//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Demonstration is Magic 
// Story: The Awakening: The Last Hope 
// by Icudeadnow 
//------------------------------//

	John, Twilight, Spike, and the five other marines stared after the pink mare as she dramatically left the room with unnatural happiness. What exactly was she planning...?

"What was that all about?" John asked Twilight who just chuckled nervously and brushed a hoof through her mane.

"What my guess is... she wants to throw a welcoming party for you. That is just my guess and unfortunately I have the feeling that I couldn't be more correct in my assumption" Twilight nervously said. John looked at the soldiers put under his control and raised an eyebrow. Corporal Jenkins was the only to respond.

"Permission to speak freely sir." Jenkins said with trained indifference within his voice. John shifted his attention to the Corporal.

"Granted Corporal." John said simply. Jenkins looked nervous but continued nevertheless.

"Uh... I mean we were sent here to learn whatever we can in the short time that we're given so... what harm could it do? I mean, we would be completing the objective at hand." Jenkins said, impressing the experienced sargeant. He pondered this fact in silence.

"Very well. If Pinkie decides that a party is what we need, who are we to stop her? Like you said Jenkins, mission imperative." John said, bringing out his authoritive tone that came natural to him. As soon as he said this, the comms link on his wrist buzzed and his attention was diverted to a holographic figure of the captain.

"Anything you needed sir?" John asked, confused that the captain would be contacting them this soon. He would have thought the captain would have contacted him on the third and final day of the scouting mission.

"Yes. You may not know but we have put cameras into each of you and your soldiers' helmets. We've seen everything. I wasn't going to tell you until the mission was over but... this is too bizarre. Talking ponies? I'd sooner believe a zargeel in a tutu." The captain said, referencing the zargul. A zargeel was the singular word for their race. Still, John felt betrayed that the captain didn't tell him about the camera. Well, who was he to question the old man that he had come to admire and idolize.

"Why didn't you tell us sir?" John asked. He had almost lost his composure there but quickly regained it only because of the extensive training he had recieved.

"I needed to know if you could perform your job without guidance and you've proven that. Considering you haven't gone crazy means that you're more than competant." The captain said, lifting John's spirits.

"Thank you sir." John said simply because in reality, he didn't know how to respond to that. The captain always seemed to be gruff and distant but authoritive and serious. Twilight had walked up and was staring at the hologram with curiosity.

"You're very small compared to John and his friends here..." Twilight observed and went on to ask, "Why is that?"

"That's because this is an image of me reconstructed into this blue light. It's called a hologram. In tuth I'm actually in orbit above you're planet in a spaceship the quarter the size of your planet." The captain said matter-of-factly like it was a normal, every day thing. Twilight looked fascinated and continued to study the blue anomaly that was the captain.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to it." The captain said and the 3D image cut off. Spike just stared at John with a big smile and a spark in his eyes that John didn't very much like at all.

"...What..?" John asked, afraid of the answer. Spike seemed to be staring at the Mark IV assault rifle slung across his back.

"Is that... your zapper?" Spike asked, pinting directly at the sophisticated weapon.

"Yes, yes it is. Say... you want to see me fire it? Outside of course and probably away from anyone's prying eyes because I'm sure the other inhabitants don't want to see that I have a weapon." John asked with a smile. Spike;s eyes widened and he nodded furiously getting a laugh from Twilight. John told the marines to relax and stay inside which they did so dutifully and with some obvious relief. Twilight, Spike, and John both went into the backyard where a fence was built around the property line, cutting off any observers. John took a log that was propped up against the house and put it on the far end of the backyard. John walked back to the other two and told them to stay behind him for safety reasons.

"Now this..." John begand and fired a blue light out of the barrel of the jet black gun and it impacted against the log, making it explode into a million, burned, splintered pieces getting shocked and awed reactions from both Twilight and Spike, "Is why we've survived this long"

"That...was... AWESOME!" Screeched a new voice. John whipped his head to the side and saw a blue, flying pony watching them with a huge smile. John had not yet seen a pegasus and was extremely suprised to see one. He had read about pegasuses in books but... what?

"What... the... hell?" John said more to himself than anything. He had just about enough of this madness and when he thought it couldn't get worse, it got much worse.  A flying horse? What's next? A larger pony that raises the sun? Pfft... like that'l ever happen. Will it?