Chapter 4: Building Bridges
Twilight and the others milled about the marketplace, trying to find a vendor that still had wares to sell. With most of the refugees taken care of for the day and the town meeting within the hour, they decided to waste some time, scouring the few stalls open for business for anything of use. As Twilight looked over some fragrant candles on display, a familiar voice accented with a drawl called out to her, “Heya’ Twi’!”
Turning towards the direction of the voice, Twilight beamed as she saw a certain orange earth pony wearing her signature brown Stetson hat. Waving her over, she greeted her friend, “Applejack! Hi! Over here!”
Applejack returned her smile, coming over to where she stood, “How’ve ya’ been, Twi’? Sorry ah’ haven’t seen ya’ in a while. Just been real busy.”
Twilight only smiled, “It’s okay, Applejack. We’ve all been busy. You just come back from the soup kitchen?”
Applejack nodded, “Yep. Just delivered a few cart-loads of apples to ‘em.”
“Wow, you’ve been working real hard, Applejack, maintaining a constant supply of food for the refugees. Make sure you don’t forget to take care of yourself.” Twilight advised, worried about Applejack’s sometimes excessive work ethic.
Applejack waved off her friend’s worry and tried to reassure her, “Don’t you worry none, sugarcube. Ah’ promise not ta’ get carried away. Ah’m no good to anypony if ah’m passed out on the ground, after all.”
Satisfied for now, Twilight changed the subject, “Do you know about the town meeting the mayor called? It’s less than an hour.”
“I do.” called out a slightly raspy voice from above. The two looked up to see a cyan pegasus descending towards them.
“Rainbow!” they both greeted. Their joy at seeing their friend turned to concern when they noticed the bloodshot quality of her eyes and the bags beneath them.
“Gosh Rainbow… You okay? You look deader than an armadillo in the desert heat.” Applejack noted.
Rainbow let out a lengthy yawn before replying, “Hey guys. Yeah, I’m fine. Just been busy with the weather, that’s all. Half the weather patrol’s been drafted, so I’ve…” She stopped to yawn once more before continuing, “been working the clouds by myself a lot lately.”
“I’ve heard. Don’t overwork yourself… Geez, I never thought I’d be telling YOU that.” Twilight said, giggling a little at the end, Applejack joining her.
“Hey! I’m not that lazy!” Rainbow retorted, her sudden burst of energy in her denial causing Twilight and Applejack to laugh even more.
Rolling her eyes, Rainbow returned to the matter of the town meeting, “Anyways, I overheard the mayor talking with some of the Royal Guards. They’re getting ready to evacuate Ponyville.”
The two mares’ smiles fell off their faces, a foreboding feeling overcoming them. After a moment, Twilight put forth a theory as to the reason for the impending evacuation, “I bet it has something to do with that light past the Everfree Forest and why the Royal Guard garrison was mobilizing.”
Applejack and Rainbow nodded in agreement. A fringe thought suddenly struck Applejack. “But where would we go? The nearest place is Canterlot, but those Diamond Dog scoundrels busted up the rail line there. We’d hafta’ hike there!” she exclaimed.
“That’s a bad idea for a lot of reasons. The road to Canterlot must be infested with bandits and demons.” Twilight replied.
Their heads drooped, the seemingly hopeless situation draining their spirits. Rainbow suddenly brightened, a glimmer of hope becoming apparent to her. “But if they’re calling an evacuation, they must’ve thought of something, right? Maybe they’ll be moving ponies from here to Canterlot with carriages! Or maybe they got the rail line fixed!” she suggested.
“Ah’ sure hope so.” Applejack said, not sharing in Rainbow’s optimism.
“Applejack! Rainbow Dash!” a trio of voices suddenly called, interrupting their speculation about the evacuation. They looked up to see Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity trotting over to them.
“Hey y’all! Good ta’ see ya’!”
“Hi girls!”
Fluttershy at once noticed Rainbow’s exhaustion. Immediately she was at Rainbow’s side, placing a concerned hoof on her shoulder, “Oh goodness, Rainbow. Are you alright? You look positively exhausted.”
Rainbow waved her off, “I’m fine, Fluttershy. Just a little tired. Though it’d be worse if it weren’t for you. Thanks for helping me with the weather when you could.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Just promise me you’ll get some rest soon.” Fluttershy requested with a soft smile.
“Alright, alright. So, what’ve you all been up to?” Rainbow asked, curious about what her friends had been doing in the time since she had seen them last.
