Chapter Fourteen
Unity
Chapter Fourteen
Unity. With a glass of punch held securely in her magic, Twilight Sparkle made her way through the crowd of humans and ponies filling the High-School gymnasium. When her team had returned to town a few hours earlier, bearing news that at least one of the new arrivals wasn't hostile, a cheerful atmosphere had gripped the town, leading to a celebratory party even in Pinkie's absence. Protests from some that the party might be premature were noted, but otherwise ignored by the majority of people who, Twilight suspected, just wanted an excuse to have some fun.
Catching sight of Applejack near the stage, Twilight joined her. Up on the stage Trixie was putting on her newest show, a combination of genuine magic and slight-of-hoof tricks. “She's actually pretty good when she's not bein' a jerk.” the farmer said.
“Yeah, I'm glad she's managed to find her niche.” Twilight replied.
“Twi, you as worried as I am?”
“You mean about what the other group might find? Totally. I just can't shake the feeling that we're, what's that human expression, 'jumping the gun,' with this party.”
“Eeyup. Not that I blame people for needing it, but this could turn ironic real fast.”
Taking a sip of her punch, Twilight said “Tell me about it... Anyway, I've got some work to do. I'll be at home if you need me.”
“All right Twi, have fun.”
xx
Twenty minutes later, Twilight was ready to begin. Spread out in front of her were a half-dozen books covering every possible aspect of teleportation magic. Of course, she had already read and reread these tomes countless times in her search for any explanation for what had bought them to this world. But with more arrivals, it seemed wise to try yet again, hoping for some tiny sliver of insight which might have somehow escaped her. And now, with everyone at the party guaranteeing no interruptions, was the best time to-
Her thoughts were cut short by a knock at the door. “Really?” She grumbled.
When she opened the door, Twilight was surprised to find Bethany Stanz waiting on the other side. “Beth! You're not at the party?”
“Well I was, but I've got something I need to do some research on, and when I heard that you had came on back here...”
“Oh, of course! Is it anything I might be able to help you with?”
“Well, maybe...” Bethany looked over her shoulder, then stepped inside and waited until Twilight had closed the door before continuing “I was looking for information on interspecies relationships...”
“Oh?” Twilight asked. “What for?”
“Well, it's a school assignment actually.” Bethany lied.
Twilight favored her with a flat expression. “You graduated two months ago.”
“Nuts. You would remember that.” Bethany slumped down into a chair, hands over her face. “I, um... I think I'm in love with a stallion.”
“Oh!” Twilight looked at the girl in surprise. “Well, okay, I'm still not seeing the problem...”
Spreading her hands to the sides of her face, Bethany looked Twilight in the eyes and said “Yeah, I guess you wouldn't... This kind of thing is pretty normal where you're from isn't it? I know the different types of ponies intermarry a lot.”
“Yes, you'd be hard pressed to find a pony of any tribe that doesn't have ancestry in one or both of the others somewhere in their family tree. But you're talking about further than that aren't you? Like, a pony with a minotaur or a gryphon or something...”
“Or a dragon.” Bethany quipped.
“Well, it's a lot rarer than the mixing of pony types.” Twilight answered. “But it's not unheard of at all, and nopony makes anything of it.” She stepped closer, put a hoof on Bethany's shoulder. “Why is this worrying you?”
“Twilight, it's not like that with humans. Look, you guys are okay with relationships between different species as long as they are both intelligent. But, you'd have issues if somepony got involved with just an animal wouldn't you?”
“Eww, oh yeah. That's not right, highly illegal.”
“Same thing with us. But, the difference is, that on Earth there is nothing else intelligent. So, all of our laws and rules and social mores just call it wrong with anything that's not human.” Bethany looked around, nervous. “You see the problem?”
“I do now.” Twilight confirmed. “Ponies wouldn't see any problem with it, but a lot of humans would.”
“Exactly. And, I agree with how you guys see this, intelligence, being a person and not just an animal, makes it okay. But the rumors are already starting around town. And I don't know what to do!” Bethany buried her face in her hands again.
“There there...” Twilight whispered, patting the girl on the back, “It'll work out okay, I'm sure of it!”
“I hope you're right. But what should I do?”
“Well, first things first: Who is he?”
“Um... Macintosh.”
“Big Mac!?!?” Twilight practically screamed.
Bethany couldn't help but laugh. “You really hadn't heard the rumors?”
