//------------------------------// // Chapter 15/ECA: Taking Root // Story: Red Banners, Red Stains // by BurgerFanMan //------------------------------// Take root, and grow! Stand tall and strong and proud! Embrace the wind! Ambassadors' Wing, Canterlot Castle. 7th August, 2045. 10:38 AM "Over here! Andrej, was it?" called out Shushie Hoofs, the earthpony from the Royal Guard journalist team, from further down the corridor of the Embassy area. Andrej had spent the last couple of hours or so wandering the gardens of the castle alone, having nothing else to do. Half of his squad was on standby in case command needed them, while the other half was enjoying their downtime socialising with the ponies and the other ECA soldiers. Andrej didn't really know any of the soldiers, having just been assigned the week prior to the orbital outpost from which they deployed, so he supposed it was a good idea to get to know them. He, however, needed time to think about the situation they had got themselves in. Andrej had spent much of last night lying awake, listening to the quiet snoring of his squadmates, wondering where they were or how they had got there. He knew they weren't on Earth, that was for sure. From what the ponies had told them, the New World- as many of their fellow soldiers had taken to calling it- was split into three major continents and several tiny landmasses. There was Equus, which was primarily taken up by Equestria as well as other countries belonging to different species; Griffonia, split between a trio of massive griffon empires and several smaller communities; and Zebrica, the smallest continent, which lay to the south. The New World was remarkably similar to home in both its landscape and its people. There were rivers and plains, forests and deserts, jungles and marshlands, just like on Earth. The society, at least of Equestria, was uncannily identical to Europe. Despite the obvious biological differences between the humans and the ponies, they shared the same societal norms, economic practices, customs, and even had large overlaps in culture. Andrej suspected that there was a reason for this. It was possible they were no longer even in the same universe, but instead some sort of parallel dimension. The thought of a billion dimensions in an infinite universe had made him feel incredibly small, as such thoughts usually do, but there was another layer to the dilemma that upset him. He wanted to go home- he HAD to go home, he had to win the war, he had to see his family- but he felt utterly insignificant against such a large force. Whatever had brought them here wouldn't care for the wishes of a single human. They were stranded and it utterly frustrated him. The best they could do was simply try to keep up with the events rapidly unfolding around them, and survive. But back to the present. He gave Shushie Hoofs a wary smile. The earthpony was standing next to a massive pinboard, with a tall ladder and a small metal box by his side. A large sign at the top of the pinboard declared 'Friendship Board'. Andrej crossed the quiet corridor to the board. It was entirely deserted aside from a group of Royal Guards, the human and pony engineers, and a trio of European soldiers manning the makeshift security post next to the Leopard tank. "Hello, Shushie Hoofs." He still couldn't get around the strange names of the ponies. "What's all this?" Shushie Hoofs was pinning a large, fancy-looking paper near the bottom of the board. "An idea of Silver Hide's. Anyone- human or pony- can leave a friendly message or picture here. The point is to help us get to know each other." The idea seemed childishly optimistic, but Andrej supposed there was some logic behind it. He read the paper Shushie Hoofs had just pinned up. To all members of the ECA, Greetings! We extend our warm welcome to you, and hope dearly that you feel comfortable and safe within the... Andrej skipped ahead to the end. The lengthy letter was signed by Princess Celestia. Shushie Hoofs noticed Andrej reading it. "The Princess liked the idea," he said proudly. "She wrote this document personally. And there's another letter..." He picked up the other letter from on top of the box, frowning. "'From the Cutie Mark Crusaders (We're learning diplomacy)'." Shushie Hoofs shrugged. "Must be a mistake." He tossed the letter to the side. "What do you think, Andrej?" "It's quite an idea. A bit unusual for us, though," Andrej stated, inspecting the elegant frame of the board. Shushie Hoofs stared at him in confusion. "What's unusual about it?" "The whole 'friendship and harmony' thing in general. Isn't it a bit too optimistic?" "It works, doesn't it? Everyone wants friends, and harmony is basically the goal of every society." Andrej shook his head, backing away. He had been reminded of the stark differences between Earth and the New World. The ponies here were so friendly and innocent that it hurt to watch them interact, knowing that this was the society Earth could have had. "Not everyone wants to be friends. Not everyone can be friends. We tried, and look at where it got us." Shushie Hoofs narrowed his eyes. "What happened exactly on Earth? I know there's a war going on, but that's basically it. Why are you so afraid of harmony?" "What is harmony anyways?" Andrej was getting frustrated. It was like they were speaking two different languages; he was receiving entirely irrelevant questions. Well, two could play at that game. The earthpony sighed, sitting down on the box and rubbing his forehead with his hoof. "Harmony. It's... not exactly a religion, more of a core belief of all ponies. Like universal morals, in a way. It's the idea that everyone and everything can get along, that there is always a favourable solution, and that working together is that solution." "Sounds like communism," commented Andrej. He'd heard the exact same overly-optimistic ideals repeated in communist quotes listed in history books. Now he was