Friendship is G.I.

by KnightMysterio

Donuts?

All characters copyrighted to their original owners. If you like my work, please support me on Patreon!

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A facility in Nevada...
Evening...
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In the motor pool of the military base, two young men in green uniforms were conversing. One had light blonde hair and was visibly bored. The other, slightly darker skinned man, had black hair and was keeping a careful watch into the desert.

“Guard duty is so boring...” the first young man muttered.

“Shaddup, will you?” the second young man said. “We got a job to do.”

The first young man shook his head. “What job? This base is so off the grid it's invisible.”

“You never know,” the second young man said. “Something may happen.”

The first young man sneered. “How? I talked to Mainframe. This place is radio shielded, has motion, heat, and genetic detectors for miles around, and is satellite shielded.”

“Nothing's perfect,” the second young man said. “I've BEEN in a Cobra attack. You haven't. We can't afford to be complacent.”

“Bro, seriously...” the first young man said. “We've got protections up the wazoo. Ain't no one gonna find this place.”

“You want to slack off, that's your business,” the second young man said. “Now shut up.”

The first young man shook his head, idly leaning up against a support column. “Seriously. If ANYTHING of interest happens on our shift, I will eat my underwear, skidmark first.”

“That's gross, dude,” the second young man said, grimacing.

And then something of interest happened.

Before the two soldiers' eyes, a glowing portal opened. Colorful energies swirled around, creating a gateway. Startled, two soldiers sought cover from behind a jeep.

“...I'd make fun of you, but I'm freaked out as you are right now,” the second young man said, taking aim with his rifle.

“Shaddup,” the first young man said, taking aim as well.

The portal flared, and a figure walked out. To the surprise of the two soldiers, it looked like a colorful miniature horse.

She was the size of a pit bull, a yellow equine with a blonde-streaked mane and tail. She had wide eyes, and her muzzle was short, giving her an almost human-like expression. She wore a golden peytral with a small red gem on it, and on her flanks were a pair of images in the shape of stylized suns. She had large wings on her side, as well as a horn on her head, which glowed with a strange light. Hovering nearby, surrounded by the same light as around her horn, was a large white box.

“Is that... a pony of some kind?” the first young man asked.

The second young man just shook his head, confused.

The pony turned at the sound of their voices. The two men ducked further behind the jeep, keeping their guns trained on the pony. She smiled at them, the floating box hovering forward.

The second young man was the first to get it. “She's controlling the box...”

“PUT IT DOWN!” shouted the first young man.

The pony seemed to understand, nodding. The box lowered to the ground, the pony stepping slightly back towards the portal and sitting down. Slowly, cautiously, the two soldiers slowly came out from behind the jeep, keeping their weapons trained on the horned, winged pony, who just smiled pleasantly.

“What do you think it is?” the first young man said. “Maybe a weapon?”

The second young man stared at the pony, who just sat there with a smile on her face. “I think... I think it's a gift...”

“What!?” the first young man said.

“Look at it. It hasn't made anything even remotely resembling a hostile move since it's been here. I think... Davis, I think we're in a first contact situation,” the second young man said.

“Matt, are you serious?” Davis asked incredulously.

“I'm... I'm gonna open the box,” Matt said.

“Matt...” Davis started, worried.

“Just... just trust me, okay?” Matt said, slowly setting down his rifle, keeping a close eye on the pony by the portal. It watched him just as closely as he moved over to the box and slowly opened it. He looked inside... and blinked. “It's donuts,” he said.

“What the hell?!” Davis said, looking into the box. Indeed, there was a dozen donuts in there. Chocolate covered glazed donuts, donuts with sprinkles, donuts filled with fruit, an apple fritter, a cinnamon roll covered in glaze. Davis looked up, giving the pony a confused look. The pony smiled again. Davis shook his head, and was about to ask Matt something, when he saw him reaching for one of the donuts. “Whoa, hey, what are you doing?”

“I'm gonna try one,” Matt said.

“You don't know if those things are poisoned or not!!” Davis said, grabbing Matt's arm as he reached for a donut. “Lemme go get Lifeline, or Doc or somebody!”

