//------------------------------// // Encounters // Story: Halo: Contact Equestria // by Dead_Account_0 //------------------------------// Clopton Village Square, 2 a.m. 22 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration. The group moved slowly and quietly from building to building, covering each other’s backs. A chill wind blew through the town from the east carrying with it a thick smell of corruption and decay. The moon itself had vanished behind a blanket of clouds, leaving the village in almost complete darkness. Absolute silence had fallen upon the settlement, even the usual buzzing of bugs and calling of birds was absent. The six survivors slinked along, hiding in shadows, and looking around carefully. To make matters worse a thick fog began to settle in, obscuring their vision. Violet Breeze scouted out each alley they passed, ushering the group past her then moving back up to the front. Second came Mayor Pencil Pusher, eyeing every nook and cranny with suspicion, her sword held telekinetically with her horn. Third was Farmer Oats who was still gently leading Mint Snap, whose eyes jumped to and fro as she shook, her body wracked with fear. Seed Sower was next, pitchfork ready to pull out on a whim. Plough kept to the rear, ensuring nothing was following them. Their slow careful procession headed for the village shop, supplies would be needed for the journey to Canterlot Castle. A loud scream pierced the night air and the group stopped. Oats gently covered Mint Snap’s mouth to prevent her from returning the scream. Violet walked forward slowly while Plough backtracked, both had their weapons drawn and ready. For a few tense seconds, nothing happened, even the air seemed to stand still. Then the ear-splitting cry sounded again, this time closer. Violet backed up to the mayor, assuming her defensive stance. A small filly burst through the fog right in front of Plough, her head twisted at an impossible angle. The filly let out an inequine wail once more and turned to face Plough, staring into his soul with her cold, dead eyes. The scent of decay became stronger until the cloying odour was so thick that Plough could practically taste it. Plough peered through the fog she had just burst from, to see a veritable wave of flood surging behind her. “Buck! We need to get moving! Fast!” he shouted to Violet up front. “You heard the pony, let’s double time it!” the Mayor shouted. The group burst into a gallop, pressing on into the thick, wet fog. The filly was wailing again, Mint burst into tears and buried her face into Oat’s shoulder, relying on him to direct and carry her. Oats wasn’t as spry as he used to be, and was struggling to keep in formation while holding Mint. “Keep moving Oats! You stop for a second and you’re dead!” Pencil Pusher shouted behind her at the slowly falling behind figure of Farmer Oats. Seed Sower sprinted to his side and helped with the burden of Mint Snap. “If you needed help, you should have just asked,” Seed Sower said with a half-hearted smile. Oats nodded in thanks. “Not to worry anypony, but they’re getting closer!” Plough shouted from the back. “Don’t worry! We’re almost there! Once inside we can barricade ourselves in and wait until they give up again!” Pencil Pusher shouted back. “We’re approaching the…” Violet began before a charging figure smashed into her side with an audible smack, tossing her violently to the floor. The mayor didn’t hesitate, slicing quickly at the creature’s head with her blade. The creature then did the last thing she expected, it ducked. This particular specimen was different, unlike the others that were all based on ponies; this one was bipedal and seemed relatively intact. If it weren’t for the massive hole in its chest, then she may have mistaken it for being alive. The creature stood back up and swung out with its arm, knocking the blade right out of the air. The creature then grabbed the mayor herself and lifted her up. she screamed as the creatures grip began to tighten around her throat. With a wild howl Violet threw herself onto the beasts back and started pummelling it with her hooves; it didn't seem to react until she got a lucky hit into the hole in its chest, causing it to recoil and drop the ensnared mare. “Get in the shop! I’ll hold it back!” Violet barked an order to the mayor for the first time ever in her five years of service. Pencil Pusher leapt to her feet and galloped to the shop door, taking one last look at Violet before shutting and barricading it. Upon seeing the mayor and her companions vanish into the shop, Violet released the creature and jumped back. She dived into a roll to avoid the creature’s arms, snatching up Pencil Pusher’s blade as she did. The steel was cold and hard in her mouth, the sharp tang a reminder of what she had to lose, her life. The pungent creature lashed out once more but was met by the swinging blade of the well trained pegasus, soaring through the air with a whistle. The creature cried out as its arm fell to the floor with an audible splat, registering pain unlike the others. It hissed at the pegasus before it turned and fled. Before Violet could celebrate her victory however the tidal wave of infected ponies hit. Slash left, slice right, jump back, duck, stab forwards. she was reacting on pure instinct now. Dice, parry, dodge, argh! She cried as one of the creatures got a hit in and tore a huge chunk of flesh from her back. She stumbled, and the beasts were upon her, rending flesh from bone. After a few agonised seconds, it was all over. Her sword clattered to the floor, ringing out on the tiled plaza. The Flood Alpha laughed, it felt such glee as it watched the creature that had caused it such agony face the ultimate penance, death. This small settlement had almost been completely converted, its inhabitants evolved into their ultimate form. At first it had been shocked to discover how much resistance these savages had put up, but now they thanked Alpha. Their minds liberated from this mortal coil, accepting its leadership utterly. They were all joined together with purpose, to free this galaxy from the burden of ignorance. Alpha knew that to achieve that purpose however, they would need a gravemind. None of these “ponies” were worthy to ascend to the ultimate glory of the proto-gravemind, from their memories though it had discerned one pony worthy of this ultimate reward; the so-called sun goddess Celestia. That was a concern for later however, right now it had to establish its complete dominance over the village. It knew of two holdouts, by delegating this particular group to its converts it could focus entirely on eliminating the bigger threat, the occupants of Peachwind Estate. The shrieks of the damned reverberated through the wood of the Clopton Village Shop entrance. The small group had stacked as much furniture as they could against the two doors that led into the main area. The living quarters in the back had been quickly compromised, but Pencil Pusher had had the forethought to have some shelves stacked in front of that door too. With heaped furniture blocking both passageways the five remaining ponies sat in a circle on the cold wooden floor. After the frantic stacking they had searched for, and found, plenty of supplies. If they ever managed to get out, they easily had enough to get all the way to Canterlot while avoiding every other settlement they came across. The room was dimly lit by a few salvaged lanterns, casting flickering shadows across the walls. Mint Snap was still sobbing softly in the background. The aura of depression was so thick that it was almost palpable. Even Pencil Pusher was in mourning, although she tried to hide it. Plough stood up and walked over to the pile of weapons the group had amassed, seizing a mighty scythe in