//------------------------------// // Close Encounters of the Third Kind // Story: The Bear, The Eagle, and The Ponies // by ObssesedNuker //------------------------------// Disclaimer: My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro. The Red Alert series is owned by Electronic Arts. The United States was founded by a group of colonial intellectuals. The Soviet Union was founded by Vladimir Lenin (with assistance). I'm not sure who, exactly, founded Britain. The Eagle, The Bear, and The Ponies Chapter 3: Close Encounters of the Third Kind Carousel Boutique, Ponyville… Rarity was facing a crisis, a crisis that threatened her home, her family, her life, and all of her hopes and dreams. It was an implacable and stubborn enemy that refused to back down, one which she had no experience with and was slowly driving her crazy. It was a horrible experience. Rarity was in the middle of her first ever creative slump. It had begun innocently enough, the white unicorn reflected: she decided that it was time to drum up a new design. So Rarity grabbed her dress forms, several blank sheets of paper, her markers, and a bite to eat before lying down to begin the process. Several hours later, she realized she still didn't have a clue where to start despite strenuous thinking. Undeterred, Rarity decided to dig up her previous designs hoping that the past might give her inspiration. First, she got out the designs from the year before, then the year before that, then the year before that. The next thing she knew, she had dug out all her designs since she had first acquired her cutie mark, some of which had actually made her cringe on reflection. After another day or two of sorting through them, mixing-and-matching patterns, the unicorn still came out with nothing. Now feeling a little concerned, the fashionista resorted to her trump card: her friends. While Twilight had gone off to visit Canterlot for several days, the rest were still around. Whenever Rarity managed to convince them to spare the time, the other four ponies helped her out by modeling. But as session after session passed with no results, Rarity became more and more anxious. She even had Sweetie Belle and her friends model at one point, a task they actually leapt into eagerly… at first. Since the three fillies had already attempted to get their 'modeling cutie marks' , the Cutie Mark Crusaders were intractable from the start. When Twilight came back, one of the first things Rarity did was ask her to model in hopes that maybe salvation would be in a fellow unicorn with a different style. But that did not seem to be the case… "No, no, no, no…" Rarity muttered, as she threw various costumes onto Twilight at an astounding pace. By this point, she was well beyond pointing out just what she thought was wrong with each attempt. "No, no…" She paused, tilted her head at the Crowned Equestrian Statue costume she had placed on her best friend and thought for a moment. "Maybe it could…" Rarity perked up, "Yes!" Another pause, then she deflated again, "No, just no." And took the costume back off. Twilight Sparkle, for her part, had gained that nervous smile of hers as the session wore on. She had noticed Rarity's behavior and was trying to figure out how to bring it up. "So, Rar-" That was her first attempt, and it was interrupted as the other unicorn telekinetically shoved a bright red clown nose onto Twilight's nose. Rarity took a moment to do a double-take at the nose, the clown costume in her hooves that she did not remember ever having, and the fact that she had just interrupted Twilight. "No." She said at the clown costume decisively, then turned and levitated the fake nose off of Twilight's snout rather more gently then it had been shoved on. "I'm sorry about that dear." "Oh, no. It's fine." Twilight said, rubbing at the odd feeling the presence of a foreign object on her face had left behind, "It just seems you are rather… more intense than previously." "Oh, really?" Rarity asked, laughing nervously, "I'm so sorry about that, it's just that I have been having such trouble coming up with a new design recently… I'm afraid it's made me a little frustrated." "Trouble coming up with…" Twilight paused and raised an eyebrow. "Are you having a… I don't think the term is artist's block, is it?" Now Rarity's laugh had much more humor in it. "Not really. But the problem, I believe, is still the same." She sighed, "And yes, I am in a slump, my very first." "Well, I can understand how that feels." Twilight said, stepping down from the modeling plateau and placing a sympathetic hoof on Rarity, "Sometimes I get writer's block, but I have some tricks that I think can help." "Really?" Rarity inquired, interested and hopeful of a way out of this terrible situation. "Yeah. The