//------------------------------// // Ponies on your mind? // Story: Operation Iron Hoof // by thewookie1 //------------------------------// Twilight’s Library, Next Morning “Spike, find all the books which mention humans.” called Twilight up the stairs waking the baby dragon. “Gah alright. You were supposed to be gone long enough for me to take a nice nap.” Spike replied and then mumbled to himself. “Oh and Spike, bring a quill from my room, I’m out down here.” Twilight added as she rummaged through her desk. “Oh never mind I found one!” she yelled back up the stairs. Fighting his grogginess Spike began looking through a few of the books on the upper level bookcases which Twilight privately owned. Then he remembered that likely it was just that musician again and made his way downstairs. “That musician pony here again trying to test another of her crack theories?” Spike retorted while he made his way down the stairs. “What Spike, oh you mean Lyra?” Twilight inquired. “Yes, that’s her, the one who keeps coming by looking for human related books so she may work on “figuring out” the past.” Spike said as he rolled his eyes. “Actually Spike, I need them.” Twilight said while she moved her hooves in a circle. “Not you too!” Spike said as he facepalmed. “Just help me Spike, and I’ll show you why I need them.” Twilight replied as she motioned to the bookshelf to the left. “You look through that one and I’ll look through this one ok” “If you say so.” Spike said with much displeasure. Twilight and Spike searched high and low through the library finding assorted books from mythological creatures dictionaries to the strange tales which involved humans. After finding about twenty books the two headed back off to Fluttershy’s house. Everfree Forest “Aaaaah that was a good night sleep.” The light blue pony said to herself as she began to stretch her legs. “Nothing is like a good night of sleep after an odd day.” she continued as she opened the doors on her cart to let the early morning breeze into the cart. “If I get moving soon I’ll get to the hospital on the map by the early afternoon. That’s my best bet if I hope to make It to Baltimare still by the end of the week.” Trixie said as she began re-organizing her cart. “There must have been a tornado in here yesterday.” she commented as she shuffled through the paperwork. As Trixie continued through her cart she stumbled upon an odd stack of letters in the corner which were disorganized beyond words. As she looked through the letters her jaw dropped in surprise. “What the hay, these letters are dated three years from now.” Trixie said as she looked through the letters. “2012, 2011, who would date their letters three years ahead of schedule?” questioned Trixie as she rubbed her head with her hoof. (2009 =1938 and so on.) “May as well read them, they must be from fans who have heard of my shows in Coltsdale and Hoofenwald.” Dear Great and Powerful Trixie, My son is for some reason in love with your show, would you be so kind as to sign a picture. Then please send it back to us in Manehattan when you get the chance. Thank you, Sandie Shore “That’s nice.” said Trixie as she grabbed a picture from the rack on her desk and signed it The Great and Powerful TRIXIE. “Wonder what else people have sent me?” Dear Great and Powerful Trixie, The Annoyed and Angry Parent would like to strangle you if it weren’t against the law. You think you can just prance into town and start ordering people around? Not in my town you can’t and especially not my child! If you ever step foot back in Mareta again, I’ll personally knock you out of the clouds! The Annoyed and Angry Parent “What an odd Pegasus, I haven’t even gone to Mareta yet. Plus why the third person speech, is she some snob from a town council?” Trixie said as she burned the letter with magic tossing the ashes into the trash can. Trixie shuffled through the remaining letters with a growing degree of confusion caused by the assorted accusations from ponies in places she hadn’t been yet, and the occasional person speaking in the third-person. “I must get to the bottom of this!” Trixie said as she slammed her hoof down. {They can't all be town council members.