They walked to Applejack’s farm, like Mark told them to. They conversed on the way, while Spike pulled a small red wagon loaded with the things they’d brought when they were stargazing.

“I don’t know about this 'Mark' guy,” Rainbow Dash began, “I mean, what the hay is a first contact team?”

“Well Rainbow,” Twilight responded, “‘First contact’ is a term used to describe the first meeting a species has with an alien species. It’s often used in science fiction and has become a fairly common term among astronomers. So basically, he meant that humans wanted to establish peaceful relations with us, and the group sent to do just that is missing.”

“I find it rather odd that he just disappeared like he did,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, something about how he moved scares me. And the idea of him being from space is kinda creepy too,” Spike chimed in.

“I just hope he likes chocolate cake, he looks like he’d like chocolate. Wait, if I have to keep this a secret, I’ll have to make the cake secretly too. Ooh, ninja cake!” Pinkie Pie said, excited by the idea of a surprise party for their surprising arrival. “Oh, and the party can be ninja-themed! This’ll be great!”

“Pinkie, I dunno if he wants a party. I mean, I’m sure he’d like one of your parties, but he seems kinda serious. And he don’t seem the social type neither,” AJ said.

“I think Mark seems nice enough,” Twilight interjected “Odd name, but friendly. It’s so exciting talking to a real alien! I’d like to see what kind of things he can do. Or hear stories about the places he’s been and the things he’s done.”

“I hope those people he said were missing are okay, it’d be just horrible if something had happened to them. I mean, if they came all the way from space to be friends with us, they shouldn’t have to be hurt,” Fluttershy said, finally speaking about the new arrival.

They were fairly silent after that. They reached AJ’s farm a little while later, and arrived at the empty barn Applejack had offered Mark.

“Um, if y’all are there, ya can come out now,” AJ said in a loud whisper, worried about waking her family a few hundred meters away.

Mark appeared quite literally out of nowhere; he didn’t drop from the ceiling or pop up from the ground, he seemed to phase in out of a faint shimmer in the air.

“Ah, the wonders of active camouflage,” Mark said. “And that’s how I got here undetected. Since I might be staying here a bit, I’ll probably have to close the doors, just so my presence remains a secret. Is that okay?”

“Sure, but y’all don’t want anything to do?” AJ inquired.

“Well, if you’ve got any books, that’d be nice.”

“I’m sure Twi can hook ya up.”

“Alright. Twilight, if you have any books that are non-fiction, realistic fiction, encyclopedias, maps, or social commentary, then please get me some. I think it might help me understand your culture a bit better.”

“You got it, Mark! I’ll drop some off around noon.” Twilight said with a wink and a smile.

The ponies left after that, and shut Mark in.

***

Mark found it surprising how accepting the ponies were, given that he’d known them for only an hour and a half. And they were practically giving him what he’d expected the diplomats in the FC team would take days to get.

I don’t think it’s that I’m a good diplomat, the locals just seem pretty trusting. I can see that being easily exploited though, so that might be a problem later on. Then again, it might be a trait particular to this region.

Mark began to assemble a report on his experiences with the inhabitants of this planet, and included his hypothesis explaining the existence of mythological creatures. He wouldn’t be able to send it until his team broke radio silence or the four day deadline was reached, so he kept it saved in the suit’s computer.

He found a nice, secluded spot in the barn, and went to sleep.

***

The group had all begun heading to their respective homes after shutting Mark in one of AJ’s barns. Some of them had reservations about providing shelter to an alien, but none of them were going to break the secret they had decided to keep. Ponyville had a history of xenophobia.

“How’re you going to get those books to him, I mean, without being suspicious?” Spike asked Twilight Sparkle, wanting to know her plan.

“Well, I have been meaning to make room in the library for new books, so I could tell anypony suspicious that I’m just storing some extra books. It’d be true anyway, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” Twilight responded.

“And you know he can read them how?”

“Well, he seems fairly clever, so he should be able to figure it out.”

“If you say so.”

Spike thought that Twilight seemed just a little too friendly and trusting toward the alien. He kept these thought to himself, but they never really left his mind for long. He came up with the idea that Twilight might have developed a romanticized or otherwise idealistic notion of what aliens were like from some of her books, but he kept that too to himself.

The rest of the day went fairly normally, with Twilight gathering dozens of books that she believed Mark would be interested in, and putting them into a small wagon.

***

“Deliverance, this is Surgeon, we have reached the objective, how copy?”

Mark was awake, waiting in the barn for something to happen when he heard Jason contact the Deliverance. He knew they were using callsigns as per standard operating procedure, and recognized Jason’s.

“Solid copy, Surgeon, requesting sitrep.”

“We’ve located the missing team, all accounted for, all KIA. Looks like hostile wildlife got them. Something big, and they didn’t kill it. Large claw marks on most of them, but their Pelican’s still intact, flyable and with a large amount of fuel. No contact with local sentients so far. Will transmit report over comms soon.”

Mark began speaking on the comm. “This is Raptor; I’ve made contact with local sentients. I’m in a barn belonging to one of the group that found me. Locals seem to be sapient ponies, regular as well as unicorns and pegasi, a baby dragon was also part of the group that discovered my pod. They seem to speak English; I understood them without my armor’s translation software being engaged.”