first thing I try is to take my books, pens, and writing paper to somewhere scenic and try to draw inspiration from around me." "Oh, I wish I had thought of that!" Rarity said. "Do you have any suggestions on where to go?" Twilight thought for a few moments. "Well, Sweet Apple Acre's has a great view of the mountains… and there's this hill further out that has beautiful scenery! Although… it's a little close to the Everfree forest." Rarity didn't seem the slightest bit affected. "That's just fine. Honestly, that place has never been quite so frightening ever since we met Steve." "Steve?" Twilight asked, not sure what Rarity was talking about. Did she mean Zecora? "Who's Steve?" "You don't remember Steven Magnet? That fine water serpent back when we first met?" "Oh, him! I didn't really ever see him again…" Twilight said, somewhat embarrassed. "So wait, you go and meet him?" "Why yes. He recalls you, although he doesn't remember your name either. We actually just talk about the latest trends… hmm, I wonder if he could help." Twilight thought a little. The serpent had actually been rather nice. "Next time you go, can I come? I never really had a chance to talk with a Sea Serpent before." "Why most certainly, but first that hill… let me go get my things and we can be off." "Oh, yes… that." Twilight said as Rarity trotted off and ducked into her storage closet, she had almost forgotten about their outing after Steve had come up… Seemingly Random Cloud, Just Over Ponyville… Rainbow Dash had an odd way of napping. Unlike most ponies who fell into heavy sleepers, light sleepers, or some position in between, Rainbow Dash was all of them. Simply put, she would sleep like a log unless some rather specific audio cues caught her subconscious's attention. Pinkie Pie's voice was one of those cues. "HEY DASHIE!" At that horribly familiar call, Dash's eyes shot open and she leapt to her feet, head whipping around in an attempt to locate Pinkie Pie. It was then that the Pegasus remembered that she was napping on a cloud and there was no way for Pinkie Pie to be on a cloud with her unless… For a handful of seconds, the pink Earth Pony's head burst through the cloud in front of Dash. "You're awake!" Was all Pinkie Pie managed before she fell back through the cloud. A few seconds later, her head was back again. "It's an emergency!" That caught Rainbow Dash's attention... well, even more so than already. An emergency? Was there a fire? A creature from the Everfree forest attacking? Or was Equestria being invaded by technologically advanced bi-peds from another dimension? Dash struck the last possibility from the list before asking, "What is it?" Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie had already fallen back to the ground, so Dash had to wait a few seconds before she appeared again. When the Earth Pony showed up, however, all she said was: "What did you say?" And then she was gone again. With an annoyed sigh, Dash took off and landed on the ground next to the trampoline Pinkie Pie had been using to jump through the cloud. She waited for Pinkie to descend, brake before hitting the trampoline again, and hop down next to Rainbow Dash. "I said," Dash continued as if nothing had happened, "What is it?" Pinkie gave her a perplexed look, "What is what?" Dash face-hoofed and said in a strained voice, "The emergency..." "Oh, yeah! Well, I was working and-WOOOOOOAAAAHHH!" Pinkie bounced, but not the usual bouncing as in terms of hopping up and down. No, instead every part of her body simultaneously and individually wobbled up and down as if they had minds of their own. Dash widened as she recognized the motion. A few seconds later, Pinkie stopped bouncing and grinned sheepishly, "Erm… that's the emergency." "Oh great, a doozy." Dash said, dreading what was coming next. The 'doozy' was the most serious of Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkie Sense'. Unpredictable and often dangerous, the last doozy Pinkie Pie led to several of her friends running from a Hydra in the process. "Yeah! It's the doozy!" Pinkie said, "And whatever it is, it's going to happen at Sweet Apple Acres! I tried to find Twilight, but she wasn't home and Spike said she was at Rarity's, but neither Rarity or her were there and Applejack already left to go home and Fluttershy's home is too far away and then I saw you on top of that cloud, but I needed a trampoline to get up there and Mr. and Mrs. Cake's trampoline was busted so I had to go to that sports rental store with the strange-" "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Dash pleaded, "I get it… look, we don't have time to waste with this Pinkie. We have to get to Sweet Apple Acres!" "Oh, yeah ri-IIIEEEGHT!" Pinkie Pie bounced again as her Pinkie sense went