- Human Nature and Friendship [First Polishing Progress: 5/18] Has Been Suspended
Preface: This is my first work,. It mainly highlights the practicality of friendship within the human community through conflicts between ponies and humans. Why do people often say "friendships are like ships, easily shipwrecked"? There is a specific reason for this. It is partly due to human nature, and partly due to the way people act. The latter is a subjective conjecture. Mr. Carnegie has mentioned many ways of dealing with people in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," and the ponies are a good reference. Their unity and friendship can help them escape from danger and forgive each other, which is just the main part I want to express. Whether the details and the behavior of the protagonist are a reflection of some of us?
Zheng Guofei is the first executive officer of the 3014th fleet. In the fleet, he is the most loyal comrade-in-arms, and on the battlefield, he is the most reliable commander. He earned this through his own efforts, with his own abilities, just like many outstanding generals, he has been given important tasks. On January 1, 2300, the president summoned him for a conversation. He came to the capital, where the president sat on a leather chair with a stack of documents in front of him. Major Zheng walked over, "Sit down," then saluted and sat down slowly.
"Major Zheng, I have some major news here." Then, the president's bodyguard closed the capital's door, and he immediately sat up straight. "Do you know the original intention of establishing your fleet?" Zheng Guofei understood in his heart that what the president was about to say was very important, and he needed to show the absolute seriousness of a soldier. "The world needs us, and peace and development need us!" "Good! Very confident! But now, I will tell you the truth." The president raised his hand, and a string window {a floating computer window in the air} popped up in the air, starting to play a video. In the video, the director of the Global Scientific Research Council was holding a report tightly in his hand, with a worried look on his face:
"Comrade, no matter who you are, as long as you have seen this video, our situation is already critical, but this is for the entire human civilization. You in this generation still have a lot of time to make up for it. Now I will tell you what terrible things have happened." Then he took out a document with the title "3014th Fleet Space-Time Agreement" on it. "Our research department has detected that there is a four-dimensional creature not from our universe that is in contact with a black hole with a mass of 100 billion times that of the sun at the center of the cosmic explosion, causing it to undergo a qualitative change and form a particle-like life form, which is now floating in the universe and will invade the solar system in two centuries. According to current observations, this particle has a characteristic of extremely strong attraction to the outside world. To put it simply, it feeds on electrons and gravity, and the objects it comes into contact with will become scattered sand. Now, future envoys, our advance fleet in another universe has established a through node, where there is an environment very similar to that of Earth, and you can explore first and prepare for landing. I am waiting for you in the new home." The video ends.
The president sighed, propped himself up with his hand, "Get ready to leave, envoy, prepare things, and your 2000 elite crew members. Tomorrow, I will wait for you at the research base."
Zheng Guofei nodded, "Please."
Equestria – Crystal Castle
"Twilight, let's go! There's a picnic this afternoon!"
"You go ahead! Spike, I need to figure out what's going on with those clusters of meteors in the sky recently." After that, he set up the telescope and looked at the disc-shaped object in the sky not long ago, wondering to himself: What exactly is that thing...
"Twilight, let's go!" At this time, Rainbow Dash rushed in and bumped into Twilight. "What are you doing?" Twilight said while rubbing her head, "Hehe, I'm sorry, but you have to hurry up, Fluttershy has already prepared the food." "Okay, okay, I'll go with you now." "Okay! Then come with me quickly." Then they flapped their wings and flew to the outskirts of Ponyville.
Upon arriving at the destination, all the other ponies were there, just waiting for Twilight.
Rarity complained, "I say Twilight, what have you been studying recently, making you late for the picnic?" Twilight said with worry: "It's like this, ever since five days ago, Princess Luna sensed a powerful temporal fluctuation next to the moon where she rose, and then there were concentrated meteors and that flashing disc thing at night. Princess Celestia is very worried that this might be another enemy, so she asked me to find out about this matter in my spare time from studying."
"But, dear, since that day, all we have seen is you studying this matter." Applejack said. "Ahahaha, this" Twilight laughed awkwardly, "I'm addicted." "Anyway, we still hope you can take some time to relax." Fluttershy said softly, "Just like!" Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped out, "Put cream frosting on the grass and then plant strawberry ice cream!!!!"
After that, the ponies echoed with laughter.
"Good luck, Major Zheng." The president smiled, then he stepped back to the warning line. All the officers and soldiers on the ship stood at attention and saluted him a standard farewell ceremony, their eyes full of depth.
On the way, a soldier asked the major, "Brother, what do you think the world on the other side is like?" Major Zheng smiled and looked at him, "Of course, it's better than this. Our fate with all of humanity is tied together. Come on, accompany your brother, call a few friends to have a drink tonight!" "Okay!" Then the soldier ran away like a child. "Hey, Major Zheng, is this your brother?" A green-uniformed official came over. "No, I adopted him in the Mars campaign. Look at him, he's quite stubborn, a good soldier." He raised his head, "Otherwise, you can come tonight too?" "I've been waiting for you to say that!" "You have it, Yong'an."
In the evening, everyone in the fleet restaurant was drinking and chatting, "You say, Director Lan, what do you think the world over there is like?" "What can I say, it's a paradise!" The soldiers laughed, and then Zheng Guofei said, "I say, we are together today, but it's fate. Come on, to friendship!" A few young men stood up, "Come on! To you!" "Major Zheng! To you!"
In the early morning, Zheng Guofei lay in bed, holding a photo of his wife in his hand, and muttered to himself: He Bing, wait for me to come back.
Ponyville--------
"Twilight! Twilight! Look at the sky!"
Twilight Sparkle heard the screams outside and immediately ran out of the house. Seeing that, next to the moon, a huge spatial fluctuation was surging. "Spike!" "Yes!" "Report to the princesses immediately!"
"Okay!" Just as he was writing a note, the fluctuation in the air suddenly stopped. All the dragons and horses were stunned. Suddenly, a huge bow appeared in front of the moon, blocking half of the moon.
All the horses in Ponyville were awakened by the continuous exclamations outside and got up one after another to watch the excitement outside. However, this ship-like object did not make any movement after that, and the little horses dispersed. However, now, Twilight Sparkle and his friends are on edge, on the way to Canterlot.
"We have received an urgent telegram from the princess, and the princesses already know about this!" Twilight said, "I hope... I hope this matter will not be too bad." Fluttershy hid under a pillow on the train, shivering with fear. Applejack came forward to comfort her: "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay." "You say," Rarity came over in a nightgown from the corridor, "these guys are really not gentlemen, do they know that it's very impolite to disturb others' sleep in the middle of the night, especially my beauty sleep!" "Well, girls, I believe that Princess Celestia will handle this matter, right?" They still nodded with worry. "Okay, then let's not discuss it, let's talk about it when we get to Canterlot."
The next day, the group rushed into the throne room. "Princess, we received your letter. What exactly is that thing in the sky?" "My sister and I are also uncertain. We have dispatched garrison troops to various cities to guard against potential attacks. Before that, I want you to protect the Elements of Harmony; they are our last line of defense," said Princess Celestia with concern. "Of course, Princess," Twilight Sparkle assured.
"Wow! Look, brother!" Zheng Lin called out to his brother, pointing outside. "Indeed, this planet is truly beautiful. It seems the advance team has arrived earlier than us to enjoy its splendors," Major Zheng complimented, then he opened a string window to contact the command room. "Old Wang, the advance team arrived first, right? Have them provide specific information about this planet."
"Well... Major Zheng, that's what I wanted to tell you. Apart from the gas data and terrain, we can't grasp any other information about this planet," came the response.
"What's going on?" Zheng Guofei furrowed his brows.
"This star is different from ours; it's surrounded by an unusually thick layer of electromagnetic waves. By the way, I've informed the marshal, I'll be waiting for you at the space station. Be careful when you land."
"Understood, thanks," he closed the string window, then opened the channel for an all-hands call: "All crew members of the Alpha 3014-13 fleet, listen up! Pack up! Prepare to enter the landing craft! We are about to embark on a new era for humanity!"
- Human Nature and Friendship [II] Where Should the Future Head?
The preparatory alarm sounded, and the ship's crew was filled with the irritating scream. "Remember! You will be the first brave warriors to set foot on this fertile land!" Major Zheng shouted, "After landing, do not act rashly. Team leaders, find your team members, and gather after we establish contact!" "Yes!" The soldiers responded in unison.
The landing began, with landing craft departing one after another, the ship's surroundings began to evacuate the vacuum, and red warning lights started flashing.
Suddenly, the loudspeaker on top of the landing craft sounded. "Hello? Hello hello? Can you hear me? This is the Vesta Control Center, please turn on the spotlights for all landing craft, thank you, and good luck."
Equestria——————
"Your Highness! There's a new situation!" Rainbow Dash rushed in from outside. "What's going on?" Princess Celestia frowned in concern. "Those stars in the sky, some of them are starting to fall!" "Let me go see first!" Twilight said, then ran out of the city gate with Rainbow Dash.
They saw that the stars gradually dispersed, no, they were getting closer and closer to their direction! They hurried back to the throne room, "Your Highness! We must evacuate the ponies in the capital city immediately, those stars are falling towards us!" Rainbow Dash said urgently.
"Luna, you go and evacuate the residents of the West City District," "Yes, sister." Then she looked at Rainbow Dash and Twilight, "Rainbow Dash, you should have no problem evacuating the residents of the rest of the city, right?" "As you command, Your Highness!" Then she rushed out like lightning. "Twilight, you go and gather your friends, wait for you in the throne room after Rainbow Dash has notified everyone," Twilight asked after hearing this, "Princess, what about you..." "I will meet them."
About to land on the ground, Zheng Guofei looked out of the window with a heavy face and asked, "Vesta?"
"Here"
"Is the landing craft formation intact?"
"According to the calculation, there will be no problems, you will land in the No.1 plain."
"But, there are creatures that have arrived before us." He looked at the castle and medieval-like buildings below.
"Oh, really? This factor was really unexpected, then do you need to change the landing site?"
"It's okay, I can also take a look at what kind of creatures they are."
"Okay, good luck."
Then, he turned to the soldiers and shouted, "Pick up your weapons! Don't load the bullets yet, 10 seconds to the ground!"
......
Ten seconds later, a strong recoil hit, and all the soldiers held their breath, quietly listening to the joyful impact sound. At this time, Major Zheng's prompter made a sound: "Ten landing craft have landed safely! Open the hatch"
The sound of exhaust came from the door, followed by the friction of heavy metal, and then a soft light of the rising sun shone into the cabin. When the hatch was completely opened, an extremely beautiful scenery appeared in front of them: the winding mountain road, the flowing stream, and the rugged terrain, the sky was extremely brilliant under the sun. All the soldiers couldn't help but exclaim "Wow". In this lush green grass, there were ten iron boxes full of metallic luster and technological sense, which were out of place with the local style painting.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, and all the officers and soldiers were on alert. "Everyone hold your weapons! Team leaders are responsible for their own formations!" Zheng Guofei shouted. Then, a golden-armored army appeared from the trembling place. Zheng Guofei was shocked in his heart: It's over, didn't we touch the other party's foundation? When he looked again, he couldn't help but doubt: Why are they all horses? A bunch of mounts, where are the intelligent creatures here? No, looking at this momentum, these horses are not easy to provoke, it's better to be vigilant.
He took the electromagnetic gun and went forward, waving to the white horse at the head. Seeing the white horse raise its head, he walked a few steps forward.
The white horse was shocked when she saw him: What? Humans? How could they come here? Then she said, "I am the princess of Equestria, may I ask what is the purpose of your coming?" Zheng Guofei was even more alert after hearing this: It can also speak, and it roars so loudly. Then Major Zheng first indicated that they were not hostile and held the flag of the United Nations in his hand, waving it very high.
The white horse seemed to understand what it meant, after all, seeing Zheng Guofei gesturing for a long time. She nodded, then led the army and 2000 human warriors to the central city.
- Human Nature and Friendship [III] Negotiation Concludes
Major Zheng followed, thinking in his heart, are the real intelligent creatures in this place these things that look like horses?
When he arrived at the central city, a stone pillar gate with a golden frame came over from the other end of the arch bridge. "Everyone, put down the guns!" He commanded. "Yes!" With a clatter, the guns of the 2000 soldiers collided with their mechanical armor, making a crisp sound.
Arriving at the palace gate, Princess Celestia turned around and said in her loud voice, "Let your followers retreat." This time, Zheng Guofei finally understood what she said, it turned out to be English. The soldiers who were standing close also heard it clearly, and they couldn't help but laugh when they heard the white horse calling them followers. "Is what I said so funny?" Princess Celestia became serious, and the warriors immediately shut their mouths. "Well, all team leaders lead the team members to wait outside." This time, Major Zheng used English, and Princess Celestia nodded, indicating for Zheng Guofei to follow her.
In the throne room, Princess Celestia turned to him and officially asked, "Why have you come?" "Sorry, can you speak in plain language?" "Oh, I thought you could understand. Well, go ahead." Princess Celestia sat on the throne, "Our universe's star system security has been seriously threatened, you may not understand, but we have found that the best place for home construction is here."
"So, you are here to seek help?"
Seeing that the euphemistic approach was not working, Zheng Guofei could only be straightforward.
"No, we are here to colonize."
"Why did you choose here, Equestria can't accommodate you."
"Is this planet called Equestria?"
"No, it is the country led by my sister and me."
Talking about this, Zheng Guofei roughly understood the specific situation of this place. In fact, on his way here, the medieval buildings, backward weapons, and the throne symbolizing feudal centralization authority reflected almost the same.
Zheng Guofei continued to ask about the country's culture, military, politics, and other aspects. Some of them were avoided by Princess Celestia. Suddenly, six little horses rushed in, accompanied by a group of footsteps. "Princess! How did those humans outside come?" The leading purple horse asked first, "They didn't let us in, and we almost had a fight." A blue flying horse held her hooves on her chest and was indignant.
"Oh? They call you Princess?" Princess Celestia laughed awkwardly. Then the soldiers rushed in with guns, surrounding the creatures including Zheng Guofei. "
What's going on? Put down your guns!" Major Zheng stood firm and said, "Major Zheng, those monsters just attacked us!" Major Zheng glanced at Princess Celestia, who was also at a loss, and stepped forward to ask, "Were your people, I mean, your horses, acting appropriately?"
One of the captains lowered his gun, approached Major Zheng, stood at attention, and reported in a forceful tone, "Report to the colonel! Our troops were just attacked by these six creatures! Fifteen soldiers were lost..."
"Actually, I advised Rainbow Dash not to do this," Fluttershy said softly inside, "Then why didn't you stop her?" Twilight Sparkle said through gritted teeth, "Now everything is about to be over! I even used a laser! The burns are not just these!" "Rainbow said that these humans were imprisoning the princess and were worried about the princess being in danger."
"...Without authorization to use weapons, our troops could not effectively resist and were only authorized after an emergency permit from the Vesta Center!" After finishing, Major Zheng frowned and turned to face Princess Celestia, "This one, Princess." Princess Celestia was calm, with a very bad premonition, but "Do you think your people, no, it should be horses, acted normally?"
Princess Celestia folded her wings and said solemnly, "I deeply apologize for their actions, but I hope we can coexist peacefully in the future."
"Colonel!!!!" Then a roar came from the entrance of the throne room, and 15 bloody people were dragged in, two of them were already dead, five were on the brink of death, and the others had extensive burns. After seeing this, Princess Celestia's heart sank more and more, because what she least wanted to happen was about to happen.
"Both from a humanitarian and legal standpoint, your race has seriously harmed us and launched an attack on us."