“Maybe you've missed the rumors about the 'purple mist who never leaves her dungeon.'” Twilight replied. “Most social stuff goes over my horn. Anyway, you could do far worse, that's for sure... So, second question: Does he know how you feel? Does he feel the same way?”
“I don't know, honestly. I only just figured it out myself while you were gone. You think I should talk to him?”
“I would. I mean, if the rumors are half as bad as you say, he's going to catch wind of them sooner or later. Wouldn't it be better for him to hear it from you first?”
Nodding slowly, Bethany agreed. “Yeah, you're right. I'll go find him now.” Rising to her feet, walking to the door, she said “Thank you Twilight! I needed that.”
“Anytime.” The unicorn smiled. “But hey, why did you specifically mention dragons earlier?”
“Are you kidding?” Bethany chuckled, “Miss Rarity and your little assistant Spike have been dating for weeks now. Everyone knows it.” She waved and headed out the door, leaving a twitching Twilight behind...
XXXX
Deep in the forest, Anita Wallace peered out the windows of the R.V. for the hundredth time in the past hour. Upon their arrival in this... wherever... she and her children had made contact with the driver of the giant vehicle and his family. They had all agreed to stick together, and to take shelter within the R.V. where they would have a least a little more protection from whatever might be out there. They had been hiding there for a day and a half now.
Outside, the man she had been watching for, Thomas, emerged from the trees and joined everyone else, slumping into a seat in the back. “I don't know...” He said. “There are plants and animals out there unlike anything I've ever seen. And the forest just goes on and on.”
“And, was there any sign of people?” Anita asked.
“Maybe... Off to the west, at the furthest distance I had gone, I came across what looked like a major path stomped down into the underbrush. At first I thought it was just a game trail, then I found this.” He tossed a coin onto the counter in front of him.
“What kind of coin is this?” Thomas' wife Angela wondered. She picked it up and looked at both sides. “Heavy... there must be a pretty high content of actual gold in it. And isn't it funny that the pictures are of horses rather than people?”
“Very. In any case, I think we should go. We'll move as a group, to the trail, and head one way or the other once we get there. Hopefully we'll find a town.”
“When do we leave?”
Thomas stretched out and yawned. “Tomorrow morning.” He said. “For now, let's get some sleep so we're all ready for a long day.”
XXXX
Near sunset Sheriff Tucker was standing atop the wall, watching out over the forests, when movement caught his attention. Looking more closely, he saw a flash of pink, then blue and other movements as well. “Hello!” A voice called out.
“Hello Bert!” Tucker called back. As he watched Bert came into view, followed by the rest of the team. Most of the rest, Sword Breaker's fellow unicorn was nowhere to be seen. That fact alone was enough to put the Sheriff's nerves on edge, and he rushed to the ground level to meet them. “What happened?”
“Long story, but we lost Strong Hoof.” Sword Breaker said.
“Blood-sucking squid monsters!” Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing Tucker by the shoulders. “With big ugly death-machines!”
Tucker glanced from Pinkie to Bert, who nodded. “More or less. They've got energy weapons of some sort... Poor Hoof never stood a chance.”
“Damnit...” Tucker swore. “Breaker, I'm sorry about your friend...”
“Me too, I just keep telling myself that if he had to go at least he got to do it in the line of duty.”
“What about Twilight's team? Are they back yet?” Rainbow asked.
Tucker explained “Yeah, they got back this morning. And they had better luck too... The settlement to our northeast is another alien race, call themselves Goblins, though in spite of the name they're apparently friendly merchants and traders.”
“Good, good...” Bert mused. “One threat is enough...”
“Are they coming this way?”
“No, we tricked them into searching off in the other direction.”
Nigel said “We need to get the town together, prepare. But there's more, these beings... They bear a stunning similarity to the creatures described in Well's 'War of the Worlds.'”
“Weird...” The Sheriff agreed. “Okay, Bert, Sword Breaker, Rainbow, can you start spreading the word that we need everyone at the school?”
“I'll get Twilight.” Pinkie said.
“And I'll gather everyone from H.Q.” Tucker agreed.
xx
An hour later the town was assembled. The humans and ponies of the leadership council were gathered together on the stage, alongside the members of Bert's contact team and Twilight who was already deep into the Fallow Meadow Library's copy of 'War of the Worlds,' Rainbow reading over her shoulder. “Can we come to order?” Roger called out, getting the crowd's attention. “Everyone come to order!” As the conversations died down, he said “Folks, we've got some troubling news from our second contact team. I'll let them explain it...” He stepped aside and passed the floor to Bert and Sword Breaker.
