MMXXIV

by Pseudo_UAEU

Primum contactu humanitatis | Chapter 4

Part 5

Primum contactu humanitatis

Twilight Sparkle was lying unconscious in the throne room. Four pegasus vanderbills were guarding her. The surprisingly quiet atmosphere made the members of the elite squad very nervous. With some caution, they tried to see something through the windows from safe viewing angles. Of course, they saw the landscape of a partially destroyed city, but they did not notice any active battles.

Spitfire and three other pegasus went on a reconnaissance mission 20 minutes ago. A sudden knock on the door of the main hall where Twilight was lying unconscious. Someone's hoof was beating a precise rhythm: knock, knock, knock, knock, knock - the pattern of an Equestrian flight camp. It's definitely a Spitfire. The door opens a minute later and reveals a tired Shining Armor and the captain of the fliers.
"There is no longer a threat - relax," Spitfire said and looked at the guard captain, who was about to run to his sister: "She's fine, she just spent a lot of mana. She's the one who brought us here."
"It was obvious. I hope she recovers as soon as possible. Can you take her to the hospital on the floor below?"
"Yes, of course... Where is Princess Kadenza?"
"She... I just took her to the same hospital. My dear... wounded. I could hardly look at her, so beaten and tired."
"I'm sorry we didn't help earlier..."
"It's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. They came to her aid anyway"
"Do you mean the lock security department? Or..."
"No. They were minotaurs, I think. I've never seen anything like them... they don't look like living things, but they helped us, and they helped us a lot. Cadence owes them her life."
"Minotaurs? It's rather strange for them to come this far north."
"I know. It's too suspicious, and their appearance just when the castle troops were defeated."

While the captain of the fliers and the emperor of the crystal empire were discussing the attack, diplomats were already rushing to the city. They landed on a military plane in Kotzebue. The operational delegation consisted of 18 people, not including security. Among the members of the mission were: Dana Szwieczek, a senior representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Roman Sanchous, military envoy, commander of expeditionary forces and operations; Alexander Bakti, secretary of the O5 Council, special representative of the European Parliament; Jan Dobrzesny, ambassador from the European Commission, leader of the diplomatic mission; Antonio Frack, ambassador from the European Commission, expert in military and cultural cooperation; Anna Frack, freelance specialist in analyzing the bureaucratic system and the functionality of government agencies; Anderson Muller - political strategist; Frederik Artenis - political strategist, ambassador from the European Commission; Ruzha Probert, Alexandrina Johannessen, Lydos Baum - technology agents, lawyers from the European Commission's Ministry of Justice; Euclid Samuels - responsible for security and emergency operations of the diplomatic mission; Štěpán Freund, Dottie Sauveterre; Iolanda Freund, Mélody Sauveterre - medical workers, sociologists and psychologists, personnel for determining the mentality and assessment of society; Henrik Archer, Suoma Alting - EC Special Envoys for the General Directorate of Intelligence, professional negotiators.
Another APC specialized for the northern climate is moving down the main street. It contains Henrik Archer, Suoma Alting, two guards and a communications officer. The main alley is littered with the remains of buildings, corpses and broken crystals. A few guardian ponies looked cautiously at the strange vehicles. From above, the "wings" watched them, ready to use abnormal force in case of an attack, and ahead of them was a reconnaissance team eagerly awaiting the negotiation team, and finally they arrived. The APC stopped right in front of the castle. The reconnaissance group quickly moved to it, forming a safe corridor for the negotiators. Two people got out of the vehicle: a man and a woman in decent business suits, but with bulletproof vests covered by jackets.
"Reconnaissance team, stay put and guard the vehicles. Do not show hostility to the natives. Report your actions to me and the command. Serge, come with us," the brigade commander said and approached the negotiators. After a formal handshake, they went inside to the hospital where Shinning Armor was supposed to be. The monumentalism of the castle surprised the newcomers: glass and crystal pillars supported the massive castle, the masonry of the square and the roads in general looked like a solid crystal snowflake. The entrances to the castle were spiral staircases stretching upwards for 3 floors.
"The good old stairs."
They climbed for some time. When the stairs led them to the main corridor, they began to see signs of panic and shock and death... Several corpses were covered with white cloth, but the most unseen still had to hang on ice spikes or lie on a kind of torn carcass next to the creature that killed them and could not get far. Almost immediately, guards and nurses began to appear. Their gazes followed the group of people with anxiety of incomprehension. This walk continued until they reached the royal hospital, where doctors and nurses were running through the wide-open doors, and the entrance was guarded by two crystal-covered defenders in blue and twilight armor.

"We can talk to Shii-ning Armor if he's here," the platoon captain asked politely. The ponies were naturally wary. Of course, they knew that the creatures in front of them had somehow saved the Empress, but that didn't change their xenophobic nature.