his mouth. “I’ll take first watch if all of you want to get some shuteye,” he announced to the group. “A good idea Guardspony Plough, we could all so with a little rest. I don’t know how easy I’d find it though, with those beasts wailing out there,” Pencil Pusher said as she also stood up, earning the gaze of the other sombre ponies. “If Seed Sower takes second, Oats can take third and I'll finish up with fourth, that way we could do two-hour rotations.” She pointed to the clock that sat just above where the counter used to be. “We could easily measure it with that clock,” she added. “I reckon things will look a lot better when the morning comes,” Oats said with an affirmative nod. Plough sat himself on one of the chairs that made up the barricade, keeping the scythe by him. The other four ponies spread out across the wide shop floor and attempted sleep. Seed Sower and Farmer Oats fell asleep practically instantly, both being exhausted from the day and night’s efforts. Pencil Pusher tried to sleep but a feeling of guilt had begun to rear its ugly head. Violet sacrificed herself to save you, that simple fact jumped around her skull, feelings of self doubt begun to crop up for the first time in decades. As Mayor, it’s your job to keep everypony alive and well, another voice joined in. Pencil Pusher felt warm tears grace her eyelids. “Tears are for the weak,” her dad had always told her when she was growing up, one of the lessons she had took to heart. Turmoil wracked her body, she had never felt so useless. Why don’t you just kill yourself? Suddenly something warm and fuzzy touched her back and she flinched, hard. She turned to see Mint Snap looking at her with wide purple eyes. Mint Snaps gave her a hug and, after a little hesitation, Pencil Pusher returned it. The two mares lay down and fell asleep in the comforting embrace of one another, staving off their feelings of fear, regret and the cold. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Canterlot Specialist Division, 5 a.m. 19 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration. Rarity was bored. She had come to Canterlot with Twilight as a reward trip for all her hard work in preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration, but so far all they had done was work. She stared once more at the plain white ceiling, something about that particular spot was giving her a weird vibe. It’s probably that they had designed this room to be soul-crushingly plain, especially when combined with the grey walls and white floor. She suppressed a great sigh as her friends voices trickled away into a low drone in the background of her mind. She absentmindedly examined the outfit the human female sat in front of her wore. A one piece jumpsuit, much akin to what a pony janitor might wear, in a repugnant dark yellow. As if that wasn’t bad enough somepony… uh… someone had decided to colour the very top of it a dismal, uniform grey. It was the complete opposite of style, it was a mess. None of these humans seemed to have a clue about how to put together a decent outfit. If they ever got out of here maybe she would make them a little something, it’d be a crime to let them wander the land in those. She shook herself back into reality as she saw the individual stand up and be escorted out by the two guardsponies. “Well, I think that went over well,” Twilight Sparkle said with a smile to the other two ponies as they too stood up to leave. “Who’re you trying to kid egghead? That could not have gone worse,” Rainbow Dash said with an exasperated sigh. “As with any great discovery all it takes is time. Eventually we’ll be able to fill books with all we’ve learned,” Twilight said, gesturing wildly with her hoof. “Picture books maybe,” Rainbow giggled to Rarity. “Come now Rainbow Dash, this is obviously important to Twilight and we should help her in any way we can,” Rarity announced pompously to the cyan pegasus. “Hey, I’m not saying it’s not possible! I’m just saying that today was a total waste of time,” Rainbow replied defensively to the fashionista. “Maybe you’ll feel better after a good nights sleep. I most certainly am pooped.” Twilight stifled a yawn. “I’m sure Celestia has prepared some rooms for us.” “Oh, Rainbow Dash you’ll love the beds here in Canterlot. So comfy and puffy and simply fabulous,” Rarity turned to the rainbow maned pony as the group left the interview room. “Meh, nothing beats a good cloud,” Rainbow retorted as the three of them turned the corner and vanished from sight as the door shut behind them. “Is it finally clear?” a quiet high pitched voice whispered from the ceiling, seconds after the the three ponies had left the room. “I think that white unicorn could see me,” a second voice replied nervously with a distinctly female twang. “Calm down Wind Runner, Mind’s Eye is a master of illusion magic,” a third, low, gravelly voice replied. “Oh, Commander Hauberk, you do me too much honour,” the high pitched voice said abashedly. “Those unicorn guards are still through there. I think they bunk by the cells, we may have to take them out,” Hauberk said, lowering himself down to the ground. The zip-line whirred quietly as it gently placed him on the floor, he then pushed a button and climbed out of the harness with ease. Wind Runner followed him down but her wings got caught in the harness, the crimson feathers pushing tightly against the constraining polymers. “Uhh… a little help you guys?” Wind smiled awkwardly as Mind’s Eye lowered himself down magically and pointed his horn at her. The dark blue unicorn had a flowing mane and tail the colour of the sea, his cutie mark a wide open eye encased by a white bubble. The curious thing about him to the casual observer though was his horn, it was encased in a thin but solid metal layer. Running down the horn were three lines, each brightly lit by a different primary colour. With no effort on his part the device glowed and the harness expanded slightly allowing the crimson pegasus to squeeze out. “Thanks Minds,” she said with a smile, tossing her head allowing her frizzy black mane to rise and fall gently. Her cutie mark was a winged combat boot and she always wore a pair of thick black goggles. “Great, now can you teleport those harnesses back out of here, we can’t leave any trace,” Hauberk instructed. Hauberk was a hulking grey earth pony, he towered over the average pony and wasn’t afraid to use this to his advantage. For this job he had opted to leave his bulky armour behind, he knew the value of stealth so instead wore one of the technical thingamajigs that Gizmo designed on his chest. Apparently, it was supposed to generate a force field akin to the barrier unicorns can create, to deflect enemy projectiles. He had a short buzz-cut blond mane and extremely short tail. On his face he wore a pair of dark sunglasses, obscuring his eyes from view, and a navy blue cap sat atop his head. “Of course commander,” the augmented unicorn replied, pulling a rounded device out of his saddlebag which he then switched on using his horn. The device pulsed and the harnesses vanished from view. “They should be back in the cart outside,” he added after a few seconds. “Great. We don’t want to kill the guards, incapacitate them only, okay?” Hauberk waited until the other two ponies nodded in agreement before continuing, “Minds can you check how many there are?” Hauberk turned to the dark blue pony with an inquiring look. “One moment.” His horn glowed once more but this time the strain could be clearly seen on his face as he closed his eyes and focused. After around ten seconds of complete silence he opened them once more and stated factually, “I’m picking up nine distinct signatures, two are unicorns, ones a pegasus whilst the other six are an unknown species. I’m assuming they’re