off… again. "Let's go!" Dash cried, taking to the air with Pinkie bouncing after her… both against and then under her own control once the 'sense reaction' wore off. Countryside, Just Outside of Ponyville… "So, which sounds better?" Scootaloo said. "Cutie Mark Miners and Crafters or Cutie Mark Minecrafters?" "Cutie Mark Minecrafters," Sweetie Belle replied, "definitely." "Yeah, I thought so too." Scootaloo turned back to Applebloom, who was leading the trio to their 'secret' clubhouse. "So where did you get the tools for this anyways?" "From the barn, of course." The young earth pony replied, "Big Mac always keeps shovels, picks, and axes around in case he and Applejack need to clear some rocks, dirt, or dead trees out of the orchard." "I can buy that okay. But what if we encounter…" Sweetie Belle's voice dropped into a whisper, "Diamond Dogs?" "Really, do you think they would go to the same place twice?" Sootaloo asked, as she rolled her eyes, "Besides, your sister came out just fine, all we got to do is what she did." "Whine?" Applebloom asked. Scootaloo shook her head, "No, complain." Applebloom nodded in understanding and returned her attention to getting to the tree house. In the meantime Scootaloo got into a good-natured argument with Sweetie Belle on whether Rainbow Dash was cool or way cool. When Applebloom abruptly froze in her tracks, Scootaloo ran into her. "Oof!" The small Pegasus muttered, "Applebloom-" "Shhhh…" Applebloom muttered, Scootaloo was taken aback for a few seconds and was about to object at getting hushed when her friend continued, "Something's coming…" "What?" Sweetie Belle piped up, "What's coming?" "I don't know…" The ground the three fillies were on was adjacent to Sweet Apple Acre's orchards and therefore had been given a light foresting of regular trees with attendant bushes for appearance's sake. Now, as the first hint of voices began to reach the three, Applebloom was happy for those additions. "Hide!" She whispered to her friends before diving into a nearby copse. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed, any questions quelled by the urgency of their friend's voice. A few moments passed and the voices came closer and became quite audible… kind of. Whatever the oncoming group was, they were speaking in a strange language with very mushy sounds mixed in with a few hisses and what the three could only describe as sudden 'spits'. Scootaloo leaned over to Sweeite Belle and whispered, "Have you ever heard anything like that before?" Sweetie Belle shook her head and continued to peer through a small opening in the bush. Then the group of creatures came into sight. There were ten of them, tall and thin, standing only on two legs like Spike and with hands, again like Spike, clutching very large metallish sticks. In the few places where their body was exposed, the Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed they didn't appear to have hides, although a few of them had some minor hairs growing on their faces, and none had a tail. The creatures' faces were flat and had their mouths set into them with the noses protruding a little above them. All ten of the creatures wore dirtied clothing in a very dull green-gray fashion and similarly colored helmets. With just one look, Sweetie Belle knew her sister Rarity would have fits over these creatures' dress. The dresses also contained numerous pouches and objects hanging off of them. Additionally, Applebloom noticed that no matter how the creatures moved, they kept those sticks angled at the ground… never at anything else. The creatures moved in a slightly staggered file, apparently engaged in casual conversation with each other. One of them, towards the front and with a pair of bars barely visible on its fore-haunch, was engaged with a somewhat smaller and wider one who had a series of stripes instead. The group passed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, one stepping so close that the three had to hold their breath as they caught a whiff and had to hold off coughing from the terrible smell of the mysterious group. The creatures passed by and moved off into the light woods, heading the way the Cutie Mark Crusaders had come. After waiting a few moments to make sure they were gone, Applebloom leapt out of her hiding place and stared off at the way the creatures had left. "Did you see them?" Scootaloo asked excitedly. "It was kind of hard to miss 'em." Applebloom replied. "What were they?" "I don't know." Sweetiebelle said, "I never heard of anything like those before." Applebloom began to reply when something about the creatures' path clicked in her mind. "They're heading for the house! Only Granny Smith is there right now!" "What?" Scootaloo looked at Applebloom, then back where the creatures had gone off. "But… are we sure they're not friendly?" "Are we sure they're not friendly?" Applebloom asked, "There's only one place they could have come from…" "Zecora lives in the Everfree forest too." Sweetie Belle pointed out, somewhat regretfully at the way the town had treated the Zebra. "Maybe we should follow them?" Scootaloo suggested. For once in her life, Applebloom thought the suggestion over. If the creatures were friendly, then it would be okay, but if they were hostile… "Big Macintosh is in the orchard, inspectin' the trees." Applebloom said, "We should go get him first!