"I am very sorry for this, I believe that my students and their friends did not do it on purpose." Princess Celestia was trying her best to salvage the situation.
"Oh? Is that purple leader your student? Then it seems you need to learn how to be a good teacher."
"She's a great teacher!" Twilight retorted indignantly, "Yes! And that teacher's student also helped me pass the Lightning Flyer team's exam!" Rainbow also stepped forward to confront. "Okay, that's enough now!" Princess Celestia showed an unprecedented sense of authority. But Major Zheng's eyes were still so firm, which made Princess Celestia admire him, but she still had to face the facts.
"Are you done with the rhetoric? Even if I don't agree with this, the command center seems to, just wait and see how we solve the problem." Then he turned to the remaining 1985 soldiers, and the soldiers quickly stood upright, and a neat sound of feet closing came from the throne room, which was uplifting.
"I feel extremely regretful for the two deceased soldiers. Although I don't know if the concept of death exists in this new home, I can be sure that it happened in front of us just half an hour ago!" Twilight was getting more and more anxious in the middle, and finally, she pleaded to Major Zheng with a crying tone, "No! It's not like this! Please don't..." But Major Zheng didn't stop, and her friends were desperately holding her back.
"...Next, we will seek justice for our fallen comrades! All soldiers, listen to the order!"
"Here!"
"Withdraw from the enemy camp and gather towards the landing craft, seek support!"
"Yes!"
Neat footsteps hurriedly left the palace. After all the soldiers had left, Major Zheng saluted Princess Celestia, and when he walked out of the palace, he finally asked her, "Do you know the law of the dark forest?"
"I don't know yet."
Major Zheng shook his head with a smile, feeling that this is indeed an immature infant civilization, but they have given civilization to the years.
After Major Zheng left, Twilight Sparkle was heartbroken because the cause of the whole thing was light in Rainbow Dash and heavy in herself. She walked to the colorful window in front of her and silently shed tears. Fluttershy and Rarity came forward to comfort her, "It's okay, Twilight, what if they are just bluffing?" "No, this is all my fault, I'm not suitable to be a princess at all."
Princess Celestia came to Twilight and lifted her face with her hoof, saying, "We all have a responsibility for the whole thing, including the humans who just left, they may not be without fault." Then she helped Twilight up, "Now, it's an important time for you to show your princess's talent."
"Or use the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Princess Celestia's eyes gradually became heavy, "I think this will be a more difficult war than any previous one, and there is hope for peace talks, but it depends on human nature, this hope is really slim." She turned to face the six possessors of the Elements of Harmony and said solemnly, "The brave ones of Equestria, it's your turn next."
"Okay, don't be depressed, think about what to do next." Fluttershy said to Twilight. "I think the whole of Equestria needs to know what happened here today."
- Human Nature and Friendship [IV] Hope Gasps for Breath
"Set up the camp first, where is the drinking water and compressed food that was brought down from the car?"
"Who went to the radio station, the electromagnetic wave fluctuations here are too abnormal!"
Near the landing craft, Major Zheng was trying to contact the Vesta Center, "Have you found the fluctuation pattern?" Charles fiddled with the antenna and turned his head, saying, "Still performing recursive calculations, it depends on the performance of our computer."
Major Zheng closed the string window and looked into the distance at the Canterlot city, "Charles, come here!" Charles put down the antenna and hurriedly stood in front of Major Zheng, "What are the instructions?"
"Take out a pen and paper, let's record the situation here first."
"Yes!"
"Now let's think about what you saw along the way."
"Castles... and buildings similar to Gothic and Victorian styles."
"That's right, this can only indicate that they may still be in the most primitive period of feudal farming, but did you see anything in the shops?"
"Hair ironing machines and light bulbs, there are also trains on the railway."
"Okay, these things had not been invented in our era, and the technological level of this civilization has not completely lagged behind. In addition, the biological entities have an inseparable relationship with the electromagnetic wave fluctuations on this planet."
"Oh? How did you figure that out?"
"Do you remember how they attacked our soldiers?" Then Major Zheng pulled up a video.
"This was recorded by our soldier's combat video recorder."
In the video, Rainbow Dash dove down from the sky with a rainbow sonic boom, and Twilight and the other four horses teleported to the middle of the soldiers, their horns began to emit lasers to the nearby area.
"How did they do that?"
"This is still unknown, but it reminds me of a mythical creature."
"A unicorn, right."
"Yes, but the myth does not say that they can emit lasers..." Suddenly, a soldier at the radio station shouted, "Major! The fluctuation trajectory has been deciphered!" Major Zheng hurriedly ran over after hearing this and propped up the screen, "Hello, is that Vesta?"
"Oh! Thank God you are still alive! How is the ground?"
"Well, it's not very good, take a look at the records I sent you." The other side was silent for 15 minutes, and then there was a fierce discussion.
"Why is it so noisy there?"
"Major Zheng, nearly half of the officials of the United Nations are here. They are discussing whether to continue the immigration plan based on the information you just sent to Vesta. But for now, most people still support it."
"Okay, can you connect me to the secretary-general?"
"No problem." Then there was a series of footsteps, and two people whispered to each other for more than ten seconds, and then a capable and seasoned voice came from the other end.
"Hello, Colonel Zheng Guofei, I am the Secretary-General of the United Nations. According to the voting results just now in the Vesta Hall, all five permanent members voted in favor of colonizing that planet. However, judging from the records you just sent to Vesta, the creatures there do indeed have a strong offensiveness. We approve of your use of countermeasures, and the ship 3014-16 has set sail from the port and is expected to arrive at your temporary camp in five minutes."
"Thank you, take care."
The radio was hung up, and Charles came forward and asked, "Major Zheng, how is the situation?"
"You go and inform the soldiers to make room for our cruiser."
Canterlot West District---------
Twilight dressed up and took a deep breath, looking worriedly at her friends behind her, "Do you think it will be successful?" "Believe me, you will be the best princess in the whole of Equestria." Rainbow Dash stepped forward, her face full of affirmation for her, "Yes "Believe me, you will be the best princess in all of Equestria," Rainbow Dash stepped forward, her face full of affirmation for Twilight. "Yes, my dear, go ahead, we'll be waiting for you here," Fluttershy said softly, encouraging her. With tears in her eyes and a smile, Twilight replied, "Thank you."
She strode forward, fully aware of the potential consequences of her actions—perhaps endless turmoil, perhaps the support of the masses, but she felt more inclined towards the former. She took a deep breath and moved forward.
A ray of dawn light shone in through the window of the landing craft, sliding across the lake surface and onto the resting soldiers. The lush green grass swayed, occasionally displaying the beauty of this land.
"Children, wake up!" Major Zheng's command called all the soldiers back from their dreams to reality. The soldiers immediately got up and began to tidy their bedding. Five minutes later, everyone was led by their team leaders to gather in front of the landing craft.
"Remember! Today is an important day for both us and those creatures living in the castle!" he said, every word firm and decisive.
"Yesterday, we received notice that the Vesta Center will send a cruiser to land on this planet to form a stable signal connection with the control room, ensuring our smooth immigration," Major Zheng paced back and forth in front of all the team leaders, scrutinizing their gazes.
"I don't want to incite hatred; this is a formal meeting. Of course, it shouldn't have happened under normal circumstances, especially after they harmed 15 of us. The UN Special Envoy—Jieruo Ke is on the ship, and his son was among those 15 people," he paused, then turned to face the shining city, bathed in the splendor of the sunlight.
"For us who have been here for a while, we certainly don't want to turn the most beautiful land on this planet into ashes, but it all depends on Jieruo Ke and the envoy team's final decision," he returned to the center of all the landing crafts, speaking in a sacred and inviolable tone to all the officers and soldiers, "Hold your guns, check your equipment, and prepare to welcome the mission."
After an hour of long waiting, a black trace appeared in the distant sky. Then that trace grew larger and larger. The shadow covered the entire Canterlot, passing down the sound waves of the curvature engine, stirring the branches and twigs at the edge of the endless forest; the river water was scattered by the wind, on the other side at the end of the forest...
"Fluttershy, run quickly, they're coming!" Rainbow Dash shouted anxiously, still hastily helping Fluttershy pack up things. "No, there are those little animals in the forest, I have to go and call them!"
"It's too dangerous, you will lose your life!"
Rainbow Dash desperately pulled Fluttershy back, "Fluttershy, you have to think, the animals also have their own way of dealing with it, they have always lived in the forest." Twilight Sparkle persuaded on the side, "Yes, it is because they live in the forest that I have to go and save them!"
"No, Fluttershy, look." Rarity pointed to the distant direction with her hoof: the huge object stopped at the edge of the endless forest, its accuracy was no less than the precision of the handmade sleeve that Ray Ray sewed, just a little bit off.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Twilight, there is a letter from the princess here, asking you to hurry back to the central city immediately!" Spike rushed over with a letter in his hand, "Hurry up! Everyone follow me!" Before Rainbow Dash and the others could react, Twilight picked up Spike and hurried towards the central city.
After a long journey, the grass along the way had become a fleeting shadow. Finally, the city gate was suddenly opened. The princess was actually waiting for them at the city gate, and when she saw them coming, she immediately greeted them, "Great, Twilight, you're finally here. I have something very urgent to tell you now."
"What is it, Princess? Is it still about those humans?"
"I'm afraid so, and this time the humans have sent their diplomat, so" she turned her gaze to Twilight, filled with worry, but it seemed hopeful, "I need you and your friends to do the diplomatic connection work."
"What? Us?!" Except for Twilight, the other five ponies exclaimed in unison. Then they all turned to look at the pensive pony, whose face showed a gravity she had never had before.
"I know it's a bit difficult for you, after all, you hurt their race last time, but I believe as long as you can communicate well, this matter will eventually be resolved," Princess Celestia said earnestly.
"Well, okay, Princess. We will definitely complete the task," Twilight nodded.
"Then hurry up, the place is at the previous human camp."
"Okay, alright."
The other five ponies saw Twilight like this and were very worried, but they all followed her pace.
All the way, Twilight Sparkle was silent, and Fluttershy went up and asked, "Twilight, are you okay?"
Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle turned around and shouted at them, "No, I'm not good, everything is terrible!" They had never seen Twilight so excited, and all the horses fell silent. "I harmed you... Now you have to go with me to take the blame..."
"No, it's not like that."
"It is! You know the final result of negotiating with them! The final result is only one..." After saying this, she began to sob and couldn't speak, her friends all followed behind her worriedly, as if the Elements of Harmony they wore were no longer shining...
- Human Nature and Friendship [VI] The Throne Agreement: Public Court Reconciliation
In front of the ponies was a towering high wall. The airwaves from the curvature navigation at the tail had not completely dissipated. An unnamed wind was blowing around, showing fairness and seriousness, which made them shiver. Facing them was a very neat rectangular frame door, and at this time, a series of footsteps were coming from the distance.
Twilight took a deep breath, spread her wings, and walked forward calmly.
"Twilight! Come back quickly!"
"Yes! Who knows what will happen inside!"
Friends behind her shouted at Twilight in a low voice with all their strength. But she did not stop and walked forward persistently. Seeing her like this, her friends were also uncertain, and they followed her worriedly.
"May I ask your name?"
"Twilight Sparkle" The other five ponies looked puzzledly around, but more were scared and uneasy.
"I am the person in charge of this meeting, the ambassadors and officials are waiting for you inside."
The inner door slowly opened, revealing a solemn atmosphere. A white light came, breaking through the barrier, and presented in front of the ponies was a spacious hall, with rows of neat white tables, and behind the tables were figures in suits and leather shoes, with different English signs in front of them. There was a gold-plated emblem on the back wall, with a blue and white background.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle, please sit in the middle of the hall." This voice came from the old man sitting in the center of the highest row of seats.
"Wait a minute, what about the other five?"
"Like me, we lead Equestria together."
"There are no more empty seats in the meeting hall, I'm sorry." The old man's eyes were tight, reflecting a sharpness.
"Mr. Jie, we still have seats, please let these young ladies sit with us." The old man raised his eyes to the source of the sound, which came from the intersection of the Chinese representative and the fleet representative seats.
"Yes." Major Zheng pointed to the back five seats. When the ponies saw Major Zheng, they became more firm in their guess of the negotiation results. "Don't be nervous, it's just a negotiation."
Five minutes later - the negotiation began
The old man took a deep breath and asked the first question he wanted to ask most, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, please explain what you think the nature of this negotiation is?"
Twilight frowned and said, "A meeting between our two races regarding the issue of harmonious coexistence." The old man chuckled in his heart, "Don't you really know the reason for the meeting?"
"I apologize to you sincerely..."
"Stop your behavior, this is the United Nations, not an apology field." Speaking of this, people present began to discuss, and many representatives of countries cast their gazes on the old man.
"Remember, here, human rights and sovereignty coexist." Obviously, the old man did not accept this so-called solemn apology.
In his eyes, at least for now, only his son was there.
"UN Special Envoy, I would like to remind you to pay attention to your emotional bias." The Chinese representative spoke, "When others apologize, we should hold a fair and open concept, after all, among those 15 people, not necessarily only one person died."
Then the old man turned his sharp gaze to the Chinese seat, "Cough, thank you for the Chinese representative's reminder."
Twilight was sitting in the seat, not knowing what to do since her apology was rejected. She had never conducted a meeting in such a serious manner, but she still cast a grateful glance towards the Chinese delegation, hoping to receive a concerned look. However, the representative in that seat remained stern and did not look up.
Beside her, Zheng Guofei saw the solemn expression of his country's representative and did not say much. They were all about safeguarding national sovereignty and promoting global interests. It should be known that the seat of the five permanent members was hard-earned.
Yunbao couldn't bear it in the back seat, patted the shoulder of the representative in front, and asked, "Hello, sir." The representative ignored her. Zheng Lin, who was sitting next to Zheng Guofei, hurriedly stopped Yunbao, "Don't move, we are in a meeting now." Yunbao had to shrink back sulkily.
"Before the negotiation begins, the Vesta Center has issued a preliminary determination resolution. We will implement a peaceful foreign policy towards you. This negotiation is based on this resolution. However, the United Nations cannot deny your crimes, and the waves you have stirred up still exist in human society. Now, the final resolution is announced as follows:"
The clerk opened the laptop, the officials opened the string window, and the soldiers turned on the voice recorder. Twilight remained silent, sitting there, having become much stronger after experiencing the tragedy of 15 people. She understood a truth about dealing with humans in this world - silence is golden.
"For the alien Equestria Empire, we adopt mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and equality and mutual benefit. Due to the special unilateral situation, to ensure the continuation of human civilization, both parties need to sign the colonial agreement before the first recognized immigration can be carried out."
After speaking, a document was placed in front of Twilight. She knew that what she was facing now was not a war with humans, but the pressure from the citizens of the entire pony country, as well as the worry about the future of harmonious coexistence between ponies and humans... These two forces were colliding in her heart, constantly impacting the hard-won peace. Her friends were staring at her tightly, wanting her to grasp this hard-won peace, they thought this had made Twilight bear too much. Finally, she picked up the pen...
The tip of the pen made the most cautious considerations on the paper, of course, this was her own.
When she raised her head, there was a thunderous applause in the hall.
1.Chapter 2: Lost Dragon Tracks [This chapter contains original lyrics; music enthusiasts are encouraged to compose music～]
They walked slowly towards the setting sun. Twilight Sparkle felt a bit better, but her eyes were still filled with melancholy.
"Dear, is there something you want to say?" Rarity asked beside her. She turned her head, the gravity on her face lessened slightly, revealing the clarity in her eyes.
After a while, she looked at the setting sun again, its radiance casting a fiery red glow across the clouds.
