Full Stop Warfare
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony or Red Al-YURI OWNS EVERYTHING! ALL HAIL YURI!
The Bear, the Eagle, and the Ponies
Chapter 5: Full Stop Warfare
Ely, Nevada, United States of America
The noise was almost unbearable. The very air itself seemed to shake with the pressure and every blast kicked up torrents of dust from the cellar floor. But as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t run. As much as every bone in her body told her to go and find a new hiding place where the noise and dust and shaking could not find her, she refused to obey.
She refused to obey her mind because she was too terrified to obey it. She was too terrified to obey because rationally she knew she would be exchanging fear and discomfort for certain death. But most of all she refused to obey because she refused to abandon one of her dearest friends. The rabbit she cuddled against also shook with the same fear. She could tell it too wanted to run and hide but wouldn’t because of that same fear… and because of her, just like her, he wouldn’t run because of her.
Instead, she tried to keep the rabbit calm. Even though she couldn’t hear a thing over the roar, she felt her lips move as she sang the lullaby she learned so long ago and the words echoed as loudly in her mind as the roar of the bombardment…
“Hush now, quiet now… it’s time to rest your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now… it’s time to go to bed.”
A shell landed particularly close, the noise of its detonation echoing off the basement walls. Masonry cracked under immense pressure and the floor shook so violently that she almost fell. Steadying herself, she noticed the rabbit wasn’t shaking anymore… but she could still feel him breathing and moving in her arms. He wasn’t panicking. In fact, he seemed rather calmed. It was so strange and yet so comforting.
Then the barrage stopped. The shaking and noise ceased so suddenly that the following silence was equally discomforting. The dust however remained drifting in the air and irritated her nose. But the girl didn’t move, instead she continued to hug her little rabbit and sing softly to him.
It wasn’t long until voices, soldiers most likely, loudly echoed upstairs alongside the boots hammering overhead. They were speaking, shouting in urgent and clipped tones. They pretty much barked at each other… her breath caught as she heard the basement door fall off its hinges, but no one came down the steps and all the noises remained upstairs.
She literally jumped when the first weapon went off, a single shot that instantly grew into a fusillade of gunfire from upstairs. The soldiers’ shouting became even more urgent, desperate even. Their voices melding with the gunfire until one became indistinguishable from the other. In her arms, the rabbit started shaking again.
Her only warning of what happened next was a single shout from one of the soldiers above, a scream of alarm that in spite of its brevity conveyed the message perfectly: “TANK!”
THOOM!
The explosion above finally dislodged her from her crouch, the rabbit falling from her protective embrace in the process. She looked over just in time to see him mere feet away, just glancing around in bewilderment… then a groan overhead announced new danger.
“Run Angel!” She shouted irrationally, given that he was a rabbit, as the structure gave way. It was the first time she was able to hear her voice since the bombardment began, the first thing she had decided to shout…
And the last thing she was conscious of before the ceiling collapsed.
And Fluttershy shot awake with a gasp, tumbling off her couch in the process. Disoriented and scared from the nightmare and getting shocked awake, the Pegasus Pony scrambled to her hooves. “Angel?!”
The panic began to subside as the Pegasus’ pet rabbit appeared, at first with a look of annoyance on his face but that became one of concern when he saw the genuine distress his owner was in. Quickly hopping over, Angel nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek. The larger mare closed her eyes and sighed in relief. “Just a dream… thank you Angel, I’m okay now.”
The rabbit in question backed away and watched with skepticism as Fluttershy got back up and oriented herself. She was still in her living room, where she had fallen asleep. There had been an emergency with Bruce the Bat late last night that had kept Fluttershy awake into the early morning and she had tried to use some of her free time to make up for the lost sleep. The couch had been a logical choice, but she never expected to have a nightmare.
Fluttershy’s sudden awakening had thrown the well-ordered pillows around and the Pegasus immediately set about sorting them out before she moved on to other chores. Angel, seeing his owner functioning as normal, hopped away to resume whatever he had been doing. But the young mare was not okay… not really. The dream remained in her head, foggier than when she first awoke but still quite vivid. As she worked, Fluttershy pondered over it…
She had been herself, that’s what she remembered. Except she wasn’t a pony… what her dreamself was, Fluttershy couldn’t puzzle out. The dream had felt so real that she could remember the overall feel of her dreamself’s body, but she couldn’t place it to any species. There were also things in the dream that Fluttershy recalled, things which her dreamself understood perfectly but which she couldn’t figure out in the slightest.
Deciding that dwelling on the subject further was something she would rather not do, Fluttershy told herself it was just a dream, even if a particularly realistic feeling one, and she moved towards her door to check on the animals outside. And, as if on cue, somepony knocked.
Still caught in her thoughts, the sudden noise took her by surprise. Like many things that surprised her, Fluttershy reacted with a short, quick, and very quiet shriek before diving behind the nearest piece of cover… a table in this case.
The knocking came again, along with the familiar voice of a hyperactive Pink Earth Pony. “Fluttershy! Are you alright in there?!”
Fluttershy blinked a few times, before quickly getting up and opening the door.
“Oh, Pinkie! You startled me…” the Pegasus paused as an odd sense of deja-vu passed over her. Or would have, if Pinkie Pie were so inclined to let her have a pause.