} was what she thought to herself as she paced back and forth inside her cart. “This could be a strange dream where I accidentally time traveled during one of my shows?” Trixie said as she began to laugh devoid of real feeling.. “Maybe the ponies in Ponyville can help me in figuring out this peculiar problem of mine.” she said as she climbed out of the cart. Trixie then grabbed her hat off the table, hitched herself to the cart using her magic, and with a quick stomp on the ground she got the cart out of the mud indentations and trotted north. Fluttershy’s House “Come on Fluttershy, can’t I wake him up for his party?” the hyper pink pony said as she hopped around Fluttershy with a party hat on her head. “Pinkie, Twilight said he isn’t to be awoken until Friday.” the meek pony said while putting a thermometer in a bird's mouth. Seeing a tear calendar on the desk near the kitchen Pinkie devised a plan, a Pinkie Pie plan. She went over to the calander and tore off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday leaving Friday as the new “day of the week”. “It’s Friday, it’s Friday!” started chanting Pinkie as she jumped up and down in place. Fluttershy hearing the commotion went into the kitchen to investigate. Much to her chagrin however she found the cause the outburst was her “quote a day” calendar was now missing three days. "My quote calender!" Fluttershy eeped. "Don't worry silly, the other day's quotes were boring anyway." Pinkie said dismissing Fluttershy's slight anger. “Pinkie, how could you, that was calendar my parents gave me for Hearth Warming’s Day. Maybe you should go home Pinkie.” Fluttershy said with a bit of underlying anger. “Okie dokey lokey” Pinkie said and quickly cleaned up her party supplies and raced off into the horizon in the direction of Ponyville. “Sometimes she makes me want to scream.” Fluttershy said with an angry face. "Maybe if I yell it will help." she said before rapidly letting in a lot of air and expelling in a soft squeal. "That's better." she added with a small smile. Road to Fluttershy’s house “What was that Twilight?” Spike asked as he pointed to a flash of pink streaking in the distance. “I’m not sure Spike, I have never seen something like that before..” Twilight replied as she scratched her head. “Was that what these books are for?” Spike questioned as he stared Twilight down hoping to break her charade. "I'm not telling you until we get there." Twilight said with a grin as she teased the young dragon. "Not even a clue, I know Fluttershy is harboring a zombie pony!" Spike said with a slightly scared voice. “Nope, not in the least. He's still alive.” Twilight said grinning until she noticed she had given information away. "Got ya Twilight!" Spike cheered as he rose his claws up and jumped. The two approached Fluttershy’s house and knocked on the door. Answering the door was a short white rabbit with a carrot in his mouth that waved them in. “Twilight, is that the surprise!” Spike yelled as he pointed to the now startled Fluttershy and Rarity who were sitting staring at something in the other room. “No Spike, Rarity isn’t the surprise.” Twilight said as she rubbed the baby dragon’s head. “She’s always my favorite surprise…….” Spike said as he floated to the white and purple pony in the main room. Twilight and Spike continued into the room which held the sleeping creature named Robert but Spike was to love struck to notice the creature on the couch-bed. "Um, Spike see anything interesting?" Twilight said trying to get Spike to snap out of his trance. "Yes......" Spike said in a low voice while hovering to Rarity's side. "Oh for the love of Celestia, look at the creature on the bed Spike!" Twilight yelled startling the baby dragon out of his trance. "Woh, what is that?" Spike said while gesturing dramatically. “That would be a human, Spike.” Twilight replied. Spike then asked questions to Twilight until he had a dry tongue. Then he grabbed some water and continued his usual pampering of Rarity. With Spike busy Twilight began to update the notes on humans she had compiled over the day. "The Princess will want to see this soon." Mane Street, Ponyville “Why are they all looking at me like I’m some sort of criminal?” asked Trixie quietly as she slowly walked through Ponyville with her cart. “How dare she show her face here again” one colt said to another. “The horror, the horror.” a mare said before fainting. Trixie continued on listening in on similar comments which slowly began to wear at her patience. She finally saw one pony at a cabbage stand that wasn’t glaring at her. So she approached the colt with a question. “Why are they all staring at me like I’m some sort of criminal?” Trixie asked. “No idea mam, just moved here recently.” said the green colt with a black mane. “Could you tell me where the local hospital is?” Trixie inquired as she pointed to her bandaged head. “Just up the road mam, take a right on Stable Ave. and then turn left on Maple Rd.” said the colt. “Thank you, this means