"I do not know where the future lies,
It feels as if my heart is empty,
How should I face it?
How should I go?
In search of the best direction,
I do not know where peace leads,
Nor do I know where the world is headed,
But I cannot let myself be carried away,
Let obsession soar."
Her friends approached, a faint smile appearing on their faces. The setting sun cast their faces like exquisite Ukiyo-e paintings.
Chorus:
"Ideals
Encouragement
We will not leave each other behind
This experience will conclude with elegance
Our friendship will last forever"
Rainbow Dash: "Spread your wings
Like thunder across the sky
Causing ripples on the lake's surface"
Rarity: "Put on your dancing shoes
Dance the graceful waltz
Raising a breeze on the lawn"
Applejack: "Pull the hay
Throw out the distance of dreams
Under the fruit tree, shoulder the heavy burden of responsibility"
Pinkie Pie: "Pick up the cupcake
Bite off the most ideal piece in your heart
Coating your tongue with cinnamon frosting"
Fluttershy: "Get close to nature
Embrace all the beauty in the world
Feel every moment of touch"
Chorus: "We will not be depressed
We will not give up
We will spread the flowers of friendship to every corner of the world
We will spread the elements of harmony into the long river of history
Spread into the long river of history!"
They sang and laughed, walking slowly towards Ponyville.
3014 Fleet Main Government Hall —
"Where is the ambassador?" Zheng Lin asked.
"Gone, with his attitude, do you miss him? Don't forget, there's still a lot of mess to clean up in the colony." Major Zheng replied irritably.
"Oh, alright... Hey, brother, what do you really think about these little ponies here?" He became curious, after all, Zheng Guofei has never told him his true thoughts about this fertile land.
"Just... quite good, feels there's no problem at all, at least much better than those in the movies."
"Alright, don't be perfunctory, what are you thinking inside? Don't you think I know?"
"Ah..." Major Zheng sighed, turned to Zheng Lin, and looked straight at him, "Young man, maybe you really don't know. Ha."
Zheng Lin felt very depressed after hearing this, but when he saw his face turn away again, he suddenly became excited: "Brother."
"What?"
"Can I go over there to take a look?"
"Where? Be more specific."
"Over there..." He pointed in the direction of Ponyville.
"Oh? Just there? It's not even a village in our place. Besides, wouldn't the local residents panic when they see you?"
"It's okay, I'll disguise myself, those horses who just had a meeting must have gone back to the capital, right?"
"Well, I guess so." Major Zheng zipped up his backpack.
"I knew you wanted to go and have a look." A bright smile appeared on his face, "I told Vesta, the first part of the Throne Agreement, Article 5: Ponies and humans should gradually get along well during this period of immigration, if their ruler has promulgated this decree, it's not a big deal for you to go."
"Alright!" Zheng Lin was very happy, picked up his backpack and put it on. "Don't panic, take this." Major Zheng handed him a black regular octahedron, the surface was flawless, exuding a strong metallic texture, "This is the United Nations No. 8, it was left to me by my good friend Dr. Z during the Titan Battle, ask him if you encounter any difficulties." Zheng Lin put it into his backpack and then ran excitedly towards the main court door.
At this time, Major Zheng's heart: Alas, he is really a child, old Z! Your child is quite difficult to manage, and you didn't even see him when he was born on the battlefield, and when you saw him, you had to say that I adopted him. Alas, if you hadn't left early...
Ponyville, Crystal Castle —
"Feathered Dragon? Are you home?" Twilight walked into the castle, and the only response was the echoing sound, "Feathered Dragon?" She walked into the library, which was also empty. Then her heart began to panic, and the whole afternoon, she had been searching the entire castle and asking about Feathered Dragon's whereabouts in Ponyville. The six horses were gathered together, and none of them knew where Feathered Dragon had gone.
"Hey, right, Twilight." Rainbow Dash suddenly asked, "Didn't Feathered Dragon just start out with you?" "Oh, yes, but before leaving the Endless Forest, I asked him to come back and tidy up the castle, when you guys hadn't caught up yet."
"Oh, where on earth has Feathered Dragon cutie gone..." Rarity lay on the map of friendship, helplessly grinding her hooves.
"I have to say, something must have happened in the castle while we were away, right?" Fluttershy said softly on the side.
"That's right, Fluttershy, I think so too..."
"Ah!!!" Pinkie Pie popped out from behind Rainbow Dash, which scared her, "Hey! I said Pinkie Pie..." "Have you ever thought that some evil thing might have taken our dragon baby away? Right! Maybe those biscuits in my oven have become spirits, after all, when I went to see, they all disappeared too." She said with a puzzled head tilted.
"Yes, who exactly is it... Anyway, we have to find Feathered Dragon back, we can't be without him..." Twilight turned around and took a slow breath, her eyes seemed to become moist, "I... can't do without him either..."
1.Chapter 2: [II] Under the Pact, Debates Still Necessary
Zheng Lin followed the scent of flowers to Ponyville. He didn't expect such harmony in a place under the rule of a feudal monarchy. Of course, as a soldier from Earth, he still had the basic military literacy. In this small town, he acted very seriously, holding paper and pen in his hand, recording what he saw. According to his current observations, the abnormal electromagnetic waves of this planet are very important to the habits of these little horses, because he found that each horse can not only emit laser beams but also use the light emitted from their horns to lift any object to do what they want to do. However, after walking around the town center, no horse looked at him with unusual eyes, which also made him feel very comfortable. He thought that the ruler here issued the decree quite timely.
"Hello, visitor from afar?" A pony wearing a black hat and a black jacket approached him. Zheng Lin felt that his voice seemed to be squeezed out from his throat after being lowered a lot, "Are you new here?" "What? Do you want to get to know me?" Zheng Lin immediately became vigilant. He knew that the horses here have been emotionally volatile since the tragic incident involving 15 people, and they might do anything. "Don't panic, I'm just a wanderer who has been lurking in Ponyville for more than ten years, and today I finally met a newcomer..." Zheng Lin knew he was fake as soon as he heard this, after all, with his insight, he could still distinguish this, "Okay, stop pretending, show me your true identity, I believe Major Zheng will be very interested in your conversation with me."
The horse heard Major Zheng and suddenly raised his head, but Zheng Lin couldn't see his whole face because he was wearing a mask. His eyes were also covered with a pair of sunglasses. But the black hat still couldn't cover her huge bow.
"Enough, let me see the true face under your hypocritical surface." Suddenly, Zheng Lin pulled out a dagger from his backpack and slashed at the rope of his leather jacket. The action was so neat and neat that not a single fiber from the rope fell in the air. The horse staggered back a few steps, and the leather jacket slowly slid off her body. Then Zheng Lin's eyes widened - this so-called "wanderer" turned out to be three little mares in disguise. The little red-haired mare with a huge bow stood on the other two horses, one with white skin and one with dark brown skin. "Well, three cheats, I caught you on the spot, and the local public security organs will definitely be very interested in you."
After saying that, he pretended to take notes. "Don't! We're still just kids!" The leading red-haired mare jumped down from the other two horses: "We're just curious about you, don't get me wrong." She took off the sunglasses and the huge hat on her head. "Ha, kids." After saying that, Zheng Lin turned around and left.
"Hey, don't rush to go." The three little mares caught up again and blocked her in front, "What's the matter? Do you want to rob? I don't have any money on me." Zheng Lin said with a smile, not taking the three horses seriously at all, "Hey, stranger! If you continue to ignore us or be rude to us, I will call our sister, and they will definitely deal with you!" This sentence made him not only curious about them,
"So you say your sister has a lot of power?"
"What power?" They looked at each other.
"In your society, the monarch rewards those who have made contributions to the people and ministers by giving them unique powers."
"Oh, how could it be?" The pure white horse said, "They have made contributions, but I haven't heard of any special privileges given to them by Princess Celestia."
Zheng Lin became alert when he heard the word Princess Celestia. Now he began to have some doubts about the sisters of these three guys, "Oh, as far as I know, Princess Celestia is the one you often talk about, right."
The three little mares became excited again: "Of course, she is the supreme being in Equestria." This sentence completely aroused Zheng Lin's interest, "Oh, how to say it?"
The three little mares smiled at each other, and the little mare with the bow came forward and sat down, "We have three alicorn princesses in Equestria, they are Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Princess Celestia..."
Zheng Lin picked up his notebook and started to take notes crazily. He knew that what he was holding now was the first-hand information about this race, which must be rare for the entire fleet and even the United Nations.
As the little mare was telling the story, Zheng Lin also asked many questions, all about the political system and military strength. Obviously, this kind of little mare did not know the seriousness of revealing these sensitive topics to the outside world, and she introduced in detail to Zheng Lin, which also made Zheng Lin more understand the level of science and culture of this race. For him, this trip was undoubtedly very fruitful.
And in Twilight's Crystal Castle, a secret rescue plan was being formulated...
"First, we need to deduce where in the castle Sui Long disappeared. From the outside, there is no sign of him passing by." Rarity analyzed carefully.
"What if it was done by humans?" Applejack looked at Twilight suspiciously.
"Maybe, maybe, according to their nature, they may not be good at this kind of thing. I have read a few fragments about human history and found that some of them do love peace, but some of them often have wars, and among them, the profession of assassins is inevitably produced." Twilight held a book in her hand and made records quickly.
"You say assassins?!" Fluttershy exclaimed softly, which made all the horses present gasp. "No, I believe they have not reached this point." Although the stone in her heart had already fallen half, she was still worried.
"I have an idea. If Sui Long was taken away by someone, he would definitely resist and spit out fire, and it is very likely that he would burn the assassin. Especially humans, they should not know Sui Long's way of fighting back and some physiological information, leaving some clues at the scene is inevitable." Rarity analyzed carefully, observing every corner of the castle hall, afraid to miss any useful clues."
"Hey, everyone, look what I found!" Pinkie Pie bounced out of the corridor, "Pinkie Pie, why are you so idle? Don't you see that we are all looking for ways to get Sui Long back?" Rainbow Dash said with a tone of blame. "I say, Sui Long was sleeping at the time, and suddenly a dark shadow came in from the window, and he had no time to dodge and was caught by that dark shadow, still holding his dearest toy bear in his arms, look, it's all torn."
After saying that, Pinkie Pie took out the torn toy bear from her hair. The other five horses immediately moved over when they heard the news, and Twilight used magic to take the toy bear and observed the tear in the toy bear carefully, "It seems that Sui Long has experienced a fierce struggle..." Suddenly, a black shiny memory card fell out of the plush inside the toy bear.
"What is this?" The horses gathered around. The memory card fell to the ground, and then a three-dimensional projection was released from the inside of the card, slowly outlining a familiar trace...
"It's the ambassador!" The other five horses exclaimed, but Twilight Sparkle looked at him silently, her eyes full of depression. The ambassador in the projection began to speak:
"Hello, leader of the opposite empire, first of all, I am very sorry for my actions, but this is also forced. My son Childe was one of the two people who died in the 15-person tragedy, but I am not angry about your actions. What I feel more is regret for his experience. Today, if you have seen this projection, and if you want to find back this relative who may be very important to you, then please meet me privately at the first flag-raising ceremony of our country on January 26th, and we have our own issues to resolve separately. Remember, only you come."
The video ended, and the horses fell into silence. They didn't expect the humans to do this, but they had to accept this fact. Twilight turned over the human era table with a heavy face, which read: January 26, 2300...
"It's our tomorrow..."
"Twilight, I think this kind of thing should be left to an experienced pony to handle; after all, we are not human," Applejack said worriedly beside her. She didn't say this only because Twilight's emotions were unstable, but also because ever since the humans arrived in Equestria, she hadn't seen Twilight smile again. "Applejack's right, perhaps you should do that," Rarity added, seeing Twilight's hesitation. She didn't want Twilight to get hurt anymore. "Alright, girls, it seems we have no choice but to trouble her."
Twilight walked up to the map of friendship and opened the diary with a red and yellow sun imprinted on it. She wrote:
"Dear Sunset Shimmer, Equestria has encountered some difficulties, and my friends and I need your help. You..." Twilight paused, frowning as she pondered for a while, seemingly making a significant decision. She continued writing:
"You can bring your friends along, and don't forget the Elements of Harmony. Make sure to explain when you leave with Princess Celestia." Just as she finished writing, a golden stream of text gathered below the sentence: "Oh, alright, then when would it be convenient for me to come?" Twilight was delighted; she thought she would have to wait for a long time, "Right now, immediately, be quick."
"Okay, Sunset has agreed," Twilight turned around and looked at her friends, "Now let's go to the basement to bring her up, oh no, it's them." The other five ponies looked puzzled at each other, then followed Twilight to the basement. They arrived in front of the mirror and waited quietly, with Twilight looking at the magic mirror and the other five ponies looking at Twilight.
About seven minutes later, the surface of the magic mirror began to surge, and gradually, a yellow pony came out of the mirror. Her red and yellow mane was faintly glowing under the chandelier.
Then, one by one, the other ponies followed. The five ponies present were astonished to see the ponies coming out of the magic mirror, with Pinkie Pie being particularly excited.
She immediately ran towards another version of herself, and the other four also took an interest, greeting their other selves one by one. The human Twilight walked up to Twilight and joined Sunset Shimmer. "Alright, Twilight, we're here. What's the urgent matter?"
"Well, I have to say that this matter is a bit complicated." Twilight then spent 15 minutes recounting to Sunset Shimmer the entire story of the humans arriving in Equestria. Sunset Shimmer was very surprised after hearing this, "You mean... humans came here on a starship?"
"Yes, their weapons seem fancy, but we haven't seen them use them yet."
"But in my world, humans are not like this, unless these humans originally belong here."
"No, when I observed the disc in the sky, I detected temporal fluctuations. They might have migrated from a different timeline."
"Oh, alright, that's not important. What's important is how you will deal with that United Nations ambassador tomorrow. Hey, do you know why they are raising the flag tomorrow?"
"No, I don't know, but maybe I can show you that video." Twilight then handed the 3D projection memory card to Sunset Shimmer, and as soon as Sunset Shimmer took it, the video started playing again...
"From my preliminary judgment, he should be a local from our place."
"That's great! I just need an assistant to help me with this issue."
"Hold on... Take a closer look at the document in front of him..." Sunset Shimmer put the memory card on the ground, and Twilight came forward to observe carefully. She saw clearly that the document was exquisitely printed with a few small gold characters: United Nations Flag-Lowering Mourning Procedure Book
"What does this mean?" Twilight knew what mourning was, but she didn't know the specific nature and meaning of this document.
"Twilight, in the human world, there is a world peace political organization composed of more than 140 countries. We call it the United Nations, which has five permanent members: China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. These five countries are the pillars of handling world peace affairs.
Now, the United Nations, after a vote by the five permanent members, will lower their flag, which symbolizes the United Nations, by half to mourn for the two people you killed. If you and Princess Celestia do not attend tomorrow, the Throne Agreement you signed may also be scrapped. In my opinion, humans will not only turn their faces but may also stab you in the back."
Twilight's hair stood on end when she heard this: humans... how terrifying this creature is... The other ten horses gathered around Twilight when they heard her muttering something.
Seeing the horses around her, she didn't think as much as before. Since humans want to do this, she will also come to the dark side. She doesn't plan to tell her friends about the plan, except for Sunset Shimmer.
In the evening, Twilight and Sunset Shimmer formulated a meticulous plan in the hall. The goal is very simple: to capture the ambassador alive. At first, Sunset Shimmer was quite opposed to this plan because it is not a beneficial decision for both parties. However, in front of the United Nations, the ponies must have their own bargaining chips. A battle for sovereignty is about to begin...