Alternating, the pair explained as succinctly as they could what had happened, everything they had seen and heard. There was fear at the mention of the alien's weapons and method of feeding, anger at the report of Strong Hoof's death, and confusion at the apparent similarities to an old earth book.
“So what do we do?!” Someone shouted. “They're tricked right now maybe, but they'll come this way sooner or later!”
Sword Breaker said “What we do is, we deal with them. I managed to take down one of their machines... I'm certain Bert could have too, if he'd had the bigger human weapons with him.”
“Hold on!” Another person complained, “I've seen those movies, the alien's machines are supposed to be indestructible!”
Looking up from her book, Twilight said “Maybe in your movies. But in this book, they're not. The point I've read to so far, two of them have been destroyed. Assuming that there really is some kind of connection...”
Snapping his fingers, Nigel exclaimed “That's right! I've not read the book in thirty years, I had forgotten, but the aliens in the original story didn't have force shields! They relied on fast reflexes and the incredibly slow aiming of the human weapons of that era to survive, and a few of them did get destroyed!”
“So,” Bert asked, “Assuming that what's out there has the same technology level as what's in the book, they'll be screwed against modern weapons?”
“Maybe...” Twilight said. “After losing the first two, the book aliens retreat and don't start advancing again until they've added some kind of instantly lethal chemical weapon to their arsenal.”
Rainbow said “Weird or not, it's them. This Wells guy describes them and their machines and weapons perfectly to what we saw.”
“But how is that possible?”
No one had a certain answer, though Reginald suggested that perhaps humans were not entirely devoid of the Thaumic Field's influence. “Maybe every so often, every century or so, there's someone who gets a bit of an effect from it... Maybe Wells 'saw' their world somehow.”
Nigel said “The ground inside their pit, presumably ground from their planet, was a deep orange-red. Well's could have thought it was Mars.”
“Plausible.” Bert agreed. “Now, what do we do about it?”
xx
The plan that emerged after two hours of plotting was three-layered. First, pegasai guards would fly out to a two mile perimeter around the city in all directions. They would hide in the tree tops and keep watch for anyone or anything that might be approaching from the sites of the other two storms, or any other storms that might have been even further away.
Second, runners would be sent to the settlements of Carl Harner , Prince Blueblood, and the Goblins, to warn all three groups of what was happening. Even with Harner's assurances to the contrary, no one really expected any help from either the human or pony groups, but it was only fair to spread the warning.
Third, a team of humans and ponies, armed with the best weapons available to the town, would head out to engage the aliens. Unfortunately gas masks were hard to come by, the the team went with the hopes that there would be no black smoke weapon like in the book. The key to this third part of the plan was based on the observation that unlike the creatures in Well's book, these invaders would not have endless waves of back ups coming. Destroy the weapons they had with them, and they'd be in the same boat as everyone else...
XXXX
Big Macintosh grunted as he swung the supplies onto his back. The human weapons were powerful, but required a great deal of ammunition to remain effective, and the farm stallion had agreed to assist in carrying the burden. As he pulled the straps taught around his barrel a familiar voice said “Do you really have to go along?”
“Eeyup. Sorry Beth, but somepony's gotta do it.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Bethany admitted. “Still makes me worry.”
“You think I don't worry too? I saw yer name on the volunteers list.”
Bethany grinned and replied back “Someone's gotta do it.” They both chuckled, and then after looking around to be certain no one else was in earshot she asked “Say, Mac... Can you spare a minute?”
“Can spare several, now that I'm ready. What's up?”
“Well, I just um... Oh geez, I don't know how to start...”
“Somethin' t' do with the rumors goin' on?” Macintosh asked.
Eyes wide, Bethany said “Omigosh! Mac, I'm sorry you heard that before I got a chance to talk to you about it!”
“It's okay. Humans an' ponies are alike in that regard...”
“Yeah, I guess so... But Mac, the thing is... Those rumors aren't entirely wrong. I mean, sure, they're wrong in that nothing has happened, but...”
The stallion stepped close to Bethany, looked her in the eyes. “Beth, are you sayin' what I think yer sayin'?”
"Um, yeah... Yeah I am... Mac, I think I'm in love with you."
"Hoo boy..."
"Oh jeez you don't feel the same way! Of course you don't! Mac I'm sorry-" Bethany was cut off by Macintosh stretching up and kissing her. Shocked, the girl needed a minute to return the kiss. "But... The way you reacted I though..."