“Fluttershy! Come on, you have to come quick and meet them!” The Earth Pony was excited. Fluttershy could tell by how frequently and how high Pinkie jumped about.
The Pegasus, on the other hand, reacted with more trepidation. “What? Why?”
“Some new creatures came out of the Everfree forest and there was a misunderstanding, but they talk and actually are pretty nice and-!“
There was a blast of dust and when it cleared, Pinkie Pie saw she was alone. For a moment, the normally up-beat Earth Pony frowned in annoyance. “Hey! That’s my gag!”
Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Earlier…
“Holy shit…”
Twilight and her friends reacted in different, if predictable, ways to the strange creature’s words. Both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, Applejack cast an alarmed glance towards the door to make sure that none of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had wandered back out, Twilight herself blinked in surprise, and Rarity was both shocked and horrified. After a moment, the creature shuffled awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
“Sorry about that,” it said. “It’s just Ponies suddenly speaking English… took me by surprise.”
“You cursin’ as a reaction took us by surprise!” Applejack replied angrily, “Don’t ya know there’s children about!”
The creature looked at the Earth Pony in clear surprise, “Is that a Texan accent?”
Applejack scowled in annoyance, “Acksent?! What acksent?! And I ain’t ever heard of this ‘Texas’!”
The creature seemed to start getting angry, but then it shook its head and took a deep breath before exchanging a look with the second creature standing next to it. The rest of those creatures were a ways back, their own expressions a mix of confusion, wonder, and silent amusement at the situation. In this interval, Twilight mulled over the creatures’ appearances.
The creatures’ voices, when gone through the translation spell, had a lot of similarities to a stallion’s so they were probably male. Their appearance made Twilight think of Spike, although these creatures didn’t have a tail or scales. The unicorn could also tell that they were heavily clothed, which was not common for Ponies. And they smelled! Twilight’s nose wrinkled, although she did her best not to show it. Although even visually, she could tell they were dirty… grime covered their clothing, their equipment, and the strange items they carried.
Twilight was brought back from her reflection by the apparent leader, the one who had been talking so far, clearing his throat, “Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Can we try this again?”
“Of course.” Twilight said quickly, eagerly smiling. “I suppose we kind of misunderstood each other…” She looked over her shoulder, “Right girls?”
“Ah guess so, Twi.” Applejack muttered.
“Are you kidding?! Getting to meet somepony new… well, you aren’t ponies of course, but still you’re new here and-“ Pinkie gasped in excitement, “That means I’ll have to throw a PARTY! With balloons and streamers and-mphlmph!” Pinkie was somewhat put off to find Applejack’s hoof in her mouth, but accepted the signal to be quiet with a mere pout.
Dash frowned and crossed her forehooves, she was giving a hard look at one of the creatures… the one she collided with. “I guess…”
“I think we really should hurry along with a proper greeting…” Rarity eyed the creatures, “What have all of you been doing?! It can’t have been hygienic!”
Twilight gulped, worried that the creatures might be insulted. But to her surprise they all laughed a little.
“That tends to happen in our line of work, unfortunately.” The leader said, “Anyways, if we are introducing ourselves…” He stiffened straight up, impressive looking despite his otherwise ragged appearance, “I am Captain Adam Gins, United State Army,” He motioned to the creature standing at his side, “And this is Gunnery Sergeant Carl Vince…”
Twilight grinned, happy to have names to give the individual creatures, “A pleasure to meet you! I am Twilight Sparkle-” She was interrupted by a few snickers from the other creatures standing further back, but those fell silent immediately when Carl Vince shot a look over his shoulder.
“Uh, and these are my friends,” Twilight continued, pointing at each in turn with her hoof, “Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and-“
“HI!” The last of Twilight’s friends bounded the distance between her and Gins far more quickly than anypony anticipated. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m a pony, just like Twilight and the rest! What about you? And you introduced yourself and that Carl guy but what about your other friends here?” Without missing a beat, Pinkie Pie gave a tremendous gasp, “Oh my Celestia! Fluttershy isn’t here, she should be here, she loves meeting other creatures! Well, kind of but still Igottagogetherbye!”
And just like that, the hyperactive Earth Pony zipped off as quickly as she had talked, leaving a bemused crowd behind.
“What… what just happened?” Gins finally said after the long awkward silence.
Twilight sighed and gave a nervous smile, “You just met Pinkie Pie…”
“I… see”
Twilight paused as she tried to bring the conversation back on track, “I‘m sorry if it’s rude, Adam, but I have to ask… what are you? I haven’t heard of any creatures like your group in Equestria before…”
“Equestria? Is that what this place is called?” Once again, there were a few snickers from behind Gins, which he duly ignored… although apparently Carl didn’t. “Well, we’re humans or informally “men” or “people”, with man or person as singular. Homo Sapiens is the technical name. And before you ask… we’re lost. We were on a mission and… well, we’re not sure what happened but the next thing we knew we came to in a forest several klicks that way.” He waved his hand back.
Rainbow Dash perked up at that, “The Everfree forest?! Man, you must have been some lucky humans or something…”
Twilight ignored Rainbow’s outburst as she connected a different set of dots, “You said you are part of the ‘United States Army’? Is that like the Royal Guard?”
The human didn’t seem to know how to reply for a moment, “I guess so?”
“So why the hay did you come bargin’ in on my farm?!” Applejack finally joined her. Her temper was still somewhat hot from the scuffle earlier and she wasn’t a pony who believed in dallying.
