The Melding of Two Worlds Pt. 1: The Battle for Ponyville

"Well this is ironic." I say. My hand is on Zlat's shoulder, leading me towards some food.

He laughs, "How so?" I try to suppress my irritation at his little prod at me.

"You know exactly how. Yer doin' what I did fer you fer me!" I curse aloud when I realized how poorly I structured that sentence.

He's laughing his ass off, but he doesn't make it worse by saying anything further. He stops, saying that we're at our booth. I feel the seats' back with my hand, and the seat itself with a foot. I sat down, and instantly, felt uncomfortable. This table wasn't designed for humans. The table was much too low, as was the booth. My legs were splayed out under the table, as were Zlat's if I had to guess.

A hesitant voice of a man asked, "What will you two... uh..." he actually paused to think, "sirs? Is that correct?" I nod. "What will it be tonight sirs?"

I heard Zlat make the order for us, "Two orders of bean and rice enchiladas, and curry please. Charge it to this account." I knew that Zlat had taken out the card that guaranteed us free meals in Canterlot restaurants. I had somehow impressed Celestia so much, that she believed that she needed to give me a medal and ceremony in her castle. That had been a few weeks ago, long enough for my blisters to heal and for my lungs and throat to regain the ability to speak again. I listened to a recording that Zlat took, and I found that I didn't sound like I had before. My voice was deep and graveled. I had simply made a joke, and it made me feel a bit frightened. When I heard my laughing with the others in the unit, I was downright terrified. A demon would've sounded like an angel in comparison.

The sound of his hooves walking away was my evidence that he left. I heard another couple of sets of hooves walking by, and I heard the young, ever so young voice of a little girl ask, "Mister alien, what happened to your eyes? Are you blind?" I hear the parents gasp in alarm, but before they can scorn the little filly, I turned my head towards the sound of her voice.

"I got hurt in some fightin'. I'm blind fer now, but the doctors say that they'll heal. Besides, even if it's permanent, I know a guy in Ponyville that can correct it in a snap." I say with a smile. Even blind, little kids still managed to make me want to be nicer to them than the normal populace. Their innocence was something that always got me.

I hear the voice of an old man, a grandfather, "I'm so sorry mister. She's still young, and doesn't know to ask such things."

I blow a raspberry, "It's fine! She's young yet. She needs to ask questions to understand the world around her. It's how she grows." I was about to ask her if she wanted to know how it happened, when I both realized that it probably wasn't a good idea, and the girl beat me to it.

"How'd you get hurt?" Damn, that is way too cute!

I looked towards where the grandfather's voice had come from, "What do you say?" I heard a confirming grunt, "Ok then, well sweetie, your Princess Celestia came to visit Ponyville to see the defenses that we'd made."

"Really?" My heart skipped a beat, and my smile grew.

"Really. I guess she was pretty impressed. She even spoke to me to tell a joke. Then, giant contraptions called planes came in from the sky. Now, a plane 'as a long cylinder with two wings on it. It uses somethin' called a propeller to push air under it's wings to create lift. These planes dropped somethin' called bombs. Bombs explode, hurtin' people near it," she gasps, "I picked up the princess, an' dove into a trench, which is like a really deep ditch. I covered her up with my body, an' the bombs blew up all around us. But we were safe. When the bombs stopped fallin', I looked over the lip of the trench, an' there it was!" I was using a voice that you would use when you'd tell a thriller story to little kids.

"What? What was it?" She asked on the edge of her metaphorical seat.

"A gas bomb. It unleashed gas that hurts people even worse. I got Celestia to git on a gas mask to protect 'er, an' I entered the cloud. It burned my skin, my eyes an' my lungs. I picked up the bomb, an' dragged it over hundreds of feet away until it would be too far away tuh hurt anyone. But I was too weak to get back on my own. I only got halfway back before my body gave up. I died before my buddies could get me into the hospital."

"You... died? But you're here right now? How could you be alive?"

"They revived me. That's the thing. We can bring people back to life if they died recently. They got me into the hospital, an' worked on me. Weeks later, here I am talkin' to you." I end the sentence with what I hoped was a happy tone. I guess it worked, cuz she went, "Woooooowwww!"

I giggled, actually giggled. "That was a great story mister! I can't believe it! You saved the princess! Twice!" The sound of her hooves clopping all together was my indication that she was hopping away, saying, "Hero! Hero! Hero!" Over and over again. The grandfather laughed at her antics, and said to me, "Thank you for saving our princess."

