//------------------------------// // Black Hawk Down - 1 // Story: Untouched by Human Hands // by Acmos //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle stood, watching the crashed craft and she was at a complete loss. A new question caught her mind, one of many today: What madpony would think of building a rotorcraft based on something as unreliable as pure mechanics? Without the owner's personal magic, such as Pinkie's pedal umbrella? And what kind of madpony would design a flying vehicle whose fall was unstoppable?! Twilight honestly tried to do it. When the black colossus broke through the veil of the cosmic bubble and roared down and to the side, spinning around its axis, straight towards Ponyville, the unicorn's heart skipped a beat. But then, coming to her senses, she put all of her strength in the magic of levitation. And ... the rotorcraft, as if nothing had happened, continued to fall. It only slowed down a little, breaking the telekinetic grip, and simply not reacting to the original component of the spell, as if Twilight was trying to apply force to a non-existent object, pouring energy into nowhere and dissipating it in space. Matter under the control of Twilight simply ignored it with such startling indifference, as if the sorceress were just a small foal taking the very first timid steps in mastering magic. And how well it all started! The long preparation for moving between worlds was completed, everything was ready for the experiment. Princess Celestia herself approved of it and sent four select guards to ensure safety. The unflappable unicorns were supposed to support the disciple if something went wrong and ensure safety during the ritual. But everything did not go as planned by the sorceress and student of Princess Celestia. It was too wrong! Twilight thought nervously as she noticed a couple of strands sticking out, curling from her bangs. But she still hesitated whether to come into contact ... with such an unusual history of witchcraft! The parallel world, the existence of which Twilight had proved six months ago, puzzled even her mentor, who had seen all sorts of strange things in her life. In addition to completely natural sources of energy, for example, stars, that were supposed to surround the other version of Equestria, and the echoes of which were detected by analog meters, that reality had practically no magic. If in Equestria the original history of magic that was reliably recorded by the chroniclers spanned at least seven millennia, then... on the timeline recreated by Twilight using the records of Star Swirl, the era of magic took no more than sixty ordinary seasons. Timid bursts of energies with a fairly rapid increase towards the middle of the scale, and with rather long periods between those large spells that could be detected... Then there was a decline. The very end was a singular release of a large spell in an area in which powerful and mana-consuming magic was never even close to being performed (the last thing this looked like was a magical war that ended that world). And then everything – as if cut off. It's like all the magic from that world was gone... gone forever. Twilight could not even imagine how different the inhabitants of that world were from the Equestrians in terms of culture, because she could not imagine a single adequate scenario according to which magic here, in present Equestria, could evolve in that way. The Princess of the Day and her sister were lost in in no less guesswork, but Twilight's timid offer to establish contact was reacted to quite favorably. Celestia believed that nothing irreversible could happen: the power of friendship would prevail over any disagreements (which Luna knew firsthoof, and therefore had no objections either. Cadence, on the other hoof, reasoned quite sensibly that the aunts and her gifted pupil in matters of experimental magic trampled not only Discord, and she decided not to give advice). Or, in extreme cases, magic arts would do the job... The eyelid on Sparkle's left eye twitched. No, nothing prevailed! She let her mentor down, failed to foresee such... such a development of events! But Twilight had to, otherwise what kind of researcher would she be? If she let something into Equestria... if something terrible entered here that no one else has ever encountered before... if there was no way to deal with this, or the price of victory was too high... Would Twilight Sparkle’s name be written in the Equestrian chronicles as the one responsible for all this?! the unicorn thought in panic. This could not be allowed. It was simply impossible to imagine such a thing! But, nevertheless, it happened. Noting that the use of magic in that world was also limited locally, as if it was not used everywhere, but on some periphery, Twilight began to prepare the ritual of sending. So what if the data obtained made you wrinkle your nose and fiercely scratch with your hoof behind your ear? Maybe there were very few magicians in that world, and they were all so weak that they could only afford one or two spells of class B for the season? The unicorn did everything so that the packet sent «to the other side» reached the addressee and was understood in the correct way, in the spirit of «let's get acquainted, and even better be friends». Photos, data on the biology of the planet’s species, music recordings, a few simple examples of magic matrices, logical pictures... There was a message, compiled in a common language, and a maximally adapted textbook for learning Equestrian. If the aliens cannot make out the text, then at least they will understand that intelligent beings using structured writing and language