genuinely curious about harmony. "Don't- don't mention communism," warned Shushie Hoofs, wincing. "What? Why not?" "Something that happened in Stalliongrad a couple of decades ago. Communism has been a taboo subject ever since." Andrej stared at the earthpony. "Stalliongrad?" "Yes? That's a coastal city in the northeast, it's-" "Stalliongrad... and it has something to do with communism..." muttered Andrej. Another similarity. There were too many coincidences, too many links between the two worlds for them to simply be planets in the universe. He blinked, shaking his head to focus. "Right, uhhhh... sorry for distracting you, Shushie Hoofs. I'll be on my way." "Oh, right, I almost forgot. I called you over because a pegasus was looking for you. He said he'd wait in a garden just out front." Andrej frowned. He had no idea why a random pegasus wanted to meet him. "Did he tell you why?" "No, he just gave me his name. 'Bluewings' or something." Ah. Of course. The blue-coated pegasus was waiting patiently on a bench just outside the grand entrance to the Ambassadors' Wing, watching the exotic birds hopping from tree to tree. Andrej had noticed that the birds here were remarkably unafraid of the ponies and humans, not even flying away when they got close. Andrej quietly sat down next to Bluewings. "Hello, Bluewings." "Chief Corporal First Class Andrej," acknowledged Bluewings. Andrej didn't recall telling Bluewings his rank. "I've secured some possible funding for you. The Royal Canterlot University of Magical Technologies wishes to host a demonstration of your image-projection machine, and its ease of use for unicorns. If successful, they will provide you a decent grant and some engineers to help you roll it out across a limited section of Upper Canterlot," explained Bluewings in his aristocratic, slightly arrogant accent. "That's fantastic, but I thought you were the one providing funds." Bluewings winced. "My financial situation is... not ideal at the moment. I spent what money I could scrounge up on registering your company and renting out a small office space directly outside the walls, which was not cheap given its location." "I... see. Thank you." Andrej meant it. The small project was moving much faster than he'd expected thanks to the work of the blue pegasus, with no work at all from Andrej himself. He had to remind himself of the 'favours' they owed Bluewings. "When's this demonstration?" "Tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow morning? I'll have to ask our tech wizard, Alex, about that, then. We don't really understand how any of this works. What if it suddenly explodes?" "Don't worry, nothing of the sort will happen. You would... I shall speak to you later." Bluewings suddenly leaped up into the sky with a powerful beat of his wings. Andrej looked up to see where the pegasus had gone, but he had disappeared over the wall. The sky was only occupied by a large team of thestrals pulling along a regular, mundane carriage through the sky. As Andrej watched in astonishment, the carriage descended on the other side of the castle, out of view. "Weird," he muttered. He stood up, stretching, and decided to check on the active part of the squad. Just in case some sudden crisis had popped up in the past few hours. After some asking around from both Europeans and ponies, he was directed to a small dirt field sheltered by the wall of the building on one side, thick, leafy trees on the others. What he witnessed made him sigh. Harper, Janelle, Newbery, and Everard were facing off against Silver Hide, Blurry Flash, and another unicorn in a match of volleyball. As Andrej watched, Everard accidently smashed the ball into Harper's face, leaving him spread-eagled on the ground. The ball passed over the net but was hit straight back by Silver Hide, who had leapt into the sky with her wings, and struck Harper in the face again. The two European soldiers in the audience groaned as the ball hit the ground, giving the pony team a point. "Need help?" asked Andrej as he jogged onto the court on the human side. Harper grinned at him dazedly. "Could use some, yeah." "Hey, that's cheating! You guys have way more players," complained Silver Hide. "And you have wings," retorted Andrej. Silver Hide grinned back at him. He organised the team into a proper formation- Harper and him in the front, the other three at the back. They reset the score and began again. After a couple of lost points, Andrej realised that the pony team's only weakness was their reliance on Silver Hide. She would cover the front, with her teammates hitting the ball high up in the air and allowing her to smash it from far up. It was impossible to tell where the ball would strike, and the speed at which it came barreling down made it difficult to strike. However, without Silver Hide, the pony team had a severe height disadvantage. Although the unicorns usually hit the ball hard and accurately, they had to stand on their hind legs to hit some of the balls, which was inaccurate most of the time. They just needed to stop Silver Hide from getting the ball. As Andrej smoothly hit the ball back over the net with his fingers, he noticed that the pegasus was hesitant to hit the volleyball if it was too close to the ground, instead preferring to maintain her height and let the unicorns handle it. The ball came smashing back. This time Andrej took a risk and struck the ball gently, allowing it to slowly cross the net. Silver Hide waited for one of the unicorns to hit it, but the ball was too close to the net. It hit the ground. The morale of the Europeans improved significantly as they tried the tactic again twice and succeeded both times. By the fourth try, however, Silver Hide had caught on, and folded her wings to dive down and butt the ball back across the net with her head. It flew towards Everard, who failed to hit it. The following few rounds went exactly the same- Andrej eventually gave up on the tactic and