“If this is a first contact, I don't think she'd be trying to poison us,” Matt said, scowling at Davis.

“Even if she's not trying to poison us,” Davis said, thinking fast, “it may contain stuff that's harmful to humans! She may hurt you accidentally if you eat one!”

Matt frowned. He hadn't thought of that. “You're right...” he said. “Take the donuts to Lifeline. I'll stay here with the alien.”

Davis frowned. “Okay, just... be careful, all right?” Davis said, picking up the donut box.

“I will,” Matt said.

The pony's ears went back, a confused look appearing on her face.

Matt and Davis frowned at each other, not sure of what to do. After a moment, Matt said, “It's okay. He's just going to make sure they're safe to eat. Okay? Do you understand?”

The pony looked thoughtful for a moment, and nodded. Matt smiled. “Do you understand what I'm saying?”

“Not all,” the pony said. “Translation not done yet.”

Davis went wide-eyed. “You... you speak our language?”

The pony smiled. “Some,” she said, tapping the gem. She said a word they didn't understand, continuing with, “need hear more your language. Talk with me?”

Matt nodded. “Sure,” he said. He tapped his chest, and said, “I am Matthew.” He tapped Davis's chest, and said, “He is Davis.”

The pony smiled, tapping her own chest, her foreleg bending at what should have been an impossible angle for a normal pony. “Sunset Shimmer. Can we be friends?” she asked.

“Yes,” Matt said, smiling. “We can be friends.”

Davis just shivered, walking off with the donuts. He found a medlab, finding one of the team physicians there.

He was always in awe of what most in his particular unit called the 'named officers.' Soldiers that had special callsigns, showing that they were highly talented specialists. Lifeline was no different. The young officer was one of the most talented medics in the service, and maintained a pacifistic stance despite everything.

Right now, the young man with the dark hair was busily working at a blood sample. He looked up, seeing Davis there, and smiled. “Private Davis, right?”

Davis nodded. “Yes sir,” he said. “I...”

Lifeline sniffed the air. “What is that? It smells fantastic!” he said, getting up and going over to the box and opening. “Donuts! Fantastic, I was getting hungry.” He started to take one, when Davis stopped.

“Nowaitstop!” Davis said quickly. “I... I need these analyzed to see if they're dangerous, or poisoned or something...”

Lifeline blinked. “Why?” he asked.

Davis struggled to find an explanation that wouldn't sound insane. “Because... Because...”

“Because just a few minutes ago, at 0300 hours, a portal opened in the motorpool he and his partner were guarding. From that portal an alien lifeform in the shape of a winged, horned pony appeared, bearing these donuts as a gift,” said a voice from behind Davis. He whirled, and gasped, seeing Duke, the legendary field commander of G.I. Joe, standing there in full combat gear.

“Y-you knew, sir?” Davis stammered.

Duke chuckled, running a hand through his short blonde hair. “That portal put out a lot of energy, private. There's no way would could NOT have noticed. Snake-Eyes is in there now, keeping an eye on the situation.”

Lifeline frowned. “Seriously? An alien?” His frown turned into a scowl. “And your first instinct was to have its gift tested?”

“Uh...” Davis stammered.

“Private Davis raised a good point, from what we saw on the security monitors,” Duke said. “Even if given in friendship, as this Sunset Shimmer claims she wanted... well, we're guessing it's a she at this point, from the voice... even if it's a legit gift, it might contain elements harmful to humans. There's no harm in checking it out.”

Lifeline frowned, but nodded. “That's fair,” he said, searching through the lab. “I think Mainframe has a chemical analyzer in here... ah, there we go.” He pulled out a device vaguely resembling a microwave. He put one of the filled donuts into it, and activated the device.

Duke, Lifeline, and Davis watched as the device analyzed the donut. The scan stopped surprisingly quick, showing a ninety-percent match to known Earth ingredients.

“Huh... Flora similar to Earth, maybe?” Duke said.

Lifeline took out the donut, and stared at it thoughtfully. And then he took a bite. His face immediately lit up. “Whatever the case, this is fantastic! There's real fruit filling in this, and it's glorious.”

