My Little Vanguardby ZaarlikaChapters-1: Rapid Unplanned Disassembly--2:Situation Unclear--3: Interspecies Conversation (Not) Recommended--1: Rapid Unplanned Disassembly-My Little Vanguard -1:Rapid Unplanned Disassembly- Thomas stumbled as some pipes blasted themselves often, firing has into the ship's decaying air, before the very wall they were sat on exploded. Vanguard Mega-Cruisers were among the most lethal of Vanguard ships, but even they weren't prepared for sudden atmospheric entry. 'Sudden atmospheric entry' meaning 'exited Jump in atmosphere at nearly 30 times the speed of sound'. To make matters worse, this planet's atmosphere hardly thinned at all, right up until it actually stopped and became Space. Where the ship was meant to be. The comms system turned on again. "All hands, this is Captain Gordon, abandon ship! VONS Ram Of Your Gates is losing structural integrity fast and will break up in 15 minutes. I repeat, all hands, evacuate ship, 15 minutes until the VONS Ram Of Your Gates breaks up." Was all that came through before the comms system sparked and the speaker broke off the wall. Thomas hurried through the computers room and slammed his fist into the keypad. Emergency situations were awesome, you could punch anything and it would work. He charged through the door before a piece of ship got torn free and flung into the distance in the room behind him before the door slammed shut. He started to hurry across the -unfortunately- glass exterior walkway, before the opposite door opened to reveal another Vanguard Marine. The Marine gestured for him to hurry, before a piece of the walkway came loose and sucked the Marine out. No going through that way. Stumbling and holding on desperately for dear life, Thomas stepped down and opened the door halfway down the path, throwing himself through before the door shut. Rolling and bringing himself to his feet, he shielded his face as an electrical panel exploded. Or, rather, Diluxum Charge Panel, the Vanguard stopped using electricity several thousand years ago. He half ran, half crouched through the deteriorating room and threw himself through the door, before being hastily hauled to his feet by an Assassin. Escape chamber. He could fire out in a lander pod and have an assured landing, or take his chances and deploy the Mobile Base further towards the back of the ship. When a piece of ship, including four rooms and a couple of unfortunate Marines, got torn free from the chamber, he decided it'd be best to leave now. He hurried over and quickly dived into one of the escape pods. A couple other Marines and the Assassin followed suit before the hatch closed and sealed itself. A Marine Sniper clambered into the cockpit seat and flicked some switches. Every marine either just sat down or actually strapped him or herself in. The Sniper grabbed a lever, the kind you pull. "Hold on tight, people!" Was all he said before ripping the lever outwards with all his might. What felt like forever passed before the pod fired out the bottom of the deteriorating cruiser, followed quickly by several dozen more. As the pod shook violently, ripping through the planet's ridiculously thick atmosphere, he saw the Mobile Base fire off too, shortly before the ship actually broke in half. At least they had that. Now concerned with where they were going, he would've hoped to god they weren't falling into a gas giant. Except religion had died also several thousand years ago. So he just hoped. Luna watched over the kingdom from her balcony. It was a beautiful night. In the distance was Ponyville, the semi-rural town home to Princess Twilight. She could just barely make out the treehouse where said Princess lived. But something seemed amiss on this night. Nothing in the actual kingdom, just her viewing of it. Stepping forward and looking up, she realised what it was-There was a bright orange light some distance away behind her. That was when the booming roar started. It grew louder and louder, and the Palace began shaking. Luna backed off from the edge of the balcony. After a moment of terror a large object, the source of the noise, flew overhead, quite some distance above them but nonetheless massive. It was big, it had a lot of sharp edges, it was noisy, and most of all, it was on fire. Eight dish-like objects sat on the back, none appearing to be doing anything. The massive object illuminated the kingdom as it passed overhead. Several small objects, somewhere around fifty, flung themselves from the bottom of the ship, these ones not flaming and descending at a relatively safe pace. After a short pause, a somewhat larger one separated itself and followed its smaller comrades. The massive creature, or thing, from which they originated flew past the mountains, showering Cloudsdale in a bright orange shower of light as it flew past, vanishing behind the mountains, but not before finishing its show of grandeur with a giant ball of fire and a thunderous boom that shook the palace yet again. Thomas felt relieved when the lander thumped on solid ground, sitting his head back. The Assassin next to him, however, didn't seem all too bothered. Unstrapping herself, the sleek, black armored supersoldier walked over to the hatch. "Pilot. Atmosphere readings." Was all she said. "Uuuh, scans read green. Safe to breathe. Planet's also green too." The Sniper who had landed them commented. Without another thought the Assassin opened the hatch and stepped outside. "I doubt its green where the Ram landed." One Marine muttered. One by one the ten grey-armored soldiers stepped out of the lander. Unlike Assassins, Marines were not supersoldiers, just normal humans, but the fact their armor both had shields and was a powered armor suit more than made up for it. Thomas observed their surroundings. Almost exactly like Terra. One Marine apparently displayed the same level of confusion as he did, and was scratching the top of his helmet. The Assassin had wasted no time and was atop the lander, scanning the surrounding terrain with her binoculars. After a moment she stopped. "Civilized colony, south east, three to five kilometers." She muttered to herself. "Any signs of the Mobile Base?" One Marine asked. Thomas recognized the symbol on his shoulder plate, he was a Sergeant. The Assassin kept turning, and when essentially facing the opposite direction, stopped again. "Vanguard Deployable Base spotted. North east, two kilometers." She called. "Okay, Marines, you know the drill, let's head to the base." The Sergeant ordered. The Marines slowly started to troop over in the direction of the base, the Assassin nonchalantly tagging along behind. While he didn't get much of a look, Thomas clearly made out 'Anderson' on the Sergeant's chestplate. Thomas shrugged. Never heard of him. The Marines had been trekking for quite some time before they reached the base. The fact they were trekking through woods was not helped by the fact it was night time. As they approached the base, which had crushed or plainly knocked over quite a few trees on landing, a Marine Sniper saw them, only visible by the faint red light coming from underneath his sniper's scope. After a pause he saw the man stand and perform a symbol above his head with his arms. The Sniper next to Thomas did the same. The sniper standing above the base turned. "Marine Squad! Outside the main gate!" He called, before turning back around. The troop of Marines continued as the main gate, which looked like a combination of a 21st century garage door and a battleship blast door, unlocked with a wheeze and began to open, the segments of the door clicking and rotating so as to slide into the door receptacles. The Marines walked through, the door reversing the process once they had passed the threshold. A Marine Captain greeted them as the lights flickered. "Welcome home Marines. Sorry about the lighting, the Base's Diluxum Core got damaged when the ship was, y'know, exploding. You'll live." He shrugged, gesturing over his shoulder. Anderson stepped forward. "Right. Anyone else arrive? What about the Ram?" "Uuuh, another