Humanity!
In all the universes, in all realities, nowhere else is such a diverse, lovely, terrifying, wonderful species!
Take this shard of reality: humanity emerges from a war to contact aliens, overcomes terrible adversity and eventually leads a federation of allied races to prosperity! Lovely!
In this one: Humans lead a terrible space empire… but they also lead a rebellion against said empire! And there are magical space monks with laser swords! Marvelous, just marvelous!
So many possibilities! Like frenzied forked lightning their potential pierces the fabric of the multiverse. Is it any wonder that they are my favorite?
But…
There is always a but.
If there are highest highs of peace and prosperity, there must be a low.
The waves and ebbs of balance ensure that there must be a dark to every light.
Look upon one of the worst: The distant dark future of a galaxy burned by fire and salted by blood. A galaxy with no friendly federation, only xenophobia and distrust. Humanity spread to the stars in an uncountable multitude and beat their existence onto planets like a blacksmith at a forge, opposed always by the dark laughter of thirsting gods.
Look closer: A planet whose existence is dedicated to war, dedicated to stand against an insane evil. A planet who now dies: its enemy successful in breaching the weapons and armor built into its very mantle.
Closer still: A fleeing flotilla of half-wrecked transports and warships. Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, they run. Each vessel packed to the tip-top with injured and terrified survivors. They are pursued by the those that killed their planet, a people so full of hate and cruelty that they cannot stand the existence of even a single survivor.
Lets look at a survivor…
This one! Thirteen years old, a little banged up, but look at his mind! Focused! Faithful! Still hopeful after all of this!
I love humanity.
Its to bad he's going to die in a few days when the transport he is on has an engine failure and falls under the guns of the enemy fleet. His last thought will be of his God as fire rushes to consume him.
It'll be quick I suppose…
Ah, we can't have that, can we?
Perfect little mote of a human! A little push and we can slide him up and down the sideways cracks of the universe from here to there, now to then or even from zwang to kwang! That’s not a good choice though, humans don’t take to partial demi-existence that well.
There he goes! He's going up! From the grimmest darkness to…
Wait for it…
Oooh, he's going WAY up there!
Right into…!
This will be exciting!
His name is Bann Thire.
He is wrapped in the twilight half-sleep where someone knows they should wake up, but they really don’t want to. All the lumps and bumps of his scratchy bunk seemed to have found their way to places that were comfortable, and the warm sun on his closed eyes felt wonderful.
Something was wrong, but it was far away right now.
He tried to scratch his nose and lightning pain shot up his arm.
Hissing, he shot upright, clutching his right arm with his left. Bandaged and wrapped tight against his body, he cursed himself and his arm for forgetting that it had been broken. As the pain subsided, he began to realize the myriad problems with his current situation.
One: He wasn't in his bed.
Two: He was under a clear blue sky with a warm yellow sun shining down upon his face and a gentle breeze brushing his matted hair out of his eyes.
Three: He was sitting on a rough dirt path green grass to his right and left. Carefully spaced trees laden with red fruit lined the path and the rolling hills surrounding it.
Carefully, restraining his panic, he stood, pressing off the warm dirt with his good hand. Eyes wide and unbelieving, he turned in a slow circle, taking in the picturesque surroundings. Considering that when he had gone to sleep, he had been crammed into a dim cargo bay that had been hastily retrofitted to carry a seething mass of thousands of fleeing soldiers and refugees, it was a lot to take in.
Remembering his training, he began to take stock of his assets.
His clothing was dirt stained, but considering that he had been wearing the same uniform for over a week now, it didn’t bear mentioning. His equipment was carefully placed next to his feet where he had left it when settling down into his cot last night: medpack (mostly empty now), flak helmet, knife and rifle with clips. His boots were scuffed but serviceable, and the rest of his kit seemed to be there: grooming kit, ration case and a cluster of other sundries all carefully packed away in pouches.
Fumbling with his left hand, he placed his helmet on his head and clipped it under his chin. Next was the rest: medpack belted, knife sheathed at his waist, two dark green frag grenades, and last, his weapon. A Kantrael pattern M36 lasgun, its boxy casing painted in the same olive drab as his uniform. Capable of sustained automatic fire it was the staple of human guardsmen the galaxy over and was the most important part of his kit. Carefully, with the due reverence it deserved, he slung the weapon strap over his shoulder, letting his uninjured arm rest on its stock. In minutes the rest of his gear was ready to go and he was left with what to do next.
He tried to remember the foreign world contact protocols from his first days in the White Shields, but most of it didn’t apply. He didn’t have a re-breather or mask, he didn’t have instructions from an apothecary to follow or unit directives to obey.
He recalled the scarred twisted face of his education officer as the man went over the protocols years ago, standing ramrod straight with the rest of the boys and girls in his class as the tall adult in his black storm coat had bawled at them:
"Always remember that you are a soldier in His army! If you cannot find a friendly unit to linkup with, if you cannot locate or contact your superiors, it is your duty to find the enemy and engage him! Your life is the coin of the Imperium and it must be spent against the enemy!"
