//------------------------------//
// Contact 
// Story: Wargames 
// by Speven Dillberg 
//------------------------------//

	“So I’ve got good news and bad news,” Engineer said as he entered the main dining area. The entire team, with the exception of Sniper, had assembled there after they had seen for themselves what was wrong. “We’ve still got power, which means we have the respawn and the resupply. The bad news,” he continued as he wiped his hands on his overalls, “is that I can’t get anyone. The phones are down, the radios are down, hell, even the emergency contact system is down. We’re stranded.”
Spy, in his red suit and ever-present balaclava, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Great,” he muttered from his corner.
Heavy, his bulk forcing him to take two chairs, looked at the Texan in shock. “Is not possible!”
Pyro let out a muffled yell and groaned before crossing his/her/its arms. 
Soldier turned to Engineer. “So what now?”
“Well, I would try rebuildin’ the time machine we used to get back after the whole DeGroot Keep incident,” everyone present glared at Soldier, “but from what I can tell, we may be in a completely different dimension. No point in buildin’ a time machine if that ain’t what we need.”
“So we got pulled out of our reality?” Scout asked, his mind moving a million miles an hour thanks to the can of Bonk! Atomic Punch (Cherry Fission) he had just downed. “How is that even possible!?”
“If I may,” Spy said, stepping out of the shadows. “I do not zink we were pulled from our world. Razzer, I zink we may have been pushed.”
Soldier had seen this coming, and began yelling at Spy. “Listen here, Frenchie! I had nothing to do with it this time! I haven’t seen that good-for-nothing hippie in weeks, let alone done anything to him. But when I do...” He trailed off and began to crack his knuckles, making his intentions clear to all.
“Calm down, Soldier,” Engineer said. “I’ll try and figure out what’s going on, and then we can -”
“Mates.” Sniper, his head poking around the doorframe, had chosen that moment to interrupt their conversation. “You might want to see this.”





The Team had gathered in one of the underground rooms and were watching one of the grainy security camera feeds. The Sniper had seen their two guests through the scope of his rifle, and he hadn’t believed what he had seen. Neither did the others when he explained it to them on the way to the surveillance room. Now that they did see it, they still couldn’t believe it. After all, what they were watching on the cameras were...
“Horses. Armoured horses,” Engineer commented.
“They ain’t just any horses. They got wings!” Scout said loudly. 
“Their heads are much too big to be horses from our vorld. A larger cranial cavity means a larger brain. They are intelligent,” Medic concluded, a worrying gleam in his eyes.
“Intelligent winged horses? Bah! Next you’ll tell me that they can talk!” Soldier hit a button on the control panel and was just as surprised as the others when the clear sounds of speech came through the speakers.
“ - we got sent out, I have no idea.”
“Quit your complaining, Private, and follow your orders.”
“How are we meant to make contact with whoever’s in here if they don’t show themselves?”
“Sacre bleu,” Spy muttered. 
“No freaking way,” Scout exclaimed.
“Wunderbar!” Medic said, rubbing his hands together in glee. Everyone else responded by going slack-jawed. Engineer was the first to recover.
“O-okay then. We have a bunch of talking horses in our courtyard, and they want to see us. What should we do, guys?”
Scout was the first to speak up. “Hey, they wanna see us, let’s go!” He ran full speed out of the room only for Heavy to grab his collar. “Urk! Hey, lard-fat, mind letting me go?”
“I say we wait.” They all turned to Soldier, shocked that he had made one of his rare tactically sensible decisions. “We don’t know what they can do, and we don’t know who they work for. They could be working for BLU!” They all rolled their eyes.
“Soldier, do you really think there’s any way talkin’ winged horses are workin’ for BLU? Really?” Engineer asked. 
“Their legs are unarmoured,” Sniper commented, tapping the screen. “If we have any trouble we could just -”
“They have wings, dummy. They can just use those,” Scout said, still in Heavy’s grip. “Can you let me go now?”
‘No!”
“Arguing will get us nowhere,” Spy said, lighting a cigarette. “I, for one, agree with Scout. Zey were sent to meet us. Zat means zat zey mean us no harm, at least not yet. I will go and greet zem.” He finished his cigarette and threw the butt onto the ground before going invisible. 
“Get back here Frenchie!” Soldier bellowed.
“He gets to go and I don’t!?” Scout asked angrily. “This sucks.”
“Dagnabit,” Engineer muttered. “We’ll never find him now.”
“Look, there’s nothing here. Let’s just go back and tell the Princess.” The horses had begun speaking again, their voices coming through the speakers.
“Private, you know our orders. ‘Establish contact, then return to the Princess so that she may greet them properly.’ I swear, Private, I am so close to bucking some sense into you right now.”
“A princess, huh? Well ain’t that somethin’,” Engineer commented.
“Sir, there is nobody here.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of zat,” Spy said as he dropped his cloak, standing behind the horses.