“I’ve been making blankets and quilts nonstop for all the refugees. Not that I mind, but my stitching hooves have been cramping quite a bit lately.” Rarity said with a grimace, holding up a slightly throbbing hoof.
“I thought Sugarcube Corner used to be busy, but as a soup kitchen it’s just nonstop over there! It’d be great if things were normal.” Pinkie said, finishing with a slightly depressed tone.
Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment before speaking, “I’ve been helping tend to wounded Guards at the hospital. There’s just so many that have been hurt protecting us! And their injuries…”
Rainbow placed a wing on her despondent friend, comforting her, “It’ll be okay, Fluttershy. The Royal Guards are tough. They’ll be back on their hooves before you know it.”
“Especially with you tending to their wounds, darling, with your special touch.” Rarity added, using a suggestive tone at the end.
Fluttershy blushed slightly at that, pink forming on her cheeks. The rest began giggling, laughing at the canary yellow pegasus’ embarrassment. She soon broke out into laughter as well. As they enjoyed a brief moment of levity, a trio of mares ran past them before promptly fainting in a dramatic fashion, collapsing on the ground.
“The horror! THE HORROR!” the beige one screamed.
“It was awful!” the pink one exclaimed.
“A disaster! A horrible, HORRIBLE DISASTER!” the other pink one yelled.
“Wha- what’s going on, Daisy? What happened?” Twilight asked, walking over to the downed ponies.
“Monsters! Metal monsters! The likes of which were never seen in Equestria before! AND THEY’RE HERE! Just on the outskirts of town!” Daisy replied as she craned her neck to face Twilight.
“Ah’ guess that’s what the evacuation’s about, then.” Applejack muttered. Immediately she regretted mentioning it as the three mares on the ground went wide-eyed, the news of the evacuation being new to them, as well as more reason to panic.
“They’re evacuating the town!?”
“But where will we go!?”
“We’re trapped!”
“WE’RE DOOMED!” all three screamed in unison before actually fainting, their overtaxing of their lungs having finally knocked them unconscious.
The six friends could only stare at the three prone forms on the ground. Twilight let out a quiet sigh at the melodramatic display. “Come on, guys. Let’s get to the town meeting. It’s about to start.” she said.
“Hopefully they’ll stay like that until after the meeting.” Rainbow muttered.
“As mean as it sounds, I’m inclined to agree with Rainbow.” Rarity concurred, shaking her head at the trio’s antics.
“Oh, I hope they’ll be alright.” Fluttershy added, looking at the three as she walked past them.
“They’ll be fine!” Pinkie chirped.
“Metal monsters… I hope the Royal Guard can handle it.” Twilight said.
“You and me both, sugarcube.” Applejack muttered, walking up alongside her.
As they made their way over to Ponyville Town Hall, doubt and worry plagued their minds. They could only hope the Royal Guard commander and Mayor Mare actually did think of something. Otherwise, they would all be in for a very long walk…
----
The humvee and its escorts came to a full stop on the main road into Ponyville. The columns of armored horses had dispersed, the equine soldiers disappearing into the town. Their leader, Lieutenant Lightning Strike, was standing with a group of his soldiers a distance away from the vehicles, looking expectantly at the humvee.
Alexander looked at Hiss, who was still on his shoulders. Motioning his eyes down towards his pack on the floor, he attempted to eject the snake from its comfortable spot around his neck, “I don’t think it’ll help negotiations to have a five foot poisonous cobra hanging off me. Off, Hiss.”
Hiss was hurt at that, “(What, are you ashamed to be seen with me? You’ve got no problem conversing with me in front of your men.)”
“Because I’M their commander. I don’t have that kind of weight with these horses, not yet, anyways. I’m not sure why, but something tells me they’re a skittish bunch. Causing a panicked stampede probably won’t gin up a lot of good feelings. So please?” Alexander asked, almost pleading.
“(Hmph. At least you can justify it. Fine, I’ll wait here. Don’t take too long, though. You know I love staring at the back of your head.)” With that, Hiss returned to the pack, but not before casting a suggestive look at him.
Suppressing the disturbing memory of this latest exchange with Hiss, Alexander stepped out of the humvee, being joined once more by his bodyguards. As he walked over to the waiting horses, he took note of the oddly terrestrial architecture of the town. With their exposed framework and thatched roofs, the buildings resembled those of medieval European villages. Something else he noticed was the slightly ‘cartoonish’ style to everything. From the buildings to the trees and clouds, everything in the world seemed to hold this strange quality. It was as if they had stumbled into a children’s storybook.
