Side Story 3: Lyra Gets a Gun
7/26/13
Lyra woke up in a small utilitarian bed and looked around at the bare walls. “Well, it’s not like I haven’t slept in worse.” She consoled herself as she climbed off the bed and put her hooves onto the bland white-tiled floor. She quickly combed her cyan-gray and white mane using her magic that shone with an aura only a few shades lighter than her mint-green coat. Looking at her clock, Lyra was surprised to see that it was already ten in the morning. She had started to sleep in, as a luxury once Tony no longer needed daily training in Equestrian.
A little over eight months ago an explosion happened at the same time on both Equestria and Earth that caused a portal to connect the two points. Three months later the humans had sent Anthony Marcus and some bodyguards to check if it was safe and to open up diplomatic relations with Celestia. Their diplomatic meeting had gone well, from what Lyra had observed, and formal relations and embassies were being built on both sides of the portal. Lyra was happy that she was studying humans now: they were interesting, they could communicate, and most importantly they didn’t try to kill or eat her like her previous case studies.
Lyra quickly used her magic to lift up her newest notebook , one of the fancy pens that Tony had given her, and a book on Equestrian political history from the past 500 years and headed out the door to get herself some breakfast and have her first meeting of the day. As she exited her room though, a lanky royal blue unicorn was blocking her path. Lyra looked up at the taller pony and stated, “Good morning Aquatica. How long have you been there?”
“Only about an hour.” The Equestrian Royal Guard Drill Instructor replied. “The Princess asked me to deliver a message as soon as you were up.”
Lyra appreciated the DI; if it hadn’t been for Aquatica, Lyra wouldn’t have been able to fight off the changelings that had attacked her out in the badlands of Equestria. But, Aquatica was a little cold and very focused. And, if Celestia hadn’t asked to wait until I was up, she would have knocked my door down at five to deliver it. She groaned; the xenobiologist just wanted to get some nice hay pancakes and get back to her studies on human nutrition and their preferred diet. Her studies were more important now that she was the cultural attaché to the Equestrian diplomat that was overseeing the construction of the embassy.
When Aquatica didn’t finish her story, Lyra was forced to ask, “So what is the message?” I don’t want to wait in these white halls any longer.
Aquatica didn’t even pull out any paper, having memorized the missive. “’Dear Lyra. I need you to reprioritize your research. The first priority needs to be to study their weapons and what they are capable of. Relations have been established, but neither side trusts each other and we must prepare for a worst case scenario. I am sorry that this will most likely interfere with your current research.’”
Lyra quirked her head and furrowed her brows. “Why would Celestia ask me that? And how am I supposed to research their weapons?” I may have studied their wars but I never paid any attention to weapons, those were for Celestia’s Royal Guards to figure out.
“I never said that it was Princess Celestia.” Aquatica responded, surprised that the scientist would make such an assumption. “The message was from Princess Luna. As for how to research it, I have already asked the main human bodyguard to meet you in the commissary.”
“Thank you Aquatica. That will be all.” Lyra sighed and walked past the guard to finally get some food. She passed a few more rooms and eventually made it to the four way intersection. To the right was the room that contained the portal to Earth, and the left led out into Ponyville. What she wanted though was straight ahead. As she passed the intersection Lyra could hear another pair of hoofsteps behind her, a quiet pair.
Lyra looked behind her to spy the Drill Instructor following behind. “I was told to keep an eye on you.” Aquatica replied to the unasked question.
Lyra just groaned and started heading to the commissary again. As she pushed open the door to the dining hall, her attention went to the half a dozen tables spaced around the room. The two humans were sitting at the first table on the left; just where they happened to hold their meetings after their first day in the portal facility. Anthony Marcus about six foot tall with creamish-olive skin and brown hair. His bodyguard for the day was Avery Anwar, a taller human male with yellowing hair and a creamish color skin Lyra had begun to associate with humans. They both wore formal suits; nothing could stop either of them from doing so. There were only about a dozen other ponies scattered throughout the room.
Lyra happily trotted over and sat across from Tony and Avery. She was a little surprised when Aquatica decided to sit on her left side, perfectly across from Avery.
