//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: Strange Bedfellows // by BRBrony9 //------------------------------// ‘It’s nearly noon! It’s nearly noon! Spike!’ Twilight was, as usual, getting unnecessarily flustered by an upcoming deadline and a visit to the Princess. She was rushing across the library at a speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of, and in an apparently random fashion that would have Pinkie Pie nodding in approval. The other five elements, even Rarity, were waiting calmly downstairs for her to finish her panicked packing of completely unneeded books. Spike trailed after Twilight. ‘Come on, Twilight! You don’t need any of this stuff! The Princesses’ letter just said bring any notes you made last night! Don’t you already have all that stuff in your bag?’ The unicorn huffed in frustration. ‘Yes, but I think I should bring Notes On Celestial Phenomena with me too! Where is it?’ ‘Oh Twilight,’ Pinkie Pie’s voice could be heard from downstairs. ‘I don’t think Princess Celestia wants you to bring a book about her!’ Twilight’s exasperated gasp was her reply. ‘No, Pinkie, I said Celestial Pheno..’ ‘Hey, what’s that noise?’ Rainbow Dash said, her ears twitching. ‘What noise? I don’t hear anything darli…oh.’ Rarity cut herself short as she heard the distinctive ululating wail of the town’s emergency sirens. ‘Uh oh,’ Spike said, descending the stairs with Twilight close behind. ‘That can’t be good.’ ‘Y’all don’t suppose it’s a test?’ Applejack said questioningly. ‘No, they only test them once a month, and they already did it this month,’ Rainbow Dash explained. ‘Then..’ Fluttershy began. ‘That means….something is really wrong!’ Everypony shot nervous glances at one another. ‘Twilight, you don’t suppose…’ said Rarity. ‘You don’t suppose this has something to do with what you saw?’ The librarian looked uncomfortable. ‘These things have a habit of being linked,’ she said, thinking back to the prophecies she had unearthed regarding Nightmare Moon. ‘We should investigate.’ Fluttershy squeaked. ‘But Twilight, the sirens are sounding. Doesn’t that mean we should go to the shelters?’ her purple friend shook her head. ‘No, that means everypony else should go to the shelters. It means the Elements of Harmony have a duty to investigate and, if necessary, help protect the town!’ The streets of Ponyville rapidly cleared of ponies once the sirens began sounding, and they were eerily empty as the Elements galloped through town towards the town square. The fluctuating wail of the sirens sounded over it all, a sound that was almost as dreadful as anything that might be heading for the town. Spike, riding on Twilight’s back, expressed his fears. ‘Is it…zombies?’ he asked nervously. ‘I seriously doubt it,’ Twilight replied as they entered the town square. Spike did not look reassured. The square, like the rest of Ponyville, was almost entirely empty of ponies. The exceptions were a squad of Royal Guard, who were clustered at the other end of the square. Over the sounds of the sirens, Twilight could hear a new noise. The guards waved at them, telling them to get to the shelters. Fluttershy and Rarity hesitated, but the others continued on, following Twilight, who was heading straight for the guards. ‘You ladies should be in the shelters!’ Muzzle Flash said as the six mares approached his squad. ‘We heard dragons out there.’ Fluttershy let out another squeak at hearing the word dragon. Rarity’s expression changed to one of shock. ‘I think these fine gentlecolts are right, darling,’ she said. ‘Perhaps we should go to the shelters.’ The roar of the dragons was audible to them all now. The sirens had finally died away. ‘Wait a second…sir, that doesn’t sound like a dragon anymore!’ Private Sharpshooter said in surprise. Sure enough, what had been a distant roar was now a whine, much higher in pitch than anything a dragon could produce. ‘Sir!’ Muzzle Flash heard the voice of Tornado, the Pegasus he had sent to warn the rest of the company. He was flying over the square to rejoin the squad, having accomplished his mission. ‘I see something to the south!’ he called. ‘Dragons?’ the Lieutenant questioned. ‘No sir. I…I don’t know what they are.’ Sweeping in low under the cloudbase, the Lightnings passed over Ponyville, their afterburners roaring in a display designed to frighten the native population below, whoever they may be. Following behind, the shuttles flared their braking jets, descending into a field to the south of the town. ‘No signs of life down there,’ Muran voxed. ‘The place looks occupied, though. They must be hiding.’ ‘Who can blame them?’ Rall voxed back. ‘I don’t see any signs of military presence in the town. That airship is the only sign of life we’ve seen so far, but it put up a fight. Stay on your toes.’ Having dealt with the airship, the two fighters had proceeded north at full speed to catch up to the shuttles, and had then circled south of the town while they decided on a plan. The shuttles would touch down in a field on the edge of the settlement, and the first-contact party would proceed on foot. This decision was partly to avoid frightening the natives too much, but it also had a more pragmatic element; there didn’t seem to be a space anywhere in town big enough for the shuttles to land. ‘Lander 1 to Hammer 1, we’re setting down now,’ the voice of the lead shuttle pilot sounded distorted by the static. ‘Affirmative. We will continue to fly top cover,’ he responded, bringing his Lightning round and making another pass over the town as the shuttles settled into the meadow, flattening the grass under their considerable bulk. ‘What the hay are those things?’ Applejack asked, the fear in her voice clearly evident, unnerving her friends even further, as it was not often the tough farmpony was frightened by anything. ‘I have no idea,’ Muzzle Flash replied, unconsciously touching the butt of his gun with a hoof. ‘It looks like those fast ones are on fire,’ Rainbow Dash said, her emotions divided between anxiety and appreciation of just how fast the things moved and turned. ‘They look mechanical,’ Twilight said. ‘They must be airships of some sort. Lieutenant, does Equestria have anything like that in her arsenal?’ ‘Call me Muzzle Flash,’ the Lieutenant replied, shaking his head. ‘And no, we certainly don’t. neither does any other nation as far as I know. I’ve never seen anything move like that. ‘ ‘They’re coming in again!’ Thunderchief shouted. The two flyers whizzed by overhead, in line abreast with wingtips just feet apart in a display of precision flying that would leave the Wonderbolts spinning in envy. ‘Those big things are landing!’ Tornado called out, now perched on a nearby rooftop. ‘Where?’ Muzzle Flash asked. The Pegasus guard pointed a hoof. ‘South of town, in that meadow we were patrolling in.’ ‘Let’s go, guardponies! Protect the town!’ The boarding ramp of the shuttle clanked open. Nearby that of its sister ship did the same. Two dozen hellguns in each shuttle nervously scanned the field beyond. ‘Clear!’ ‘Clear!’ the call echoed around the passenger bay. No sign of trouble. Not yet, thought Captain Soren. As senior Imperial Guard officer in the landing party, the defence of the shuttles and their passengers were his responsibility as long as they were on the ground. He had fifty Stormtroopers with which to accomplish this task. He, and they, were from the Hydraxian 4th Regiment, and they were a long way from home. But, curiously, what Soren could see through the open ramp reminded him very much of that home. Green fields, trees, distant mountains. So far away, he mused, and yet so similar. The more things change, the more they stay the same. ‘Fan out! Secure the perimeter!’ he said, and his Stormtroopers began to descend the ramp. With a swift vox message the men in the other shuttle did the same. He could hear the screaming turbofans of their Lightning escort racing by overhead. He had heard their vox transmissions as they engaged some kind of local aircraft. They had knocked it down in short order, but had reported that it possessed void shields and plasma weaponry. Soren had told his troopers to be on their guard and light on the trigger finger, as they might be facing fellow humans. The Stormtroopers fanned out, taking up positions in the meadow. There was no cover out here, so many troopers lay flat on the ground. There was no sign of native life, although a line of trees obscured the edge of the town from their vision. Soren was fully aware that the last time the Crusade had made a first-contact drop on a seemingly primitive planet, their shuttles and escort had been shot down by hidden las-turrets before they made planetfall. They had already had one surprise with the airship; he didn’t want another. The landing zone secure, the shuttles’ other passengers could disembark. This was the first contact team- linguists, data-analysts, diplomatic specialists. They were there to facilitate dialogue with the natives and ensure that there was no unnecessary bloodshed upon first contact. Soren couldn’t help but marvel at the pointlessness of such a gesture- if the natives of a planet were human there was no need for half of the staff to come along, and if they were xenos, then there was no need for any of them- Soren could count off the number of xenos species that shared an uneasy truce with the Imperium on one hand, with several digits to spare. ‘Sir! Contact!’ the voice of one of his Stormtroopers hissed over his microbead. Soren turned, drawing his hellpistol from its holster and his chainsword from its sheath. He saw nothing. ‘Where?’ he questioned, descending the boarding ramp. ‘In the treeline, at our 12 o’clock,’ came the reply. At first he still saw nothing, but then movement caught his eye. Something was definitely lurking in the bushes. Holstering his pistol, Soren took out his magnoculars and scanned the trees. Above the bushes he could see the top halves of what seemed to be several horses, looking nervously towards the shuttles. They must have been frightened off by the landing. ‘Stand down men, it’s just some horses,’ he shouted. His Stormtroopers lowered their weapons. As they did so, as if it had been a signal, two of the horses emerged from the trees. ‘Sir!’ Soren could see that, contrary to his first thoughts, they were not horses. Or, if they were, they were considerably smaller than those he had seen on Imperial worlds. They were about equal in height to some of his shorter troopers, but they appeared to be wearing armour and were slung with equipment- swords, guns and pouches. One of them seemed to have a horn. ‘Looks like a cavalry unit,’ Soren said. ‘But where are the riders?’ More movement caught his eye. A half-dozen more horses were emerging from the trees. Some were white and some were a dark grey, and they were attired much like the others, but they seemed to be… ‘They’re armed!’ one of his troopers shouted. ‘What the hell is this?’ Sure enough, the horses emerging from the trees were holding guns and swords in their forehooves. Soren was speechless. ‘By the Emperor…’ He could see some of his troopers making the sign of the Aquila. ‘What sorcery is this?’ he asked nobody in particular. They must be the native inhabitants. ‘Should we fire, sir?’ several troopers called, their hellguns raised once again. ‘No! no,’ he shouted. ‘Hold your fire.’ He could see the mechandrites of the landing parties’ Techpriests twitching in anticipation. He decided to try something that, even as he opened his mouth, seemed absurd to him, even heretical. ‘Stop there! Come no further,’ he shouted, in his best parade ground voice. The horses stopped, their weapons pointing nervously at the Imperials. Soren presumed they had not understood his words, merely his intent. ‘Lay down your weapons!’ he continued. He could see his troopers shooting unbelieving glances at each other. The horses made no attempt to comply. This is insane, he thought to himself. They can’t understand me, even if they are sapient creatures. besides which, if they are sapient, they are xenos. ‘Steady, boys,’ Muzzle Flash said under his breath. The two large...things, had landed in the meadow and disgorged streams of strange creatures. They stood on their hind legs, like the Diamond Dogs, although they were taller than any such creature he had seen before. They appeared to clutch weapons not dissimilar from those his guardsponies carried in their forelimbs. Like them, these new arrivals also wore what appeared to be armour, though unlike the Royal Guard, theirs was coloured various shades of green and brown. Camouflage, he reasoned. Like the Equestrian Army uniforms. Most of them had spread out and taken up positions with their guns pointed at the trees in which the squad was waiting. Muzzle Flash was utterly bewildered. He had never seen such creatures, nor had he ever seen such airships, either these large ones or the ones that still roared overhead periodically. The rest of his squad advanced slowly around him, with the six young Elements of Harmony and their dragon peering nervously through the trees behind them. After they had introduced themselves they had insisted on accompanying his squad to investigate the landing site. The rest of his platoon had arrived from their patrols, and the other platoons had arrived from the barracks and spread themselves out along the treeline, and Captain Steel Rain had sent their fastest messenger Pegasus directly to Canterlot to fetch reinforcements. Now they were walking across the meadow towards these strangers. Muzzle Flash had heard one of them, presumably the leader, shout to them to stand down because ‘it’s just some horses.’ Surprised that they could understand these strange creatures, Muzzle Flash had seen the opportunity of taking them by surprise if necessary, or of opening a friendly dialogue, and had begun advancing with his squad. He heard the…creature in charge speak again. ‘Stop there! Come no further.’ His squad complied. ‘Lay down your weapons!’ This time they hesitated. That was not something they would do without orders from their own superiors. Muzzle Flash hesitated, too. Having his squad disarmed was not something he took lightly. But on the other hoof, if he did not comply, they were likely to be massacred right there and then. He knew there were nearly seventy other ponies in the trees behind him with their weapons ready, and he also knew that, if there were to be any kind of diplomatic solution to this standoff, that the first step in that direction was to comply. ‘Lay down your weapons, now!’ the voice repeated. ‘Do as he says,’ the Lieutenant spoke softly. Again his squad hesitated, but he showed them the way by unhooking his own rifle and sword and letting them drop to the ground beside him. If the worst came to the worst, he still had his magic. Seeing their leader’s example, the rest of the squad put their guns down on the ground and unclipped their sword belts. Muzzle Flash heard the voice again. This time it seemed to be talking to one of his own kind. ‘Incredible! See that, Magos? They do understand Low Gothic!’ Muzzle Flash decided it was time to see if ‘they’ understood Equestrian. ‘I am Lieutenant Muzzle Flash, of the Equestrian Royal Guard!’ he said, trying his best to keep a wavering tone out of his voice. ‘Identify yourselves and your purpose here!’ ‘By the Emperor! They speak it, too!’ The voice came again. Muzzle Flash thought he had identified the speaker, a tall, slender creature wearing a peaked cap and camouflaged clothing, standing on the ramp of one of the flyers with a sword in one forelimb and a small gun in the other. His reply followed shortly after. ‘I am Captain Soren, Hydraxian 4th Regiment, Imperial Guard. We come in the name of the Emperor of Mankind, and, if you so will it, we come in peace.’