The horse who had called himself Lightning Strike stepped forward, setting his eyes on the confessor and his men. “If you’ll follow me, confessor. I need to inform the mayor about this change in our situation. No doubt she’ll want to make an announcement about your presence to dispel any rumors and calm the ponies down.” he said.
“Alright… Did you say ‘ponies?’ Is that what you call yourselves?” Alexander asked, remembering that he had not actually bothered to ask what the horses called themselves. Hearing a few snickers behind him, he turned around and cast a raised eyebrow at his men, signaling his desire for them to shut up.
“… Yes. We are ponies. While we’re on the subject, what do your kind refer to yourselves as?” Lightning Strike asked in return, apparently thinking the same thing as him.
“We are humans. Homo sapiens if you want to get technical.” Alexander replied.
Some of the ponies seemed surprised at that, a few even gaping slightly at the humans. Burying their apparent astonishment, they began leading Alexander and his men towards a tall structure in the center of the town. As they made their way there, he looked around, noting the myriads of tents that were erected along the streets, in alleys, balconies, and even on clouds somehow. Dotting the area were crates and barrels of supplies and small cooking fires, providing miniscule warmth.
“I feel this town has seen happier times.” Alexander commented.
“You got that right.” Lightning Strike replied.
The inhabitants of the town were distracted from their tasks at the sight of the humans. Many gaped and gawked at them, providing a wide berth as they passed. They whispered among themselves, speculating the reason for the humans’ presence. If not for the fact that the confessor and his men were being escorted by the Royal Guard, the ponies would have likely broken out in mass panic and hysteria.
Alexander returned the ponies’ stares, albeit more discreetly. Unlike the reasonable color schemes of the Royal Guard ponies, the town’s residents sported colors that ran across the entire spectrum of the rainbow, their coats and manes ranging from red, blue, green, pink, purple, and more. Something else that drew his attention were the curious symbols printed on the ponies’ hind legs. They were various and seemingly random, no two symbols being alike.
A thought occurred to him. Stealing a look at Lightning Strike’s hind legs, he saw a pair of lightning bolts crossed with each other. ‘Lightning Strike. An apt name.’ he thought, making a mental note to ask about the symbols later on.
Arriving at their destination, Lightning Strike went up to one of his soldiers that was guarding the rear entrance. “Guard, where’s Mayor Mare? Is she inside?” he asked him.
The Guard failed to respond, staring at the seven bipedal creatures that towered over himself and his commander, standing nearly twice their height. Lightning Strike held up a hoof and somehow snapped it, bringing the Guard out of his reverie. “Guard! Mayor Mare. Where is she?” the lieutenant reiterated, annoyed with the delayed response as well as the growing crowd of ponies behind him that had come out to see his “guests.”
“Ah- uh. Inside, sir. She’s about to start the meeting and announce the evacuation.” the Guard answered as he opened the door.
Giving a nod, Lightning Strike went inside the building, gesturing to Alexander and his men to follow him. Inside was a flurry of activity, Guard and civilian ponies just barely keeping from tripping each other as they darted past one another, stacks of paper and cups of coffee balanced on their heads and backs. All froze in place as the lieutenant and the humans entered, staring unfailingly at them.
A tan pony mare with a grey mane and wearing glasses and a white collar with a green tuft was the first to snap out of her stupor. Hesitantly, she took a few steps forward, setting her eyes on Lightning Strike. “Uh, l-lieutenant? W-who- w-what-“ she stammered, unable to coherently voice her question.
“Mayor Mare, this is Confessor Alexander Andric and his soldiers. They’re humans. They were the cause of the light seen past the Everfree Forest.” Lightning Strike answered.
Alexander stepped forward, giving a bow and a tip of his cap, “Greetings, Madame Mayor. Confessor Andric of the Brotherhood of Nod, at your service. I hope our appearance hasn’t caused too much of a disruption to your fair town.”
Mayor Mare took a moment to recompose herself and gathered the courage to address the alien biped that towered over her. “Well, it was enough to almost cause us to evacuate the whole town.” she said with a hint of irritation.
“Ah, my apologies. That wasn’t our intent, to cause a panic. Though I will say in our defense that we didn’t have much choice in the matter, getting sucked into an anomalous energy event and being spat out here and all.” he replied, hoping to placate the mayor.
She sighed, unwilling to press the issue of the humans’ highly visible arrival for the time being. Straightening her glasses, she looked over at Lightning Strike. “Well, that’s at least one problem solved…” she muttered, placing a hoof against her temples.
“That’s not all, mayor.” Lightning Strike said with a chuckle, smiling at her stunned expression.