To his credit, Gins kept his cool and answered straightforwardly, which Twilight found herself immensely glad for. “This farm was the first location we spotted and we were hoping to find some assistance. So I grabbed a few of the men and hiked over here. We were expecting other humans not… ponies.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow, “A few of the men? There are more of you?” Now some alarm entered the unicorn’s voice, “And you are all in this condition?!”
This time Vince replied, simply echoing his Captain, “We were on a mission.”
Rarity gasped, “Oh you poor little things!”
That brought a rather mixed reaction from the humans, mostly surprise and confusion although Twilight did hear one of them mutter “Who is she calling little?”
Fortunately Rarity didn’t hear him, “We are perfectly willing to help! I’m sure the mayor wouldn’t mind providing some assistance…”
“Uh, Rarity…” Applejack quickly cut off the white unicorn, “Doesn’t that strike you as a little presumptuous? I mean, I don’t think the mayor is really all about just taking in any creatures that have come out of Everfree.” The apple farmer glanced over at the humans, “No offense.”
“No problem.” Gins nodded back.
“Oh dear, don’t worry about it. After all, I know the mayor would love some positive attention from Canterlot,” None of the ponies noticed one of the humans gag, “after all, first contact with a new civilization of creatures will attract all kinds of attention! Speaking of which, Twilight… you might want to write to Princess Celestia.”
Twilight blinked as the implications of everything clicked in her mind. “Ohmygosh! You’re right! This hasn’t happened in hundreds of years! Oh I wish Spike was here, then I could-“
Gins decided to interrupt, but not to ask for any clarification although a number of what had been said between the ponies did raise questions in his mind. “Excuse me, but I have to go get my men and explain to them what is going on. I think that would be easier if one of you comes with us…”
Twilight glanced over her shoulder at her friends, “Uh… well, I think I should. After all, I’ll have to be there in order for us to understand each other. I may have casted the translation spell on you but-”
“Wait,” Again, Gins interrupted, “A translation spell? As in a magic spell?”
Twilight replied with all the confusion she felt, “Well yes. Magic was the most efficient way we could quickly communicate…”
“Magic?” Gins repeated.
“Magic.” Twilight confirmed.
“Magic.” Gins said one last time, his voice filled with doubt. He turned to Sergeant Vince, who just shrugged.
“You are in a conversation with a small talking purple unicorn, sir.”
“Right.” Gins turned back to Twilight and her friends, “Very well, I accept your offer of assistance.”
“Magnificent!” Rarity exclaimed before Twilight could get over her bemusement, “Oh there will have to be arrangements made, you will all have to be cleaned up, oh and there will be Pinkie Pie’s party of course…“
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, sugarcube.” Applejack warned, but Rarity didn’t seem to take notice.
One of the soldiers sighed in exasperation and said to another one, “Isn’t this just a strange day? We’re getting fussed over by a unicorn who reminds me too much of my mother…”
“I always figured your mother was like a hor-“
For once, it was Gins who cut the conversation short by rounding on his troops. “Alright, that’s enough! Stow your crap and prepare to move out!”
“Ah best check on the family.” Applejack said quickly, “You sure you can handle this Twi’?”
“Of course she can!” Dash grinned, landing next to the unicorn. “Especially since I’ll be with her!” She turned to the humans and grinned, “Besides, these guys actually seem kind of cool.”
“I guess we shouldn’t keep the others waiting anymore, if that is alright?” Gins interjected.
“Certainly, lead the way captain.” Twilight replied, before glancing over at Applejack, “I’ll be fine. It was all just a misunderstanding... I suppose you should be ready when we come back.”
And with that the group split, Twilight and Rainbow Dash headed off with the humans while Rarity made back for Ponyville to inform the mayor. Applejack was just stepping up to the farmhouse when a familiar voice broke the silence.
“Umm… Applejack? Pinkie Pie-“
“I brought Fluttershy!” The interruption of the second voice was much less welcome than the first and after Applejack had recovered from the surprise, she managed to explain to the uncharacteristically eager pegasus that the “new creatures” had gone off but would be back.
“Oh...” Fluttershy said, looking a little disappointed before perking back up. “But I can’t wait to meet them!”
“Especially since we can use this opportunity!” Pinkie Pie said, “Applejack, you get the girls and Big Mac! We’re going to need their help. Fluttershy-
“Hold up there sugarcube!” Applejack sternly looked at Pinkie, “Just what in the hay are you talking about? What opportunity is this?”
Pinkie looked at the farmer like she had just asked what color the sky was, “Why the Surprise Welcome to Equestria Party of course!” And with that, the pink pony pulled out her signature party cannon from… somewhere. “This’ll help, but we also need a lot more! Like apple pie and cake and…”
As Fluttershy silently enjoyed Pinkie’s familiar antics, she paused as something niggled at the back of her conscious. Something recent that had happened but she forgot, a nightmare of some sort? The Pegasus shrugged it off… it probably wasn’t that important.
“Sir…” Vince said soon after the squad, with their two new additions, had left the farm, “Shouldn’t we radio the lieutenant and let him know we are coming?”
“Shit.” Gins muttered, almost stopping in shock. He had completely forgotten to even have his radio on… Lieutenant Mullivan would undoubtedly have heard the shooting! Such a stupid cadet mistake!