---
10. Chapter 2: [IV] Torch Action: Encounter and Melancholy
"Are they here yet?"
"Not yet, sir." A tall figure sat on a rattan chair, tapping his thigh with his left hand.
"No problem, the people from the United Nations haven't arrived yet. Can everything be guaranteed to proceed as planned?"
"Maybe, sir, but the scientists said..." The old voice suddenly became angry: "I don't care if they can calculate it or not. This matter is small for my interests, and big for human interests. We have always had sovereignty in the world. When we came to this planet, I not only lost my son but also had to share half of human sovereignty with them?"
"Alright, you go back first. When they get into the warship, there will be a good show to watch," he said, getting up and heading towards the landing boat.
Ponyville Center —
"So this is the general situation here?" Zheng Lin was already satisfied, with a notebook full of notes. "Yes, that's right, more or less."
Then Zheng Lin put away the notebook and put it in his backpack. "Hey, what are your names?" The three little mares looked at each other, then looked at Zheng Lin with innocent big eyes. "I'm Apple Lily, this is Sweet Baby and Eye-catching Lulu. The three of us are members of the Cute Army." Zheng Lin couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, "What's so funny?"
"Ah, no, nothing, I just think you're all very good. Speaking of which, where is your sister now?" The three little ones thought for a while, then they became lively again, "She should be in the Crystal Castle. Would you like me to take you to see her?" Although Zheng Lin's psychological defense line had not completely withdrawn, he thought about it carefully and followed them to the Crystal Castle.
On the way, he took out his notebook again and carefully reviewed his previous notes. He was surprised that there was actually something called magic in this universe. Perhaps in the professional terms of the current warship science and technology department, scientists call this magic controllable mixed electromagnetic waves, but they have not yet found specific evidence to prove the specific use of this electromagnetic wave and the basis needed for the experiment. In short, humans dare not act rashly now. When he arrived at the edge of Ponyville, a huge crystal castle appeared in front of them. Zheng Lin wanted to laugh again because the castle really looked a bit like a certain international friendly gesture, but he finally held back out of respect for the owner of the castle.
He pushed the door open, and the scene inside was even more astonishing to Zheng Lin. It was all made of crystal. The owner of the castle seemed to be like the Pharaoh of Egypt, with three powers in one body. Then, he followed the three little mares in. After not long, there was a bustling discussion coming from the meeting room on one side of the corridor.
"Shh - the sisters are having a meeting," Apple Lily whispered, then pressed against the door and listened carefully. But her face became uglier and uglier, "What's wrong, Apple Lily, what did you hear?" Eye-catching Lulu asked, "No, I feel like I heard the voices of many horses, and some voices are the same as our sisters." Zheng Lin suddenly became interested, "Why not push the door and take a look, knock on the door." The other three horses hesitated for a while, and soon they nodded to each other and knocked on the door three times.
"Who is it?"
"It's us! The Cute Army!" Then the people and horses outside heard a commotion of hooves coming from the room, and soon it became silent. Then the door opened...
The one who opened the door was Applejack. When she saw the Cute Army, she was relieved, but she immediately noticed the figure standing behind the three little mares, and she was very frightened and shouted, "It's a human...!" Zheng Lin saw that it was this horse and his eyes immediately became sharp. He pulled a cloth from his backpack and quickly stuffed it into her mouth. The Cute Army, seeing his violent reaction, was scared. Then, Twilight Sparkle rushed over upon hearing the noise. When she saw it was the person from the meeting, she couldn't help but get excited, "What are you doing here?! Human!" The other six horses hiding in the cabinet also came out one after another, seeing this man in a black and gray combat uniform with a special backpack on his shoulder. They also couldn't help frowning. Seeing the situation seemed unfavorable to him, Zheng Lin didn't hesitate at all, pulled out his sidearm, and hugged Applejack to his chest. He raised his left hand and pressed the gun firmly against Applejack's temple. All the horses held their breath at this moment, fearing any accidents. Applejack struggled in Zheng Lin's arms, and vaguely mumbled a few words: Run!
Sunset Shimmer slowly approached Zheng Lin. She was very cautious now. She knew that if there was any inappropriate action now, he would let her good friend die. "Listen, sir," she probed the eyes of this warrior, seemingly more relaxed than before, "We don't mean to harm you. Please put down the gun, let's talk, okay?" Zheng Lin heard this and thought this horse was interesting, completely different from the other horses, not so impulsive. But when he pushed the door open, he saw ten pairs of identical horses inside, and he became alert again. "Don't panic, put down the gun in your hand first, let's talk slowly." Zheng Lin pondered for a while, released his right arm, and put down the gun. Applejack suddenly fell to the ground from the suffocating embrace, and the people of the evening saw it, and they and their friends gathered around, finally knowing she was unconscious and breathed a sigh of relief.
Zheng Lin put the gun on the table and crossed his legs, "Let me ask you first, how do you know this thing is a gun?" Sunset Shimmer hesitated for a moment, then told him about her own origin and the experiences of those horses that looked the same as the six horses.
Zheng Lin's brows tightened after hearing this, but in his heart, he had already made plans.
1.Chapter 2: [V] Torch Action: Inside Stories "So you should have a good understanding of human society." Zheng Lin then looked at Sunset Shimmer in front of him with interest, "What are you discussing here?" Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath, but she was still very nervous because she didn't know what this human would think after hearing their plan? If he wanted to, he could report all the horses here to the human government department, and then they wouldn't even have a chance to explain, but she had to be honest, otherwise they might not even wait to finish speaking, and it would be another negotiation, and then humans would have 100% reason to send troops, "Your ambassador sent someone to take Sui Long." "What is Sui Long?" Sunset Shimmer was embarrassed for a moment, "Well, it's... Princess Twilight's brother."
"So what does he want to do?"
"We don't know for now, but according to what we know now, he is using Sui Long to threaten us to meet with him privately at the flag-lowering ceremony, and he specifically pointed out that only Princess Twilight can go."
"Why not go, you should trust our people."
"But they took away Sui Long, more importantly, one of the two soldiers who died in the 15-person tragedy is his son."
Zheng Lin fell silent, knowing that the words of the Chinese representative at the meeting undoubtedly pointed out this point. More importantly, he was moved.
"What are you going to do?"
"Set an ambush." At this time, Sunset Shimmer looked worriedly at Twilight, and Twilight was pressing her eyebrows, looking out of the window.
Zheng Lin didn't want to make plans for them; it was a personal grudge between the ruling class here and a person, and he didn't need to get involved, but his heart always couldn't help it. He stood up and walked towards the magic mirror.
"Wait, what are you going to do..." Sunset Shimmer tried to stop Zheng Lin, but he still walked forward, "You said that behind this mirror is another world, but I don't know if it's true. If you come from the human world, then we can definitely go back in this way."
"It's not like that!" Sunset Shimmer was anxious, and she didn't expect Zheng Lin to make such a move, but she didn't have a bottom in her heart, because humans in this time and space and humans in that time and space are two completely different stages of development.
Zheng Lin walked in, a golden light emanated from where he touched, and then he disappeared in the mirror.
The conference room was silent, Apple Lily walked to Twilight Sparkle, hung her head, and sat next to Twilight Sparkle, "I'm sorry, Princess Twilight, we shouldn't have brought him here..." Twilight sighed deeply, she had already accepted her fate, the harmonious and beautiful life in the past may be gone forever, "It's okay, they will always come..."
At this time, a golden red light emerged from the mirror, and several horses were all surprised to look at that direction, a red and yellow hoof stretched out from the mirror, and slowly his whole body was transmitted from there.
The creature that came out of the mirror was covered in golden scales, the hooves showed a red and yellow flame, and the hair on his head was orange and yellow, followed by a cry: "What the hell is this?" At this time, Sunset Shimmer didn't know what to do, and at this time, Twilight Sparkle excitedly called out, and another Twilight also immediately took an interest, "I have seen the information of this creature in the school library, it is an ancient mythical beast, but it is not indigenous to our place, it is a group in Chinese mythology." Horse twilight looked at him, the military uniform on his body disappeared, and was replaced by a layer of glittering golden scales. Of course, because Zheng Lin had already felt it, he was seen by these ladies without wearing clothes, and he couldn't help blushing. "What are you looking around for? Do you know it's impolite?"
Horse twilight immediately became unhappy: "What are you talking about? It's like this everywhere here, only on important occasions do we wear clothes. Now you're not looking at us the same way." Then, she looked at the friends from the human world, somehow, they blushed after hearing what horse twilight said.
"Well, okay, I should have told you in advance." Sunset Shimmer came over, and there seemed to be a blush on her face, "Humans are very sensitive about this aspect, and I suggest you don't mention it now."
"Okay," Twilight then turned her gaze to Zheng Lin, "So now that you have become a Qilin, which is an indigenous race here, I don't know if there will be any opinions from your side?"
Zheng Lin was silent, because he knew that if he went back, his brother would definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and find a way to turn him back into a human at all costs. But he felt troubled in his heart now.
"Okay, is there any way to go back?" he asked helplessly.
"We don't know, you are the first case, and it should be studied specifically," Twilight replied seriously.
Now Zheng Lin felt in his heart that he would definitely cause a lot of trouble when he went back, and he felt that it was not a big problem to follow this team, and it was not bad to eliminate corrupt officials, and then deal with it when the matter was resolved.
"Well... is it worth doing this?" The horses were surprised to look at him, and Cloudy asked, "What? Do you want to join?"
"This seems to be the best choice at the moment," Twilight Sparkle heard this and felt uneasy in her heart. She was afraid, even though she knew that this human was about the same age as herself, and the character was not unfathomable, but she still showed a grateful smile to Zheng Lin.
"Well, since that's the case, you are one of us now, can you provide some information about your warship?" The human Cloudy asked with great interest. "I can be responsible for guiding the way, but information, if you want to pick it from me, it's impossible." His attitude was very tough, which made Cloudy step back a few steps.
"Well, that's good too, the passage of the warship is very complicated, and it won't cause us to get lost inside." Sunset Shimmer analyzed, "Now there is not much time left for the flag-lowering ceremony, we have to hurry over." The horses nodded to each other, and then Twilight teleported them all outdoors, running towards the direction of the landing boat...
Warship Science and Research Department —
"Where did this little dragon come from?" The director looked at this purple and green little dragon through the fire-resistant glass, carefully examining it, "Well... it was just casually caught from the plains outside." The secretary said cautiously, even though he was a very rigorous person, he couldn't resist the temptation of tens of millions.
"Well, when will the blood extraction start?" The director picked up a syringe and squeezed the liquid out in front of his eyes. The syringe emitted a desolate cold light under the white light of the operating table. The fire dragon looked at the people on the other side of the glass with a frightened look, for the first time in his life being tormented like this by humans.
"Director, it's after the flag is lowered, waiting for the notice from the ambassador."
"Wait for his notice for what? Just do the surgery, this is the first experimental sample we've caught on this planet." The director was a bit impatient, his eyes exuding a domineering aura that enveloped the whole body of Sui Long.
"Don't forget, the results of the surgery still need to be reported to the organization as soon as possible. Our technology has been developing slowly within the resources of Earth for many years."
"But the ambassador said that we must..."
"What ambassador? I have the final say here. At 3:30 in the afternoon, start the surgery on time!" But at this time, the secretary's breathing became heavier and heavier. He was unwilling to miss the tens of millions that were easily obtained. His heart was already tempted by money. He grabbed a scalpel and suddenly put it on the director's neck. The director felt his body jerk back, his neck was tightly held, and his heart suddenly rose to his throat, "Mr. Kobayashi, if you want to live, you must do what I say, what the ambassador said!" The director suddenly came to his senses and trembled in agreement: "Okay... Okay... You say when to do it..."
"After the flag is lowered, wait for the ambassador's news..."
Area 1 Plain Landing Boat Area --
"This kid hasn't come back yet? It's been several hours." Zheng Guofei looked at the stopwatch in his hand, sitting on the sofa counting like this, "Zheng Guofei, what are you doing? The flag-lowering ceremony starts in five minutes!" Although he was very worried, he quickly stood up, shouted to Yong'an at the door, "I know, I know! I'm coming!" Then he picked up his briefcase and walked outside.
Rescue Team Side --
"Dusk... Dusk, how much further? I can't run anymore..." Two Raritys leaned on each other, dragging their bodies forward, "Girls, it's almost there, hold on a little longer!"
Zheng Lin rolled his eyes and then looked at Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer felt very uncomfortable when he saw her like this, "Hey, what are you thinking about?" She asked casually,
"Nothing, seeing you reminds me of someone."
"Who?"
"My sister, she does things as calmly as you do, and her character is very similar to yours, but it's a pity that I didn't make it to the infirmary to see her on the battlefield that day..."
A wave of sympathy welled up in Sunset Shimmer's heart, and she couldn't help but think of her own past. Although these two things are not related, they are not entirely unrelated. Later, the important people in her life are appearing one by one, but in his life, the important people are leaving one by one...
1.Chapter 2: [VI] Torch Action: The Dusk is Long, and the Heart is Penetrating On the landing hall camp, there are eight neatly aligned squares, and what surprised the horses was that they were all formed by individuals.
"Wow! How did they do that? I guess even the Royal Guard might find it difficult." Fluttershy exclaimed softly. Zheng Lin sneered in his heart: Of course, the hardships of their usual training are much more intense than the "security guards" here.
He asked, "Have you not experienced war?" The horses looked puzzled at him, and Sunset Shimmer said earnestly, "That's for sure, but it's been a long time since we've used a large-scale army."
They slowly walked down the slope, and several men in black suits came towards them. Zheng Lin was very vigilant because he had not seen these people in the few days since he came here, "Zheng Lin! Hide quickly!" The voice came from a large rock nearby, and he quickly hid in it. He understood that if those people found out that there were other horses besides Twilight, it would definitely disrupt the plan.
"Hello, Princess Twilight, Mr. Jerlock is waiting for you."
"Okay."
Twilight Sparkle followed those people towards the direction of the warship. Zheng Lin and the others followed behind her.
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were staring closely at them, approaching step by step.
Those people led Twilight to the door of the warship and stopped, "Princess Twilight, turn right when you enter the door, and the ambassador will come to meet you." After saying that, they stood at the door. Twilight looked back worriedly, but there was no movement, which made her heart even heavier, but she still turned her head and walked inside.
"Hey! Twilight went in!" Rainbow Dash whispered loudly, "Now we need to think of a way to distract the people in front of the door..." Everyone nodded to each other and sat together behind the rock. Zheng Lin watched them and didn't want to squeeze in; this rock didn't seem to be able to accommodate more than a dozen horses.
"Come on, tell us your thoughts, your opinions are very important to us." Sunset Shimmer had somehow appeared behind him and startled him, "Ah... nothing to say, I know very little about this warship, I'm one of the first batch of this fleet, and I only know the control room and the dormitory, but this should be of no help to you, no one without the authorization of the major can enter these two places." He sighed and looked into the distance at the setting sun, the orange glow painted on his face. Sunset Shimmer felt an inexplicable feeling that seemed to be soaking her whole body, she first stood, and then slowly walked to his side and sat down, looking into the distance.
"Can you sing?" Sunset Shimmer asked, her hair matching the sunset, the intersection a superposition of wind and light, depicting her soft outline clearly.
"A little bit, not much."
"Can you sing for me?"
"Aren't you on a mission now, and still singing?"
Zheng Lin looked at her in doubt and found that Sunset Shimmer was also looking at him.