“Good morning Lyra. Ready to start on food today?” Anthony asked in perfect Equestrian, the two sides having long ago exchanged languages and now most people or ponies she dealt with could communicate in either.
Lyra looked at the books in front of the linguist and lowered her head slightly. “Not today, something else has come up.” She then turned her head to Avery. “I would like to study human weapons today.” But she couldn’t bring her normal excitement to bear.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any on me at the moment; if you want I could get the research facility in Nevada to send me a few for you to look at.” Avery gave her a calcitrant smile.
“Do not lie to us. I was told by Her Majesty that you had a weapon in the diplomatic meeting last week.” Aquatica accused. “Surely you can produce that weapon.”
Avery was reluctant to part with his weapon. As part of the CIA’s Special Activities Division, he didn’t like parting with his weapon, and never handed it over with ammo in it.
“As long as the only pony that touches it is Lyra.” Anthony stated; trying to keep things calm, remembering how Lyra had gotten slapped because he didn’t stop the situation when he had the chance. As he saw the royal blue pony about to agree the linguist added one more caveat. “And she will be the only pony at the table, especially if the other one is part of the Royal Guard.”
Aquatica was shocked; being told to leave the table was never a response she would have expected. “You can’t force me to leave the table; I have been ordered to keep an eye on things.
“Then we can just leave. You can’t stop us, Celestia would never approve of you ignoring the request of the diplomat of the United States.” Anthony stated using his new power as diplomat to protect both his bodyguard and his pony protégé. Without another word the reluctant pony got up and moved over to the next table over, never letting her eyes off the mixed group. “Is this acceptable?” He asked the bodyguard.
In response, Avery pulled something out of his suit and played with it under the table. When he finished removing the magazine, he put the small gun in the middle of the table. “This is a sig p229 it-.”
“That’s ok; I would like to get a look at it on my own.” Lyra cut him off, looking at the strange device. It was shaped like an L with a small circle connecting the two lines. It was a metallic black color and smelled slightly of oil. The texture changed down the length of the barrel, going from a short of checkered pattern to completely smooth. “Is it ok if I pick it up?” Not knowing what it could do, Lyra preferred the safe approach.
“Yes, just do it as little as possible.” Avery stated knowing she was careful but also very curious. “It’s a training and safety thing.”
Lyra thought about that for a moment and nodded her head in acceptance. She quickly lifted it up in her magic to test the weight of a sig whatever. The scientist could only keep it aloft for a short amount of time because anything of terrestrial origin required three times the normal amount of magic to interact with. She estimated its weight at about two pounds and its length as seven inches and height at about five inches and set the device down. Very small and compact; light for a metal weapon. Lyra remembered being trained with a short sword and a bow before leaving to study changeling culture. It also has buttons and screws; to take it apart? Buttons could be to use it; but never screws. A weapon is all about function; if it isn’t useful, don’t add it. In battle it’s all about how much time it takes.
Lyra then started to spin the weapon around on the table, getting a look at it from different angles. First she needed to figure out how they held it. She imagined a human hand superimposed on the device. There are only two ways to hold it, by one of the long flat edges. The one with the hole at the tip would be too awkward for a human hand, especially with the flattened quarter circle with the lever inside of it. Lyra’s eyes widened with a start. A lever? Is that to take it apart or to use it though? But, with the curve on the lever and the curve on the part on the opposite of that leg. Lyra started grinning and looked up wide eyed at Avery who started to look a little unnerved. The large excited anime eyes just seemed unnatural to him.
“Can I see your hand?” Lyra said through fits of giddiness. Avery reluctantly put his hand out flat on the table, palm down. The mare grabbed his hand in her magic and flipped it so that she could see his palm. She then placed the part of the weapon where she assumed it was held by in his palm. The xenobiologist then started to curl his figures around the weapon; it was a perfect fit with the index finger wrapped around the lever and the area between his thumb and index figure in the curved area on the back of it. If Lyra were looking at anything other than the gun, she would have noticed the shock on his face as she wrapped his hand the proper way around the gun.