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle considered it themselves before nodding in agreement. Big Mac was a tough pony, surely he could handle whatever those creatures could do if they were bad… right? Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville Outskirts… "Picturesque place, isn't it?" Vince observed. "Yeah, real comfy..." Try as he might, Gins couldn't force himself to inject the sarcasm he wanted into that sentence. There was no way around it: the little farmstead he looked over right now did feel remarkably comfortable. Strangely though, the pigs in the sty seemed to have backed away into a corner and were watching the group of humans with a clear expression of wariness… He rapidly realized another oddity: the buildings were rather small. Gins realized the barn was only something like 2/3rds the size of even the smallest model. He would know: he had spent one of the earlier defensive actions against the Soviet invasion using one as a command post. The third oddity to leap out at the Captain and his men was the decor. As far as they could figure out, whoever ran the place was probably less an apple farmer and more an apple fanatic. The barn was covered weather-vane-to-foundation in cutesy decorations that made Gins feel like brushing his teeth by just looking at them. The squad had emerged from the tree line and into a small vegetable field, which turned into a dirt path. To the left of their entrance, the house sat at the end of a dirt road, which the men first had to reach by lugging themselves over a white fence. "Sir!" One of the soldiers spoke-up as they observed the surroundings, "I think I see a town." Gins turned in the direction the man was pointing and, sure enough, he could make out wooden roofs poking out from another light forest downhill from where they stood. "Alright then, if no-one's home here, we'll head there." Gins was pretty sure someone was home… there was a small light in one of the windows, barely perceptible (especially in the day) but there. As they approached the homestead, the squad instinctively fell into a semi-circle shaped formation, a bizarre feeling of apprehension suddenly welling up inside them. It was a wild contradiction from the previous sense of peace and relaxation they had been in… "Sergeant Vince, on me..." Gins said once the group came close enough. "Everybody else, hold here." And so he went forward, that strange apprehension only growing… and the captain finally identified the source of it. It was goddamn quiet, he would even say too quiet but this level of silence ran beyond merely 'too quiet' and straight into 'ridiculously quiet'. Gins reached the door, which was so small that he would have had to duck down if he was going through it, and finally knocked. To Gins, the sound of his knuckles rapping against the door broke the silence as surely as an artillery barrage. The captain knocked twice, one of those polite, business-like knocks that were rapid and clear while still being unobtrusive. From inside, a voice called out in a language that Gins did not understand or even recognize. Even though the voice was muffled by the door, it still sounded so sweet and syrupy that Gins unwillingly found himself thinking of maples. But it was hardly a viscous sort of syrupy, the language flowed as smoothly as a stream. But even in its light-hearted tone, Gins could tell the speaker was female but old… it had that weight of gravity that age seemed to lend to peoples voices. The door opened and Gins had already inclined his head forward expecting a midget to be answering, albeit a foreign one. He was not expecting a small, greenish horse to do so instead. Gins had to blink to make sure he was not hallucinating, but sure enough a small horse… no, he realized that a pony with a green hide and an apple pie… brand? tattoo? symbol? was staring up at him with an oddly expressive face… one which seemed to be just as shocked and surprised as he was. If it weren't for the fact that the pony was, impossibly, holding open the door with one of her forelegs, Gins would have thought there was some kind of joke being pulled on him. If Gins had looked over his shoulder, he would have seen Sergeant Vince and eight other US Army soldiers with their eyes threatening to fall out of their open sockets. Then the pony, which now Gins noticed had a number of wrinkles in her hide, said something in that same syrupy language… Gins didn't know what she said, but he did know it was short and rapidly followed by the creature making one unmistakably clear sound: "AAAAAAAHHH!" And then the pony slammed the door shut in his face. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack whistled as she trotted down the road linking Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville. The orange earth pony was in a good mood and anyone looking at the cart she was towing could figure out why… she had finally earned enough bits to replace the old plow! It was about time too… if it hadn't been for those Parasprites forcing the family to replace the entire barn they could have bought the plow ages ago! Applejack was enjoying the satisfaction that the payoff to weeks of hard work brought about when she heard somepony calling her name. Slowing down and twisting her head around for a better look, she saw two familiar faces coming towards her. "Twilight, Rarity… how y'all doing?" "Oh, we're just going out to take in some scenery." Twilight said. "I suggested it to Rarity, it might give her some ideas." Applejack switched her attention to the other Unicorn, "Still havin' trouble with the new dresses?" "Yes…" Rarity sighed and pawed at the ground a little anxiously, "These things happen…" Twilight, on the other hand, was eyeing Applejack's cart and the pile of bits in it. "Good day at the market?" "The best!" Applejack grinned, "There was a big group in town, think they were some kind-a political types meeting with the mayor, sold me out at lunch time faster than you can say 'new plow'!" "Lunch?" Twilight and Rarity asked simultaneously, followed quickly by their stomachs growling at the reminder. "Oh…" Rarity said, "I guess we lost track of time in there." "Ya'll hadn't have lunch yet?" Applejack gave her friends a grin "Come on, I'll give ya a treat at the farm." "Oh, thanks a bunch Apple-" Twilight was interrupted by a shout followed instantly by a rainbow blur barreling into the trio. Rarity and Twilight took the brunt of the impact, sending the two unicorns sprawling to the ground, while Applejack staggered, her cart rocking alarmingly. When the dust settled, a furrow had been dug into the dirt road and at the end of that furrow, sprawled on her back, was Rainbow Dash complete with an awkward smile on her face. "Oops… sorry." "You know Dash," Twilight said as she picked herself off the ground and shook off the dirt, "For a racer you really do crash a lot when flying low to the ground. I think you should fly above tree-top level, at the very least… less ground clutter that way." "Silly Twilight!" Pinkie Pie broke in, seemingly appearing out of thin air, "Rainbow Dash isn't a radar station!" "A what?" Twilight asked even as she, Applejack, and Rarity jerked back in surprise. Even though she was one of their best friends, they still had trouble getting used to Pinkie Pie's ability to instantly sneak-up on anypony she wanted. Pinkie Pie never got a chance to answer as Rainbow Dash cut in, "Pinkie! We don't have time for this, remember?" Without waiting for a reply, she addressed the other three friends, "Look something's going to go down at Applejack's farm." "What?" Applejack said in alarm, then she added "What is it?" "I don't know, Pinkie's Pinkie Se-" "TH-TH-TH-THERE I-I-I-I-I-I GOES AGAIN!" Pinkie Pie shouted, as the doozy shook her up and down. "Oh no." Rarity gasped, recognizing the motion. "That's right, the doozy!" Dash said, "And Pinkie Pie says whatever is happening is gonna happen at Sweet Apple Ac-" "AAAAAAAHHH" A shriek cut through the air, its voice very familiar… "Granny Smith!" Applejack's eyes widened, "She's all alone at the farm!" Then the Earth Pony took off so fast that she broke the harness attached to the cart of bits. "I'M COMING GRANNY!" "Applejack, wait!" Twilight shouted, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie immediately began to follow after her, but Twilight only got a little distance before she realized something. "Rarity! Come on!" "But Applejack left her bits!" The white unicorn said, indicating the cart, "Someone might steal them!" "Then we report it to the local guards! And Applejack can always earn more bits, Granny Smith is much more important!" Rarity hesitated, clearly disliking the idea of leaving so much money out alone on the trail. The fashionista knew that money was important to one's survival, but a Pony's life was even more important. The Unicorn nodded and finally made to follow Twilight, the two leaving the cart behind for now. In the end, nopony ever did steal the bits, but even if there had been a case of theft, the events that followed would likely have pushed the cart well out of Twilight and her friends' mind. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What the fuck?" Was the first thing anyone uttered after recovering from the shock, "Was that a pony?" "It certainly wasn't a snail…" Sargeant Vince said to the man. "It was intelligent…" Gins said, "It was speaking a language…" "And we scared the piss out of it," Vince said. "Do we go into town now sir?" Gins stepped off the porch, Vince following, and turned his attention to the roofs in the distance, bringing his binoculars up to take a better look. The designs were just as whimsical as the barn… Gins noticed a sinking feeling in his chest "No, sergeant. I don't think we're on Earth any more…" Vince obviously did not follow and was about to ask something when a VERY angry voice, again in that cavity-inducing language, yelled out at the group of Allied soldiers. They turned fast enough to process the sight of an orange Pony, obviously a different one from before charging down at them. The troopers leapt out of the way in the nick of time, but the new pony rapidly halted and spun around, its posture obviously aggressive. The GI's, for their part, snapped their weapons up, taking aim and fingers a breadth away from the trigger, but waiting for the order before firing. The pony said something sharply, in a much younger yet obviously feminine voice. Now that the two sides had a moment to pause, they took stock of each other. Gins and his men noted the pony's braided hair and cowboy hat, clearly something a pony usually does not do on its own. Applejack, after demanding what these strange two-legged creatures had done with Granny Smith, noted the group's filthy appearance and the posture they had taken. The earth pony was not sure what those metallish sticks were, but from the way the creatures held them they had to be some sort of weapon. The impasse lasted for only a few seconds, because that was when Applejack's friends arrived on the scene. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie arrived in quick succession. Dash took one look at the situation and let out an impromptu war cry before diving at one of the creatures. The Allied trooper, a one Private Werve, spun around, saw a blue blur bearing down on him, and let off what was a short burst for a M60E4 medium machine gun. It was not an aimed shot so none of the six rounds actually hit the oncoming Pegasus, but the rattle of the gun immediately followed by the series of hisses and snaps that came from the bullets shooting by her head at various distances caused Dash to involuntarily jink in shock. She instinctively attempted to correct, but still disoriented from the noise, she misjudged and only her left wing collided with Private Werve. As a later comparison in physical qualities would show, this was very fortunate for the soldier. The pegasus pony and the human were knocked off their feet and tangled together, a rather awkward situation given the human's greater size. Gins, making a snap decision, rushed in to help Private Werve. Six of the other GI's, including Sergeant Vince, took this as an indication to follow the captain's lead and also rushed over to help. Applejack saw one of her best friends entangled amidst the group of creatures and came up with an improvised plan. First, she made as if to charge straight ahead but then took off at more of an angle instead. Fortunately for her, the two soldiers with their weapons still aimed were beyond confused at this point. Too much had happened too fast for these men and they didn't know whether to follow the rest, keep their attention on the orange pony, or aim at the new pink pony who was just standing there, gaping in surprise. It was the scene of Applejack and Rainbow Dash caught in a confusing tussle with a small group of unknown bi-peds that met Twilight Sparkle and Rarity when the two finally caught up. They stood there, mirroring Pinkie's reaction, as they fully lacked even the slightest context that could help. Finally, the two sides managed to disentangle themselves, neither ever figured out exactly how, and both groups fell back from each other. It was at this point that Big Macintosh and the three Cutie Mark Crusaders arrived. Applejack's older brother had been listening to Applebloom hurriedly telling him of their encounter in the orchard when Granny Smith encountered the humans and he had taken off immediately at her scream. Since Big Mac and the three fillies came in from the right of the homestead's front, the group of GI's belatedly realized that all of their routes of escape were cut-off. Behind them were a fence and the slope of a hill, to the