OOM-340 had just finished reassembling one of the B1s from Bravo who wasn't too damaged. This meant that he had 7 B1s to support him and guard him. Suddenly his radio alerted him that he had an incoming message from Kraken himself! He quickly reached up to his head and activated it
"Yes Sir?"
"The natives have discovered crash site Alpha and I calculate that they are headed your way."
"What should I do?"
"Conceal yourselves to avoid detection. If you are discovered, do not engage unless engaged first. I will instruct you on proper action course if you are located."
"Roger, Roger."
OOM-340 looked around, the clearing was rather devoid of cover except on the edges. OOM-340 tried to think about where to hide…
"Squad, find hiding positions. Try to hide up in the pod, or behind a rock or something. But I want you two to guard me. Do not engage unless I give the order."
OOM-340 and his two bodyguards quickly ran into a nearby bush and ducked down. They would see a little, but not very well.
His radio buzzed again
"Have you concealed yourself"
"Yes sir."
"Remain in location."
"Roger, Roger."
Right as OOM-340 said those words, there was movement in the other side of true clearing.
Twilight and her friends stepped out into the clearing, gasping, finding another one of the strange crafts lodged in the ground. However, they weren't gasping at the pod, rather the rest of the scene. There were scorching holes in trees and the ground all over the clearing, and small burning logs and sticks all over. Flutter shy quickly ran over to the pieces of wood and gave a look of horror.
Layed out in front of her were the smoking charred remains of an entire pack of Timberwolves. Timberwolves were viscous, but outright destroying them to the point they couldn't reform was horrifying, at least to her. The best way to get rid of them was to scare them off with loud noises, or her personal favorite, her stare.
Flutter shy began to cry.
Applejack and Twilight moved over to comfort their friend
"There, there Sugar cube, it'll be ok, there's plenty of Timberwolves into the Ever free" said Applejack giving her sensitive friend a hug.
Flutter shy sniffled "bu-but who could do such a thing?"
"I'm sure whoever did it had their reasons Flutter shy, it wasn't kind, but it might have been a survival situation."
"Yeah, like remember the time ah saved Spike from some?"
Flutter shy knew her friends were right, surely no one would attack wolves for no reason, right?
Flutter shy wiped her tears and walked out further into the clearing, but suddenly Twilight called to everyone's attention.
"Girls! Come here and look at this!"
The group all gathered around a tree, and slumped against it was
the strangest sight they'd seen all day at.
Twilight had stumbled upon one of the new creatures that was likely responsible for this. It was some sort of tan, metal figure, or at least it had been. It seemed to have two legs, meaning it was bipedal and two arms, a backpack with a twisted antenna mounted on its back and a hole in the top where she assumed a head should be. There were long cables running out, and nearby on the ground was a black device, and more cables which connected to a long stick and what she could only assume was the head of the creature, which smelled of Timberwolves terrible breath, meaning it had been in one's mouth. The creature was covered in claw marks and scratches, and clearly went down with a fight.
"Sweet Celestia!" Cried Flutter shy, almost fainting at the scene of another dead creature.
"Twi what is that thing?" Applejack asked, a look of total confusion on her face, and Twilight looked back with just as much confusion
"I'm not sure, it seems to be some sort of… automated machine?"
Rarity stepped up to it "well what whatever it is its color scheme and design is terribly tacky, so dull and ugly!
Rainbow Dash floated over
"Maybe my other special talent is discovering, because I just found another one of these things."
The group filled her over to another spot.
Indeed, there was another one, but its chest was torn open and wiring and cables were littered everywhere, and it had mustard yellow marking on it, and no backpack, just 2 bent antennas on the shoulder.
Pinkie suddenly appeared with a Sherlock hat and bubbling pipe
"Looks like this just turned into a spooky mystery!"
Pinkie began to shudder and twitch
"You ok Pinkie?" Asked Twilight
"ThErEs a DoOzY CoMiNg AnD mY vOiCe SoUnDs SiLlY!" Said Pinkie as she was beginning to shake and bounce off the ground.
Suddenly there was a clicking sound from a nearby bush, as if something mechanical had shifted.
The group all reacted in a different way.
Dash took up a combat pose,
Applejack stood firmly with a tough look but friendly smile,
Flutter shy made an "eek!" Sound, Pinkie looked curious (and excited as always), Twilight looked attentively, and Rarity stepped back.