There was a long silence, likely filled with disbelief and verification of Mark’s mental capacity via his armor’s now-transmitting systems.

“Say again, you said you’ve encountered anthropomorphic ponies? Regular, unicorn and pegasi, as well as a baby dragon? And they speak English?” The orbiting fleet’s leader, Vice Admiral Thaddeus Hunt, had apparently taken the comms station from whoever he was speaking with earlier.

“Affirmative on all counts. I’ve already compiled a report during my stay here. Transmitting now. Knife team, I’m sending my coordinates to you, regroup here ASAP.”

“Roger Raptor, will comply. Surgeon out.”

“Raptor, this is Vice Admiral Hunt. I’m bringing the rest of Eagle Sword into orbit, keep us posted. Deliverance out.”

***

Twilight Sparkle and Spike were bringing the books Mark had asked for to Sweet Apple Acres. They were just a hundred meters away from the barn where Mark was when something happened. Had it been under almost any other circumstances, it would have been a pleasant surprise.

None other than Princess Celestia had decided to pay her star student a visit. She descended gracefully as could be and smiled at Twilight.

“Princess Celestia!” both Twilight and Spike exclaimed, bowing almost immediately.

“I was flying around on my own, something I can rarely enjoy as royalty, and I saw you, so I decided to say hello. This is Applejack’s farm, yes?” She was remarkably approachable for royalty, and was almost like a second mother to Twilight.

“Um, yes. I’m just putting some books into storage here. I uh, wanted to make room for a few new books in the library, and I decided to store these here, because there’s a completely empty barn, and so the Apples could read them if they wanted to.” Twilight said sheepishly, hiding behind a nervous smile.

Around then, a pair of bipedal figures similar to Mark strode onto the fields. One was silver with a large blue “eye”, blue on its wrist, and a somewhat different appearance, although with the same masculine silhouette as Mark and the other. The other was the same green as Mark, but with a different head, chest, and knees, in addition to a yellow stripe on its chest and golden “eye”.

***

Mark saw that Ethan and Jason’s waypoints were near, and exited the barn to greet them and promptly usher them inside. Unbeknownst to him as he exited, he had unexpected company.

He saw Twilight, who looked intimidated, next to a much larger pony, practically a full-grown horse, with both wings and a horn. It seemed benevolent from its expression, and regal from its crown. The word “alicorn” came to mind as Mark looked at the large pony. About fifty meters from them was Jacob, who had taken point, and Alan, whose silver-grey armor had caught the sun and shone just a bit.

Well, shit. This’ll be awkward.

Mark decided that since their presence was no longer covert, he would forgo using active camo, and try to explain. He strode up to the ponies, and his friends did the same. Spike hid behind the wagon carrying the books, fearing a confrontation, verbal or otherwise.

Mark cleared his throat, but the alicorn spoke first, in a stern tone to Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle, could you explain to me who or what these beings are?”

“I think they’re humans Princess, but I swear I didn’t bring them here. The only one I’ve seen before is that green one with the blue eye.” Twilight spoke as if she were confessing to a parent.

“Humans have been extinct on this planet for almost as long as I’ve been alive, how did they get here? And why do they only have the vague silhouettes of humans?” Celestia went from stern to intrigued after Twilight mentioned they were human.

Mark cleared his throat again, and this time he drew the attention of the one Twilight called “Princess Celestia”. He checked his heads up display to make sure he had his weapons with him, and he did; if this ended badly, Mark wanted to win any potential fight. Then again, he didn't want to provoke her either.

“And who might you be?” Celestia asked.

Mark decided to give his full name and rank this time. If she was an important pony, then now would be the time to give such information. If not, he had many options to deny the spread of information.

“Lieutenant Colonel Mark Thompson, United Nations Space Command Army. You can call me ‘Mark’ if you wish, ma’am.” He saluted briefly, deciding to err on the safe side when dealing with a possible leader.

“A soldier? Why would a soldier be here?” Celestia inquired.

“Ma’am, my team was investigating the disappearance of a fist contact team sent to establish peaceful diplomatic relations with this planet. My drop pod was knocked off-course by an unknown force and I landed adjacent to where Twilight and her friends appeared to be stargazing.”

“I might have mistaken your, um, ‘drop pod’ for a meteoroid and tried to bring it closer and more into my telescope's focus with my magic. And then I sort of lost control and threw it off-course.” Twilight admitted. This turned heads; Mark didn’t realize Twilight was the reason he had made contact with them.

“Anyway, my team located the missing first contact team about an hour ago. All twenty-three of them were killed by an unknown entity, assumed to be local wildlife. I ordered them to meet me here, which, it seems, caused this incident. Would you be able to introduce me to the head of state of this country?”

“Actually, that would be me.” Celestia responded with a smile. She was quite approachable for the leader of a country.
Mark and Celestia discussed the conditions and the location of a summit. They agreed to hold it in Canterlot Castle. Mark confirmed this with Vice Admiral Hunt, who agreed to the summit.

Author's Note

Don't expect me to make a habit of including pictures. There's only one more in the whole story, much later on.