a lot to me.” Trixie said as she began down the road again. As she walked she could continue to sense she was being watched but with her headache worsening she couldn’t care less. As she turned onto Maple Rd. she was blindsided by a pink pony with puffy hair. “Eeeep!” yelled Trixie in pain as she rubbed her side. “Sorry, ooh it’s the bear bringer.” Pinkie said with a slight frown. “Umm, what was that?” Trixie responded as she looked at Pinkie confused. “You’re that showpony who brought the big baby Ursa Minor to town. I recognize the name.” Pinkie said as she looked behind Trixie fearing another bear. “I have done no such thing; I would never be so incompetent to cause destruction in a town.” Trixie said as she stood tall and strong briefly before squeaking back into a slouched position. “Well you didn’t silly, Snips and Snails brought it here for you.” Pinkie said with a giggle. “You must have me mistaken for another pony.” Trixie said as she began to head off again to the hospital. “No, you’re her alright, you really are silly Trixie; I had never seen a cutie-mark like that before you visited and I haven’t seen one sense you came by. Isn’t that right Gummy?” Pinkie said as she pointed to the cutie-mark and received a nod from the small toothless gator to her right. “There is bound to be another mare out there with a similar mark, none like my be—utiful cutie mark though, it is after all the sign of magical showmareship.” Trixie said with much pride. “Or it could be misconstrued for a strange communist logo.” Pinkie replied. “What?” Trixie said unable to understand what the pink pony said. “Oh, never mind Trixie. You had better go to a hospital to fix that head of yours. Bye!” responded Pinkie Pie who then vanished as fast as she had appeared. “These ponies here are complete loons.” said Trixie as she continued to the nearby hospital. Fluttershy's House “Ok, Spike remember to keep me safe while I’m in the trance.” Twilight said to the small dragon next to her. “Yes, sir!” Spike yelled as he put a ladle over his shoulder and began marching around her. Thinking to herself, “now to enter a dream I must first sit and then think about the person I’m attempting to speak with,” Twilight thought as she began her magical thought process. “I sure hope this human is as easy to invade as Spike…” Meanwhile in the mind of Oberst Johansson a battle was being waged. “Sir the Dutch regiment has been decimated, how shall we proceed?” said an officer in a mid to late 1800’s uniform said with a salute. “Good, thrust the cavalry through the hole and use three of the infantry regiments to break their backs.” the more decorated officer said as he turned around displaying he was in fact Robert. “Yes sir!” yelled the younger officer as he ran out of the tent. “I guess I may as well inspect the other cavalry regiments.” Robert then commented to himself as he left the tent. Outside the tent was a mass of smaller tents along with horses tied to trees. As Robert walked to his 3rd and 4th regiments of cavalry the soldiers saluted him and then resumed their duties once he was out of sight. “Fall in men!” Robert yelled causing a sudden stampede of boots and hooves to his right. With his army set up for morning drills Robert began pacing the length of the regiments. “Straighter back soldier……. How’s the lady back home Private?.........Clean your helmet off” said among many similar remarks. Then he paced back only looking at the horses, “Nice stallion Hans, maybe if you spent more time working and less time brushing, you might have a medal.” “Brown horse, brown horse, brown horse, black horse, brown horse, small purple horse, brown horse, black horse, yellowish horse…. Purple horse?” With that Robert walked back to see a short purple horse which was lacking a rider but had a horn on its head. “What the heck, you don’t even look like a character from a story..” Robert said scratching his chin. “That’s because I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She said startling Robert. “What the hell!” yelled Robert immediately scattering the dream to nothing but a plain with tall grass. “What are you doing here? Better yet, how the heck did you get into my mind?" Robert said with a bit of annoyance in his words. “I had some questions which couldn’t wait until Saturday Oberst.” Twilight replied as a notepad appeared from nowhere. “What’s with the horse costume?” Robert asked. “Actually I’m a unicorn pony and it ……” Twilight said before being interrupted. “Ok, blah blah blah, you have loved unicorns since you were a little girl yada yada yada.” Robert said gesturing