears in a few of their eyes.  I keep forgetting just how sensitive this topic is, he thought.

‘You’re friend, how did he die?’  Asked Celestia quite dolefully.

‘Electrostatic bomb,’ answered Amax automatically.  ‘It breaks the bonds of your-’  Banna nudged him very hard and shot him a glare.

‘I am sorry for your loss, now what is this “battle” they have been telling me about?’ She was very serious now.

‘We ran into a little trouble, but we took care of it.’

‘By taken care you mean murdered.’  His mind reeled.  Murdered?

‘I didn’t murder anyone!’

‘You killed them did you not?’

‘In self defence.’

‘Did they kill any of your soldiers or civillians?’

‘No they ignored them-’

‘Then it was murder.  You could have left them alone, but you didn’t.’

‘Excuse me princess, but they were trying to destroy our drill.  If that went off everything,’ he circled his finger about, ‘in a few miles would have been destroyed in the blast.’  There were murmurs and whispers about the matter.  Who of them could imagine such a weapon? She nodded.

‘In that case I apologise for my beration, however it still remains that beings were killed in my kingdom on purpose.  You must cease all activity in the mines at once.’  He was silent.

‘I will relay this message to my CO.  It’s unfortunate that we have reached a misunderstanding but I am sure we can resolve the issue,’ he said in his most formal and apologetic tone possible.  ‘I hope this does not impede on our other agreements.’

‘But of course, you are still welcome, just stay away from the mines.’

‘Right.  I trust you have spoken with the Anteeists about the matter?’

‘Not yet but I’m sure they will be understanding about matter.’  Understanding, that was a good one.  Even if they did agree they would probably be lying to her.

‘If you really want to place you trust in them, so be it, though I suggest a degree of vigilance around them, they can be somewhat... dubious in these circumstances.’  A voice suddenly rang out.

‘That isn’t a very nice to thing to say, skyrgi.’  From behind Celestia emerged three Anteeists, two bodyguards and what seemed to be a Major.  Banna pulled his pistol out of its holster and Amax aimed his rifle up.  Thate materialised behind the Anteeists, giving a light cough to let them know that he had his rifle aimed to their heads.

‘What exactly are you doing here?’  He asked, scanning the room for any other threats.  The guard ponies had readied themselves to pounce, though they weren’t sure who to attack, and the fact that both princesses were standing directly in the middle made it even worse.

‘Diplomacy, just like you skyrgi.’

‘Don’t call me that, neptur.’  Celestia interrupted.

‘There’s no need to resort to-’

‘Says the weakling.  I doubt you could stop me.’

‘Please, can we not be civil-’

‘Oh and that’s another thing neptur, fuck you!’

‘Why don’t you-’

‘That reminds me, I think it was your sister that I-’

Celestia seemed to grow and grow until she was larger than the lot of them yet somehow exactly the same.

‘You WILL stop this RIGHT now!’  She demanded, stamping her hoof angrily on the marble, sending out a shock wave.  They complied, whether they had wanted to or not, falling to the floor and dropping their weapons.  The lot of them looked about in shock, not entirely sure of what had happened.  She started to shrink, speaking as she did.  ‘I don’t understand what is wrong with you all, incapable to look past your prejudices for one second.’  They didn’t look at all guilty, in fact one of the Anteeists was reaching for his sword.  She clasped his hand shut, confusing him a lot.  While he tried to pry his hand open, Banna and the Anteeist major got up.

‘I suppose the princess is right, maybe we should out it aside.  At least until we get out onto the field.’  Banna nodded at the Major’s proposition.  The other men got up and grumbled, while Thate picked his rifle up and got behind Banna.

‘That’s better, now, Second Lieutenant Banna we simply want to discuss an alliance with them.’

‘An alliance?  With them!?  You’d be better off killing yourselves now.’  He folded his arms.  The Anteeists were sneaky bastards, and he had no doubt there would be some fine print in their stating something wholly unexpected.

‘At least give them a chance.’

‘A chance?  You’re kidding me right?  We’ve given them enough chances.’  Banna motioned to Amax and Thate to get back to the ship.

‘That’s a shame Gleyan, I was hoping you could sit in on the conversation,’ said the Anteeist Major quite flatly.