squad arrived less than fifteen minutes ago, they're helping the deployment crew fix the Core and get everything running, we're operational, but barely. As for the Ram, we've got nothing so far. Individual suit radios don't have the range to reach it and the Base's antenna isn't up yet, the one already installed got broken by a floor." The Captain scratched the back of his helmet. "Right. Any way we can help?" "Ah, no, the squad that arrived earlier is doing just fine. Go lie down or somethin', one of the crew told me the Base's cafeteria is functional if you're hungry." The Captain pointed to another door. Immediately one Marine holstered his shotgun and ran off. After a pause, everyone started to disperse. The Captain came over and walked with Thomas. "You good, Marine?" "Yeah, just fine." Thomas responded. "Okay. Say, your armor hasn't got a scratch on it. You new to the Marines or are you just really good at dodging bullets?" "Uh, passed training last week. The Ram was actually my first deployment." "Oh, well, I can tell you that this kind of thing isn't normal, we don't normally jump into atmosphere." "I guessed, seeing as all that came through the comms was the AI going 'Crap' as soon as she realised what happened." "Yeah. I wonder where she went. We don't normally let AIs go down with their ship, they're too valuable." "Maybe someone in one of the landers got it." "Let's hope so. Well, see you around, Marine." The Captain waved before heading off. Thomas opened a door and headed up a flight of stairs. There were markers all over the base dictating where different parts were, so it wasn't hard to find the dormitories. Picking one at random, he headed in to find a Marine there, clicking her boots on. From the fact her armor was heavier than the normal Vanguard Armories Powered Armor, he guessed she was either a Heavy or a Sapper. Twilight stared out her window in confusion, as she had been for about half an hour. The entire town had been woken by a bright light and a loud thunderous roar passing overhead, and she'd been harmlessly stargazing when a massive metallic thing, engulfed in flames, had flown overhead and landed somewhere in the mountains. The boom had not been quiet. As she tried to see if anything was left there, somebody knocked on her door. Snapping out of her thoughts she headed downstairs to see not one but three ponies, Ranbowdash, Applejack and Lyra, of all people. "Hey, Twi, you see the big thing that passed over town?" AJ asked. "I don't think anyone missed it." "Know what it is?" "Not a clue. Certainly didn't look like an asteroid, too uniform in appearance." "Wait, what?" Lyra asked. "I saw it clearly as it passed by, I was...observing. The stars. Yeah, that works." "Right. So, it's not a space rock?" "Didn't look like it." "Aliens?" Rainbow asked. "Don't be preposterous, aliens don't exist, at least not within such as ridiculously, unfathomable distance that-" Twilight started. "Okay, Twi, we get it." Applejack raised a hoof. "What should we do?" Lyra asked." "We should probably alert the Princesses, but I get the feeling they already know." Twilight shrugged, looking over at Canterlot in the distance. At that moment Spike, burping with every step, tumbled down the staircase, landing with a thump at the landing. "Twilight, I got a-" he moaned before burping again, this time louder, a letter ejecting from his mouth in the usual fashion. Twilight turned and walked over, picking up and unrolling the letter with her magic, her friends following. "Uh, ok..." Twilight blinked. "What does it say?" Rainbow asked. Twilight turned the letter to allow them to read it: Dear Twilight Sparkle, As you most likely know, a large, strange object passed over Equestria less than an hour ago. Consulting Princess Luna, I have discovered this object is by no means natural, and she did not create it. She also said it was artificial; someone not of this world created it. To make things stranger, she also said she detected no magic of any sort in it, which makes no sense at all. Princess Luna has also told me several small objects separated themselves from the object before it crashed and, in all essence, exploded. I am assembling a force of guards to head to the site of the largest object, and I would like you to come with me and my sister tommorrow. If you must, you may bring your friends as well. The trio in front of the letter blinked in mild confusion. "So it is aliens?" Rainbow asked again. "So it would seem." Twilight shrugged, putting the letter on the table. There was a pause. "Anyone want to come?" Twilight asked. Author's Note For reference: VONS stands for Vanguard/VoH Orbital Navy Ship. They no longer use metal, instead using Eradium, a material combination of numerous materials that makes it incredibly resistant, and yet looks like white steel. For power they use Diluxum, a kind of mineral that constantly collapses and rebuilds itself, with a massive energy output in the process, everything that needs power in the Vanguard runs off a Diluxum Core. -2:Situation Unclear-My Little Vanguard -2:Situation Unclear- Thomas looked over his helmet. While it was a capable helmet, combining, well, protection, with advanced HUD tech, suit controls linking directly or his MenComm, and a gas filter that would show up even 25th century gas masks, it wouldn't take a strike of genius to realise the engineers at Vanguard Armories designed it just to look as badass as possible. In some respects you could say they succeeded. The Marine sharing the dorm, whom he had confirmed was a Sapper, watched as he looked over the mouth grill. "You doin' anything or you just staying in here?" She asked. "Hm, what? Why?" "Well, the Captain told me to go on patrol, and it takes basic Vanguard intuition to know a solo patrol is suicidal. You wanna come? My friends Beth and Alex from downstairs are coming along as well." Thomas thought. He had nothing better to do. "Might as well." Twilight tried looking through the woods as the chariot headed through at a brisk pace. They wanted to surround the object covertly, so they decided to head through beneath the canopy. Further ahead she saw an opening, and it looked like several trees had collapsed. Was this the object? Indeed, the chariot slowed to a halt, and as she got off she spotted a large amount of Royal Guards, all lying in wait. Indeed, her friends had chosen to come, but she told them to hang back until she said it was safe. Or safe enough. They were dealing with the unknown, if something went wrong they didn't want all six Element Bearers in the line of fire. As she approached, she was stopped by a large white hoof. Where she had come from she didn't know, but Celestia had somehow arrived, silently. "Not so quickly, Twilight." Was all she said, keeping her eyes on the clearing. "You came?" Twilight asked. "Yes. This is far more than your average upset noble, I think it is appropriate I help to deal with this." "Is Luna here too?" "No, she is on her way. How long she will be, however, I don't know." Celestia said before lowering her hoof, her gaze not breaking from whatever lay in there. The two slowly approached the tree line. The guards there moved aside, but kept an eye on the two princesses. The object was large and shiny, it was metal, but not the sort of shiny you got from jewelry. Instead, this appeared robust, that 'you're not getting in' shiny that made it look like a fortress. After a moment where the force of guards and the two princesses all observed this thing, the large section with a jagged line down the middle wheezed and clicked apart. Something was coming out. The two princesses ducked and hid in the foliage. Thomas and the three other Marines all stepped outside as the gate slowly opened. While the two scientists in the base had confirmed the air was green, all four Marines wore their helmets. No clue what lay out there. Thomas had his VoHSAR (the Vanguard's main assault rifle), the Sapper, whom was called Lillian, had a micro-RPG cannon, a sort of cross between a standard RPG and a grenade