Twilight Sparkle, trotting alongside the two humans, merely tilted her head at the exchange.
Gins quickly checked his receiver… he even had left the damn thing off! With a short scowl at his own stupidity, he flipped his combead on and rapidly switched to the company’s channel.
“Hotel-2 this is Delta-6, how copy?”
There was only a moment’s static before the familiar clipped tones of a British accent replied. “D-6, this is H-2. I read you five-by-five. We heard automatic fire earlier… what happened?”
“Hotel-2, Delta-6. We ran into the natives, there was something of a misunderstanding but no casualties. Area is friendly but hold position until we get back. Be advised, we’ll have two guests.”
“Who are you-?“ Twilight’s question was cut off by a raised finger.
“Roger D-6, we will hold position until you get here. Interrogative, did you find out where we are?”
Gins chuckled as a preface to his reply. “Kind-of. You’ll see in a moment Lieutenant. Delta-6 out.” He glanced over at Twilight, “You were asking a question?”
“Well… I just wanted to know who you were talking too.”
“Ah, that was Lieutenant Mullivan.” Gins shrugged, “I left him in charge of the rest of the company where we were camping out.”
Twilight frowned in confusion, “But how were you talking with him?”
“You don’t have radio?” Gins asked. When Twilight shook her head, he elaborated, “It’s a means of short to long distance wireless communication.”
“Like a telegraph?” Twilight’s eyes lit up, “How fascinating! How does it work? Is it magically based? No… wait, your reaction earlier to my explanation of the translation spell indicates humans have never encountered magic. Let’s see… oh! Does it use one of the electromagnetic wavelengths on the light spectrum?”
Gins looked down at the pony in surprise on two counts. First: he had just learned that this pony civilization had telegraph. Second: he had never thought he would ever meet a talking unicorn much less one who might have an idea how radio worked! “Yeah… that was a really good guess. Are you some kind of scientist?”
Twilight blushed at the complement, “Oh no… I just remembered reading about the latest theories on the light spectrum in last month’s Canterlot Natural Sciences Update. They were talking about experiments in testing the higher wavelengths in the spectrum, which many of the writers thought could be used as a means of non-wired communication, although they were still thinking in terms of telegraph transcribing onto paper.” Suddenly, she perked up again and Gins swore that at any moment she was going to start jumping in circles excitedly. “Oh my gosh! You already have a practical means of using electromagnetism for similar purposes! This is big! It could revolutionize the telegraphing and mail-service industries!”
“Uh…” Was all Gins could say. His thoughts were rapidly veering between how this pony knew so much, about all of the diplomatic challenges and policy decisions looming ahead that were most emphatically not his to face, and how absolutely adorable Twilight Sparkle looked all excited like that. He would never admit that last one out loud, but damn! He felt like he was on the verge of having a sugar-induced heart attack!
Fortunately, he was saved from the sweetness attack by a chuckle from above.
“That’s Twilight for you!” Rainbow Dash said, swooping down from her overhead eavesdropping to land to the right of Sergeant Vince, “She’s Ponyville’s bona-fide egg-head… has a degree and everything!” The Pegasus grinned at Twilight’s scowl, “Hey, Twi dont get me wrong. You may be an egg-head but you’re also awesome.”
“Thanks Dash…”Twilight sounded more sardonic than thankful.
“Don’t sweat it.” And with that, Rainbow Dash took off again and circled around. The humans didn’t stop walking, but their heads turned to follow her. The sight of a genuine flying pegasus was still extremely novel.
Dash glanced over the crowd and quickly spotted the human she thought she was looking for. Swinging in next to him she spoke up. “Hey, you were the one I ran into right?”
Werve hesitated a moment before speaking, still unnerved by technicolored equines “Uh… yeah.” He unconsciously lowered the barrel of his M60 machine gun further towards the ground as he spoke, “Sorry about shooting at you.”
“Hey, it’s cool. You were looking out for your friends, right? Same with me.” Dash said, looking down at the weapon. So the metal sticks shot stuff? The pegasus considered that… obviously they were nothing like bows-and-arrows or slingshots. Maybe they acted like the spell bullets some Unicorns could use? She certainly remembered a lot of light and noise when that… thing was firing. That was good, if the projectiles were anything like magi-bullets it meant she wouldn’t have been killed by the weapon. With that settled, Dash added, “Sorry for jumping to conclusions and charging at you.”
“Hey, it’s alright. We just had a misunderstanding” Werve replied awkwardly. It was an accurate way of phrasing his motives, although the actions hadn’t been anywhere as conscious as the words implied. He just quietly thanked god he hadn’t hit the Pegasus… he wouldn’t have known what would have happened had he killed her. A part of his conscious asked him why he had started to worry about who (or what) he killed now, but it was quickly lost amidst the more frenetic activity of his mind. “It’s Rainbow Dash, right?”
“Heck yeah!” Dash puffed up her chest in pride as she hovered in mid-air. “Fastest pegasus in Equestria!”
“James Werve,” The soldier said, “Private in the US Army.”
At that moment another trooper from the squad broke in, “Hey, how fast is the ‘fastest’?”
“Heh, well… I don’t like to brag.” Dash said loudly, ignoring the burst of laughter from Twilight Sparkle further ahead. “But you’re looking at the only pony that can pull off a Sonic Rainboom! All 800 miles per hour of glory! Although I only need to reach around 770 for the Rainboom to actually go off...”
