Well this was a fine predicament he had gotten himself into. One minute he was in Texas, about to be shipped off to Alaska to fight the imposing Russian threat, the next he was in another world, face to face with creatures that shouldn't even exist. Marlowe stood there, staring at the unicorn and dragon, constantly blinking in disbelief. After a half a minute of awkward silence, Twilight Stepped forward. "Umm, hello. Who are you?" She asked.
Marlowe couldn't believe it. A unicorn that talked, in English no less! "If only Sweets was here, he'd be freaking out big time." he mumbled.
"Excuse me," Twilight said, easily hearing his mumbling "but who's 'Sweets'? And like I said before, who are you?"
Marlowe tried to gain his composure back, sat down and took a deep breath. "I am Private Marlowe Preston of the United States Army, 222nd battalion, B-Company and to be honest, I have no idea how I got here. As for your previous question, 'Sweets' is my friend, Private Terrence Sweetwater, of the same company. I also have two other friends, Sergeant Redford and Private Haggard. As to where they are, I have no idea."
"You're very...forthcoming with that information, Private Marlowe." Twilight said.
He smiled. "Well, it's not like you're really going to be able to do much with that information, and besides you seem friendly enough."
"Well, since you've taken the pleasure of introducing yourself, let me introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle, Proud and faithful student of Princess Celestia and this is my assistant, Spike the Dragon." Spike poked around Twilight and gave a cautious wave.
"I have some questions, first of which is: Where am I?" Marlowe asked.
"This is Ponyville, in the land of Equestria." She replied.
"Okaaay, never heard of it. Second question: Who's this Princess Celestia you just talked about?"
"Princess Celestia is the Ruler of Equestria, and is in charge of raising the sun. She is also my mentor, and is very likable, at least once you get to know her."
"Okay, Last question. Do you know anything about my friends?"
"No, sadly I don't. But I'm sure wherever they are, they're perfectly safe."
Sweetwater and the others looked at each other nervously, wondering what would happen next. Fortunately they didn't have to wait long, as Shining Armor and some of the royal guard arrived. Expecting some kind of warm welcome, Haggard walked up to Shining, only to receive a spear pointed at his face.
Haggard tried to get the spear out of his face.. "Whoa there, no need to get stabby. We're tourists. This place is really nice, lots of sunshine, good servic-"
"By order of Princess Celestia, you are being placed under custody. Do not resist, or we will take action." Shining interrupted.
"Now wait a minute, wait a minute. Who in the hell are YOU, exactly? And more importantly, where the heck are we?"
"All questions you may have will be answered by the Princess but until then, be quiet and follow me."
"Well, at least we know who isn't the smooth talker here." Sweetwater smirked as they started to follow the guards.
"Aw shuddup Sweets." As they went into the palace, Haggard let off a whistle, admiring the stark beauty of the interior.
"Well I've gotta say, they definitely know how to decorate. Maybe a few more tapestries or murals would go in nicely." He joked.
"Uh, I don't mean to be the pessimist here but we still don't know where Marlowe is, or even where HERE is for that matter. Are you sure this is real Sarge?" Sweetwater asked.
"Hell if I know, but what I do know is that we need to get some answers, and right now the best way to do that is just to do what they say. So just shut up, and wait." Sarge replied.
"Would it be wrong to say I thought of that?"
"Yes!" Sarge and Haggard said in unison. They were escorted through large double doors, into what appeared to be a large throne room. At the end of the room stood Princess Celestia, deep in a conversation with Prince Blueblood.
"Princess Celestia, I have something that you will wish to see!" Shining called out. The Princess turned to see Shining standing next Sarge and the others.
"And who, or what, might they be?" She asked with a confused look on her face.
Sweetwater stepped forward. "Remember, nothing but name, rank and serial number!" Haggard whispered to him.
" I am Private Terrence Sweetwater, 222nd Battalion, B-Company of the United States Army. These are my friends Private Private Haggard and Sergeant Redford of the same company, and we were wondering something, like where the fuck are we?"
The Princess sighed. "I would advise not speaking to me like that Private Sweetwater, as it is rude to both me and my subjects. As for your question as to where you are, you are in the royal palace of Canterlot, of the Empire of Equestria. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria by day. My sister, Princess Luna, watches over the land in the night. I have never seen a creature like you before, what are you exactly?"
"We your highness, are humans, scientific name being homo sapiens. We're from a another world entirely, one called Earth. We haven't much of an idea as to how we got here, and we have no idea at all as to how we can get back. We would really appreciate it if you could offer us a place to bunker down until you decide what to do with us, as we are undoubtedly tresspassing. We-" Sweetwater said as he was cutoff by Prince Blueblood.