Flutter shy swallowed nervously and stepped up
"Um, he-hello? Is someone there? My names Flutter shy… do you have a name? You can tell me it, you know, if you want to and if it's ok with you…" she said, smiling in a friendly way. "We're not going to hurt you, ok? You can come out… that's, if you want to…"
The bush moved and the clicking noise was heard again as a head identical to the one being in the ground with the mustard markings slowly rose out of the bush, followed by 2 more that were entirely tan.
"Uh… hi?" Said the mustard-colored head in the middle in a high-pitched voice.
OOM-340 just stated. Well, if he had eyes he would be staring, he only had photoreceptors. 6 strange colorful beings stood in front of him, 2 smiling, 2 shocked and 2 in a somewhat defensive position, but the one was still smiling so that was good. He didn't know what to do. He hadn't prepared for this. He said the only thing that he could think of to say.
"Uh… hi?"
OOM-340 nervously stepped out of the bush followed quickly by his 2 guards.
Suddenly the Pink one jumped up high in the air, seemingly defying gravity for a second and darted (still in the air mind you) towards him.
OOM-340 dove out of the way yelling
"Don't hurt me! I'm an innocent Droid!"
His two bodyguards raised their blasters and were about to fire, assuming their commander was under attack when suddenly the Pink one froze in midair, surrounded by a purple aura and was pulled back towards the group. The purple one had a purple aura around her horn, as if she was doing it.
OOM-340 stood up, dusted himself off and gave the signal for his guards to hold their fire.
The purple one laughed nervously, a smile on her face.
"Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm the Princess of Friendship, and these are my best friends. Sorry about my friend Pinkie, she's just excited to meet new ponies, err, whatever you are.
"Uh, Droids."
"Ooh! That's an interesting name."
The orange one walked up, tipping her hat and began to shake his hand with her hoof so hard that the magnetic joins in his arm almost disengaged.
"Hi! Mah name is Applejack and it's a pleasure to meet yah!" She said in a strong southern accent.
OOM-340 finally managed to wrench his arm free of her grip, only to turn and be face to faceplate with a Blue one with a rainbow-colored mane and tail who was floating in the air with wings on her back
"I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash! The most awesome and Fastest flyer in all Equestria and Element of Loyalty!"
OOM-340 wasn't a specialist on organic behaviors and emotions, but he knew overconfidence and ego when he saw it, and if this wasn't it, he couldn't think of what was.
The white one with a fancy curly purple mane and tail, as well as long eyelashes walked up in a fancy way
"Hello!" She said in a fancy British accent "I'm Rarity, owner of the finest fashion shop in Pony ville and might I say sir, you are TOTALLY in need of a makeover!"
OOM-340 looked over at one of his bodyguards, and then back at Rarity.
"Uh, sorry sir- uh I mean ma'am, but I can't-"
"No, no, I insist darling I won't charge you! Not one bit!"
"No, no, really I'm uh, I'm just fine."
Lastly the Pink hyperactive one who looked as though she'd inhaled every gram of sugar in existence jumped forward.
Oh no, not this loon again, thought OOM-340.
She took in a massive inhale of air
"HiMyNameIsPinkiePieAndILoveMeetingNewPoniesAndIKnowI'veNeverMetYouBeforeBec-"
The orange one suddenly shoved her forehoof in Pinkies mouth
"Slow down Sugar cube, these poor fellas can't understand a word Yer sayin'!"
Pinkie took a deep breath and continued "Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and I LOVE meeting new ponies and I know I've never met you because I know every pony in Pony ville and I know I've never seen you before so you're new! And you know what that means? A WELCOME PAARRTTYY!" she shouted, jumping into the air suddenly wearing a Party Hat and blowing a Party Horn in her mouth. "What's your favorite flavor of cake?"
"Uh…"
"What about your favorite color?"
"Umm…"
"What about-"
OOM-340 suddenly interrupted
"Uh um, I'll, I'll be right back, ok?"
He turned to his 2 bodyguards.
"Hey uh, you two stay here."
"Yes Commander"
OOM-340 walked off into the forest and got behind a tree and activated his commlink, contacting Kraken.
Krakens holo pad beeped, alerting him to an incoming message. It was from OOM-340, who he'd spoken to recently. He flipped the in switch and held it out in front of him
"Report OOM-340"
"Sir, we've contacted the native species. They seem to be friendly, but what should I do?"
Kraken thought for a moment. Now would be a chance to gain intel on the new species via direct interaction…
"You may interact with them, but do not under any circumstances reveal us, the fleet's presence, The Confederacy, or any affiliation with the Probe Droids."