his hands while did so. “No I’m actually a….” again Twilight was interrupted. “Ask me these so-called vital questions Miss. Sparkle. You interrupted a grand battle in Denmark.” Robert said as he appeared a bit angry and waving his saber around. “So, what is Earth like? “ Twilight asked as she put a pair of glasses on. "Well its hard to explain, I know, I'll just show you! Robert announced to Twilight. “Like this…“ Robert said as suddenly they appeared in Paris. “This is Paris, France, home of good wine, the Eiffel Tower, and a lot of chickens.” “Really, how does a chicken civilization work?” Twilight asked gleaming in excitement. “Chickens as in backbone-less humans.” Robert said as he pointed to a bunch of white flag holding French people running out of view. “Oh, very fascinating.” Twilight said as she quickly scribbled in her notebook. {French humans are actually spineless, and carry white flags.} Suddenly the scenery changed to another large city, with a large stone archway with a chariot-like object at the top. “This is Berlin, Germany capital of the German Empire and home of the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and best city in all of Europe and the world!” Robert said as scenes flew by showing assorted buildings. “What do all the flags stand for, and why are there so many?” Twilight said tugging on a dreamt flag. “It’s the flag of the new German Empire, the flags are supposed to express nationalism, but I never understood the need for so many banners.” Robert said as he tore a flag down. “It covers up the architecture.” "Facinating." Twilight said as she continued in her notebook. {His home country likes flags and banners; but to the extent of covering buildings.} “Any other cities on your world?” Twilight asked. “Many, Miss.” Robert said and then began proceeded to show Twilight many cities he had seen pre-war. After many cities from London to Hamburg and Vienna to Rome and many others. Twilight filled her notebook to the brim with interesting facts. “Thank you, Oberst Robert; I appreciate this greatly.” Twilight said with a large smile. “Alright, then; well here’s a map of my world.” Robert said as he began pondering. {Why am I doing this for her, am I bored with the same old historical battles, am I trying to thank her, am I trying to impress this young lady with my knowledge?} After two more hours of Twilight asking about random information about his world; she decided to leave after devouring every ounce of information she could. “Good bye Miss Sparkle, thank you again for the surgery and company.” Robert said as she began to fade. “You’re welcome.” Twilight said waving. Back to reality…. “Your back!” Spike yelled into Twilight’s ear startling her. “Yes, yes I am Spike why are you so jumpy?” Twilight responded as she attempted to get her ear to go back to normal. “You’ve been gone two full days, I wrote to the princess to help fix the problem; the book said that if you were jarred badly you might lose your consciousness into the dreamer’s mind.” Spike said hugging the purple pony. “Oh, well I’m sorry Spike, it didn’t seem very long in there.” she replied while hugging the baby dragon. The knocking of the door then interrupted the two; and the quiet but happy Fluttershy answered the door, then eeped. “We are here Spike!” Celestia said in a roaring voice. “How does she do Spike?” Luna said in her slowly improving modern Equestrian. “She just woke up, Princesses.” Spike said rubbing his foot on the floor. “Has thou given her food?” Luna asked pointing at Twilight. “Not yet my Princesses.” Spike said. “Twilight, my student, what is that creature on the bed over there.” Celestia said with a puzzling look. “It’s a human, Princess. His name is Robert Johansson and he’s from another planet.” Twilight said as she pointed at Robert. Walking over to Robert Luna felt his forehead and motioned for Fluttershy to come over to her. “Why is thy human hot? Feverish is he?” Luna said while using some of her weather manipulation powers to create ice. “He was fine just a couple minutes ago, eep, he’s really warm.” Fluttershy said as she touched his forehead. “Oh no, the spell must have been on so long that he is reacting to magical overload!” Twilight yelled startling the entire room. “Um, sorry.” “Twilight, why have you left these garments on the creature, it is not winter?” Celestia asked. “Um, I’m not sure, he seems to like them.” Twilight said in reply while blushing in embarrassment. “Strip the creature and then we shall bathe him in ice.” Celestia ordered as the others began scrambling while Luna began icing the tub.