That is how it should be held, but what is its purpose? Lyra mused and gave the weapon another look. It only had the one opening at the front. But, those buttons could change what it does or how it looks. The opening could be an injector of some sort, but where is the needle. It definitely isn’t for hitting; the grip and the leverage required would be all wrong. No, only a foal would think that if they looked at any of the evidence. Lyra then looked back up at Avery, her expression a mix of seriousness and curiosity. “The lever makes something leave that hole. Either something like an arrow, something like a needle, or something completely different.”
Avery started to open his mouth, but shut it when he saw the look on her face, it was the same as when he tried to explain what the gun was. Hoping, incorrectly, that she had read some of this stuff before.
“Can you show me how you wield it in combat?” Lyra asked, hoping to solve her last question.
Avery looked around, knowing several of the ponies currently eating were Royal Guards and that they could spot an attack posture, no matter what it looked like. “Are you sure it is safe?”
Lyra thought for a moment, and then looked around the room. All but two of the other ponies were guards, and some were very protective guards. “This is an example.” She yelled to all of the ponies in the room. “Anypony that interferes without my express request will have to answer to Princess Celestia.” The xenobiologist may have been bluffing a little, but the guards wouldn’t risk it without a proven threat. She then looked back at Avery and stated, “Its ok.”
Avery put the gun back on the table and got up off the bench and picked it back up in his right hand once he was standing. The SAD Operative then put his left foot back and at an angle, feet spread farther apart than normal, both of his hands gripped the handle, but his finger was not on the little lever, and the weapon was at his eye level. Ranged, if he is sighting it must be longer ranged. Lyra pondered. “How far can it fire? How much?”
Avery looked over at her and put the p229 back into its hiding spot in his jacket and sat back down. “I can put five rounds into a one inch circle at 50 feet. It can hold 13 rounds at a time.”
Lyra’s eyes lit up at her next thought. “Can I see it?” She was practically bouncing at the thought.
Avery turned serious. “For that I will have to get special permission, and the guard should be warned.”
Lyra started to deflate, but then she jumped up and ran out the door. “Sorry Tony, the research will have to wait. Can you clear this on your side?” And then she was gone.
7/28/13
Lyra, Avery, and Anthony were 30 feet from the edge of the Everfree forest, getting ready for the test firing. Lyra had gotten directly in touch with Princess Celestia and was given permission so long as a guard could watch the test. As a result, Aquatica was sitting about 30 feet behind the group and a little to the side.
“I will fire a total of five rounds into predesignated targets.” Avery warned the mint-green pony that was staring at him. At the tree line there were two targets hung by branches. The first was a small block of wood with a red and white circle on it. The second was twenty feet to the right and on the ground but looked exactly the same. “And that will be all.”
Lyra happily agreed to the conditions. If it weren’t for the fact that I am the only expert, or that Luna had asked for my assistance, this would never be possible.
Avery went back into his firing stance that he had assumed two days prior. “Firing in 3…2…1…” After he said one, a loud noise rang through the air five times. The first three went into the hanging block; in a split second he shifted his stance and put the last two into the block sitting on the ground. The CIA Operative then released the slide on his pistol and holstered it under his jacket.
Anthony had covered his ears knowing that it would be loud; he had visited the shooting range with his wife once or twice and decided that earplugs weren’t needed on the first occasion. Lyra however was just sitting there with her butt firmly planted on the ground, mouth agape. She looked at the first block and saw three holes almost right on top of each other, and looking at the other simply confirmed the same thing.
Aquatica had seen the same thing as Lyra had and realized what kind of a weapon it could be for both offense and defense, and how hard it would be to defend against. It didn’t change her orders from Princess Luna though. ‘Thou shall observe and report. Find out what these humans can do. Thou are to listen to them, but must observe their tests and experiments. Return to thee when the observation is completed. Equestria must not be left defenseless against such a threat.’
Twilight was fast asleep in her bed on the second floor of her library tree house. The purple mare had only gotten to sleep three hours before due to studying the latest results on the portal that connected the two worlds. Getting to bed at five in the morning wasn’t always that odd for her, not when she had spent days obsessing over it.
Twilight fell out of her bed and landed on top of Spike, her dragon assistant, as the sound of a loud noise travelled through the air. More accurately it was five loud noises placed very closely together. As she stood up, her mane was sticking out and partially obscured her face. “What the hay was that!?”
