The Mystery of the Iron Bird Festival

The sun, announcing a new day, rises over the middle-aged Equestria. Very soon, the warm rays will lift the inhabitants from a cozy bed. But no, not to work. Today, all ponies rightfully have time to prepare for the "Iron Birds" holiday. Most of them, of course, dream of getting to Canterlot, because it is rightfully considered the best city when it comes to the day of the "Iron Birds". And even Ponyville, the city of Friendship, cannot take away this title from him, no matter how hard the company of holidays and parties "At Aunt Pinkie's" tries. And today, besides, is the anniversary: exactly twenty-five centuries ago, that very battle happened.

Those ponies that had already risen with the dawn and were now going to meet the new day, witnessed how something large was rushing to the ground at high speed. Burning with a bright flame, it left behind a long plume of black and thick smoke.

In addition to the Earth ponies, there were also a few pegasus hurrying on urgent and important matters. They were able to see much more than their brothers from earth: like a giant bird of prey, it was rushing over the wheat fields. Her gray wings froze in one movement, and red flames burst out of her belly. A little rattling at speed, thick and pitch-black smoke poured behind her.

Forgetting about all their problems, the pegasi rushed to where the Iron Bird would fall, and there was no doubt that it was her, none of those present had. Although the winged ponies were slower, but the black smoke served as a good guide for flying.

***

"Princess, Twilight Sparkle! Iron Bird! The Iron Birds are back!" out of breath, the messenger-guard tried to tell Her Majesty about what had happened.

The tired purple princess first looked at Pegasus in armor for a long time, clearly doubting his sanity. But after a few languid seconds, she realized exactly what he said, immediately revived and remembered something of her own. With a smile on duty, she announced the termination of the reception of subjects. Having expelled everyone except Pegasus who brought the news, Twilight prepared to squeeze out everything the guardian knows, and then she herself will go in search of or even capture the Iron Bird.

But the interrogation did not even last two minutes; the guard knew practically nothing except the fall of the Iron Bird in the field; as it turned out, not far from Horsenes, a small village.

"Equip the Harmony squad immediately. We're moving out in exactly twelve minutes."

The princess couldn't stand it when things didn't go according to her plan. And a squad of elite warriors, only a dozen, was a force that even the rulers of some states could not argue with. The bet on them was right, but who knows what the Iron Birds are capable of?

***

A lone pilot was slowly moving in one direction. Having determined the cardinal directions by the rising Sun, he chose the western direction, hoping, first of all, to stumble upon the river. And where the river is, there are intelligent beings. He also had to throw away an unnecessary parachute and winter uniforms. Even if someone finds his things, nothing critical should happen. At least, the already tired Kramarenko hoped for this.

Step by step, the pilot of the jet era measured the kilometers traveled. The sun was getting hotter and hotter, and soon the Chinese tunic turned into one wet spot. The man's strength was getting less and less, and there was no water in sight.

Just a little bit left. Kramarenko consoled himself, trying to force his body to move on; but suddenly his legs gave way, and the pilot fell to the loose ground under an invisible weight. He had no choice but to sigh heavily and accept the fact that self-confidence and ill-calculated strength were slowly driving him to his grave. Closing his eyes, the man passed out; maybe because of the heat, maybe from fatigue or, most likely, from both.

He could have been eaten by wild animals; he could have died of starvation and dehydration. But someone from above decided that it was too early for him to die. Well, how else can you explain when, by pure chance, a girl found him… Ahem, excuse me, pegasus?

Appearing as if out of nowhere, the mare looked at the place crushed in the field. Her big eyes reflected a man lying down without strength. So weak and so helpless now. Without hesitation, Pegasus took out a wineskin from her saddlebags. With a light movement of a white hoof, the mare poured life-giving moisture over the exhausted face of the man until he showed signs of life. Stirring, the pilot found the strength to get up and noticed a hovering horse a meter away.

The white fur evoked thoughts of her virgin beauty, the eyes, the color of an azure wave, carried away into the distance, and the golden mane gave even more resemblance to a beautiful angel. — that's what almost any man or stallion who saw this mare could think.

His hand reflexively reached for the pistol on his hip, but when it touched the cool metal, it froze. The warrior's eyes expressed nothing but composure. Showing with all his appearance that he was extremely dangerous, the pilot tried to hide his weakness and fear behind all this.

The white pegasus was not stupid and understood the man's mute hint. Without making any sudden movements, she increased the distance and landed on the ground. But the pilot was in no hurry to remove his hand from the handle of his TT.

"..." said the pony in an incomprehensible language. After waiting a little, she tilted her head to one side and looked inquiringly into Kramarenko's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you." the pilot said dryly, and as a sign of his words he tried to make a gesture similar in meaning.

After thinking for a while, Pegasus nodded. He took a wineskin in his teeth, the pony began to approach the man with small steps. Her movements were with as little aggression as possible in this case. Little by little, the golden-haired one was able to come close. Carefully placing the wineskin next to the man's hand, the white-winged pegasus calmly began to move away from him. Suddenly, the pilot's hand let go of the pistol, previously so tightly squeezed, and grabbed the hoof. And she understood this hint correctly: smiling, sitting down on the ground. While the pilot greedily sucked on the water and enjoyed the long-awaited moment, the pony never moved, still afraid to scare the alien…

***

The golden hoarder touched the plowed land. Ahead was what was left of the Iron Bird, a burning skeleton of once gray metal. Smashed to pieces, in the trash. The most powerful pony was unhappy: so much time spent on the call went nowhere. There are zero answers, and the question has become even more.

"Captain," she called the commander harshly, "immediately cordon off the territory, let only by special passes. Understand?!"

The unicorn guard who ran up immediately raised a hoof and shouted:

"That's right, Your Majesty!"

"And I still have other problems to deal with." Princess Twilight said in a dissatisfied half-whisper.

Flashing her horn, she disappeared at the same moment, leaving a platoon of guards under the control of the Harmony squad.