‘I’d rather not waste my time, besides I have a report long overdue that I have to give.’  The Anteeist for once had a look of understanding on his face.  Banna left for the ship, Thate having already made it there switching its systems on.  They’d be back soon.

Jimothy and the sniper stood at the back of the group trying to get a good view.  In the centre there was a map, and an officer was addressing the crowd.

‘As you can see, the Anteeist base is here.’ The stick pointed at a cluster of buildings on the side of a large hill.  ‘The line of defence is around here from the trenches visible and they seemed to have made a direct route to this town here, whom our associate Amax over at the castle had managed to identify as “Appleoosa”.  Apparently should it some to fighting we’re not allowed to shell it, though I doubt anyone will be remembering that when we fight them.’ The men started grumbling as they often would, and the officer made no move to silence them.

‘The regiment should be arriving soon, so I suggest you all get ready for them.  They aren’t combat tested, much like half of you,’ he pointed at one person, ‘So you’re going to have to show them the ropes.  Dismissed.’  The rabble dispersed, and Jimothy and the sniper left for the mess hall.

‘When do you think the lieutenant is coming back?’  Jimothy asked.  The sniper shrugged.

‘Dunno.  Perhaps today.  I heard that they ran into some trouble up in the mines.’

‘How?’

‘Sometimes I overhear things when I’m in the tower.’  Jimothy rolled his eyes.

‘Right.’  They walked on a bit more, coming out of the building into the open air, birds chirping and monsters howling.  ‘Do you think we’re going to fight them?’

‘Who, the ponies?’

‘No, the Anteeists.’

‘We’re already fighting them.’

‘I mean do you think we’ll be fighting them any time soon.’  They entered the mess hall, the smell of burnt food violating their senses.

‘Probably.’

‘And there I was thinking it’d be a holiday...’

End of Part 1 Part 1 - Reinforcements

Chapter 12: End of Part 1 - Reinforcements

‘This is OFC, come in base over.’

‘We read you OFC, go ahead over.’

‘Reinforcements are on the way, eta 14 hours over.’

‘Roger that.  Housing has been completed and the construction units are moving onto military installations, over.’

‘Good to hear.  Also, regarding the indigenous population, we have orders to stay away from them.  Limit movement to established defensive perimeter unless ordered otherwise.  Scouts are to continue as normal, over.’

‘Affirmative.’

‘Over and out.’

‘Over and out.’

Banna was angry, very angry.  They had been betrayed, and now those very same peopl- ponies were walking into a trap with the Anteeists, and were probably going to be enslaved, maybe even killed.  If they would just side with the Gleyans, they could bring them under their protection, then the operation would become a high priority they could bring their armies to bear and protect the planet properly.  They wouldn’t enslave them... at least he thought they wouldn’t.  That wasn’t what Gleya was like, right?  It’s the Anteeists that were evil and the Gleyans that were good, that was it.

Well whatever it was, it would be a hell of a lot better if they were the ones in charge rather than the Anteeists.  He pulled out a beef stick from his ration pouch, ripped off the wrapper and started eating.  Tasted like crap.  He chewed on, observing the bare wall of his room intensely.  As he did so, he noticed that it wasn’t actually grey, but a sort of light creamy-brown.  Not that it mattered.  The corridor echoed with footsteps and voices, some of which he could actually hear.  They all seemed to be rumours of the skirmish in the mountains and the aliens being more than met the eye, but he ignored it.  This was supposed to be his time to rest but the events of the previous day kept playing out in his head.  The APC, Anteeists in the capital, and his favourite, getting hooved in the balls, still sore...  It wasn’t going how he had hoped.  Well, he’d just have to bear it and pray that high command didn’t suddenly set their sights on the planet like they had done to others so many times in the past.  That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

The Captain clutched at his cup of... whatever the private had filled his cup with.  The planet below glistened like a pearl... or was that just his lack of sleep?  Whatever it was, it looked good, jaw droppingly good.  He sighed, wondering what the army would be doing on the planet.  Probably something more interesting than they were.  The nearest threat was hidden on the other side of the planet, so naturally things were a little slow.  He walked to the other side of the observation deck to where an analyst was standing at a console, pressing buttons every now and then.

‘Anything to report?’  Please have something to report.

‘Nothing sir.  Just a few solar flares, but nothing special.’