I hardly tasted the food when it arrived. I was feeling too happy. "Feeling good?" Zlat asked me. I nodded with a stuffed mouth. I finished eating.

"How much time do we have?" I asked. We had to be at the castle by 2 pm, and we'd gotten to the restaurant at around 11:30.

"The ceremony is at 13:30, so about two and a half hours. Time to go I guess." To be on time is to be late. To be early is to be on time. We stood up, and I placed my hand on Zlat's shoulder, and he led me off. Before we'd arrived (by a bumpy ride via jeep), I'd asked Zlat to describe the city for me. Basically, it turned out that the place looked like an artist and an architect had had their ways with creating the city. He tried to describe it for himself, but he was out of practice in the ways of describing things, since having his sight was still recent. He still tried though, as we walked down the street, commenting on how no two ponies looked exactly the same. Some looked very similar, but still different.

He then stated after a long walk, "Here we are. The castle. There's a Victorian-goth style gate, the ones that look like spears facing up and bound by a length of steel. Two grey earth pony guards in golden armor are on either side of the gate, watching us. Hey guys! We're here for the award ceremony. This is Wolfgang Piatek, the guest of honor!"

I "look" at Zlat, "Dude, I'm blind, not mute."

He just chuckles at me, "Hey, you did the same thing when I was blind! This is comeupance!"

I... I did that? "Really? No s**t?" he nods, "Damn dude, sorry." I turn back to where I assumed the gate was. "Is the gate open?"

He chuckles again, "I forgave you a long time ago, and yes, the gate is open. Let's go." We were moving again. We twisted and turned about, and I was really wishing that I could see. I was feeling more and more unnerved. I had no idea where I was, and that is what made me feel so small. Then, the sound of massive doors swinging on their hinges. The sound of people talking surrounded me.

"I'm taking you to Celestia and who I think is her sister Luna, they're waving us over." We take a turn right, and about 20 steps later, we stop.

"Hello Wolfgang! How are you feeling?" Celestia says, meaning every word that she said.

"Better. I can talk again, and breathe unassisted. Even most of my blisters have healed, although the doc said that the scarrin' is permanent."

"You sound... different." she says, trying to choose her words carefully.

"The gas damaged my throat pretty bad, this is as good as it'll get as far as I can see." Zlat laughs, and punches me in the shoulder. I can't help but smile, and punch him back.

"What was that?" A new voice asked confused. It wasn't the same, motherly sounding voice of Celestia. It was a voice that made me think that the pony it belonged to wasn't that confident of a person. It sounded both old and young at the same time, which didn't really seem to fit right, or make sense.

Zlat answered for me, "It was my favorite joke when I was blind."

"You were blind?" Both sisters asked.

"Yep, your doctors are very good at their magic craft, because I ain't blind no more!" I can tell that he's still very happy about it, even though it had to be about a month since his sight was restored.

I felt a pair of eyes settle on me, "So you are the one that rescued my sister?" she asked me. I nodded.

I feel a weight placed on my shoulder, and I assumed that she had placed a hoof on my shoulder, "Thank you. I do not know what I would do if my sister died." She says this with absolute sincerity, and I believed her.

"Yer welcome, ma'am." I say.

"You aren't one for words, are you?" Asked Celestia, oddly bemused. All I do is shrug. She giggled, having her question being answered while reaffirming it. Her giggle made my nervousness settle down a bit, allowing me to smile back.

The hours boiled down, mostly with Zlat talking. I had sat down in a hair, and was now just waiting, not listening to anything. My mind was numb, no thoughts coming forth. Periodically, I would break the silence, and listened on what was around me, only to find little had occurred other than more people arriving.

The upteenth time I had broken silence, I asked Zlat, "Hey, what time is it?"

"Two, everyone is getting ready. The princesses are up on their thrones, the human higher-ups are standing in front of them, and the pony elites here are starting to pay attention."

"Everyone, we're here today to recognize the bravery, and feat of a human soldier today. He saved my life not once, but twice before I could even comprehend what was happening, as well as protecting his brothers in arms, and the citizens of Ponyville from a chemical weapon, called mustard gas. Wolfgang Piatek, will you please come up to be awarded?" Celestia asked, her voice booming throughout the room.

I stood up, and Zlat guided me to the carpet, "I can't follow you any further bro, just walk forwards." he whispered this to where I almost didn't hear him. I gulped, fearing what would happen if I messed up, but wanting to accomplish this on my own as well. I sucked in a breath, puffing up my chest, and I marched forwards with as much dignity that I could muster. After 28 steps, I felt an incline in the path. I became unsure of my step, and I more than noticeably started shuffling, trying not to go too far.