Bann tapped the comm-bead in his helmet, but got no noise. Either it was damaged or it couldn’t find any signals. Working carefully, he adjusted the flak armor protecting his knees, elbows and the large vest protecting his chest and back. Situated and collected, he began to walk, picking a direction at random.
This world, whatever it was, was pleasant enough. Clear sky, cool breeze, normal gravity. Small brightly plumaged birds flitted in the branches of the fruit trees and, after some cautious observation, didn’t seem to be dangerous. The gently rolling hills seemed to go on for some distance, but he didn’t see any workers or machines tending the many trees. In fact, no distant spires or building marred the horizon at all. Wherever he was, it wasn’t a human planet.
The fruit trees were the worst. He studied one carefully, its branches laden with strange red fruit the size of his fist. They smelled wonderful, remining him of the dessert spread they gave with bread during the Feast of the Emperors Ascension. Carefully, he twisted one off of its stem and studied it closely. Red, smooth and enticing.
Mouth watering, his body begged for him to take a bite. He had been on emergency rations for so long he had began to forget what taste tasted like. All his training screamed the opposite, recalling warnings about poisons, sickness and a host of other disasters that could occur from eating alien food.
Sighing, he put the strange red thing into an empty pouch. Trying to assuage his stomach, he unwrapped a protein cube and popped it in his mouth, wrinkling his nose as it sucked the moisture out of his mouth and began to soften. Chewing hard, he worked the flavourless wad as he walked on, letting the slow acting food-replacement dissolve.
For hours he walked, his training allowing his lean form to keep moving. As step followed step and nothing attacked him, he began to take more of the environment in. He noticed more animals: small furry brown things with big bushy tails scampering from branch to branch or along the ground. Larger ground animals with droopy long ears and little ball-tails hopped about. More and more birds, each more colorful than the last, filled the air with musical chirps and trills.
Maybe I am dead.
The thought stopped him in his tracks.
This place… it was more peaceful and calm that anything he could imagine. It did resemble the paradise that the priests and ecclesiarches had said awaited the loyal and dutiful, but it was so quiet. None of his ancestors waited for him. His Emperor wasn’t waiting for him.
Was it because they had lost? Their world destroyed by the Great Enemy? Was he dead and left to wander this place alone?
The thoughts raced. He felt himself panicking. He let out a sudden cry and collapsed against the knotty trunk of a tree. All the stress of the past months and the alien unfamiliarity of his surroundings rendering the young man helpless. He felt his cheeks grow wet as he buried his face in his arm, trying desperately to control himself. His shoulders shook as wracking sobs burst forth. His weapon fell with a quiet clatter to the hand packed dirt path.
He sat there for sometime, remembering the voices of his friends and wondering if he would every hear them again. He knew that many of them were dead, and he had no idea how many of them had made it to the transports. Grief wracked him for a while before he felt empty. Like a wave receding, he began to get control of himself. He felt empty, and was angry at himself.
"Here I am, a Cadian. One of humanities finest, blubbering like a baby in the creche." He thought as he pulled himself to his feet. He murmured an apology to his weapon as he slung it back over his shoulder and stopped dead as his eyes centered on the road.
There was a creature there.
Quadruped, bright red. Large eyes on a long face.
His brain hadn’t even finished processing the alien in front of him before he swung his rifle around in a one handed grip and squeezed the trigger.
Click.
He stepped back, letting the rifle swing loose and drew his knife, bringing it up in a defensive grip.
The thing just stood there, looking confused.
After a moment, Bann let the knife drop to his side. He felt like an idiot. Some random animal wanders up and he tries to shoot it, fails, then challenges it to a knife fight. Genius.
He examined the alien closer. It was covered in a shockingly red coat of thin fur. It did have four legs, but no feet. Only hard nail looking stubs. It had a long body and a thick hairy tail that was flicking slightly from side to side. A long neck was topped by a long square face with two clear green eyes, beneath which were clusters of pale freckles. A mass of hair stretching from the top of its head to the base of its neck topped the strange animal which shared a brilliant orange hue with its tail.
It looked kind of like a horse. The ancient Terran animal representing power and strength that emblazoned the sides of many armored vehicles and regimental banners, but he had never seen an actual live example. This one looked small. From what he understood a horse should tower over him, whereas this one came up to the middle of his chest.
Sheathing his knife, he squatted down to eye level with the red animal. It didn’t look hostile, its feet things, hooves, he remembered they were called, didn’t have claws or anything dangerous he could see. It wasn’t bearing its teeth or hissing or making any kind of hostile gesture.
"How you doing, buddy?" He said in a calm voice. Maybe it could be tamed?
"Uh… good. How 'bout you?" It replied in a surprisingly deep voice, quirking an eyebrow at him.
Bann blinked. Then screamed in surprise.
"Ahhhh!" He yelled, falling onto his backside.
"Ahhhhhh!" Yelled the red mini-horse, jumping back away from him. "What is wrong wit' you, waving a knife around and screaming at people?!" It said angrily, face set in a surprisingly emotive frown.