tried others, but nothing worked. The pegasus was simply too agile. Eventually, the pony team scored their twentieth point, and they were forced to concede defeat. The two teams decided to rest before the next match, with the human team occupying a pair of benches by the court. "Harper, you've got the brains. Can't you figure something out? There's got to be a way to beat pegasi at volleyball, otherwise the sport wouldn't exist here," commented Andrej as he slurped down some water. "And I think there must be some counter. If there isn't, the pegasi would be barred from using their wings, like the unicorns with their magic." Harper nodded, rubbing his nose. He has taken several hits to the face already. "Good thinking. The only time we reliably scored points was when you tried that trick with Silver Hide." "...hitting the ball low so she has to dive. But she started expecting it soon enough, so we can't do it again." "I've got it." Harper smiled at Andrej in a way that told him the Corporal had already figured it out. "Why was Silver Hide so reluctant to just stay low?" "So that she has a better angle for direct hits?" guessed Newbery. "That too, but there's something else. The ponies behind her have a severe height disadvantage- so if a ball goes high enough to pass over them, but low enough to stay in the court..." Andrej was catching on. "She has to block it." "Exactly. So what happens if she has to dive to hit a low shot, and then immediately after gets a high shot?" "There's not enough time to regain height. Thanks, Harper, you're a genius. Everyone, keep that in mind. Low shot, then a high shot, and be quick about it." A couple of minutes later, the teams regrouped at the court. By now, a decent crowd had formed- ten or so bored European soldiers, and a few Royal Guards who had likely just finished their shifts. There was a single, lone Nightguard standing to the side too, his armour and fur coat blindingly dark in the late-morning sunlight. The match began like the previous one, with the ECA team losing a couple of points almost immediately. But then, Andrej was able to get a good low shot. As expected, Silver Hide dived to return it, but Harper sent the ball flying straight back at a perfect angle. Silver Hide was unable to change direction quick enough to block it, and it sailed over the heads of the unicorns. The tactic worked, and it worked well. The only issue was that they didn't always get the chance to apply it. Half an hour later, both teams were tied neck-in-neck at nineteen. The crowd was silent as Newbery served the ball. It sailed over the net- once, twice, three times, until a well-placed hit by Everard brought the ball straight into Harper's hands. He sent it low over the net, and Silver Hide took the bait as usual, but this time immediately switched direction in anticipation of a high shot. As the volleyball flew towards Andrej, Harper shouted, "Hit it low!" He froze. Low or high? If he shot it low, Silver Hide would almost certainly be able to block it. If he hit it high, there was at least a chance of the ball getting through. However, Harper never called out shots without reason. In the last moment, he flicked his hands and shot the ball low. Silver Hide executed a quick dive, reaching for the ball with one hoof... And it slammed into the ground, kicking dust right into her muzzle. She pulled up and landed normally, wiping the dust off. "Oh, c'mon! I was this close." After a few moments however, she congratulated the Europeans on their victory. A quietly cheering crowd- or rather, small group- escorted them to the fancy dining hall for a celebratory meal. There, they found their bleary-eyed squadmates, having just woken up for their shift, having breakfast. After congratulations were said, only a small group of ponies and humans, including the volleyball teams, remained in the dining hall, chatting about various topics. Andrej was mostly silent, preferring to stare outside the window and savour their close victory. He knew that such a petty thing as an unorganised sports match shouldn't have made him feel so good, but he supposed it was nice to have something going for them for once. Eventually, the conversation around the large table went from sports to Earth. "So, what's up with the war stuff going on there?" asked an overly cheerful Silver Hide. Most of the soldiers froze, giving each other uncomfortable glances. Andrej sighed. "Guys, we're going to have to answer this question eventually. Better now than later, right?" There was a general mumble of reluctant assent. "Who wants to go first?" No one did. "You don't have to-" rushed Silver Hide, but she was cut off by Andrej. "You all should know. You can tell the rest of the ponies this." He breathed in. "In 2039, Europe learned to harness the power of the Sun itself. Free electricity, as much as we wanted, forever. That same year, we ceased all coal and oil imports from Russia and the Middle East. Russia didn't handle this too well. "They experienced the worst economic recession since... well, since ever. They had basically no money left to import food, clothing, all the other basic essentials. China and America were busy mopping up the GLA. Then, in 2044, the worst drought in the history of humanity struck Asia. Food shortages, riots everywhere... I suppose Russia had enough. They gathered up their army a couple of months ago, and rolled into Poland and Finland. We were powerless to stop them until the Americans arrived... we could only offer token resistance as our homes and farms were bombed and torn up by tank treads." Andrej stared at his hands. "I know they were scared. I know they were angry at being abandoned." He glanced out the window at leafy, shady trees outside. "But I can't forgive them. For bringing war back to my home." The whole table stared at him. Silver Hide slowly stood up, trotted over, and wrapped her forelegs around him in a hug. Andrej was glad to return it.