wanted to meet them... With the other contents of the package Twilight wanted to convince these creatures from another world of the ponies’ sincere friendliness. Pinkie also advised sending a couple of signature firework pies to the other side and Lyra tried to shove several of her brochures with a bunch of questions into the trunk, but Sparkle was strongly against such a load. And it could be understood from her standpoint. Twilight was worried a lot during the upcoming ritual. It was unknown how the aliens would react to the food sent to them, which is suitable for pony consumption. Or even worse, if they think that the food is poisoned, and it could very well be a poison, due to their possible differences in alchemy! Uncertainty was something that disturbed Twilight's soul at this moment, but also brought a lot of excitement, as was visible in her sparkling eyes. However, Rarity surprised Twilight by not thinking about her boutique outfits or fabrics when asked about providing one of her clothing samples. “Darling ... Without knowing the preferences, let alone the appearance of the client, I will never send them consumables. After all, I need to tell my client a lot about pony culture first! The first impression is the most important, and I'm not going to do it blindly! It won’t do much good to my inspiration if I'm wrong in my guesses!" Rarity said dramatically. Fluttershy, as usual, was afraid of the unknown and therefore limited herself to a few photographs of rare birds and flowers. Modest but tasteful. Rainbow Dash, as always indifferent and even with a bored expression on her face, reacted to the magical experiments of her friend Twilight in the usual way: "Twi, you know, I don't understand anything about your egghead stuff! So call me if the aliens start dropping into Equestria and provide some action, otherwise you have those guards to watch your magical experiments explode and form bubbles in your flasks... it will be so boring! " Rainbow Dash said and crossed her hooves over her chest, narrowing her eyes slightly. Well, now Rainbow will certainly shout something along the lines of "I missed everything!!!" since she didn’t come rushing in the blink of an eye to the noise that the otherworldly machine made. It meant that mare had nodded off somewhere on a cloud, so you won’t be able to wake her up even with the party cannon. Pinkie Pie went to the first launch of the ritual, which was held outside the village, without any invitation. However, she did not enter the danger zone, but instead fished out a huge bucket of popcorn from her mane and began eating it with enthusiasm, singing approving chants during breaks: “Twi in science - fight boredom! Open the portal - the holiday will go uphill! Hey, do you want some popcorn?" said Pinkie Pie with a smile and handed the coveted bucket of popcorn to a really busy (and therefore a little grumpy) Twilight. However, no matter how Twilight Sparkle checked and rechecked the carefully calibrated formulas, after a dozen attempts to send the package… nothing happened. The impression was that the object that she was trying send during the period when the use of magic was most intense, simply ... did not want to be received. It's not even that the magician’s intentions were misunderstood on the other side – Sparkle would have known if her attempt at creating a transition has set forth at least some conscious response, even an effort to influence the passage by the other magicians. But none of this happened. Twilight's attempts to reach out to the locals of that world were simply ignored, as if there were no sapient beings in that version of Equestria, and magic was just a natural phenomenon, not much different from the same life cycle of stars. Noticing that her friend is sad, and the experiment does not want to end with even the tiniest explosion, Pinky urged her not to be upset. “Loosen up, Twilight! All these scientific puzzles that don't work according to your plan will still be there! Do you want me to put a cupcake in your eye, if it helps in your confidence?!" said Pinkie Pie and pulled a bun out of her mane. Pinkie, no matter how serious she is, was first of all a good and caring friend, so she offered everyone present to go the Sugarcube Corner, which the guards calmly refused. However, Twilight did not pass up an opportunity for a couple of cups of tea and few pastries to calm her nerves. Twilight was used to always bring results proportional to time and effort spent. In the end, she spent the whole month preparing this event ... and how involved she was in her work! Moreover, how much paper and ink was wasted to keep up with charts and other measurement data in her research! Working with the library catalog would almost stop if it weren't for her number one assistant! After trying the ritual with a different time interval a week later and again without getting a result (as the always cheerful Pinkie judged, the sorceress refused to count failure as a result), Twilight decided that something needed to be changed in the technique. If the diamond cannot be found on the mountain... the dog will look for it under the mountain, as ponies said. Twilight decided to do the opposite: use someone's ritual as a binding and generalize the energy of that world. To move away from it, and try to drag anything in her direction. To her disappointment, no otherworldly spells were fit for that. The point of contact was always huge, titanic masses. Judging by the frequency of penetration of the magical streams, it was either water or soil. Seriously, who would cast Class B spells in water and earth? Who might like a natural disaster made from land