“Bull!” A third GI suddenly came into the conversation, “That’s impossible!”
Dash scowled and moved towards the challenger, “You calling me a liar, chump?”
“Damn right!” The soldier said, “Hell, if it weren’t for the fact you were hovering in mid-air in front of me I would have laughed at the idea of you flying! Your wingspan shouldn’t even make you able to fly! And you are telling me you can move almost four times than the fastest previous known living creature? I call bullshit!”
“Christ, Pat.” The soldier who had asked “how fast” said, “Why don’t you pack that biology stuff away?”
But Dash was not the kind of pony to take a challenge to her title lying down. “Oh yeah, you can’t even fly! What would you know about pegasus flying anyways?!”
The challenging trooper was about to reply when Vince entered the picture from seemingly nowhere. “Goddamn it private! Don’t antagonize the locals, even if they seem to be making an absurd claim! Or are we going to have to play a game of BOMBARDMENT?!”
The soldier visibly paled and muttered a quick “No sarge, sorry sarge.”
Rainbow Dash was confused. She turned back to the human she first came back to speak to “Hey, James… what is bombardment?”
The private shook his head, “It’s the Sergeant’s way of punishing the bigger troublemakers while in the field. It… well, don’t worry about it.”
Dash seemed curious but let the matter drop. James was happy about that, he couldn’t dredge up the heart to tell her that ‘bombardment’ would have never been permissible in the army just a year ago and that it involved the use of rather hefty rocks…
Captain Gins had already been anticipating the look on Mullivan’s face halfway through the trip back to the hill. As the squad, and their ‘guests’, approached the hilltop, the eyes of the entire company turned on them. At first, most of them just gave a mere glance. But those that remained widened in surprise and disbelief and the watchers nudged their less attentive comrades. Those comrades looked more closely now, saw the two ponies, and then nudged their comrades.
It wasn’t long before Dash and Twilight Sparkle were feeling a little uncomfortable under the gaze of 40 humans…
Gins was initially denied his enjoyment when the lieutenant met them. The British officer couldn’t seem to settle on an emotion and his first words after he saluted were: “Sir, forgive me if I may sound a mite daft… but do you see a small purple unicorn standing to your left?”
Gins gave a wry grin, “Yes, yes I do. I don’t even have to look to know she is there.”
“She?” Mullivan said, horribly confused.
Gins ignored him for a moment. “If you would, Miss Sparkle.”
For a short few moments Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed that strange color and all of the humans, except for the just-arrived, felt that slight pressure in the backs of their minds. The glow from her horn died down and Twilight opened her mouth to speak…
Only for Rainbow Dash to shoot forward and loudly proclaim: “Hey! Can you hear me now?”
Now Mullivan’s face settled on an expression and Gins found himself wishing the British officer wore a monocle.
A/N: Fin-uh-fucking-ly! Yeah, this took me ages… but not only do I find “lotsa talk, little action” pieces kind of tough to write, I’m also unsurprisingly horrendously lazy. I mean: 4.7 thousand words? I’ve put out chapters twice as long as that in a few weeks! Granted, I don’t recall that story actually being any good and I think I tore it off the web in shame, deleting it totally from that old computer. Suffice to say, I’m not entirely pleased with this chapter but I believe it is much better than my past attempts at writing “talkity-talk, not shooty-shoot” kind of pieces.
But hey! Set-up, exposition, and introduction of characters who will play roles later is always good, right? Right? Where are all these crickets coming from?
Anyways… now that season 2 is over I can safely declare that from here on out, this story will run largely with canon elements from then. If (as is eminently likely) this is still going when season 3 (and 4 and 5 and how many more there are) come out, then I’ll be picking what fits and discarding all the rest.
For those of you who might complain about the whole “Sonic Rainboom at mach 1 and this scientificy aerodynamic yada-blah contradicts it”, I am going to remind you that My Little Pony is a kids cartoon while this fanfic certainly isn’t. While there will still be cartoony elements and plenty of humor (both dark and otherwise), this is mostly a serious fic.
Here is a nice rule of thumb for this fic: the “strength” of the rule of funny will usually be inversely proportional.
Anyways! Next time we start the steamroller with our frontier!ponies and ruskie friends in…
Dark Night, Red Light
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An update!? This is... I don't even... I have to go back and reread everything now! >
Okay, silliness aside, I can hardly express how excited I am that you have suddenly decided to release another chapter. I'll (gladly) need to read the whole thing over again, though. This is one of the first MLP fanfics I ever read, and still remains one of my favorites.
more update!!!
And yay Soviet Union attack Capitalist ponies yay. 
What ?
The Bear, the Eagle, and the Ponies
Chapter 6: Full Stop Warfare
.... Chapter 5 ? dont you mean that ?
815283 "Suddenly decided"? You make it sound like it hasn't been my intention all along, dear!
Note to self: talking like Rarity does not fit with me. Do not repeat performance again...
815314 :doublechecks: GYAH! HOW DID THAT SLIP BY ME!?
Thank you for bringing it to my attention, f1x0r3d imminent.
815315
Can I take this statement to mean we're going to see another update sooner than half a year from now?
The moment I saw this was updated, I rushed onto youtube and looked up Farewell of Slavianka
Alright, I've been waiting for this to update! Honestly I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to get another chapter out. I'm real glad you didn't give up.