‘Right.’  He looked at his cup and sighed again.  Walking to his old spot, he resumed staring out the windows.  There wasn’t any change from before, aside a few clouds moving rather erratically, but that didn’t matter to him.  After scrutinising every bit of the planet, he looked away from it and out to space.  The moon seemed to have an extra flair about it, and while staring at it, he got the feeling that he was being watched.  Peering further, he thought he saw a figure on it, something moving on the surface...

‘Captain.’  He roused himself.

‘Yes, corporal?’

‘We’ve got a reading on the scanners.  The reinforcements are inbound.’

‘Oh good.’  He walked back again to the console.  As was expected, there was a beeping and a few readings on the screen.  He took a sip.  ‘They’d better bring something better to drink...’  Apparently they were going to appear on the port side, so he positioned himself for a good view.  The ship would be there soon... and there!  A lone cruiser appeared, as though out of nothingness, its many giant spotlights on to showcase its position.  Well that was interesting, now to go find-

Another one appeared.  He furrowed his brow.  Two ships?  They had only been expecting one.  Well, that was probably the most surprising thing he would see for the next few-

Another one.  That was-  Another ship emerged.  It was followed by many more until the very last ship arrived, a large flag ship.  Not just any flagship, he knew that one.  That was the ship of Field Marshal Brummel.  But that could only mean...

‘FINALLY!’  He called out, fist pumping, spilling the contents of the cup onto the private next to him.  There was going to be something interesting after all.

Field Marshall Ven stood on the frontal observation deck in his new uniform, complete with an ornate golden ceremonial breastplate and a cape in tow to make him look bigger than he was, staring at the planet.  It looked like paradise, seemingly untouched forests and oceans, with a lone moon circling it.  That would be perfect for OFC headquarters.

‘Hey Jerry, give the engineers orders to set up HQ on that moon.  They can set it up anywhere they like, just as long as it faces the planet.’

‘Will that be all?’ He asked.  Ven looked over his reports again.

‘Oh yes, and please confirm the reports of, “Colourful talking ponies” with the commanding officers.  I’m not sure whether it was a typo, or if they’ve all gone mad.’

Jerry gave a slight bow.

‘Yes... Field Marshall,’ he said with a smile, leaving as he did so.

The sun was setting, and ponies were retiring to their rooms.  As the sun dropped lower and lower, lights started coming on in many houses and shutters were closed.

‘Hey Sidus, what’re you doing!’  Called out Stella, as she trotted up the hill towards the park bench he was sitting on.  He looked down to her, inadvertently gazing into her eyes, before snapping his head away.

‘Oh, hey Stella.  I’m just waiting for the... stars to come out.  They’re... very, uh, beautiful.’   She rolled her eyes.

‘Yeah right.  I know you better than that, and I don’t ever remember you staying up to watch the stars.’  She smiled, causing him to smile a little as well.  ‘You just want to see the, what are they called...’

‘Gleyans,’ he said automatically.

‘There we are.  So you’re going to be sitting out here the whole night then?’  He shrugged.

‘Maybe.  I suppose it depends.’

‘On what?’

‘If something interesting happens.’  She sighed.

‘Well move over then.’  His mind reeled.

‘Y-you want to sit with me and watch?’  She nodded.

‘Of course.  No friend of mine is sitting alone in the cold.’  They sat together watching the sky.  There were flashing streaks across the sky, and they weren’t shooting stars.

‘It’s amazing really,’ said Stella.

‘What is?’

‘That they came here.  So many stars in the sky to choose from and they chose us.’  He had to admit, she had a point.

‘We’ll see if that’s actually a good thing.’

‘What, you think they’re going to hurt us or something?’  He shuddered at the thought of her injured, going so far as to bury that thought in the darkest hole of his brain.

‘Are you cold?’ She asked next, looking slightly concerned.  ‘You were shaking there.’

‘No, no I’m fine.  Just thinking of something.  Uh, yeah I don’t think they’re going to... do anything unpleasant, but say if they did, there’s not a lot we could do.’

‘Come on, the princess would protect us.  Her magic is extremely powerful, I doubt even they could do anything to her.’  He conceded.

‘I suppose you’re right.’  They turned their attention back to the stars.

Sidus awoke suddenly, a low rumbling noise causing him to panic and fall off the bench.  He rubbed his head and sat back up, wondering what exactly had caused the noise.  Stella was somehow still sleeping.  Looking up at the sun he could see it was just after sunrise, or so it seemed to be.  He looked about in front of him to see what could have possibly made the noise.  Nothing.