The two horses looked at each other, and Zheng Lin knew that as long as the opposite sex calmly looks at each other for 14 seconds, they will have a good impression of each other, but he didn't have it at all, just felt that he was looking at a talking big-eyed horse. But Sunset Shimmer was different, her face was already blushing, after all, she was still in high school, and her psychological quality was not as strong as Zheng Lin's. Zheng Lin, who was in his twenties, had also received special training, and he could suppress any signs of emotion immediately with his self-control, but he still valued his body's privacy rights very much [for example, when he came out of the magic mirror].
"Zheng Lin! Shimmer! Come over quickly!" Rainbow Dash whispered loudly.
They quickly moved over, and Zheng Lin thought it was better to stay away from Sunset Shimmer, estimating that she might be the calmest in the team besides himself.
"What's next?" Zheng Lin asked, glancing at Rainbow Dash.
"I and he will distract them, and you guys will slip in." Rainbow Dash pointed to the version of himself who had come back from the human world, and they both nodded confidently.
Zheng Lin looked at Sunset Shimmer doubtfully, who was fiddling with her glasses and didn't seem to be listening to their conversation.
"Okay, this lady and I will cover the rear." He pulled Sunset Shimmer, who was startled by him,
"What? Me?"
"Yes, this is also a good opportunity to get to know each other better, right? Well, you two go and distract them." Zheng Lin's expression became serious.
"Okay! Let's go!"
ARF Secret Office —
A white rope was dyed red, and the lightbulb was covered with red spots, enveloping the entire room in a blood-red fear.
Twilight Sparkle was just hanging there, barely breathing, with barely noticeable undulations in her chest; her cutie mark already had a bloody gash, and her body was covered with such scars, from her wings along her legs, and from her flesh, a stream of blood condensed into gems and smashed onto the ground, splashing a dazzling red flower; her horn seemed to have cracks, looming in the red and white light.
The man held a small knife, which was thinly covered with a brown film of coagulated blood, and his suit was lightly dyed like ink and water, with a red and yellow gradient, looking so elegant.
He gently slid the knife across Twilight's neck, sliding down her back, and got stuck on her wings.
"You said my son was burned by you at the time, right?" He gently rubbed the knife against her wings
"Do you remember how my son's wings were scorched, don't you?" He gently scraped the blade against her wings, the friction causing Twilight's breathing to become more and more labored with each passing moment, "Spike..." she murmured deliriously. The old man slowly lifted the knife from her back and with a sudden swing, he brutally chopped downwards at Twilight's wing feathers. "Ahhhh!" Twilight screamed in unbearable agony, her neck stretching out in instinctive response, her eyes filled with bloodshot terror, and in exchange, feathers fell gracefully to the ground.
The old man opened the window, peering into the white corridor where only a few horses were visible. He moved closer to inspect the dark figure... Now alert, he quickly opened another window and initiated a secure line communication:
"Ambrosio!"
"Yes, sir, what are your orders?"
"Gather the agents and lock down the entire ship. Don't let anyone or any horse leave!"
"But the Throne Protocol—"
"To hell with the protocol! I'm in charge here! And that dragon, tell them to move it!" he said furiously.
"Oh, very well, as you wish."
The window closed, and the old man gasped for breath, his eyes wide open, staring at the iron door. He sensed more than a dozen footsteps approaching, clenching his fists, the hydraulic system of his mechanical exoskeleton cranked up to the maximum, waiting for that moment to come...
In the corridor, Zheng Guofei followed closely, his gun already drawn, his guard up. He knew that following these horses would never lead to anything good.
They arrived at an iron door, and Rainbow Dash slammed into it with force, "Boom—" The door didn't budge, but her shoulder throbbed in pain. Zheng Lin inspected the door frame for any switches but found none. He gently knocked on the frame, searching for clues.
Suddenly, a large hand reached over, blocking his ladder, and then the iron door suddenly bulged with a violent impact from within.
The horses stepped back in fear, their pupils contracting. Zheng Lin's breathing quickened, and Yu Hui hid behind him, still feeling a bit lightheaded from the restored oxygen, leaning on Zheng Lin.
The door shook violently, and a blade suddenly pierced through, gleaming with a purplish-red light...
Zheng Guofei recognized the blade, furrowing his brows. He knew the material was nano and obsidian, made with energy displacement, very rare, something only the executives of the Solar System Alliance Foundation would have. Could it be...
The hydraulic system beside the door was gradually damaged, hissing with escaping air.
The door was smashed open.
Then, Zheng Lin saw his neck being viciously grabbed, and he was thrown against the wall by that creature.
Yu Hui rushed forward to see what the creature was.
It approached them step by step, Yu Hui leaped up and kicked hard at the dark figure, but her hind legs were suddenly gripped by a powerful force, and she was thrown to the ground, letting out a heavy gasp.
"Hello there."
The dark figure emerged from the white room, the fog gradually dissipating behind him. He stepped over the fallen Yu Hui, casting a contemptuous glance.
Yu Hui gritted her teeth against the sharp pain in her stomach, her brow furrowed, sweat dripping to the ground. As his foot lifted from her stomach, Rainbow Dash immediately rushed forward and pulled Yu Hui back.
Zheng Guofei had already chambered a round, scrutinizing the figure before him. He wasn't sure if the UN was aware of this, but he knew very well that the horse that creature had just thrown was his brother.
"Major Zheng, long time no see. Our last meeting was in that foolish protocol's hall, wasn't it?" followed by a mechanical grinding sound, slowly approaching them.
"You, yes you." Zheng Guofei pointed at Xiao Die from the human world, "Take them back, to the other end of the corridor."
Xiao Die was in a panic, but hearing Zheng Guofei's command, she was also awestruck by his incredible authority, "O-Okay, everyone follow me..." she said, leading the group back.
Yu Hui tried to pull Zheng Lin, but was noticed by Jerlock, who then lifted his leg and viciously stomped on Yu Hui's hoof that was trying to grab Zheng Lin.
A sharp pain pierced Yu Hui's heart, tears falling like crystal droplets, shattering into countless ice flowers on the ground.
Zheng Guofei gritted his teeth and charged forward, knowing full well the consequences of his actions, that flesh could not withstand the collision of mechanical exoskeletons. He drew his gun, eyes fixedly staring ahead. Jerlock swung his hand, two blades extending from his mechanical arms, mercilessly stabbing towards Zheng Guofei. Major Zheng knew he couldn't dodge, so he side-stepped and pressed the gun against the hydraulic machine of the mechanical skeleton and pulled the trigger, "Bang—" only a muffled sound was heard as the bullet weakly bounced off the armor.
Ze洛克 became even more rampant. In his heart, he no longer thought about his dead son; his burning heart was now filled with only one word—revenge.
He grabbed Zheng Guofei's back with one hand, the other hand's mechanical dagger stretching longer under the drive of the hydraulic machine, gradually aiming at Zheng Guofei's lower back. As he was about to carry out this cruel act, a golden flash of scales swooped down onto Zheng Guofei's back, the sharp blade piercing into the creature's spine.
"Zheng Lin!!!" Yu Hui shouted. At this moment, a half-meter-long steel rod was stuck in Zheng Lin's chest, red liquid pouring down uncontrollably.
He began to pant roughly, the sound gradually weakening, until it solidified in the air.
The orange alarm flashed, under the meaningless light, one person, one horse, gazed at the lifeless body, their hearts already silent.
Suddenly, an electromagnetic surge came from within Zheng Lin, Zheng Guofei could clearly feel the power; Yu Hui also felt it, a force unlike any magic she had ever seen. Then, Zheng Lin's appearance began to glow white...
Zheng Guofei, because he was knocked down by Zheng Lin, rolled to the ground, holding his breath and staring at the Qilin in front of him, confirming in his heart that this was his brother, the person he had risked his life to save for his friends. He watched as the golden light on Zheng Lin's back became more and more flickering, Jerlock looked at him, the madness in his eyes gradually dissipating.
At this moment, Zheng Lin's horn began to condense an orange-red energy, he opened his eyes, his pupils turned bloodshot, then he spoke,
"By what right do you call this home?"
Everyone present covered their ears, this terrifying sound echoed throughout the corridor, Jerlock still wanted to continue attacking, but his old hand seemed unable to move the mechanical arm now, convinced that this guy couldn't use magic.
"How is this possible..." Jerlock exerted all his strength to straighten up, slowly aiming the dagger at Zheng Lin, but there seemed to be a barrier around him, unable to move, unable to break through the white light in front of Zheng Lin.
"As a representative of the human race, why have you provoked war!" Zheng Lin slowly raised his hooves, when they were about to come together, it seemed to squeeze something,Jerlock began to breathe difficult, clutching his chest and kneeling on the ground, his eyes bloodshot, mumbling indistinctly
"No... Andyo..."
The hooves gradually came together, and with a "pop" sound, a mass of flesh and blood burst open on Ze洛克's chest, and he fell to the ground, surrounded by his liquid interwoven with hatred and anger.
At this time, the light on Zheng Lin's body began to dissipate, Zheng Guofei frowned, came forward and pulled Zheng Lin, he was surprised to find that the scar on his chest was gone, intact.
Yu Hui stumbled over, her eyes met with Zheng Guofei's, although still full of vigilance, but Major Zheng nodded to Yu Hui, put the boy in front of her, he seemed to understand the truth, because at this time, he had already seen the red and purple unicorn hanging in the middle of the room, half of her wings feathers had been scraped almost bare, blood was pouring down.
He opened the walkie-talkie and informed the team of an emergency. Then he turned his gaze to Yu Hui and Zheng Lin again, only this time, Yu Hui noticed care and warmth in his eyes.
Then, there was a rush of footsteps, 11 horses ran over from the other end of the corridor, the two Cloudy Shadows at the forefront shouted: "He's out again! Run." Chasing them was the disgusting black slime, it kept surging forward, gradually approaching the end of the corridor.
"Quick! We need magic!" Yu Hui asked Zheng Lin.
"We need magic to control it!" Zheng Guofei glanced at the puddle of black mud and entered the command to release the electromagnetic wave into the Menz Amplifier on the experiment table. Suddenly, a powerful energy radiated from the office, and all the horses felt a surge of vitality. The horns of both Sunset and Twilight began to glow with different colors, and two powerful laser beams struck the Apollo 11 biological sample. Under its dark exterior, a raging fire suddenly ignited, and an indescribable sound came from the creature.
"I... No, we can feel that he is in pain..." Two Fluttershys behind Sunset whispered, their voices tinged with worry, "Yes, but we have no choice."
Sunset said sympathetically.
"Quick! Applejack! Pinkie Pie! Come and untie Twilight! She's barely holding on!" One of the Rainbow Dash noticed that Twilight's breathing was becoming weaker and weaker, her nostrils flaring less frequently. All the horses wiped their sweat and decided, no matter what! Save Twilight first! A dozen horses rushed forward, and the blood ropes gradually fell. When Twilight's feet touched the ground, Sunset gently lowered Twilight's body to the floor with magic.
"Thank you, everyone. Now I'm going to try to heal the external wounds first and stop the bleeding." Sunset, despite the pain in her hooves, walked forward step by step, then closed her eyes. Her orange-yellow horn began to emit a green light, and the gaps in her purple fur began to stitch up...
Everyone watched Twilight's miserable condition in silence, quietly waiting for their best friend, who bore the heavy responsibility and was pierced by the spear of the mission, to open her eyes...
Operating Room -
"Little guy, you're still trying to fight me, right?" The director held a syringe in his hand and said disdainfully to the secretary who was barely alive on the ground. "Winning the Karate Championship in Hokkaido for four consecutive terms is not just talk." At this moment, he was wearing a white coat, standing in front of the operating table. It only took him two minutes to subdue the secretary, and Spike Dragon witnessed the whole process, and his heart was already half-desperate. If he had to fight this human alone, there would definitely be no good outcome.
The anesthetic in the syringe was gradually taking effect, and his vision began to blur...
"Stop!" A sonorous and powerful footstep, along with a shout, came from outside the experimental department. The director glanced over, and his heart was almost completely cold - it was Major Zheng's fleet peacekeeping force.
They rushed forward to snatch the syringe. At this time, the director still wanted to use his four-time Karate Championship skills to deal with these soldiers, but it was obviously an egg hitting a stone. Along with his secretary, he was taken to the landing boat square. The belt on Spike Dragon was untied, and he seemed to see several people in blue military clothes carrying him on their shoulders and leaving the laboratory. The breath that had been hanging in his heart was finally let out.
Celestia looked at the sleeping Twilight Sparkle before her, her heart rippled with waves of emotion. She was suppressing her inner fury, despite what Zheng Guofei had said at the landing boat square. However, she still couldn't let go of her slight fear of humans. Gently, she caressed Twilight's face, her eyes filled with both affection and tears.
Friends stood by, watching quietly. Sunset Shimmer hung her head low. Although she had healed Twilight's external injuries, the internal damage and its impact on Twilight's physical and mental health were inevitable. None of them knew what kind of effect this great disaster would have on Twilight. Perhaps, the position of princess, Celestia should reconsider...
"Creak—" The crystal door was pushed open, accompanied by a breathy sound that made the horses' ears twitch. A human and a Qilin walked in.
They didn't speak, just walked quietly over. The human was carrying a black leather case, slowly approaching Twilight.
"What do you want to do?! You've already hurt her enough!" Applejack angrily stood in front to block them. The human took a few steps back, looking at the Qilin with puzzled and reproachful eyes. Seeing this, the Qilin immediately stepped forward to explain, "This is a medical rescuer from our United Nations health organization..."
"I don't care what kind of rescuer you are! You humans are all liars! A bunch of selfish, vengeful sharp ghosts!" Rainbow Dash also rushed over, not caring about her actions, her hooves almost against the Qilin's horn.
The hall was very quiet. She didn't realize that her words had hurt the other horses present. Her heart was full of the one on the sickbed, her eyes burning with anger, the air between the two horses was more tense than nitrogen.
"Have you forgotten that I am also human, and so is my brother?" The Qilin didn't want to make it clear, but it seemed that not saying it would escalate the conflict. As expected, Rainbow Dash was speechless. She closed her mouth, breathing in anger, and slowly stepped aside to let the person pass. The person walked over and patted Celestia's shoulder, "Alright, Princess, let me do it."
Celestia nodded slightly, slowly got up, and two dark gray tear marks had already appeared from her eyes to the bridge of her nose. She slowly walked out of the crystal door. Perhaps, since she didn't want her favorite student to be hurt, she really should consider another choice...
Zheng Lin was pondering, with Sunset Shimmer leaning on his shoulder. He felt in a daze that humans should not have come to this planet at all, which would be a devastating blow to their race and culture. But his own race is in danger, who will care about so much. If it were the ponies, they might also do such things to other races. But all this seems to be frozen in place from yesterday.
"Now the case is jointly tried by the United Nations and the Equestria joint government. The case is of great importance, involving intentional injury and conspiracy to murder, among 17 other charges. Please judges, jurors, and clerks get ready."
A gavel fell, and the trial began.
"Please make a public prosecution statement."
Celestia and the other five ponies looked at the human with a heavy gaze sitting opposite.
"I am not guilty, I am only responsible for all the actions related to research and exploration in the area."
"Please make a statement for the prosecution."
"We saw him with our own eyes, harming innocent residents of our country. If it weren't for..."
"Okay." Celestia was interrupted, her face obviously much worse, she has never been so rude.
"According to the statements of both parties, the prosecution, the person behind your actions is a senior executive of the Solar System Alliance's Alpha Foundation. He should not have been involved in this matter, but he took fatal measures, and you and your secretary were helping him. Due to the process not being harmonious, you had a conflict. The court will not hear this matter, the rest will be dealt with according to the Chapter 2, Article 53 of the Throne Agreement, during the colonization process, any resident who insults, defames, falsely accuses, or frames the other party will be punished according to the agreed laws of both parties. Now, please let the ruler of the other party state how to deal with this crime according to your law if there is such a crime."