"You… you can talk!" Bann said accusingly from the dirt.
"Eeeyup, I can. And so can you 'parently." It took a few cautious steps towards him. "Uh… what exactly are you, friend?" It asked, eyes roving over Banns prostrate form.
"I'm… I'm a man. A human man."
"A hue-man-man?" It frowned "Never heard of nothing like that."
Bann stood and brushed the dirt off his bottom, never taking his eyes off of the red horse.
"Well… now you have." Bann didn’t know what to say. He had never spoken with an alien before. Everything he had read and been taught had extolled the nightmarish nature of "The Alien", that every other species existed to challenge humanities right to exist. For a "slavering xenos monster", it was surprisingly calm and well spoken "What are you?"
The alien looked him up and down again before replying "I'm a pony." he said slowly "Names' Mcintosh. Friends call be 'Big Mac'."
It took a slow step forward, still eyeing Bann cautiously. Its afraid of me. He realized. That was odd. He had never considered that before.
Big Mac took another step, bringing him within arms reach of the human. Slowly, he raised a foreleg and pointed it at Bann.
Bann stared at the offered hoof, then at Big Mac. When he didn’t move to respond, Big Mac wiggled his hoof slightly. Bann hesitantly reached out, took the offered hoof and gave it a few quick pumps, trying to shake hands with the pony.
After he let go, Big Mac stared at his hoof then put it back on the ground.
"Eeeeh. Close enough."
He turned to go and Bann followed him. They walked down the path together, both trying to sneak glances at each other.
"So… Hue-man-man… what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"
"My name is Bann. My species is human. Just human." he emphasized the word slowly "And I have no idea what brought me here. I just… woke up and walked."
"Whelp, if you walked, you've been on the road a looooong time. Like I said: never seen a human before. You, uh, look kinda like a shaved diamond dog, if you don’t mind me sayin'."
Bann had no idea what that was. They walked in silence for a few minutes more, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. Checking out the strange creature, Bann noticed it had a tattoo of one of the red fruit, cut into segments, on its rear right flank.
How the hell would hooves work a tattoo gun? He thought to himself. Right. Like that’s the weirdest thing about this… xeno.
"Sweet Apple Acres, huh? You grow these red fruit here?" Bann gestured to a nearby tree.
"Eeyup. Best apples this side of Canterlot." There was a pause "You never seen apples before?" confusion colored the ponies voice.
"Uh. No. I don’t think so."
Big Mac stopped and stared at him in disbelief.
"You must be joking."
"I'm not."
"Well, you hafta' try one then." Big Mac said with hesitation, obviously still not believing him. He backed up towards the nearest tree and gave it a measured kick with his back leg. A pair of apples dropped to the ground with muffled thumps. Big Mac gestures to them with his muzzle.
"Go ahead."
Bann carefully picked up the first. Like the others, it was smooth and bright red, with areas mottled with lighter shades. The smell was amazing. A lifetime of indoctrinated fear of the unknown swam in his head. He tried to choke down the instinctual fear that if he bit into the 'apple' he would die a terrible death.
Big Mac stared at the human in confusion, not understanding the concern on his face. He could see the emotions warring in Bann, but stayed quiet, letting the strange creature work it out for himself.
Bann forced down his fear of the unknown and bit into the offered fruit. Under the red skin was a firm, crisp white flesh. For a moment, he couldn’t place the taste, it was so foreign to him… but quickly a smile broke out. He hurriedly took another bite, then another, the juice dripping down his chin.
"Hits show good!" He exclaimed happily through a mouth of apple, before swallowing. "Its so good!" he clarified.
Good didn’t even begin to cover it. It did taste vaguely like his favorite feast day dessert spread, but in the same way a blown kiss from fifty feet away was similar to a full kiss on the lips from someone you loved. It was, without compare, the best thing he had ever tasted. Barely pausing to breathe, he chewed more and more of the first apple, consuming it down to the core then eating that as well, savouring even the bitterness of the seeds. Before Big Mac's bemused eyes, the human quickly only held a short green stem between his teeth. He looked at the pony, an eyebrow raised, and Big Mac shook his head. Bann spat out the small stem and picked up the other apple. He considered it for a moment, then jammed it into his pouch, adding it to the one he picked up awhile back.
Two for later. He thought.
Big Mac was smiling at him broadly.
"Anypony who eats apples like that has to be a good one."
They walked together for another few minutes, Bann spending most of it licking his lips and hands clean. Over the next hill was a simple, two wheeled wagon parked under a tree with three baskets in its back full of apples. With a surprisingly dextrous move, Big Mac slid under the harness attached to the two guides in the front and settled it over his shoulders.
He started pulling the wagon effortlessly down the path, glancing again at Bann to make sure he followed.
"We'll get you back to the farm. Figure out what to do with ya, check out your arm and such…"
The red pony had taken a dozen steps before he realized the human wasn’t following him anymore. Turning his neck, he looked quizzically at the human. Bann had stopped and was starting at Big Mac, his face blank and expression unreadable.
Without saying a word, Bann knelt and pulled his langun over his knee. Whispering quietly to his weapon, he said the required words, while, one handed, he ejected the power cell.