‘Eh, probably just me,’ he muttered to himself, turning round...

...to see four very large ships not that far off in the distance with hundreds of smaller ships flying past them in V-formations.  His jaw dropped.  What was going on?

‘OFC come in, over.’

‘Roger that, this is OFC.  Who is this?’

‘I am Field Marshall Ven.  Who’s in charge here?’

‘That would be the Major, sir.’

‘Put him on.’

‘Yes sir...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘This is Major Penn, reporting sir.’

‘Greetings Major Penn, I am Field Marshall Ven.  I will be taking over operations from here on out.’

‘Of course sir.’

‘I expect to be planetside in 30 minutes.  Do you have accommodations sufficient for a Field Army?’

‘A f-f-field army?’

‘Of course you don’t, you’re just a colony.  Don’t worry Major.  The ships will provide us with somewhere to sleep.  That and the moon.  Over and out Major.’

‘Over and out, sir.’

Penn was very confused.  They had been expecting a few regiments at most.  This was a whole damn invasion force.  What exactly were they going to do here?  The Anteeist outpost sure as hell didn’t warrant a force of millions to be called up to fight.  He paused, stopping his brisk walk to the landing pad abruptly.  What if the planet had become part of a planned offensive?  He shook his head without realising, a few of the surrounding soldiers giving him weird looks.  That would be bad, they weren’t ready for a fight, or to be more precise, he wasn’t ready for a fight.  He’d just finished those psychiatric sessions a month ago, and already he was going to be thrown into the thick of it again.  Assuming that it was part of the planned offensive of course.  He started walking again, faster this time as his mind raced with thoughts.

What if the Anteeists sent more men? What would the natives do?  How many men would die before either side would budge?  He cut himself short when he noticed that the Marshall had already arrived.

‘Field Marshall sir!  I apologize for my tardiness sir, it won’t happen ag-’  Ven waved a hand at him.

‘Don’t worry about it Major, it happens.  You weren’t expecting an army were you?’  Penn nodded.  ‘I thought as much.’

‘Sir, what would you like to do first?  We have a few supply dumps you may want to survey, and the men might want to meet you...’  Once again Ven waved a hand to stop him.

‘All in good time Major, but first, where are these, uh, ponies I've heard so much about?’

(Sorry about the complete and utter lack of punctuality with this chapter, but hey, sometimes life gets in the way.  I know this isn't as long as the other chapters, and barely anything happens in it, but I figured something would be better than nothing, just to let you know I'm not dead.  As you can see this is the start of something big, and I may have a large time jump (A few months) later on.  Then again I might not.  We shall see...  I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to enjoy the rest of them assuming i get round to writing them!  I ask that you forgive any grammatical mistakes I may have made.)

End of Part 1 Part 2 - Meetings

End of Part 1 Part 2 - Reinforcements

The light of the sun gleamed off of the moon with a particular shine that night, Luna remarked to no one in particular as she walked the desolate mass of rock that had been her prison for so many centuries… And her only possession.  Now it was a sanctuary from the nearly overwhelming duties that modern day equestrian politics had become.  After close to a thousand years of peace, return to modern Equestria has been… difficult.  Many of her subjects believe her to control the stars and their nightly journey across the sky. This honour however, is not one that she can rightly take credit for.  The amount of magic that would be needed to control those would be enormous; such that it would likely kill any pony that attempted to dedicate that level of magical power at any one point… Assuming it didn't first drive them to insanity.  She paused to watch the Gleyan ships  make their way across the face of Equestria, small dots from their current distance.  So many of them, it would seem I have some questions for Banna when I return.

On the horizon she thought she saw movement.  She flew towards it to take a closer look.

The sniper had no idea how he and Jimothy had been nabbed for the job; something happened as soon as they had entered the mess, but here they were, working on the moon.

‘A little more to the right,’ crackled a voice over the comms in his helmet.  He turned the steering wheel ever so slightly to the right.  ‘No, my right.’  He turned it to the left.  ‘Perfect.  I think it’s mostly finished.  We just need to connect up the electrics, smack on some paint and we’re done!’