the humans.” “Okay team, this is what we were training for, there should be three of them so one each. If we all get in position first then strike on my signal we should get three clean takedowns. Once all the guards are subdued I want Minds to knock out the humans. Gizmo’s teleporter should take them straight to the cart. You two should teleport out of here too, I’ll don a guard uniform and take the teleporter down with me. You ready for this?” “Let’s kick ass and take names!” Wind pumped her hoof in the air with excitement. “We’ve got this,” Mind’s Eye added with a nod. His horn device glowed once more as he send outhis mind flying it into the next room and into a white pegasus. Tertius was still a bit miffed, Quintus had been assigned the guest quarters so he would be on hoof for Twilight and her friends. This left Tertius with the unenviable job of watching the prisoners with the “tedious twins”, the two most uninteresting ponies in the entire guard. Tertius sighed heavily, all the talkative humans were asleep leaving just Kowalski and Bunting who sat there glaring at him. The twins were staring dully at the two humans ensuring they were still in their cells. He sighed deeply and stood up. Wait! Why am I standing up? His body began to move involuntarily stepping behind the tedious twins. What am I doing? His forehooves suddenly flew left and right simultaneously, striking both guards in the back of the head. The two unicorns crumbled to the ground unconscious. Tertius suddenly found himself in control as he spun around again, right into a red hoof. Mind’s Eye strolled into the room afterwards. All three ponies had now been subdued. He sensed the humans stirring and concentrated all of his energy into a pulse of magic, his face screwing up from the intense effort to manage such a powerful spell. Despite his blue colouration his magical field was white due to the excess energy from the horn. The white pulse washed harmlessly over the ponies but each human it came into contact with fell into a deep sleep, those already asleep fell into an even deeper sleep. His horn briefly flashed red with an audible bleeping noise informing him that the energy cell had run dry. “I’m out of energy. Falling back to traditional magic,” the unicorn shouted to Hauberk who replied with a terse nod. “Boss? This guy doesn’t have the keys,” Wind shouted. “Nor does this one,” Mind’s Eye added. “This guy has them,” the commander replied as he unhitched the key ring from one of the unicorn guardsponys' belts and set about unlocking the cells. Wind and Minds set up the teleporter. “I’ll have to trigger it manually since Minds magic’s run dry,” Wind Runner shouted to Hauberk. Each metal door swung open with a loud clanging noise, reverberating off the walls and ceiling to fill the air with sound. As soon as the cell was opened Mind’s Eye would lift the sleeping humans telekinetically and drop them on the pad. Wind Runner would then hit a series of buttons and the human would vanish in a blink of light, hopefully to the other pad stashed in the cart waiting for them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quintus’s hooves rang shrilly against the stone corridors as he returned to the interview room. Despite being so tired, he was fighting the urge to outright collapse, he still had one final task to complete. At least it had got him away from Rarity, that unicorn had been exceptionally demanding; but now the three mares had tucked in and were fast asleep. Quintus felt kind of bad for Tertius though, he didn’t have the heart to abandon him to the unflinching mercy of the tedious twins. He reached for his key to the interview room but slipped on the tiled floor and stumbled forwards, the door swung open despite the fact it was supposed to be locked. What the hay! Tertius could be unprofessional sometimes but even he would not be stupid enough to leave the door unlocked! Quintus thought to himself suspiciously. As quietly as he could manage, the white earth pony crept across the interview room; his eyes darting to and fro on high alert, he gently placed his ear against the door. A loud clanging noise echoed from the other side. It sounded like somepony was opening the cells! It couldn’t be a prison break! Could it? He questioned himself internally. He quietly pushed the door open and peered through. Mere metres from the door sat a red pegasus tampering with some kind of electrical device, it looked almost like the human technology he had seen lying around the crash site. A blue unicorn appeared from one of the cells carrying one of the humans with magic from his horn, the unicorn had some kind of weird device on its horn, which also looked like human technology. Following him was a hulking grey earth pony who Quintus instantly recognised as Commander Hauberk, Ex-Royal Guardspony Commander and infamous head of the mercenary company: The Crimson Hooves. He had to warn Celestia! But first, he couldn’t leave without knowing if Tertius was okay. His eyes scanned the room, searching for his comrade-in-arms. He spotted Tertius tied up with the tedious twins, all three of them unconscious. Drat! They're all restrained on the other side of the room. It would be practically impossible for me to save them without alerting those mercs. Think, Quin, think, the guard thought to himself. I could probably take the red pegasus but Hauberk’s strength is legendary and everypony knows not to mess with a unicorn of unknown ability. For all I know he could specialise in fire magic! From the way the guards are bound I can assume that they’re being kept alive. I suppose the best thing to do would be to rouse the rest of the Guard. There’s an emergency bell in the Specialist Wing Foyer that I could ring. But, I can’t just leave my friend like that! He’ll be fine though, right? Right?! Quintus turned left and right but received no feedback. He sighed and gently closed the door which creaked loudly. “Oh buck,” Quintus said quietly before turning around and galloping down the corridor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wind keyed in the code for the fifth time in a row. 46QP-82N9, she could actually recite the code out loud without looking if pushed to. Hauberk turned to pull open the last door when a loud creaking noise came from behind them. Without hesitating Mind’s Eye cast the invisibility spell again, pushing himself a bit too far. The sound of hoofsteps galloping away revealed what had actually happened. Wind twisted from the machine and shot through the door after them. Mind’s Eye released the spell and collapsed to the floor with a loud exhalation, magically spent. “Wind!” Hauberk shouted after the red blur as it shot out of the room. He went to sprint after when a dark blue unicorn collapsed into his hooves. “Dammit Minds! We discussed this before! Know your limits!” he shouted at the unconscious pony. He picked him up and placed him on the teleporter. “Buck! What was the damnable code again.” Wind shot through the door into the long corridor to see a white earth pony guard moving as fast as its hooves could carry it towards the door at the end of the corridor. “Oh no you don’t,” she whispered to herself before spreading her wings and blasting down the corridor after him. “Why did they have to make these stupid corridors so straight and long?!” Quintus shouted to himself as he galloped, he could hear the beating of wings and knew it must be that red pegasus. He pushed himself as hard as he could but a cursory glance behind him told him that she was gaining rapidly. There was no way he was going to make it, the foyer was just too damn far. Fortunately the pegasus seemed alone so maybe he could take her. In this constrained corridor he had the upper hoof, the average earth pony being stronger and