launcher, Bethany had a shotgun and Alex had an LMG. Apparently, Alex had passed training at the same time Thomas had; he used the LMG because it made him feel safer. The four Marines stepped off the metal ramp on the soft, warm dirt and grass. It didn't seem like much was beyond the dozens of felled trees, but patrol doesn't serve much if you can't be sure, so Lillian had decided to check just past the tree line. The four Marines stood, trying to decide what to do with themselves. The crew had left some crates outside intentionally, so if they came under attack they had some cover. Bethany pointed to a slightly clearer area off to their left. "More open. Something could have more room to move." Was all she said. Thomas sighed, his helmet, combined with his MenComm, blocking it. She wasn't one of those 'I'm-Gonna-Be-Like-An-Assassin' types, was she? "No, again, too much room to move. Over there's some thick foliage, perfect for an ambush." "Everything around us is perfect for an ambush. It's too thick there. We go Beth's way." Lillian gestured. The four Marines began to head over. Cautious, Thomas raised his rifle. He saw something out of place. He raised his hand. Even though nobody could see him, they all knew he had performed the action, so they stopped. "What is it, Thomas?" Alex asked. "Something's in there." He said. Alex threw him a scope. "Look." Alex pointed before Thomas raised the scope. His helmet reacted and blocked out everything else, so he could only see down the scope. Indeed, there was something hiding in the bushes. If he was to guess, it looked like an ear. He threw the scope back. "Unconfirmed creature. Hiding in bushes. Only detail is a purple ear. Purpose unknown." Thomas reported. "Appropriate action, take cover." Lillian added. Almost as if they were robots, the Marines moved to the side, all crouching and taking cover behind crates, Bethany using a section of the base wall that stuck out. "Unconfirmed Xeno! We know of your presence! Exit cover and identify yourself or we will use force!" Lillian yelled. A moment passed before any response was received. The ear twitched though. Everyone went motionless as the four strange, two-legged things hid behind various things, three of them behind crates, all pointing their strange objects, possibly weapons of some description, directly at Twilight. Celestia slowly turned her head. Her ear was sticking out. "Twilight. Our cover is blown." Celestia muttered. "Surround them?" "Yes." Celestia turned to the guard next to her and whispered something to him. The message, whatever it was, traveled quickly, and the thirty-plus Royal Guards leapt out of cover, spears raised, pointed at the four humans, followed a moment later by Celestia and Twilight. The four human soldiers remained silent, unsure how to react. They had seen signs of an animal and pointed guns at it to be cautious. Suddenly they were surrounded by a bunch of armored horses pointing spears at them, and the ear turned out to be a purple horse. Everyone was silent for what felt like hours. "What the fuck?" Was all that one human, Lillian, said. Celestia stepped forward, despite the strange bipeds refusing to lower their tools. "I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. To whom am I speaking?" She asked, her voice loud and almost imposing. The bipeds refused to respond, instead looking at each other. One turned back and spoke, but the language was strange, complex, foreign. It did, however, have a confused tone to it. One of them, whom was one of the slimmer two, noticed Twilight, and slowly stepped forward, lowering its weapon slightly, reaching out to her. Why, none of them knew. One of the Guards stepped forward. "Halt! Do not approach Princess Twilight Sparkle!" He demanded. The biped stared at him. It paused, before standing straight up, standing well over Celestia, and grabbed the bottom of its jaw, or where its jaw should have been, and pulled its white face off. To reveal another face. This had less sharp edges and was a beige colour, and looked far more organic. It turned to its comrades and said something, just as foreign as the last sentence. Celestia pushed Twilight back slightly. It turned back and crouched fully, resting its thighs on its forelegs, staring at Twilight again, before pulling a face. While the exact emotion they couldn't tell, it looked a lot like a smile, before the creature reached out again with its strange, Multi-ended appendage. Lillian reached out towards the purple horse again, mostly ignoring the angry, armed horse. The purple one was adorable and Marines had priorities. Which Lillian probably needed to look over. "Lil, I don't think that's a good idea." Alex called. "Its a tiny, fluffy, purple horse, I always wanted one as a kid." "You have no idea what would happen if you touch it." "I pet it and give it hugs, that's what." Lillian called back. The larger white horse, visibly a mare, with a strange, multi-colored, flowing mane behind the purple one stepped forward, pushing it back with its hoof before saying something to it in a language that most certainly did not consist of neighs. The purple horse paused, before turning and running into the woods again. Lillian clenched her fist and stood up. Seems these ponies weren't all that friendly after all. Not that the armed stallions made that clear or anything. Twilight headed back, hopping on the chariot. One of the creatures had attempted to touch her, and it didn't at all seem hostile, but Celestia insisted she try to find a spell to translate between unknown languages, as nobody there had a clue what these mysterious bipeds were saying. Despite that, she could've sworn the one that came near her smiled at her. The chariot sped off at high speed towards Ponyville. It wasn't long until they left the forest and were headed through town. Rainbow had chosen to follow. "Twilight, what's going on in there?" "Aliens. Weird, armored, aliens, that stand on two legs and have a fort in there." "What? Why are we here, then? Shouldn't we, I dunno, kickin' them off our world or something?" "That isn't the answer to everything, Rainbowdash." Twilight grunted as she got off the chariot and hurried into her house, followed by her aqua friend. "No, maybe not, but, are they hostile? Are they just trying to get our guards down? We don't know what they're doing." "Looking at how the thing they came from exploded, I doubt this is normal. That's like blowing up your house to go to the market." Twilight blinked, searching through her scrolls. "What're you trying to do, anyway?" Rainbow asked. "Celestia told me to find a scroll that translates unknown languages, so we can talk to them." "Hm. I dunno. Need me to come along?" "If you want. They haven't attacked us, at least yet." "Okay. If they try anything I'll knock them on their rumps!" Rainbow stood on her hind legs, punching the air with her front hooves. Twilight picked a scroll out and looked over it. "Aha! This is the one!" Twilight raised it triumphantly, slumping her saddle bags on and dropping the scroll in one of them, hurrying back out and onto the chariot, heading back to the strange metal fort, Rainbow in hot pursuit. Author's Note Oh god the next chapter is going to be so silly. -3: Interspecies Conversation (Not) Recommended--3:Interspecies Conversation (Not) Recommended- Thomas began backing off slowly, towards the Base's gate. No way was he gonna stand there like some kind if hostage. He was an armed Vanguard Marine, and these were winged horses with, what, spears and plate armor? 