> Survival of the Fittest
>  by Szalhi
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Welcome to Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hey man, how do you feel about all of this?” 
“About what?” 
“You know. Going to this New world?” 
“Oh. Well, I just want to hope it’s not a hell hole.” 
“But if it is a hell hole, then we’re not going to die right? I mean, we’re supposed to go to hell holes. We shouldn't die here.” 
“I’m still hoping it’s not a hell hole.” 


 
Josh Wilson was a Soldier. He enlisted when he was nineteen. The year was 2061. We had achieved advanced space travel quite a while ago. There was no more countdowns and launches. It was simpler than that. It was also less expensive. But at the moment, it was only used to construct space stations. There are still hopes in getting to Mars. 
At Thirty years of age, Josh wasn't the veteran. But he was still a soldier. Three months ago, we discovered that the moon changed colour. It was not the white colour we normally thought of, but a blue colour. There was also visible land, although it was just all green and bits of white. No clear sight yet. There could be life there is what NASA said. And it was just too good to be true. 
The Project was to send a squad of five soldiers and a pilot up to the surface. To investigate and discover what could really be up there. Sending scientists was a thought, but it would be too dangerous and expensive to lose one. 
Josh was one of the soldiers handpicked. He never dreamed of the day of finding a new inhabitable world, but it was probably going to come up soon. He just hoped it wasn’t a hell hole and that if something did live there, it was either peaceful, willing to ally or just weaker. But everything has a chance, and that chance might not happen. 



One week ago



“Mr Wilson. Do you wish to be a part of this project?”
“I do.” 
“And you know that this is a high risk mission. The dangers will be all in your hands?”
“I do.” 
“Do you wish to be the first to travel up there since the events and be the first on our new moon?” 
“I very well do.” 
“Well than, I’ll have you know that as the first person to sign up, we thank you for doing this. I know there are a lot of people who would not wish to do this, for their own personal safety. You can think of yourself as a brave adventurer. Hero. Because if anything dangerous is up there, we’ll be one step ahead.” 




“Hey man, wake up.” 
Josh was awoken from his sleep as his squad mate Patrick called him up. He got up and woke over to Patrick who was standing by a window. 
“What’s up now man?” Josh asked. 
“You see that right there?” Patrick said pointing out the window. Right out there, was Earth’s moon. But at the same time, it wasn’t Earth’s moon. 
“Holy crap. It looks like we’re going to be finding a new world,” Josh replied slapping his hand into Patrick’s. “How much longer do you think ‘til we’re down there?” 
“Probably another hour or so. Space travel doesn't take that long. You were asleep since we took off. Besides, we need to know how to land,” Jonathan interrupted from nearby. 
“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe we’ll be the first ones on a new world. It’s like, Space travel only started about one hundred years ago.” 
”Gentlemen,” a voice erupted form the speakers. ”Looks like we have a straight path down. We’ll be there shortly.” 
“Oh hell yeah. Now we get to be the ones to say One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind” 
“Get over it Josh. This is a thriving planet that’s going to have at least some life form on it, besides, we should say something different like, Hallelujah guys, and we found another world. We got here first suck it.” 
“You know, I’m kind of glad we’re doing this too,” Jonathan stated. “I mean, this could mean a lot. We might be able to start a settlement here. Who knows?” 
“That’s if we even get down there. And that reminds me, Jackson how long are you going to take?” 
”I thought you were sucking in the view. I mean, you’re going to take a picture right?” 
“Oh crap dude, I almost forgot,” Josh stated pulling out his phone. He took a picture and stowed it away. “There we go. Now we can head on down.” 
The ship began to shift as the thrusters started up. The Ship began to move forward as it approached the moon. 
“Imagine what we could find down there. Maybe some ancient artifacts that could really help us. Either that or curse us.” 
The ship began to enter the atmosphere and the roar of the engines became apparent. However, while things looked like they were going good, in reality nothing was.
”Uh gentlemen, we have a bit of a problem. One of our engines is busted.” 
“Wait what? What do you mean busted?” Josh blurted out. Another loud pop was heard shortly after. 
”Oh man, this isn’t good. Let’s just say that we’re going to have a nice and gentle landing. Hey let’s play a game. Whoever holds on gets to be a part of it.” 
“Crap Jackson, This is serious,” Patrick said as he secured himself down.  Their altitude was clearly dropping at a fast rate. It wasn’t long before they could feel it. 
“Holy crap, we’re falling at a fast rate!” 
”I’m going to see if I can lift the ship.” 
“Oh holy crap, I can see the ground. We’re falling quickly and it’s beautiful!” 
”Arming blast shields,” Jackson announced as the windows were sealed over. 
“Aw man, that was great.” 
“We are going to hell.” 