It's a great chapter, and I'm really looking forward to the next addition but I have a comment to make on Dashie's mach 1 Sonic Rainboom. I know you said not to complain, but I'm not going to say you overshot it. If anything, you undershot it. According to the MLP physics guy the mach cone which forms around Rainbow Dash whenever she's flying shows that she's breached the sound barrier, and that the angle of which indicates she can reach speeds of up to 3,800 MPH. Following a Sonic Rainboom, her speed doubles and reaches mach 10. Physics!
How can she reach mach 10 speeds without dieing? Pegasus magic, we don't have to explain ANYTHING.
It's been a while! Woooo! Great chapter.
Oh yeah an update very nice despite ti was a strange meeting, is still a nice chapter can't wait the moments whey they battle the Soviets, bring an Allied MCV and show them how is done. i177.photobucket.com/albums/w238/TX1138/Red%20Alert%203/RA3_AlliedMCV1.jpg
Excuse me for a moment.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
You have done well. The entire pony-human interaction turned out quite funny.
Maybe Fluttershy's dream felt a bit out of place.
But anyway, great chapter, 5/5. Can't wait for the next one!
Thank you.
815382 Maaaybe...
815444 Actually, complaining about me "undershooting it" is exactly what I'm talking about. Anyways, I have my own reasons for slamming the door on Pegasus (and a certain two [REDACTED, BUT REALLY YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHO] when not teleporting, so yeah) at-slightly-above-mach-1 and thats that. Thank you and good night!
815405 Might want to have saved that one for the next chapter...
815549 Oh, yeah. Fluttershy's dream sequence certainly was just a pointless throw away scene has nothing to do with anything... nope, never really going to come up again in the story at all.
cdn.derpiboo.ru/media/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSIdNGYxNGM5M2E5NDViNzA2ZTE5MDAwMDAxBjoGRVQ/598__safe_applejack_discorded_scrunchy-face_liarjack_artist-reuniclus.png
ITS A MIRACLE A UPDATE!!!!
UPDATE FTW cant wait for the next chapter when is it?
816397 I don't really give time estimates any more since they tend to be hilariously over-optimistic.
ALL HAIL YURI!!!
Aww yeah! Update! The first contact was done quite well.
Can't find any outrageous grammar or spelling errors; everything's coherent... So good job!
also:
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magic
815782
Yeah, yeah. Even I could figure out that it had some purpose.
Please tell me that we are going to see a Hell March scene.
818786 Kind of... I'm not entirely sure about the appropriate way to write a hell march scene, since such scenes are usually video in nature but I have seen it done before and so I'm going to try.
815474
Wrong game. This is from RA2
820067
Can't imagine the Russians saying "Die waffen, leg an" anyway, seeing as that's German :P
Anyway, Nuker, got some more f1x0rr1ng for you...
> And, as if on cue, somepony knocked.
Missing space behind the sentence.
> He just quietly thanked god he hadn’t hit the Pegasi
> “Fastest pegasi in Equestria!”
The singular form is "pegasus"
820711 No! Its Pegasususususususus!
Thanks, will get right on those.
I can see it now...
Pinkie Pie: "Um...girls...who are these guys, and why are they attacking Ponyville? And why is this voice in my head keeps shouting "Die waffen, legt an?!"
BTW I have encountered yet another crossover:
Link
OMG... This... UPDATED...
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/052/082/1240393095655.jpg
You sir, are
wintools.net/images/godlike.jpg
Wait,wait,wait....Your still alive? This story is still alive???
i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q485/Tyler_Elwood/Reaction%20Images/1329982160238.png
OHMYGOSOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
820711 I know, but I couldn't find a Red Aler 2 Allied MCV sorry
Well shiyit. The fic that introduced me to poneh fiction updated finally.
815474images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120321190013/cnc/images/0/09/RA2_Allied_MCV_Concept.jpg
This was the mcv which was supposed to be here
815474 The Allies don't have any MCV with them. They were just a mechanized-company (roughly 150-200 men) conducting a hit-and-run raid via chronosphere... why would they need an MCV? The real asset that evens things out for the Equestrians aren't the Allied soldiers themselves, but the knowledge they have. Without spoilering anything: Equestria does have the needed technological-industrial infrastructure to build weapons capable of resisting the Soviets... they just never had the need to develop, for example, the machine gun (or any kind of gunpowder weapons* for that matter).
Now the Soviets do have an MCV, but they face a bottleneck in manpower (particularly for vehicle and artillery crews) and the fact that they have a lot of ground to cover before they can reach anything vital.
*Circus/Party cannons don't count because they were built for, you know, circus acts (partying) and not for warfare.
Rarity will be quite mad when she finds out how the Soviets are planning to fund their war machine here in Equestria....
867127
Lack of manpower? What are you talking about? Everyone knows that the allies and soviets can train any soldier in less than a minute at any location without them having to have existed before that point.
Speaking of which, it's kind of funny since at one point while reading this I just imagined how hilarious it would be if the allies and soviets followed game mechanics in the story. In other words, when Twilight could understand them, all she would get out of them is one of their phrases from the game.
GI: "How 'bout some action?"
GI: "Sir yes sir!"
GI: "Safety first, sir!"