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Luna gon get scared
i.imgur.com/tlNOBnN.gif
Imagine Luna´s face when Aquatica tells her how utterly fucked would be Equestria in a war scenario against humanity.
2525217
Now I really want to see Twilight with a high powered SMG
2525346You put to much faith in humanity and not enough in the ponies, we do not hold a monopoly on intelligence or ingenuity. I'm a big 'humans are cool' person as well but I can easily see the ways to use the powers of the ponies to make them a threat that could topple governments and militaries in short order. Especially if your link between the planets is a very easily defendable choke point that is tailor made for the ponies to exploit. Never underestimate your enemy, and never assume they will underestimate you, that's how wars are lost.
A single team of pegasi weather control experts, though several teams would make it much easier. Nearly undetectable on earth to current equipment. And in the case of Rainbow Dash and the other fast flyers able to outrun even the fastets jets the military can field. That single team would be able to wreak sheer destruction on a continental scale with massively destructive storms, tornados, hurricanes, and others weather events that could cripple a country.
A single powerful unicorn like Twilight, and we know there is a school for gifted unicorns so we know there's more with power out there, could be used to seriously alter earths history with one minor trip through time. Teleporting, tk, shields, gravity manipulation, a small foal phased through a solid object, and very likely many many more. Working in tandem, though we know not how many it took, we know they could control the sun and moon so they can combine their power. Imagine a massive shielded army just marching along with nothing you throw at it able to hurt them.
Celestia and Luna themselves. We've been given no reason not to believe the sun around Equestria is not a normal star, now we don't know if Celestia moves it due to sheer strength or due to certain spells, but we do know she moves it. If she could make a connection to earths sun your pretty much screwed right at the start. A single tug to shift earths star and our entire solar system is pretty much doomed with earth either frying or freezing.
Now that's just a handful of things. I say this because if I can think of them you know the US military leaders would think of them when they get to realizing the implications of pegasi, unicorns and alicorns. There will be those in government and population, likely few in number though, that would be terrified of the ponies, the thought of a single pegasi that might go nuts and create a tornado on the spot would be worrying. They'd probably want to see records on if it's happened before. It's easy to laugh at the ponies who likely haven't had a war in over a thousand years and as such haven't had a need to invent new and better ways of killing each other or their neighbors, but don't underestimate a civilizations drive to survive if you threaten it. The ponies have all the things they need to become a truly unstoppable powerhouse if they ever decided they needed to do so, all they would really need is a military leader to organize them. The best thing you can do is not give them a reason to do so, but the story looks to be going the opposite of that anyway which to me is more interesting. I've never been a big fan of the pony earth war stories as it requires both ponies and humans to act in ways they wouldn't just to make the story work, I prefer the more interesting first contact stories.
But with all the bad things you could think of, the good far outweighs the bad. Make good relations with equestria and the griffons and you could field weather control teams on earth to break up hurricanes and other nasty storms. Not to mention say goodbye to drought and other such things as you could move storms to drought stricken areas. Heck you could green up the desert if you truly wanted to. Tourism to cloud cities, now there's a money maker, just need a unicorn to cast the cloud walking spell. Unicorn TK in disaster relief efforts alone would work wonders.
Okay way longer than I thought it would be, sorry.
2288403
If Equestrians can learn to adapt to human technology... why couldn´t humans find ways to harness Equestria´s natural magic (like alchemy)?
2535490
Love the analysis, been waiting for someone to see that while ponies are peaceful, they pack so much power. But party politics tends to be illogical and strong countries don't like being near strong countries, what is needed most is a sense of trust. But even if tensions do escalate, time can make the worst of enemies friends.
2535700
Adapting to is not the same as understanding. A pony using a radio is like a human smashing a gem. It doesn't require understanding, not to mention Earth is rather limited in thaumaturgical radiation, humans are resistant to it.
2535490 Finally, someone sees the potential of weaponized weather!
Why the fuck would he even show Lyra what his weapon could do, that is just plainly stupid. :P
And CIA person or whatever he was in, it should ring some bells.
2535490 Disasters make us develop countermeasures to them. That is the way to progress. Ponies don't have to do much to survive.
6035261 it is not stupid. Very smart, actually. Knowing what a potential enemy is capable of is essential to national security.