'Try again when you have something tangible' was all that went through his head. Alex giggled. Oh, right, MenComm. Mental Communications. Allowed Marines to operate without actually talking, the V1 MenComm was made well over 200 years ago, they were up to the V12 now. One of the armed horses leapt forward and said something in the still-foreign language. Oddly enough, his suit' automated translator wasn't working. He reached back and fiddled with the tiny knobs for the device. The words 'Not Enough Linguistic Data' came up on his HUD. Right. The weird space horses hadn't said enough, so the translator was confused. He kept backing off. When he stepped on the ramp, resulting in a clang, a crewman came over. Oddly enough he wasn't in armor, despite the advantages. Perhaps he thought it hot or something. He stopped dead at the sight of armed Pegasi. "Don't ask, man." Was all Thomas said. The crewman hurried off to the side and hit the door controls on Emergency setting. The doors were shut before Thomas could turn around. He banged his fist on the door. "Hey, let us in! We don't wanna deal with this!" Thomas called. No response. Damned crewmen. Celestia watched as the four creatures slowly began to retreat towards the entrance to their metal fort, keeping their tools, or more likely weapons, trained on whichever guard happened to be closest. One of them reached the ramp, and a moment later the door slammed shut. The biped was not pleased, slamming its strange equivalent of a forehoof into the door before turning back to the guards. Begins her, she heard Twilight running up. "Princess! I have the scroll." She said, running over and handing her the roll of paper. Or, hoofing her the paper, take your pick. "What's happened with the aliens?" Twilight asked. "Not much. They've mostly kept their eye on the guards. One tried to get back into its base but the door closed on it, so they're stuck outside for now." Celestia answered, unrolling the scroll. The two mares approached the humans, who were starting to panic, and, combining their magic, used the spell on them. A moment passed. And another. One of them said 'Ow' loudly before all four toppled onto the floor. After a pause they got up again. "Hello, can you understand me?" Twilight asked the helmetless one. Lillian looked up, her face full of confusion. "What the hell?" "Oh, it worked." "What worked?" "Our translation spell." "Your...hold on, five minutes ago I didn't understand a word you said, and you what I said. I think. Now you're speaking perfect English?" Lillian asked. "No, we're both speaking the same we were speaking before, just the spell translates it." "So...how long does it last?" Before Twilight could answer, Celestia stepped forward. "With the power me and Twilight put into it? Its permanent." There was a long pause. "Uuuuh..." Lillian decided a lie down may be best and flopped onto her back. Bethany came over to make sure Lillian was okay, timing it just perfectly with Rainbow's arrival. Not seeing Lillian lying in the grass, Rainbow assumed Bethany was coming to attack Celestia or Twilight, and ripped forward, standing on her hind hooves in front of her. Bethany stopped, mildly confused. "Uuh...huh?" "Stay back, or I'll-!" Rainbow started, before punching Bethany in the chest thrice. Of course, Bethany is a human, standing up, a Marine, and in armor. Rainbow's hooves tapped uselessly on Bethany's chest, which did not deter Rainbow at all. "Rainbow, she isn't here to hurt us." Twilight called. "How do you know?" Rainbow called back. Bethany put her hand flat on Rainbow's chest and pushed, hardly at all. Rainbow toppled onto her back. Bethany knelt down in front of the toppled blue pony, before reaching out and tickling Rainbow on the belly. Rainbow chortled with laughter. "No, please, don't, ahahaaaa!" Rainbow flailed her limbs in amusement. Bethany paid no attention to anyone else. She picked up the blue Pegasus and held her in her arms, turning to Alex. "Alex, can we keep it?" "Wait, what?" Rainbow asked as Bethany started to stroke her spectral coloured mane. "No." Alex called, turning back to the Royal Guard he was talking to. Celestia stepped forward. "May I ask who you four are?" Celestia projected. Lillian got back up, and Thomas came over. "I am Lieutenant Lillian Vienna of the Vanguard Marines." "Private Thomas Ivanoff of the Vanguard Marines." "I see. What is this 'Vanguard Marines'?" "We are a large human space-based military that serves to protect human space." Lillian answered. "Is Equestria in 'human space'?" "Equestria?" Thomas asked. "This kingdom, it covers a large part of this...world." "Uh, borderline, but yes." Bethany called, playing with Rainbow. "Right. Do you mean to harm us? Why are you here?" Celestia asked. "Well, no, we didn't mean to land at all. Our ship, the big thing that crashed over the mountain, wasn't meant to enter atmosphere, it was an accident." Lillian explained. "So, you mean us no harm?" "Quite the contrary. If there is a peaceful sentient species in human space that is neutral or beneficial, it comes under the protection of the Vanguard." Thomas explained. He may have just left the academy, but he still knew how the Vanguard worked. "I see." Celestia nodded, turning to Twilight. "What do you make of this?" She asked. "They look fine to me." Twilight shrugged. "Well. Guards, lower your weapons and return to your previous posts, these creatures mean us no harm." Celestia called. The guards lowered their spears and began heading off. She turned back to Lillian and Thomas. "But we will be keeping an eye on you." Was all she said before turning away and leaving. Lillian crouched down again. "Hey, uh..." Lillian started. "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." "Ah. Your mane looks nice." "Thank you. Is...that yours?" Twilight asked, gesturing to Lillian's hair. "Uh, you could call it that." Lillian shrugged. "Oh, okay. Well, I better get home." "Okay, maybe I'll see you around." Lillian smiled as Twilight turned and left. "Well, now we're friends with some pastel ponies and we have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. The Captain will want to know what happened out here." Thomas looked back at the gate. Almost as if summoned, the gate opened, and the Captain and two Marines walked out. Bethany stopped, and slowly put the blue Pegasus down, before standing up. The four Marines stood in a line and performed the Vanguard salute, putting your feet together, your left arm straight down your side and your right arm down, the forearm over your chest to leave the fist on your left collarbone. "Marines, you were gone for two hours. What happened, and what is the blue horse?" The Captain asked, gesturing to Rainbow with his rifle. "Her name is Rainbowdash, sir!" Bethany corrected. "Captain Benjamin, sir. We were on patrol and were surrounded by armed horses, it almost came to a firefight, but two with wings and horns used some kind of magic, a kind of translation spell, sir." Lillian explained. "Magic?" "Yes, sir. I don't know how to explain it either." "And where are they now?" "They left sir. A larger pony, apparently named Celestia, deemed us not hostile and the armed force left." "So, why is the blue one still here?" "Bethany was playing with her, sir." "Right. So?..." "We made friends with some ponies and it is now safer to leave the base, sir." "Oh. Well, in that case, good work Marines, go get yourselves cleaned up. You have other duties to attend to, Lieutenant." The Captain gestured. The four troops started to walk back to the base, but the Captain put his hand on Thomas' shoulder. "So, is it just the four of you who can talk to them?" "Yes sir, as far as I know, sir." "Right. Well, you four are now human-pony translators. Better go tell your friends." The Captain let go, him and his two Marines following Thomas and his now fellow translators back into the base. Thomas sat on one of the bunk beds, opposite Lillian, as he unlatched his chestplate and took it off, dropping it under the bed. "So the Captain named us a sort of team of translators." "Wait, what?" "It's our job to translate now." "Oh. Does it change our duties, or?..." "Ask the Captain. I dunno, the ponies are cute." "The ponies are cute." "Say, didn't the guys in C Deck on the Ram blast something about ponies?" "Maybe. Pretty sure some guys from there arrived a couple minutes ago." Lillian shrugged. After the night, about four odd squads of Marines had arrived, and none knew of the pastel ponies. "Wanna go ask 'em?" Thomas asked. "Sure." Lillian dropped her suit's pants, and followed Thomas as the two now-unarmored Marines left the dormitory.