"Machine Spirit, forgive my actions. Soon you will be whole again."
Bringing the cell up to his face, he squinted at the small indicator on the inside: empty. Fumbling, he slid the photo-cell open on the top of the metal case and slid the small metal cell into the slot on the side of his helmet. Moving quickly, his motions practiced despite his bandaged arm, he slid a second energy cell out of a pouch and repeated the steps, sliding the solar charging cell open and sliding it into the other retaining slot on his helmet. He met Big Macs eyes for a moment, face still blank and not reacting to the red ponies concerned stare, before he took one of his remaining grenades and slid it into the band across his chest.
His hands itched to draw his knife and hook it into the bayonet lugs on the front of his rifle, but he doubted that Big Mac would miss the obvious hostility in the action. The friendly ponies face was creased with a frown.
"Everything, uh, okay over there?"
Banns face was set in a cold, blank look. For all the red aliens friendliness and comradery, it was still a xenos. An outsider. He may have been put off his normal human suspicion by his surroundings and by the trauma of the war for Cadia, but Big Mac was taking him to a farm, a group location. There had to be more ponies there. He might be walking into a trap.
Bann gave the pony a smile, the warmth of it never reaching his violet eyes.
"Yeah. Lets go."
Author's Note
Here is the next chapter!
As I am new to writing the pony characters, please let me know if I got their tones right. Applejack especially was difficult getting her 'twang' 'to sound right, but I think I got it pretty close.
As always, all comments and criticisms are welcome and encouraged!
Chapter 2
Like a tired mother falling into her bed, the moon gently fell in the sky.
Pregnant with all the possibilities of night, its soft glow radiated onto all the peoples and animals of the world.
Those who hunted and walked by night were comforted by it. Those who dreamt snuggled closer to blankets or loved ones as it shone through their windows. Its light was as perfect an addition to the world as breath, sound and life itself.
All through the night, it had covered the world, but soon that would end. As always, its luminous silver would be traded for the glorious gold of the sun.
On one of the royal balconies stood a powerful equine form. Her coat of deepest night and radiant purple maneshot through with shimmering stars shone in the fading moonlight, her hooves were as made of silver and her eyes radiated the cold certainty of the ocean. Her feathered wings were currently folded comfortably against her sides. Upon her brow was her horn, long, regal and a greater sign of her power than any crown. Her dominion was the moon, but she also held responsibilities over the health, life and prosperity of the people and animals. Her dominion both as magical force of the moon itself and as half of the regency of the land was trying, but she enjoyed the depth of her responsibility. She had much to prove, both to herself and to others, after her attempt to rule alone as 'The Night Mare'. She was Princess Luna, a royal of Equestria.
"Penny for your thoughts, sister?" Came a melodious voice from behind her.
Princess Luna smiled. The very presence of her sibling chasing away the grim thoughts of her abortive and ill-conceived coup.
"I was just thinking about my attempt to consolidate the monarchy." Luna didn’t apologise for this anymore. In the months after her fall from the heights of her own delusion, any conversation about her attempt to rule alone always lead to Luna apologizing deeply and at great length. After a week where each conversation with her sister would turn into an emotionalmess, she was told that if she kept it up, her sister would seal her away again.
Her sister had been joking, of course, but the point was well made. From then on, Princess Luna swallowed her guilt whenever the topic came up. She had been forgiven. They only guilt that remained was that which she projected on herself.
Princess Celestia walked up beside her, joining the Princess of the Moon on the balcony. She was a bright mirror to Luna. Her white coat and flowing rainbow mane a stark contradiction to her dark younger sister. Her wings were tucked away, but slightly ruffled, in the pegasus version of 'bed head'. A coffee cup, held in the shimmering field of the white alicorns magic, raised itself to her lips and she took a dainty sip.
"Those were sad days. But for the chance to stand beside you, I would endure a thousand more."
The two shared a smile before turning their attention to the sky. The moon had begin to sink below the horizon, and the rising glow of the approaching morning began to color the air.
Princess Luna felt her heart sing. This was her favorite part. Her power would wane, and in the last fleeting moments, she would feel her sisters magic reach out and support her, gently taking the weight of heavenly responsibility. It was an expression of trust and love that allowed them to rule together in the same manner that the celestial bodies of the moon and sun ruled and shared the sky.
She felt the weight of the moon increase as the cycle came to its nadir. The felt the magic of her sister swell as the sun began to rise.
Something was wrong.
A sharp pain stabbed into her heart. She cried out and fell to her knees, distantly hearing her sister do the same.
They were under attack.
Something scrabbled at her magic. The moon froze on the horizon, only the tip of it visible over the mountains. Its light frozen in the sky as she gripped it tight. Whatever was trying to wrest her power from her was strong, but unfocussed, as if it didn’t quite know what it was doing. She increased her defenses, walling away her magic from her unknown attacker. The frenzied flailing faded, but did not decrease in intensity. Whatever it was that struck at her, its power was immense. She felt muttered obscenities and distant screams on the currents of magic as the sinister power struck at the two princesses.