Duke and Davis traded surprised looks. Duke grabbed the cinnamon roll, while Davis took one of the sprinkle-laden donuts. Immediately, smiles appeared on their faces.

“Apparently, pastries are a universal language,” he said. “Let's go talk to her.”

Davis nodded. Lifeline, finishing off his donut, grinned excitedly. “I've always wondered if there was any life out there...” he said. “C'mon, private!”

Davis nodded, grabbing the box of donuts as he, Duke, and Lifeline went to the motor pool. Several others, both soldiers and named officers, had gathered outside of the door. Several looked worried, some suspicious. Others were simply curious.

A tall, bald-headed, dark-skinned man in a green camo muscle shirt stopped Lifeline before they entered. “What do you make of this, Lifeline?”

“I'm about to find out, Roadblock,” he said. He gave the big man the apple fritter. “They seem friendly, though. Brought donuts with them.”

Roadblock frowned. “They safe to eat?”

“Seem to be,” Lifeline said. “I've already eaten one.”

Roadblock gave the fritter a suspicious look... and took a bite. “Mmmm!” he said, taking another, bigger bite. “That's fantastic!”

This brought up another discussion. Lifeline, inspired, left the box with the troops, who passed them out amongst each other. Davis, Duke, and Lifeline entered the room, where Sunset Shimmer was talking animatedly with Matt.

“Private Conner?” Duke said.

Matt meeped, surprised, and stood up, saluting. “Sergeant Hauser, sir!” he said. “I have been talking with the visitor.”

“So noted,” he said. “She speaks English? And...”

“And yes, I'm a she,” Sunset said, smiling.

“Ah,” Duke said. “You do speak our language.”

Sunset nodded. “One of them, at any rate,” she said. “My translator crystal noticed several dialects indicative of other languages.” She pointed to the crystal on her peytral with her hoof.

Duke nodded. “We do have many languages on this planet,” he said, sitting down in front of her, “although English is the most commonly spoken one at our base.”

Sunset nodded. “A military base, then? I won't ask where specifically on the planet it is,” she said. “We have similar facilities, and understand the need to keep them hidden.”

Duke nodded, noting to himself that they did have military-esque facilities. “I respect that, thank you. My name is Sergeant Conrad Hauser, although I generally go by my callsign, Duke. I'm the field leader for our unit, a specialized counter-terrorist force called G.I. Joe. With me is one of our team's medics.”

“You can call me Lifeline,” Lifeline said, grinning. “Thank you for the donuts. They were delicious.”

“I'm glad,” Sunset said, smiling. “I had my doubts, but one of my friends said that delicious food is pretty much universal.”

Duke nodded. “It's interesting... we did a quick analysis of the donuts, to see if they were safe for us to eat. They were, although it was astonishing how similar the ingredients were to those we have on Earth.”

Sunset nodded. “I noticed you used the exact same name for them we do as well, which is puzzling...” she said. “Anyway. If all goes well, we can look into that later. My name is Sunset Shimmer. I'm the royal ambassador for the principality of Equestria, and chosen representative for the planet Mythos in this dimensional first contact effort.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Duke said, nodding.

“Would your friend who's been hiding in the shadows like to introduce himself?” Sunset asked, startling Duke.

“You knew he was there...” Duke said.

Sunset nodded. “I saw a motion in the shadows as I was talking to Matt, and cast a detection spell. Your friend has been hiding in the darkness near that armored vehicle. He's very good, I couldn't see him with the naked eye. I assume he's a stealth operative, meant to keep an eye on me in case I became hostile?”

Duke frowned, and gestured. Some of the shadows seemed to move, stepping out of the darkness, revealing a man clad head to toe in black combat gear. “Hnh,” Duke said. “You're very savvy.”

Sunset smiled humorlessly. “It's what I'd do in a similar situation,” she said, turning to Snake-Eyes. “It's a pleasure to meet you. Sorry to break your cover, mister...”

“Snake-Eyes,” Duke said. “He lost the ability to talk in an accident on a mission years ago. He's mute, but knows sign language.”