"Yes sir!"
"If they offer you shelter, accept their offering. I wish to hear direct reports on their behavior. If they ask about anything classified, act oblivious to it. You may interact socially, but do not engage in combat unless necessary for survival. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir! But, what about our power levels? We'll run out."
"I will have Probe Droids deliver recharge batteries to you and your squad every night. I can also locate you via radar if needed or lost."
"Roger, Roger!" OOM-340 said, before cutting the transmission.
Kraken was interested to learn more about this planet. He decided to contact Charlie, Delta and Echo teams to see how they were. He pulled out his holo pad once again and held it in his hand, switching it on
"OOM-466 awaiting orders sir!"
"Report your findings"
We seem to have found some sort of abandoned castle deep within the forest. Should we explore?"
"Explore, but do not enter dangerous or unstable areas. Report your findings back to me."
Kraken switched to contact Delta and Echo, who had since joined up to become just Delta Group.
"OOM-621 Reporting!"
"OOM-226 Reporting!"
"What is the status of your patrol? Have you discovered anything notable?"
"Well, we've been scouting out an area with caves using viewfinders and discovered some sort of sentient-doglike creatures. They appear to walk on all fours but can use their two front legs as hands. They appear to have some sort of mining operation going on, and have burrows dug into the ground."
"Continue scouting. They may be utilized in the future for mining purposes."
"Roger, Roger".
OOM-340 walked back over to the group.
Pinkie was still over excited and was about to begin bombarding him with party questions again no doubt.
Flutter shy looked over at them smiling "well, it is getting kind of late, the Ever-free Forest is a dangerous place, especially at night. You can come with us to Pony ville, if you want to."
"Uh, sure"
"I have some spare guest rooms in my castle, do you want to stay there?" Asked Twilight
"Sure".
"Alright, gather your stuff and we can get on our way, we don't want to be around if these Timberwolves reassemble into a Timberwolf King" Twilight said
"A what?!" Asked OOM-340
"Don't worry, if we go quick, it won't be a problem."
"Well, me and my guar-er, um, friends are ready to go"
"You don't have any possessions you need from your pods?" Twilight asked, confused.
"We don't have any possessions. We're Droids."
The group had reached the edge of the forest and began to walk along a dirty path back to town. OOM-340 was on his radio (although he was trying to hide it) giving the rest of the squad orders.
"Hey, um, I want you to go meet up with Group Charlie." OOM said as quietly as possible.
"What?" Asked Twilight
"Hmm? Oh, I um, I didn't say anything."
Everyone in the group had somewhat skeptical expressions.
"Then who said that? Something about a group?" She asked
"He did." OOM-340 said as he pointed at his guard on his left.
"Um, Roger, Roger! I did!"
"Who's Roger?"
The guard pointed back at OOM-340 "uh, him!"
"Roger, Roger!" OOM-340 replied, trying to confirm his claims.
The group stood there still, and Applejack walked up to the 3 Droids.
"Hold up, ah thought Ya just said his name was Roger? And now you're saying it back? Which one of Ya is really Roger? Don't bother lyin' Ah know ah liar when ah see one!"
OOM-340 tried to come up with the most logical answer he could think of as fast as he could.
"All our names are Roger. He's Roger too!" He said, pointing at the guard on his right
"Yes sir!"
They all looked skeptically at each other, before nodding slowly. The group had all gone their separate ways when they returned to Pony ville. The Droids tried to be as quiet as possible when they walked, but they still made their mechanical noises as they walked.
"Ok, now every pony be quiet, my friend Spike, who's a baby dragon is asleep. I'll show you to your rooms, and then we need to get to bed."
"Yes mistress"
The castle door creaked open, and they walked up the stairs. The interior was stunning, as not only was the exterior made up of crystals, but the interior as well.
Twilight lit a candle and levitated it over to a room with a bed, nightstand, bookshelves and a window.
"Here's your room, goodnight." She whispered before walking up the stairs and climbing into bed.
Today had been one of weirdest days she'd ever had. Only Discord himself could come up with a crazier being.
Twilight closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Back in the guest room, OOM-340 prepared to enter a "sleep mode".
"You two, enter low power mode so your power cells can recharge. Set clocks to activate at 0700."
"Roger, Roger."
All 3 of them reached back and mounted their blasters on their back. Suddenly their necks and antenna retracted into their bodies, and they sat down in the ground, and their arms folded up and their hands gripped around their legs, leaving them in a folded up compact position, which they were designed to do for easy storage.