874602
Obviously they don't have enough credits to do that. Their first priority is to build another MCV, and deploy a forward mining base at the gem fields near Ponyville. Once it is done, they must quicky make lots of base defenses, to repel the Equestrian attack. Meanwhile, a group of terror drones sneak into Ponyville and kill the Elements of Harmony.
Now the Soviets have a constant flow of credits, so they create an epic army of Kirov Airships and Apocalypse Tanks and send them against Canterlot. To ensure the final victory, Celestia must be eliminated. With the repaired Chronosphere, they teleport the princess into a bunch of Iron Curtain'd Apoc tanks, and then nuke her. That will certainly do the job.
Canterlot, a symbol of "oppression", is burned to the ground. The Ponies' Republic of Equestria is formed. Voroshilov becomes the Premier of this country, who immediately begins to "socialize" private property. Anypony who resists will be killed. It's called "class conflict".
A generation later, fillies and colts in the schools will be learning about the "Great Revolution that overtook the tyrant Celestia"...
But Luna is still alive somewhere...
Okay, I have a new fanfiction idea!
As amusing as it would be to write this whole thing with strict adherence to game mechanics, it would be too bizarre and difficult (how the hell am I supposed to determine how much hit-point damage a certain Unicorn spell does?) so no...
877897
Then make an Equestrian faction for RA 2 first...
No, just kidding.
Just don't forget that even without strictly following the gameplay rules, you can use these units in many creative ways....
881634 Oh I very much know that and I've already got plans...
I am very pleased after reading all of this!
Can't wait for more.
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So riddle me this... why on earth would the Russians... antagonistic and cold and heartless as they are... pick the 'war' route in this situation? It seems like perhaps the WORST option out of any of the options presented to them!
I mean, the psy-guy (forgive me, I have never played the Red Alert Series) obviously managed to dig up a fair bit of info on Equestria from Trixie's head. So therefore, the Reds know for a fact that they're going to be dealing with a society that has access to things they don't fully understand, that the laws of physics work differently here and can easily trip them up, and that there are two princesses that have vast power, enough to move celestial bodies across the heavens. Unless they actually BELIEVED Trixie's bull about being the most powerful unicorn in Equestria and they assume that the Princesses are pansies... and given that mind reading is involved I kinda find that hard to swallow... it seems like it would be a bad option to go tangling with a foe they don't fully understand.
Furthermore, from picking at Trixie's brainmeats, they should also be able to pick up that the society that they've landed in is basically a utopia. A somewhat xenophobic and paranoid utopia, but a utopia nonetheless. And while they have been off to a somewhat rocky start, what with shooting a buffalo and kidnapping Trixie, those could be passed off as misunderstandings... which honestly they were. Grave and terrible misunderstandings, but misunderstandings nonetheless. If they were to go to Canterlot and try a diplomatic approach... spend some time and effort gaining some trust... give the princesses some kinda sob story about how they're lost and just need to get home... I'm pretty sure that she'd be willing to spare a platoon of a hundred or so unicorn guards for a bit.
And all of this would likely be much faster AND SAFER to all parties involved than just saying "Welp it says in the script that we're the bad guys so LETS GO TO WAAAAAAR!!!"
Heck, even the whole 'kidnapping in the dead of night' option would be better than going to war because while it still runs the risk of being discovered and dealing with forces they don't understand, the stealthy approach would allow them to get what they need without making a big scene and drawing magical military fire upon themselves. And given their vast numbers (compared to the Allies anyway) they could probably pick up the quota of unicorns in just a couple nights.
I dunno, it just seems like a bunch of trained military minds would be smarter about their strategies than "Lets charge into a world we don't understand full of foes with power we don't fully comprehend head on! LEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIIINS!!!!!!!"
I have no illusions that a politician might make a dumb decision like that, but the military generals? Especially since, even though I've never played the game, I know that Red Alert is a real time strategy series. I'd think that in such a series, the characters might be able to make good, strategically sound decisions.
I like the story, and I especially love the way that the Allies interact with the Mane 6, but I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around the villains. I know we needed some form of conflict. I know that we need antagonists, but the way the villains have been set up their actions are just a little too, well... utterly brain dead to believe.
930280 Well, without spoiling anything, I will say that these "riddles" will be answered in the course of the story and some of those answers have already been hinted at.
930280
1. I'm not sure that the ponies would be willing to help the Soviets. The keywords are "xenophobic" and "paranoid". Wiith changelings and other horrors constantly threatening Equestria, ponies must be extremly suspicious to newfound species, especially the ones with great military power.
Also, negotiation is something that a politican would do. The leader of the Soviet force is a military commander, who, according to comrade Lyvaskov, is a very dangerous man.
2. The stealthy approach would surely work, if they didn't need hundreds of unicorns. You can't kidnap that much undercover.
3. The Soviets are not going to war against entire Equestria. Here and now they are only planning a quick raid on a few towns in the desert, far from the heart of country. They will find a way to isolate them from the outside world, preventing any distress call.
We don't know the Soviets' plan yet. Surely they want to use those unicorns to get home, but that's all?
My idea is that they want to enslave the unicorns, and use them to turn the tide in the war currently going on on Earth.
Finally, I don't think that Equestrians stand a chance against superior technology. Magic won't really save them. According to Twilight in chapter 5, ponies don't even have army! The Royal Guard probably has only has a few thousand members. The Princesses, while seeming allmighty from our point of view, surely have their limits. Despite their magical power, they might be still vulnerable to the psi-troopers' mind control, for example.
