04.11.20... from the Accession of the Sisters
Equestria
The time is 16: 30.
The aroma of coffee with a slight hint of cognac enveloped the office like a thick, soft fog. Not viscous enough to drown thoughts in it, but cozy enough to relax and get into a good mood.
Silver, who was sitting in front of a battered life table, was just arriving in such a way. The Major went to great lengths for her second visit, found excellent coffee and cognac for flavor, a stock in the refrigerator in addition to his dry rations, also a bottle of cream. And to all questions about hospitality, he answered that it was just a pleasure to communicate with Radians and nothing more.
Equa, who was pouring cognac into her own cup, almost believed it. And along with the weakening stab of cold, a new feeling came. Vague and quiet, but pleasant.
"Thank you again, fillady Radians. You know, I'm starting to think that you're my colleague. What? There are no exes, in any of the worlds."
"Alas, but I'm just an observant equa with a good memory. There is no other way to become a good sorceress,"
Taking a sip of the fragrant, thick coffee, equa smiled slightly. Her thought, jumping up and down like a mischievous cat, was caught by the tail.
"Mr. Harper, how did humans find and make friends with Equestria in general?"
The Major poured more brandy into his cup and began the story.
It all started three years ago, what a surprise, with a reconnaissance jump of one proud hunter corvette, with the name of the north wind. After leaving the hyper, navigator then felt an unknown anomaly and the captain decided to take a closer look at it.
After three more jumps, the crew discovered that the "anomaly" was a blue planet. A beautiful, shining pearl of the abyss that is extremely rare.
The corvette stand into orbit, aiming at the planet all possible means of observation that it have. The crew was surprised - the world was inhabited by a huge number of sapient, completely different from each other! Different luminosities of auras, different psychobackground said that they could not be representatives of the same race. But there were no fires of mutual hatred. Nowhere did the war crumble with crimson sparks.
Amazed, astronauts just looked at this splendor.
When the corvette flew over the country, most brightly shining in the mental background, the navigator went out to the hull, admire this beauty and try to reach the surface with his mind. And he did not expect was that the princess of that shining country would fly up to meet his ship.
Princess Luna, seeing that the astronauts did not pose a threat to her subjects, invited them to descend to Equestria.
Thus began the first contact between humans and ponies. Relations between the two races, so different, but surprisingly well got along, began to develop rapidly.
Ponies received the products of human science and industry in abundance, sharing their knowledge about magic and engaging in joint projects of unprecedented audacity.
Equestria, in addition to the "magic of friendship", which was permeated and bonded, suddenly gained access to previously not only inaccessible resources, but simply unimaginable opportunities.
Work on the development of lands that were previously considered unsuitable for life flourished in full bloom. In the frozen tundra, cities of eartpony miners appeared and grew, observatories and research stations of magical universities were built, which scientists from all over the world sought to get to.
In the southern deserts, gardens and greenhouses bloomed, watered with water from deep wells and protected by pony magic from sandstorms. The sorcery of unicorns, the work of earthpony and the technologies of people made it possible to turn useless and dangerous lands into one of the breadbaskets of the country.
Howewer, not everyone was happy with this state of affairs.
Griffins grumbled, that they were deprived of the wonders of science, in response to which princesses poked their beaks at the suspiciously organized gangs operating on the borders, which were chased by the Children of the Night.
The Minotaurs, known for their conservative approach to life, were wary of aliens and refused to deal with them en masse. Only a few decided to communicate with the humans themselves and buy their goods.
But the natives of distant islands in the cold seas were neither so reasonable nor so disorganized. King Storm, seeing how Equestria is blooming, decided to pay a far from friendly visit.
The Children of the Night were the first to meet and stop the invasion group, giving time for the residents of a small coastal town to leave. At the same time, humans sent three companies of mobile infantry to help the Night Guard.
And during the next attack, yeti were simply exterminated. Some of their airships could not even reach the landing point, burned by humans spaceboats.
This was the impetus for the treaty on the creation of an expeditionary force in Equestria for a case like the Storm King. A mobile infantry division and a space marine battalion were transferred to the subordination of the Sisters.
As time later showed, the forces are excessive for those tasks that the world could set. Even Tirek, the Chthon who escaped from Tartarus, was destroyed quickly.
But neither Luna, who directly managed the corps, its placement and setting goals, nor Celestia, who was engaged in planning in a longer and broader perspective, agreed to reduce the contingent. Even if them had to pay a lot for it in magic and artifacts, but it was worth it.
However, humans did not sit still, training and equipping the pony guard. The first to try out the novelties were the Children of the Night, who drove the gangs of "free knights". And thestrals liked, what aliens bring to them.
And so the expeditionary Force remained in Equestria. De facto, crown mercenaries, de jure "contract peacekeeping contingent". Harper pronounced the latter with a fair amount of malice.
Radiance, remembering how four infantrymen had dumped a hundred caribou, appreciated the sarcasm.
"Yes, peacemakers kind to look for... I like it."
The Major spread his hands, smiling a little. As if he wanted to show that the huge war machine, of which he is a part, is powerless before the will of Heavenly Sisters.
"We wanted to remain just an expeditionary corpus or an Equestrian Division... But Their Highnesses decided otherwise,"
Equa clicked her tongue in mock reproach and pulled the coffee pot and cream to her with telekinesis. The Major's coffee was really good.