She focussed on her surroundings through eyes leaking tears, and saw here sister similarly afflicted, her jaw clenched in effort. Taking staggered steps towards each other, they leaned against each others necks. Breathing deep, they drew on their paired strength and with a great heave they threw the hostile magic away.
For a moment, they sat there, panting with effort.
"What…" Luna coughed, her voice hoarse with effort. "… what was that?"
Princess Celestia stood, and helped Luna to her hooves.
"Something tried to anchor the sun and moon in place and siphon away the energy for another purpose."
She moved to the end of the balcony and continued the raising the sun, setting its course through the sky. Luna moved up beside her on shaky legs, and let the moon rest, ending the ritual.
"It hit you harder than myself, as you were enthralled in the dimming of the moon. I haven't felt such a mad strength in…" She trailed off, her eyes wide.
"What is it? What do you remember?" Asked Luna, concern coloring her tone.
"I must… I will consult the archives. There are things I must confirm." Celestia smiled at her sister, trying to reassure the midnight colored alicorn. "The danger has passed for now. Rest. You will need your strength after this unexpected development."
Princess Luna hesitated, then nodded. Her eyes were heavy and her horn ached after the brief power-struggle. She rested her head against her sisters for a moment, that simple gesture wordlessly conveying trust and love, before turning to leave the castle balcony.
Princess Celestia stared at the rising sun, her eyes immune to its light. She only saw its beauty, its light warm and nourishing.
But she remembered a different sun, long ago. A bright, piercing yellow light haloing a strange form, ominous and threatening.
She whispered into the morning breeze, where no-one could hear her words.
"Could it be Him?"
Despite the warmth, she shivered.
On the road to Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Bann were silent as they walked.
Despite the warmth of the day, the tweeting of the birds and the picturesque scenery, a tension now lay between the two.
Bann counted the steps, checked the trees, eyed his companion occasionally, and basically acted like what he was: a soldier on foreign soil, concerned with ambush.
Big Mac didn’t understand what had caused the change in the strange 'human', but couldn’t think of anything to say to address it, so the pair simply walked in silence. Only the occasional squeak of the wagon harnessed to the large pony providing a counter note to the wildlife.
Eventually, cresting another hill, they came into sight of their destination.
The farm was surprisingly large. A brightly painted, three story barn or farmhouse dominated the area. Its red paint and white chasing around the windows and doors signalled its importance. The path the two travellers were walking on led directly to the large central door of this barn. The surrounding area was primarily large farm plots, the earth tilled and planted with small green shoots already poking themselves out of the dark soil. A smaller building stood a short distance from the first, this one without the large central door of the red one, marking it as a likely house, or secondary living area. Since these aliens were similar to the horses of Terra, its possible they lived in the barn.
The place was undoubtedly well cared for. The paint bright and fresh and the white picket fences that enclosed and separated the various areas was whole and intact. As they began their descent down the final hill, another pony figure walked out of the central barn. Even at this distance, Bann could tell it was smaller than Big Mac, its coat a bright yellow with a shockingly red mane and tail. The smaller pony swung the barn door open as it noticed their approach and ran towards them, excitement evident in every bounding step.
As it grew closer, Bann realized it was a great deal smaller than Big Mac. The top of its head would reach just over his knees were it to stand beside him. Its large eyes were wide with curiosity as it stared at the human.
"Wow… what's this thing, Big Mac?" its voice was high and seemed female.
"He ain't a 'thing', he's a 'hue-man' and his name is Bann."
The larger pony continued down the hill, bringing his wagon and loaded apples towards the barn. The small yellow pony stared at Bann from beside Big Mac, peering between his legs or around the front of his chest. She seemed constantly in motion, her eyes wide and innocent.
She was making Bann uncomfortable, but he wasn't sure why. She didn’t seem dangerous.
"Yes, I'm a 'human'. I ran into Big Mac out in the…"
She yellow pony squeaked in surprise, cutting him off.
"You can talk!? That’s awesome! Most creatures have their own language! I guess most around here speak plain pony, but I read in a book I borrowed from Twilight Sparkle - oh you'll have to meet her! She's this cool purple unicorn and she's so smart and she saved us lots of times! But most creatures have their own language! Even dragons! Although Spike speaks pony… oh yeah, Spike is a dragon who lives with Twilight Sparkle, you'll meet him when you meet her!"
The little pony spoke rapid-fire, with little time for breath. She seemed determined to relay the history of the entire world to him, starting somewhere in the middle of the story and plunging headlong into the beginning. He tried to grip the points of her conversation, but without context most of it was meaningless.
Apparently he was speaking "plain pony", which seemed to him to be identical to low gothic, the common tongue of the Imperium of Man. There apparently existed dragons. As the little pony spun on and on, Bann lost what little thread of reason he had to her non-stop stream of consciousness, and concentrated on the farm itself.
He couldn’t see any obvious sign of ambush. As a farm, he had expected field hands and farm workers everywhere, but it seemed relatively deserted. Aside from the two ponies and single man, the only life around were the birds, insects and plants.