Celestia

Wolfgang's walking was painful to watch. You could see the struggle and pain in each step as he marched, head held high, chest puffed out. If his face wasn't bound by bandages, I was sure that I would see him flinch. But he didn't complain, he didn't stop, didn't hesitate. He moved with purpose forward. The shudder that racked his body didn't stop him from taking each step right after the other in quick succession. Truly, humans were strong creatures, determined like no other. It was an admirable trait, which made my mind be at ease, knowing that we had such an ally in them.

Wolfgang

"Another two full steps, dear." I hear Celestia whisper to me, not using her booming voice. My heart feels like it was going to explode as I took another two steps, and stopped.

I hear Celestia suck in a breath to speak, For your tremendous act of bravery and selflessness to save the lives of those around you, I am proud to award you the Equestrian Pink Heart of Courage! The sound of her horn twinkling was my only warning that a necklace was placed over my head, and rested on my neck. I heard the sound of boots come up from behind me. "Private Piatek, I am General Hummel. I am in charge of all militia troops in Equestria, and I must say, that you have done more than admirably in your service. It is with pride that I award you the Medal of Valor, and with the deepest of sympathies, the Purple Heart." Ok, that sympathy is BS. I think as I feel him press the Purple Heart to my chest. After he drapes the Medal of Valor over my head, I give him a salute, and I hear him say, "At ease."

My hand fell back down to my side. I flipped my leg backwards, turn perfectly 180 degrees. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. I said in my head as the entire room (which was much larger than I had thought at first) erupted into cheers, whistles, and claps with hooves and hands. The familiar hand of Zlat was placed on my shoulder. I leaned into him, a nervous, crazy laugh escaping my lips. Zlat led me back to our seats, me laughing all the way. The rest of the night was simply a blur, as I couldn't get over the fact that I'd managed to not f**k it up. Before I even knew it, Zlat got me out of my chair, and led me out of the castle.

The air was much cooler than earlier, making me wonder exactly how long we had been in there. There wasn't a sound besides the sounds of our boots.

"So how're you feeling about those medals?" he asks.

"I'm just glad I didn' muck up the ceremony. I'll tell you when it changes."

It had rained while we were gone, the trenches at the bottom of the hill were now filling up with water. That had been in the morning. Since then, the incomplete battalion had drained the trenches, and reformed the firing steps, while also having drilled out holes in the wall of the trench, while having Twilight drill out a massive ditch, easily 10 feet wide, all around the first trench. It looked like the first trench was a wall if you were close enough, but just a small sliver in the ground if you were far off. I don't know where they got it, but they'd also managed to install barbed wire along the trench line, just below the ledge of the trench to allow unobstructed view.

What was better yet, command saw the bombing as a sign of interest from the enemy, and had authorized the deployment of the remaining 250 militiamen from Texas needed to complete the battalion to defend the hill, and 10 artillery guns plus crew. 122mm. What surprised me more, was how the town had been transformed. Now, every wall of every building was covered up by sandbags, inside and out. Then there was the fact that Twilight had also created a new spell, which could turn a pony in to a human, and vice versa. She had... *sigh*... "enchanted" about twenty different necklaces, which would activate the spell to the wearer. And she was still making more.

Then, there was a small upgrade that every soldier received. Helmets. We all got them. Humans got helmets like mine, although with a lower quality, and the anthros got Brodie helmets because it would protect their muzzles a bit better, and actually fit. Everyone was wearing them with great old smiles on their faces. The thing about helmets that everyone got wrong, was that they actually protected you. Shrapnel bounced off, and if the gun was a decent distance away, it could protect you from bullets that were a little larger than a .308 rifle round. Better for me, that affected metal helmets, as mine had a layer of Kevlar on the liner, so I could survive a larger caliber, and from closer ranges. Plus, I got an emergency replacement too.

It had been a week since the gas attack, and now, my bandages were coming off. I was in a dug out area of the trench that was going to be my home for the foreseeable future, and Zlat was undoing them. He cut off the cloth binding the pad to my eyes. It fell away silently. He then took off the secondary pads underneath that rested on my eyelids, peeling them off. I opened my eyes, wincing at the light. Once my eyes readjusted, I was looking up at Zlat, who was wearing his helmet.

"Can you see me brother?" he asked. I smiled, nodding. I could see. I could see the others in the unit who had been staring at me earnestly, I could see the dirt walls, the dirt staircase that led out into the light, the lit lamp, everything! I could see.

"Hell yeah I can."