-1: Rapid Unplanned Disassembly-My Little Vanguard -1:Rapid Unplanned Disassembly- Thomas stumbled as some pipes blasted themselves often, firing has into the ship's decaying air, before the very wall they were sat on exploded. Vanguard Mega-Cruisers were among the most lethal of Vanguard ships, but even they weren't prepared for sudden atmospheric entry. 'Sudden atmospheric entry' meaning 'exited Jump in atmosphere at nearly 30 times the speed of sound'. To make matters worse, this planet's atmosphere hardly thinned at all, right up until it actually stopped and became Space. Where the ship was meant to be. The comms system turned on again. "All hands, this is Captain Gordon, abandon ship! VONS Ram Of Your Gates is losing structural integrity fast and will break up in 15 minutes. I repeat, all hands, evacuate ship, 15 minutes until the VONS Ram Of Your Gates breaks up." Was all that came through before the comms system sparked and the speaker broke off the wall. Thomas hurried through the computers room and slammed his fist into the keypad. Emergency situations were awesome, you could punch anything and it would work. He charged through the door before a piece of ship got torn free and flung into the distance in the room behind him before the door slammed shut. He started to hurry across the -unfortunately- glass exterior walkway, before the opposite door opened to reveal another Vanguard Marine. The Marine gestured for him to hurry, before a piece of the walkway came loose and sucked the Marine out. No going through that way. Stumbling and holding on desperately for dear life, Thomas stepped down and opened the door halfway down the path, throwing himself through before the door shut. Rolling and bringing himself to his feet, he shielded his face as an electrical panel exploded. Or, rather, Diluxum Charge Panel, the Vanguard stopped using electricity several thousand years ago. He half ran, half crouched through the deteriorating room and threw himself through the door, before being hastily hauled to his feet by an Assassin. Escape chamber. He could fire out in a lander pod and have an assured landing, or take his chances and deploy the Mobile Base further towards the back of the ship. When a piece of ship, including four rooms and a couple of unfortunate Marines, got torn free from the chamber, he decided it'd be best to leave now. He hurried over and quickly dived into one of the escape pods. A couple other Marines and the Assassin followed suit before the hatch closed and sealed itself. A Marine Sniper clambered into the cockpit seat and flicked some switches. Every marine either just sat down or actually strapped him or herself in. The Sniper grabbed a lever, the kind you pull. "Hold on tight, people!" Was all he said before ripping the lever outwards with all his might. What felt like forever passed before the pod fired out the bottom of the deteriorating cruiser, followed quickly by several dozen more. As the pod shook violently, ripping through the planet's ridiculously thick atmosphere, he saw the Mobile Base fire off too, shortly before the ship actually broke in half. At least they had that. Now concerned with where they were going, he would've hoped to god they weren't falling into a gas giant. Except religion had died also several thousand years ago. So he just hoped. Luna watched over the kingdom from her balcony. It was a beautiful night. In the distance was Ponyville, the semi-rural town home to Princess Twilight. She could just barely make out the treehouse where said Princess lived. But something seemed amiss on this night. Nothing in the actual kingdom, just her viewing of it. Stepping forward and looking up, she realised what it was-There was a bright orange light some distance away behind her. That was when the booming roar started. It grew louder and louder, and the Palace began shaking. Luna backed off from the edge of the balcony. After a moment of terror a large object, the source of the noise, flew overhead, quite some distance above them but nonetheless massive. It was big, it had a lot of sharp edges, it was noisy, and most of all, it was on fire. Eight dish-like objects sat on the back, none appearing to be doing anything. The massive object illuminated the kingdom as it passed overhead. Several small objects, somewhere around fifty, flung themselves from the bottom of the ship, these ones not flaming and descending at a relatively safe pace. After a short pause, a somewhat larger one separated itself and followed its smaller comrades. The massive creature, or thing, from which they originated flew past the mountains, showering Cloudsdale in a bright orange shower of light as it flew past, vanishing behind the mountains, but not before finishing its show of grandeur with a giant ball of fire and a thunderous boom that shook the palace yet again. Thomas felt relieved when the lander thumped on solid ground, sitting his head back. The Assassin next to him, however, didn't seem all too bothered. Unstrapping herself, the sleek, black armored supersoldier walked over to the hatch. "Pilot. Atmosphere readings." Was all she said. "Uuuh, scans read green. Safe to breathe. Planet's also green too." The Sniper who had landed them commented. Without another thought the Assassin opened the hatch and stepped outside. "I doubt its green where the Ram landed." One Marine muttered. One by one the ten grey-armored soldiers stepped out of the lander. Unlike Assassins, Marines were not supersoldiers, just normal humans, but the fact their armor both had shields and was a powered armor suit more than made up for it. Thomas observed their surroundings. Almost exactly like Terra. One Marine apparently displayed the same level of confusion as he did, and was scratching the top of his helmet. The Assassin had wasted no time and was atop the lander, scanning the surrounding terrain with her binoculars. After a moment she stopped. "Civilized colony, south east, three to five kilometers." She muttered to herself. "Any signs of the Mobile Base?" One Marine asked. Thomas recognized the symbol on his shoulder plate, he was a Sergeant. The Assassin kept turning, and when essentially facing the opposite direction, stopped again. "Vanguard Deployable Base spotted. North east, two kilometers." She called. "Okay, Marines, you know the drill, let's head to the base." The Sergeant ordered. The Marines slowly started to troop over in the direction of the base, the Assassin nonchalantly tagging along behind. While he didn't get much of a look, Thomas clearly made out 'Anderson' on the Sergeant's chestplate. Thomas shrugged. Never heard of him. The Marines had been trekking for quite some time before they reached the base. The fact they were trekking through woods was not helped by the fact it was night time. As they approached the base, which had crushed or plainly knocked over quite a few trees on landing, a Marine Sniper saw them, only visible by the faint red light coming from underneath his sniper's scope. After a pause he saw the man stand and perform a symbol above his head with his arms. The Sniper next to Thomas did the same. The sniper standing above the base turned. "Marine Squad! Outside the main gate!" He called, before turning back around. The troop of Marines continued as the main gate, which looked like a combination of a 21st century garage door and a battleship blast door, unlocked with a wheeze and began to open, the segments of the door clicking and rotating so as to slide into the door receptacles. The Marines walked through, the door reversing the process once they had passed the threshold. A Marine Captain greeted them as the lights flickered. "Welcome home Marines. Sorry about the lighting, the Base's Diluxum Core got damaged when the ship was, y'know, exploding. You'll live." He shrugged, gesturing over his shoulder. Anderson stepped forward. "Right. Anyone else arrive? What about the Ram?" "Uuuh, another squad arrived less than fifteen minutes ago, they're helping the