"Your highness, if I may. These creatures are clearly not seeking refuge here, look at all the equipment they are carrying! do you think that something with that much possibly dangerous equipment could possibly have the need to seek refuge here? I think not, and with that I think you should-" He said until a single shot rang out. Haggard had fired a shot from his XM8 into Blueblood's back leg, causing him to fall to the ground clutching it on the way down.
"Sorry," Haggard said, with an evil smirk on his face. "finger slipped. You were saying Sweets?"
"Right, forgive my friend here. As I was saying, we would very appreciate some accommodation until you decide what to do with us." The Princess thought for a minute, ushering a guard to move the helpless Blueblood.
"After careful thinking, I have decided to let you stay, at least until I find something suitable as a punishment. You did injure Prince Blueblood after all. Actually, I have just thought of a punishment for you. You will be doing community service until you earn the right to stay here. You will be going to the town of Ponyville tomorrow, until then you shall stay here in the palace as guests. Shining Armor will show you to your room, he will also be keeping an eye on you for the time being." Sarge and Sweets gave the Princess a salute before leaving, whereas Haggard just gave a casual wave goodbye.
"why don't you come inside? you know, before somepony sees you." Twilight offered.
"That's...a good idea. After you." Marlowe replied, following them both inside. He pulled up a seat and sat in front of Spike and Twilight. "So, Spike. What's it like here? I mean, I have a basic idea, but I want to know what it's like for you, being the odd one out and all."
"Oh, me?" Spike said nervously. "It's okay I guess, they're all friendly enough to me around here. I pull my own weight, but sometimes I need help from others. Most of the time I help out others, but sometimes I feel like I need my own space, you know?"
Marlowe smiled. "I know exactly what you mean Spike."
"you, you do?" Spike said hopefully. "I mean, I've always wondered whether there was someone who shared my predicament, but I didn't figure it would be a...umm, what are you exactly?"
"Oh, I'm a human. I take it you don't have humans here?"
"N-no, we don't. If you don't mind, I'm going to go upstairs and have a rest." Spike said before stiffing a yawn.
"That's okay, gives me more time take notes." Twilight said back.
"Take notes, on me?" Marlowe asked nervously.
"Well, yes, obviously." She levitated a quill and notepad towards her, while Marlowe stared in awe of the unicorn's ability of using magic. "I take it you don't have magic on earth?"
"Nope, well, maybe illusions and magic tricks. Anyway, What did you want to ask?"
"Well first off, your home. This Earth, what's it like?" She asked.
"To be honest, it isn't really that different from yours, from what I've seen anyway. We're in a big war right now, between my country, the United States, and the Russian Federation. I WAS going to go fight them, but then I ended up here. Somehow."
"Interesting...Do you know what brought you here?"
"As far as I'm aware, it was some kind of super-weapon, apparently the original version was developed 60 odd years before the present day on Earth, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter. From what I've seen so far you don't have the materials to make it, that and there we didn't have any plans for the thing before we arrived here."
Twilight sighed. "Ah well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Next question, your friends. How did you meet them?"
Marlowe chuckled "Now that's a different story. We were all assigned to our Company because of things we did. Put simply, if someone in our forces did something that would result in expulsion, they would be given a choice to go to "B" Company, which is known in our world for it's disregard for loss of friendlies, but since they probably would've ended up dying anyway, I guess they don't really care about it."
She gasped. "That's terrible!"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess it doesn't matter now. As for how my friends ended up there, well that's something different altogether."
Haggard was fast asleep in what he described as 'the best bed he'd slept in in all his life' after complaining about a headache from 'jet-lag'. Sarge and Sweetwater were discussing over by a window what they thought what was gonna happen to them in their 'new life'. "Ooh, I know! We could start up a small business, we could build a house near a lake and you could finally go fishing!" Sweets suggested.
"Mmm, nah. The fishing part sounds nice, but I don't think it'll work." Sarge replied.
"Ah well, was worth a thought. I wonder if they have snowmobiles here?"
"Snowmobiles are for pussies!" Haggard said said in his sleep. This resulted in Sweetwater to laugh loudly.
"I know it's only been about a day, but I gotta say I'm missing Marlowe."
"Yeah, just doesn't seem right without him here does it?" Sarge said nodding.
"I wonder if they'll write a book about us?"
"What'd you think it'd be called?"
"Hmm...The Mysteries of the Human Race."
"Ha, the only mystery concerning you is how you got into B company, and to be honest it's not that interesting."
Sweets sighed. "I guess you're right. Well, I'm gonna catch some Z's before we have to do 'community service'." With that, he laid down on a bed, leaving Sarge to stare out the window at the vast Plains of Equestria.
Sorry for the long time between chapters, I've been busy doing other things, and with my Exams coming up this week I won't be getting much further for a bit. Hope you enjoyed it!