or water? The spells there, of course, served as much purpose as "shaking the air", and Twilight already had a headache from trying to understand why they wasted so much of the natural energy - this is with its otherworldly rarity! The further the unicorn moved along the timeline, calculating parameters and looking for an object of a suitable size for which it would be possible to create a shell of an enclosed space, the less hope she had that her discovery would be recorded in history and in magic textbooks. However, Twilight was used to getting things done without giving up halfway through seeming hopelessness... And in the end, she was rewarded for her efforts. That very last case; a one-time use of a spell with a certain magical subtlety in an unseen place until now, namely, there the sorceress found an object for which the transition could be made. Small enough to be enclosed in a sphere (though much larger than any unit that any of the famous sorcerers used in their experiments), it definitely matched a magical reaction, dense on one hoof and patchy on the other. The next morning, Twilight Sparkle, in good spirits, stepped out onto the platform, settled down across the river from the side of the forest, and performed an impeccable ritual under the watchful eyes of the guards. Everything was going well until Pinkie, who had reappeared to support her friend (this time with a picnic basket, from which Gummy's face sometimes stuck out as he passed the cakes and fruits to his master), shouted "Ouch!" and fainted. And then the bubble of the enclosed space burst, and everything flew into tartarus. Twilight was ready to praise the Goddess for the rest of her life that the guards jointly put a screen in the path of the rotorcraft, preventing it from sticking into the outskirts of the town. Although the spell turned out to be weaker than Twilight's talent and skill could reproduce, the unicorn at that time was too shocked and frightened. Unthinkable! Some element of the universe opposed her will! It was even worse than wading through the Everfree to the Castle of the Sisters, bypassing more obstacles than she had ever met in her entire life in Canterlot... only to discover that after overcoming said obstacles their only hope - artifacts capable of overpowering the demonic essence imprisoned on the other side of the cold space orbit, that accumulated rage and anger for a thousand years - disappeared. The variable that held the whole equation was deduced from the problem... it was a terrible feeling, really. Then Sparkle found the strength to not give up and fight on; her new friends helped a lot by their determination and unanimous support, but now... Twilight pushed the limp Pinkie, and she, without opening her eyes, said in an extremely serious tone: «Pinkie’s feeling overwhelmed. Please repeat your request later. » At another moment, Twilight would certainly have smiled at the joke of her inexhaustible friend, but back then it scared her even more. Nevertheless, the pink fidget breathed evenly, despite the sudden interruption of motor activity (Pinkie staying still? Nonsense!). Realizing this, Twilight with a flash of teleportation brought her to retreat into the shade of the canopy, where the equipment stood, and in the next leap, she was already at the black bulk of broken metal. Without a moment's hesitation, she cast a powerful dome spell... Twilight thought she had made the right decision. In a fever of events that spun at a galloping pace, she managed to notice the propeller on which the car was supposed to stay in the air and put the dome in the first place because in such a fatal collision, the abs-transducer could explode. The unicorn hastily cast a spell to stabilize it ... But then she realized that this measure would lead nowhere. There was not even an erg of magic in the machine - the spell simply dissipated as soon as it formed under the dome. It was like deriving a formula that turns a caterpillar into a butterfly and applying it to a brick! And then Twilight did not feel at all how a dense ball was unfolding among the debris of metal, this complex combination of created matrices, which could lead to an uncontrolled release of energy that accumulated for flight. A mechanical structure made of metal collapsed onto a plot of land, completely frightening and confusing the unicorn guards. This could be seen even without disassembly, even considering that it was crumpled and completely unusable. A lot of joints and dangling wires stuck out of the structure, liquid of unknown purpose oozed from built-in reservoirs, a cobweb of cracks glittered on numerous pieces of glass... Something was moving behind the glass, or was it just a trick of light that was playing out in her imagination? Then a part of the rotorcraft's casing flew into the dome from the inside, in such a way that Twilight screeched and jumped away, and the guards raised their spears to readiness. Then it jumped out of the smoke… the two-legged creature! Twilight could not have known what the otherworlders looked like, but they had several theories on this score. In particular, if macroevolution in that dimension proceeded worse in its diversity, but with a clearly expressed periodicity (based on the use of large, clearly distinguishable class B spells), then this could lead to the emergence of a completely intelligent life form and a complex type of musculoskeletal system... There was a certain similarity in the history of magic among the extinct centaurs. But... Twilight couldn't even imagine that they looked that way. No one in Equestria and beyond could have guessed that such creatures could be found anywhere! The