They Came from the Everfree

"Twi, stop yappin' a second and let them answer somethin'!" Exclaims the Orange silhouette, the unusual accent revealing this one to be the pony previously classified 'Country'.

That's her name? Twi? That's strange. Maybe it stands for something.

"Right... Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away." Really now?

"Okay, right. What are your names?"

Oop, bad question one. I shouldn't reveal my real name, these locals might still be hostile, despite the hesitation. And I can't risk giving intel away too quickly, it might be turned against me later. I can either go with the normal military greeting, or give a call-sign. Shoot, this is taking an akwardly long time, and Elliot is looking at me too. Here goes nothing.

"I am Sergeant First Class Howard Grayson of the United States Army, this is Sergeant Elliot Lee. We have been stranded in those woods, and decided to emerge when supplies were scarce. And you are?" I asked, trying to make it sound more casual than forced.

"Oh, uh... I'm Twilight Sparkle, this is Applejack. If you don't mind me asking, what are you?"

My turn to speak again.

"You've never seen anyone like us?"

"No, are you even native to here? You make it sound like something very, very wrong happened."

She doesn't know what a human is, there goes my hopes of anyone helping us get back. Maybe I'll be here forever, god I can't die here. I feel myself slightly panicking, and I try to regain control of my lungs for a few seconds.

"We... We're humans. I don't think we are from here, no..." My eyes are watering at this point. Elliot also looks like his form shrunk a little.

Twilight cringes a little, realizing she might have struck a nerve. At the same time I look at Applejack, she hasn't said a word, and has been nervously eyeing us for some time now.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. I'd offer you a better place to talk, but Celestia likely wants to see you as soon as possible, we can talk on the way. You don't sound like trouble, but we'll be watching you."

This time, Elliot is the one to speak.

"Well, can we grab our kits first? I don't want to leave our stuff out there in the forest."

"Oh, um... Sure, I'll get a few guards to escort you through to make sure you are safe. I'll come too, just to be sure."

I speak up. "Alright, we'll try to be quick. We don't live that deep into the woods, and once I get my gun back, it's a safer return trip."

"Gun? What's that?" She asks both of us.

"You don't know what a gun is? You got a lot to learn little one."

She twitches a moment, covering it up too quickly for me to see the emotion behind it.

"Alright, just please don't try anything, we'll be watching you closely."

Applejack slowly rises, upon looking in her direction I can see the antagonizing glare she's giving me, and when our eyes meet, her ears splay back and she backs up slightly. Clearly intimidated, likely by our size difference.

The other citizens had been chatting with one another this entire time, some had left, others had watched curiously. Others had some more alerting expressions. But none dared approach.

Good news is, we weren't attacked, and they seemed fairly harmless. A little strange, a bit antagonistic, but harmless. I had no idea the day was about to get so wild.