He followed Big Macs cart into the shade of the barn. It was open and as well kept as the outside. Bales of hay were stacked against the far wall. In the center of the room lay a dozen or so baskets of apples, laid next to each other, identical to the ones in Big Macs cart.
"… and, oh yeah! I'm Apple Bloom!"
Bann looked at the little pony, realizing that she had stopped talking.
"Sorry? Apple Bloom?"
"Yeah!" She said happily.
Ignoring them both, Big Mac began unloading the trio of baskets from his cart, setting them near the others. Apple Bloom walked over to Bann and extended a leg at him. Same as before, he gently took her hoof and gave it a quick pump, trying to shake her hand. Apple Bloom looked at him confused, then looked at the large red pony.
"He does that." Big Mac explained, setting the last of the baskets down.
"No, you see, I'm giving you a hoof…"
The barn door slammed open, making the human and little pony jump. Another pony had opened the door roughly. Its head was down, bizarrely covered buy a wide-brimmed hat, and was pulling a twin cart to Big Macs. This cart was filled much more than the first, packed to overflowing with apples.
"Hey Mac! 'Ah finished the north fields, and figured we could take the young apples and juice 'em early. Maybe see if we can make a 'cider reserve' or some such. Whad-ya think?"
This new-comer was a pale yellow color, most of her face concealed by her lowered hat. The voice was female as well, but she had an interesting accent. It was somewhat similar to a Vostroyan officer he met once, but this ponies words were much easier on the ears. Maybe she was from off-world?
Apple Bloom ran over to the newcomer, almost vibrating with excitement.
"Applejack! We've got a visitor, and he don’t know how to hoof-bump!"
"Wassat now?"
The other pony looked up, right into Bann's eyes. He saw the surprise there for a minute, then watched then narrow in suspicion.
"Apple Bloom, you git over here right now."
"But sis…"
"Now!"
Sighing angrily, the small pony walked around the second cart, standing near the new pony, who was apparently named "Applejack".
"Big Mac, what in tarnation did you bring home? Who's this?"
Big Mac walked around the baskets, standing next to Bann.
"I found him on the west road, having a rough time. Thought he could use a place to clean up."
Bann frowned at the red pony, he didn’t know that Big Mac had seen him upset on the road. He fought down embarrassment and focused on Applejack. She was reacting with suspicion and light hostility. It was the first time he'd seen one of these ponies act with some sense.
"So you thought you'd bring 'im home? Introduce him to the family?"
She walked around her cart, walking right up to Bann and looking him over.
Big Mac shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
"He likes apples. Can't be all bad."
"Are you serious right now? Take Apple Bloom into the house, let Granny know there's a stranger in the barn."
Big Mac rolled his eyes, but looked at Apple Bloom and gestured towards the barn door. The little yellow pony looked at Bann and Applejack then slowly moved that way, following Big Mac. She looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end she was silent.
Applejack seemed to relax a bit when they were finally alone. With seeming unconcern, she began unloading the apples, but Bann noticed she never fully turned her back on him and kept him in the corner of her eyes at all time. Bann watched her in return, looking relaxed, but fully prepared for an attack.
"Found on the road, eh?" She said between mouthfuls of basket.
"Apparently."
Applejack scoffed at his terse reply, but didn’t respond immediately. They were silent for a minute, Bann watching the pony deftly unload the cart with her teeth.
"You gotta name?"
Bann sighed and rattled off the pertinent points:
"My name is Bann. I am a human from Cadia." He hesitated at his recently destroyed home world, but he didn’t correct himself. "I've never been to this world, and I've never seen a pony before."
Applejack looked at him, eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"This world? You're from another world? You some kind of alien?"
Bann frowned, angered at the insult. He couldn’t be an alien, a xenos! He was a human!
"I am not an alien. I am a soldier of the Emperor!"
"A soldier in what war?"
"In every war!" Bann realized his voice was rising, anger building at being questioned by this unsanctioned creature.
"Are you at war with me? With us?"
Applejack was facing him now, a few meters away, her stance as wary as his own.
Bann bit back his first instinct, to spit at the pony: Yes, I am! All humans are at war with all aliens! He took a breath and briefly considered his position. He was alone on an alien world. He didn’t know how many ponies there were or even what kind of weaponry they had. For all he knew, this "Granny" had the barn covered with an autocannon.
"No." He begrudgingly answered after a moment.
Applejack considered him, relaxing slightly.
"Well alright then. Can't rightly say I like how long it took for you to say that, but I'll take you at your word."
"Just like that? I say I'm not your enemy and you believe me?"
"Why wouldn’t I? You haven't given me a reason to not trust ya yet."
This place was insane. These aliens had no self-preservation instinct. Bann was convinced the Imperium could conquer this world with one squad of guardsman and a chimera armored vehicle.
Applejack walked to the barn door, gesturing for Bann to follow.
"Come on then, I'll take ya into Ponyville, get that arm of yours looked at and see what Twilight thinks of ya."
They walked out into the sun, following another branch of the dirt path that brought them here.
