//------------------------------// // Where Are We? (Unedited) // Story: A World in Chaos // by Mocha Star //------------------------------//         “Urrugh!  How much longer do we have ta be in this heat, Twilight?” Applejack grumbled as she pulled a makeshift sled with a barrel of water on it.         “What?  Anyway, for the millionth time, I don’t know.  It’s just our luck we land in a desert without water besides what Discord left us. At least Zecora had enough in storage to help us get moving,” Twilight replied, her own sled carrying the more full barrel of water.         Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Night were in the air above them providing poor, but usable, shade and scouted for civilization or dangers.  So far they’d had a bad feeling about where they were.         The sky was slightly duller and less vibrant than what they were used to, and the clouds were so much higher.  Rainbow and Night had tried to race to them to gather them for shade and nearly lost breath from exertion they used to reach them.         Amber was sitting on Zecora’s back while the Zebra pulled a sled containing a box.  She was also having problems with their reaction to her personality.  She was more, abrasive, than what they were used to; they were too cheery and positive for what she was used to.  Most of her time had been spent in relative silence.         Not more than two days before they were elated to have possibly destroyed Discord and gotten back to their lives; then everything they knew vanished and they were outside the land they knew, the magic they had used and felt all their lives, and the stability of routine they had become accustomed to were gone.         The night was only several hours long and the day was already past what should have been noon, only the place the sun had drifted meant it was only around ten in the morning.           “It is true I had to spare, but when my tree was gone I had a lot to fear.”         “I know Zecora.  Whatever Discord did sent us here, wherever this is...” Twilight sighed as she looked up and watched a cloud cluster slowly approach the sun, offering a break from the heat.         “I am used to the desert heat, but time is what we must truly beat.  The water has begun to run a bit low, so I think-”         “Mares!  I found something,” Night shouted as she descended from above.         The mood was changed from apathetic to jovial as she arrived, landing with a thud and sending sand rolling down the dune they were crossing..         “Finally,” Scootaloo said, “I hate this place.  I’m getting sunburnt, I’m too thirsty, I have to shower, I haven’t eaten for two days, and I can’t wait to sleep in a real bed and not on a pillow in the sand,” she whined as she rubbed her reddened exposed skin.         Eyes rolled as the young woman complained, again, about their situation.         All the pegasi landed to listen to what Night was going to say. “I found a caravan.  If we go that way we’ll intersect with them in an hour.”         A round of groans left the ponies. “Hour?  Well, I guess it’s better than staying in the sun forever,” Scootaloo whined.           “Hush, Scoots, yer messin the mood up.  Sugarcube, thank you and I suggest we get moving,” Applejack said in a slight southern accent, “this’ll get us outta here faster than wandering alone.”         “Plus,” Twilight added as she turned and began to walk through the hot sand, “they may have information.  That’s always a great thing, too.  Maybe we can be home by the end of the week and I’ll be with Trixie, cuddling to sleep in our nice warm wagon.”         The group groaned.         “Anywho, let’s go,” Twilight said turning the direction Night had pointed and took the lead with a little hop in her step.  The other ground bound ponies copied Twilight’s step for a little bit before laughing with each other.  Night took to the air and rejoined the others pegasi and took the lead in the sky, prepared to meet the caravaneers first, if need be.         An hour passed and the girl was beginning to whine again.  The mares ignored her, but understood she was still a filly, girl, whatever.  They all fell silent when they met the pegasi who had landed and were standing still in silence.           “What?  What’s wrong?” Amber asked as she looked at the pegasi.         “The caravan, it’s… not exactly normal,” Fluttershy said as she brushed her hoof on her chest before she ran it across her mane, showing her anxiety.  “Just, be ready for what you see, okay?” She looked pointedly at Scootaloo before turning and whispering to Rainbow Dash and taking to the air, staying low, as they flew to the caravan in the distance.         The mares hurried after them with Night staying close to Scootaloo until they got within reach of the caravan.  “What the hay?” Applejack muttered as she took in the sight of six humvees and twenty humans in combat armor.         “Tawaqquf!  Yalla!  Stop!  Hold it right there,” one shouted as the pegasi held still behind a line drawn in the sand deeply enough to show where they weren’t going to pass.  “What the hell’s going on?”         “Um, hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends-”         “Holy shit it talks!” a female shouted and raised her weapon, several others followed her action and within three seconds all weapons were raised at the mares.         “Stand down!  Stand down!  Hold your fire!  Shit, why me?  My name is Captain Donald Shutte of the United States Army…” he paused and stared at Twilight.  “What the… are you, a unicorn?”         “Why, yes I am!  You know of our tribes, then?” she asked hopefully.  When she looked at the soldiers lined and armed staring at her with mixed expressions she let the rope holding the sled go and walked to the line. “There are three tribes of ponies,” she gestured to herself, “unicorn, pegasi, and earth ponies.  We live in harmony in the land of Equestria and have for generations.  