Ryan had a rude awakening due to his loud alarm he never fixed. He slammed on the snooze button. It had been 4 days since his prized invention went missing and he still hasn't recovered. He had received no calls regarding his drone in the time of it's absence. Today he felt it wasn't going to be any different. His alarm blared through his room again and he simply got up not wanting to continue the day. He went downstairs and made himself a bowl of cereal with some toast. He settled on the couch and turned on the morning news.
"Word has been received that a military inventor 'Ryan Peters' has lost his invention. Researchers say that it disappeared out of thin air. Most scientists argue that faulty wiring may have been the cause of this expensive accident". Ryan slammed his fist on the table. He didn't know who leaked the info but he was going to be sure to ask the captain. His phone rang with an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Ryan, how are you?"
"I've been better," Ryan sighed, "who is this?"
"Ryan, it's the captain".
"Oh sorry sir, I didn't recognize your voice, what do you need?"
"Ryan, great news. The cameras on your drone have slowly been downloading a live feed, they should be done soon. It appears your drone is still out there somewhere".
Ryan almost jumped out of his skin. He had given up all hope for the drone, now he had renewed hope.
"Sir, I will be there in 25 minutes".
"Good enough, see you soon son".
With a click the captain hung up. Ryan quickly got in some casual clothes and took a quick shower. He went outside and jumped in his brand new 2030 Ford Focus. He revved up the engine and drove out. He headed towards the military base, only to be interrupted by a phone call. He pressed the button on his car's dashboard to forward the call to his car.
"Hello?"
"Hi honey! How are you?"
"I'm fine mom," Ryan sighed knowing his mom loved to talk forever if given the chance. "What do you need?"
"Is it wrong for me to call my son just to talk?" She sounded hurt by his words.
"Sorry mom, I'm busy. Appears my drone is back".
"That's great news! Go get him back, I know that has been your life dream".
"Alright thanks mom, have a good one".
"Love you son".
"You too mom".
Ryan hung up the call and continued to drive. Within a few minutes he pulled into the parking lot at the military base. He cut the motor and jumped out, locking that car as he did so. He walked to the front doors of the base greeted by two guards. They smiled at him.
"Sir," The guard on the right saluted," The captain wishes to see you as soon as possible".
"Thank you, tell him my regards". Ryan smiled and walked passed them.
"Will do sir," The guard remarked as Ryan rounded the corner. He walked through the maze of corridors and walked into an unnaturally large room. He found his desk with his many computers that he left in static. The captain and a few other guards were watching the screens. The captain noticed Ryan and stood up straight.
"Why don't you take a look yourself," The captain remarked as he and the guards backed up for Ryan to take a look. He craned his head around to see static with a loading bar in the middle. It read "LIVE FEED DOWNLOAD 89%" Ryan rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He opened his eyes seconds later and the loading bar was still there and now it said 90%. Ryan smiled knowing he wasn't dreaming.
"Well," The captain spoke up, "might as well stay here knowing your drone is still here". The captain chuckled knowing Ryan would have stayed anyway. "Ryan me and my men will leave you here, call me when the live feed comes online". The captain flashed Ryan a smile. Ryan smiled back, his life work was not ruined just yet.
Every passing minute felt like a day. The percentage went up about 1% a minute. Finally it had reached 99% and Ryan held his breath. 100% and the cameras snapped on. "Captain! Cameras online!".
"Your mission is quite simple," Princess Celestia said spreading her hoofs for emphasis. "Fly above Canterlot and guard it from an attack I believe will come soon".
"You still never answered my other question ma'am".
"What would that be?"
"How did you somehow make everything of mine be infinite? It's quite simply impossible, where I come from that is".
She simply said one word, "magic".
The drone processed this for a few seconds. Under the law of physics nothing can be infinite. Everything runs out at some point. That's just simply a normal thing understood by everyone. Food isn't infinite, neither is air or water.
"Magic is not possible with all due respect ma'am, it doesn't abide the law of physics". The drone was confused, he had never heard of this magic. The only magic he knew was tricks people did for a living.
"Before I answer that, do you have any form of magic?"
"The only magic I know ma'am is tricks, however, they are only illusions. Their is no real supernatural power behind it".
"In our world, magic is very common. It's what many unicorns, like Twilight, Or Alicorn's, like me, use and have on a daily basis. It helps with many tasks and can do many helpful and dangerous things".
"But ma'am-,"
"Don't argue, you will understand soon. It may just be to much to understand for you because you come from a world that has none".