tougher than the average pegasi. Just before the red blur hit him he dove to the ground. Wind pulled off a one hundred and eighty degree spin, an impressive feat considering they were in a corridor. Quintus pulled himself up just in time to see the mercenary barrel into him, knocking the two of them to the ground. Wind recovered first and went straight for his throat, hoping to choke him into submission, she did not account for the body armour reinforcing that area however. Quintus reacted just in time with a vicious head butt from his helmeted skull. Wind paced back dazed, blood pouring from a new cut above her nose, staining the white marble corridor with its strong scarlet tint. Quintus leapt forwards on the offensive but Wind dodged, his hoof continued straight into the stone wall with a loud and painful smack. Wind knew an opportunity when she saw one and shot in with a jab, scoring a direct hit to Quintus’s unarmoured face. Quintus shook himself and retaliated with another slugger of a punch which Wind easily dodged, putting herself in direct line with the other hoof that knocked her flying to the ground. Quintus moved to knock her out when a sharp stabbing pain shot into his back. He stumbled, looking down to see a golden blade covered in gemstones protruding from his chest. He gurgled blood as the blade slid back out and he fell forwards, next to the prone form of Wind Runner. Their eyes met, Wind’s were full of apologetic sadness but his gaze was hard and unforgiving. Crimson began to tear up as she saw the spark of life vanish from him, his vibrant eyes dulling. She looked up, another red pegasus stood over her, this one wearing elaborate bejewelled armour. The armoured pony examined the blood on her blade for a few seconds before wiping it off with a cloth and replacing her signature sabre into its scabbard. “I thought you were meant to be the professionals. I snuck you in, gave you all the information you could possibly need, yet you still bucked up. All you had to do was keep the job quiet, yet here I am, killing those you were incapable to do so. Where is Hauberk? Since I’ve already had to interfere, I might as well help you finish the job,” The newcomer spoke in a harsh feminine voice with a cruel undertone. “You…you…killed him,” Wind stammered. “Well he was in the way, had he been allowed to escape then all the guards would be here. What’s one casualty? If we’re lucky I can chalk it up as an accident.” She suddenly stopped as a smile spread across her lips. “Of course! The cuts and the bruises all over him! I could easily blame this on a broken column! Take him over there and position him by that loose column, I’ll take care of the rest later.” She commanded before strutting down the corridor towards the jail. Wind Runner dragged herself back upright and looked down. The young colts corpse lay there, his jaw lay slack, in a lake of dark crimson. Stifling back more tears she gently grabbed him by the breastplate with her mouth and started dragging him across the corridor, trailing blood. The sound of his metal scraping across the floor grated against her ears but she couldn’t focus anyway. Somepony had died because of her, had she just caught him he would still be alive. She gently placed him onto the floor and moved him into a more respectable position, shutting his eyes gently with her hooves. She began to cry and sat down opposite him, just staring once more into those eyes that had once known the joys of life. Commander Hauberk had remembered that the code was printed on the bottom of the teleporter and sent Mind’s Eye through. He still had one human to liberate and then he had to find Wind Runner. “Hello Commander,” a familiar voice called from the open doorway to the interrogation room. “Brigandine Sabre, what are you doing here?!” Hauberk shouted in surprise as he turned to face the red pegasus. “I thought I might check up on your progress. You said that your team would be in and out, oh, about five minutes ago. Well, lucky for you, I arrived just in time to stop that unfortunate guard and save your precious pegasus.” “We… encountered complications. You assured me this room was safe and secure, that guardspony was not considered a threat!” “You claimed you were adaptable, well, from the evidence that I have seen, we both know that isn’t true. Where’s the other member of your group?” “With the humans that went through the teleporter, all we have to do is grab the last one. Then we’re out, just as planned.” “Not quite. In three minutes time, the guard’s shifts change. Now, I’ve set your pegasus chum up to take the fall, but I need you to not be here. Take the teleporter and I shall conceal it,” Brigandine Sabre stated matter-of-factly. “You did what?! You can’t just throw ponies away like that, Wind Runner is a professional! I need ponies like her!” Hauberk closed the distance between them and stared right into her eyes as if issuing a challenge. “You can always get more ponies, these humans however are irreplaceable. Now grab the last one and get out of here.” “No,” Hauberk replied tersely and gruffly. “What?!” Sabre replied incredulously, “I’m in charge now Hauberk. You are no longer my commander, I am yours and this is a direct order. If you want the rest of your payment, you will secure the last human and get out of my sight.” “I’m going back for Wind Runner, here’s the key, you want him so much, you grab him.” Hauberk turned and galloped out of the room and into the long corridor. Sabre smiled as she saw him gallop off into the hallway. Halfway down he could see Wind Runner in tears with a white earth pony sitting opposite her. He tore down the corridor with as much speed as he could muster. The doors at the opposite end creaked open and two more unicorn guards trotted in talking between themselves. They stopped when they noticed a large grey earth pony charging towards them. The guards’ horns glowed, one issued forth a burst of electrical energy whilst the other teleported behind him. Hauberk hit the shield button with his hoof and a translucent bubble formed around him, the electric bolt smashed into the shield and dissipated completely. The crack of lightning made Wind Runner look up, Hauberk was stood right in front of her, taking bolt after bolt with the shield. “Run Winds, the teleporter is still active, I’ll hold them here while you get out. Mind’s Eye is already through and Brigandine Sabre is waiting in the next room,” the hulking grey pony shouted. “But… boss,” she began. “No buts, clear out of here kid, finish the contract and get those humans back to base.” He managed a brief grin before another bolt pulled him back into maintaining the shield. Wind Runner nodded and spread her wings. The other unicorn tried to grab her with his magic, but he underestimated her speed. She shot right up to him and caught him in the skull with a fierce kick as she soared past. Seeing his comrade fall the other guard stopped slinging bolts and galloped back through the door. Hauberk turned to return to the teleporter when he saw two figures burst from the interview room door. One fell to the ground while the other slowly walked forwards, blade in hoof and plunged it into the prone form. Brigandine Sabre turned around, coated in blood from Wind Runner as she slowly began to stalk down the corridor. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing?!” Hauberk shouted to the red pegasus. “Don’t you see, this was the plan all along, two of the enemy slain by me along with the royal guardspony who let them all in. I single-hoofedly securing the final human, and saving three guardsponies. They can’t deny me a medal for that, a promotion even. Don’t despair my old friend, you’re life will have served a purpose,” she announced grandiosely as she continued to walk along. She stomped the unconscious unicorn’s head as she passed it, killing him instantly. “Your career ends here!” Hauberk shouted as he charged forwards, eyes bulging with rage, Sabre simply sidestepped him and buried her blade into his back. The pony stopped and fell forwards onto the floor. Hauberk had failed, the final sound he heard was the sound of hooves against marble as more guards arrived. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Canterlot Castle, 9 a.m. 15 hours until Summer Sun Celebration Brigandine Sabre walked away from the showers of adoration, she was a heroine among the guard. Her plan had been realised, and everypony adored her. The guard worshipped her as a hero, in their minds she had single hoofedly prevented the final human from being freed and taken down Commander Hauberk, Equestria’s most wanted. The plan had succeeded beyond her expectations, every guardspony saw her as their champion. When Marshal Marius was taken care of, she would replace him easily with this level of public backing; everything was falling into place. She entered her private quarters, a proud strut in her walk and a huge smile on her face. Her quarters were large and richly decorated, she was a pony who knew how to get her own way and liked to exhibit it. Her walls were painted a deep violet, large silver curtains were drawn over all of the wide windows. The only source of light in the room was the flicker of candlelight, from the silver candelabra suspended from the ceiling. Sat on her satin queen sized bed was a familiar dark blue unicorn. “Having fun Jewel?” he asked sarcastically. “Of course Minds, what isn’t great about adoring ponies throwing themselves at your hooves,” Sabre said, her eyes alight with barely constrained glee. “Don’t forget your part of the deal Jewel. We need those human weapons,” Mind’s Eye instructed. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your weapons,” Bejewelled Sabre said dismissively, pacing across the room. “Have you arranged to dispose of Marius?” “The second we have the weapons, I’ll have him dealt with. You have our word,” Mind’s Eye sighed exasperatedly as he stood up. “I’ll give your specialist access to the investigation, don’t worry your pretty little head,” Bejewelled Sabre said condescendingly, giving Mind’s Eye a light tap on the cranium to undermine him. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” The dark blue unicorn said, his forehead bulging slightly with frustration. “Oh come now, we both know I’ve earned it.” “We delivered you the commander of the Crimson Hooves on a silver platter,” Minds began. “But I gave you five humans, I think that’s worth a little extra,” she said absentmindedly. “We originally stipulated all six, you’re lucky we’re still dealing.” His expression hardened. “Oh come now, five humans for two ponies? You’re lucky I dealt,” she said with a shrill laugh. “You entered into an agreement! You can’t just change the terms!” he shouted angrily before managing to get a hold of himself. He added in a much gentler tone, “Look, never mind. You get our specialist access to those weapons, and Marius will suffer a tragic accident, catapulting the heroine of the guard to her new position of power. With suspicions cast on Gracchus due to his nephew’s involvement, there’s no other real candidate.” “Oh, I’m getting shivers just thinking about it,” she laughed again. “Just uphold your part of the bargain, we will be in touch again soon.” He turned and walked over to the window, a device strapped onto his back glowed bright blue and then he was gone. Brigandine Sabre walked over to her mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of sparkling white wine. “Time for a little celebration,” she said before laughing again and popping the cork. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ponyville, Fluttershy's Cottage, 8 a.m. 16 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration It was another bright sunny day, the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. A sweet and high-pitched, melodious tune wafted in the warm summer air from a window in a cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Inside Fluttershy was singing a little song as she cleaned her cottage once more, the price to pay for looking after many animals. The wide windows let in lots of light; the soft fragrance that Fluttershy sprayed as she cleaned overpowered the stench of animals, and replaced it with the soft scent of spring. A lot was currently on her mind. She had considered telling her friends about the creature she had discovered in the forest, but Pinkie Pie and Applejack were busy with preparations. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were also engaged, having been called to Canterlot for official business. Spike was still running the library, perhaps he could help her. The creature in question was still unconscious, she had made an extra large cast for its arm and stopped the bleeding in the cuts. It was entirely up to it now, the body should take over. She started dusting a sofa she already cleaned absentmindedly. Angel, her white rabbit friend, began to pound the floor impatiently with his foot, trying to get her attention. “Oh, Angel, what is it?” she said softly to the rapidly gesturing rabbit. A loud noise sounded from behind her, and she froze in place. “How did I get here and where are my clothes?” A gruff stern voice said from behind her. Fluttershy began to shake with fear as she turned to see the creature was awake and holding a pair of scissors as a weapon in his good hand. Fluttershy began to squeak in reply as her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted in fear. “Oh, fuck it,” Leif said as the yellow pegasus fainted, “maybe I should have been a tad gentler.” He turned to the white rabbit who was staring daggers at him. “Fine, ease up, I’ll sort her out,” he said to the rabbit. He picked her up in his arms and placed her gently onto the sofa she had been dusting. “I don’t suppose you can talk rabbit?” he said turning once more to the intelligent animal, the rabbit shook its head in reply. “Damn. Well I don’t suppose you know where my clothes are?” he asked hopefully. The rabbit gestured out of the window, to a clothes line that was spread across the luscious green garden vibrant with life. On the line sat his shirt and trousers along with his underwear, washed and repaired, his armour wasn’t present however. The window was wide enough for him to fit through comfortably, so he clambered out of it. He pulled the clothes off the line and put them on, covering up once more. The clothes felt extra soft, he had never felt clothes so comfortable, it was pure bliss. While he was enjoying the smoothness of his clothes against his skin, he failed to notice the rather irate manticore sat in Fluttershy’s garden. The manticore stirred with a loud yawn that sounded suspiciously like a roar. Leif’s training kicked in as he reached for a gun that wasn’t there and then a knife that was equally absent. With neither tool at his disposal he opted for the tactical withdrawal and dove back through the window, landing on the carpeted floor as quietly as he could. The beast yawned again and returned to its slumber. “What the fuck was that?” he said as quietly as he could to the rabbit who only rolled its eyes in return. “Oh yeah, you can’t speak.” Leif rose back up and quietly shut the window, then the curtains. “If you can’t see it, it can’t hurt you, right?” he asked the rabbit who only shrugged in reply. Private Eriksson paced across the room backwards and forwards, the rabbit sat atop a coffee table watching him as he walked. “So, the garden is full of horrible monsters ready to devour me, nice touch. Well at least I’m not dead, I just wish that this cast didn’t