The moon bunker wasn’t actually complete, but the first batch of personnel quarters were and ready to be inhabited, so they were calling it a day while they let the rest of the construction force work on the other parts of the bunker.

‘Hey sniper.’  Jimothy sounded quite annoyed, ‘when’s that transport coming back.’

‘We’re supposed to relay a message to them using the base’s communication relay,’ he replied leaving the crane, ‘so I’d say not too long after we’ve gotten the electrics up.

‘Well we’d better be quick about it then,’ Amax cut in.  ‘I’m getting bored, and my suit smells now.’

As they started for the doors, Amax noticed something on the horizon.

‘Hey guys, do you see anything over there?’

‘Over where?’ came the reply of pretty much everyone.

‘Same direction as the doors face.’  Everyone turned.

‘No, there’s nothing there,’ said the sniper.  Everyone else agreed.  Amax shrugged.  He was probably just jumpy.

He was about to turn when Luna emerged from out of the crater a few dozen metres in front of him with an inquisitive look on her face.

All the chatter on the radio went silent.  Someone sniffed.

‘What the hell is that doing here,’ said someone finally breaking the silence.  Luna came closer to Amax, but could not recognise him.  The gold tinted visor meant the only thing she could see was her own reflection.

‘What are you doing here?’  She asked, forcefully, though not necessarily angrily. The soldiers were even more shocked.

‘Uh, guys, was that me or did she just talk in space?’ asked the sniper.  Amax gave a thumbs up back to him.  ‘Well crap.  I suppose I should really be more concerned about what she’s doing here practically naked or something...’  Amax gestured to Luna to go to the entrance to the station.

She looked at him for a few more seconds before doing as he had asked.  He noted that she walked along the surface as though they were planetside as opposed to the slow jumping strides of the men.

Once they stepped inside into a hall, someone disappeared off into the darkness of the unpowered interior.  Shortly afterwards, the lights came on, and the halls started to fill with oxygen.  Everyone removed their helmets, and when Luna realised it was Amax she was very surprised.

‘Amax!  What are you doing here?’ He shrugged.

‘Oh you know, the usual, manual labour.  We were just finishing up the moon base when you arrived.’  She raised an eyebrow.

‘Moon base?  Why would you have a base on the moon?’  He looked around at everyone else’s blank faces while scratching his head.

‘Uh... dunno.  The Field Marshall said we had to make it.  I suppose it’s for him to conduct operations.’

‘He doesn’t want to stay on the planet?’

‘We-e-e-ell, it’s safer here than down there.  And he can’t stay on the ships, they’ll be leaving fairly soon.’  She observed the bleak white hall as he spoke.

‘I see...’ Luna said, doing her best to understand the seemingly pointless intrusion upon her sacred ground.

Now it was Amax’s turn for questions.

‘So, princess, how exactly did you get here?’  All the other men leaned in ever so slightly to hear this.

‘I flew here of course.’  That didn’t answer his question.

‘Yes, but how?  Did you get on one of the ships, or...’ She laughed a little, amused by what she thought was a ridiculous and obvious question.

‘Using my wings of course,’ she said as she flapped them for extra effect.  If it was possible, the men’s faces would have gone blanker than the CMC’s flanks at this answer.

Of course she did, thought Amax, she’s a magical talking pony who is also a pegasus and a unicorn.  Why wouldn’t she? He turned round.

‘That answers that guys,’ he said with false enthusiasm, ‘so let’s get back to work shall we?’  They all left, very slowly as they tried to get out of work for just a little longer.

Suddenly the loudspeakers came on, the sniper’s voice blaring loudly.

‘...is this thing on?’  Amax flinched. ‘I swear this thing had better switch on or I’m going to- oh, right.  A ship’s coming to pick us up in a few minutes.  Uh... yeah.  That’s it.  I’m gonna leave the console now.’  He could still be heard walking away from it.  ‘What’s that?  It’s still on?  Oh, sh-’  A short crackle signalled it being turned off.

Amax sat down on a console, not really caring that it was the controls for the airlock.

‘I’m pretty sure the Field Marshall is going to want to meet with you,’ he said to her.  She shook her head.

‘I trust my sister to handle things well.  She has been doing it longer than me.’ He shrugged.

‘If you say so.’

Banna was still in his room staring at the ceiling when there was a knock at the door.

‘Lieutenant, I could you come out here?’  He sat up.