"He's waiting for you inside... with the princess..." - the guard answered unkindly.
"Thank you," the soldier replied. He turned and continued to his men: "Let's go, and I ask you not to stare at the pony. If our gaze is invisible and directed rather into infinity, it is much easier to read yours."
"We were not born yesterday, Mr. Chief, especially since we are from intelligence," Henrik said, following the commander.
"Stop it Henrik, better help me take off my body armor, it's getting too much," Suoma said in a hurry, overtaking her husband.
"I wouldn't recommend it, these ponies are prone to kicking you in the torso."
"But let our lady negotiator take off her vest, Serge. In case of an attack, the detailed end is more than assured for us."
"Rod, maybe you shouldn't get my wife's hopes up. Especially since we know our hopeless situation. It's not the first time."
"Stop this circus. I didn't have time to take the women's vest and now I'm in no condition to endure the horrible tightness. Death doesn't look as horrible as it usually does and even gives at least some clarity."
*Henrik takes the vest from Suoma and begins to see the princess's bed, which is their goal*
Their seemingly idle discussion attracted the pony's attention with its dispassionate appeal to death. In general, the sight of humans was puzzling and disturbing to the particularly xenophobic inhabitants of the crystal empire, and sometimes even passive aggression. As the small delegation approached the Cadence chamber, a yellow pegasus came out to meet them. There was a moment of silence and the fuses on the people's weapons went off. The pegasus did not pay much attention to this, but instead noticed their size, especially their height. Their clothing was also strange, especially the certain equipment that served no aesthetic function and was too light for protection. When her eyes began to analyze the negotiators in detail, Rod intervened:
"Let us through please."
"Did you save the Empress?"
"Excuse me, but is it possible to know who we have the honor of speaking to?" - Henrik suddenly interrupted the commander and stepped forward, still holding his wife's vest.
"I am Spitfire, Captain of the Wanderbolts, and I would like to speak with you instead of the rulers of the crystal empire... If possible, can you follow me to a more appropriate location?"

They failed to reach their original goal, but now they have an even better one. They left the hospital under the judgmental gaze of the ponies. It was a long walk - two floors up and now they are in a room that looks more like a small cafeteria than a specialized room. They are definitely next to the throne room and several guest rooms. They didn't come all this way for nothing, because Twilight Sparrow is right next door, a few walls away. She was guarded by several Vanderbolts and given a mana restoration potion and an energy drink. If she was in good condition, she could help Spitfire negotiate instead of the tired Shining Armor and the wounded Cadence. Of course, after such a shock, this is unlikely, but there is still hope.

"Please have a seat"
"Thank you, Captain Spitfire, and now that we're in a calm environment, let me ask you a question."
"Yes, of course, Mr...", Spitfire stops. Here the negotiators enter the conversation - "Henrik, and Ms. Suoma. We represent our people in this difficult time, but right now I would like to ask about the current state of the Crystal Empire. We understand the concept of the threat from the reindeer, but we don't have the whole story. Since we were forced to intervene, you now have reason to trust and, in a sense, hope in us."
"Deer? I assume you mean caribou?" - a nod from both EC representatives - "Okay. The Caribou are ruthless, cruel monsters that came from the north. Their kingdom, which existed as a tyranny in the territories of the Yaks, penguins, polar bears and New Griffonia. It was like Tartarus in the real world. I hate to talk about their social system and how much land they conquered, but it was completely contrary to our pacifist faith. We tried to contact them: we sent delegations, diplomatic missions, gifts, but no one ever returned. It got to the point where we simply could not understand where almost a hundred ponies had disappeared. Elements of Friendship went on an exploration of the eastern mountain range to find the cause or at least clues. They found something: the ruins of a place where dissident Caribou lived. Only from their words did we start to piece together the overall picture, like a mosaic of tiles. And last year they attacked. Luckily, they significantly overestimated their strength, although they did a lot of damage."
"If I'm not mistaken, these Caribou had almost a personal grudge against the Empress."
"This is a separate tragic story for us, if I may, I would not like to recall those events, I will only say that Cadence and Shining fought back."
Suoma: "Don't worry. We didn't come here to reopen old wounds, but to build friendships.. please accept our sincere condolences for your grief!"
"Thank you... I appreciate what you did. You helped us when you yourself are in difficulty and confusion"
"There is no need to thank us, because we love and care about our neighbors."

...

This conversation continued in a friendly spirit, and introduced people to the history of the pony. Of course, there would be no room for mistakes by the negotiators. Meanwhile, the polar administration was rebuilding the logistics network. Airplanes arrived and departed every hour, carrying hundreds of tons of cargo for various purposes. Notker Gluck now had three tasks: to continue to service the continuous air convoy, to reorganize all the relocated cities and ships into a single structure, and to support the activities of the diplomatic mission in the Crystal Empire. Notker Gluck was sitting in his office giving orders to the negotiators when Alexander Bakhti walked in.

"Talk, talk for now. I've come to talk about our people." Notker hastily ended the conversation and prepared for a heated dialog about the urgency of supporting the expedition. "I have received a direct request from the highest ruling level to extend the stay of our people in the territory of the aborigines. So let's get the next three planes unloaded as soon as possible and send the humanitarian cargo to the expedition. By the way, we also need a few more trucks and one or two RTGs. To be honest, this is not a request, but an order. I hope you can handle it, and if you have any problems, don't hesitate to contact me or others: we are happy to help. Do you have any other questions?"
"None, except for one. Do I have a chance to become a scapegoat?"
"Yes, we will try to help avoid this, but if at least one task fails, we will not be able to do anything in the short term."
"I see. Then I can go about my business?"
"Yes. Of course... Good luck!"

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is this based off of another story?

[Ereiam]

11790370
ISOT (Island in the Sea of Time) is a whole genre of speculative fiction by itself since the eponymous S.M. Stirling novel.

On this site, many TCB stories are technically ISOTs (with Equestria being ISOTed to Earth).
I recall someone once tried to do the same thing with the US (which might be the story you're thinking of), but it never got far beyond the premise — there might be others, but it's the only one I can think of at the top of my head.

[Stahlseele]

This has a Title very similar to an epic magnum opus called "Cross the Rubicon: Choices" The Story of one Amber Unicorn.

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH]

(plus another "small" bit of land)

more like russia