“W-what?”
“I’ve told the confessor here about our… situation, of the demons that attack our country and our town, and he’s agreed to help us defend against them.”
Mayor Mare fell silent, looking back and forth between Lightning Strike and Alexander. Catching herself, she closed her eyes and adjusted her collar’s tuft before looking up at the confessor. “Well, I do appreciate your offer to help us, confessor, but I’m not sure how much only the seven of you can do.” she said, doubt lacing her voice.
He only grinned, earning a curious look from her, “There are far more than just seven of us, Madame Mayor.”
She became surprised at that. “T-there are? How many?” she asked.
“Our numbers currently stand at one hundred fifty. We also posses a multitude of armored fighting vehicles and helicopter gunships.” he answered, laughing inside at her confused expression at the unfamiliar terms for their vehicles
“Armored fighting vehicles and helicopter gunships? What are those, exactly?”
“Powerful war machines and powerful war machines that can fly, respectively. Perhaps you’ve heard word of a large number of metal beasts on the outskirts of your town?” he asked.
“Why yes, actually. Hence the evacuation.” she replied.
“Those are them.”
Alexander swore her complexion became nearly as colorless as her mane, the reality of having such a powerful and intimidating presence so close to her town likely being too much for her to handle. “T-those monstrous things are yours!?” she squawked, pointing a shaking hoof at him.
Resisting the urge to begin laughing at the nearly petrified pony politician, he nodded, “Indeed they are. And, should you accept our offer to assist in the defense of your town, they shall be yours and the lieutenant’s as well.”
Lightning Strike’s eyes widened as a smile crept onto his face, apparently finding something the confessor had said very much to his liking. Mayor Mare in the meanwhile continued to gawk at Alexander, still processing what he just told her.
Regaining her composure once more, she primped her mane a little before leveling her excited breathing, “Well, if the lieutenant thinks it’s a good idea, who am I to argue? Confessor Andric, we accept your offer.”
Alexander nodded, “Thank you, Madame Mayor.”
She gave him a bright smile, “Oh no. Thank YOU, confessor. Truly… This will make much better news than having to tell everypony to start running for the hills.”
“Indeed. I believe you’re due to tell them in about fifteen minutes, mayor?” Lightning Strike reminded her, eyeing the old grandfather clock across the room.
Following his gaze, she became alarmed at the current reading of the clock, “Oh fi! That’s right! The meeting’s in fifteen! Ah, lieutenant, confessor, could you perhaps join me onstage? I think it would help if you said a few words to them. Oh, everypony is just going to jump at this turn of events!”
“Of course, mayor.”
“It’d be my pleasure, Madame Mayor.”
Mayor Mare trotted over to a table and motioned towards a platter of steaming cups of coffee, “While we wait for the meeting, would you gentlestallions care for some coffee?”
Both perked up at the mention of the hot bitter drink. Accepting the coffee, Alexander looked out a window as he took a sip, seeing a crowd of ponies amassing outside for the upcoming meeting.
He smiled inwardly, his plan to win over the horses now known as ponies going exceedingly well, ‘If they’re as easy to work as these two…’
He took another sip, ‘All those sermons are going to pay off today. Time to build some bridges…’
----
“I wish this meeting would get started already.” Rainbow muttered, impatiently tapping her hoof against the ground.
“Indeed. Everypony is getting rather anxious.” Rarity noted, looking at the crowd of ponies that were fidgeting and glancing around nervously.
After another ten minutes, Mayor Mare finally stepped out of the Town Hall building, accompanied by Lieutenant Lightning Strike and seven very tall bipedal beings. The ponies in attendance gasped at the sight of the humans, having never seen anything like them before.
Seeing the crowd becoming increasingly anxious at the sight of the humans, she decided to get the meeting started and went up to the podium on the stage. “If I may have everypony’s attention!” she called.
The din of the crowd died down, all focusing their attention on the stage, the humans particularly. Clearing her throat, Mayor Mare began, “I’m sure most of you have seen that mysterious light from past the Everfree Forest. Our Royal Guards have investigated it and discovered it to be the arrival of a large group of intelligent beings called humans.”
She paused for a moment to let the crowd absorb what they had just been told. Many in the crowd only stared at her and the humans to her side, a few ponies whispering to each other, while an aquamarine unicorn in the back started yelling about how she was right all along before being pounced upon by a beige earth pony, silencing her.
She went on, “These humans are warriors from their world. I will say right now that they are not here to invade us. They are simply lost, having somehow been displaced from their world to ours.”