keep getting in my way.” He wiggled the cast about, his face gritting with pain. “So, I guess I owe that winged horse thing an apology, eh?” The rabbit nodded vigorously in reply. “So, uh, I should wake her up, right? Any ideas?” The rabbit nodded again, then leapt down and hopped off in into another room. Leif sat down in the armchair opposite the sofa, and almost lost himself in the cushions. “Damn after years of cold industrial steel chairs and benches, you really come to appreciate a fine comfy chair,” he said to no one on particular as he lay back and stifled a yawn. Damn, this chair was so comfy, too comfy and I suddenly feel so… wait, wait, I owe it the horse not to fall asleep, Leif thought to himself as he continued to lounge. Where did that white rabbit go, I’m sure he’ll wake me up when he gets here. Leif stifled another yawn before giving into the chair and falling into a deep sleep. Fluttershy’s eyelids shot open as cold water splashed her in the face, drenching her fur. She leapt up about to scream, when she noticed the familiar figure of Angel holding a bucket. “Oh, it’s you.” She looked relieved. “Angel, you promised not to do that anymore,” she scolded softly as she sat up on the sofa. A loud inhalation made her squeak and dive back into the sofa again, burying her head into the cushion. Angel jumped onto her back and began to tap his foot rapidly. Fluttershy buried her head deeper but Angel’s rapid tapping grew to become unbearable. His foot was like a drill boring into her back, causing her entire body to shake. She finally gave in and sat back up again, her eyes searching for the source of the noise. Sat directly in front of her was the creature from earlier, now napping in her favourite chair. It looked like it had found its clothes. Angel began to hop over to the creature. “Wait! Angel! It could be dangerous!” she began to squeak as the bunny jumped onto its head. “Angel! Come down from there this instant! Before you hurt yourself” Fluttershy shouted as quietly as she could. Angel gave her a look as if to say everything’s okay, before he began tapping his foot onto the creature’s head. Leif awoke with a start, his head was pounding. “What the hell did I do last night?” he groaned to himself as he leant forwards and opened his eyes. Sat in front of him was a yellow horse, then it all came back to him. “You!” He shouted, startling Fluttershy who began to shake again. The wounded marine noticed this and added in a much quieter and kinder tone, “Thank you for patching up my arm, pretty impressive stuff.” The pegasus blushed and looked down at her hooves. “So, uh, miss horse. My name is Leif, what’s yours?” he spoke as politely as he could, which wasn’t saying much. “Umm… I’m not a…” she began meekly then hurriedly looked away. “It’s okay sunshine, I’m not gunna hurt you. You’ve got my weapons remember, I just wanted to thank you properly, you may have just saved my life,” Leif said with a cocky smile. Fluttershy managed to make eye contact for a few seconds but broke away again with another nervous squeak. “Look calm down, have you got any tea or something? I find tea always helps mellow people out," Leif asked the yellow horse who nodded gently in reply. Leif stood up and went to look in the neighbouring room. Sure enough it was a kitchen, a blindingly bright yellow kitchen with a worrying amount of wooden furniture, but still a kitchen. Most of the stuff in here he recognised. Kitchens hadn’t come particularly far in the pass two hundred or so years, and this looked very much like a human kitchen. It had a stove, a kettle, a fridge; most of the things an average human kitchen would feature. It reminded Leif a lot of his parents kitchen back home. “I hope they got out all right,” Leif whispered solemnly. He filled the kettle with water and placed it onto the heating pad. Conveniently placed next to the kettle was a small pot labelled “Tea”. All he needed now was a spoon and they were good to go. A little searching and he found an entire tea set sat on a shelf, a teapot, a sugar pot, some teacups and; most importantly; a spoon. After an awkward balancing act due to his casted arm, he managed to get the entire tray down in one piece, and set about mixing up the tea. The sugar pot contained at least ten cubes of sugar. “That should be enough,” he reasoned to himself, lifting up the tray and carrying it into the next room. The horse was still shaking a little bit but seemed to have calmed down a lot. She jumped when he placed the tray upon the table. Leif set about pouring the thick brown liquid into two separate tea cups. “One lump or two,” Leif asked, trying to exude an aura of calm. “t…two…please,” she stuttered nervously, still incapable of eye contact. Leif opened the sugar pot and removed two cubes of sugar, gently placing them into her teacup and mixing them with the spoon. He then offered her the teacup which she nervously accepted with her hooves. She took a long draught from the cup and her expression instantly became more relaxed, she sighed deeply and looked at Leif with interest instead of fear for the first time. Leif took a sip from his cup, god he hated tea, but while he grew up with his parents he was practically weaned on it. With a little grimace he placed the cup back down onto the tray. “So, miss…” Leif began, hoping he had finally broken through her shell. He smiled when he saw her meet his gaze, but she still didn’t return the smile. “Fluttershy, my… my name is Fluttershy,” she said softly, before continuing a little more awkwardly, “excuse me, but I’m not a winged horse… I’m a pegasus pony.” Leif’s smile widened, progress had certainly been made but it began to wane when he realised that for the sake of politeness, he would have to drink at least one cup of tea. Leif kept silent in the hopes that she would initiate the next conversation, as a result they were sat in silence for quite some time, sipping tea and looking at each other nervously. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Everfree Forest" Outer Perimeter, 8 a.m. Second Day The sun beat down onto the still trees on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Birds sang in the trees filling the air with their chirpy songs. A figure appeared out of the darkness of the forest and dived into a conveniently located bush. After a brief pause, a second figure dived into the bush, followed by a third person who managed to trip on a loose tree root and fall into the bush with a scream. The birds scattered, startled at this sudden loud outburst. Hushed whispering proceeded for a time before the trio sprinted out of the tree cover, guns raised. There was no one there, at all. Rolling green hills littered the landscape, the occasional tree making the place look like a giant park. The group quietly advanced to the nearest large hill with as little noise as possible. Once they arrived, a series of hand movements marked a rushed conversation that ended with one of the figures climbing the mound and going prone. “What do you see?” Private Cassandra Whitmore whispered up the hill. Captain Seth Lairsey, still peering through the binoculars, whispered in reply, “There’s a large town directly ahead full of those alien creatures, just across the river. Seems like a farming town, I can make out numerous large buildings but the majority seems to be houses. East of our position seems to be a large farm with a big, red barn. It appears to be an apple orchard, odd that they’d have apples on this planet. Due west is a small cottage, the curtains appear shut so I’d imagine nobody’s home. “Well Captain, you make the orders, which directions should we head?” Whitmore asked with a slightly rebellious tone. “I’d imagine the farm would be the best bet, the cottage looks empty and the town