//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Battalion Wars: Equestria // by mathwiz617 //------------------------------// 2:00:00 after event; Horseshoe Bay shoreline “So, let me get this straight,” Colonel Austin’s voice came over the radio. “You met a talking pegasus named ‘Rainbow Dash’, Brigadier?” “I know it’s hard to believe, but yes,” Betty replied. “She said something about humans being myths, mentioned a princess, and flew off. She was faster than any airplane I’ve seen.” “Well, Betty, I’ve never know you to be a liar,” General Herman joined in, “so I’m going to believe you on this one. I’m not so sure high command will, though. Just know that the other nations are going to want a full report too. You may have made contact with an alien race.” “Yes sir. Over and out,” Betty said, turning off the radio. Turning to the troops assembled on the shore, she said, “Well, you heard the general. This is a recon mission. Our objective is to find out as much about this land as possible.” She pointed to a few assault veterans. “You three stay behind and guard the ships. Use non-lethal force if at all possible. I don’t want first contact to turn into a bloodbath.” Climbing into a recon vehicle, she added, “The rest of you are with me. That rainbow trail’s disappeared, so we’re going to head into that city over there and see if we can get a map or something. Let’s go!” 2:05:00 after event; Downtown Baltimare *POP* Six mares appeared in the town square in a flash of light. “The horror, the horror!” another pony shouted, galloping past the group at full speed. Soon, Twilight and her friends were dodging a stampede of panicked city dwellers. Pointing in the direction they were coming from, Pinkie said, “I think that’s the way we have to go.” Rolling her eyes, Twilight grabbed one of the slower ponies running by and asked, “What freaked you out so much?” Relief soon replaced the fear in the pony’s eyes as she recognized the Bearers of Harmony. “It’s horrible. A lot of ape-like creatures came into town. There were a few in a motorized wagon, and about thirty on their own two legs. Somepony started shouting in terror, and then we all started running.” Letting her go, Twilight thanked her, and then motioned to her friends to follow. While they moved towards the source of the panic, Rainbow said, “These creatures that landed here must be the humans I saw in the ocean.” Twilight nodded. “You have to hand it to these ponies. At least they know to run away from the problem, instead of running in circles like those from Ponyville do.” After a few minutes of walking, Twilight noticed the source of the commotion. The pony she had grabbed had told the truth; there were about thirty humans examining their surroundings, and one empty vehicle. One grabbed a doorknob and attempted to twist it, before giving up and lightly pushing. To its apparent surprise, the door opened. Another one was standing in the center of the road, shouting orders. To Twilight’s surprise, the orders were in Modern Equestrian. Pointing to the one giving orders, Rainbow said, “That’s the one I spoke to. She said her name is Brigadier Betty. She must be their leader.” Twilight listened. This “Betty” did, indeed, sound female, and in charge. “I think you’re right, Rainbow,” she said. “She must be their commanding officer, like Shining Armor and the Canterlot guard. I don’t think she actually leads them outside of the military, though. It would be too risky to send your nation’s leader into the unknown.” “Well, what do we do now?” Applejack asked. “Do we just sit here and listen, or do we go and talk to them?” Pinkie pulled a stack of cards out of her saddlebags. “I have some ‘Welcome to Equestria’ cards,” she said. “I was saving them for the next dragon migration, but I guess they would apply here, too.” “Uh… Ok then,” Twilight said. “I think we should go talk to them. They’re probably as curious about us as we are about them. They may even be afraid of us.” “I seriously doubt that they’re afraid, Twi,” Rainbow said. Suddenly, one of the soldiers noticed the group. “Brigadier, there are more ponies over here!” he shouted. “These ones aren’t running away!” “Thank heavens,” their leader said. “I was worried we wouldn’t be able to talk to any of the natives. Remember soldier; the first step of gathering information is to befriend the locals.” At the word “befriend”, Pinkie’s ears perked up. “They want to be our friends,” she told the others excitedly. “You know the best way to become someone’s friend?” “A party?” Twilight guessed. “Right!” Pinkie replied. “This calls for my party cannon!” She pulled the cannon out from a nearby alley. Nopony had seen her put it there, of course. Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, Pinkie, they might take that the wrong -” All of a sudden, chaos broke out among the humans. There were various shouts of “Duck and cover!” “It’s got a cannon!” and in one case, “Run away!”. With a loud “Boom!” the party cannon went off, sending streamers and confetti flying everywhere. As the soldiers slowly looked around the corners they were hiding behind, they were obviously relieved to see the party set up - cake and everything - though most looked very confused. Bouncing out into the open, Pinkie shouted, “It’s ok, we won’t hurt you! You can come out; we only want to be friends!” “What just happened?” Betty asked. “Where did that cannon go?” Twilight trotted up to the human and extended her hoof. “Brigadier Betty, I presume? I’m Twilight Sparkle. I have a lot of questions for you, and I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me. Just don’t ask about that cannon, or Pinkie Pie in general. You won’t get many answers.” After a second, Betty took Twilight’s hoof in her hand and shook it, much to Twilight’s surprise. “Pleased to meet you Twilight. Yes, I’m Brigadier Betty of the Western Frontier.” Pulling a stack of paper out of her jacket, she added, “Can we sit down? I’m going to need to write a lot of stuff down, I think.”