We offer you peaceful greetings and hope to… uh, build on that.”         There was a silence that lasted a long moment before a male laughed, then another and another and before long most of the people were laughing. “So, you’re aliens that come in peace?”         “And speak English?”         “And are ponies?!”         “Holy crap,” a man shouted and took a phone out, and began recording while others began taking photos of the nervous mares while the captain regained control of his platoon.           “Attention!  Get in the vehicles if you’re not a sergeant or higher!”  With a round of groans and sighs the soldiers got in the vehicles while the humans gathered and took a knee.  “So, what’re you here for?  Take over the world or something?”         “What?  We just wanna go home.  How far to Equestria from here?” Applejack said.         “Equestria?” A female sergeant asked, “never heard of it.”         “So it is as I thought, on our own world we are not,” Zecora said as she approached the line.  “Zecora is my name, but nothing do we hope to gain.  A way home is all we seek, so if you may, direct us while we speak,” she turned to Applejack and took the mare several paces back to talk privately.         “Yeah, what the Zebra said,” Scootaloo said.         “Miss, can I ask why you’re associating with these creatures?” A woman asked.         “I am one, well, I was before Discord turned me into this.”         There was a tense silence as the people’s eyes hardened. “You know Discord?”         “Know him?” Amber shouted, “we almost fucking killed him before he blasted us!”         “Yeah,” Scootaloo tightened her fists, “and I don’t care what anypony says, I’m not a human, I’m a pony and I just want my body back,” a tear formed in her left eye as she grit her teeth and looked around the people that were recording them. “Please, you have some spell to make me human again, right?” she asked Donald.         “Magic?  That’s Discord’s game, and if you have it then you’re as good as one of his minions, only you’re not grey yet.”         “Maybe they are,” a woman said tightening her grip, “they could be spies.”         “No, he doesn’t need them.  He’s too proud to hide his army.”         “Wait a minute, army?” Twilight asked.  “Discord doesn’t have an army, he just plays pranks and tricks…”         “Maybe where you’re from…” Donald fell silent as she turned and moved to a humvee, “we’re on the move in three minutes,” he shouted, “I shouldn’t but I trust you enough.  Get your asses in the third truck.”         “We don’t have any with us,” Rainbow replied quickly. “Do any of us look like donkey’s?”         That brought a snort from the Captain and the others smiled to each other. “Okay, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”         Rainbow flexed her wings with a big grin across her face. “I know, I’m cute when I wanna be.”         “She’s always cute,” Fluttershy corrected with a nuzzle to the blue mare.         “Gag me with a bundle of feathers,” Night groaned, “let’s just go.  What’ve we gotta lose?  I’ll take overwatch and report whatever I see, sir!” she saluted to the captain who looked at her with surprise. He saluted back and she took to the skies, holding steady barely a dot in the sky above them.         “Me and Rainbow will take, um, overwatch too, I guess.  Just, please be careful,” she said to the others as she and Rainbow took to the air.         Applejack and Zecora returned and looked up, then to the group and Amber crossed the line to go to the humvee first. “You talk, I’m gonna see if I can get a phone call.”         “A whatsit now?  Twilight, are we gettin’ in with them?”         “Applejack, we don’t have much choice.  I know we need help and these caravanners can get us to civilization.  At the least…”         “Nope, you are not getting me into that… thing,” Applejack said pointing to the humvee Amber was scrambling to get in.  “Ah’ll just tag along aside.”         “I will do the same, getting in that machine might prove to be a pain.”         “Okay,” Twilight placed a hoof to her temple and sighed loudly, “me, Scootaloo, and Amber will get in and the rest of you keep up.  AJ, you’re pregnant so if you have any problems let us know.”         “Will do.”         “I shall stay with the mare who is destined to bare,” Zecora said as she stood by Applejack.  Within a minute the mares were in place and the convoy was back on track.         “So, this thing is terrifying,” Twilight said as she lay between the seats and lay as low as she could while sliding on her hooves slightly left and back as she stepped forward to keep her place.”         “It’s a humvee,” the captain shouted over the noise of the engine, “we’re between cities, and this’ the best way to travel the roads.”         “Roads?” Twilight shouted back.         “They’re under the sand, we track them using that,” he pointed to a computer monitor that was guiding the driver. “It’s a GPS tracker system, you know about them?”         “No,” Twilight smiled as she looked at it, her tail flicking one of the soldiers in the back of her head, “but it looks cool!”  Her horn alit and she enveloped the small computer monitor in her magic, dropping it as a rifle pressed against her temple.  Amber pushed between the mare and soldier, shouting something that was lost in Twilight’s fleeting thoughts of what the weapon was and what it would do to her head if used.         She trembled as the rifle was lowered and the soldier stiffened as the filly hopped onto her lap and began a side conversation that relaxed the woman.  Scootaloo placed a hand on Twilight’s back and calmed the mare enough so she trembled less; a desire to pee was rising within her, mostly from fear of the situation.         When questioned, Twilight shook her head and let her body slide back to Scootaloo as the roaring dulled her senses and the motion made her uneasy enough to shut down.