"That 'Hoo boy' was concern over what folks'll think." Macintosh said. "Ponies won't care one way or the other, but humans... I've heard the edge in their voices when they talk about those rumors... Beth, I don't let that kinda stuff upset me. But are you sure that you-" This time it was Mac that was interrupted by a kiss.
"I'm sure."
"Well all right then. I guess we can work it all out once the fightin's over with."
"Sounds good to me." Bethany agreed...
XXXX
Saddlebags stuffed full of plans and fabric samples, Rarity prepared for her meeting with Sheriff Tucker. Imminent battles or not, after all, life went on and the unicorn was itching to get the final approval for the new combined police/guard uniforms. The outfits would be as similar as anatomy allowed for both humans and ponies. In fact, she had experienced a singular challenge in resisting her urges for complex embellishments so that the uniform template could be easily modified for other species as well, should such someday become necessary. In short, she was proud of how much she had accomplished with so little, and the approval of John Tucker and Midnight Steel was all she needed to begin production.
But as the fashionista trotted towards her front door, a knock sounded from it. "Twilight!?" Rarity said as she opened the door. "Whatever are you doing here this late in the evening darling?"
"Rarity, can we talk?"
"I'd love to dear, but I actually have an appointment with the Sheriff to go over my plans for the new-"
"What are your intentions towards my dragon?" Twilight interrupted.
Rarity acted swiftly, pulling Twilight inside and slamming the door behind them. "Why don't we talk dear? Over tea?"
"Tea would be lovely." Twilight answered...
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"What are your intentions towards my dragon?" Twilight interrupted.
Rarity: "Well, Twilight, dear, I plan to settle down with him the first chance i get and to beget him a few kirin foals. Is that a problem darling?"
*the first instance of a unicorn breaking the sound barrier with a scream without using the Royal Capslock*
What is this crossover with?
Another good chapter. It looks like a crossover with a crossover
Spike and rarity dating? This should be interesting if it's true.
And that's how Rarity's boutique was unmade!
--
Seriously though, this was a great chapter - humans and ponies performing a preemptive strike against the War of the worlds aliens? Awesome - I can't wait until the ass-kicking commences, bloody as it might be. It was a small base though, so I'm sure they will manage. The aliens can't have that many mechs around after all. I'm surprised Twilight didn't go along though, they could have certainly used the firepower in an opening strike.
As for the humans trapped inside the truck, why do I have a feeling that they will stumble upon that pony border-town first, not Unity? It will be interesting to see how that goes, what with no humans around to smooth over crap and all, unlike Unity. But I have a feeling that Unity will send out a search team soon enough - I mean, with one aliens already confirmed hostile, they can't exactly afford to wait until potentially hostile town stumbles upon them first and takes them by surprise, they need scouting done ASAP.
And whoo boy, stuff between Mac and Beth ... well, this was bound to happen sooner or later, so i guess we will see how it goes down.
Anita Wallace is going to flip when she comes across Unity.
And then they'll be FORCED to help!
Just how many heavy weaponry would a small town like that have anyway?
Also: CHOO CHOO! All aboard the Featured Train!
5938737
It's be a spoiler to say, but the planet they go to pulls in races from different works instead of designing them from scratch.
So far:
War of the Worlds
MLP:FiM
Final Fantasy XIV
5939160 I get that a lot
great story so far
noticed this a few weeks back but never bothered to read it until now
gotta say though, i'm curious as to how many more varied beings from varied worlds get dumped here
5938959 funny thing is small towns seem to have a disproportionate amount of heavy weapons that could be made working quickly, tanks, artillery, and such.
This line made my day, and the sun's not even up yet!
Y'know, some of these people are sorely lucky that I'm not in charge of Unity. Because if you're so bored that you've got nothing to do but care about who loves whom in a situation where there are deadly native predators and blood-sucking aliens with superior technology wandering around... well, I'd make damn sure that you got enough of a workload to where your every waking moment was too busy to care about anything else.
5940415
Don't be such a sourpuss! All work and no play makes Jack a dull pony!
Besides, if we were working all the time, when would we PARTY?!
Finally! Rarity needs to be asked this in the show - thank you for putting it in here!
5942209
Everything that you and Reality Check have said here is technically true. I am, I admit, somewhat glossing over certain things seen in the show in order to create a vision of Equestria slightly more in-line with how things really work, hence the assumption of a regular sized sun and moon.