Ship A.I system



System reboot initialising. Error, System reboot unable to be initialised, power failure imminent. Accessing Black box. 
”Holy crap, I can see the ground. We’re falling quickly and it’s beautiful!” 
“Arming blast shields.” 
Black box recording halted. Preparing emergency reboot. Camera system initialising. 
The camera turned on to see a broken crack and several bits of debris. Several bodies were lying on the ground. 
Writing to black box. Please do not interrupt. 
One body twitched and slowly grunted. It slowly rolled over and grasped at its body. 
“Oh crap. It kind of hurts.”
The Suspect was checking its body for injuries. It appeared to have none to serious. 
“No injuries, good.” 
It turned to face the camera and walked over to it. 
“This thing on? Oh yeah. This is Corporal Josh Wilson.” 
 Identifying. Josh Wilson Recognised. 
“Our ship has gone down. I don’t know if there’s any other survivors. But just know that if there are, I probably won’t be with them. They’ll probably have their own log. Listen. If you find this, just know, I might be alive, I might not. But you can come find me if you want. End log.” 



Josh Wilson



Josh watched as a light blinked to confirm the log. He turned and found Jackson’s dead body lying in the pilot seat. 
“Oh crap Jackson. Hell has consumed you,” He commented as he walked out of the cockpit. The Ship’s hull was breached, but he had no trouble breathing signifying a safe atmosphere. Half the ship had snapped and part of the roof had flopped down to block off his section. His squad mates were probably on the other side. 
He went over to the airlock and forced it open. He opened the second door with a little more force. It was lucky for him that with low power, the airlock protocol wasn’t on. He climbed out and landed on the grassy floor below him. He stepped over pieces of debris and climbed up to the top of the ship. He climbed down through the open hole and into the back half of the ship. 
There were bodies everywhere. There was also plenty of blood. There were four bodies lying on the ground. He went over to the body he recognised as Patrick’s.
“Oh no man. C’mon, you have to be still alive. You even said it,” He said grasping Patrick’s hand. He checked for his pulse, but found nothing. He didn't know how long he was out so there was practically no chance of restarting the pulse. “Man, you just had to leave me hanging.” 
He lowered his hand and checked the three other bodies. Jonathan’s body was severely impaled. No chance. Checking the two other’s. They were both also severely scarred. With all the blood everywhere, there was no chance they survived either. 
Josh went to the back and grabbed a bag. He dropped in a couple of rifles, ammunition and side arms. He left the rest here not willing to carry them around. He slung it around his back and stepped out of his ship. He suddenly heard a rustling noise and hid behind one of the nearby Apple trees. 
“I’m telling y’all. Something came down and crashed here. I can’t be lying.” 
“There’s no point in not believing you.” 
A group of six quadruped creatures came out into view. They kind of resembled ponies, however they varied in colour and body features. 
“Y’all see, there’s some sort of thingy here.” 
“Yes, It’s some sort of thing you little…” 
One of the ponies reacted and looked in his direction. 
“Y’all hear that? Something’s here.” 
“I’m sure we all heard it,” A blue pony blurted out. 
“Crap, better deal with this now. Atleast they know English… Somehow.” 
The pony slowly approached him. Not wishing to wait any longer, Josh leaped out from the back of the tree wielding his sidearm. 
“Freeze!” 
The Pony quickly stumbled backwards to the ground. 
“Oh Celestia it’s assaulting us,” A Purple pony said from the pack.
“What is it?” 
“Pff what’s it going to do to us?” the blue pony stated. 
Josh aimed at the ground and fired his firearm. It made a significant dent on the ground. 
“That’s what it’s going to do to us.”
“Now, I said don’t move. Do you not have that word here?” 
“Please, Just let us talk, and we can work things out,” The purple pony asked. 