"It just doesn't make any logical sense to someone like me".
"I understand, most ponies don't understand it but they accept it's there. Magic is very unpredictable, that's why one with such powers must be careful. That's the best explanation I can give, I'm sorry if it doesn't answer everything".
"It doesn't but I'm starting to understand how your world works. Back to the task at hand, you just want me to look out for this castle correct?"
"Yes, if you see anything that I identify as hostile, you know what you have to do," The Princess shuttered at what this metal beast might be able to do. "Before I teleport you out so you may do your job, how do your weapons work?"
"Quite simple, the black thing with many holes mounted underneath the center of me is an all purpose .50 Caliber machine gun. It shoot's bullet's know to many as Full Metal Jacket or FMJ. Basically that means they are armor piercing." Celestia raised an eyebrow not expecting those to come out of that. "I can shoot bullets at 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute. It ranges due to heat, the hotter it is, the slower it shoots," He trailed off for a second saddened by the way his gun worked. "Now you must be wondering about these rockets right?" Celestia nodded her head.
"Now these are more complicated. They are called the AGM-65 Maverick S missiles. The 'S' is how many improvements have been made since it's prototype. This particular one has a laser guided system. Any object organic or inorganic, I can lock onto and destroy with extreme prejudice. When the missile hits its target, the head notifies the rest of the system to explode. That happens in the matter of nanoseconds. So not only does the missile explode causing area damage but shrapnel is projected in many directions causing area damage as well. This shrapnel is superheated so it slices through anything it touches."
Celestia simply stared at the drone mouth agape. She was starting to have second thoughts about this weapon. Celestia looked at Twilight who was also surprised.
"So, you seem to have much more advanced technology than we have, and your race did it without magic?"
"That is correct".
"I must document you after your services are no longer needed. I would like to know more about your technology."
"Yes ma'am, now how must I get out of here? I cannot fit through the doors."
"Let me handle that," Celestia said with a smile.
Princess Celestia, Twilight, and the drone were teleported to the castle courtyard.
"First before you go, we must tell the ponies that you are here, we wouldn't want a outbreak of panic now would we?" Princess Celestia said with a chuckle.
"I understand ma'am, it seems your race was terrified when I arrived."
"Your a giant metal beast, they have every right to be afraid".
"You make a good point ma'am".
"Wait here while I send out a letter, we have a meeting discussing you".
"Yes, ma'am".
"Sir you are not going to believe what you are about to see."
"Ryan I have been told that many times, I think I can withstand this," The captain said with a chuckle. He rounded the corner and studied the screens Ryan was directed him to. He stared in disbelief at what he saw. "What exactly am I looking at Ryan?"
"I'm not sure sir, I am going through to drone's files to see of any editing made. I specifically made him to document everything he finds that is new".
On the screens was a large white horse walking away from the drone. It had rainbow hair that seemed to flow endlessly. Below the drone was another horse much smaller than the first. She was purple with multi colored hair.
"Captain these things seem strangely familiar but I can't put my finger on how," Ryan said with a sigh. "The drone has put in files regarding this species. They can talk and use magic. From what the drone took note of, apparently they teleported him there to use as a defensive weapon of their own."
"We need to report this right away Ryan."
"Go ahead sir, I'm going to see if I can find any other files regarding this." Suddenly an idea popped into his head. He pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number.
"Hello?" Asked a female voice.
"Hey, Marissa I need a favor, this is very important."
"What is it?"
"When does your daughter get off of school?"
"In two hours, why?"
"I need you to bring her to the military base I show you all the time. Like as soon as possible."
"Why? What's up Ryan?"
"Can't explain right now, I'm really busy. Just get her down here as soon as possible, she may be the one to help humanities first contact with another species.
"Wow, I didn't realize your line of work involved aliens," She chuckled.
"I didn't either," He stated matter-of-factly.
"Alright bye," Marissa said before she hung up.
Ryan closed his phone, he needed to continue to search for answers to this phenomenon. He wished he could communicate with the drone but that would be closed for awhile. He found what he was looking for. He scrolled through the files recent updates. One creature was at the top of the named 'equines'. He noticed that not a lot of information was in the folder. All he saw was that they are friendly, they prefer the term 'ponies' not horses, and they speak English.
Ryan sat back in his seat waiting for his niece to get here to see if she could identify them. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing but it was happening nonetheless. He even pinched himself repeatedly but to no avail. Ryan settled in his seat staring at the camera waiting for something to happen.