Now, if you read TV Tropes at all you may be aware of the idea of 'required secondary powers.' For example, the Flash would need the power of being immune to friction with the air in order to not be harmed by how fast he runs. As true as it is that speeding up and slowing down the planet's rotation would be apocalyptic in reality, we're talking about Alicorns here, extraordinarily powerful magic. Surely any magic powerful enough to achieve the effect would also be powerful enough to negate the secondary problems. Is the other assumption easier? Sure. But I think this one also works for the purposes of this story.
Here's my real question: Are these assumptions sufficient to justify adding a 'Alternate Universe' tag to the story even though the characters themselves are exactly the same? I decided no when I started the story, but if enough readers feel differently I'm flexible on adding the tag.
5942817 I see no problems with the way it is now. Contradicting other people's headcanons is not enough to justify an Alternate Universe tag.
The way you have it now can still be used to justify canon. It might not be the simplest justification, but it still works. And in this case, it's likely what's best for your story, as you are the author, after all.
5941760 that's a little abstract for a feral animal.
It's more realistic mental process would be:
Makes loud hurty noise=bad.
Makes loud hurty noise and stings like a bitch=worse.
5942817 The problem is that your version--- as I am pointing out--- is a huge VOODOO SHARK.
Look, this isn't just a matter of aesthetics, it's a matter of running the numbers. Equestria only works as a geocentric system. Using a less-feasible system only spoils the story. Your "explanation" of how Equestria works only looks less rational, contradicts sweeping chunks of show canon, requires the alicorns to be so insanely God Mode powerful as to render the rest of the storyline utter gibberish, and works worse than the simple geocentric model, with a small satellite sun and moon. You're not making it MORE realistic, you're making it LESS!
5943366
Sorry you feel that way.
Oh, and one other thing--
MOAR! MOAR! BY ODIN'S BEARD, MOAR!!!!!
5943400 Not a matter of "feeling" but of OBSERVATION.
I caught up but only realized I had done so when I clicked the non-existent 'Next' button and got confused as the chapter drop down box appeared.
I don't know if anyone said it yet, but Bert really reminds me of Burt Gummer from Tremors. That's a good thing, by the way. He wouldn't happen to know how to mix a few household chemicals in the proper proportions, would he? A few homemade explosives and unicorn and pegasi assisted delivery would be quite dandy against our squid like foes.
I've been enjoying this story so far, and it's been going a good job of mixing both slice of life, tension and adventure. Your story telling is pretty good, in short. I'm quite looking forward to the resolution of this War of the World conflict and, more importantly, our new friends in the RV.
5942817
To rotate or move planet she would still have to connect her magic to some celestial object, in this case sun, to have leverage. So why endanger planet when you can move sun.
5950903 still wanna see it. I needs my diabeetus.
To be honest, I'd be surprised if they don't figure that out pretty quickly. Running in the wrong direction and circling around is a pretty old trick even if you can't teleport...
I'm shuddering at the thought of what other fictional universes might join in on the fun. Lovecraft or Warhammer 40,000, for example. If you think Tripods are bad, picture Cthulhu or a swarm of Tyranids...
MacBeth! I love ships with cool names.
(That scene ended a bit abruptly, though.)
Heeheehee, oh man oh man this is greatness!
I wonder again who'll pop up, again.... heheh.
Warhammer! :D
Nice job!
Why Twilight! I wasn't aware you had a 'bad dragon' in your secret toybox!
6205228 i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/727/910/577.gif
6002544 C'thulhu? Picture a swarm of Shoggoths.
6201062 Don't you mean, Warhammer 40,000?
I'm sure you were beat up over this, but it has been addressed in 1st season episode canon.
Rarity knows it. Twilight knows it. Everypony in Equestria, the Crystal Empire, all the dragons, every griffon they ever met, and even the changelings know it because Spike is so blatantly smitten by her. In fact, the only one who's clueless "that Spike has the hots for Rarity is a secret" is Spike.
--provided that she's learned to accept him getting drool over all her work. 
That the humans picked up on his infatuation is simply par for the course. Rarity simply doesn't have the same feelings for him, but she willing to use it to get free labor for digging up gems or cleaning the boutique--
But, yeah, it is a funny line
That last part was freaking hilarious ROFL!
Spike finally gets his dream gal, and Big Mac has one interested in him while NOT under a potions influence.
6002544
MacBeth is a dark story, man. Wouldn't recommend using that one.
If that's the case, then how is it that Tolkien managed to get a scope of an entire mythology? Or Martin of an entire fantasy battle of kingdoms? Or Lewis of...actually that last one makes sense when you think about it, but the former two are interesting with this concept.