	

> You probably thought you were going to die today
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




Five years earlier



Josh was fighting through an office building. Terrorists were holding it up and he was tasked with dealing with it. He wasn’t from the country, but it didn’t really matter. These days the world is more united, but that doesn’t mean there’s less violence. 
Josh busted through the door. His carbine in hand. The Terrorists were supposedly on the higher floors. This would mean he would have time to plan the attack more thoroughly. He checked around for targets. There were no targets in sight. 
“Room clear. Advise, do not send backup.” 
He swept the next room and found no targets. The Intel was currently correct. They weren’t occupying lower floors. He approached a staircase and went up to the second floor. He looked right off the staircase and saw a lone terrorist wandering the halls. He wasn’t armed well. Josh approached him and quickly pinned him to the walls. 
“Now, you tell me all you know about your mates, and shit won’t go down.” 
“C’mon dude, like you’re going to let me go for telling you. You guys never do that to people like us.” 
“Man, I will find your family, and I will deal with them if you don’t do that,” Josh Blackmailed him. Technically, he isn’t allowed to blackmail them unless on warrant, but he wasn’t actually going to do it. 
“Man, you will probably go see them anyway.” 
Your family aren’t terrorists are they? If they are, maybe I will go see them, Josh thought. 
“Look buddy, Unless your family committed a crime, nothing majorly big will happen to them.” 
“Ok fine, they’re on the fourth floor. You might want to go there. Now please, just leave me and my family alone.” 
Josh grinned and handcuffed the Terrorist. He went through with it, so he didn’t really deserve to die. Josh went up to the next staircase. A door was blocking it. 
“Damn it. I can’t blow the door, it would alert them.” 
“No shit, it’s also not like I can get you through there. I’ve never even been up there.” 
Josh looked at the nearest window. He could possibly climb to the third floor, provided that he doesn’t rush right into them. He opened it up and looked up. It wasn’t that far up. He could attach a grapple. 
“Next time, shut up man,” He said as he shot the man. He clearly had a knife in his hands and was trying to stab him. 
Josh climbed up to the third floor window and looked inside. This lead directly to an office room which wasn’t occupied. He climbed inside and approached the office door. He peered through the window and saw a group of Terrorists inside. This might not go good. 
“Requesting back-up, it might get hot up here.” 
”Negative, Backup will make it too hot. Suggesting tear gas.” 
“That could work. I’ll try it.” 
Josh equipped his gas mask and a few canisters. He quickly opened the door and chucked the canisters inside. Chaos wreaked as terrorists reacted to the gas. Josh smiled and peered through the window. There weren’t as many active terrorists, but some managed to find and equip gas masks too. They also looked uglier and cheaper. 
“Ugh, I guess I can deal with that myself.” 
Josh Burst into the gun with his carbine and fired at a couple of hostiles. He ducked behind a desk and equipped a thermal optic. He fired at a couple more hostiles. One of them chucked a grenade his way. He chucked it back and damaged some hostiles. 
“You know, Back up would be nice.” 
”Negative, you’ve got it covered.” 
He fired at a couple more of them. Command was right. He did have it handled. He looked through the optic and found no more targets. 
“That was easy as…” 
Josh didn’t even get a moment to relax as a hostile grabbed onto him and attempted to slit him. He grabbed the knife and tried to force it back. He couldn’t get it back though. He grabbed at the hostile’s mask and ripped it off before releasing the tension and evading the knife. He proceeded to walk to the staircase. He walked upstairs where he was met by a door. 
“Alrighty, kick open door, rain hell.” 
Josh kicked open the door and stepped inside. All around him, were the unexpected. Young boys barely armed. Scientists that looked like they shouldn’t be here. They all looked at him in horror. None of them could even move their weaponry. 
Josh looked at all of them. His job was to eliminate them. And eliminate the terrorists is what he should do. It was his orders.
But there was nothing about shooting children and scientists. Just the troop’s right? 
Josh sighed and holstered his gun. He couldn’t do it. He was supposed to be a good person protecting the good and fending off evil. But sometimes he thought that command was the real evil sometimes. 



