//------------------------------// // "I Don't Think I'm In Kansas Anymore..." // Story: Assist, Protect, Defend... Equestria? // by Dat Merc //------------------------------// Chapter 1: "I Don't Think I'm in Kansas Anymore..." Garrett opened his eyes and sat up almost immediately. He was breathing heavily as he stared straight toward a wall in front of him. Eventually, he was breathing at a normal pace, and began scanning his surroundings. He was on a bed, in some sort of wooden room. “Where am I...?” he whispered to himself, and found a mirror on the wall to his left. The MP soldier found his eyeglasses and dog tags on the nightstand next to the bed and put them on, and he removed the blankets to sit on the side of the bed. As he saw himself in the mirror, he was stripped down to only his Multicam trousers. Bandages were wrapped around his upper body, with a bloody patch on his left side. Also... how did he survive getting blown to bits by that RPG? And where and what is this place!? “This can't be right...” His carbine and holstered pistol lay beside the mirror, along with the rest of his things, including his ballistic glasses, his IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest), which had M4 and M9 magazine pouches, his grenade pouches, his IFAK (Improved First Aid Kit), and his knife attached on it. All that, including his ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet), Camelbak hydration pack, and assault pack, was also present. After he got up from the bed, Garrett limped his way toward a nearby window for a clearer idea of where he was. Before he reached it, a quiet voice spoke out behind him. “Oh my... You're awake.” The female voice behind Garrett grabbed his attention. He could have sworn he had heard that voice from somewhere before... He turned around toward the sound of the voice, the owner of which was... A horse?! “Are you feeling any better, now?” “What the... Ah!” He panicked as he backed away from the talking horse, and ended up falling on the floor. The horse had a pink mane that looked like a hair style from a cartoon, as well as blue eyes, a yellow coat, and wings. On second thought, this one was not a horse at all; it was a pegasus. A pegasus was actually talking to him. “You... You can talk?!” he asked, as his back touched the corner of the room. He failed to realize that he was further from his things, especially his weapons. The yellow pegasus jumped in surprise from Garrett’s tone of voice, but was still showing concern for him. Before she could speak, she turned around to notice five more horses come into the room. One was a lavender unicorn; one was another unicorn, but had white coat and a purple mane; one was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane; one had a light pink coat with a dark pink mane; and one was orange with a blonde mane and wearing a Stetson hat. What kind of place was Garrett in? There was no way this could be Afghanistan. The lavender unicorn stepped forward and trotted toward the MP soldier. “Excuse me...” she spoke to him, but he quickly scrambled to his feet, panicking from what he was seeing and hearing. These six... horses... were talking to him. Was he going crazy? “Talking horses? What the hell is going on here?!” “It’s ponies, buddy! Now fess up! Who are you and why the hay are you here?” The rainbow-mane barked out as she flew right between him and the lavender unicorn. She was glaring at the soldier with fire in her eyes. Now that reminded him of his Drill Sergeants from Fort Leonard Wood. Then, the white unicorn butted in, attempting to calm the cyan pegasus down. “Rainbow, darling, please. Behave yourself. You don’t want to scare the poor thing, do you?” She spoke in a sophisticated tone of voice. It was a bit too late for assurance, however. “She’s right. We ain’t gunna hurt ya or anything, pardner,” the orange horse- pony with the cowboy hat spoke out, trying to support the white unicorn’s statement to the human. Garrett was stumped as to whether or not he should believe these hors- ponies. After taking a moment to calm himself down, he finally spoke. “Then, what is this place? Where am I?” “You’re in Equestria,” the lavender unicorn answered. “You’re in my friend’s cottage right now, which is outside of Ponyville.” Equestria? Ponyville? The MP soldier had never heard of these places before. Either that, or he should curse his sheltered life before the Army. He might as well introduce himself to the ponies. They probably wanted to know his name. “Perhaps I should introduce myself, then? The name is Mitchell. Garrett Mitchell.” The lavender unicorn placed her hoof on her chin, taking in the new information. “In that case, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” “I am Rarity. I run a boutique in Ponyville. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said the white unicorn. “I’m Rainbow Dash – the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria,” said the rainbow-maned pegasus. The orange pony tipped her cowboy hat. “The name's Applejack. Mah family owns Sweet Apple Acres, outside of Ponyville.” They all turned their attention to the yellow pegasus, who turned her head toward another direction, until a pink pony suddenly popped up in front of Garrett. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I work at Sugar Cube Corner in Ponyville! Come over there if you want some sweets!” She was leaning in so closely, the MP soldier almost fell backwards. Her tone of voice was very cheerful and hyperactive. She must have had too much sugar or caffeine in her system, perhaps? Once again, the group – Garrett included, after mentally recovering from the pink pony's crazy introduction – brought their attention back to the yellow pegasus, who was still looking the other way. Her pink mane covered her face as she quivered timidly. “I’m Fluttershy...” she said, but it was almost inaudible. “What was that?” Garrett asked. “I’m Fluttershy...” Again: inaudible. “Eh?” “I’m... I’m Fluttershy.” The yellow pegasus finally said in a normal voice volume. Her timidity was crystal clear. Twilight turned to Garrett and chuckled. “Hehe... I apologize for Fluttershy. She's really shy, but she's a good friend. As a matter of fact, this is her cottage. She takes care of animals here.” “Really? I take it that she enjoys doing that.” Garrett said as he scratched his head. As if on cue, a white rabbit entered the room and stood beside Fluttershy. It was soon followed by several more small animals, including squirrels and birds.