squad's right was the house, to their front and left the strange sentient ponies. Before the squad could make any decisions, the final event of the crisis occurred: the house's door opened and Granny Smith cautiously poked her head out. Upon seeing her, Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom all made for the door, shouting with great relief "GRANNY!" And just like that, the crisis diffused itself. The humans didn't know what was happening, but could feel the previous tension vanish and relaxed, while the ponies noted the creatures less aggressive stances and followed suit. Then the aftermath began… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So do ya know what they are Twilight?" Applejack asked a few minutes later. After getting the story from Granny Smith, Applejack had left the old pony in the care of her capable big brother and put her foot down with the Cutie Mark Crusaders in ordering them to go with him. Scootaloo and Applebloom complained, but Sweetiebelle seemed a little shakened and Applejack worried about that… she would have to tell Rarity about it. "I've never seen anything like them." Twilight and her friends looked across at the creatures with a mix of wariness and awe. A short distance away, the creatures gave them the exact same looks. A few of them were muttering to each other in their unfamiliar language. "More importantly, what are they doing here and what do they want? Are they hostile?" Rarity whispered, "I mean, they tried to attack Rainbow…" Her face scrunched up, "And those clothes are a travesty." "I don't know, but there's one way to find out." Twilight replied before beginning to approach the creatures. On the other side of the homestead, Gins' squad watched the strange Ponies. The captain himself was discussing the strangely bizarre situation with Sergeant Vince… or more likely ranting at him. "A civilization of ponies… not just ponies, but goddamn pegasi and unicorns!" Gins paused to wonder why he wasn't more shocked by this. Maybe the sheer shock of everything had yet to settle in? He continued on, "There's no way we are on Earth…" "Sir," Vincent said formally, his voice completely at odds with his pale look, "What are your orders?" Gins thought about it. What were his orders? What kind of orders should he give? The military academy had not exactly taught him how to deal with sentient, talking ponies… silently, Gins thanked himself that Werve had missed the blue Pegasus otherwise the others would likely have attacked and his men would have had to kill them too. … And he had never imagined being thankful that one of his men missed shooting what was a mythological creature. Before Gins could come to a decision, the purple unicorn (goddamn, what a crazy day he was having) began to approach them. The soldiers tensed but Gins rapidly divined her intentions. "Steady." He ordered. The Unicorn paused about six feet away and muttered something in that language of theirs… a feminine sounding voice, again. Were all of these ponies female? Although that big red one looked a little different… Gins was not prepared for the Unicorn's horn to be enveloped in a dancing aura for a few moments and he actually blinked in surprise. For a few moments, he was entranced as the light brightened and then dimmed. At the edge of his consciousness, the captain thought he felt a moment of pressure against his mind… but that vanished immediately. Then the Unicorn looked at the squad and said, "Umm… hi." All ten allied soldiers proceeded to do their best imitations of a fly catcher. "Sergeant," Gins' voice held every inch of disbelief he felt, "Did that pony just speak in English?" The reply was an oddly slow, "Yes sir…" The unicorn looked a bit put-off by that exchange, clearly not expecting it. "Oh…" Gins' paused, "Holy shit." End Chapter A/N: Man, Toy Soldiers Cold War is awesome! Now where were we? Oh yeah... Anyways, you might have noticed I changed the scene breaks a little. Suffice to say a line break indicates a time or minor perspective shift while a big bold location descriptor thingy indicates a major location switch… obviously. No, good news/bad news time. Good News: This story has really grabbed my muse something fierce. That means I'm going to keep prioritizing it rather then switch back to Intrusion of the Dark Stars until I lose it. Bad news: A new semester of college has begun, which is going to cut rather severely into my fic writing. Expect updates to take longer. I will say we won't be going back to the Soviets quite yet… Also, pony pun: Coltistan Desert = Cholistan Desert, which is on the border between Pakistan and India. EDIT: I made a decision, we're going back too the Soviets next chappy. The below has been updated too reflect that. Next Chapter: Brain Freeze