sorceress heard the voices of the ponies behind her, who plucked up the courage to look out from behind the market stalls, as they whispered in dismay... And they had a reason! Shrouded in acrid smoke, an elongated figure spread over the dome, from which all colors seemed to have been squeezed out. As if carved out of gray stone, the newcomer stood on his hind legs, as long as two watchtowers, with his forelegs leaning against the barrier. Spreading clawed fingers, an eerie parody of a griffin's claw, as if ready to grab and tear flesh at any moment, fiddled along the inner surface of the dome. His entire body was covered with the same colorless basalt growths, roughly repeating muscles and skeleton at the same time - like a large forest wolf, standing on its hind legs, only made of stone. The only thing that stood out in this mess of twisted hardware was the eyes on the creature's small head. They burned with red fire, rushing from one field of view to another, and seemed to be trying to remember everything and everyone who was on the outskirts of the city. Twilight went cold inside as the creature's face turned towards her. It looked like a face covered with dry parchment, with bare skin and small eyes. He looked long and hard at the frightened unicorn. It was impossible to read any emotion on the flat face with the fold of the mouth; the stranger, it seemed, without malice, without fear, looked at the one who pulled him out of his homeworld. This is how a collector looks at an exhibit of his collection, at an already impeccable acquisition, which he inherited in the course of a dizzying search, which now brings not anxiety, but satisfaction. Perhaps it would be much less scary if the foreigner were simply growling or otherwise showing aggression... The creature's flat, broad chest heaved convulsively, the wings of a short, pointed nose fluttered. Ears, pressed against the sides of the head, remained motionless, giving no hint of the stranger's mood. A reddish mist started generating from his back, after which he briefly swung and hit the barrier with his front paw. Twilight felt the resistance threshold rise. Many ponies screamed and dived back into cover, when with a dull sound the stranger struck again, much faster than the last time, trying the barrier for strength... Finally, the creature retreated further into the dome. It stopped glaring at Twilight from under frowning dark eyebrows. His very short mane did not stand on end, showing the strongest alertness, and the unicorn exhaled with visible relief. Not everything was so bad... A couple of ideas even flashed through her head on how to start a conversation... Can a stranger understand sign language? How different are they from those common in pony society? If Twilight had been her own psychologist, she would certainly have noted that a whole swarm of new questions that immediately settled in her head is a sign of restoration of mental balance. Then the foreigner took a step back, hiding behind a smoke screen... Twilight heard his phrase in a, barking, abrupt language, not at all like the melodious voices of Equestrians or the guttural squawks of griffins. After a couple of minutes, the earth perceptibly trembled, and lumps of soil, charred turf flew in all directions, bouncing off the obstacle outside... When Twilight came to her senses and brought down the dome under the ground to the state of a sphere, the alien had already left. Without the risk of opening the barrier, the sorceress pumped out the smoke that filled the dome and the liquid that produced these vapors when ignited. She sifted through every inch of the earth with magic, but it was all in vain. Apart from the wreckage of this rotary-winged, metal monster, nothing else remained in the quarantine zone. It was a real CATASTROPHE! "Twilight!" Spike reminded of himself warningly, seeing the expression on her face. "It is not your fault. It was impossible to foresee this!" The compassionate dragon who ran to the terrible crash was changing the water compress on Pinkie's forehead and even scribbled a note to the hospital while Twilight tried to clean up the mess. He reacted rather calmly to the black machine, considering that he had not seen its short flight, and now he saw in it just another product of misadventures... also known as Sparkle’s experiments. "But you've probably thought about it," the young dragon objected, smiling approvingly. He knew her too well, since she raised him from birth (hatched from an egg). “Everything will end well! As for me, you have fought with much more evil guys than some two-legged ones on flying pieces of iron. The same Discord... Brrr..." Spike said, trying to cheer Twilight. "You will see. The biggest problem the aliens will give us is explaining to Pinkie why the welcome party should be postponed!" Pinkie Pie instantly came to her senses, and her ear twitched nervously. "Wa-a-ait! What did I miss? Problems? Well, at least Dash will be happy! By the way, did someone say "party postponed"?! No way, I'm just ready! Mmm...” Pinkie Pie had to chew hard when Twilight interrupted the tirade took the apple and cinnamon from the basket and stuffed them into her friend's mouth. “Pinkie, not now,” said the unicorn wearily. “If you feel all right, could you please find Rainbow...? If someone can quickly find and get her, it’s you!” After looking into her mischievous eyes, Twilight spoke with a serious voice, while the tension from all this setup was still thick in the air. "It is not a joke! Tell her to raise the weather brigade! We need the keenest of eyes and the fastest of wings here right now!" Chewing an apple with cinnamon and