937237 You got a number of things here right and wrong at the same time. Sometimes you have got the same thing right and wrong, but my lips are sealed and you'll just have to wait...
937526
Good, good.
I love speculation, you know. Especially in a crossover fanfic the combines the two best things ever.
937237
1) Okay, but the thing is, I know that, and you know that, but they don't know that. In such a utopia as the one they've found, I would think that, rather than knock it over, they'd try to take advantage of the kindness of others. I wouldn't think they'd be particularly savory while doing it. It'd probably take a lot of lying and conniving and covering things up... but the SMART move would be to try and put their men in as little danger as possible.
2) They have all sorts of planes and stealth fliers and things. They would be able to send their men to all corners of the world and pick up unicorns from all over the place. And, in doing so from a bunch of different places at once, they might be able to do it in an amount of time fast enough that the princesses don't even hear about the pattern for a while.
3) ...I'm pretty sure I saw the word 'War' somewhere in that last part of chapter 4...
That would be the smart thing. See, again, we know how unicorn magic works, but they are tampering with forces they know nothing about. This is not a strategically sound move, and needlessly puts a large amount of their forces in danger. They don't understand what they're getting into. You know that old G.I. Joe thing, "Knowing is half the battle?" Well that's very true... and despite what they've gleaned from Trixie's mind, they still know VERY little about how things work here. For all they know, trying to enact war on the Equestrians could be a battle that will last 3 days with them coming out the unchallanged dictators of the world... And for all they know, it could be mass suicide. That's the thing. The only strategically sound decision in this case is to be diplomatic. Even if it were to fail, they'd still more than likely come out of it unharmed, and with even more intel once it was over. Then, if it did fail, they could go to war in a much safer situation.
Basically, the whole thing comes down to I know that, and you know that, but they don't know that.
938734
1. Why do you even call Equestria a utopia? We don't know much about the country itself, but from what I've seen, it seems pretty much like a normal society. Don't confuse Equestria with Ponyville and the Mane Six.
Perhaps negotiation would be the logical decision. But once again: machines make logical decisions, humans don't. Voroshilov is probably a ruthless and ambitious commander, who has just found the big chance of his life. He didn't consider a diplomatic solution because in that case, Ryzhkov and Lyvaskov would take all the credit, not him. People fighting for power and prestige at the expense of others has always been a typical characteristic of the Soviet Union.
Surely, he was risking a lot, but that is something that every military commander is taught to do.
2. Sending their men to all corners of the world? Even if they had enough transport planes to do this, they would become exposed in ten seconds flat. A transport is not like a Tu-94; it cannot hide from ground observers, not to mention pegasi.
3. They said "war", but the term I'm implying is "full scale war."
They didn't only confess Trixie, but also examined her biologically. It would stand to reason that the Soviets now have clue about how powerful an averange unicorn can be. That's probably not enough to face with an army of professional mages, but enough for them to know that they can easily capture a large number of normal, untrained unicorns.
Summary: The Soviets know that the nearby towns are undefended, so they are going to attack them. The locals will likely surrender immediately. They will have those unicorns before the news get to Canterlot. And then... they go home? And then come back with more forces? Perhaps. Unicorn magic is more easly controllable then the Chronosphere.
Another crazy thought slipped into my mind: if Premier Cherdenko in Red Alert 3 wanted to escape into the Moon, why wouldn't his parallel-universe "predecessor" do a similar thing? If their defeat becomes inevitable, can't the Soviets just abandon Earth and retreat to Equestria? If they can defeat the Equestrians, of course.
938734>>940638
How about both of you stop bickering? Sorry to come off as bossy and/or rude, but neither of you have privileged access to my story notes nor do either of you know with 100% certainty what is canon within this fic and what is not. I have noticed Dusty's criticisms, I have noticed they are mostly valid points, and I have also noticed they are points that will be addressed in story anyways. I appreciate Kepernyos trying to take up the mantle and respond but I do not need defending from criticism nor do I particularly want defense from criticism.
If I think a critique is reasonable, I will reply as appropriate. If I think a critique is unreasonable, I will also reply as appropriate. I believe that Dusty's commentary falls within the former category and have responded accordingly. Both of you will just have to wait for future chapters before deciding whether you are satisfied...
942600
Very well then, I apologize for that comment furthering the 'bickering' that I posted before I realized you said that.
(Though, if I may say so myself, in terms of internet 'fights' this was like a peace talk between Canada and Switzerland XD)
942600
I'm sorry.
Actually, I wasn't really defending you, I was defending my own point of view. Also, I didn't wanted to look so overconfident. What I've said was pure speculation, nothing more.
This fanfiction is yours, and yours alone.
942664 I know, I just didn't want it to escalate any further.
942763 Its fine for you guys to speculate. Just try to frame in more in guesses and such. Glad to see such enthusiasm for my story in any case, it means I am doing something right...
In any case, right now is kind of crunch time for me. Summer classes are ending and that means finals, which also means studying. I should have more time to write after Tuesday, but I really doubt I'll be able to update before August...
Since the Soviets have an MCV's worth of equipment, but not a lot of manpower, does that mean they'll be holing up while letting their terror drones do the legwork?
Can I ask about chapter's title? I know it's a Tiberium Dawn track, but does it mean anything? Sounds like a meaningless term to me.