Applejack called towards the smaller farmhouse: "Big Mac! I'm taking Bann into town! Finish unloading the apples for me!"
"Eeeeeyup!" Came the response.
The walk to town was quiet. The apple trees giving way to more leafy trees and the dirt path under their feet turning to packed cobblestone. To Bann, having been raised in the heavily urbanized and devastated ecology on Cadia, it couldn’t be more alien. This world looked like one of the visions of paradise from the sermons of the priesthood, a vision of how Terra used to be, long before the rise of the Imperium.
"So you're a soldier eh? A fighter?" Applejack interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes. All my life."
"So, uh, how old are ya, anyway?"
"Look, Applejack, I'm not playing twenty questions with you. I'm sure when I meet this 'Twilight', I'll have to give it all over again, so I think I'll keep it to myself for now."
Applejack frowned, but remained silent.
The village came into view, looking to Banns military eyes like a complete mess. An open cobblestone road leading into an urban center of wood and stone buildings with yellow thatched roofs. No checkpoints, no obvious guards or security at all. Ponies walked singly or in groups, laughing and talking with each other, a rainbow of coats, manes and tails walking about without a care.
As he followed Applejack through the town, the human got a number of stares, glances and whispers. He examined them in return, trying to get an idea if the colors and flank markings indicated some sort of hierarchy or tribal spread, but all colors of ponies mingled without bias.
"Where are your guards?"
"Wassat?" replied Applejack, startled slightly as he broke the silence between them.
"Your guards. Or police, civitas defenders, arbitrators, whatever you call them."
"Uh, the guards would be in Canterlot guarding the castle. We don’t have police here in Ponyville. Manehattan is a good sight bigger than Ponyville, and it has a fine police force from what I understand. I never heard of those others… isn't an arbitrator some kind of judge?"
"No police force? Who punishes the criminals?"
"What kinda ponies do you think we are? Just rampaging around everyday?"
Bann looked around, and saw a small cart with a pale blue pony behind it. It was festooned with flowers and brightly colored plants. Looking back at Applejack, he gestured to it before moving over to the flower-seller. The hat wearing pony looked hesitant, but she followed.
The selling pony looked a little concerned as the human approached, but she plastered a smile on her face as best she could.
"Good morning! Are you looking for a nice flower for yourself or somepony special?"
Bann ignored her and grabbed a small pot with three bright orange flowers.
"Excellent choice!" She smiled "That one is only two bits."
There was a pregnant pause. Bann looked at the sales-pony then at Applejack.
"I'm taking this and not paying for it."
The sales pony frowned, but then brightened again.
"That’s okay! You can come back and pay me later!"
"No. I'm not going to do that. I'm never coming back." He looked over at Applejack, eyebrow raised. "Now what?"
She shook her head, frowning. "Look, I get what you’re saying, but ponies ain't like that. If somepony had a honest need, we'll help him out. Nopony is nasty enough to just steal."
Bann grinned and put the pot back on the little ponies cart.
"I'm not a pony."
They continued walking, leaving the confused flower seller behind.
"Well, fine, I guess if you did just take something for the joy of stealin', I'd stop ya and make you give it back."
Bann looked down at the much smaller creature, who looked up at him, then away taking his point.
"Well fine, me and a few other brave ponies then."
"So, your justice system is 'be nice or face the mob '?"
"It ain't like that! Why do you think the worst of everypony? If you’re so smart, how do they handle stealing where you come from?"
Bann didn’t look at her when as he casually replied.
"For theft, criminals are usually hung. Or shot if it happens in a combat zone."
"WHAT?!" Applejack yelled. "You just kill 'em?"
Bann stopped and faced the pony. "There must be order. The knowledge of punishment is its own deterrent."
"What if someone was starving? Or needed medicine?"
Bann remembered the sermons of the judges when he was young, the black armored Arbites that taught him and the other children the first points of Imperial Law. He had found their absolutism comforting at the time, and still did today. He remembered when he had asked 'What about circumstance? If a thief just wanted a place to sleep?' He repeated the answer the judge had given him to Applejack:
"In order to be just, our law must be cruel."
She stared at him in shock, her mouth agape, before she collected herself and looked at Bann sadly.
"Ain't no cruelty that’s ever been just."
Bann shrugged, not really caring about her opinion. He knew the truth, that the system he was raised under was harsh, but nessecary. This weird collectivist society the ponies had cobbled together would shatter like glass the first time a mycetic spore or ork dropship landed in their apple fields. They had no idea how dangerous the galaxy really was.
They walked in silence towards the opposite edge of the town. Bann was growing annoyed at the sympathetic glances Applejack was occasionally shooting his way, as if there was something wrong with him. The pair were approaching a large tree that had been hollowed out and turned into a home, complete with windows, doors and even a balcony, but its outer branches were still healthy and growing green leaves.
Upon reaching the door, Applejack turned and gave the door a quick pair of solid knocks with her back leg before pushing open the door.
"Twi? You home?"