‘Yes sir, just a second...’  He put his clothes and combat armour back on.  He was taking zero chances after the drill.  Opening the door, he stepped outside.  ‘Yes sir?’

The Major stood there glaring at him.

‘PR Lieutenant Banna, salute when in the presence of a Field Marshall!’ he snapped.  Banna was confused.  Field Marshall? Where? He turned left, and saw Ven dressed in his formal attire.  Ah, crap.  He turned to face the Major again and saluted.

‘Sir!’

‘That’s quite alright Major,’ said Ven, ‘At ease Lieutenant.’  Banna relaxed, ‘Since you’re the public relations officer, you are going to accompany me to the castle that the princess resides in.  I need someone who has dealt with the locals extensively.’  He shifted uneasily.

‘Well I wouldn’t say extensively...’

‘Compared to us you have.  You’ve also met with their head of state I understand?’

Back into the field for me then, he thought.

‘Yes I have.  They had made some treaty with the Anteeists though.’  Ven looked down and appeared to think deeply for a few seconds.

‘That is troubling, but, I think that shouldn’t put a dent in our plans for too long.’  He looked back up and gave a smile.  ‘The Anteeists won’t be around for much longer.’

‘W-what do you mean sir?’ asked Banna, wondering what he could have in store.  He turned round, and the two commissioned officers immediately started following him down the corridor.

‘Oh, well, the 77th Regiment will be making an attack on the Anteeists tomorrow.  Shouldn’t be too hard to wipe out a company or so of soldiers.’  Banna found himself relieved.  Looks like there weren’t going to be any problems after all.  ‘Now Major.  Lead on, I’m still not sure where that landing pad is.’

As the drop ship approached Canterlot a few pegasi guards approached it.  They slowed down to let the pegasi fly alongside them.  One started knocking on the glass and spoke, but it was muffled.

Banna opened one of the doors and beckoned him in.  He hesitated, then entered the ship.

‘Yes?’ said Ven, seriously.  The pegasus was still a bit uneasy about flying without his wings, and gave the impression that he believed the floor was going to give way at any moment.

‘Princess Celestia asks that you set down in the courtyard, she doesn’t want anypony on the balcony from now on.’

‘Sure.  Would you mind leading the pilots there?’  The pegasus nodded quickly and jumped out, glad to no longer have to rely on a flying metal box that didn’t have wings (as such).

It didn’t take long to get to the courtyard.  They set down, and Ven was the first to step out followed by Banna and two guards whose names Banna didn’t know.  Celestia was there to greet them.

Odd, he thought, she wasn’t there a moment ago.

Ven was the first one to speak.  He nodded and smiled.

‘Princess Celestia, a pleasure to meet you.’  Those etiquette lessons were paying off.

‘The pleasure is all mine Mr...’

‘Field Marshall Ven.’  She nodded back to him.

‘I trust you are here to talk about diplomatic matters?’

‘Yes.  I was hoping we could discuss our future relations more.’

‘Of course.’  She leaned slightly to the right to get a look at Banna.

‘Lieutenant Banna.’

‘Princess,’ he responded politely.  He still felt a bit betrayed, though he supposed it wasn’t her fault.  She didn’t really know them well enough.

‘If you’ll follow me, we can discuss matters over Dinner.’

Banna noticed that one of the guards checked his watch.  He found himself doing the same.  It was midnight at home.  7 o’clock here.

There were a lot of guards posted around, watching the humans walk past, ready for a fight.  Not that he had any intention to fight, but he was pretty sure that if they did they would be overrun fairly quickly, which was probably the thoughts of the head of security as well, whoever he was.

As they entered the building a formation of guards formed up behind them, essentially blocking the exit.  As they walked Venn slowed down to let him beside him.

He whispered, ‘Do they always act this cautiously?’  Banna nodded slightly.

‘No, at least not when I was around sir.  Maybe they don’t want to appear weak?’

‘Hmm... maybe.’  They didn’t talk again until they reached the dining room.  It was very large, made for grand feasts and banquets with diplomats from far away lands.  Paintings of ponies he presumed were famous diplomats or some such adorned the walls.  The table stretched quite far and could probably seat at least a 100 ponies if not more.  Light streamed in from the large windows to the left of the room, pegasi guards visible, going about their patrols.

A few waiters and waitresses were assembled to the side.  One of them came forward and spoke.