Present



Josh stood there as he thought of the people he saved back then. The real reason he Signed up for this mission. It was to get away from the command. To do something, but outside their hands. 
Josh sighed and dropped his handgun. 
“Ok, let’s talk. 



“So you’re meaning to tell us you’re from a different world?” 
“Yes, A different world. This world happens to be right next to this one.” 
“And did you magically teleport here?” 
“Magically? Heck no. Magic doesn’t exist. Well, wait, does magic exist here?” 
“Magic’s the centre of beings. Everything runs on Magic! How can you tell us you don’t have magic? How can you live like that?” Twilight exclaimed.
“I don’t know how your magic works here, but we have enough technology, that it kind of feels like magic. I came here on that over there,” he said pointing to the broken ship. 
“That rustic junk?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, it kind of is rustic junk. But before it was fully functional and capable of medium level space travel.” 
“Space travel? You achieved space travel? We haven’t even achieved space travel!” 
“By the looks of it, you’re focused too much on magic. Besides you look like you’re still developing. Who knows magic might not work in space.” 
“Oh Celestia, what am I thinking for all I know you could be here to take us over. Why are you here?”
“Too be honest. This world, is our moon. Now, that’s the conspiracy. I don’t think this world was always our moon. It used to be a dull white land of no life. But now, it’s this. We needed people to go up and see what’s here. And that, happens to be me. And only I remain here today.” 
“Do you think it has to do with nightmare moon?” AppleJack asked. 
“That can’t be right, His world has no magic. Nightmare moon is linked a lot with magic.” 
“Boring talk, c’mon I want to find out all the neat stuff you have!” Rainbow Dash asked. 
“I’m sure you do. Just promise me one thing. You won’t turn around and kill me.” 
“Why would we turn around and kill you? We would’ve thought you’d kill us.” 
“Just making sure.”



“So, these are Fire-arms?” 
“Yes, They propel high speed projectiles. Each one is a different size and works differently,” Josh said picking up the hand gun. He Aimed at the ground and fired it. 
“That sounds powerful,” Twilight said as she checked the hole left by the bullet. “That was deep. How powerful does it need to be?” 
“They need to be powerful enough. Sometimes the more powerful fire-arms aren’t the best. They’re less simple to use and normally larger.” 
“These sound really dangerous, what do you use them for?” Fluttershy asked. 
“My world, is not, a safe place. Not everyone likes each other, and several wars have occurred. Fire-arms are the most iconic way of attacking each other and used for defense.” 
“So, These could tear down a timberwolf? Twilight, you need to take these with you!” 
“Woah there, I don’t even know how to use these.” 
“You mentioned timberwolves. Are they dangerous?” 
“Very dangerous. But they’re also not one with harmony. They reproduce quickly but rarely strive out of the Everfree, their natural habitat.” 
“You think I can demonstrate on them?” 
“Ugh,” 
“C’mon Twilight, I’m sure nothing can kill us with this badass around.” 
“Okay, fine. We can bring a random stranger to the Everfree to demonstrate their weaponry. You happy now?”