Sunset blinked. “Sign-language?”

Duke nodded, and did the sign-language versions of each word he spoke next. “Yeah. It's a system developed so that those without a voice can...”

Sunset seemed to understand. “Ah, gesture speak,” she said. “I don't know it myself, a failing on my part, but I know of it.”

Duke nodded. “Miss Shimmer...”

“Sunset,” the pony insisted, smiling.

Duke nodded. “Sunset, then... Why are you here?”

“Exploration,” Sunset said. “Our world is governed by a philosophy of 'Friendship First.' We've avoided a number of wars by simply working to befriend those that would be our enemies. It hasn't always worked, but all the species of our world believe in it. When we discovered the ability to travel between worlds via portal, we decided to share our friendship with others, and learn about new cultures.”

Duke nodded. “So just exploration, then?”

Sunset sighed. “Well, there's the usual plethora of tradestallions and businessponies who want to make money off of exploring other worlds, but they're not the real reason behind the trip.” She smiled. “We want to learn, to explore. Above all, we want to make new friends.”

Duke smiled. He couldn't help it. She just seemed so earnest. “An admirable goal, Sunset.”

A voice called out from the other side of the portal. Sunset nodded. “I have to go, Duke,” she said.

Duke blinked. “Really? Why?”

Sunset smiled sadly. “This was a test run, to see if continued visits to this world would be worth it. And I think... yeah, I think they are. The portal was only given enough charge to be held open for a short time.”

Duke nodded. “We'll be seeing you again?” he asked.

Sunset nodded, heading back into the portal. “It'll be a couple days,” she said, “and hopefully during the day.”

“We'll have a better welcome for you then,” Duke said, smiling.

Sunset grinned. “May Harmony forever be your guide,” she said, stepping back through the portal, which closed behind her.

Duke looked thoughtful for a moment, and stood up. “Thoughts? Private Conner, you talked with her the longest.”

Matt smiled. “She's really nice,” he said. “And a good listener. She didn't give much intel, just said a few things about herself.”

Duke looked interested. “Such as...?”

“She called this mission... a penance, of sorts,” Matt said. “She seemed really sad when she said it.”

Lifeline was staring at where the portal was. “She mentioned a detection 'spell...' could she be talking about magic?”

“Maybe,” Duke said, surprising Davis.

“You believe in magic, sir?” he asked.

Duke smirked. “You'd be surprised at some of what Cobra's done over the years.”

Snake-Eyes made a few quick gestures. “She didn't lie, I could tell,” he 'said.' “But she was holding back a lot. I think she has military experience.”

Duke sighed, rubbing his temples. “Hnh... Well, it's a start. Scarlet and General Hawk will want to know about this...” He took a deep breath, and gave everyone a stern look. “For now, this doesn't leave the base. Until we get a handle on this situation with Sunset Shimmer's people, no one is to mention anything about aliens unless you're talking about a video game or movie. Punishment WILL be severe if you do,” he said, loud enough so the people in the hall could hear him. “Got it?”

There was some muttering from the hall. “GOT IT?!” Duke snapped.

“SIR, YES SIR!” the crowd shouted, saluting.

Duke nodded, satisfied. “Good. Get some rest, people. We've got another visit to prepare for. Davis, Conner, you want in on this still?”

Matt nodded. “Yes sir,” he said.

Davis shook his head. “I'd... rather not, sir. I was never a fan of scifi stuff.”

Duke quirked an amused eyebrow. “Then why'd you join us?” he said. That got some chuckles from the troops that were still there. “Get some rest, soldiers. We'll discuss it more in the morning.”

Everyone trailed off, leaving only Duke and Snake-Eyes left.

“You still have doubts,” Snake-Eyes gestured.

Duke nodded. “I'm uneasy about this whole thing,” he said. “I'm hoping her people have no malicious intent, or that this isn't just one of Cobra's zanier schemes, but we have to consider every option.”

Snake-Eyes looked at the place the portal was. “We'll just have to play this by ear,” he gestured. “And hope for the best.”

Duke sighed. “True. All we can do at this point...”