‘Allow me to show you to your seats, sirs.’  At first the guards declined, but when the princess insisted Ven ordered them to be seated.  Slightly larger chairs had to be brought out for them, so they used the one’s they usually reserved for young dragons and minotaurs.

Everyone was sat opposite of Celestia.  Ven stared at her mane for a few seconds before rousing himself.  There was an important matter at hand.

‘From what I hear, you’ve made a treaty with the Anteeists?’  She nodded.

‘That is correct.’  Ven sighed.

‘That doesn’t break any agreements we’ve made so far does it?’

‘Only the drilling rights.’

‘So all the Carberrium, it’s just going to, what, sit there?’  She shook her head.

‘The Anteeists were kind enough to give us a drill and send us somepony, sorry, someone to oversee it, on the condition we sell it to them at a discount price.’

‘Those sly bastards’ was all that Banna could think.  This seemed to faze the Field Marshall a little.

‘I-I see.  And what about us?’  She smiled reassuringly.

‘You are also welcome to buy from us, though it will be slightly more expensive.

Of course this had been the plan all along, and a pretty clever one at that.  He tapped Ven on the shoulder, and the officer turned to look it at him.  Motioning him to come closer, he started whispering to him.

‘Sir, I think we should stick with this deal.  We can completely avoid any more bloodshed like this.’

‘But it’ll cost us.’  Banna nodded.

‘Yeah, but this time the currency won’t be people’s lives.’  Ven sighed again.

‘You’re right Banna’, he said in a normal tone of voice so that everyone else could hear.  He turned to the princess.  ‘That will do just fine.  I suppose we’ve achieved what we’ve come here to achieve then, though one question.  What would you want to be payed in?’  She had already thought about this in advance.

‘Whatever is the accepted currency from where you come from is fine.  I trust that it is more or less universal right?’

She was correct.  There was a galaxy wide currency in use.

‘And that is it?’

‘Well, technology and maybe materials now and again will also suffice.’  Ven nodded. I see.

Just then the Anteeist supervisor walked in wearing what can best be described as a white three piece suit with a poncho-like robe covering the upper half and hanging down the back to the heels, the formal attire of both Gleya and Anteea.  His facepaled when he saw the two Gleyan guards with rifles in hand.

The guards stiffened, and one of them cocked his rifle slowly.

‘Easy men’, said Ven, ‘We’re friends now.’  The supervisor nodded nervously.

‘Thank you, uh... Field Marshall.’

‘Don’t mention it.’  The food arrived as he took a seat.  Of course all the dishes consisted of fruit and vegetables in an assortment of spices, herbs and sauces.

‘I hope this peace can last Field Marshall, don’t you?’  Ven nodded.

‘That would be ideal.’  They started to talk about potential cease fires, which didn’t really interest him that much.  Banna looked up at Celestia to see her looking at him.

‘See? You can get along just fine,’ she said, happy to see the two sides working out their differences.

‘Mhm, of course we are, those two guards have their sights trained on him because everything is fine and dandy.’

Ven and the supervisor chose to ignore the comment.

She shook her head.

‘Why can’t they let their guard down?  He’s not going to do anything to you.’  He thought about it.

‘Well none of us are used to sharing a table with our enemies.’

‘It’s not so bad is it?’ she looked at him as though she knew what his answer was already.

‘I admit it, it isn’t that bad.’

‘Good.  Maybe soon you’ll see that there is no cause for concern.’

‘I hope you’re-’

A unicorn guard suddenly teleported into the room, startling Ven who turned to look at Banna.

‘Magic,’ Banna mouthed.  He nodded slightly then turned back round, still shocked.

‘Princess,’ he bowed, ‘we have reports from Appaloosa.  They say that those aliens have started fighting!’

It hit Banna and Ven like a brick to the forehead.  Celestia turned round, a look of anger on her face.  Her horn glowed slightly signalling the guards from earlier to enter the room.

The guards raised their weapons slightly.  Banna propped his arms on the table and rested his face in them while Ven just switched on his comms.

‘Pilot, prepare the engines.  We’ll be leaving soon.’

(Prepare for action next chapter.  I didn't want it part of this chapter because cliffhangers.  Hope you enjoyed it!  Credit to lol1759 for assisting with grammar, spelling and a few ideas.)