would be a disaster. Hopefully we can corner a farmhand and get some solid intelligence on the location,” Lairsey stated, ignoring the way she asked the question. “I’m not sure a farmer is what we’re looking for…” Operations Officer Alexandra Kendrick began but Whitmore cut her off. “We know almost nothing about these ponies, we can’t just make sweeping statements about their social system. Okay, klutz?” Whitmore interjected rather rudely. Kendrick opened her mouth to reply but Whitmore stared her back into silence. Lairsey just ignored the two of them and zoomed into the farm with his binoculars. “I can’t see anything moving out there but there’s smoke coming from the chimney, which means at least one of them must be in there. Okay, rules of engagement are simple, only fire if fired upon. We need at least one of them alive so aim for legs if you have to shoot. Try and keep as quiet as possible, we’ve already seen that they’re stronger than us, so the element of surprise is extremely important,” the tired captain addressed the two crewmen. He then climbed back down the hill and sprinted off towards the farm with the other two in tow. Captain Lairsey stuck to the farmhouse walls and moved slowly along them. He reached the corner and stopped, motioning with his fist for the other two members of his squadron to halt. Kendrick, not knowing even the most basic of military sign language, walked into the suddenly stopping figure of Private Whitmore. “Ow!” She shouted in pain before she could catch herself. Lairsey span around and motioned for quiet with a sign even she understood. Whitmore gave her another withering glare, to which Kendrick reacted to with a look of thinly concealed rage. Lairsey made a series of gestures with his hands to which Whitmore replied to with a nod, before turning the corner and sprinting into an outbuilding. Lairsey walked up to Kendrick and got as close to her as physically acceptable. “Look Alex…” he began. Kendrick sighed heavily cutting him off. “I know, I know. Stop being useless and just do what I tell you to do,” she mimicked the phrase that Whitmore had been telling her for the past three hours. “You always should anyway. But on a semi-related note, I want you to return to that hill that we scouted earlier. Conceal yourself at the top and bring Victor and Darrell over here when you spot them. We’ll need all hands on deck for this. Until then Cassandra and I will just be running a basic recon mission, okay?” Lairsey whispered to her. Kendrick nodded in reply before attempting a salute and sprinting off back towards the hill. Lairsey sighed. “What am I going to do with her?” he asked himself for the fifth time that day. Whitmore and Lairsey functioned like a well-oiled machine, one would move up, scan the area and motion their companion up. Considering the sheer amount of apple trees around, Seth was surprised they hadn’t run into any aliens yet. He arrived at the front door to the farmhouse and gave the door a light push, it was unlocked and opened quietly. He motioned for Cassandra to join him. She ran up to the doorway and moved to the other side; She then motioned to Seth that they were too exposed there. Seth shook his head and motioned at the door, informing her of his indecision on whether to scope the house out or not. She pointed at their guns then the fact that they hadn’t encountered anything else yet. Seth pondered this briefly before giving a nod and a quick countdown. On three the two of them pushed the door open and swept each room they came to. Seth was surprised at how human the accommodation looked, if a bit basic. A loud squeal came from the other room, Seth span around and sprinted straight across the corridor and towards its source. Sat on the floor by Cassandra’s feet was a dog, unmistakeably mans’ best friend. The brown and white speckled animal looked at them with friendly eyes. Neither of them knew how to react. Seth’s knowledge of breeds of dog was limited but he knew a Border Collie when he saw one. His family had kept one, he was only a puppy when they had left, but this dog in front of him reminded him a lot of Scraps. He put down his rifle and crouched over, “Here Boy!” he called. The dog turned to face him with its wide happy eyes. He called again and this time whistled, the dog barked and bounded over to him. He sat there smoothing the dog and checked its tag. “Winona”, he read aloud, “If lost please return to Sweet Apple Acres. "This is beyond uncanny. This dog is clearly a Border Collie, a specific breed of dog evolved from the main species for its ability to herd cattle. A process that took thousands of years of careful breeding should have made Border Collies exclusive to Earth. There is no way that the evolution path occurred exactly the same here on this planet. Beyond that, look at all the furniture, none of it looks designed for miniature horses! This is all made for humans. They write in English, they domesticate dogs, they probably even have a similar rituals and a social hierarchy!” Seth ranted, turning to Cassandra with a wild look in his eyes, she took a step back from the confused Captain. “At least we know where we are, that must be the name of this farm.” Cass shrugged at the rapidly devolving ordered speech of her Commanding Officer. “Great! Great! I just can’t handle any of this anymore! But we know the name of the farm we’re on. Simply dandy!” He screamed at her. “Seth, Seth, look at me, everything is going to be alright.” Cassandra grabbed his shoulders and put on her calmest face. Seth shook himself free and slapped her across the face knocking her to the floor. She leapt back to her feet, leaving her assault rifle on the ground, and assumed a combat stance. She was facing an unhinged, angry naval officer. He didn’t stand a chance. Seth looked confused, his eyes were wide and darting in every direction, he couldn’t focus on anything, until a large boot smashed him in the chest with a loud crack. He landed on the floor hard with an audible smack, all of his attention was then shifted to the person whose boot wearing leg had knocked him to the ground. With an almost feral snarl he dragged himself off the floor and charged at the marine. She dodged around him at the last second, tagging him in the back of the neck with a light punch. Seth span around, why was he being attacked? Why couldn’t he focus? What was happening?! Seth was trying to claw himself back into a position of clarity inside his fragmented mind. Something else was in there with him, a presence that was most unwelcome. Seth charged again when something snagged him, holding him back, he felt his legs go as he was dragged to the floor. His head smashed against the wooden floor and everything went black. Cassandra turned to see a colossal stallion charging towards her, she dived at the last second but surprisingly, the alien turned extremely quickly. She tried to dive again, noticing Seth’s magnum sat on the floor. The creature managed to wing her though, knocking her head over heels as she tumbled to the floor. Before she could grab the pistol, a small yellow alien grabbed it in her mouth and galloped away with it. Cassandra spun around and pushed herself up, into another lasso of rope, thrown by the orange one by the door. She fought all the way down trying to reach for the knife in her belt, but the rope was too tight. Alexandra Kendrick kicked the back door open and burst into the confusion, her SMG held high. Taking aim at the largest threat, the red stallion, she squeezed the trigger and let out a burst. Some of the bullets connected, scoring bloody streaks into the charging stallion. Rather than fall back, the alien broke into a charge. Kendrick fired another burst, then another. The red beast continued to charge when her gun clicked. She