saluting, Pinkie perked up even more and sat up in a guard pose with a serious look. “Ya-Vol, mein generail! If necessary, I am always ready!" Almost instantly, leaving behind a cloud of settling dust, Pinkie Pie picked up the cruising speed of a gallop. The party queen fled towards the town square, where the town hall was. Nevertheless, at the same time, Sparkle heard the ending: “But you owe me, TWILIGHT! Party for our guest, as soon as you know what he is! Please remembe-e-e..." "Phew..." Twilight breathed out. The native of the stone farm was a good pony, always ready to support in difficult times, but the sorceress very much doubted that Pinkie's talent would be useful here. The last thing that a creature from another dimension, cut off from his usual environment (judging by its appearance, in this respect it is nothing like Equestria), disoriented and frightened, will be pacified by is Pinkie’s party, which is likely to seem overly active and loud, maybe even threatening for him! If Twilight knew anything about interracial psychology, it was that aliens who were very different from ponies should be treated like a big, angry and ill-mannered dog. With such attention, it may even regard affection as aggression... In addition, this stranger has fully demonstrated that he can cause trouble! For a creature in which there was not a drop of magic, he too easily threw this piece of metal and went underground - he definitely lacked the grace of diamond dogs, those inherently talented miners, but the very fact... a creature is hiding under Ponyville now, which cannot be felt and could not be affected by magic, except indirectly, as a protective barrier! A dangerous, resilient creature that can survive the crash of the heavy rotorcraft and move incredibly quickly! "Miss Sparkle," The senior guard uniformly reminded her of his presence. “As you are responsible for this ritual, we await your decision. Should I notify the rest of the guards about the potential danger?" Could I clean up the mess myself? Twilight thought with a sort of undercurrent bitterness as she watched the battle unicorns re-energize her barrier. Could I put everything back in place before the Princess finds out about this mess? She entrusted me with an important matter... "Twilight!" The dragon pulled her back again, frustrated by the painful emotional struggle that was reflected on his friend's face. “What Twilight?” Sparkle grumbled. “What «Twilight», I have been Twilight forever!” "Well, let's say, not forever..." Spike said and scratched his chin in bewilderment. “But the Princess has known you for way more than a year. Don't try to be shy now! Write her a letter; don't be afraid to ask her for advice! Princess Celestia knows for sure that you will not bother her in vain. Moreover, after the wedding..." Twilight thought hard for a while, weighing the pros and cons, but in the end, she could not find anything that would contradict Spike's words. Seriously, could she endanger all the other residents of Ponyville and not report this incident to the Princesses, just to get a delay on fixing the mistakes and consequences of all this chaos that reigned after the invasion of at least one alien? To earn extra points in Celestia's eyes? Seriously, Twilight? the unicorn was horrified at her thoughts. It seemed that you grew out of it! Twilight smoothed her mane with an awkward movement, removing the hairs popping out of the straight strands. She sighed and tried to calm down. “Thank you, Spike. I learned this lesson in full...” “You are always welcome,” her irreplaceable assistant replied contentedly. “Lieutenant,” Twilight spoke firmly to the assigned guard, “notify the local authorities and everyone you deem necessary. We may have... problems. We do not know what to expect from this creature, and what secrets of another dimension it has dragged to our side.” The guard bowed briefly to the Princess Celestia's protege, and then called out to his colleagues, intending to clear up the situation for them. Meanwhile, Twilight turned to the dragon, “Spike, I need to send a letter to the princess...” "It's already done, dictate!" Spike said with a smile on his face and waved his quill expressively, unrolling the scroll. He was glad for Twilight that she was finally able to get her thoughts together and start planning, as was her nature. “Dear Princess Celestia!” Twilight began to dictate quickly: “The ritual of transition between dimensions was completed successfully. However, I am compelled to report that here, in Ponyville, at least one representative of another world was transferred. It is impossible to determine more precisely, since the stranger I saw managed to escape... The creature was not subject to the direct effects of magic. As implausible as it may sound, I suspect that magic does not exist in that world... or it exists in a form that has not been encountered by any of the currently living, nor any sorcerers-eyewitnesses of ancient times. I will present my thoughts on this in a detailed report later, but now I have to ask for..." Bon-Bon, who perfectly saw most of what happened during Twilight's last experiment, hurried home in high spirits, throwing the binoculars on her back. There were things to prepare for... there were old things to dust off. Crossing the threshold of her pastry shop, the beige pony practically sang in the sweetest voice (which made her friend on the second floor swallow nervously, for this tone did not foreshadow anything good for their peaceful life in Ponyville): “Lyra-a-ah! Please tell me, Lyra... could these «humans» of yours grow their claws about twenty inches? Well, then I have good news for you...”