She stopped to gauge the crowd’s reactions, which ranged from wary acceptance to mild skepticism to downright disbelief and suspicion.
It was then she decided to tell them the big news about the humans, “They have been told of our predicament regarding the demons’ attacks, and have agreed to help the Royal Guard defend our town!”
Immediately the crowd began chattering excitedly, being quite receptive to the idea of enlisting the humans to help protect Ponyville. They began looking at the humans differently, with excitement and hope rather than distrust and fear.
Mayor Mare smiled as she noticed the quickly brightening expressions of the crowd. She continued, hoping to elevate their morale even more and rally them, “The humans have some very powerful war machines at their disposal. The massive metal beasts that some of you have seen on the outskirts of town ARE those war machines. And they will be coming here soon to fortify Ponyville against the demons and anything else that would threaten our homes!”
The crowd began cheering, their previous feelings of despair and impending doom turning to joy and hope. Settling the crowd and regaining their attention, she gestured to the humans beside her. “Their leader would like to personally address you. Confessor, if you would, please…” she said, stepping down from the podium.
The human she indicated nodded and stepped up to the podium. He looked out into the crowd, seeing their curious and expectant looks. Taking a breath, the confessor spoke, “Greetings, pony brothers and sisters. I am Confessor Alexander Andric of the Brotherhood of Nod. My brothers and I are wayward travelers in your world, having been displaced from ours by a strange and powerful energy event.”
He paused, observing the ponies’ enraptured expressions towards him, “Your honorable Mayor Mare and Lieutenant Lightning Strike, who I have had the pleasure of meeting, have told me of your country’s struggle and your town’s plight, of your Royal Guard’s valiant fight against these demons who besiege your land, bringing so much death and destruction in their wake. It is now that we join in your fight against them.”
He continued, “We join your fight because such is the way of our Brotherhood, of Nod, of Sha E-Seer, to come to the aid of a righteous cause, yours, brothers and sisters, and to give ourselves fully to it and to you. We shall fight with you and bleed with you until victory is won!”
The ponies smiled widely, eagerly buying into his words, “Together we shall reclaim your country from the evil that plagues it! Together we shall excise these demons from this realm! Though we meet as strangers, the fires of tribulation shall forge us into brothers! And together we shall see peace in this land once again and forevermore!”
The crowd erupted into an uproar, cheering at a near deafening volume.
“BROTHERHOOD! UNITY! PEACE! PEACE THROUGH POWER!” the confessor suddenly shouted with raised fists.
Swept up in his rhetoric, the crowd began chanting the powerful phrase, bellowing it at the top of their lungs as they raised their hooves into the air with him, some even beginning to froth slightly at the mouth.
“PEACE THROUGH POWER! PEACE THROUGH POWER! PEACE THROUGH POWER!”
As they chanted, Lightning Strike and Mayor Mare exchanged nervous looks, never having seen the ponies in their charge this riled up before. They knew the town’s residents and refugees badly needed a significant morale boost, but the frenzied crowd before them was a little too much for their liking, as well as quite frightening.
Watching the confessor lead the crowd into a chant, the two shared the same thought…
‘Tone it down, pal. Geez…’
----
Twilight and the others could only stare in sheer amazement at the crowd of chanting ponies around them, following the confessor’s lead. Twilight had to admit that his rhetoric was quite inspiring and powerful, herself feeling quite empowered for some reason.
“Oh my. This ‘confessor’ certainly has a way with words, it seems. And that ensemble of his! I simply must meet the one responsible for it! The clean cuts, sharp definition…” Rarity trailed off, mesmerized by the confessor’s clothes.
Applejack nodded in agreement, “Land sakes… Ah’ve never seen Ponyville this whipped up. It’s like he flipped a switch and got ‘em all goin’.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit much? I mean… really.” Twilight suggested, eyeing the foaming mouth of a chanting colt beside her with thinly veiled disgust.
“Oh, I think it’s alright, so long as their spirits are lifted. They’ve been sad for sooo long now.” Fluttershy said, shielding her face from the flying spittle of some chanting fillies standing nearby.
“I guess… What do you think P- Pinkie?” Twilight’s question trailed off, her not seeing the pink party pony anywhere.
Pinkie’s shrill voice suddenly sliced through the air, chanting along with the crowd, “PEACE THROUGH POWER! PEACE THROUGH POWER!”
They all looked up to see Pinkie atop a roof with a furled hoof punching into the air in rhythm with the chanting.
Rainbow blinked before shaking her head at the sight, “Wow, Pinkie. Wow…”