deployment crew fix the Core and get everything running, we're operational, but barely. As for the Ram, we've got nothing so far. Individual suit radios don't have the range to reach it and the Base's antenna isn't up yet, the one already installed got broken by a floor." The Captain scratched the back of his helmet. "Right. Any way we can help?" "Ah, no, the squad that arrived earlier is doing just fine. Go lie down or somethin', one of the crew told me the Base's cafeteria is functional if you're hungry." The Captain pointed to another door. Immediately one Marine holstered his shotgun and ran off. After a pause, everyone started to disperse. The Captain came over and walked with Thomas. "You good, Marine?" "Yeah, just fine." Thomas responded. "Okay. Say, your armor hasn't got a scratch on it. You new to the Marines or are you just really good at dodging bullets?" "Uh, passed training last week. The Ram was actually my first deployment." "Oh, well, I can tell you that this kind of thing isn't normal, we don't normally jump into atmosphere." "I guessed, seeing as all that came through the comms was the AI going 'Crap' as soon as she realised what happened." "Yeah. I wonder where she went. We don't normally let AIs go down with their ship, they're too valuable." "Maybe someone in one of the landers got it." "Let's hope so. Well, see you around, Marine." The Captain waved before heading off. Thomas opened a door and headed up a flight of stairs. There were markers all over the base dictating where different parts were, so it wasn't hard to find the dormitories. Picking one at random, he headed in to find a Marine there, clicking her boots on. From the fact her armor was heavier than the normal Vanguard Armories Powered Armor, he guessed she was either a Heavy or a Sapper. Twilight stared out her window in confusion, as she had been for about half an hour. The entire town had been woken by a bright light and a loud thunderous roar passing overhead, and she'd been harmlessly stargazing when a massive metallic thing, engulfed in flames, had flown overhead and landed somewhere in the mountains. The boom had not been quiet. As she tried to see if anything was left there, somebody knocked on her door. Snapping out of her thoughts she headed downstairs to see not one but three ponies, Ranbowdash, Applejack and Lyra, of all people. "Hey, Twi, you see the big thing that passed over town?" AJ asked. "I don't think anyone missed it." "Know what it is?" "Not a clue. Certainly didn't look like an asteroid, too uniform in appearance." "Wait, what?" Lyra asked. "I saw it clearly as it passed by, I was...observing. The stars. Yeah, that works." "Right. So, it's not a space rock?" "Didn't look like it." "Aliens?" Rainbow asked. "Don't be preposterous, aliens don't exist, at least not within such as ridiculously, unfathomable distance that-" Twilight started. "Okay, Twi, we get it." Applejack raised a hoof. "What should we do?" Lyra asked." "We should probably alert the Princesses, but I get the feeling they already know." Twilight shrugged, looking over at Canterlot in the distance. At that moment Spike, burping with every step, tumbled down the staircase, landing with a thump at the landing. "Twilight, I got a-" he moaned before burping again, this time louder, a letter ejecting from his mouth in the usual fashion. Twilight turned and walked over, picking up and unrolling the letter with her magic, her friends following. "Uh, ok..." Twilight blinked. "What does it say?" Rainbow asked. Twilight turned the letter to allow them to read it: Dear Twilight Sparkle, As you most likely know, a large, strange object passed over Equestria less than an hour ago. Consulting Princess Luna, I have discovered this object is by no means natural, and she did not create it. She also said it was artificial; someone not of this world created it. To make things stranger, she also said she detected no magic of any sort in it, which makes no sense at all. Princess Luna has also told me several small objects separated themselves from the object before it crashed and, in all essence, exploded. I am assembling a force of guards to head to the site of the largest object, and I would like you to come with me and my sister tommorrow. If you must, you may bring your friends as well. The trio in front of the letter blinked in mild confusion. "So it is aliens?" Rainbow asked again. "So it would seem." Twilight shrugged, putting the letter on the table. There was a pause. "Anyone want to come?" Twilight asked. Author's Note For reference: VONS stands for Vanguard/VoH Orbital Navy Ship. They no longer use metal, instead using Eradium, a material combination of numerous materials that makes it incredibly resistant, and yet looks like white steel. For power they use Diluxum, a kind of mineral that constantly collapses and rebuilds itself, with a massive energy output in the process, everything that needs power in the Vanguard runs off a Diluxum Core.
-2:Situation Unclear-My Little Vanguard -2:Situation Unclear- Thomas looked over his helmet. While it was a capable helmet, combining, well, protection, with advanced HUD tech, suit controls linking directly or his MenComm, and a gas filter that would show up even 25th century gas masks, it wouldn't take a strike of genius to realise the engineers at Vanguard Armories designed it just to look as badass as possible. In some respects you could say they succeeded. The Marine sharing the dorm, whom he had confirmed was a Sapper, watched as he looked over the mouth grill. "You doin' anything or you just staying in here?" She asked. "Hm, what? Why?" "Well, the Captain told me to go on patrol, and it takes basic Vanguard intuition to know a solo patrol is suicidal. You wanna come? My friends Beth and Alex from downstairs are coming along as well." Thomas thought. He had nothing better to do. "Might as well." Twilight tried looking through the woods as the chariot headed through at a brisk pace. They wanted to surround the object covertly, so they decided to head through beneath the canopy. Further ahead she saw an opening, and it looked like several trees had collapsed. Was this the object? Indeed, the chariot slowed to a halt, and as she got off she spotted a large amount of Royal Guards, all lying in wait. Indeed, her friends had chosen to come, but she told them to hang back until she said it was safe. Or safe enough. They were dealing with the unknown, if something went wrong they didn't want all six Element Bearers in the line of fire. As she approached, she was stopped by a large white hoof. Where she had come from she didn't know, but Celestia had somehow arrived, silently. "Not so quickly, Twilight." Was all she said, keeping her eyes on the clearing. "You came?" Twilight asked. "Yes. This is far more than your average upset noble, I think it is appropriate I help to deal with this." "Is Luna here too?" "No, she is on her way. How long she will be, however, I don't know." Celestia said before lowering her hoof, her gaze not breaking from whatever lay in there. The two slowly approached the tree line. The guards there moved aside, but kept an eye on the two princesses. The object was large and shiny, it was metal, but not the sort of shiny you got from jewelry. Instead, this appeared robust, that 'you're not getting in' shiny that made it look like a fortress. After a moment where the force of guards and the two princesses all observed this thing, the large section with a jagged line down the middle wheezed and clicked apart. Something was coming out. The two princesses ducked and hid in the foliage. Thomas and the three other Marines all stepped outside as the gate slowly opened. While the two scientists in the base had confirmed the air was green, all four Marines wore their helmets. No clue what lay out there. Thomas had his VoHSAR (the Vanguard's main assault rifle), the Sapper, whom was called Lillian, had a micro-RPG cannon, a sort of cross between a standard RPG and a grenade launcher, Bethany had a shotgun and Alex had an LMG. Apparently, Alex had