hurriedly popped the clip and shoved in another, looking up just in time to see a red hoof collide with her face slightly too hard, her neck snapped back and a weird gurgle burst from her lips a she gasped. She squeezed the trigger again in her death spasms spraying bullets in all directions until the gun ran dry and she collapsed onto the floor. “Is everypony okay?” An orange earth pony called out, emerging from the table she had taken cover behind with Winona. She could see the red stallion, Big Macintosh, covered in small red holes and standing over the broken body of the crazed creature. He turned to look back at her with eyes twinkling with sadness before he too fell backwards. She galloped over to her brother; his breathing was shallow, his expression extremely pained. Apple Bloom, a little yellow filly, walked up behind her. “Is he gunna be okay?” she asked sadly, her eyes brimming with tears. “Go… go and get Nurse Redheart, Sugarcube. He’s gunna be just right and dandy… he just needs a little help,” Applejack said trying to be strong despite how fragile she felt right now. “But sis…” Apple Bloom began. “No buts, just… go, quickly,” Applejack mannered to keep her composure, just. “I’ll be right back sis, don’t worry,” Apple Bloom said in her strongest voice before turning and galloping out of the door. Applejack looked up to examine the other two creatures that had been fighting in her house, one seemed unconscious but relatively fine. The other was still struggling with the ropes, weaker now. The armour on its suit was dented, blood seemed to be pouring from somewhere. The creature looked at her with worried, pained eyes before they rolled back into its skull and it fainted backwards. She returned to Big Mac’s side and tried to stop the bleeding as best she could. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crash Site, 8:05 a.m. Second Day Deep in the Everfree forest, another human was sat at the top of one of the many tall trees, another pair of binoculars glued to his face. He seemed to be staring intently at a particular patch of ground. Multiple large lines were cut into the ground leading up to a tree trunk. Someone had been cleaning up however, the collapsed tree itself had been taken away, along with the wreckage of the ship! This would be problematic. “Uh… Vic!” Chief Engineer Darrell Johnston called down to the other human at the bottom of the tree. “What? Is it heavily guarded?!” Technician Victor Sinclair called back up, slightly nervous in his tone. “No, the opposite! It’s missing! I think they took it away for examination!” Johnston shouted back down. “You’re pulling my leg, right?!” Sinclair added internally, there’s no way they could work so fast. “No, it really isn't there! Take a look if you don’t believe me!” “Fucking hell! We need some of that metal! Without it, we could never create enough electricity to set about creating a new ship!” “Creating a new ship?! We are not trained ship builders! We've got nothing to work with! The frigate was fried, and now the dropship has been taken! There is absolutely, no way, that you could possibly, create a spacecraft with the materials we have now!” Johnston shouted back incredulously. “Oh yeah! I accept that challenge!” Sinclair shouted back with a hint of arrogance. Johnston face palmed when suddenly a spark of inspiration hit him. “If we hit the ground that hard, surely some of the debris will have scattered everywhere. If they worked fast, chances are they also worked sloppily. I’m sure if we search the area, there’s a good chance we’ll find some of those scraps,” Johnston aired his thoughts aloud. “What?! I can’t hear you!” Victor yelled back up to Darrell. Darrell sighed heavily, and then shouted back, “I’m coming down!” Darrell hopped back down, branch to branch. “Agile like a cat,” he laughed to himself. Eventually Darrell reached the bottom where Victor was waiting for him. “We comb the area for any debris from the crash landing, we may be able to gather enough pieces to make your machine work,” Darrell instructed Victor who nodded along with the idea. “Good plan,” Victor commended the simple straight forward line of thought. “The only flaw,” he added, “is that we are not going to be able to assist Lairsey in the rescue operation.” “Fuck. Didn’t think of that. Well you salvage the parts, while I assist Lairsey.” “And leave me alone in this forest? Is that really such a brilliant idea? Let alone the fact that you will have to travel alone through the woods as well.” “Double fuck. Well the reactor can’t be that important…” Darrell began. “This reactor is the only way we are going to get home,” Victor cut him off. “Never leave a man behind!” Darrell retorted. “You’re not a marine! You’re an engineer, like me. We fix the things that marines break, it’s a vicious circle.” Victor snorted. “Maybe not, but what is the point of building a way off this rock, if there is no one to take with you,” Darrell’s words rang true. “Argh, well, argh. Fine. You win. We’ll rescue that damnable marine, then all of us can help collect scrap,” Victor conceded . “I can do that. Seth, I mean Captain Lairsey, probably will too,” Darrell replied truthfully. The two figures shook hands and sprinted towards the edge of the forest. Victor swatted the last branch out of the way, they were finally out of the woods. He turned to Darrell and said, “Just look at those rolling green hills. Take in that fresh summertime air. So simple, yet so… refreshing.” Darrell looked at the pasty inventor whose black hair was never kempt. Darrell’s eyebrow rose questioningly. “No offence, but your about as white as fresh linen,” he joked. “I am now. I grew up on a Moa farm back on Reach. Long days of corralling the flightless birds across the seas of grass are among my best memories. But I found my true calling in the workshop: creating, testing, and improving the various farming devices we used,” Victor recalled, his voice filled with glee at the remembrance of those good times. He heaved a great sigh full of sadness. Darrell knew why, there was no need for words. Reach was gone. The pair continued walking in silence, heading towards the town. After all, that was where they were supposed to meet up, wasn’t it? Victor and Darrell walked straight into the town square without realising what it was. Everypony seemed to be absent for some reason. In front of them was a large building that looked like it was made of sweets. “Victor, we absolutely have to go inside that house,” Darrell began. “I’m so glad you suggested that. This is quite possibly the coolest domicile ever constructed,” Victor said plainly, his eyes glued to the structure in front of them. “Maybe, they won’t react so oddly if we just pretend we fit in,” Darrell suggested. “That is either the best or worst idea, you have ever thought of,” Victor said with a smile, slinging his battle rifle over his shoulder. “Well we could try it out here, and if it works, well problem solved,” Darrell replied, also shouldering his DMR. The two humans pushed open the door and a bell rung, Darrell’s face lit up at the assortments of treats on all the shelves. “Battenberg, cupcakes and muffins, oh my,” he said walking up to the stacks of treats, his mouth watering with anticipation. Victor rolled his eyes and approached the counter. “Just a minute,” a sing song voice called out from the kitchen. Victor began to tense up, why was he trying this again? Would this ever work? A pink horse with a puffy darker pink mane came hopping in with her eyes closed. She opened them with a big smile, that suddenly vanished when she saw what she was looking at. “Uhh, we would like to purchase some sweet treats…” Victor asked awkwardly. The alien’s eyes narrowed and she said menacingly, “Humans, I should have known.”