Celestia took a deep breath, "According to our country's law, they should be locked in the dungeon and never released to show their sins."
"Okay, according to the Planetary Colonization Management Council, the United Nations Security Council,..."
The five ponies who came with Celestia sighed in their hearts, where did so many meetings come from...
"...and other make a comprehensive arbitration, you should be sentenced to death according to our method, and execute immediately."
This decree not only made Celestia and the other five ponies gasp, she has never issued such a cruel decree.
"In line with the other party's decree, the court finally makes the following judgment: the prosecutor, Xiao Tian Xiongye, Fei Si Luo Ke, and all other personnel involved in this murder case, are sentenced to death, and the execution is postponed for one week."
Zheng Guofei sat next to Celestia, he didn't speak, just silently, sitting there.
This time, he did not perceive the faces of any of the people, for those who are about to be executed, this may be his greatest and final respect for them.
How to see, he has guessed through all the thoughts of his brother, all.
Now looking back, in exchange for just the two gunshots next week, slowly faded in Zheng Lin's heart. In bed, he listlessly flipped through the book on the side, the rest of the horses have gone home, he himself requested to stay in the castle for one night, his brother knows that he has become a Qilin, now wherever he goes it doesn't matter, it's just that every time he goes out he has to hang a GPS on his ear.
Looking at the soft purple figure on the sickbed, he couldn't help but blame himself and sympathize with Twilight's experience. He walked over and lay down with Twilight, lying on his side, looking at the starlight outside the window, secretly planning the meaning of life, the value of life, and some messy things he has never thought about.
Turned his head, Twilight's delicate face was gently placed on the bed like a cake, the gentle candlelight hit it, which made Zheng Lin feel lovely in his heart. Her chest rose and fell, just like a fairy sleeping, perhaps it was because she became a Qilin, which had a certain impact on her aesthetics, but she was beautiful from the bottom of her heart. Although most of her wings were cut off and wrapped in a few pale bandages, the soul cannot be locked up.
Closed his eyes, the hooves resting on the back of his head, slid down along, and came together with Twilight's, the shadows entwined, so warm.
In the morning, the tranquility was shattered by a scream, Zheng Lin was scared to jump up from the bed, no, he was lifted up by a circle of purple magic.
"What happened between us last night?!"
Looking at Twilight's panicked appearance, he couldn't help but find it a bit funny, "Come on, calm down first, put me down."
"Why?"
Zheng Lin gave her a look, if he had exposed her as a person, no, a horse, he originally thought she was quite calm, knowing this, he wouldn't have saved her.
A few horses in the Hall of Friendship rushed over at the sound, and the door was suddenly knocked open.
"What's wrong? Twilight, what happened?" Rainbow Dash rushed in hastily, seeing Zheng Lin being held in mid-air by Twilight, and was somewhat puzzled in her heart. Then, Sunset Shimmer came in and immediately persuaded upon seeing the situation, "Twilight, put him down quickly, he saved your life!" Rainbow Dash gave Sunset Shimmer a look, it seems she hasn't forgotten what she said to Zheng Lin fiercely yesterday.
"Oh? Is... is that so?" Twilight turned her gaze to the rest of the horses.
The rest of the horses nodded silently, Twilight sighed and put Zheng Lin down, "Uh... I'm sorry."
Zheng Lin patted the fur on his body and shook his front legs, "It's okay, I just stayed over, I can understand your situation, after all, you are a girl." Twilight blushed.
Suddenly, the cute symbols of all the horses present began to light up, and Zheng Lin felt itchy on his head. He looked in the mirror and found that the two arrow patterns on his horn were also glowing.
"A mission is coming." Twilight's eyes firmed up and she walked towards the cute map, and all the horses gathered around.
"What is it?" Zheng Lin scratched his horn, he didn't understand this strange thing of glowing happening to him.
"This is the cute map summoning you to do a friendship task, we usually deal with problems like this," Rarity explained.
Several cute symbols were hovering above that remote town, among which there was an unfamiliar identifier.
Then, a figure nearly half a body taller than the horses came over, "So, we all have to go?" Zheng Guofei pointed to the symbol on his left shoulder, and justice shone brightly. Twilight was startled to see something suddenly appear behind her, and wiped her eyes.
"Who are you..."
"The one who kidnapped your princess before," Zheng Guofei said bluntly.
Twilight fell silent again, obviously this sentence touched her pain point.
Zheng Lin saw this scene and felt helpless.
"Well, brother, actually you don't have to be like this."
"Okay, I'll tell you today, tell every higher being now, a monarch who dares not face his own faults is not a good monarch."
Seeing that he had said it to death, Zheng Lin had nothing more to say.
Sunset Shimmer stepped forward to argue, "Oh, come on, come on, what if this friendship task is very important?"
In a short while, the phone rang through the air. Zheng Guofei opened the window and dialed the phone.
The horses saw him nod several times in a row, and his expression suddenly became much brighter.
After hanging up the phone, a smile appeared on his face.
"What's the matter?" Zheng Lin asked.
"If you guys are willing, come out with me." Zheng Guofei replied, then walked towards the door.
Twilight was very puzzled, but they still followed Zheng Guofei to the main entrance.
They were stunned.
A division of the fleet stood neatly outside the castle, the symbols on their shoulders flashing white light regularly, the soldiers holding guns, standing as still as stone statues.
"Wow..." Twilight was already dumbfounded. "Is this... still a friendship task?" Applejack said.
Twilight shook her head and said firmly, "No matter what, you can't go like this, it will cause panic." The other bearers of the Elements of Harmony also nodded one after another.
The ones from the human world looked at each other, and finally looked at Zheng Lin. Zheng Guofei laughed, "You see, Princess, there is a solution here," he patted Zheng Lin's scales. Zheng Lin glanced at him.
Twilight thought in her heart that this was very unfeasible, because they hadn't found a way to turn them back into humans in this world, unless they could find a way to return here from another universe.
"No..." Twilight said in a low voice.
"But Twilight, the map summoned them," Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight hesitated for a moment, forget it, for the future of Equestria and friendship...
"Okay, bring them in..."
Twilight led the soldiers to the basement. At this time, Sunset Shimmer leaned against Zheng Lin and whispered, "Do you still remember how you felt when you were glowing that day?"
"What glow?" Seeing his confused look, Sunset Shimmer snickered.
In the town of Equality -
"How much did you seize?"
"These are all their immigrants, just daily necessities."
Looking at those humans who were completely stripped, Starlight Glimmer was very disdainful.
"Drive them out of town, having them stay here is just a burden." After saying that, she turned and walked towards the town center.
"Okay." Then several ponies came up and surrounded the remaining humans.
Among them, a few men shouted indignantly, "The United Nations will never let you go!"
The rest of the people also chimed in: "Right!" "You'll see when the time comes!"
Starlight heard these words from a distance and sneered, "Hum, they, I really want to see what they can do..."
Back in the town hall, she sat leisurely in front of the desk, opened a parchment scroll, and there was a list of various items, half of which had been marked with red checks.
She sighed, as if letting go of all the pressure of the day, carefully appreciating the completed parts on the list, and kept muttering in her mouth, "Next... who should it be..."
Then, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door, and she had to sit up straight in the chair to maintain her image and straighten her clothes. "Knock knock knock -"
"Come in." Starlight put away the books and pens on the table, looked up, and was on guard.
The one who came in was not a pony, she had snow-white fur, but was covered by a black cloak for most of it, with thin spines and sharp claws on her limbs, her eyes narrowed like a cat's, staring at Starlight, her tail was a thin white whip, and what surprised Starlight even more was that she had antlers and wings like a deer.
"Who are you?" Starlight saw that the visitor was not friendly, and a light blue magic glowed on her horn.
"My name is Snow Wind, the ruler of the Phosphorus Leopards." She took off her hat, and her hair fell from her neck.
"What do you want here?!" Starlight frowned tightly, afraid that the other party would make any moves.
"Don't be like this, I'm just here for help."
Hearing this, Starlight couldn't help but be suspicious, observing the other party's eyes, she felt that the other party seemed to have no hostility, so she slightly let go of her attack.
"What can I help you with?" Starlight asked.
The other party's horn glowed with a white light, and several photos appeared in front of Starlight, she said, "These are pictures of humans destroying our kingdom. Our Phosphorus Leopards originally lived on the other side of the Endless Forest, very far from here, but since humans came, they have cut down the trees around the Endless Forest to build their houses. Our kingdom's alliance was very fragile to begin with, only individuals are relatively strong, but most Phosphorus Leopards are very harsh when it comes to unity, and those who can unite are the elite of the troops. Now humans have started to colonize our borders, which has caused panic among our residents. Our military equipment is far from enough to resist humans. They have slaughtered a large number of Phosphorus Leopards for biological research, and we have to seek help from the outside world. And this is the only larger pony settlement we have found so far."
Hearing this, Starlight's little abacus in her heart was clattering. If these monsters are sincerely asking for her help, then she can take this opportunity to eliminate humans, the biggest stumbling block. If not...
"I don't quite understand your society." A word from the Phosphorus Leopard interrupted Starlight's thoughts.
"Here... is this your pony's political center?"
When the Phosphorus Leopard asked this question, Starlight suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Yes, that's right." Now she nodded like a garlic pestle, and her whole body relaxed.
"What will your people do next?"
Starlight pretended to be concerned and asked, eager to make use of the stupid monster in front of her, of course, and her miserable kingdom.
"If you don't mind, can we stay here for a while now, and you can tell me directly if you have any needs."
"Okay, okay, how many are there?" Starlight asked eagerly.
The other party hesitated for a moment, a worried look on her face: "There are about 200,000 from the Kingdom of Crete and the Kingdom of Aiphelek, and the rulers of the other two allied kingdoms have not yet made a decision to seek external assistance. However, we won't station so many at once. If you agree, we can first send soldiers to build houses at the location you designate."
Starlight was overjoyed inside, "Okay, okay, you can start now, I'll talk to the residents... no, citizens later."
The Phosphorus Leopard's face showed a grateful expression, "Thank you, in the future, no matter what difficulties your noble has, please tell me, and I will solve them for you."
After the Phosphorus Leopard left, Starlight sneered in the room, talking to herself: "One day, I will turn the whole of Equestria into my town."
She laughed out loud, as if the shadow in her heart had spread thousands of miles away...
"Z, what do you think is still inappropriate?"
The doctor thought for a while, it's not that he doesn't have a star ship, but the United Nations does not approve the mobilization, and now another country has intervened, which is not easy to handle.
"How is the energy collection team doing?"
"They have driven away some of the monsters there, but the losses are relatively large."
"What happened?"
The assistant sat down, spread out a report, and looked at the doctor with a concentrated look.
"The ambassador we sent from the 3014 fleet..."
The doctor stopped him, knowing Jie Luoke's style, but he is indeed his honest and loyal subordinate, just with a violent temper.
The assistant looked back and heard footsteps coming from outside the door, "Doctor, it's time for your medicine."
"Hmm -" The doctor propped himself up, "Okay, tell Andyo to be gentle."
The assistant looked puzzled: "So you are in the operation..."
"Yes, family is a very complicated thing, we always put it before friendship, right?"
The assistant nodded and handed him the medicine.
Crystal Castle Basement -
The soldiers stood neatly in two rows, although they were curious about the mirror in front of them.
"Okay, Zheng Lin, go ahead and say it, what to do." Yu Hui pushed Zheng Lin, Zheng Lin rolled his eyes and walked forward.
Zheng Guofei leaned against the wall, looking at the ponies on the side, they were holding their breath and watching Zheng Lin explain to the soldiers next to the mirror, he was actually quite curious himself, just worried about something going wrong, these are all living people.
"... That's the specific situation." Zheng Lin finished speaking and sighed, "Now, you guys, the first group." He raised his hoof to signal the head of the line to pass through the mirror.
The two soldiers had a serious look on their faces and approached the magic mirror side by side.
Just as the stream of light radiated from the contact surface, all the creatures present were on edge, Zheng Guofei stood straight and straightened his clothes, Twilight was nervously sweating, before this, she had adjusted the mirror, but she couldn't guarantee 100% that there would be no mistakes, since humans came to Equestria, the space-time here has been distorted, and the crossing has been interfered with, so, if it weren't for being forced, she wouldn't do such a thing like humans.
The two soldiers gradually stepped in, and the light disappeared behind them. When the last hoof disappeared, there was only a faint undulating breath in the hall.
Zheng Lin counted silently, unlike the other horses, his face was relaxed, as if he was enjoying a one-man show.
"Ten..."
"Nine..."
"Eight..."
Yu Hui looked at Zheng Lin.
"Seven..."
"Six..."
The soldiers' brows began to lock.
"Five..."
"Four..."
Sweat mixed with a strong sodium chloride dripped from Twilight's face, blossoming into crystal flowers on the ground.
"Three..."
"Two..."
A faint light slowly emerged from the mirror, two blue hooves with light color gradients stretched out like lotus heads, two Qilins with purple-red horns on their heads, wearing dark armor, walked out solemnly.
This scene made Zheng Major slightly shocked. He glanced at Twilight, who obviously relaxed a lot, the experiment was successful.
Zheng Lin nodded slightly and said, "Okay, let's do it this way now, I'll go out first, and Princess Twilight will keep an eye on it here."
Twilight Sparkle threw a reproachful look at Zheng Lin, he ignored herself and walked straight out the door.
Zheng Guofei saw this and also waved to Twilight, following Zheng Lin out.
————————————————
The two leaned against the wall, sat down, the faint light submerged the corridor, and the dust flew like snow.
"Dad... is he really dead..."
Zheng Guofei heard the sensitive word "death," and felt a bit sad. After all, in military families, such things are very common during the war.
He patted Zheng Lin on the back, stroking his armor, "No matter whether he is dead or alive, he doesn't want you to ask like this, right?"
Zheng Lin raised his head, his wooden pupils were wet, and a layer of frost was applied in the only few floating lights.
Zheng Guofei sighed, put his head close to his horn, they hugged each other, listening to each other's heartbeats, heavy.
The door was opened.
Yu Hui came out and saw this scene, and he didn't feel good about speaking, but seeing the situation was urgent, he stammered, "Well... Major Zheng, it's your turn."
Zheng Guofei kissed Zheng Lin's forehead, "It's okay, I'll go first, I don't know what I will become yet."
Zheng Lin smiled, tears flowing down from the corners of his eyes.
They separated, Zheng Guofei stood up, nodded to Yu Hui, and then Yu Hui took him in, to the front door she looked at Zheng Lin again, "Do you want to..."
"No, Yu Hui, thank you, it's not necessary."
Hearing this, Yu Hui felt inexplicably gratified in his heart, but there was also a hint of desolation, and he walked in without saying a word.
Zheng Lin's mind was full of clouds at this time, he was doubting himself, whether he had really seen his father, as a warrior, maybe he shouldn't think about these.
He stood up and walked down the corridor.
Here... it's really like Earth...
Suddenly, a yellow figure flashed in front of him, and he immediately became alert.
"Who?" He approached slowly, stepping carefully, feeling his way cautiously.
That figure hid in a corner.
Zheng Lin immediately followed.
It was a dead end. When he approached the wall, he turned around, pulled out a dagger from his satchel with his mouth, and pressed her to the ground fiercely behind the yellow figure, a muffled sound from a woman came into Zheng Lin's ears.
Then, the other party's solo brightened.
"Yu Hui? Why are you following me?"