Spy wore an amused smile as he watched the pair of stallions (they were definitely male) spin and flair their wings in an attempt to make themselves seem bigger. A pathetic display, seeing he stood an easy two feet higher than them. “How did you get there?” the one to his left asked. Their golden armour bore little in the way of adornment, but he guessed by the blue star on the front that this was the one in charge.
“All I will say is zat I have my ways,” Spy replied as he lit up another cigarette. “Now, I have questions of my own. May I?”
“On behalf of Princess Celestia, I welcome you to the land of Equestria. As members of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard, we are only authorised to answer your questions be they on a few topics.”
“You just answered two of my questions, so zank you.” Spy blew out a plume of smoke. “Equestria? How quaint. So,” he continued, “I take it you wish to take us to meet Her Royal Highness straight away, zen?” 
“That is correct. Our orders are to return once we establish how many guests we need to escort to the Royal Court.”
“Very well. Zere is myself and eight ozzers. It might be best if you got to meet zem as well.” Spy looked up at the camera on the wall and spoke at it. “Come on, zen.”
The two ponies looked at each other, unsure what to make of his behavior. They were also worried that he kept his entire face hidden. Why, they wondered. What reason could he have for wanting to do that?
It didn’t take long for the other eight to emerge from the stairs that led underground. They were all different, but they all had one thing in common: their clothing incorporated, in some way, the colour red. 
“Goddamnit, crouton, what is your major malfunction!? What compelled you to give information so freely to them!?” Soldier had approached Spy and began yelling in his face. 
“All he did was give them numbers, Soldier,” Engineer said, intervening. “Not that that means much, what with the respawn still workin’.” Soldier, seeing that the Texan had a point, grumbled and crossed his arms. Engineer, confident that the situation had been resolved for now, turned to the two guardsponies. “Sorry about that. My compatriot here isn’t the smartest fella around. Th’name’s Engineer, or Engie for short. The one wearing the suit is Spy,” Spy nodded in response, “the angry one is Soldier, or Solly, the one in the white coat is Medic, the small fast one is Scout, the big guy is Heavy Weapons Guy, the one with the sunglasses and hat is Sniper, Pyro’s the one in the mask and eyepatch is Demoman.” Each member of the team acknowledged their introduction in some way, whether it be with a nod, a wave, or even a few words.
“Eeeyy,” Demoman responded drunkenly, taking a swig from his ever-present bottle of scumpy.





“So, there are nine of them, and they say they are ‘humans’?”
“That is correct, your highness,” Storm Surge replied formally. “They say that they were pulled into our world during their night. They believe a magician or wizard on their side is responsible in some way.”
“I see,” Princess Celestia said, for once not sure what else to say. “You are dismissed. Send three sky chariots to bring them here so that I may meet them.”
“Princess, it may be best to send a fourth. The one they call ‘Heavy’ is about the size of a Diamond Dog Alpha, and looks twice as heavy.”
“Do whatever is necessary, Captain, just make sure that they arrive safely.” When the guard disappeared, she let out a sigh. She gazed about the throne room blankly, her mind racing. There was too much happening for the arrival of these ‘humans’ to be mere coincidence. The wargames with the griffons were due to start in a matter of weeks. The Royal Guard had little in the way of actual battle experience, and even with the Elements assisting they stood little chance of victory.
The Regent of the Sun let out a resigned sigh, one that spoke of over a millennium of exhaustion. It wasn’t helping her disposition that Luna had seemed to take an almost unhealthy interest in her studies after learning about the upcoming wargames. If she recalled correctly, her little sister had not been researching tactics and strategies, but teleportation magic. 
Celestia looked up suddenly, things clicking into place. She rose from her throne and left the room, determined to have a chat with her little sister. “What have you done this time?” she muttered to herself.