The door lead into the main body of the hollow tree. The walls had been carved into bookshelves that were packed with the colored spines of their contents. The floor was mostly bare wood, but a side area was covered with a rug and had a few pillows on the floor, probably for reading. A curtained side area was out of sight and a spiraling staircase led up to an upper level. It smelt wonderful, a pine scent filling the room with layers of flowers and other subtle pleasant undertones.
"Applejack? One second, I'll be right down!" Came another female voice from above.
The cream colored pony wandered over to a lectern where an open book lay, seemingly content to wait. Taking the opportunity to relax for a moment, Bann sat on the floor and crossed his legs. He lay his lasgun across his knees and removed his helmet, wiping a line of sweat from his forehead. Carefully, he slid one of the energy cells out of his helmet and checked the charge: slightly under half.
Not bad. He thought. Probably twenty to thirty shots.
Applejack wandered over to him, looking at his equipment.
"Wassat?" She asked gesturing with her nose at the weapon across his knees.
Bann considered for a moment: How much should he tell her? Should he even reveal that it was a weapon?
"This…" he said, tapping the olive casing with the cell in his hand "Is my lasgun."
He didn’t explain any further, and slid the energy clip into the weapon. As he heard the comforting click, he whispered the second half of the prayer of unloading: "Machine Spirit, accept my gift, swallow the light, and spit out death."
Applejack looked at the rifle, concerned.
"Well, that doesn’t sound good. 'Spittin' out death' huh?"
Bann nodded and stood, leaving his helmet on the floor, and slung the rifle from its strap on his shoulder again. Knowing his weapon was ready again was a reassuring feeling. Applejack, on her part, looked nervously from his weapon to the stairs.
"Twi? Sugarcube? You gonna be much longer?"
"Coming!" Came the voice again, now much closer.
Seconds later, a purple pony made her way down the stairs. Her mane and tail were a darker purple then her coat, and it was shot through with a band of pink. She was unique in that she had a purple horn in the center of her head, and a brown covered book was open and floating in front of her face, gripped in a shimmering violet field.
"Hey Applejack! I thought you'd be busy with the first apples of the year, I didn’t think I'd see you until Sunday."
She came to the bottom of the stairs, her nose still buried in the book, and walked over to the lectern. A similar field gripped the open book on top of it, it closed itself and glided over to an empty space on the shelves. She gently dropped the book she was reading onto the now vacant lectern, its magic field fading.
"Twilight…" said Applejack her voice raising in alarm.
Bann had his weapon gripped tight and pressed to his side with his good hand. The barrel of the lasgun was pointed directly at the purple pony, and his thumb flicked off the safety.
"Sorcery!" He hissed, teeth clenched.
Of course! He thought to himself. Of course! Who knows what idyllic illusions this place is covered in! No wonder I've been so disoriented! His heart pounded at the revelation. A final mind screw from the Unmentionable Powers after Cadia! His mind raced with a thousand thoughts. How much of anything can I trust?
Twilight and Applejack stared at the human, frightened by his intensity and hostile stance. Twilight Sparkle looking at the strange creature in curiosity, while Applejack eyes were wide at the weapon pointed at her friend.
"I…" Twilight began, but never finished.
Her first word, breaking the silence, jumped the room into motion. Bann adjusted his aim, one handed and squeezed the trigger while Applejack leapt, spun and kicked with all her might. Her back hooves connected with Banns left side with a resounding crack, but the blow only caused him to lurch off balance. His first shot went wild, the pencil thin red beam lancing off target into the bookshelf behind Twilight, catching the shelf aflame. Twilight Sparkle jumped in surprise at the report of the weapon, the sound like an iron nail snapping.
Bann caught his balance and stepped back from Applejack, bringing the weapon around to bear on her. His motion was stopped when a purple shimmering field enveloped the end of the gun, holding it tight. He pulled against it, but it might as well have been encased in concrete.
Teeth grit in frustration, he slapped the release strap and let it float. Giving more ground to the advancing Applejack, he backed up to the window and drew his knife, raising fourteen inches of Cadian steel in a reverse grip.
Applejack pleaded with him. "Bann, Stop! Its not sorcery, its just magic!"
"Heresy!" He hissed at her.
Eyes flicking from the slowly approaching Applejack to the purple unicorn swatting at the flaming bookshelf with the rug clenched in her teeth. Glancing over his shoulder at the window, he made his decision.
Slowly, he slid his knife back into its sheath.
Applejack smiled hesitantly. "There we go. No need for anymore of that."
Suddenly, he spun and dove through the window, leading with his uninjured shoulder and arm. The glass shattered around him as he fell the short distance to the grass below.
"What the horse feathers?" Applejack cried, jumping back.
She looked back at Twilight Sparkle and saw the shock on her own face mirrored there, neither one of them knowing what to say.
Something flew back into the room, tossed from outside the window. It was a cylinder of some kind, a dark grey shape. It clattered to the floor and rolled to astop. Applejack had seen this thing hanging from the front of the humans clothes. It had to be dangerous.
"Twi! Get away!"
She ran two steps and dove towards the unicorn.
The room erupted with a terrifying explosion.