Zheng Lin still pressed Yu Hui without letting go.
"Hmm... I was just worried about you..."
Yu Hui wriggled, but still couldn't break free.
"Oh, it really makes you worried, but it's best not to do this in the future."
Zheng Lin looked at Yu Hui with raised eyebrows, put his hoof back, and put the dagger into his satchel.
"Are they done?"
Zheng Lin walked out of the corner, and Yu Hui followed closely.
"Yes, they are." "How long will it take to go to that small village."
Yu Hui looked puzzled at Zheng Lin, "That's not a town..."
"It's so small, it's not even a village, it's more like a primitive tribe, did your princess friend say anything?"
Zheng Lin turned to look at Yu Hui, the haziness in his eyes dissipated by three points.
Then, a thrilling urgent hooves came from the other side of the corridor.
Zheng Lin frowned tightly, looking at that direction.
Rainbow Dash rushed over and shouted to the two of them, "Zheng Lin, come quickly! Come see your brother! Something happened!"
Zheng Lin immediately rushed over with Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash said while flying, "Your brother has become something that even Princess Twilight can't recognize."
He was shocked in his heart, and his heart was wandering back and forth, uneasy. The soldiers should be locals, and they would become Qilins, so... how could... Zheng Guofei...
He knocked on the door, and the soldiers immediately made way, leading directly to that creature.
Zheng Lin's eyes widened, and a black and white figure appeared among the horses.
"What is this..."
Twilight and Yu Hui looked at Zheng Lin together, their doubts mixed with worries.
"White Tiger"
————————————
Starlight was stunned.
She had never seen such an army. The underestimating mentality suddenly disappeared, and she was constantly regretting it. This group of monsters had already threatened her leadership position.
Two teams of Phosphorus Leopards were entering the town, each wearing crystal armor, with blue light surrounding the knees, gold bands on the helmets, and a red gemstone with a halo of light on the forehead.
They held swords and spears, neat and uniform, the white blades shining in the setting sun.
Looking at Starlight's surprised appearance, Snow Wind felt puzzled: "Isn't your army like this?"
Starlight then came to her senses and hurriedly said, "Ah... yes, that's right, they are training in another place now."
This sentence made Starlight feel a lot more confident, but she had never considered what the result would be, and she never cared.
"Oh... is that so." A Phosphorus Leopard officer trotted over, "Commander, the army is ready."
Snow Wind nodded slightly and turned to Starlight, "Our army is ready, please designate a location."
Starlight swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Okay... okay." She pointed to a piece of wasteland next to the town, "That's the Equal Field, the citizens generally won't go there, you can build houses there."
"Okay, thank you." He turned and conveyed it to the commander.
Starlight breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the town hall.
"This is..."
"White Tiger."
"Tiger?" Two Fluttershys hid behind Twilight, trembling and asking.
Zheng Lin was speechless, he had already said it twice.
"Ah, yes, yes, okay, now you just need to think that my brother is normal now, so if people and horses are all here, can we set off?"
Ma Mu nodded and led her friends out of the hall.
Zheng Guofei and Zheng Lin looked at each other and followed with the soldiers.
They just walked, not saying anything.
Silence between them.
Friends seemed to start realizing that Twilight had changed, she now locked her mind tightly, and now not a beam of light could be cast in, of course, a trace of darkness was also invisible.
More concern is now superfluous for Twilight, she herself has entered a state of vigilance, this state has been quietly growing in her heart since humans arrived here, and now it has spread all over her body, starting to affect the surrounding horses.
Yu Hui was also worried, but he felt that he couldn't do anything, now he can only rely on himself, maybe there will be an unprecedented battle later, and he can only respond calmly, he has almost placed his hope on Zheng Lin.
At this time, Zheng Lin was also very tired in his heart, like Zheng Guofei, he was pondering what the United Nations would think about this, and now there is a group of scientific elites gathered in the laboratory studying the so-called magic of the local area and integrating this energy into the mass-energy equation and the tools used by humans, if they knew, they would definitely send troops, and when the time comes, the Security Council would not pass, Celestia did not agree to human interference in internal affairs.
After a long time, the green floor was replaced by bare rocks, and the sand was everywhere, "It's here."
Twilight said.
Zheng Guofei glanced at Zheng Lin, and Zheng Lin understood and commanded the soldiers, "Four columns come out!"
"Yes!"
"Set up camp! Deploy artillery coverage and radar!"
"No! Don't set up the radar, the Foundation will intervene desperately if they know."
Zheng Guofei shouted loudly, which scared the horses present, it was as loud as thunder.
"But... this is a mission of friendship, not a war."
Twilight said weakly.
"Oh? Is that so, then why didn't you doubt when you saw these soldiers being summoned by your map at the beginning? Now you come to tell me?" Zheng Guofei turned to Ma Mu, showing a fierce look. This almost shattered the last line of defense in her heart, and when Zheng Guofei turned around to arrange the camp, her face began to change uncontrollably, an indescribable torrent rushed to her brain, and a hoof suddenly reached her shoulder.
She didn't turn her head, and her heart kept suggesting that it would be okay to get through this period, but this thought was abruptly blocked by a sentence.
"The Colonel's feeling is that this mission will cost lives."
She turned around fiercely, it was Zheng Lin.
"How could it be, the map never..."
"But we didn't come before."
Twilight was silent, Zheng Lin came over and sat down.
"Think about it, the growth of your country and war, and then look at this time, how insignificant."
She looked up at Zheng Lin, her eyes twinkling, "But Equestria has enjoyed thousands of years of peace, usually it's me and my friends who solve..."
"Right, this is the biggest problem with your country." Zheng Lin mercilessly interrupted Twilight, the sound of glass breaking echoed in the air, "Born in distress, die in ease, your kingdom is easy to perish, if one day, your monarch, your teacher passes away, the security of the entire kingdom will fall into a deep crisis."
After the last sentence came out, she could no longer bear Zheng Lin's serious topic and the worry about the country's crisis, with the huge pressure on her heart, she wanted to cry, to cry heartily, to wash away all the things she had experienced in the past few days, she would rather have never been born, lived, she lay on his shoulder, splashing her dissatisfaction from memory...
In the town center -
Starlight was in the town hall attic, her heart was not clear whether it was surprise or fear. They may be a bunch of trouble, because from the current situation, her own arms can't control them at all.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
She turned her head fiercely and saw that it was Snow Wind.
She stammered, "Nothing... nothing... how about your side?"
Snow Wind nodded, "The soldiers have been settled, I think we should garrison a few lines of defense, oh right, have any humans come here recently?"
Hearing this, Starlight gradually thought of the immigrants she had dealt with yesterday, and the cushion in her heart gradually piled up, "Oh, yes, I drove them out, they are also immigrants." Snow Wind's face showed a satisfied smile, "Ha, it seems that you ponies also hate those guys as much as we do, I believe that our two races will be able to get along very well in the future." Starlight also nodded in agreement and watched her walk out of the room, then let out a sigh of relief.
Looking at the whole town, she couldn't help but feel that the left plain was too empty, it was not the Equal Field, just a wasteland, and the mountain facing that piece of land was the warehouse of the cute symbol.
Why not go for a walk to distract myself.
Walking on the central street, she put on a smile again and walked towards the wasteland alone, ripples began to rise in her mind...
"Little Pumpkin, where are you?"
"Guess?"
"Oh, if you don't tell me, I won't be able to find you."
"Hahahahaha."
"The weather is good today, do you want to eat ice cream?"
"Okay."
"Well then... "
"Dad, look, where is Yao Yao going?"
"Oh, it's like this..."
Then, her eyes became sharp, what was that...
She climbed the slope and walked towards the square building.
Suddenly, a group of monsters she had never seen before came out of the building, and a closer look revealed that the leader was... a black and white tiger!
Starlight was puzzled in her heart, it's not far from the Endless Forest here, could it be the monsters from there?
She approached a bit, sneaking into the nearest tent, but a sound from inside the tent made her suddenly wake up -
"Radio F10012 [indistinct voice] We are the second patrol team, and we have not found any non-human creatures in the jurisdiction area, [indistinct voice] wait, she's in the tent!"
Her heart began to beat rapidly, her horn lit up, a huge energy began to gather... "Charge!"
With a kick of her hind legs, she jumped out fiercely, and launched the fatal blow, she saw clearly that she had hit them, but was blocked by a strong magic, and the shockwave spread mercilessly.
"Control her! Signalman! Go and call the main force!" A command that shook the heavens and the earth came from behind those monsters, which made Starlight also feel fear, she was running back desperately, raising dust, and frantically fighting back.
"Ah!" A strong recoil came, hitting her face, Starlight fell to the ground, seeing several fully armed monsters approaching her with something like a square block, gritting her teeth, she used a teleportation spell and went to the center of the town.
The dust dissipated, "How is she? Male or female?"
"Captain! She ran away!"
Zheng Guofei was shocked, calling all the soldiers to launch an emergency combat mode, and took full control of the area...
Command Post Dormitory -
"Twilight... is she better now?"
"She's sleeping soundly..." Zheng Lin gently leaned Twilight's head on the pillow and covered her.
"Let's go, let her be quiet, we humans also have times when we can't bear the pressure."
Yu Hui nodded and went out with Zheng Lin.
When they walked outside, the wind and sand were blowing, the defense line and armor were lined up, and the soldiers were holding their guns and advancing in step.
Yu Hui hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"
Zheng Guofei frowned and took them to the front line, pointing to the opposite side.
The two horses came forward and were shocked to see many creatures they had never seen before on the mountain opposite, mixed with dozens of ponies, but obviously, those creatures were more well-equipped and detailed.
"Wait, Major Zheng! Don't fight first!" A hurried footsteps came from their side - it was Twilight's friends and the ones from the human world, "In a situation like this, we should call Twilight to deal with it together, instead of directly using force!" Rainbow Dash rushed forward, and all the horses looked at Zheng Guofei, falling into deep thought.
- Chapter 3: Tactical Game [IV]: Equalization Campaign II
Zheng Guofei hesitated for a moment, his mind was heavy, if he wanted to fight (I believe you definitely want to see it start), then this war would be the first direct conflict with the local creatures on this planet, the strength of the other side is unknown, there is a certain risk.
Yu Hui saw Zheng Guofei's silence for a long time and said, "Major Zheng, do you need to ask for the opinion of the United Nations? If we do this, we not only have a safety net, but there may also be the possibility of negotiation."
Major Zheng looked at Yu Hui and then at the soldiers, "Okay." Then he turned around and called Charles out to find the radio, all the horses followed Zheng Guofei to face the huge screen, he handed over the standoff battlefield to Zheng Lin, trying to delay time.
In the tent, because hooves can't type on the keyboard, Charles was reporting their current situation to the United Nations embassy in a hurry with voice, the embassy has no actual power to move troops, and still needs to report to the Permanent Council.
In the end, the embassy asked for their location, Charles opened the map, copied and uploaded the location information, then the embassy connected them to the Standing Committee.
At the standoff battlefield -
The air between the two armies began to solidify, the soldiers of both sides were staring at the enemy, afraid to miss a move of the other side's soldiers. Zheng Lin sat in front of the troops, with shield soldiers behind him, if there were any arrows or other weapons shot at him, he could be protected in time.
It lasted for about 5 minutes, and Starlight couldn't bear it, she urgently asked Han Feng in a low voice, "Why haven't we started yet, let's do it."
Han Feng explained, "Don't worry, we'll react when they make a move, we know the terrain better than them, and we are not inferior in terms of troop strength." Starlight was speechless, she had no experience in leading soldiers into battle, even under the protection of powerful magic, she had to be vigilant when facing an unfathomable enemy, Han Feng as a leader, to survive on the front line, she had to listen to her.
In the tent -
The representatives of the conference organized the materials.
"Hello, Captain Zheng, we will now vote on this war. Although you have been authorized to use the military on your own, it is still the fairest and most appropriate choice to report to the United Nations. In addition, to ensure fairness and openness, we have connected with Princess Celestia to hold the vote together, as a temporary decision-making country, the vote is passed by 2/3, and we hope for a peaceful resolution."
After the Secretary-General finished speaking, six blue windows appeared in the air, which were representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council and Princess Celestia.
Yu Hui paid special attention to the window of the cosmic princess, and she didn't seem to be surprised by this thing in front of her eyes, which seemed to have a reason, and could be explained from a personal perspective: human magic, or human tricks.
Start voting.
At the standoff battlefield -
Starlight's nerves were taut, she couldn't stand it anymore, she endured her dissatisfaction with Han Feng in her heart and asked, "Is there no other way besides waiting? I don't want to just wait around."
"This is the most basic common sense in fighting a war, if the other side doesn't move, there must be an ambush, if they play any tricks, we will be finished."
Starlight got angry, "Whether I have led soldiers into battle or not, I have never seen you so cowardly!"
Han Feng looked at Starlight with a puzzled and unbelievable expression, and saw her walk to the front of the team and shout, "Guardians of Equality! Take your weapons! Charge with me!"
Zheng Lin saw the other side moving, as if they were going to lead the troops to charge, and immediately stood up, "Everyone be alert!" The first row of shields was opened again, and the bullets were reloaded, the sound of metal colliding echoed in the air again.
"Charge!!!!!" At Starlight's command, the little horses in the team rushed forward with wooden shields and spears, Zheng Lin saw that the other side was also desperate, but he thought again, the result of the United Nations vote hasn't come out yet, he can't start killing first, so he ------
"Shield soldiers line up! Ionization railgun ready!" The troop system started to operate, Han Feng looked at the changes in the other side's military formation, and her heart couldn't help but feel a knot.
Starlight led the little horses to rush forward with all her strength, firing lasers, but they were all blocked outside the shield, the shields of the Qilins were too tight.
A bright cannon barrel gradually appeared in the center of their field of vision, Starlight's heart climbed up a bit of fear, looking at the black muzzle, Starlight only felt the approach of fear.
It's within range.
"Fire!"
Suddenly, a flash of electric light appeared, and a blue light flashed out from the black muzzle, the little horses only felt a numbness all over their bodies, and the weapons manipulated by magic all fell weakly to the ground, Starlight was leading the team at the front, and was ejected several meters away by the shock wave, a smell of burnt protein filled the air.
"Round up the prisoners!"
A group of Qilins quickly moved to the battlefield from the rear, the shield soldiers stepped aside, and hundreds of black gun holes like just now were aimed at the enemy. Now Han Feng had no choice, she couldn't take her two thousand elite soldiers to die, she was very entangled, watching Starlight being taken away, her heart deepened the hatred, in her feeling, Starlight was an impatient person, but a beloved monarch, which made her feel deeply regretful.
The shield soldiers tied up the little horses from the town of equality and buckled them on the central radar column of the base, and some were put into temporary detention rooms.
When Zheng Lin was tidying up the military, Zheng Guofei and his team came with the voting results, seeing that there were fewer troops on the other side, and the scattered weapons on the open ground, Zheng Guofei knew what had happened.
He said to Zheng Lin, "They started it first?"
Zheng Lin nodded and explained that the situation was urgent at the time and he didn't report to him in time, and non-lethal weapons were used. He pointed to the tied prisoners.
Zheng Guofei nodded and discussed the voting results with the team leaders, finally, Zheng Lin had two commandos walk to the center of the lawn and started shouting at the Phosphorus Leopard army, "Hello, brothers... enemies! You good! We believe you are an elite division, and pay attention to etiquette before the army, after our internal discussion, we can have a peaceful negotiation! We don't want to provoke trouble either!"
Since there was no microphone, he had to shout at the top of his lungs.
Han Feng heard what he said clearly, but he still didn't move his troops, at this time it was often the most likely to be deceived.