passed training at the same time Thomas had; he used the LMG because it made him feel safer. The four Marines stepped off the metal ramp on the soft, warm dirt and grass. It didn't seem like much was beyond the dozens of felled trees, but patrol doesn't serve much if you can't be sure, so Lillian had decided to check just past the tree line. The four Marines stood, trying to decide what to do with themselves. The crew had left some crates outside intentionally, so if they came under attack they had some cover. Bethany pointed to a slightly clearer area off to their left. "More open. Something could have more room to move." Was all she said. Thomas sighed, his helmet, combined with his MenComm, blocking it. She wasn't one of those 'I'm-Gonna-Be-Like-An-Assassin' types, was she? "No, again, too much room to move. Over there's some thick foliage, perfect for an ambush." "Everything around us is perfect for an ambush. It's too thick there. We go Beth's way." Lillian gestured. The four Marines began to head over. Cautious, Thomas raised his rifle. He saw something out of place. He raised his hand. Even though nobody could see him, they all knew he had performed the action, so they stopped. "What is it, Thomas?" Alex asked. "Something's in there." He said. Alex threw him a scope. "Look." Alex pointed before Thomas raised the scope. His helmet reacted and blocked out everything else, so he could only see down the scope. Indeed, there was something hiding in the bushes. If he was to guess, it looked like an ear. He threw the scope back. "Unconfirmed creature. Hiding in bushes. Only detail is a purple ear. Purpose unknown." Thomas reported. "Appropriate action, take cover." Lillian added. Almost as if they were robots, the Marines moved to the side, all crouching and taking cover behind crates, Bethany using a section of the base wall that stuck out. "Unconfirmed Xeno! We know of your presence! Exit cover and identify yourself or we will use force!" Lillian yelled. A moment passed before any response was received. The ear twitched though. Everyone went motionless as the four strange, two-legged things hid behind various things, three of them behind crates, all pointing their strange objects, possibly weapons of some description, directly at Twilight. Celestia slowly turned her head. Her ear was sticking out. "Twilight. Our cover is blown." Celestia muttered. "Surround them?" "Yes." Celestia turned to the guard next to her and whispered something to him. The message, whatever it was, traveled quickly, and the thirty-plus Royal Guards leapt out of cover, spears raised, pointed at the four humans, followed a moment later by Celestia and Twilight. The four human soldiers remained silent, unsure how to react. They had seen signs of an animal and pointed guns at it to be cautious. Suddenly they were surrounded by a bunch of armored horses pointing spears at them, and the ear turned out to be a purple horse. Everyone was silent for what felt like hours. "What the fuck?" Was all that one human, Lillian, said. Celestia stepped forward, despite the strange bipeds refusing to lower their tools. "I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. To whom am I speaking?" She asked, her voice loud and almost imposing. The bipeds refused to respond, instead looking at each other. One turned back and spoke, but the language was strange, complex, foreign. It did, however, have a confused tone to it. One of them, whom was one of the slimmer two, noticed Twilight, and slowly stepped forward, lowering its weapon slightly, reaching out to her. Why, none of them knew. One of the Guards stepped forward. "Halt! Do not approach Princess Twilight Sparkle!" He demanded. The biped stared at him. It paused, before standing straight up, standing well over Celestia, and grabbed the bottom of its jaw, or where its jaw should have been, and pulled its white face off. To reveal another face. This had less sharp edges and was a beige colour, and looked far more organic. It turned to its comrades and said something, just as foreign as the last sentence. Celestia pushed Twilight back slightly. It turned back and crouched fully, resting its thighs on its forelegs, staring at Twilight again, before pulling a face. While the exact emotion they couldn't tell, it looked a lot like a smile, before the creature reached out again with its strange, Multi-ended appendage. Lillian reached out towards the purple horse again, mostly ignoring the angry, armed horse. The purple one was adorable and Marines had priorities. Which Lillian probably needed to look over. "Lil, I don't think that's a good idea." Alex called. "Its a tiny, fluffy, purple horse, I always wanted one as a kid." "You have no idea what would happen if you touch it." "I pet it and give it hugs, that's what." Lillian called back. The larger white horse, visibly a mare, with a strange, multi-colored, flowing mane behind the purple one stepped forward, pushing it back with its hoof before saying something to it in a language that most certainly did not consist of neighs. The purple horse paused, before turning and running into the woods again. Lillian clenched her fist and stood up. Seems these ponies weren't all that friendly after all. Not that the armed stallions made that clear or anything. Twilight headed back, hopping on the chariot. One of the creatures had attempted to touch her, and it didn't at all seem hostile, but Celestia insisted she try to find a spell to translate between unknown languages, as nobody there had a clue what these mysterious bipeds were saying. Despite that, she could've sworn the one that came near her smiled at her. The chariot sped off at high speed towards Ponyville. It wasn't long until they left the forest and were headed through town. Rainbow had chosen to follow. "Twilight, what's going on in there?" "Aliens. Weird, armored, aliens, that stand on two legs and have a fort in there." "What? Why are we here, then? Shouldn't we, I dunno, kickin' them off our world or something?" "That isn't the answer to everything, Rainbowdash." Twilight grunted as she got off the chariot and hurried into her house, followed by her aqua friend. "No, maybe not, but, are they hostile? Are they just trying to get our guards down? We don't know what they're doing." "Looking at how the thing they came from exploded, I doubt this is normal. That's like blowing up your house to go to the market." Twilight blinked, searching through her scrolls. "What're you trying to do, anyway?" Rainbow asked. "Celestia told me to find a scroll that translates unknown languages, so we can talk to them." "Hm. I dunno. Need me to come along?" "If you want. They haven't attacked us, at least yet." "Okay. If they try anything I'll knock them on their rumps!" Rainbow stood on her hind legs, punching the air with her front hooves. Twilight picked a scroll out and looked over it. "Aha! This is the one!" Twilight raised it triumphantly, slumping her saddle bags on and dropping the scroll in one of them, hurrying back out and onto the chariot, heading back to the strange metal fort, Rainbow in hot pursuit. Author's Note Oh god the next chapter is going to be so silly.
-3: Interspecies Conversation (Not) Recommended--3:Interspecies Conversation (Not) Recommended- Thomas began backing off slowly, towards the Base's gate. No way was he gonna stand there like some kind if hostage. He was an armed Vanguard Marine, and these were winged horses with, what, spears and plate armor? 'Try again when you have something tangible' was all that went through his head. Alex giggled. Oh, right, MenComm. Mental Communications. Allowed Marines to operate without actually talking, the V1 MenComm was made well over 200 years ago, they were up to the V12 now. One of the armed horses leapt forward and said something in the still-foreign language. Oddly enough, his suit' automated translator wasn't working. He reached back and fiddled with the tiny knobs for the device. The words 'Not Enough Linguistic Data' came up on his HUD. Right. The weird space horses hadn't said enough, so the translator was confused. He kept backing off. When he stepped on the ramp, resulting in a clang, a crewman came over. Oddly enough he wasn't in armor, despite the advantages. Perhaps he thought it hot or something. He stopped dead at the sight of armed Pegasi. "Don't ask, man." Was all Thomas said. The crewman hurried off to the side and hit the door controls on Emergency setting. The doors were shut before Thomas could turn around. He banged his fist on the door. "Hey, let us in! We don't wanna deal with this!" Thomas called. No response. Damned crewmen. Celestia watched as the four creatures slowly began to retreat towards the entrance to their metal fort, keeping their tools, or more likely weapons, trained on whichever guard happened to be closest. One of them reached the ramp, and a moment later the door slammed shut. The biped was not pleased, slamming its strange equivalent of a forehoof into the door before turning back to the guards. Begins her, she heard Twilight running up. "Princess! I have the scroll." She said, running over and handing her the roll of paper. Or, hoofing her the paper, take your pick. "What's happened with the aliens?" Twilight asked. "Not much. They've mostly kept their eye on the guards. One tried to get back into its base but the door closed on it, so they're stuck outside for now." Celestia answered, unrolling the scroll. The two mares approached the humans, who were starting to panic, and, combining their magic, used the spell on them. A moment passed. And another. One of them said 'Ow' loudly before all four toppled onto the floor. After a pause they got up again. "Hello, can you understand me?" Twilight asked the helmetless one. Lillian looked up, her face full of confusion. "What the hell?" "Oh, it worked." "What worked?" "Our translation spell." "Your...hold on, five minutes ago I didn't understand a word you said, and you what I said. I think. Now you're speaking perfect English?" Lillian asked. "No, we're both speaking the same we were speaking before, just the spell translates it." "So...how long does it last?" Before Twilight could answer, Celestia stepped forward. "With the power me and Twilight put into it? Its permanent." There was a long pause. "Uuuuh..." Lillian decided a lie down may be best and flopped onto her back. Bethany came over to make sure Lillian was okay, timing it just perfectly with Rainbow's arrival. Not seeing Lillian lying in the grass, Rainbow assumed Bethany was coming to attack Celestia or Twilight, and ripped forward, standing on her hind hooves in front of her. Bethany stopped, mildly confused. "Uuh...huh?" "Stay back, or I'll-!" Rainbow started, before punching Bethany in the chest thrice. Of course, Bethany is a human, standing up, a Marine, and in armor. Rainbow's hooves tapped uselessly on Bethany's chest, which did not deter Rainbow at all. "Rainbow, she isn't here to hurt us." Twilight called. "How do you know?" Rainbow called back. Bethany put her hand flat on Rainbow's chest and pushed, hardly at all. Rainbow toppled onto her back. Bethany knelt down in front of the toppled blue pony, before reaching out and tickling Rainbow on the belly. Rainbow chortled with laughter. "No, please, don't, ahahaaaa!" Rainbow flailed her limbs in amusement. Bethany paid no attention to anyone else. She picked up the blue Pegasus and held her in her arms, turning to Alex. "Alex, can we keep it?" "Wait, what?" Rainbow asked as Bethany started to stroke her spectral coloured mane. "No." Alex called, turning back to the Royal Guard he was talking to. Celestia stepped forward. "May I ask who you four are?" Celestia projected. Lillian got back up, and Thomas came over. "I am Lieutenant Lillian Vienna of the Vanguard Marines." "Private Thomas Ivanoff of the Vanguard Marines." "I see. What is this 'Vanguard Marines'?" "We are a large human space-based military that serves to protect human space." Lillian answered. "Is Equestria in 'human space'?" "Equestria?" Thomas asked. "This kingdom, it covers a large part of this...world." "Uh, borderline, but yes." Bethany called, playing with Rainbow. "Right. Do you mean to harm us? Why are you here?" Celestia asked. "Well, no, we didn't mean to land at all. Our ship, the big thing that crashed over the mountain, wasn't meant to enter atmosphere, it was an accident." Lillian explained. "So, you mean us no harm?" "Quite the contrary. If there is a peaceful sentient species in human space that is neutral or beneficial, it comes under the protection of the Vanguard." Thomas explained. He may have just left the academy, but he still knew how the Vanguard worked. "I see." Celestia nodded, turning to Twilight. "What do you make of this?" She asked. "They look fine to me." Twilight shrugged. "Well. Guards, lower your weapons and return to your previous posts, these creatures mean us no harm." Celestia called. The guards lowered their spears and began heading off. She turned back to Lillian and Thomas. "But we will be keeping an eye on you." Was all she said before turning away and leaving. Lillian crouched down again. "Hey, uh..." Lillian started. "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." "Ah. Your mane looks nice." "Thank you. Is...that yours?" Twilight asked, gesturing to Lillian's hair. "Uh, you could call it that." Lillian shrugged. "Oh, okay. Well, I better get home." "Okay, maybe I'll see you around." Lillian smiled as Twilight turned and left. "Well, now we're friends with some pastel ponies and we have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. The Captain will want to know what happened out here." Thomas looked back at the gate. Almost as if summoned, the gate opened, and the Captain and two Marines walked out. Bethany stopped, and slowly put the blue Pegasus down, before standing up. The four Marines stood in a line and performed the Vanguard salute, putting your feet together, your left arm straight down your side and your right arm down, the forearm over your chest to leave the fist on your left collarbone. "Marines, you were gone for two hours. What happened, and what is the blue horse?" The Captain asked, gesturing to Rainbow with his rifle. "Her name is Rainbowdash, sir!" Bethany corrected. "Captain Benjamin, sir. We were on patrol and were surrounded by armed horses, it almost came to a firefight, but two with wings and horns used some kind of magic, a kind of translation spell, sir." Lillian explained. "Magic?" "Yes, sir. I don't know how to explain it either." "And where are they now?" "They left sir. A larger pony, apparently named Celestia, deemed us not hostile and the armed force left." "So, why is the blue one still here?" "Bethany was playing with her, sir." "Right. So?..." "We made friends with some ponies and it is now safer to leave the base, sir." "Oh. Well, in that case, good work Marines, go get yourselves cleaned up. You have other duties to attend to, Lieutenant." The Captain gestured. The four troops started to walk back to the base, but the Captain put his hand on Thomas' shoulder. "So, is it just the four of you who can talk to them?" "Yes sir, as far as I know, sir." "Right. Well, you four are now human-pony translators. Better go tell your friends." The Captain let go, him and his two Marines following Thomas and his now fellow translators back into the base. Thomas sat on one of the bunk beds, opposite Lillian, as he unlatched his chestplate and took it off, dropping it under the bed. "So the Captain named us a sort of team of translators." "Wait, what?" "It's our job to translate now." "Oh. Does it change our duties, or?..." "Ask the Captain. I dunno, the ponies are cute." "The ponies are cute." "Say, didn't the guys in C Deck on the Ram blast something about ponies?" "Maybe. Pretty sure some guys from there arrived a couple minutes ago." Lillian shrugged. After the night, about four odd squads of Marines had arrived, and none knew of the pastel ponies. "Wanna go ask 'em?" Thomas asked. "Sure." Lillian dropped her suit's pants, and followed Thomas as the two now-unarmored Marines left the dormitory.