Zheng Lin saw that there was no response from the other side, and they didn't seem to be attacking, so he told Major Zheng, and had to let the soldiers remain vigilant and defend.
A purple figure came rushing from the red side of the troops - it was Twilight.
She came up and asked Zheng Lin in a rough tone, "Did you just launch an attack?"
Zheng Lin said with a frown, "It was a small part that suddenly launched an attack, but you don't have to worry, they are not dead, over there." He took Twilight to the column where the prisoners were tied up and showed her around, saying, "They are just unconscious, and they can be questioned in a while."
Twilight said angrily, "But this is a mission of friendship! The horse injury incident could have been avoided!"
Zheng Lin sighed, he really didn't want to bring up that matter again, otherwise it would be a bit like his brother's demeanor - "Princess Twilight, do you remember what day it is today?"
"Friday, what's the matter?" Twilight's answer was still mixed with anger.
"Two weeks ago, what did you and your friends do? What did we say?"
Twilight was silent.
But Zheng Lin was slightly angered: "Perhaps, you have never had people die in your previous missions, but we do!" Then he began to list, his voice getting louder and angrier: "Titan Battle 300,000 people! Mars Battle 400,000 people! Oil War 300,000 people! Those soldiers who died were all killed while on missions!!! Including my father!!!!!!!"
Then, his tone softened down, looking at Twilight, the corners of his eyes were filled with crystal-like tears. He sighed, wiped the corners of her eyes, and said, "Don't be like this, this is the second time you have cried since you came here, sometimes, you have to look at things from an objective angle, which is cruel, but sometimes you have to face some things."
Zheng Lin said, his line of sight in his own eyes also began to blur, sobbing: "Just like... my father... I don't know him."
Speaking of this, Twilight hugged Zheng Lin, the warm current surged from the front half of his body into his heart, the soft fur was like velvet and was closely attached to his face, the sound of sobbing and regret echoed in his ears: "I'm... sorry... everything will get better."
Yu Hui has been watching on the side, she was planning to call them, but after seeing the whole process, she felt it was better to wait for the two to calm down before disturbing them, after all, at that time, it is estimated that the enemy will have new movements.
[If you think it's okay, please give me a thumbs up~]
"How long are these beasts going to stare at us?"
"How should I know, in case they suddenly rush into your tent at night and wipe you out?"
A conversation between two soldiers.
It has been half an hour, although Zheng Guofei can still endure it, the military is already full of discussions.
Han Feng saw that the enemy was still, coupled with the human initiative for peace talks before, his heart softened, but when she thought about it, if a peace talk could solve it, who will pay for the previous price?
Zheng Guofei decided to have another peace talk, if it fails, he will resolutely fulfill the "Throne Agreement", withdraw the troops, and let Princess Celestia deal with this matter, but if the other party takes the initiative to attack, then how to fight will be how to fight, in the just voting, the United Nations specifically mentioned this matter, and Princess Celestia also agreed.
This time he led the team himself, followed by a few elite soldiers he usually trained specially, in his words, it was to prevent any mishaps.
He went straight to the front of the Phosphorus Leopard army and asked to meet with the leader of the Phosphorus Leopard army.
Han Feng pondered a hundred times, discussed a few words in a low voice with a few generals beside her, and then walked to the front of the team and said, "Okay, but I demand that you withdraw your troops from this area." She hesitated for a moment, looked at the soldiers behind her: "Including our country and Equestria."
Hearing the first half, Zheng Guofei felt okay, the second half was a bit inexplicable, he asked: "No... What are you talking about?"
Han Feng thought the other party was pretending, and repeated her words loudly again.
Major Zheng felt very puzzled in his heart, and continued to ask: "I'm sorry to ask again, how do you know we have some kind of origin with humans?"
Han Feng grinned, "I saw it." Suddenly, she drew out her sword and stabbed towards Major Zheng, and a shield ejected suddenly - it was the soldier behind.
"Only humans make such strange things." Han Feng retreated to the troops, and without any affection, ordered: "No matter how powerful they are, go up!"
The Phosphorus Leopard soldiers received the news, the shield soldiers lined up in front, and the spears were set up from the gaps, this set of movements was neat and fast, and the sound was so consistent.
Zheng Guofei frowned tightly, "Back off! Back off!"
The Qilins saw the enemy was ready for weapons, and they were all alert, lining up.
At this time, Zheng Lin and Twilight rushed up from behind the team, and saw the enemy approaching fiercely, and his brother was desperately retreating with two soldiers.
Twilight saw this, and said anxiously, "What are you still doing? Save your brother first!"
Zheng Lin chuckled, "Don't worry, do you think their speed can catch up?"
Sure enough, Zheng Guofei returned to the team early, and said to Zheng Lin, "Do you know what to do?"
Zheng Lin nodded confidently and commanded the soldiers, "Assault soldiers split on both sides! Attack the enemy's left and right wings!" He seemed to feel the unease in Twilight's heart, turned to look at Twilight, and said, "It seems that this time, there will have to be some sacrifices."
Twilight's face looked bad, and she said weakly, "I understand..."
Then Zheng Lin continued to shout to the rear camp: "Gamma rays and traditional artillery!"
A huge, inhumanely shiny steel car drove up, pointing the energy-gathering barrel at the Macedonian phalanx. Just at this time, the assault soldiers on both sides began to attack.
In the Phosphorus Leopard team -
"They are attacking from both sides!!! Shield soldiers!!!!"
"It's not working! They need to defend the front!!!"
Han Feng was anxious in the team, shouting at the top of her voice: "Form a circle!!!! Shield soldiers disperse!!!! Form a circle!!!!"
When the front troops reacted, a large number of spearmen had already fallen to the ground. On the grassland filled with the smell of burnt flesh, three large circles of Phosphorus Leopards appeared, defending the assault soldiers on the spot.
Two groups of assault soldiers lined up densely on the grassland, raising their guns.
"Don't shoot!!!" Zheng Lin shouted, and the soldiers held their guns, motionless.
He walked down the slope and shouted at the Phosphorus Leopard troops: "Now I give you another chance! We can minimize the casualties!"
Han Feng came out of the defense, and during the just assault, a laser beam brushed past her right side, scorching her wings, which are still sizzling, she endured the pain, "Our homeland has been devastated by you, our country is in danger! Just now, we have no home to return to!" She took out a scroll, on which were written a few small golden characters.
Zheng Lin stepped forward and said with concern, "I don't know how we have devastated your country, but you might as well let me take a look at this scroll, maybe this way we can better understand the mistakes we have made."
Han Feng's eyes were full of vigilance, she felt that Zheng Lin's hand of understanding did not seem to have any ill intent, but she was still very cautious, and controlled the scroll to throw it to Zheng Lin from a distance of a few meters.
Zheng Lin nodded in thanks, then he opened the scroll -
"To the respected King of the Cold Wind, the Kingdom of Aiphelek has brought you some unfortunate news.
In the continuous struggle for three weeks, the subordinates and residents you left behind have shown extraordinary unity and courage, but with the joint efforts of three kingdoms, today, the capital of your kingdom - Malens has been captured and occupied by humans, they are still wantonly exploiting resources and enslaving Phosphorus Leopards, hoping that your expedition can bring back a result that will make the remaining four kingdoms feel relieved, at the same time, in the next resistance, we will also try our best to protect the homeland of the Phosphorus Leopard and jointly fight against the humans.
King of Crete, Narsi
King of Aiphelek, Surge of the Sea
Chief of the Federal Commonwealth, Phisok
Alliance of Goutlens, Klimel"
Zheng Lin was stunned after reading, "Three weeks?" He pondered over this word in his heart, calculating the length of time they had been here.
"Have you seen enough?!" Han Feng said angrily, Zheng Lin looked up at Han Feng and said seriously, "General, I think this matter has nothing to do with us, can we all put down our weapons and have a good talk."
Han Feng heard that this matter related to the survival of the Phosphorus Leopard had nothing to do with the people in front of her, and her anger surged. When she glanced at the scorched soldiers, her own personal guards were all crawling among those stinking corpses, the firewall in her heart broke, she endured the immense hatred and pain, and finally squeezed out a sentence from her mouth: "Okay, I agree."
Zheng Lin heard the other party's agreement and waved for the soldiers to put down their guns, but then Han Feng spoke again: "No! They have to throw that thing away!"
Zheng Lin hesitated, but this didn't stump him, "Okay!" he said decisively, "Director of Military Equipment! Collect all the soldiers' guns!" The soldiers looked at each other, every expression seemed to say he was crazy, seeing the soldiers unresponsive, he strengthened his tone and shouted, "Quickly!"
The captain who collected the guns took the laser guns from the row of soldiers and handed them over to the director of military equipment.
Zheng Lin looked at Han Feng and saw her sigh, she said, "Disarm!" The soldiers threw their weapons on the ground one after another and followed the general into the base with Zheng Lin.
Zheng Lin winked at Yu Hui, Yu Hui understood, signaling the friends on both sides to follow quietly, without making too much noise.
[If you think it's okay, please give me a thumbs up~]
They walked into the base together, and when they arrived at the door, Zheng Guofei waved his hand behind him, Zheng Lin understood, and said to Han Feng, "Please ask your subordinates to go out, and we will do the same."
He raised his eyebrows, Han Feng stopped the soldiers behind her, and whispered an order: "I'll go, you guys don't come."
Zheng Guofei nodded, led Han Feng into the room.
This is a plastic shed with strict monitoring in all four corners, with several simple tables spread out side by side.
Two horses and a tiger chose a few positions to sit on the ground, and the conversation began:
"According to the information I just learned, you know us as the ones who are destroying your home?" asked the major.
Han Feng suppressed her inner dissatisfaction and replied, "Yes, isn't it obvious enough?" She placed the scroll on the table and opened it.
The major took the scroll and looked at it carefully, saying, "You are the Phosphorus Leopards? Is there a record at the VISTA Center?" He looked at Zheng Lin.
Zheng Lin opened the window and swiped in the air a few times, shaking his head.
Han Feng stared at Zheng Guofei, "What, don't believe it?"
"I really don't believe it." Zheng Guofei said hastily, "However, you may take us to your place, we are trustworthy."
"By what?" Han Feng asked sharply.
"If we were what you said, we wouldn't have left those prisoners, let alone." He leaned over the table, "We are on the defensive."
Han Feng was silent, if she did as they said, and the other party suddenly turned against them, then she would become the sinner of her hometown.
She used magic to take back the scroll and looked at it herself.
No... It's absolutely impossible...
"How about it?" Zheng Guofei pressed.
"Okay." She replied firmly, "I agree. I'll take you there."
Zheng Guofei nodded, "Then let's set off tomorrow? Your soldiers are also tired, if you still feel the need to be on guard against us, we don't mind if you go back to the slope just now to rest."
Han Feng was stunned, now she was indeed still on guard against this group of 'mutants', but compared with before, it was much smoother, maybe staying here tonight is the best way to test trust...
After a long time, she looked at Zheng Lin. Zheng Guofei chuckled, looked at Zheng Lin. He nodded, led Han Feng out of the shed, found a soldier standing by the wall, and asked, "Charles, do we have any spare tents, arrange for the general and her soldiers."
"Yes, follow me." Han Feng and Zheng Lin followed, came to an open space, at the edge of the base, near the communication station, there were several folding tents of different sizes stacked up.
"Do you need help setting it up?" Zheng Lin turned to Han Feng.
"No." Han Feng still held that majestic tone.
"Okay, let's go." Zheng Lin looked at Charles and walked towards the center of the base together.
Han Feng exhaled, looked at the sun in the sky, and silently closed her eyes.
In the evening, bonfires had already been lit around the Phosphorus Leopard tents, and the scorching red light was splashed on the grass.
Zheng Lin was in the communication station, watching, and a slight breath came from behind him.
Because the resource supply in the base was originally only enough for the army to use, now there are more than a dozen horses, and some resources have been allocated to the Phosphorus Leopards, so the military is inevitably more crowded.
Originally, he had a private room, but now he had to give up half of the bed, Major Zheng became a tiger, ah, no, a white tiger, and his body size increased several times, and he rested on the stools in the hall with some soldiers.
He looked back at the sleeping Twilight, and her friends were lying across the sofa opposite, the five little horses said they would give the best place to the princess to sleep, and his half of the bed was still hard-won, as for those who came back from the human world, they slept in his brother's room.
Zheng Lin hesitated for a moment, slowly leaned on one side of the bed, leaned back against Twilight. A few minutes later, he suddenly felt a chill on his ribs, a hard and furry object was placed on it.
Zheng Lin was startled in his heart - it was Twilight's hoof.
'Well, forget it, I haven't had a night like this before...'
ARF Technology Research Institute-----
Z held a freshly prepared cup of coffee in his hand and sat alone on the rooftop terrace. The afterglow of the sunset shone into the room, casting a dark shadow behind him.
"You know, a warrior who has just escaped from purgatory will only miss his comrades, he will not miss the battlefield." He said to his assistant.
The assistant nodded and said, "Doctor, we have calculated the trajectory of the particle-like life form through the quantum computer this time..."
Z interrupted and said, "Don't tell the United Nations first, let them figure it out themselves."
Then, he sighed and said, "Okay, what else is there?"
"We have also deduced the model of that four-dimensional creature."
Z propped himself up and said, "Then you go back first, I will take a look later." He gestured with his hand.
"Okay."
After the assistant left, Z opened the window, and a new message popped up with a faint blue light on the side. He raised his finger and clicked on it.
The picture that appeared made him feel surprised, this four-dimensional creature actually had his own appearance.
Then, he scrolled to the bottom of the page, and when he checked the signal source, he was stunned.
The life characteristic model of this creature is exactly the same as the underlying model of life characteristics on this planet!
Z pondered for a while, then scrolled back to the picture of the creature.
What the hell is this thing... He got closer and found that the creature seemed to be made up of various different creatures, not symmetrical on the left and right, and had facial features like humans, with red pupils.
At this time, a call came in, he looked at it, it was the president,
"What's up?"
He opened the conversation,
"Z, have you seen that four-dimensional creature?"
"I'm looking at it, it's just a mess."
He said as he pulled out that picture.
"Ha, I thought so too, I thought it was a hybrid of some kind of animal."
Z lit a cigarette and took a sip of tea,
"This is the first time we have captured a picture of this creature."
"Of course, our current means are not enough."
"Well, we have a way, I'll send you a message."
Then, he copied a segment of life characteristic information and sent it out.
"Okay, I'll take a look."
Z continued to say, "These two life characteristic information are exactly the same, which means we can use the existing resources on this planet to catch him."
The president was silent for a few seconds on the other end, and replied,
"Okay, do you know where this creature is now?"
"It will always go home, and it has a three-dimensional form, so we can find it on the planet."
The president sighed lightly, "Then it's up to you."
"No problem."
He put down his teacup and asked,
"Where are you floating now?"
The other party's chat box popped up a star chart, a few arrow-like things were swirling above Saturn, he replied, "Hasn't your place been colonized? We are going to come and have a look, and also take a look at your brother."
Z smiled and said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that, another country has intervened in the middle, our fleet is in the hands of the United Nations, not to mention------Jie Luoke did something improper, we only have Andyo on the ground."
"Hmm..."
The other party was silent for a while, as if suddenly remembering something,
"Hey, yesterday a few unregistered arms dealers wanted to buy a few general cannons and projection systems from us, but they had the latest battleship model for exchange in their hands, you help me deal with it, the settlement will be coordinated to my hands."
"Okay."
The call ended.
Z leaned back in his lounge chair, sucking on the last cigarette in his hand.
